Abram's Daughters 01 The Covenant (7 page)

^B I 'i rpuring to slip into her brown choring dress and apron,

^Btili w:is still aware of the far-off train whistle. Dat would be

"-Mlprised if she hurried out to the barn and got busy before he

lid on ;i Monday morning, but she felt strangely compelled

1^ get ;m early start. She had an urgent, almost panicky feel-

iiigf wanting to get out of bed, remove herself as quickly as

|mgg|blc from Sadie, who slept peacefully now after yet

in uither late night. How her sister managed to attend to daily

i I lores with only a few hours' sleep, Leah didn't know.

Oil, how she missed the carefree days she and Sadie had

68s

enjoyed as little girls. Such fond memories she had of playing hopscotch on a bright summer day, spending the night at Aunt Lizzie's, and playing hide-the-thimble on cold, rainy afternoons. They enjoyed pulling little wooden wagons round the barnyard with their faceless dollies wrapped in tiny handmade quilts no bigger than a linen napkin, extra-special things Mamma had sewn for each of them. And they'd promised one day, on a walk over to the Peachey farm, to be best friends for always; "No matter what," Leah had said. And Sadie had agreed, her deep dimples showing as she smiled, taking little Leah's hand.

Leah longed for the days when they shared everything, holding nothing back. But Sadie was sadly "betwixt and between."

On Monday mornings it was customary for Mamma and Sadie to get the first load of laundry washed and hung out on the line before they even started cooking breakfast. But from the barnyard Leah could hear Mamma calling for Sadie to get up. Then, a short time later, through open bedroom windows, similar pleas for Hannah and Mary Ruth to "rise and shine" came wafting down to Leah's ears.

Returning to the kitchen, she poured some freshly squeezed orange juice for herself. Then who should appear in the kitchen, ready to go down to the cellar to lend a hand, but her twin sisters.

"Sadie's under the weather," Mary Ruth volunteered as Leah gawked, surprised to see them doing their older sister's chores.

"Either that or just awful tired," Hannah said softly, her scrubbed face still bearing the marks of sleep.

69Che Covenant

I Leah wasn't too surprised to hear it. She wondered when

Bi time would come for Sadie to simply refuse to get up of a

jprfinif;. And this the day Aunt Lizzie was coming to help

Burni>;i with gardening.

I I lurrying down the cellar steps, she announced that Aunt

bzlc would probably be here for breakfast perty soon. "Did

ptl it member, Mamma?"

I Looking a bit haggard herself, Mamma nodded. "Lizzie did

ly Nomcthing at Preaching that she'd come over and help.

KU' :i 1st > said you girls had stopped by the other day. Wasn't

Li nue?"

I "|;ili, Sadie went," Leah said.

I "And I took some raisin-nut loaf up there," Hannah said

UluT sheepishly.

I "So that's where my sweet bread ended up," Mamma said,

Kt'lnM back to work sorting the clothes but without her usual

iucklc.

I "li's been too long since Aunt Lizzie came for breakfast,"

lid leah. "I wish she'd come more often."

I "Well, now, ^pur auntie practically lives here . . . most

Ity.," Mamma re*plied.

I Thai was true. Still, Leah felt right settled round Lizzie. It

p like- the calm sweetness after a spring rain. Jah, Lizzie was

line than just an auntie to her; she was a close friend, too.

I.rah sat on the long wooden bench next to Aunt Lizzie I tIk- eight-board table. Usually, their aunt, if present for a IfmI, would sit to Mamma's immediate left, with Dat at the

70

'ly c

head. Today Lizzie sat farther down the bench, between Leah and Mary Ruth. Sadie came dragging down the steps scarcely in time for Dat's silent blessing over the food and sat across the table, next to Hannah. Dat gave Sadie a stern sidewise glance before he bowed his head for prayer.

Such unspeakable tension in the kitchen now, and all since Sadie had come into the room. Dat and Mamma weren't totally ignorant of Sadie's behavior, Leah was fairly sure.

Not only was Leah uncomfortable, she was unfamiliar with this sort of strain, especially with someone seated at the table who wasn't part of their immediate family. Mamma's other siblings lived farther away, some over in Hickory Hollow and SummerHill, others in the Grasshopper Level area, but it was Lizzie they saw most often, since she lived just up the knoll, so near they could ring the dinner bell and she'd come running. Thankfully, Lizzie brought a joyous flavor to any gathering, and on this day Leah was more than grateful for her mother's youngest sister sharing their eggs, bacon, waffles, and conversation.

Over the years her aunt had taken time to introduce Leah, all the girls really, to God's creation, particularly the small animal kingdom. But it was Leah who had soaked up all the nature talk like a dry sponge. She recalled one summer afternoon long ago when Aunt Lizzie had shown her what squirrels could do with their tails. "Look, honey-girl," Lizzie had said when Leah was only three or four. "See how they fold them up over their little heads like an umbrella?" She was told that the umbrella-tail protected squirrels when the steady rains come, "which happens in the fall round here."

Lizzie continued as they sat in the shade of her treed

71

mi

kkyiird, "Squirrels use their tails another way, Leah. They fell' down onto their haunches and toss their tails over their uki like woolen scarves to keep them warm while they sit ft Ilu1 cold ground and eat."

I Yi Hin(4 Leah had found this ever so interesting, wanting I mini io 140 on and on sharing such wonderful-gut secrets. |n< pleaded for more while observing the many squirrels Uiipn ing here and there, up and down trees, over the stone

Lu

I "Well, now, have you ever felt lonely ... in need of a |i) "' Aunt Lizzie sometimes asked Leah peculiar questions,

I1 11 in]-; her off guard.

I I f'ticss, jah, maybe I have," she'd replied, though it was pivl to think of a time when she'd actually felt alone, what Illi three sisters in the house and more cousins than she

in hi even begin to count.

I i|iiirrels get lonesome, too, don'tcha think?" And here

I demonstrated with her own arms how squirrels used

\< M 1,iils to hug themselves, so to speak. "Ach, such a corn-

Iti 11 is lo them."

1; Al 1 he time "Leah wondered if her aunt was also a bit

My. After all, she didn't have a husband to hug her, did

ji ' She lived alone in the woods, well . . . not quite in the

11' -11, but perty near. "You must like squirrels an awful lot,

lit .(>, Auntie?" Leah had said after thinking about the spe-

Iti ihings a squirrel's tail offered.

I "Who wouldn't like such cute little animals? They look so

liii> tiled with their bushy tails high over their heads or

lii>'ring behind them," Lizzie said quickly. "But the dearest

||in; is how their faces look like they're smilin'."

I I ciih had never thought of that. And every time she

72

e ti e r I l

I u J~~- e lo i i

spotted a squirrel from then on, she noticed not only what their tails were doing but also the humorous half smile on their furry little faces.

Just now, sitting next to Aunt Lizzie, Leah couldn't help but wonder if her aunt could use a nice hug, maybe. How long had it been since she'd spent time with her, just the two of them? Much too long it seemed. Goodness' sakes, Mamma was always one to hug her girls, and Dat and Mamma often embraced each other when Dat came in the house for supper. Surely Auntie needed hugs, too maybe more so than all the rest of them put together. She didn't know why she would think such a thing just now, but she did. Which was why Leah decided then and there she'd take it upon herself to squeeze Aunt Lizzie's arm or hug her neck, for no particular reason today. Jah, she would.

Sadie felt her father's eyes on her throughout breakfast. And Mamma's, too. Had they heard her coming home late again last night? Did they suspect something?

Breathing in, she held the air a second or two, then exhaled, wondering if Leah had broken her word and talked to Mamma. Or maybe it was Dat who'd learned first from Leah the wicked secret they shared.

She was so tired she scarcely cared; in fact, she could hardly pick up her fork. So weak she was, nearly trembling as she sat at the table, the smell of the food turning her stomach. How many more hours before she could lie down and rest, take a quick nap? This afternoon, maybe, while Mamma, Hannah, and Mary Ruth headed down to the general store in Georgetown. Leah and Dat would be busy outside, so she'd have the house to herself, if Mamma didn't mind her staying

73

int

Hie. She must have some time to herself here perty soon. I|dihI Holiil hour or so of sleep would help a lot. I "live more days before we visit Mamma's cousins," Mary It 11 wiin saying, all smiles. "Cousin Rebekah wrote me a letIt idling 'bout the Bridal Heart quilt she and the others are kin' lor Anna. Seems it won't be long and there'll be a killing "ii Mamma's side of the family."

I The news didn't come as a surprise to anyone at the table, illy. Both Sadie and Leah probably Mamma, too ferried Mamma's cousin's oldest daughter and her beau, nlli mid King, to be published soon in their own church

I1 I, come autumn. Of course, they'd all be invited to the I' niber wedding.

I i'lie squirmed with talk of Anna Mast and a possible lil>ling. According to age, she would be next in line for set' I|1H down, and rightly so. Sadie knew this, though she Illu'd inwardly at the thought. Her attraction to Derry miuniiz was complicating things. What was she to do?

I Inviting Aunt .Lizzie for breakfast proved to be a mighty | l ulea. Leah felt nearly satisfied after Mamma's delicious m<. .crumbled up with diced cup cheese. After the bacon

I1 i "list, she had little room for waffles. She took one any-

ipping black coffee to tone down the sweetness of the i|i|i- synip. She observed Sadie, who wasn't herself at all, ling nearly motionless across the table not saying

it'll during the entire meal, her face pale, the color nearly ur hum her eyes, too. Hannah was her usual quiet but smil-

I Ni'll, reddish blond hair gleaming on either side of the < i It I It* part, though she spoke occasionally, mainly to ask for

i mil helpings of everything. Mary Ruth, bubbly and

75

ly J2i

refreshed from a gut night's sleep, entered into the conversation with Mamma and Aunt Lizzie.

Dat said nary a word. Too hungry to speak, probably. As for Mamma, she looked happy to have her sister near, and she mentioned that maybe Lizzie would like to come along next Sunday "to visit Peter and Fannie and the children."

Lizzie seemed glad to be included in the outing to the Masts' orchard house and wore the delight on her bright face. "Jah, that'd be nice," she said.

"We'll be goin' to pick apples in a few weeks, soon as Fannie says they're ripe 'n' ready," Mamma said. "Why don'tcha come along then, too, Lizzie?"

"When we make applesauce can Aunt Lizzie help us, Mamma?" asked Mary Ruth, leaning round their aunt to see Mamma's answer.

Leah hoped her aunt would agree to attend the work frolic. There was something awful nice about having Mamma's younger sister over. She was as cheerful and cordial as Sadie was sassy these days.

"The Masts grow the best Mclntosh apples, jah?" Aunt Lizzie said between bites.

"Mm-m, such a gut apple for makin' applesauce," Mary Ruth spoke up.

"So's the Lodi . . . and Granny Smith apples, too," Hannah said, grinning at her twin.

Dat looked up at Sadie just then, as if all their talk had found its way to him, disrupting his thoughts. "Most folk have a preference for apples," he said. "Ain't so much the name as the quality and flavor."

Mamma continued where Dat left off. "Bruised apples, ones that fall from the trees, don't usually end up in apple-

74 76h e k_, o t

int

|i'- , yfl know. They're turned into cider."

I ullc frowned for a moment, her eyes blinking to beat the

hiiiI. But she said nothing. It was Hannah who caught the

Ilillt1 message, and when she did, her head was bobbing up

nil iluwn, though she said not a word.

I Mint Lizzie must've sensed the tension and remarked that

I' i' tipples used for cider could have a right sweet taste if

|<

I< ....'(I H> direct her words to Sadie, because she was looking

I I'lit nt her.

I I ''iih understood what Lizzie was trying to say. In spite of

in I mm trees and bumps from the hard ground, your spirit

I i! Itnd been true and sweet to begin with could be

|< i uiiied in time and with the right kind of care.

I Mini' \-Yi2i& seemed to know what she was talking about,

in' 11 whs the thing most puzzling to Leah. Gathering up the

i

li' plnr.es and utensils for Mamma, she thought sometime it liuM he nice to know something of Lizzie Brenneman's own |iH .( lipringe, back when. Of course she wouldn't think of luiiniH right out and asking; that wasn't something you did

In < >u| of the bine, not if you were as polite as Leah felt she

li 'i|;ill, it would be nice to know.

I 11 wns midafternoon, and Sadie, stretched out on the bed, I'l up from an hour-long nap. How nice to have this It11 it ti to relax before Mamma and the girls returned from

I1 Hire. Leah, she knew, was out puttering in the barn or li i"illing shed two of her favorite places to be, though tlli' never could understand Leah's unending attraction to H niil-of-doors.

I Sit f irig on the edge of the bed, she yawned drowsily. She

75 77

-In J2e

regretted having told Leah about Derry. She'd made a huge mistake in doing so and she knew it. She and Derry . . . well, their relationship was much too precious to be shared with a girl who had no idea what love was, probably, except for a smidgen of puppy love years ago. She recalled Leah's youthful account of an autumn walk with Cousin Fannie's oldest son.