Even though it was only country roads between their home and the meeting house, Dulsie drove because that was their habit. She wore a light maroon dress and Shad was attired in tan chinos and the usual button-down shirt, this time teal in color. When Dulsie parked the Buick in the gravel parking lot there were eight other vehicles present, two of which belonged to her parents and Shad’s.
As they exited the car and strolled toward the building, Shad found his attention drawn to the small cemetery maintained in a clearing behind the church. With its low tombstones it was easily overlooked, but the wood fence surrounding the graveyard had been repainted in the last few days so it was a more gleaming white than usual. The cemetery was a topic of current debate among the members of the congregation.
Dulsie smiled as she shook her head. “They just had to go and get uppity.”
“The fence?” Shad turned his attention toward her. “Roscoe and his people used their own time and money to paint it. No reason for the rest of us to stand in the way.”
Although their congregation had always been small, enough members had passed away in the last one hundred fifty years plus that people realized the cemetery at its current size could accommodate only a few more graves. One group wanted to begin felling trees to enlarge the graveyard, which would also mean dismantling and rebuilding part of the fence. The fence as a whole already needed a paint job, however, but it was a task the first group decided should wait until after clearing more land for the cemetery.
The second group didn’t want a larger cemetery. They believed it should be retired and when members passed away in the future they could be interred in any of the public graveyards in the area. So they believed the fence should be painted immediately.
Of course nobody received any divine revelation about the best way to handle this matter, and true to tradition the Osage Friends didn’t simply take a vote.
“Do you think they’re gonna hold their tongues when we start dismantling the fence this fall?” Dulsie’s brow furrowed slightly.
“They did what they want and we’ll do what we want,” Shad reminded her.
“Have they forgotten that people are just dying to get in there? Promise me you’ll see to it I get buried with my ancestors.”
“You forgot I’m the one who’s going first.”
“Let’s agree to go at the same time, and that way they can just stick us in the same box,” Dulsie said as they reached the two concrete steps that led to the door.
Shad realized her statement reminded him of one of the many attorney jokes he’d memorized, so as he opened the door for her Shad responded, “But then when the tombstone reads Here lies a lawyer and an honest person, there really will be two people in the grave.”
Dulsie laughed as she stepped through the doorway.
Her laughter announced their entrance. There were roughly four clustered groups of people scattered around the large but plain room. The walls were also painted white, and except for the windows, a door on the back wall, and in one corner a bulletin board pinned with a few postings, remained unadorned. The hardwood floor was the naturally buff color of well-worn oak, and the forty seats were a mix of antique wooden folding chairs and modern steel folding chairs arranged in a circle around the room.
Several people glanced toward their direction and smiled, some nodding their heads in greeting. Shad’s and Dulsie’s parents were in a smaller group at the other end of the room, and their mothers waved but their fathers seemed too engaged in conversation with a third person to have noticed the couple’s arrival.
Dulsie seemed to chatter in endless greetings to people they passed as they walked toward their parents. Shad mostly nodded. When they reached the moms, who were standing beside each other, Shad habitually stepped out of Jill’s line of sight to stand on the other side of Mam. Jill as always ignored him while she started talking to Dulsie.
Mam smiled at Shad, exchanged a “Good morning” with Dulsie, and redirected her attention to him. Shad glanced over at Pap and Karl, who were still occupied with their conversation. Karl, as usual, was doing most of the talking, but all three men were smiling and laughing.
At five-foot-four Karl Wekenheiser was three inches shorter than his wife Jill. Although he was a bit stocky in build compared to Dulsie’s petite frame, they had the same large, dark blue eyes and sandy brown hair. Dulsie’s hair was thick and wavy like her mother’s, while Karl’s hair was straighter and short cropped. Even in his sixties he still had no gray in it, and most people would have guessed that Karl was in his forties. He claimed that the older he got, the younger he looked. Karl was wearing his “Sunday best” – clean blue jeans and a pressed, short-sleeved, button down shirt that was white with thin blue stripes.
“Ken’s got a clear path,” Shad murmured to Mam about the third fellow in the group, a middle-aged cattleman. “Why doesn’t he make a break for it?”
Mam chuckled. “He’s probably too confused by now to know which direction to run.”
Mam was an attractive woman. Her once light brown hair was now well streaked with gray and today was pinned in a braided bun. She and her sister Jill had the same green eyes, fairly tall height and slender build. True to her family’s tradition Mam wore a simple skirt and blouse to First Day meeting, and every day wore no jewelry other than her wedding band.
Dulsie looked past her mom toward the men. “What are those guys carrying on about, anyway?”
There was slyness to Jill’s smile that reminded Shad of Dulsie. “Things that go bump in the night.”
Jill appeared to be taller than she really was, and not just when she stood next to Karl. She carried herself with a dignity that prevailed through any emotion. Her brown hair was also streaked with gray and combed into a flattering upsweep. Jill was often immaculately groomed and well dressed, but she also wasn’t afraid to get dirt under her fingernails. The lavender dress she wore was simple but also complimentary. Jill also actually wore a little makeup, just enough to accentuate her already natural beauty.
Pap happened to glance toward their direction and seemed a little startled to see Shad and Dulsie. He stepped away from Karl and Ken and gave Shad a pat on the back.
“Mornin’.” He grinned at Dulsie before looking at Shad. “You two sleep in today?”
“Dulsie was putting finishing touches on a squash casserole.” Shad leaned toward Pap and lowered his voice slightly. “Are you tired of squash yet?”
Pap’s grin broadened. “Love the stuff.” He fixed his gaze on Shad. “And so do you.”
Pap had all the characteristics of a Delaney except for his lack of brawniness; his lighter build was inherited from his mother. But at six-foot-four Pap still carried the Delaney height. At sixty-five his once dark hair had lightened considerably and thinned just enough in the back to make Pap admit he was bald, while his beard was completely gray and trimmed neatly along his jaw. His brown eyes often sparkled with a mischievousness that probably explained why Pap got along so well with his brother-in-law Karl. He also wore blue jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, which was light blue.
Shad glanced over at Dulsie, who had watched their exchange. “Don’t you ever get tired of being right all the time?”
Dulsie laughed, and this time Karl heard her. He muttered something to Ken about “They’re here,” and turned toward the rest of the family.
“There’s the experts.” Karl raised his hands in the air as though surrendering to the group. “Tell me, Dulsie, Shad, what would Sadie do if an armadillo came into the yard?”
Dulsie frowned slightly. “Armadillo?”
“Your dad got a surprise when he went out to check on the turkeys last night.” Jill’s smile became amused again. “Of course he wasn’t really using the flashlight he took out with him.”