A Very Taxing Day

The wedding of Sylvester Sidcott and Yekaterina Volkova-Sidcott took place today at 2:30 pm. The ceremony was officiated by the Reverend Reinhold Alden. I think that we were all honored to be there. It is a wonderful thing to witness; the blossoming love of two strangers. It has been said by wiser men than me and it is true that love overcomes all boundaries. Despite the fact that Yekaterina cannot yet speak any English, the ceremony went wonderfully. When it came time for the vows, I had the honor of speaking for Sylvester's bride.
Following the ceremony we went to Fisher's home to celebrate. The women had baked a cake. We had a delicious meal, during which some of us stood and blessed Sylvester and Yekaterina's union. After the meal there was music. I played a few songs on my fiddle, Susanna and Roseanne Jones sang a song that Susanna had written entitled "On This, the Day of Your Wedding", and after a few drinks Rick taught us all a traditional Hequilechile wedding dance.
As the excitement of the day began to fade with the sunlight we parted ways, encouraged by what we had shared, and what we would share in the future, on our journey which was now just around the corner, so to speak.

From Russia with Love

The beautiful Yekaterina arrived today. She seems to be a good woman, and I think she will make a wonderful bride. After she arrived this morning, Fisher and I fed her lunch and then took her to meet her future husband. Sylvester was not at home, so assuming he was at work, we took Yekaterina to town to teach her about her husband's job as coroner. However, Sylvester was not at work either. Puzzled, we went back to Sylvester's home to wait for him. Hours passed, the children arrived home from school, but there was still no sign of Sylvester. Yekaterina made a delicious supper for all of us, and still we waited. It was after night fall when Sylvester arrived home. He seemed very tired as if he had had a long day. Fisher and I sat him down and told him that we had a surprise for him. Fisher announced Sylvester's "new wife" as I opened the door to the kitchen and led Yekaterina into the room. Sylvester and the children were speechless.
It was late so I told the children to kiss their mother goodnight and then sent them to bed. Meanwhile, Sylvester and Yekaterina got aquainted. After a time, we showed our Russian doll where she would be spending the night, and then the three of us went out onto the porch to have a smoke.
As we sat in the dark listening to the crickets sing their song to the night, Sylvester thanked us. He admitted that he had been very worried about finding a wife out West, but he also admitted that he found this whole affair to be highly irregular. Fisher reassured him that he just had cold feet. He then went on to tell him how common these types of marriages are. After discussing the success rates of arranged marriage versus traditional marriages based on "love" and "mutual consent", he pulled out a piece of parchment that had been folded in his pocket and began to read a number of testimonials from men who had found happiness through the skills of Sam Sherman and the exploitation of poor living conditions in Northeastern Europe. One in particular, a Sudsy McAdams from Hopkinton, MA, seemed to encourage Sylvester a great deal. Fisher even went on to show Sylvester the standard form he referred to as a "compatability test" which is used to create a "personality map" and match up couples based on 25 dimensions of the "consolidated perspective of self". I did not bring up the fact that Sylvester had not taken any test.
His mind at ease, Sylvester retired to bed looking forward to the coming days when he would get to know the strange non-English speaking woman he would be spending the rest of his life with.
The wedding is in two days, and much work remains to be done.

Here Comes the Bride

Yekaterina will be here soon. Fisher, Henry, and I can hardly contain ourselves. We're doing our best to prepare Sylvester without telling him. Fisher has learned a few Russian phrases and has been trying to use them around Sylvester. After a meeting on Thursday, as Sylvester was leaving, Fisher told him "I love you" in Russian. That means 'I love you' in Russian", he continued. "I don't know why I know that, I took four years of Spanish." Sylvester looked slightly puzzled, but I do not think he suspects anything.
We are all very excited. We have already contacted Reverend Reinhold Alden to oversee the ceremony. Fisher has agreed to hold the reception at his home, and Lem has made a lovely dress for Yekaterina. It is simple, but beautiful nonetheless.
I cannot wait to see the look on Sylvester's face when he sees his bride-to-be, and I am also excited to see the joy in the eyes of his children when they meet their new mother.

Mr. Sherman's Reply

Dear Fisher,

I was happy to hear from you after so long, and I will be even happier to do this favor for you. You're letter could not have come at a more oppurtune time for any of us. I have the perfect girl for your friend. She was just ordered for a gentleman living somewhere in Virginia, however he can wait a little longer. It will be easy enough to convince him that her ship went down.
To put your mind at ease I have written this the day I received your letter in order to put your mind at ease and assure you that everything will be taken care of. It will take me a few more days to make the necessary preparations, but before long, I'll be sending you a beautiful Russian girl named Yekaterina Volkova. She can already speak a little english and she is a very gifted cook. You can expect her to arrive roughly ten days after you receive this letter.
I'm glad I could help you my friend, and I wish you the very best in your journey out West.

Sincerely,
Sam Sherman

Fisher received this letter today and immediately came to my shop to show me. We have also let Henry know what we have planned and the three of us are very excited for Yekaterina to arrive.