Table Of ContentThe Dowry
of Anna
Berlitz
By
Kristin York
The Dowry
of Anna
Berlitz
By
Kristin York
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Chapter One
UnionCo.,Ohio
PresentDay
"There—in the far corner." Michelle Zook stood
by the front door of her newlywed’s apartment,
pointing and waving like an air-traffic controller.
"That’s right, guys. Over there by the floor lamp.
Great!"
Two burley men, whose uniforms declared them
employeesoftheMayflowerMovingCompany,slida
heavy blanket chest off a two-wheeled dolly and
began to remove the industrial-strength padding
whichhad protected itfromnicks and bumps during
it’s recent move. As it was divested of the heavy
blankets, Michelle could barely contain her
excitementathaving agenuine antique inher living
room. It truly was beautiful—and far bigger than
she had expected. At two-and-a-half feet tall and
over four feet wide, it would undoubtedly hold quite
a bit more than the cedar chest she had begged
Paultobuyherforaweddinggift.
As she saw the moving men to the door,
Michelle couldn’t help but experience a twinge of
guilt over the way she’d "punished" her new
husband for not coming through with the longed-for
gift. Her behavior had certainly been less than
ladylike in those first few days after they’d returned
from their honeymoon. Of course, Paul could have
said something then about the gorgeous piece of
furniture he was to inherit, but he’d been far too
1
stubborn to give away his big secret. Instead he’d
allowed Michelle her sulk, telling her nothing until a
month later, after he’d scheduled the movers to
bring the chest from his parent’s home to the
apartmentheandMichellewererenting.
Michelle shut the front door and bounded across
the living room to study the blanket chest. It was
truly amazing! She ran her fingers over the
weathered American Pine and studied the pattern
thathadbeenvarnishedincirclesalloverthechest.
How lovely it was. She’d have to ask Paul what he
knew about the family heirloom, and the
significance of the year 1835, carefully engraved on
thefront,justbelowthelock.
Michelle was a bit concerned at first about that
lock, but her worries appeared unfounded when a
gentle tug on the lid revealed a deep storage area.
Inhaling,the youngwomansavoredthe sweetsmell
of Cedar chips, undoubtedly placed inside the chest
to keep linens smelling fresh. Eager to put the
family heirloom to good use, she hurried to the
over-stuffed hall closet and came back loaded down
with an armful of blankets and sheets. Plopping the
linens onto the couch, she began to carefully refold
the items beforeputting theminthe chest.She was
leaning over putting the blankets away,her derriere
a tempting target when Paul crept up behind her.
Smack!
"Ouch!"Michellejumped,turningtoherhusband
withagrin."Whatwasthatfor?"
Paul wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist
and pulled her into a warm embrace. "Just
because," he grinned as he lowered his lips to hers.
After a long, hi-honey-I’m-home-from-work-kiss,
perfected as only newlywed’s know how, he lifted
his head and regarded his wife with smiling eyes.
"So,whatdoyouthinkofit?"
2
"Oh, Paul," Michelle enthused, "It’s stunning.
When you said you had something special coming
fromhome,Ihadnoidea—Ineverexpected—"
"—for itto be something likethis?" he teased."I
guess you didn’t think a country boy like me had
anyclueaboutantiques.Right?"
Michelle pushed her husband away in mock
disapproval, giving him a playful slap to the arm.
"Youjusthush!YouknowwhatImeant."
"All right, little missy," he laughed good-
naturedly, "You best behave now and watch that
mouth of yours, or you might find yourself in
trouble."
"Oh, Paul," Michelle rolled her eyes at the
comment. "Where are you coming up with this
cave-manroutine?"
Paul waggled his eyebrows at his wife. "A
caveman, am I? Well now,I guess I’ve neglected to
tellyouthestoryofthisfinepieceofearlyAmerican
craftsmanship."
"No you haven’t, silly! You’ve told me all about
the way it’s been handed down from generation to
generation. For heaven’s sake," Michelle added
flippantly, "you’ve told me the story at least a
hundredtimesinthelastweek."
"Ah—but have I told you what comes with the
chest?" Paul asked in his best Sean Connery
imitation.
"There’s something else?" Michelle’s eyes were
twinkling with the thought. "What is it, honey?
Comeon—don’tkeepmeinsuspense."
Instead of a direct answer, Paul crouched down
to open the wide drawer near the bottom of the
chest."Hereitis,"hemurmuredasherosefromhis
position. In his hand, he held a long wooden stick,
one end bent into a u—shaped handle. "Do you
knowwhatthisis?"
Michelle took the cane and looked at her
husband questioningly. "Well, it looks like an old
3
walking stick, but it’s so flimsy, I don’t see how it
would hold anyone up. Look how it bends," she
said, wiggling the long stick back and forth to
illustratethepoint.
"Be careful with that!" Paul exclaimed, taking
the cane reverently from his wife’s hands. "And it’s
not the kind of cane you walk with, ‘Chelle. It’s a
schoolmaster’scane.Andit’sasoldasthechest."
Michelle’s eyes grew wide as she realized she
could have broken something that had lasted for
more than 160 years. "I’m sorry, honey. But," she
continued with wide-eyed innocence, "What do you
mean its a schoolmaster’s cane? Like some kind of
blackboardpointerorsomething?"
"Well,"Paullookedupathis wifewithaknowing
smile, as he began to flex the long rod ever so
gently, "I’m sure it may have been used for that,
babe,butthatwasn’titsintended function."
The look on Michelle’s face was one of utter
confusion when she asked, "Well, what then? What
would some old time school teacher have used this
stickfor,ifnotasapointer?"
Paul couldn’t help but be amused by his wife’s
naivete. Good lord, had she never been spanked?
Maybe, he mused, that was why she was such a
brat at times. Well, no time like the present to
introduce her to the real world. "It was used, my
sweetlittlewife,tomaintainclassroomdiscipline."
Michelle’s eyes grew even wider, and she tossed
auburn curls over her shoulder with a disdainful
sniff. "Are you telling me they used tobeat children
with this stick? Why, Paul, that’s awful. It’s
positively barbaric! What kind of ancestors did you
have?"
Paul was quite surprised by his wife’s sudden
vehemence, and at the fact that her words left him
feeling defensive. "Well, I expect my ancestor’s
were pretty normal people, Michelle. After all, we’re
talking about the 1800’s here. There were strict
4
rules for children back then, and equally strict
punishments. And," he continued as he tipped her
chin up and looked deeply into his wife’s green
eyes,"itwasn’tjustchildren who had to watchtheir
step. A wife was expected to abide by the rules of
the home as well. If she didn’t, she would find
herselffacedownoverherhusband’sknee."
Michelle felt her heart pounding in her chest as
she stood staring up into the browndepths of Paul’s
eyes. She’d never seen him like this—so calm, so in
control. Suddenly she was wiping damp palms on
her jeans, and hoping that her husband couldn’t
read what was in her mind. For, while she wanted
to be outraged at his words, she simply could not
seemtostopthewayherstomachwasflip-flopping.
Something about that thought—the thought of
being taken over the knee of her husband—made
liquid heat pool in the most embarrassing of places.
Her face aflame, she pulled away from her
husband’sgrasp.Surelyitcouldn’tbe normalto feel
likethis.
"Well, I guess that makes sense," she said as
she piled more in the chest. "I mean, that was
beforepeopleunderstoodaboutabuseissues."
Rather than responding verbally, Paul gave his
wifeaplayfulswatwiththecane.Itonlytookaflick
of the wrist,and she squealedadorably."So,baby,"
he said in a voice gravelly with desire, "does that
feellikeabusetoyou?"
Michelle stood facing her husband, her hands
clutching protectively at the seat of her jeans.
"Mmmm—"she said as a new thought dawned on
her. Was it possible Paul had experienced the same
response to the thought of a man taking his wife
over his knee? "I don’t know, honey. Maybe you
ought to show me that again," she said as she
sidled closer to him and slid her arms around his
neck.
5
"I’ll show you a thing or two," Paul laughed as
he flicked the cane ever so gently against the back
of her denim-covered leg. Then, dropping the
implement, the young man swung his wife up into
strongarmsandcarriedherintotheirbedroom.
More than an hour later, Michelle tiptoed out to
the living room and reached for the phone and a
menu from the pizza place down the block. She put
in an order for two subs and a salad to split, then
hung up the phone. But on her way back to the
bedroom, the cane caught her eye. It was lying on
the floor,and shewas concernedoneofthemmight
step on it in the dark, so she picked it up and
started to place it in the drawer Paul had taken it
fromearlier.
It was then that the writing caught her eye, for
deep in the back of the drawer a wood-burning tool
had been used to inscribe something. Fascinated,
Michelle stood up and clicked on a near-by lamp.
Then she plopped back down on the floor and,
sitting cross-legged, pulled the drawer completely
outinordertomoreclearlystudythewording.
"This chest presented to Anna Berlitz on the
occasion of her wedding, in the year of our Lord
1835.May italwaysreside inahouseholdfilledwith
loveandpeace."
"Hmmm—how lovely," mused Michelle. That
inscription—obviously the initial one—was near the
back edge of the drawer, and underneath it was a
listofnames.
"JosephandAnnaZook;October12,1835
JohannesandElizabethZook;August23,1858
StephenandVirginiaZook;May3,1880
JosephandSusannahZook;December25,1911
KarlandMariaZook:June7,1937
JayandClaudiaZook;September9,1960"
"Jay and Claudia—that’s Paul’s folks." For some
reason, Michelle found herself whispering.
Reverence just seemed to fit the moment, she
6
decidedwithasmile.Thiswashistory,broughtright
intoherhome.
She ran her fingers over the names of the
original couple once again. "I wonder what it was
like for her—for Anna. I wonder if Joseph ever used
thatcaneonher."
______________
LancasterCounty,Pennsylvania
October12,1835
Anna Berlitz stood at the entrance to the one-
room church, her fingers picking nervously at her
bouquet. She could hardly believe that her wedding
day had finally come. Any minute her grandfather
would begin to play his fiddle, and the sweet,
woodsy tones would beckon her down the aisle to
the tall, powerfully built man with sandy brown hair
and piercing blue eyes. Then her father would place
her hand in his, they would repeat their vows, and
hernewlifeasMrs.JosephEliZookwouldbegin.
Though they’d not known each other long, Anna
was quite smitten with the young man who waited
attheminister’sside.He wasratherhandsome,and
so much more than she had expected. She couldn’t
help but think of her friend, Martha Yoder, and the
man Martha had said "I do" to not more than a
month before. Though Martha had kept a smile on
her face, Anna had known how hard it was for her
to maintain the charade, for the man she had been
promised to had been so very old and severe
looking. On the day of her friend’s wedding, Anna
had nearly been tempted to run away from her own
future, for an arranged marriage had awaited her,
too. Now, looking at Joseph Zook, she was glad she
hadn’tfollowedherimpulse.
The marriage ceremony itself was short, with
Joseph Zook promising to "love and cherish" and
Anna promising to "honor and obey." A ring and a
chaste kiss sealed the vows, and they returned to
7
the Berlitz’s family home for the wedding dinner.
Then, as the final bit of ceremony in what had
grown to be a long day, Joseph and Anna were
taken in her Grandfather’s carriage to the town
hotel. Family and friends followed in their own
wagons, ringing cow bells and banging spoons on
pots and pans until the couple had been shown
safelytotheirroom.
Anna took her nightrail behind the dressing
screen and took her time changing into her
bedclothes. There were so many thoughts
swimming about in her head. She did not really
know Joseph Zook, as their grandfathers had
arranged the marriage years ago, and she couldn’t
help but wonder what this night would be like.
Anytime she’d asked her mother about her wifely
duties,theanswerhadbeenastandard,"Obeyyour
husband,Anna.Doashebidsyou,andhewillteach
you what is proper between a husband and wife."
Proper? Now what did that mean? Anna’s stomach
was churning by the time she belted her wrapper
andreturnedtoherhusband’sside.
Joseph had obviously sensed his young wife’s
discomfort,for insteadof taking her to theirbed,he
led her to a chair before the dressing table. His
voiceheldaquietstrengthwhenhebidhersitdown
before the mirror, and then he produced a carefully
wrapped box from behind his back and handed it to
her.
Anna looked up at her husband, surprise clearly
written across her face. "A gift? Why, Joseph," she
stammered, face flaming. "I—I haven’t anything for
you."
Crouching down beside her, Joseph brushed a
strand of deep chestnut hair away from her face
and smiled. "Anna, you are my gift. The most
wonderful gift I could ever receive. And I want you
to know thatI willalways love and care foryou.We
are family now, Mrs. Zook. We are everything to
8
