Fallen

Chapter Twenty-Nine

How the Settlement didn't wash away with the amount of rain that fell from the heavens was astonishing. The second day of the downpour, we remained inside the house. April's grandmothers took it upon themselves to teach me how to sew because I 'would need to mend shirts for my husband.' My future husband could mend his own god damn shirt because first, I wouldn't do it for him and second, I couldn't sew to save my life.

The following day the rain let up enough I could go to work. And thank god because I could not survive another day of learning how to sew and having April's father give me disapproval looks.

The third day, the clouds cleared, revealing an inviting blue sky. With the clear skies, the cold air came. It was now December and it would grow colder every day until February. Or that's what it was like back at home. Here in Seattle, I had no idea what their winter was like. Of course, I won't be here long enough to see.

Clapping dragged my eyes to the altar in the front of the church from the window where I watched the blue sky. The couple was announced man and wife, they turned to the rest of the people in the Settlement who sat in pews. Like the Hall, girls sat on one side and men on the other. The unmarried younger adults or older teenagers sat in the back while the children sat with their mothers.

Days ago, April told me that there would be a wedding. With this place being so odd, I thought the wedding would be bizarre, but it wasn't. It was a normal ceremony. The bride wore a white dress, the groom wore a black jacket and pants. There was a best man and a maid of honor. It was normal.

What wasn't normal was the difficulty of breathing. I rubbed my sweaty hands against the burgundy fabric of my dress. My 'Outing Dress' was a matching skirt and jacket. The jacket that had puffed sleeves and underneath that was a white shirt with frilly fabric near the buttons and down at the wrist. A long, thin piece of fabric was tied around my throat. It was an old western style tie. Most of the women and all of the men wore ties.

The second to worst thing of this outfit was underneath the white shirt, was a rib-cracking laced corset that April's gran had insisted on lacing up for me.

The absolute worst thing was the padding they put on top of my bottom so with the skirt on, my butt looked three times bigger. Icing on the cake though was the hat on top of my head. Underneath that, my short hair twisted into a bun.

The congregation stood as the couple walked down the aisle. Their expressions were not what I expected. I thought the bride would look terrified and the man proud of himself. But it was reversed. The bride was beaming, her smile infectious and moisture lining her eyes. The groom, he was grim-faced and walking in a trance.

Behind them walked the bride's parents. The father's eyes stared down the back of his new son-in-law's head as if daring the young man to make one wrong move. If I had that walking behind me, I would be terrified too.

Once out of the church, the congregation filed out. Like normal, the older men from the front went first. It took a few long minutes before April and I walked out.

Behind the hospital, on the open green grass, was a large white tent with several round tables placed underneath. The space was plain, it lacked life and color. I was at a wedding once before in Georgetown. There the wedding reception had been music, lights, and drinks. There was food sitting on a long table and a few men gathered in the corner with two violins, a cello, and a flute. But it didn't feel the same.

"Come this way." April pulled me towards the trees off to the side of the lawn. I remember them on my tour the first day. The clusters of trees were like a slice of a forest, it grew wall to wall, cutting off the cemetery that was in the corner of the Settlement on the other side. The tall oaks and maple trees with several other species I did not know, grew wild. They weren't planted there by humans, more like people had cleared the forest away from the section and left that bit alone. Underneath the canopy, tall grass grew but was stomped down by the many young people who mingled in the little area.