Patch Goes to Church
A Diversion
Anna Jolley was tying a bow into Charlotte’s hair when she heard the creak of harness leather and horses’ hooves. She looked out the bedroom door to see her husband, Frank step onto the porch and wave for Sam and Matilda Benson to come into the house. When they entered, Frank offered them the only seats in the house, the chairs at the kitchen table. The Benson’s were just sitting down when five-year-old Henry bounded into the room. He stopped short when he saw the older couple.
“Say hello to the Bensons,” Frank prompted his son.
“Huh, hello,” Henry said as he slipped behind Frank.
“What’s your name?” Sam asked.
The boy’s fresh washed face peered out from behind his father’s legs. “Henry,” he whispered.
“That’s a fine name,” Matilda said. “I have a brother named Henry. Henry Sparrow. He runs the dry goods store in Franklin.”
Anna led Charlotte into the room. “Oh, isn’t she lovely,” said Matilda. “I remember when my Clara was a little girl like her. I loved to tie ribbons in her hair, but she didn’t like them much. She was an adventurous child and would pull them out and go climb trees with her brothers.”
“Don’t give the girl ideas,” Sam said.
“I didn’t intend to,” Matilda said. “Clara grew up and has a couple of girls of her own. One of them is like she was as a child. The other is a very refined girl.”
“Do they live nearby?” Anna asked.
“Oh, no, they live in Salt Lake City. Her husband’s a lawyer. We don’t get to see them very often.”
There was a light tap on the door, and it opened. Earl, Frank’s brother, and his wife, Elizabeth, stepped into the room. “Well, we’re all here,” said Frank. “We better be on our way.”
Their three wagons were joined by others as they traveled the road to Franklin. Many of the occupants of the other wagons were curious about the new families that had moved into the old Morgan place on Sugar Creek and jockeyed their wagons close enough to get a look at the newcomers. They could hardly wait to arrive at the church to find out about them.
Frank, Earl, and Sam secured the wagons and helped their families down. A tall thin man that Sam referred to as Bishop Rawlins met them and directed the women and children to the bowery behind the church. The men went inside the rock building for Priesthood meeting.
Matilda introduced Anna and Elizabeth to the women who were gathered in the bowery. Neither woman could remember the names of everyone they were introduced to but tried to make pleasant conversation with each one.
“This is a nice bowery,” Anna commented. “It is such a pleasant place to sit while the men are in their meeting.”
“Yes, it is,” said Harriet Sparrow. “When we first moved here, the bowery was the only church building we had. It worked well from late spring to early fall, but we had to do something before winter came. The men started building the rock church, but winter came long before it was ready, so we met in our store. We were crowded in like sardines in a can, but we were still able to meet.”
Charlotte tugged at Anna’s sleeve. “Can we go play?”
“You may play, but please do not soil your clothing.” Charlotte nodded and ran to play dragging Henry along with her.
“Children do love to play,” said one of the women. Anna tried to place her name but couldn’t remember if it were Sister Smith, Young, or Taylor. She knew it was the name of one of the past presidents of the church, but she was not sure which one.
“Yes, they do,” said Anna as she turned to face the woman. “Oh, please remind me of your name.”
“Alice Taylor,” the woman said.
“Of course. Do you have children?”
“Three. The oldest is in Priesthood meeting with his father. That girl over there in the yellow dress is Margaret. My younger son is the one climbing the tree. He turned eight last week and was baptized.”
“Charlotte is eight,” said Anna. “She was baptized the week before we moved from Utah.”
“What part of Utah did you come from?”
“The Ogden area. My husband worked for the railroad, but he has always wanted to farm.”
“You must be the ones who bought the Morgan place then.”
“Yes, we are.”
“I hope you have better luck than the last owners. We never got to know them because they stayed for such a brief time. They bought the farm from the Morgans. We hated to see the Morgans go, but they couldn’t stay after Sister Morgan became ill and Brother Morgan had his accident.”
Elizabeth listened to the conversation without joining in. She began to wonder if the property was cursed since the previous two owners were forced to leave the land behind. She tried to put the thought out of her mind. There was no such thing as curses, but she was troubled.
The men emerged from the rock church, and Elizabeth rushed to Earl’s side. She always found comfort in being close to him and she let him lead her into the building. Each man gathered his family and led them into Sunday School. At the entrance to the church, a narrow stairway led to the basement. A grandmotherly woman stood at the doorway and directed the children down the steep stairs.
When Charlotte and Henry approached, the woman stopped them. “This is your first time with us,” she said. “My name is Sister Glover, and what are your names?”
“My name is Charlotte Jolley, and I’m eight.”
Sister Glover turned to Henry. “You have a name I suppose.”
“Sure, I have a name. It’s Henry Jolley.”
“How old are you, Henry?”
“I’m five.”
“We are glad to have you in Sunday School with us,” said Sister Glover as she led them to the portable pews. She directed them to sit with their respective classes.
Henry was seated next to a girl with pigtails. He wished he were sitting next to a boy, so he climbed over the girl’s legs and plopped down next to a boy about his size. “I’m Henry,” he said.
“I’m William,” the boy said, “but everybody calls me Billy.”
Sister Glover stood at the front of the room. “Welcome to Sunday School,” she said. “We have two new members of our Sunday School with us today. Charlotte and Henry will you please stand?” The children stood. “This is Charlotte and Henry Jolley. I hope you will make them feel welcome in our Sunday School.” Everyone in the room looked at the Jolley children. Henry hurriedly sat back down, but Charlotte looked around the room and waved. The other children giggled.
“Now we will begin by singing Come, Come, Ye Saints and then Maude will offer the opening prayer,” said Sister Glover.
After Sunday School, the Jolleys and the Bensons met at the bowery. The men brought the lunches the women had packed from the wagons, and they sat on the grass under the trees. Henry and Harriett Sparrow joined them for the meal.
“So, you are my namesake,” Brother Sparrow said to Henry.
“Your what?” Henry asked.
“Namesake. It means you have the same name as me.”
“Oh, I guess so.”
“How was Sunday School?”
“Fine.”
“You are a man of few words,” Brother Sparrow said. “Say, do you have a dog?”
“No, but Pa said we could get one someday.”
“Good, because my dog had puppies, and they are old enough to be on their own now.” Brother Sparrow excused himself and returned about ten minutes later with a box. He set the box down and pulled back the blanket. Henry’s eyes lit up. Inside were six puppies.
“You can have the pick of the litter,” Brother Sparrow said.
Henry looked at his parents. When they nodded affirmatively, he studied each puppy carefully. As Henry reached into the box, a black puppy with a white patch around its left eye licked Henry’s hand. The bond was instant, and Henry lifted the puppy out of the box and snuggled it close to his body.
“What are you going to name her?” Frank asked.
“I am going to call her Patch,” Henry said. For the rest of the afternoon, Henry and Patch were inseparable.
“It’s time for Sacrament Meeting,” Frank said. “Let’s leave the puppy at Brother Sparrow’s store until after the meeting.”
Henry reluctantly agreed and walked with Brother and Sister Sparrow to the store to leave Patch. Henry carefully placed the puppy back into the box with the rest of the litter. Patch whimpered and tried to climb out of the box. Henry reached down to pet her.
“Big Henry,” Harriet called not wanting to confuse the two Henrys. “I need you to help me for a minute.”
“I’ll be right there,” Brother Sparrow said leaving little Henry alone with the litter.
As soon as Brother Sparrow left the room, Henry bent down and picked up Patch. He slipped her under his coat and whispered, “If you’ll be quiet, I will take you to the meeting.” Henry buttoned his coat all the way to his neck.
“Come along, Harriett. We’ll be late for the meeting,” Brother Sparrow said. Harriet took Henry by one hand. With the other, he kept Patch from sliding out of his coat. They hurried down the street to the chapel and slipped into the pew beside the Jolleys and the Bensons just as Bishop Rawlins stood to begin the meeting.
Henry sat quietly during the sacrament portion of the meeting, and Patch slept quietly tucked under his coat through the first speaker. When the second speaker started quoting passages from Isaiah, Henry lost interest. He began to fidget in his seat and drew a disapproving look from his mother. He made his most contrite face and she looked away. When he could see that no one was watching him, he opened his coat just enough to peer at the sleeping puppy. The movement awakened Patch who began to whimper. Henry hurriedly closed his coat, but now the puppy was awake there was no silencing her.
The speaker cleared his throat and looked down at Henry as Patch’s whimpering grew louder. Frank stood up and grabbed Henry by the hand. Henry tried to hold the coat around Patch, but she leaped free and ran toward the front of the chapel. Henry broke free from his father’s grasp and ran after Patch. Frank ran after Henry. The speaker glared at them as they ran in front of the pulpit with Patch leading the way. The congregation snickered. Henry scooped up Patch, and Frank scooped up Henry and carried them out of the chapel. As they left, the speaker started right back into the passage of scripture without missing a word.
“Why did you bring Patch to sacrament meeting? I told you to leave her at the Sparrow’s store,” Frank said as he sat Henry down on the steps.
“She was lonely.”
“Well, we can’t go back in with her, so we’ll just have to sit here and listen to the speaker.”
Henry screwed up his face. “Why can’t he tell Bible stories that are interesting like you and Mama do?”
Frank tousled Henry’s hair. “Not all Bible stories are as exciting as David and Goliath, but they are all important.”
When the meeting ended, Frank helped Anna onto the wagon seat and got Charlotte and Henry seated on blankets in the box. Henry held Patch in his arms and stroked her back. Frank pulled the wagon onto the road and waited for Earl and Elizabeth and the Bensons. They soon pulled their wagons behind his and they set out for home.
“What do you think we should do about Henry bringing his puppy into church?” Anna asked.
“I think he learned a lesson, and so did I.”
“What kind of a lesson could you learn from chasing a puppy around the chapel?”
“There are more interesting things than listening to Brother Jacobs, drone on about the Old Testament.”
“Oh, Frank,” she said looking over her shoulder into the box of the wagon. “Don’t let your son hear you say that.”
“I think he already knows.”
