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“Stop!”
Once the reverberation of her cry faded, the only sound in the room came from an old wall clock. Its click marked off each second.
Ruby whirled around to see Susan Lance standing inside the front door of David’s house. She held a huge butcher knife in her shaky hand.
Bishop Eischler stayed at the front of the congregation while she and David stood together in front of him. His words were the first to break the silence. “Susan! Your actions are unnecessary. David is happily marrying Ruby.”
Susan stamped her foot like a petulant child. “But I want him. He's mine. He is the only person that has been nice to me since I came to this district,” she spoke more words, but they came out twisted, and nothing made sense. The woman looked crazy. Her eyes open wide, her pupils dilated, and her body trembled.
“Nee Susan,” David cried as he stepped toward her but stopped when she raised the knife to her throat. “You do not want to do this. Kum, let us go outside and talk.”
Ruby slid into the seat that she vacated to stand for her vows. She watched with disbelief as David tried to gain Susan’s trust. She knew he was trying to get close to her so he could take the knife away. Sweat trickled down her back, and fear hammered through her body. What if Susan harmed David? Tears burned her eyes.
“Nee David, you don't love me. My life is worthless.”
Suddenly the front door flew open again. The room full of people gasped as a stranger, tall in stature, and thin, stood there looking at the distress on everyone's faces then stepped toward Susan.
“Susan Lamont, stop this right now.” The man's words seem to cause a reaction in Susan, and she turned to face him. “I came to take you home. Put down that knife and come with me. You're kinner miss you so much.”
“Kinner?” she asked. Her gaze appeared vacant.
“Jah, Samuel. Amy. And Rebecca is now a year and a half old and walking. Don't you want to come home and see your family? I love you, Susan. And the children love and miss you as well.”
“Who are you?” Susan shook her head slightly as if trying to clear away cobwebs in her mind.
The Bishop walked toward David as the newcomer kept Susan’s attention.
“Are you this woman's husband?” Bishop Eischler asked.
The stranger nodded, and his black felt hat moved on his head.
Susan dropped the knife on the floor, causing a loud clatter in the quiet room. Then she followed suit, falling to the floor as sobs wracked her body. The man knelt and drew her into his arms. “It's OK, Susan, we will find you some help.”
He lifted his gaze to the Bishop and said, “If I would have been more understanding and listened to her friends, she would not be in this shape.”
“I am so sorry,” David said.
“I hope you can forgive her. You see, after she had Rebecca, she was so blue. Her friends told me it was a medical problem called postpartum depression. It's my fault. I didn't listen to them. I thought she would get better as she had with the other two boppli. This time it didn't work out that way.”
The Bishop walked toward the couple and helped the man lift his limp wife from the floor. “We knew something was the matter with her, but we had no idea she was a runaway and very ill. How did you find her, and how did you know where to come today?”
A family scooted down on their bench and made room for Susan to sit. “My name is Norman Lamont.” he stuck out his hand and shook hands with the bishop and David.
“Norman?” Susan whispered under her breath.
Ruby listened, hoping to hear more about Susan. Just the words that her husband spoke softened her heart for Susan. The girl was ill. And she wondered what she had been like before the depression overtook her.
“I live in Ohio. Our Bishop came to me when someone notified him of John’s death. John was Susan’s brother.” The guests nodded as he told his story.
Norman Lamont stood behind his wife and gently massaged her shoulders as she cried softly into a white lace hanky. “I found out days later that Susan left with her brother, but I had no idea where they were, and I thought she would miss us and come back very soon. I did not think they had made it this far east, so I stopped sending letters to various bishops. I suppose I should have tried a few more, and then one might have reached you.”
David spoke. “Susan worked for me as a housekeeper for a short while, but it did not work out. She's been living at the bishop’s dawdi haus and helping there.”
Tears filled the man's eyes. “I want to take her home now. The children miss her so, and our Bishop in Ohio has been following my search. I called him from a phone in town to let him know I had arrived. At the general store, they told me about your wedding.” He looked up at David and then over to Ruby. “I'm so sorry this happened to ruin your wedding day.”
David shook his head. “No, please do not worry. We are just happy you found your wife, and you will get her the help she needs.”
Levi, Miriam’s husband, stood. “If you don't mind, Ruby, I will show this man to the bishop’s house and help them put Susan’s belongings in the buggy. I'll be back soon, in time for lunch for sure and certain.”
A light twitter of laughter moved through the room, easing the tension. Everyone knew of Levi’s enormous appetite. The man was quite thin, and it was amazing to watch him eat his weight in food.
Ruby nodded and said, “thank you for your help.”
Norman Lamont took his wife's elbow and helped her stand. She just looked straight ahead with not a concerned look on her face. Ruby hoped she would get better, but seeing her in this shape made her wonder if that was possible.
The couple walked through the front door and outside; the door closed with a soft click. For all the turmoil Susan caused the district, that gentle closing of the door was in massive contrast to what happened.
The Bishop breathed out a huge sigh then said to David, “Well, now, that was something! Are you two ready for your wedding?”
“Jah, I am. How about you, Ruby?” Ruby stood and returned to her spot where she was when all the turmoil began.
Fifteen minutes later, David and Ruby were married. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher were ready to begin their new life.