Favorite Wife Read Free

innocently back at me.
    â€œOh, great. I see you have the little terror again,” Franny muttered. “And I guess I’m supposed to hang on to her while you play the hymns. I guess it won’t kill me.”
    I whispered my thanks and walked toward the piano in my most ladylike fashion, sitting carefully on the edge of the bench, just as Grandma Maud LeBaron, my piano teacher and mother of the five LeBaron brothers, had taught me. I made sure my back was straight and my knees were together; then, arranging the skirt of my new dress to billow perfectly around me, I opened the hymnal and began to play. The people standing around the room visiting in little groups took their seats.

    Returning to the present, I glanced up for a moment. On the platform behind the pulpit sat Brother Joel, his legs crossed at the knees, a Bible opened on his lap. He’d been away from Colonia LeBaron for a few months, and his followers were excited to have him home. We looked to him to lead us to heaven.
    Next to Joel, and looking tanned and elegant in a white shirt and gray tie sat our church patriarch, Ervil LeBaron. The tallest of the five lanky brothers, he stood six foot five, and every inch of him exhibited self-assurance and an electrifying magnetism. Fascinated, I studied him as the congregation finally stood and began singing the opening hymn.
    Ervil’s cool, blue-gray eyes roamed the crowd on the hard wooden benches—the very benches my Grandfather Ray had built before his death. His bold glare hesitated, sizing people up and measuring their abilities and their weaknesses. What exactly his job as patriarch consisted of, I wasn’t certain, but I did know that he was a master at preaching from the books that our church considered scripture.
    These books consisted of the Holy Bible; the Book of Mormon, considered by Mormons as the history of a family from Jerusalem who became the very first inhabitants of the Americas; the Doctrine and Covenants, a series of God-given revelations to Joseph Smith; and, the Pearl of Great Price, more revelations to Joseph Smith. We had other books also, histories of latter-day prophets and presidents, such as the Discourses of Brigham Young. One of this leader’s most famous teachings was the Word of Wisdom, from which derived the Mormon belief that for health’s sake, caffeinated drinks shouldn’t be consumed, nor should we partake of pork, smoke, or use liquor. Our church members adhered to these teachings. My own father, however, paid little attention to the Word of Wisdom. He still smoked occasionally, and he and my mother both indulged in their morning coffee habit.
    Latter-day Saints Mormons in Utah considered Brigham Young to be Joseph Smith’s true successor, but our church considered him to be only a great leader, pioneer, and man of God. We believed Joseph Smith’s true successor to be Joel, our own beloved prophet.
    Ervil’s eyes watched me, and I swallowed and looked nervously back at my music. He was a hell and damnation preacher, and everybody here knew he considered his elder brother Joel to be a simple man and a weak leader. The adult members of the church observed an ongoing power struggle, over matters that I didn’t understand. I had heard Dad, Mom, and Maria discussing the situation many times. Just the sight of Ervil caused me uneasiness.
    Next to Ervil and sharing his hymnal stood Verlan LeBaron, the youngest of the five LeBaron brothers. Verlan held the lofty position of President of the Twelve Apostles of the church. I hardly knew Verlan. I’d been only eight or nine when he moved his five wives and two dozen kids away from our colony. They’d gone to a Mexican town in the mountains for a few years, then recently on to Los Molinos, our church’s brand-new sister colony starting somewhere out on the Baja California peninsula.
    It was rare to see so many of the LeBaron brothers all in the same place. Usually they were