Marigold by Heather Manheim (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📕

Davis gave off an audible snort of disgust and disbelief. She quickly recognized her mistake when both the priest and Everett glared at her. “Sorry, itchy throat.” They then returned the looks of disgust and disbelief she felt.

The priest continued, “Delilah Davis, with this knowledge and full understanding, do you commit yourself legally and spiritually to President Everett, never to fail in being an honorable, kind, honest and obedient wife?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” The priest gruffly said it, but the horror and shock on Everett’s face made it obvious he was thinking the same things. Gasps came from the church congregation, and Davis felt like she could sense the collective populace holding their breath. It felt as if the air had got sucked out of the room.

Davis took every bit of strength she could from herself, her mom, and her friends. She tried to steel herself as much as possible and tried to make her body posture as intimidating as she could in layers of white tulle and a corset.

“I said no. And my name is Amelia!” The determination and forcefulness in her voice surprised even her. But it propelled her to her next step, and she pulled the knife from her belt and lunged toward Everett. The screams started to fill her ears as the knife plunged deeply and fiercely into the side of his neck.

Davis felt fulfilled and pleased as life started to drain from Everett’s eyes. She was surprised how strange she felt, although she never expected she could kill someone. Her head rang, and there was a warm tingling in her body. She didn’t think she was capable of standing anymore, so she sat on the steps. It started to surprise her that there was no blood. Davis began to worry she had missed her mark.

Davis tried to lift her head to assess the situation. Her ears were ringing, and her neck seemed like it had no strength, and she couldn’t fully lift her head. She was grateful that she got her head up a little bit because she was genuinely pleased to see the guards coming toward her with guns drawn, thinking maybe if she surrendered, they would take her to the hospital. Something was wrong, beyond her having just committed murder. She felt almost as ill as she did when coming off the mind-control drug.

“Delilah! Are you okay?” Rebecca was kneeling by her side and lightly slapping her face. Duffy was rushing in the side door. “You got a weird look on your face a moment ago and sort of spaced out, like you were in a trance. You started breathing fast and hard, and then you sat down, and it looked like you fainted.”

Rebecca helped support her neck as Duffy came up to Davis, asked her if she was okay, took her pulse, and checked her pupils. Cox came in with a cup of water for Davis and put a chilled cloth on her neck.

Davis looked up again at Everett, obviously incensed about the situation. He was fine. Davis saw nothing had transpired, except she had some kind of spell and fainted. There was more confusion than ever swimming in her head. As she sat there, still feeling faint and baffled, Everett said, “Enough. Do you accept your role as my wife?” Duffy tried to interject, saying Davis needed a few minutes, and even Rebecca looked startled at Everett’s expeditious attitude. But Everett put up his hand to stop her. “Yes or no, Delilah?”

“Um, yes?”

“Great, I answer the affirm as well. Pronounce us as man and wife.”

And then it was finished. Davis had made her vow and sealed her fate. She was Everett’s wife.

~

Everett calmly escorted his new wife, Delilah, out of the church before going into the side room she had gotten dressed in. “What was the meaning of that?” Everett screamed at her. “You are acting ridiculous, like a child. Get yourself together. We’re going outside to take a few photos in our wedding clothing; then, we’ll switch to the jodhpurs for the formal pictures released to the public. Meet me outside in less than ten minutes.”

Duffy asked to come in, and Everett granted it, telling her to make sure Delilah was ready for photos quickly and not looking pale and startled like she currently was. Duffy came up to Davis and asked her what had happened. She relayed her story to Duffy about the bee venom and how she thought she had stabbed Everett, but it was just a momentary dream of some sort.

Duffy spoke in calming and soothing words as she held her hand. “It’s okay. You probably had a severe panic attack. Sometimes you can hallucinate during those. You’ve had a lot of stress and anxiety. It’s okay, but I need you to pull yourself together. We’ll figure out a plan later. It’ll be fine. You have to go out there and put yourself together, though; if not, there will be more trouble for you. As you have seen, Everett is not patient or understanding. Take a few slow, deep breaths; have some more water.”

“Duffy, I failed. I can’t do this. I’m not a murderer. For a moment there, I thought I could do it. I wanted to when they said all these horrible things about what would be expected of me as Everett’s wife. And, of course, already knowing what he’s done and what he’s capable of doing. But I can’t. I let everyone down, and I’m defeated. I can’t…” And Davis started to cry.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about that now, let’s just get through today, and as I said, we’ll figure out what to do next. Hope is not lost.”

“Ok,” said Davis, taking a deep breath. “I’m so confused, though; I knew Everett was evil behind the scenes. But I’m surprised he’d be so cruel to me today, barely knowing me and in front of everyone. Ruby kept telling me how