© copywrite 2009 by Sarah Baughman

Chapter 4

When the phone rang, Liz reluctantly placed her book on the couch next to her. Mr. Darcy was just about to propose to Elizabeth . . . the first time. It was a great scene.

“Hello?” she said distractedly.

“Eliza Watson. How ya doin’?”

“Fine, thanks.” She pressed her lips together. The masculine voice was strangely familiar, but she couldn’t place it. It was almost like she’d imagine Mr. Darcy’s voice to be (minus the American accent), though certainly not this playful. Darcy never called Miss Elizabeth Bennett “Eliza” to her face. Wait a minute. . . Eliza?

“Is this Zach?”

“Yeah! You recognized my voice. I wasn’t sure that you would.”

“Hmph.” She sighed, wondering why he was now tormenting her at home. “May I help you?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, you can.” She settled into the couch. This ought to be good. “See, the youth are going camping this weekend. I have everything planned, but forgot about the fact that I can’t cook. Especially not over an open fire. Think you’re up to the task?”

“I haven’t camped since . . . high school!”

“Oh, it’s just like riding a bike. You’ll need some clothes that can get dirty, a sleeping bag, your Bible. You don’t even need a tent; you can share with the girls.”

“Well. . .” Liz searched frantically for an excuse.

“Thanks, Eliza, you’re a peach!”

“But I—”

“Oh, sorry, pizza’s here. Sunday night is pizza night. I’ll e-mail you with the details. Bye!”

Click. Liz’s shock was so great that she didn’t even hang up the phone until the dial tone sounded in her ear. What just happened?

Before she could recover completely from that conversation, the phone rang again. She picked it up and said in to the receiver, “Zach, I’m not sure I can go.”

“Sorry, is this Elizabeth Watson?”

“Ye-e-es. Who is this?” Liz felt her face catch fire.

“This is Julia Lapsley, from the Jane Austen Society here in Cedarville. Are you busy?”

“No. I’m sorry, Julia. I thought someone else was calling. How can I help?”

“Well, we’re calling all of our members and asking them to ask around and recruit guys for the ball at the end of this month. You know how the lady-to-gentleman ratio is always off. We’d like to try and even things up a bit.”

“Of course. There are a few guys I can ask from my church.”

“Thanks, Liz. Any extra guys would help!”

“Sure, no problem.”

Liz replaced the receiver, then wondered if she should ask Zach. As a single man, he’d be a likely candidate, but would he actually go? Did she want him to go? Hardly. But if it would help the ball be a success. . . Sighing, Liz decided to commit the matter to prayer.


by Sarah Baughman (email: mailto:baughmanks@gmail.com)




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