I found religion when I was young (fourteen in fact). It came as a bit of a surprise to my parents who only occasionally went to church. But, being good people they supported my decision to attend St. John's every Sunday. It wasn't quite so easy at school, where natural prejudices spurred people to make fun of me. But that was OK, because I felt joyful that I could ignore and even pity their attempts to make me feel the odd one out.
Franklin came to the church as a stand-in for our own vicar who had had to go into hospital for a heart operation. He was young -- well, relatively speaking. At twenty eight, he was ten years older than me, but compared to most of the men and women of religion I had come across he was very youthful.
I'd never contemplated entering the church myself, but some spark seemed to ignite when I was introduced to Frank and suddenly the idea of becoming a vicar's wife seemed to be the natural route for me to go. It started when he held a small tea party at the vicarage for the leading members of the congregation. I had been invited as a representative of the younger generation. Towards the end of the gathering, he asked me if it would be possible to "get together" to discuss ways that we might be able to attract young people to the church. Naturally I agreed.
The next Wednesday evening I turned up at 7.30pm as requested and Frank welcomed me in with a smile. We sat down on the sofa together and talked about the apathy that was shown by most people in the parish and how it could be countered. If I'm honest, I didn't really have many ideas, but this good looking man seemed to be full of them. The idea of holding a youth quiz night in the church hall was a simple one (which even I could have come up with), but he had already been to the nearest town and persuaded the manager of the sports shop there to provide some vouchers as prizes.
It turned out that I had a natural flair for organising such things. In reality, I just told people what I wanted them to do and they did it. The event was a success. We didn't expect to persuade anyone to attend services as a result, but it helped to put the church back in people's minds. By the time that Reverend Ted returned to his duties I was meeting with Frank almost every day. I enjoyed being in his company; he was handsome, kind, gentle, intelligent, a little shy but when he relaxed he was witty and amusing. Alas, it finally became time for him to leave and on his last day before departing for a permanent post in Devon, I was feeling very down.
I'd gone around to the vicarage to say goodbye, but when I got there the minicab had already arrived. Frank signalled to the driver to wait a minute. He took me by the hand (the first physical contact we had made since the initial handshake two months before) and led me back into the hallway.
"Look," he said. "I've never done anything like this before so I'm just going to dive right in. Will you marry me?"
It took some seconds for the meaning of his words to break through.
"Yes," I replied, knowing that it was what I had wanted for some time. "But, we've never even kissed!"
He pushed the door shut and wrapped his arms around me.
"I guess now is as good a time as any to put that right"
It was a simple kiss, but it seemed to last an eternity. Even then, he broke away far too soon.
"I've got to go. I'll call you when I get there."
I walked with him to the car, pecked him on the cheek and waved goodbye as the vehicle pulled away.
*****
It wasn't easy to see each other very often, being separated by over two hundred miles. I was still learning to drive and the train fares were not very cheap. But when we did meet we spent half our time planning the wedding and the other half wrapped in each other's arms. Oh, there was no sex -- we had agreed that we would save that for the wedding night. But I can't deny that I had strong feelings -- urges -- when were kissing. I often wished that his hands would roam, just a little, so that I could gently chide him with a friendly smile. But he was far too well behaved.
The wedding itself took place back home. Frank could have got the bishop to perform the ceremony, but I insisted that it should be Reverend Ted, who I had known since I was a little girl.
My father had gone to town, using a lot of his savings to give me the wedding I "deserved". When I arrived at the church with him - in a ribbon-bedecked Rolls Royce - the place was packed. I thought I knew all of the arrangements -- after all, I had planned them - but it seems that other people wanted to add little touches. I'd arranged for flowers around the sides of the church, but there were bouquets on the end of every other pew a well. The whole place was alive with colour and perfume. I had never seen it like this before.
The service itself seemed to go at a hundred miles an hour. Before I knew it I was saying, "I will".
When we emerged from the traditional flint-walled church, the bright spring sunshine broke through and bathed the entrance with warmth and light. The photographs took about half an hour; the last containing all of the guests and all of the people who had attended the church service. There were over two hundred in all.
The Wedding breakfast was held at the church hall next door, so out short walk was between an avenue of well-wishers throwing rice and confetti. The numbers attending the meal were limited due to the building's size, but once again people had decorated it magnificently. It seemed that people liked both me and Frank and wanted to show their appreciation for his short stay in the parish.
After the meal, the tables and chairs were moved to the sides and the DJ started warming up his equipment. The new Reverend and Mrs Black went around chatting to each of our guests in turn. By the time we finished, it was gone 11pm and time for us to drive to the hotel that we were staying in for the night, before heading off on honeymoon. Not surprisingly, the car had been decorated too. We had to stop half a mile away I order to untie the strings of tin cans that had been attached to the rear. We weren't so much embarrassed as worried that we might wake people up.
My wedding dress was simple, so rather than changing I travelled in it. Then we walked into our room we stopped and looked at each other.
"Um. I guess I hadn't really thought what happens at this bit," he said with a rueful smile.
"Me neither." Only now did I start to think about what was supposed to occur. I felt a little scared, but at the same time really very excited.
"Would you like me to undress in front of you?" I asked.
Frank's face was a picture. He managed to catch himself before he smiled to widely, but I could see (what I later came to understand was) lust in his eyes.
He muttered a strangled, "Yes."
