“It’s called a chuppah.”

From last post: “You got serious again, and your smile is gone,” said Heinrich.

“So it is.” With that, Rebekah reached out and held Heinrich’s hand. It was a surprising thing to do and he didn’t know how to react, except to let Rebekah say whatever was on her mind. She smiled in a thankful way and said, “God is our matchmaker and the clues are convincing me. I want to be with you.” She squeezed his hand and was teary eyed, “But how are we going to make this work? You know in many places it’s illegal for a non-Jew to marry a Jew.”

Heinrich, getting emotional as well, responded, “We’ll make it work because we’re not alone in this. I’m a half Jew looking for my better half. Our matchmaker does more than bring people together; He sees them through the days ahead. Throw in a little divine intervention now and then and amazing things can happen.” Heinrich lifted up her hand and kissed it. “We’ll find someone who can do it the right way, under a canopy - what do they call that thing held up by poles?”

Rebekah laughed and said, “It’s called a chuppah.”

Sarah was observing this romantic drama when she noticed someone coming in an obvious hurry down the road. She picked up the reins because Heinrich had let the horse drift to the left so she urged it over. As the horseman galloped toward them Heinrich and Rebekah became aware of the action and snapped out of their exceptional moment. Heinrich wanted to keep going so he took the reins and let out a giddy-up as he flicked the reins up and down. The two parties came closer until the man on the horse held out his hand and brought his horse to a stop in front of them. Heinrich didn’t want to but pulled back on the reins. The horses let out sounds of displeasure as they paced around in nervous objection to the sudden stop.

The man wasted no time. He greeted everyone with, “Sorry to disturb you ladies, and sir, but there was an unfortunate event just up the road. Someone was robbed and the robber got away. The victim is OK but all I can say is be careful.” 

“How far away is that? We’re on our way to Juterbog.”

“Well, then this applies to you because when you take the road that goes to the left at the junction, you’ll be heading in the direction of Juterbog. As far as distance, it’d be about 10 minutes at a good trot.”

“OK, we’ll be careful and trust that the Lord will keep us safe. Thanks for the warning.” 

They parted ways and Heinrich said, “You know, if we have to make a run for it, we’d be a lot faster if we didn’t have this weight in the back. We don’t need it as an excuse anymore, so I’m going to give it away as soon as possible.” 

Sarah added, “It would make the rest of the trip easier on the horse too.” Everyone agreed. 

They soon came to the fork in the road and turned left. Heinrich scanned the landscape for a farm. There were two ahead and he looked carefully until he noted a man tending to something, so he turned onto the road that went to the house.  They were soon greeted by an older man, who looked quite fit and of genial composure, by the look on his face.

“Hello, what brings you here?”  

“Actually, I’d like to give you something if you could use it.”

This caused a questioning, surprised look on the man’s face. “And what would that be?”

Heinrich jumped down from the wagon and pulled back the tarp, exposing the wrought iron piece. As the man maneuvered around to give it a look, Heinrich started to explain, “I own an iron shop and I’m passing through. I just learned that I won’t need this piece after all and I’d rather lighten up the load for easier travel. If you’d like this piece, then it’s all yours, for free.” 

The man thought of how he could use it; exactly for what he didn’t share, but eventually said with a smile, “How providential! Yes, I’d count myself fortunate to have it.”

“Great, help me get it down and we’ll be on our way.” And so they unloaded it and took it into the barn. 

“Is there anything I could do for you? You could come in and have something to drink.”

“Actually, we’re trying to make it to Juterbog before dark so we need to get going, but thanks for the offer.”