Wild Heart on the Prairie (A Prairie Heritage, Book 2) (20 page)

“
Ja
, let us help you do that,” Jan answered.

The two young men, brushing off Jan’s offer, lifted a few
boxes and a heavy trunk from the wagon and placed them on the ground. “This is
everything,” Ernst growled. “We have to leave now so that we are home on time.”

Jan nodded and the boys clambered up onto the wagon’s bench.
Ernst kept his eyes facing forward, but Jan saw his jaw working.

Ach, Lord! These poor young men!
Jan lamented.

He and Søren made short work of bringing Heidi’s things into
the house; they set them on her bedroom floor. After they left, Heidi went into
her room and closed the door.

That night after dinner, Heidi requested to speak to Jan and
Amalie privately again, but of course their conversation required Søren.

She cradled an old Bible on her lap. “
Herr
Thoresen,
I am thanking God that my grandsons brought Tomas’ Bible—our family Bible—to me
today. I was afraid Adolphe would not send it!”

Jan nodded. “It must be precious to you.”

“
Ja
, but what is inside is more precious!”

“What can be more precious than God’s word, eh?” Jan smiled.

Heidi opened the large Bible and offered Jan a shrewd grimace.
“Of course nothing is more precious than God’s word, but perhaps my grandsons’
future is also important?”

On the table in front of her was a small, sharp knife. She placed
the heavy Bible on the table, picked up the knife and, with care, began to
slice between the back cover and the stiff paper glued to it. Amalie and Søren
leaned forward, intrigued.

From between the outside and inside covers Heidi withdrew a
thin sheet of paper. She handed it to Søren. “Read, please?”

Søren struggled with the fine script and formal German words.
“
Letzter Wille und Testament?
”

“
Ja
,” Heidi whispered. “Tomas’ will.”

Søren pored over the paper. “This says that Tomas leaves the
sum of one hundred dollars to Adolphe but gives his homestead to his son
Dieter. And that you may live there the rest of your life.”

“Read on, Søren,” Heidi urged.

“But if Dieter dies . . . before this will is
in effect, then the homestead goes to his sons, Ernst and Frank Veicht?”

“That is right,” Heidi affirmed. “Ernst and Frank are
Dieter’s sons. The homestead now belongs to them.”

She turned to Jan. “You saw how beaten down my grandsons
are,
ja
? Do you think if I had revealed this paper to Adolphe after
Tomas died it would have survived?”

Jan slowly shook his head and Heidi leaned toward him. “
Herr
Thoresen, I need your help. Ernst is now twenty-one years old. He can inherit.
When you go to ask forgiveness, will you read this before the church? It must
be read before all or I fear Adolphe will find a way to destroy it.”

Ah, Lord!
Jan groaned inside.

~~**~~

Jan relinquished precious plowing time the next morning to
visit Henrik, Norvald, and Rikkert. He took with him Heidi and Tomas’ family
Bible and Tomas’ will.

When Henrik understood what Jan proposed to do, he joined
him and rode with him to Norvald’s farm. The three of them then drove to
Rikkert and Duna’s farm.

Rikkert’s face paled when Jan told him what he would do on
Sunday. “Ah, Jan! It will go badly, don’t you think?” He licked his lips and
frowned.

Jan studied his friend. “Rikkert, I say this to you as a brother,
with these men as witnesses. You were ordained as an elder in the church—but
you have neglected your duty to God and our congregation. Your silence has
allowed many wrong things to happen.”

Rikkert winced and his expression saddened. “I know,” he whispered.
“I know.”

Norvald placed his hand on Rikkert’s shoulder. “It is never
too late to do the right thing, my brother. And we will pray the Lord to give
you the courage to do the right thing when the time comes,
ja
?”

“Norvald will interpret for me, but I wish you to come with
me Sunday,” Jan murmured later to Søren. “I wish you to witness my repentance,
but I leave the decision to you. I tell you now that it will be difficult for
you to watch. I have promised the Lord that I will be humble and gentle. I will
not speak in anger to Minister Veicht, no matter what is said.”

Søren looked away and considered Jan’s request. “I will
come.”

Jan clapped him on the back. “
Gut
, my
sønn
.
Then shall we pray together about it?”

Søren nodded.

Service was almost over; Adolphe was concluding his teaching
when Rikkert, who was sitting near the back of the men’s side, stood and walked
across the room to the door. When he opened it, Jan, Søren, Norvald, and Henrik
quietly entered.

Adolphe paused mid-sentence. “You! You are not welcome
here!”

The congregation began murmuring, and some repeated
Adolphe’s words.

“I have come to ask forgiveness,” Jan said just loud enough
for all to hear him. Norvald immediately repeated his words in German.

“So! You have come to repent, have you?” Adolphe’s face was
red, but he seemed to embrace the idea of Jan humbling himself.

“May I speak to the church?” Jan asked.

Adolphe studied Jan for several seconds.

“Let him speak!” one of the men called. A murmur of assent
went around the room.

Adolphe thought for a moment more. “I wish the elders to
come forward,” he directed. “
Herr
Thoresen, you will come and kneel in
front of us to make your confession.”

Søren gasped, but Jan gripped his arm. “Be quiet,
Sønn
,”
was his stern instruction.

Jan, followed by Norvald, walked to the front. Jan knelt,
facing the people; Norvald stood to the side.

“I ask forgiveness of you all,” he said quietly. “When I was
last here, I allowed my temper to speak. My temper brought strife and division
to this church. Some who left and some of you here are still angry. The Bible
says strife, discord, and division are works of the flesh.”

Behind him, Adolphe was nodding his head.

Jan continued. “I ask your forgiveness for the words I spoke
in anger. I ask your forgiveness for not handling the situation regarding me
and my brother’s wife better. If I had spoken privately with the elders and
Herr
Veicht, there would have been no public strife.

“I have asked forgiveness of my family and my brother’s
wife. I will ask forgiveness of those who have left the church. I will ask them
to put away their anger and bitterness so that it will not lead to sin.

“I now ask your forgiveness for the strife my angry words
caused. Will you forgive me? Will you also put away your anger?” Jan’s words were
spoken earnestly; he looked most of the men in the eye as he spoke. Many of
them nodded in response.

Jan got to his feet. “I would also request the opportunity
to speak to
Herr
Veicht and the elders on another issue. I would not
speak of it openly, but in private.”

“What! You are done? You do not ask forgiveness of me?”
Adolphe asked, his voice rising. “You disrespected my office and stole my
mother’s affections! These are great offenses!”

“I am sorry for the discord between you and your mother.
Perhaps we can speak of that privately?” Jan answered, his voice still quiet.

“
Nein!
” Adolphe roared. “Anything you wish to say
will be said in the open. And you will not receive this congregation’s
forgiveness until your repentance is complete! You have disrespected my office.
You have broken family ties. These things are great sins!”

Jan sighed. “If I had done those things, I would ask
forgiveness. Perhaps you and I can speak of our trespasses to each other privately?”

“You can speak of nothing to me privately!” Adolphe scoffed.
“I am the minister here. I have not transgressed against you; it is you who has
transgressed against me and my office.”

Jan looked at the floor for several moments. “Then,
respectfully, I must also repent of something else. I repent of not speaking up
earlier, when Tomas died and you took on the office of minister.”

He sighed. “I now bring to the congregation’s attention that
the charter of this church was broken after Tomas passed.” Norvald translated
Jan’s words as quickly as he spoke them.

“According to the charter, a new lay minister must be
brought before the congregation by the elders and approved by a vote. This was
not done. In assuming the leadership of the church without following the
charter, I am obliged to say that you erred,
Herr
Veicht.”

Jan’s tone was gentle and even, but Adolphe blustered at his
words. “More disrespect! You have not come to ask forgiveness but to stir up
more discord!”

Jan, as though Adolphe had not spoken, now turned to the
elders. “I call upon the elders to affirm if Adolphe was correctly installed as
the lay minister of this church.”

He looked first to Rikkert. “Rikkert Kappel. Was Adolphe
Veicht selected by the elders, approved by vote of the congregation, and publicly
ordained?”

Rikkert, his eyes glued to the back wall, spoke clearly. “He
was not selected by the elders, approved by the congregation, nor ordained. I,
too, must repent for allowing the charter to be broken. I ask forgiveness of
the church for shirking my duties as an elder of this church.”

Jan nodded. Klaus and Gunnar stared at Rikkert, their mouths
agape.

“And you, Gunnar Braun and Klaus Schöener,” Jan continued,
still in a gentle voice, “Did you also shirk your duties by not following the
charter of this church? Did you allow
Herr
Veicht to assume the
leadership of the church without following the regulations of the charter?”

A confusion of congregational murmuring and shouting by
Adolphe made it impossible to hear what Klaus and Gunnar said. It was Norvald
who thundered the words, “Silence! There must be
order
in the church
of God!”

He faced Klaus and Gunnar and repeated Jan’s question.
“Answer before the church, please,” he insisted.

To his credit, Gunnar answered. “I wish to speak—” he said
clearly.

The congregation quieted, but Adolphe shouted, “You will
not
speak! This is outrageous! Under a cloak of false repentance this, this
man
,”
he pointed a shaking finger at Jan, “has again brought strife into the house of
God! He must be removed, immediately!”

“Twice I asked to speak privately of these things,
nei
?”
Jan answered. “Twice you refused, even insisting that I speak of them openly.”

Adolphe pointed to several large men in the congregation.
“Remove this evildoer from us!”

“
Nein!
” Gunnar shouted into the din. “
Nein!
I
am an elder in this church, and I
will
speak!” He faced Adolphe. “You do
not have authority to silence an elder. You will listen,
Herr
Veicht.”

It was Adolphe’s turn to stare with his mouth open. Before
Adolphe could recover, Gunnar continued. “What
Herr
Thoresen and
Herr
Kappel say is true. We did not follow the charter—but is that oversight not
easily remedied? Can we not now vote on and ordain
Herr
Veicht as our
minister?”

“Would you not first need to bring back those who have left
over this issue and have them vote also?” Norvald asked.

“More importantly,” Jan inserted, “Should not the will of
Herr
Tomas Veicht be read first?”

Red-faced, Adolphe sputtered and started to protest.

“Hold. You are not the minister here yet,” Norvald
interrupted. “
Herr
Thoresen is right. The error began at Tomas’ funeral
when we were all grieving. His will was never read, and the charter was not
followed in filling his position.”

“Will?” Adolphe shouted. “What will? There is no will! As
his son, I inherited his property! There is no will that says otherwise!”

“
Ja
, there is,” Jan answered quietly.

Norvald motioned again for the congregation to quiet. “
Frau
Heidi Veicht has provided Tomas’ will. Do you wish to see it? To hear it
read?”

“This is a lie!” Adolphe protested. “There is no will! I
would know. I have searched and found nothing!”

“Because you did not know where Tomas placed it for
safekeeping,” Norvald replied. He held up Tomas’ family Bible. “Do you
recognize this?”

He showed it first to the three elders who all nodded their
recognition. Then he showed it to Adolphe who attempted to grab it out of
Norvald’s hands.

“This is not yours!” Adolphe roared. “How dare you steal
what is mine!”

“
Nein
,” Norvald answered, still in a calm,
authoritative voice. “This Bible belongs to
Frau
Heidi Veicht. You
yourself packed it and sent it to her by the hand of her grandsons, Ernst and
Frank Veicht.

“It is not
your
property but hers,” Norvald insisted.
“She asked
Herr
Thoresen and his son, Søren, to witness what we are about
to show you.”

He opened the book and gestured the three elders to gather
around. Holding it toward the congregation, Norvald separated the back cover.
“See this? Tomas glued the covers together. But first, Tomas placed his will
between them.”

A hush descended as Norvald pulled the single sheet from
between the pages. He showed it to the elders. “Is this the writing of Tomas
Veicht?”

“
Ja
,” answered Klaus. “I know it well.”

The other elders concurred. “It is Tomas’ writing.”

Adolphe attempted to wrest the sheet from Norvald, but Klaus
held up his hand. “Let all things be done decently and in order,
Herr
Veicht. If this is Tomas’ will, then we will read it aloud to the congregation.
You will hear it as we hear it,
ja
?”

He pointed to the front row bench. “Please sit down.”

“You do not tell me what to do!” Adolphe thundered.

But the three elders, in unison, pointed to the bench.

Rikkert added, “Until you are properly voted upon and
ordained by the congregation, it is only right that you take your seat and
allow us to perform our duties.”

Adolphe’s face paled. He turned to the congregation for
help, but the men were nodding their agreement with Rikkert. Slowly Adolphe
sank onto the bench.

By then, the elders had each scanned the short document. “I
did not know that!” Gunnar was astounded. “Did you know?” he asked Rikkert and
Klaus. They both shook their heads.

“Read the will!” a man in the congregation shouted. Others
agreed and said so.

Gunnar slowly read from the sheet. “
I, Tomas Veicht, do
bequeath the sum of one hundred dollars to my son Adolphe and, as is our
custom, bequeath the remainder of my property to my younger son Dieter Veicht
.”

“Dieter? He has a son named Dieter?” the words flew through
the congregation.

Adolphe jumped to his feet. “My brother Dieter died many
years ago! Almost twenty years ago! As the surviving son, the property is mine!”

“I am not finished!” Rikkert’s stern voice quieted the
church again. “No one will speak until I have finished reading,
ja
?” He
stared around the room, asserting his authority.

“The will continues,
If my son Dieter dies before me, I
bequeath my property equally to his two sons, Ernst and Frank Veicht, with the
stipulation that my wife, Heidi Veicht, be allowed to live out her days in
peace in the house we built together
. It is signed Tomas Veicht and witnessed
by two men.”

In the stunned silence that followed, Ernst Veicht slowly
stood. He stared at Adolphe, who was shaking his head back and forth.

“You are not my father?” he said incredulously. “My father
is this Dieter Veicht? Why have I never heard of him?”

His gaze turned to the elders, to Norvald and Jan. “Is this
so?
Herr
Thoresen? My grandmother affirms this?”

Norvald translated and Jan nodded. “
Ja
, she does.
Dieter was born to Tomas and Heidi three years after they adopted Adolphe. Your
father and your mother died when you were less than two years old and Frank was
but a baby.”

As Norvald translated Jan’s words, the hush over the
congregation melted away. Voices, both men’s and women’s, whispered, “Adopted?
Adolphe was adopted?” and “I never knew Tomas and Heidi had another son!”

All said this except one wizened, elderly woman. Slowly she
stood to her feet, leaning on her daughter. “Elders, I am a witness to these
events. May I speak?”

Rikkert and Gunnar looked at each other and then Klaus. “
Ja
,
Frau
Tokker.”

“I am ten years older than Heidi Veicht. My husband and I
came here from Ohio when Tomas and Heidi did. I remember when Adolphe’s parents
died and Tomas and Heidi took him in. I remember well when Dieter was born,
when he married, and when Ernst and Frank were born,” her papery voice shook
with age and emotion.