Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: ARROW (11/17/22)
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TITLE: The Love Arrow | Previous Challenge Entry
By Louis Detweiler
11/23/22 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
My darling, the horses are waiting for you at the stable
across from Constitution Square. I will meet you at midnight.
The voyage to Virginia is secure. We set sail in the morning
on high tide.
All my love, always.
Your faithful,
Benjamin.
She pressed the note deep to her breast. Her smile in the morning mist didn’t go unnoticed by her father watching from the other side of the garden.
Mr. Johnson called out to Martha’s maidservant. “Mary, Martha received a message on an arrow shot in the garden. It gave Martha great joy. When Martha takes her bath, find the message in her clothes and tell me what it says. There will be a reward for you.”
“Yes, sir.”
At lunch, the maidservant repeated what the letter stated to Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson quickly summoned his wife and Martha to the dining room table. “Martha, what is the meaning of this? You are leaving to go to Virginia tomorrow without telling your mother and I.”
Martha replied, “I love Benjamin. We are planning to elope. His indenture is over. He has a good profession as a cordwainer. His brother runs a newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia. Benjamin will work with his brother in the printing business while making shoes and attending law school.”
Ms. Johnson, “Martha, be reasonable. We have a respectable family. You don’t want to lose your position in the community. You can’t go. Wait and marry a man with a position and land.”
Martha, “I knew you would say I couldn’t go. That is why we decided to elope. I love you Mom, but please, Benjamin is all I want.”
Mr. Johnson sternly looked at Martha. “We have devoted our lives to make your future secure, darling. Please don’t disappoint us. Let us meet with Benjamin. If he is sincere about his desire to attend law school and will work diligently in the printing business, I will give him a chance.”
Martha ran up to her father and hugged him. “I will bring Benjamin over this afternoon. I love you.”
Martha quickly ran out the front door to the stable to draw up a carriage.
Ms. Johnson eyed Mr. Johnson, “I hate you. You want her to marry a cordwainer. That family is nothing but dirt. They don’t even have a wooden floor in their shop. What do I have in common with that family? I will be the laughingstock of Philadelphia.”
“No. We will be the laughingstock of Philadelphia. I already know Benjamin. He is honorable. He attends our church at St. Paul. He teaches Indians about Christ and helps their children learn to read and write. That is how he met Martha. Evidently, they taught him to shoot with bow and arrow.”
Ms. Johnson, “What are we to do?”
Mr. Johnson, “Pray. Our Lord says, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mk. 9:23, NIV).
Ms. Johnson opened the door for Benjamin, “Please come in. We want to talk with you. Mr. Johnson is waiting in the dining room.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With the four of them seated at the dining room table, Mr. Johnson began, “We can provide an opportunity for you here in Philadelphia. Please don’t take our daughter to Virginia.”
Benjamin, “I love Martha. I want to marry her. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Mr. Johnson, “I know your father is a shoemaker. You have humble beginnings, but this is a new country where we can rise above our station in life.”
Benjamin, “Yes sir.”
Mr. Johnson, “I will pay your tuition to attend law school and help you secure a position with the Philadelphia Gazette newspaper.”
Martha, “Dad, you really mean it?”
Mr. Johnson, “Benjamin must do his part. He must pass the law board exam and pull his weight on the staff at the newspaper. There will be no marriage until he passes the law board.”
Benjamin, “We will not go to Virginia. With God’s help, I will be a lawyer here. ”
Benjamin and Martha walk out of the dining room arm in arm.
Ms. Johnson, “What happened?”
Mr. Johnson, “He had pity on poor Indian children. He has a good heart. If God is with him, we will find out. At least we still have Martha.”
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