Chapter 9: Honest Proposal

"So why are you still running?" The words replayed in Karen's mind as she walked to the Vineyard, her home.

Home. She had always loved the Vineyard. It represented what she loved so much, yet… she never would have called it home. Not since her grandmother had died. It had always seemed so empty. Even the smell of the wine and the feel of the grapes had been unable to conquer that emptiness. That very emptiness is what made Karen desire another life.

Then Jack came along. All at once, she felt something different about the village. Something… enticing yet terrifying. His very presence had lit up a room. His smile had warmed her cold heart. He changed her life so rapidly that she was left wondering what had happened. He had filled the emptiness for a while. He made Flowerbud seem like… home.

But it was all downhill from there. She remembered vividly the pain of walking in on the meeting of the Army. She remembered the look of horror on Jack's face. She remembered how the emptiness has rushed back in full force.

The original emptiness had caused her to desire. The latter had caused her to take.

But what about now? Was there still emptiness or was it complete? At the moment, Karen was no longer sure. In a way, the village seemed complete, yet… she didn't. Karen didn't feel complete any longer. Something was missing from her heart. Something that not even Jack could hope to fill.

And whatever that emptiness was… it was hard to resist. The thirst for whatever it is was taking over.

Jack looked around nervously, causing Rick to laugh. "You've already locked the door and pulled down the shades. Karen is not going to see!"

The young farmer glared at his friend and sighed. "Well… I can't help it! This is… it's a big thing. I don't want her to get wind of it until I'm ready!"

Rick smirked. "Man… Cliff acted just like this when he came in and—"

"I was there. And have you forgotten what happened? Ann walked in and found us! We had to scramble to hide the Feather and then you had to come up with some excuse to get her out!"

Rick chuckled slightly. "Ah, yes… I still can't believe Ann fell for that." Jack grinned at him.

"She didn't. Ann just played along because she knew whatever it was going to be was gonna be good!" A voice said from behind them. Jack turned to see Cliff standing at the door… that was now wide open.

"How did you—shut the door!" Jack cried suddenly as he rushed forward and slammed the door shut. He turned back to Rick. "I thought you locked it!"

Rick just shrugged and turned back to tinkering some contraption on his counter. He called it a teleportation device, but at the moment, it was just a pile of metal, screws, and plastic sitting on his wooden countertop. "The solar panel connects to the power supply… Wait, that can't be right. The solar panel is the power supply…" He mumbled before sighing heavily and banging his head on the counter comically.

Cliff looked at Jack with a smirk. "Two days after she regains her memory, you're gonna pop the question. You sure move fast, Jack."

His friend just laughed nervously. "Think she'll say—"

"Yes!" Cliff said, both finishing Jack's question and answering it at the same time.

Jack smiled. "Yeah… I guess you're right, but still… I'm a little nervous, ya know?" Cliff nodded and then looked at Rick, who was still tinkering.

Suddenly there was a bright flash from one of the parts and Rick yelped and jumped back as the piece caught on fire. "Not again!" He yelled before grabbing a well-used fire extinguisher off the wall and dousing the flames with the flame-retardant foam.

Jack and Cliff were both laughing loudly at that time. Jack laughed so hard that he ended up tripping and falling… which only caused Cliff to laugh harder. Rick only glared at the two. "That is why I don't let people watch me mess with my inventions!"

Jack got up slowly, rubbing his back, which had hit the ground roughly and he remembered his reason for being here. Slowly, almost as if afraid it would break in his hand, he reached out and grabbed a large blue feather that sat on a shelf.

It felt soft yet strong in his hand. The lights above reflected off its glassy surface and Jack fought back tears as it hit him once again what this solitary feather meant.

But at the same time, Jack felt a slight bit of hesitation inside himself. Karen was not yet a Christian and was a little unsettling for Jack. But regardless of that hesitation, his hand closed softly over the feather and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a jumble of golden coins, equaling 1,000 G altogether. He placed that money on the counter in front of Rick and with a nod and nervous grin towards the two other men in the store, walked out.

Jack heard what sounded like a hammer nailing something into wood and he followed the sound. He came upon the Goddess Church and found the mayor of the village tacking boards up on the door.

"What's going on?" He asked, causing the mayor to jump.

The short, fat man spun around and smiled sadly. "Yesterday, Pastor Brown was found dead inside the church."

"Dead? What happened?!"

"We don't know… from what it looked like…" He winced at the memory. "Brown was ripped apart by something. I'm not going to go into the details, but he was found at the Goddess pond. Quite a gruesome sight."

"Was it by an animal of some sort?" Jack asked, although suspecting something more. He remembered how the Goddess had injured Brown earlier and wouldn't be surprised if in anger at Pastor Carter's resurrection she killed him.

"Possibly, but we didn't find any traces of fur or saliva on him! It's as if he was just ripped apart by… well… nothing! We've sent his remains to the city for a better examination. We don't have all the doohickeys they do, you know!" He chuckled slightly and turned back to the church. "A pity… he was a good man. I never got to know him as well as some, but still… and now I suppose the church will fall to the same fate."

Jack looked at the church thoughtfully. "Yes, I guess it will. But who will teach the children, now that Pastor Brown is gone?" The mayor shrugged and turned back to his work.

"They don't even have a schoolhouse anymore. I think we'll have to go a little while without a school."

"Hey! I have an idea!" Jack said with a smile. "Instead of letting this church be torn down, why don't we turn it into a school fulltime! We don't have to change anything! Er… well, we'd have to tear out everything related to the Goddess, but—"

"Why would we even have to do that?"

"Well, uh… I was thinking about keeping it, you know… sort of impartial to separate faiths. It could just be a school that took a neutral stance. You know, teach the children the basics, such as math, reading, grammar, and such. But when a child reaches the age in which he would start learning things like history or science, where the beliefs could start to conflict, he could be sent home to be schooled."

The mayor pondered that thoughtfully. "That could work… I say, Jack, I think you've got a good idea! I'll run it by the villagers next town meeting. It'll be essentially their idea but I don't think they'll mind that at all!"

Jack grinned and started walking away, all the while hearing the mayor muttering to himself things like, "Yes, a good idea indeed." and, "It'll be the perfect place for that."

"Jack, why did you just grab me and bring me here?" Karen asked.

The two were at the docks of Flowerbud Village's beach. Karen sat with her feet hanging off the dock and Jack was just standing up behind her, watching the sun as it set below the horizon.

"Karen…" He started, "I love you."

Karen looked at him strangely. "Well, that was random, but…" She grinned. "I love you too!"

"So, did you hear about Pastor Brown?" Jack asked tentatively. Karen looked at him.

"What about him?" She asked a little confused.

"Karen… he was killed." Karen suddenly shot up from her seat and spun to face Jack.

"What?!" She cried, her face red with fear.

"He was found dead at the Goddess Pond. They think it was an animal of some sort. But I—"

"D-dead…?" Karen started. "But what would have killed him? We don't have many dangerous animals around here!"

"I think it was—"

"Oh, Goddess, this can't be happening… He was my mentor! Practically my father!"

"Speaking of the Goddess…" Suddenly Karen wrapped her arms around Jack and sobbed into his shoulder. He mentally cursed himself for being so blunt about this. So he held Karen softly, letting her let all of her pain and anguish out. The Blue Feather in his pocket agitated him all the while.

It was a while before Karen calmed down again. Her sobs turned to sniffles turned to silence. Many times she opened her mouth to speak but then she'd shut it suddenly, cutting herself off before any words could reach Jack's ears. Finally she licked her lips and looked at Jack. "What am I going to do now, Jack? I mean… I don't really follow the Goddess anymore, especially not after that… experience we had, but still… he was my mentor! He was there since I was a child and I could always go to him when I needed shelter or advice! When my grandmother died, it was like he was all I had left…"

"You aren't alone anymore, Karen." Jack said softly while looking her right in the eye. "All around you, people are willing to just listen and maybe even give a bit of advice from time to time! Even your parents are ready to listen now. This village has undergone a radical change by—"

"Don't say it." Karen interrupted. "Don't you dare say it was by God, cause if you do, mark my words, Jack, I will leave this beach here and now."

Jack was slightly stunned at the strength in her words but then he resolved to do what he had come here to do. "Okay… I won't say that. I'll say something else completely…" Reaching into his pocket, he pulled the glittering Blue Feather out and kneeled slowly (an old city habit that was hard to break).

Karen's eyes widened as he did this. This wasn't happening to her! Not now, right after everything she had gone through! How could he be so rude?

"Karen Roberts… will you marry me?"

Everything went quiet to Karen. The rolling waves seemed to calm and the creatures of the evening and night gave a reverential silence. The only sound she heard was her heart pounding wildly in her chest and her breaths as they came quickly and sharply.

Her original reaction to his proposal had disappeared. She was still shocked, but it was a good shocked. One that she welcomed with open arms. Slowly she smiled, revealing her perfectly white teeth, and she opened her mouth to speak. But instead of speaking softly as she had planned, she ended up just squealing loudly and forcing Jack to get back up on his feet while hugging him. "Yes, Jack! Of course I'll marry you!" She cried after she stopped squealing in excitement.

Her eyes watered as she hugged him even tighter. She downright sobbed when he hugged her back.

"Karen, I want to ask you something." They were sitting at the dock again, holding hands. Karen's head rested on Jack's shoulder and she sighed happily.

"Shoot." She said half-heartedly, her mind was elsewhere.

"Will you…" He sounded a bit nervous and she looked up at him. "Will you go with me to church tomorrow?" She opened her mouth to reply but he continued. "I mean, I know you might feel a bit uncomfortable about it all and I'm not going to try to force you. I'm just asking, Karen. Just one service." She slowly began shaking her head in disagreement but then she found herself captivated by Jack's big eyes. Eyes that were now pleading with her to go with him. And in light of those eyes, she couldn't do anything but give in to his wishes…

Flowerbud Christian Church was full of familiar and some not-so familiar faces. Jack had introduced Karen to a few of them during the pre-service breakfast, but she was hardly cordial to them. She openly expressed her desire to not be there and she earned quite a few glares from Jack as a result of it.

"Can't you at least pretend to be having a good time?" He asked after one such occasion. She had just looked at him and shook her head while grinning. She was obviously getting a kick out of annoying Jack. With a groan, Jack opened his mouth to reply, but then he noticed that the small crowd was flocking to the entrance to the church's sanctuary. He looked at Karen and nodded, signifying that it was time to head inside.

"Here we go…" She said under her breath before following Jack out of the lobby where they had eaten their breakfast and into the sanctuary.

"'Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.' Revelation 19:7." Pastor Carter said as he began his message. "My message today is titled, "The Bride and Her Groom". It may not be very original or funny, but it gets the point across, no?" Scattered laughter was heard from the congregation and he did a mock bow.

"Thank you, I'm here all night." A bit more laughter was heard and he grinned. "Okay, back on track! Does anybody here not know what that scripture talks about when it talks about Jesus' bride?"

Karen tried not to look totally confused about this, and she thought she had succeeded, but Jack looked at her knowingly. She missed the hidden look Jack gave Carter and the slight nod from the latter.

"Well, in case there are some of you who are too embarrassed to come clean with not knowing, I'll tell you about it anyway.

"The Bride of Jesus is us—the church. Now I know this is kind of hard to swallow, specifically among the male population," More laughter and a few sporadic jokes here and there. "however it's that way. Now, I don't expect that it'll be a real physical marriage where we'll all be formed into one pure and spotless bride and say the I do's, but it holds more meaning than you and I know.

"This mindset is what drove Jesus Christ, nearly 2,000 years ago, to endure the word from which excruciating comes: crucifixion. From mockery to the beatings to the nails, he endured so much for our sakes. We being His Bride.

"Now, I won't go into the gruesome details of crucifixion; that's another sermon in itself. Let's just say that it being the root word of excruciating fits… very well. Only one truly head over heels in love would be willing to endure that kind of torture for another. And Jesus did all that and so much more."

Karen found her waning interest beginning to grow. Maybe it was because she had lived a life of bitterness and insult. Maybe it was because she was just now beginning to understand true love. Maybe it was because she knew beyond any doubt that Jack would be crucified for her sake. Whatever it was, it caused her to listen more closely.

Carter's eyes moved across the congregation and Karen could swear that his eyes stopped on hers at least three times. It was beginning to make her quite self-conscious. Finally, he looked back to his notes and cleared his throat.

"My brothers and sisters in Christ, the time of the Bride and Bridegroom comes soon!" Various sounds of agreement—whoops, claps, laughs, and amen's—rose from the congregation at that.

"Please, don't hold back any more. Jesus desires so much to call you His bride! He came to earth and died on that cross just so you could be with Him forever! He loves you so much…" Carter said, his voice soft. Karen knew he was talking to the entire congregation, yet it felt like he was talking straight to her. He felt his eyes stop on her many times.

"He'd do it a million times over just to be with you. He would be crucified that many times and then some just to call you His bride. Please let your heart be softened. Do not hold back any longer. He calls for you now. Make the choice. Don't look back. Following our Lord is better than anything this world can offer." Soft amen's and head nods followed those words.

"I don't want to embarrass you, and neither does He. But I'm going to ask those who desire to respond to God's wondrous call to raise your hand. In a moment, I'm going to ask you to come to the front so that I can meet with you in person and lead you through the beginnings of salvation.

"And to those who still doubt, look at my wall and you shall see a Certificate of Death. It's my own, but God, in His perfect mercies, raised me up so that I could shepherd you further in your walk."

To say that Karen wanted to raise her hand would be an understatement. She wanted to raise her hand, jump up and down, and be the first to run to the front. She wanted to have what these people, these Christians, had. The peace in their eyes. The joy in their voices. The spring in their step.

But something held her back. Something deep inside her stopped her in her tracks. She was too scared of the pain that might come with the Christian faith. What if she found that it was all wrong after this moment? She was sure it would shatter her. To put your faith in something and then have it collapse was a pain she had no desire to feel again. Too many times had she done that and too many times had she been hurt.

So, she didn't move from her seat. Instead, she watched as a few raised their hands. "Thank you, God… thank you so much…" Carter said softly, hardly even picked up by the small microphone clipped to his shirt.

Karen felt Jack's eyes settle on her, but she did not dare meet him with her own. It would have probably been too much for her to bear. So she just watched, almost longingly, as the few that had boldly proclaimed their own desire walked to the front to meet with the pastor.

The sounds of music instruments and the singers that made up the worship team filled the sanctuary and Carter, along with those that went forward, walked into his personal study where he would instruct them in the ways of God…

After the service, Jack found himself in a painful situation. Deciding to go to Pastor Carter for prayer, he knocked on his office door softly. It was almost an hour after the service and the people with the pastor had long since left.

The door opened and Pastor Carter grinned at him. "What a response! There were seven people who came forward, Jack!" He was obviously still on an emotional high after the service.

"Yeah…" Jack said solemnly, unable to feel Carter's joy at the moment.

"Jack? Are you all right? Come in my office." Jack did so and sat down heavily in one of the red leather chairs that adorned the pastor's office. "What is it, Jack?"

"I… It's Karen. I had so expected something to happen with her today! I begged God for hours last night about it! And after those prayers, I truly felt like God had answered my prayer! I felt like God told me that today would be the day…"

"Ahh… I understand that. Many times I tried to connect with her, glancing at her from time to time. I'll be honest with you; nearly my entire message was made in hopes of winning her over for God. I would have never suspected having seven others come forward but for her to stay behind! I guess God's still working on her…"

"So, you think it's not over just yet?" Jack asked, a bit more hope in his voice.

"Far from it, my friend. Far from it…"