Historical Setting, 629 C.E. The thatched house behind Annegray
This is the prayer of our priest intended for blessing this meal.
“Holy One, invisible but present, notice in our hearts the love that bonds family, while we also become aware of our ever-new places within these generations. Bless this food, shared, that it may be an earthly sign of spiritual strengthening as we are always reaching wider arms for love. As one of us at this table walked with the man, Jesus, let us all walk in the Jesus love. Amen.”
After the “amen” and the silence following it, Mater Doe starts the conversation. “Ana, it is so nice you and Laz could take this time to visit all your children.”
“It was nice of Greg to loan us the horses.”
I know what is really on Ana’s mind. I mention, “We are thinking of Hannah, the only one we haven’t seen since the wedding. That fellow who was eyeing her…”
Gaia answers, “Vizsla! Yes! He was very close to us as we journeyed here.”
Brandell explains, “Close to us is exactly the right way to say it. He was the third person assigned to our two-person tent. And I have to say, Hannah and Vizsla are a holy match for one another – both because they are intensely devoted to the healing arts – and both are brilliant, but maybe not wise and not the least concerned with blending into the social fabric. His obsessive health projects ostracized him from his own, the Avar Guard, so we ended up with him in our tent.”
I ask, “And how did that work out, Brandell?”
“Yes, not well, it stifled our passion. With all that oversight I might have married a virgin.”
Gaia is concerned, “What? Who?”
Ana rescues the awkward chatter, “Gaia, Brandell just said that rudely. We don’t need an explanation.”
“Yes, Brandell, there are some things you don’t have to explain, poet that you are.” I added.
“Sorry Gaia,” Brandell says, “But how does one talk about social awkwardness without being socially awkward? And Vizsla is awkward, always the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Unless you are a wounded soldier, then he is a hero.”
As a father worries, my concern is for Hannah. “So why is Hannah missing after his focus of attention on her at your wedding?”
“Why do you suppose, Papa?” asks Brandell.
Gaia adds, “Not to worry, they went to the vintner’s inn on the river for a little chance to find some quiet time together.”
“Oh.”
(Continues Tuesday, July 30, 2024)
Lazarus Ink 