The first of three episodes a new series about Fr. Alfred, Vicar of St. Dunstan's. Categorizing these episodes is tough, since there isn't a "Dramedy" category on this site. Suggestions for future episodes are welcome, if you'd like to see more of Fr. Alfred and his flock.
The Quilting Ladies
The tri-weekly run ended with a sprint across the high street to the steps of St. Dunstan's as Charlotte Church sang _Panis Angelicus_ from my iPod. I looked at my watch and was satisfied: a good time and a good workout. The day was bright and wet in the mid-morning, but it was already getting a bit steamy. "At least it's not like Kansas," I said to no one in particular, and entered the door to the church basement.
The basement hallway was cooler, but that would change soon. It reminded me of stale church basements of my youth in Western Kansas near Hays; the clamminess that competed with the summer's swelter and highlighted the winter's frigidity. England was different, and I loved it. Ten years ago I was ordained an Episcopal Priest for the Diocese of Topeka, and five years ago I had the chance to do graduate study at Oxford. Within a year, I'd attained resident status and transferred to the Church of England: an Anglophile's dream. Everything about this country was a dream, and only a couple of missing pieces kept my joy from being complete.
Now, I'm thirty five, and not in bad shape. I'm around 6'1", 185 pounds with dark brown hair and long sensitive fingers. My childhood dentist said I could have been a musician, and I followed that star for a while before taking the dog collar.
St. Dunstan's was a working class, High Church parish, ideal for me. The people weren't quite as eccentric as British sitcoms such as
The Vicar of Dibley
or
Father Ted
, but they were honest, direct and good hearted folks who tolerated most quirks in each other and in me. I had been their Vicar for four years, and we'd settled into a comfortable rhythm of life.
The Quilting Ladies were at work in their special room. It was spacious and airy, containing several large wooden forms and rolling chairs to ease the detail work. The quilts went to the elderly and infirm of the parish; the Quilting Ladies were a hoot to hang around with. I pulled a bottle of water from the basement kitchen refrigerator and took it into the Quilting Room with me, looking forward to an amusing interlude.
"Hiya, Vicar. How's it going?"
"Hello, Vic."
"Father Alfred, so good to see you."
"Hi, ladies, what's news?"
There were three at work on a quilt that morning: Mavis Hazelton, a plump, medium height lady whose dark hair was almost completely surrendering to grey: Sheila Button, a tall, thin, handsome woman in her mid-sixties whose blond hair was progressing to silver with dignity; Mary Sterns, a medium height, perfectly proportioned, bottle red head of sixty who looked fifteen years younger. They were dressed in average working clothes: their feet were bare as their shoes rested nearby, Mary and Sheila had on Arsenal t-shirts and jeans; Mavis wore a sleeveless dress that was cool, and exposed a significant amount of her cleavage. These three could keep me in stitches for hours. Mavis was on the far side of the quilt, while Mary and Sheila were near me as I stood beside the work. These women were always around and this was a small parish, so they took care of everything: cleaning the church, cooking for me, counting the collection, dusting the vicarage. We hit it off right away on my arrival and I was inordinately fond of them, but a fondness that could never be expressed directly, or so I thought. Mary began: "Who's in your ears today, Vicar? Rutter, Vaughn Williams, or C. Hubert H. Parry?"
There were few secrets around St. Dunstan's. "A change of pace, Charlotte Church."
"Lovely young lass," Mavis chimed in.
Sheila nodded, "And such a lovely voice. Pity about those pictures they took of her on the beach."
"Pity. And we didn't even see that much of her," Mary commented.
I smirked: "Well, if I thought too much about what she looked like, it would be difficult to run,." The three ladies laughed heartily.
"We were wondering about that earlier this morning, Vicar." Sheila queried. "You're not gay, are you?"
The directness of the question took me aback. "No, I'm not," I stammered. "I thought having Janet here the first couple of years should have answered that question."
Mary shook her head: "You never know, Vic, you never know. The Reverend Stokely, your predecessor, had a wife and two daughters here with him."
"Lovely girls, both grew up to be accountants like their mother," Mavis interjected.
"And yet the talk of the parish was how he played Timothy and Niall off against each other for years while sleeping with both of them," Mary concluded.
Sheila looked wistful. "Timmy looked so lovely as thurifer every week, simply angelic in his cassock and lace surplice. He swung the censer with such grace, and he always used the sweetest incense. Model of devotion on the altar, and supervised the altar boys so well."
"Where did the Reverend Stokely end up again?" asked Mavis.
I jumped in: "He was elevated to suffergan bishop in Northumberland, don't remember exactly which diocese. A friend put in a word; Timothy went with him."
"Ah yes, I remember that Mrs. Stokely was so thrilled at becoming a bishop's wife," Mavis said.
"She had a bigger orgasm that day than when her Steph married a Doctor, she did," Mary observed, to vast amusement of all. "You girls remember the old limerick about Anglican Priests, don't you?
There once was a lad from Devon,
who one night was laid by Seven.
They were Anglican Priests,
lascivious beasts,
for, such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
I took a sip from my water bottle; the girls were in good form today. They took a couple of stitches: the pattern was simple, yet elegant, with vibrant colors. Mary took up the next general area of discussion: "You are getting along all right with Niall, aren't you, Vicar?"
"Yes, sure. He does a fantastic job playing the organ for liturgies, and the choir has never sounded better. We have a good, professional working relationship. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to keep him as long as he wants to stay, even though we can't afford a Curate because of it."
"Good for you, Vicar," Mary said while bending over her work, "We like him, too, he's a sweet boy. We like you, too, Vicar. You're just like us: down to earth and your heart's in the right place. Lovely services and I could listen to your sermons all day." There was a few more moments of silence before a topic was resumed.
Mavis opened the subject. "It's a shame that nice little Charlotte Church wants to be such a tramp."
"Sheila, your Bert said at the Pub the other day he'd teach her a new high note or two," Mary said.