Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice (2 page)

11 ist now, it would be downright unkind to hurt him.

I !c was still holding her hand as the slow creaking of the windmill behind the barn broke the stillness. "Adah and her I- .in are going for supper in Strasburg next Saturday night. I

11 ii night it might be fun if you and I rode along."

No two ways about it, riding along simply meant double ' Mining and Gid knew it. Sighing, she gently pulled her hand iwuy, staring down at her toes. What should I say?

"If you want to talk it over with Adah, I don't mind." His words were like thin reeds in a swamp compared to his usual If-assured manner. Inside, Smithy Gid was most likely standing on tiptoes. Furthermore, she suspected he had been ever i> eager to spend an evening with her for quite some time, hoping to double tip with her first cousin Sam Ebersol, Uncle |i\sse's youngest son, along with Gid's sister Adah. But Leah also knew Gid wouldn't be asking her twice. If she didn't give her answer now, she'd have to seek him out in the next day i >r so. Because at twenty-two three years her elder Smithy I lid was to be treated with the respect he deserved.

"I'll think on it." She trembled, afraid he might take her reply as a maybe.

Truth be told, she figured he was working his way to ask her to go "for steady," and right soon. To be true to herself, hhe knew she ought to refuse. Yet looking on the bright side,

20lO e a e r I y J^ e to I s

allowing Gid to court her would convince the People, espedaily Mamma and Aunt Lizzie, that she'd regained her balance, so to speak, that her shattered heart was on the mend. Wasn't it about time for that, anyway? Jonas was happy with someone else; why shouldn't she marry, as well? And, too, it had been ingrained in her all her days that to follow the Lord God's will for her life, she must marry and bear many children, as many as the Good Lord saw fit to give her and her future husband.

One thing was sure, Leah enjoyed her barn chats with Gid while pitching hay to the field mules or redding up the haymow for summertime Preaching services. It was downright pleasant to have a young man of Gid's reputation thinking of her as a good friend. Other times, she almost wished he might fix his gaze on a girl whose heart was truly available, like, for instance, any number of her cousins dozens of Ebersols to choose from in Gobbler's Knob alone.

Naturally Gid wanted to marry well before his sister Adah. Even his youngest sister, Dorcas, was seeing someone seriously, or so Adah had confided in Leah recently. A knotty problem for Gid, being the eldest of the family and the only son and still unmarried, though it was clear thus far he'd set his cap for no one other than Leah.

Daily this weighed heavily on her mind, especially because Smithy Gid was such a fine young man. Why should she forfeit having a family of her own just because things between her and Jonas had fizzled? She could simply marry the farm boy who'd waited for her all these years, couldn't she?

She watched Smithy Gid walk back through the cornfield, holding her breath and not knowing for sure the right answer

21CjacrLfice

fu his invitation. I'll ask Mamma what to do, she thought and headed out the barn door. .

Leah found Mamma in the potting shed, fanning herself. "Another hot day, ain't?"

To this her mother nodded, and Leah began to share her uncertainty. "Smithy Gid invited me to go ridin' with him, Miiinma. What do you think 'bout that if you were me, I mean?"

Mamma moved the potting soil around in the earthen jar In-fore speaking. She stopped her work and looked at Leah with a fond expression. "Seems to me if you care the least at all for him, why not see where it leads? He's a right nice young man."

" 'Tis easy to see Dat thinks so," Leah offered. She wouldn't ask for a comparison between Gid and Jonas; Mamma had made it known years ago how fond she was of Jonas. e

"Far as I can tell, Gid's been sweet on you for a long time."

She thought on that. "Honestly there are times I think it would be fun to go somewhere with Gid, at least with another couple along."

Mamma's blue eyes grew more serious, and she set about cleaning the potting soil off the wooden work counter with a hand brush and dustpan. "Sometimes I wonder if you care for Gid simply because his sister is your dearest friend. Have you ever considered that?" > v : ' :

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ly e

"Adah has little to do with Gid's and my friendship," Leah said quickly. The smithy's son had happily befriended her during her darkest days. They had even gone walking at dusk several times, but mostly their conversations took place in the cow pasture. She worried if allowing herself to warm to his winning smile might in some way betray the depth of love she'd had for Jonas.

"Just so Gid understands where your heart is," Mamma said.

Light streamed in through the windows, casting sunny beams onto the linoleum floor.

Where your heart is ...

Leah sighed. "Whatever do you mean?"

Mamma sat tall and still, her gaze intent on Leah. "I think you know, dear. Deep within you, a voice is whispering what you should or should not do."

"I can't come right out and tell Smithy Gid that I don't love him as a beau, can I? How cruel that would be."

"You might say instead you think of him as a close brother."

Knowing Gid as she did, if she revealed this truth, he might take it as a challenge to try harder still to win her. "Oh, Mamma, I don't know what to say, honest I don't."

"Then say nothing . . . until you're sure. The Lord will give you the right words when the time comes. God holds the future in His hands . . . always remember this."

Mamma was as wise as any woman she knew Mamma and Aunt Lizzie both. She thanked the Lord above for allowing her to grow up close to such women, though if she'd had her druthers, she would have preferred to know early on that

23

ILlMlt* Bivnneman was the woman who'd birthed her. But to

MWt'll mi ill is was futile.

I Mnmma's words nudged her back to the present. "Why

Ifiiil ii.sk Adah how she thinks her brother might react."

I "I've thought of that, but I can't bring myself to open my

|i iih and say what I oughta."

I Mamma frowned momentarily. "That's not the Leah I

Iknnw."

I Leah forced a smile. Maybe what Mamma was trying to

InuV whs Don't settle for a Gideon Peachey if your heart longs for

In Imuis Mast.

I Si ill, she refused to let Mamma or anyone see the depth

En! bewilderment that plagued her. It was as if her feet had

llprouicd long tendrils, like the runners that sometimes

Kflppi'd her in the berry patch, making it impossible to move

[forward, tangling her way, keeping her from progressing on

Ifhf path of her life.

I "Are you afraid I'll never marry ... if I pass up Gid's affec-

tlon ?" she asked suddenly.

I "Not afraid, really," Mamma replied. "Just awful sorry if

lyou're not happy in your choice of a husband. 'Tis better to

IK1 ii contented maidel like your aunt Lizzie than a miser-

nb\c wife, ya know."

I Leah had heard similar remarks at the quilting frolics she

Iliiul her twin sisters attended with Mamma; seemed there was

Inn overabundance of spontaneous advice from the women

Ifolk nowadays. But the overall bent of Amish life, at least for

In woman, was to marry and have a large family. Anything less

Iwns a departure from what the People expected.

I All of a sudden she felt overcome with fatigue. The

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;3=;L"3=!;::==""i24 .': ^ id e o e r t u A^ e im> i s

potting shed had trapped the hot air, and she longed for the cool mossy green of the shaded front yard.

Politely she offered to help Mamma with the rest of her planting, but her mother shook her head.

"Go and have yourself some time alone," she said. "Goodness knows, you must need a rest."

Leah kissed Mamma's cheek and walked around the south-

east side of the house, admiring the clear pink hydrangea bushes flourishing there. She sat on the ground and rested in the shadow of an ancient maple, daydreaming that Jonas had never, ever left Gobbler's Knob for his carpentry apprenticeship in Ohio.

Everything would be so different now. . . .

Yet she refused to give in to her emotions. Something as innocent as a daydream was wrong, she knew. Jonas belonged to Sadie now, and she to him.

"God holds the future in His hands." Mamma's confident words echoed in her mind.

Mosquitoes began to bite her ankles, and the sound of the noontime dinner bell prompted her to rouse herself and paste on yet another pleasant face. Leah rose and trudged toward the house.

25

j Sunday evening the air was so fresh and sweet it was hard

| imi- Mary Ruth to imagine a better place to be on such a fine

I niyllt. She rode next to Hannah down Georgetown Road in

Hfefe family buggy, chattering on the way to the singing. Once

^Hgin, Aunt Lizzie had offered to drive, drop them off, and

^^Blirn home with the carriage, since there were no brothers

HRf do the favor. Ever since February, when they turned sixteen

,mul became eligible to attend Sunday singings, Lizzie had

Ixvn kind ev%n eager to drive them.

It had crossed Mary Ruth's mind to ask Leah to take them

111 I'hc singing, but with Leah past her rumschpringe and a bap-

11/I'd church member, she was no longer expected to go to the I '.irn singings, though she was welcome if she desired to, since Ik- was still single. Mary Ruth couldn't help but wonder if I call might have an awful slim chance of marrying now, unless, of course, she succumbed to Smithy Gid.

Mary Ruth felt sure Leah was still in mourning for Jonas, despite that everlasting smile of hers; her sister's cheerful mood didn't fool Mary Ruth one bit.

''- ' -. ; ' 25 "26

- / u ,L- e lo i s

All in all, Aunt Lizzie was a much better choice for taking them to singings. One thing annoyed Mary Ruth, though their aunt seemed a little too interested in who rode home with whom. Especially here lately, since the Stoltzfus boys had been bringing the twins home long past midnight every other Saturday. The grown-ups in the house were supposed to play dumb; the age-old custom of turning a deaf ear and a blind eye.

"Do you think Ezra and Elias will bring only one courting buggy to singin' again?" Mary Ruth whispered to her twin, eyes wide with anticipation. "It's such fun double courting, ain't so?"

To this Hannah smiled, shrugging her shoulder and looking nervously at Aunt Lizzie.

Hundreds of lightning bugs blinked over the cornfield like stars fallen glittery white from the heavens as the carriage headed downhill toward Grasshopper Level. A lone doe crept out at dusk and stood on the edge of the woods and watched them pass, as though hesitant to cross a road just claimed by a spirited steed.

"Elias has eyes only for you," Hannah whispered back. "If ya didn't know already."

Mary Ruth reached for her sister's hand and squeezed it. "I should say the same for you 'bout Ezra."

Aunt Lizzie turned her head just then and smiled. "What're you two twittering about?"

"Ach, best not to say, Aendi," Mary Ruth said quickly.

"Well, s'posin' I try 'n' guess," Aunt Lizzie taunted jovially, wispy strands of her dark hair loose at the brow. .... ,

Mary Ruth frowned. "Let's talk 'bout something/else."

27Che Cjacrifice

Their aunt caught on and clammed up, and that was that.

11 nth whs, neither Mary Ruth nor Hannah felt comfortable h

* li'Kt In age," Mary Ruth had declared to Hannah in the prii ii-y til' their bedroom last week.

"Not only that, but if we end up married . . . our children will hf double cousins." Shy Hannah's pretty brown eyes had tlniiml at that.

Yesterday afternoon, while stemming strawberries and,

; Itlfir, picking peas, Mamma had hinted she'd heard only a sin-

^Ir bu|j|gy bringing her dear girls home here lately. Which, of

tJuin'M1, could mean just one thing: the boys were either the

Ml i >l friends and using the same open buggy ... or they were

^BiIuts.

Hi Naturally, with the secrecy surrounding the courting years,

11 "Mi mother knew better than to mention much else. Yet

I '"'d said it with a (most mischievous smile and out of earshot

ul Diit. At the time Mary Ruth had noticed how pretty

Miltnma looked, her face beaming with joy. Was it because

jllli! was with child once again? The women folk often whis-

HBtd at canning bees and such that a woman in the family

^H had "a certain glow."

HJ Or ... maybe it had more to do with Mary Ruth showing HJ Interest in a nice Amish boy; maybe that's what made Hniina smile these days. If so, then surely their mother Hftn't nearly as worried as she had been at the end of the Hjflt)' eighth grade, a full year ago. The evening of graduation

28from the Georgetown School, Mary Ruth had out-and-out declared, "I want to attend high school next year!"

However, the very next day Dat had surprised her by taking her aside and talking mighty straight. "Hold your horses now, Mary Ruth." He'd asked her to wait until her rumschpringe to decide such a thing, so this past year she had continued to work three days a week for their Mennonite neighbor, Dottie Nolt, doing light housekeeping and occasional baby-sitting for the Nolts' adopted son, Carl. Along with that, she helped Mamma, as did Hannah and Leah, tending to the family and charity gardens, cleaning house, keeping track of busy Lydiann, and attending quilting frolics. Now that she was courting age, she was also going to Sunday singings with Hannah, who was taking baptismal instruction without her a terrible sore spot between them.