Clandestine: A Story of Three Sisters

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten- The Wedding

The storm that had started on the day of Will's death was going to last for a very long time, reports claimed. Even a couple months. It seemed Hush was under attack by monsoon seasons, but it would be alright. The weather now matched everyone's mood.

And so, Abigail's funeral was held on a rainy day the following week. Her casket was lowered into a muddy hole that was slowly filling up with rainwater so there was a little pool at the bottom, and the whole town was present to see it. Everyone wore heavy black clothing and carried large black parasols to hide away from the rain, but it didn't do much good. Ladies' dresses were still soaked through by the end of the burial, and men's trousers were sticky with wet mud.

Momma and Madison held each other throughout the service, crying still, but quietly now. Their sobs were now instead little whimpers and large, round tears. Pop stood at the front of the service and didn't cry, though he had to keep clearing his throat to get rid of a lump that wouldn't go away. Jed stood next to Charlotte, holding an umbrella above both of them, feeling somewhat out of place amongst everyone, but his grief quickly ate away at his awkwardness as Abigail was buried away forever. Charlotte didn't cry anymore, her one moment in Pop's arms being the only time she'd released her emotions over everything that had happened. She watched the casket be covered with chunks of wet mud, and every thud of the mud against the wooden resting place matched her slow, aching heart beats. Thud. Thud. Thud.

It felt so wrong, saying goodbye to her baby sister. She wanted to cuddle with Will and tell him all about it, the only person who could make her feel better, but he was gone too. Where, she did not know. Criminals were all buried together at the far end of the Hush cemetery, in a closed off space anyone hardly visited. There were only a few bodies there, but the graves were unmarked and uncared for. No one bothered with criminals once they were out  of the way.

Slowly, people left the service, saying their goodbyes and condolences to the family as they walked toward their carriages and went back home to their comforts to forget about all this sadness. People kept shuffling away, until finally only Jed and the Clandestine family remained standing under the pounding rain, watching as Abigail's grave was finished being filled. Then, they too slowly shuffled away, huddled closely so from a distance they just looked like one small, black blob.

***

Two days went by, and everyone in the Clandestine house moved about silently. The only sounds heard in the house were the servants working and the rain pounding against the roof and windows. Jed and the Clandestines would shuffle from room to room, not realizing when someone else entered or left because they were all so quiet, and so lost in their own sadness.

At the end of the two days, a knock sounded at the door, and the mailman handed a servant a wet pile of letters before running back out to make it to the next house before all their mail was too drenched to read. The servant tried to dry the letters as quickly as she could in front of the fireplace before delivering a majority of them to Mr. Clandestine and one of them to Jed. Both Jed and Pop were in the parlor, supposedly drinking tea, though neither had touched their cups in the last hour.

Pop aimlessly opened and looked over the letters, most of them condolences from distant family and friends, and a couple of them bills to be paid for the funeral. Jed saw his letter was from his father and opened it slowly.

Jed,

It's been almost four months since you've left, and your mother and I are starting to worry. (Four months, and they're just now starting to worry, thought Jed.) We heard about the tragedy that befell the Clandestine family. Give them our condolences and tell them we are praying for them. We would have come up to visit, see them and you, but the rains have gotten so heavy that travel is not advised for a while. These rains are going to continue for a few months, and so you'll have to stay with the Clandestines all that time. We understand they have just gone through a terrible and most painful ordeal, (Ordeal? What a word for it.), but it is becoming quite a controversial topic on our end. Your mother is especially worried that you will be spending far too long with the Clandestines, and it is quite inappropriate for you to stay in a house with unmarried women whilst you are also unmarried, for so long (Was mother even aware father had written this? Jed was sure this was all his own words.). If the Clandestines would like to forge a relationship with us, we give our blessings for them to do so without us there. We regret we cannot be there, but as I mentioned before, travel is ill-advised for so far a distance (Jed was also sure his parents didn't care whether they could be there or not. They might even be more happy they cannot go and waste time visiting their son.). Just send us a letter back telling us of their decision. And let us know how you're doing, son, your mother really is quite worried (An afterthought his father must've remembered to include, to make the letter seem more sincere.).

Yours,

Jedediah Crawley, Senior (Not Love, Father, but what had Jed really expected?)

Jed could tell from the loving way the letter had been written, his father wanted Jed to show the letter to Mr. Clandestine. So he silently walked over and offered the paper to Pop.

Pop read it over and sighed, nodding his head. "Your parents are right, a decision has to be made now."

And so, just a few days later, Charlotte Clandestine walked down the aisle of the Hush church in her mother's wedding gown, slightly wet at the bottom from the rain. The whole town was there, but it was a quick and quiet service, nothing too fancy because the family was still in mourning and celebrations could not freely be had.

After Jed and Charlotte were announced husband and wife, everyone left the church and went back to their respective homes (a reception could not be had while the family was still in mourning, though Pop promised a big dinner party one day in the near future to please everyone). Pop, Momma, and Madison left in one carriage to go back to the main house, while Jed and Charlotte left in another that would take them to the far end of the Clandestine land.

It had been decided that staying with Charlotte's parents after just having been married would be wrong for the couple. However, because travel was ill-advised, Charlotte could not be taken to her new home with Crawley's. Therefore, Pop had had servants clean up one of those houses he had built on the Clandestine fields. It was like the house Jed and Abby had made love in, and it made Jed sick to think he'd have to live in it until the rains cleared up and he could go home. Of course, it wasn't the tiny one he'd shared with Abby, but a much larger one with two bedrooms, a kitchen, parlor, and bathing room. It was indeed much larger than his love nest with Abby, but still much smaller than the main house. But Pop had said it would be their house for now, and he'd even sent a couple servants to stay with them.

Just as the wedding itself had been silent, the ride home was even more silent, as neither Charlotte nor Jed said a word to each other. Each of them just stared out the windows of the carriage, watching the rain fall from the skies as if the heavens were sobbing from what they were seeing below them.