Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice (29 page)

"liven more thafi Mamma did?"

She hugged Lydiann close. "Each sister had certain things

"lie enjoyed about God's green earth. For Mamma it was the

I>ii(In and the way the sky could paint itself all kinds of colors.

''lie saw the Lord God clearly in all of His creation, just as

H|lhi Lizzie does. Lizzie especially likes trampin1 through the

^lock up behind the house where Hannah and Gid live

w."

H "That's awful gut of Aunt Lizzie, givin' up her house and

HfiVing in with Dawdi."

m "1 should say, but it's the way of the People, ya know." She

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rose and looked around, wishing she could walk straigbi in Mamma's grave, without getting lost as she had the previmn time. It had been months since her last visit, as she luul rejected the inclination to visit the graveyard during the front and cold of winter such a severe time to think of do; 1 rent Mamma lying cold in the ground. She was ever so glad thnt six feet under wasn't the end of things. According to Aunt Lizzie, Mamma's spirit was with the Lord Jesus. Her body win simply the unique shell of her, housing her spirit.

Leah located the small white marker with the few wok In etched in its stone:

Ida Brenneman Ebersol B. September 2, 1904 D. December 27, 1949

"Will we ever see Mamma again?" Lydiann asked.

Leah was a bit taken aback by Lydiann's question. Truly, she did not wish to step on Dat's toes, because Lydiann wan his daughter. "Jah, I happen to believe we will someday," slit said hesitantly, longing to share the eternal truth as sin understood it.

"But Dat says it's up to the Lord God on Judgment I );iy whether we go to heaven or to the bad place," Lydiann spokl up. "He says we can't know if we're saved just yet."

For sure, just as all the brethren were, Dat was adaman about that Day of Days being the first and only time a persnrf would know where he or she was to spend eternity. Still, slit knew there were some who believed differently amongst tin People, as she did. Silent believers, Aunt Lizzie liked to cull them. ., .., ...; ,. >; : ,: :' / '.: ., :

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aerittee

I 1! \lw;iys remember this, Lydiann the Lord Jesus came as

ImI <\ in give us life. And not only while we're alive here on

Inli In heaven, too."

I 'Tor certain, Mamma?" Lydiann asked, eyes wide with the

ImiiiK.

I "Sure as God's love . . . that's the honest truth."

I I ydliinn seemed satisfied and turned to scamper around

|i < nuTery, peering down at the small markers, reading the

jiiM. i nnd dates aloud in Pennsylvania Dutch.

I N k'iinwhile, Leah sat beside her mother's grave. We all miss

in I Mamma, she thought. Except for Dat, I daresay I miss you

w\t of all. : '':::' ' :

I I he wild ferns growing close to the road were nearly li! It'-deep as Leah and Lydiann walked leisurely home from li< i t'inetery. Leah pointed out one bird after another and B'llnw buttercups growing in clusters with no rhyme or realm *

I "Why do ya think the Lord God made such perty colors Ivc-iy place?" asked Lydiann.

I "Well, just think of all the different colors of people there p red and yellow, black and white . . . we're all precious inp sight."

I "That's the song Mary Ruth sings to me, ain't so?" I Leah nodded. She'd heard Mamma singing "Jesus Loves jne Little Children," too, but Lydiann couldn't have rememli'iril since she was only two when Mamma died. Mary Ruth, lili I he other hand, had sung it all the time to Lydiann and

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Carl Nolt when he was little. Here lately Mary Ruth had been saying she thought it was a shame young Carl and Lydiann hadn't gotten acquainted as playmates, since they were neighbors and all, but truth was, Dat had no interest in either Lydiann or Abe rubbing shoulders much with Englishes, When all was said and done, Mennonites surely were English^ ers, at least in Dat's book. Preacher Yoder's, too.

Thinking about the highly revered minister, she recoiled he hadn't been able to attend Preaching service several time* in a row. Word had it he was suffering from a bad heart thul, and some serious problems with asthma, which she guessed only worsened his heart ailment.

She and Lydiann had been walking for a while, working up a sweat, when Lydiann began to count the tiny white moths that fluttered here and there. Enjoying the sun ami warm breeze, Leah happened to look off to the north and, In and behold, if she didn't spy Dr. Schwartz's automobile parka I in the field just down from Peacheys' property.

Curious, she strained to see, but what she saw startled her so much she stopped in her tracks. Why's he kneeling in tht< grass . . , near that little mound of dirt? she wondered, recalling the day she and Jonas had stumbled upon the peculiar plot.

"What're we stoppin' for?" asked Lydiann.

Promptly Leah started walking again, lest her younjj charge continue to ask questions or, worse, realize who wai over there tending a grave with hand clippers and ask to go and talk to her Dokder.

"Come along, now." She picked up the pace. "You and I best be getting home for milkin'." She pointed out the Kaull mans' farm on the left side of the road, hoping to distract

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Id1.1mi from whatever was going on over on the right. She

It (< vded, or thought she had, saying they ought to go visit

nil hi11 ;md Luke here before too long, down near Ninepoints,

mvw \\w couple had built themselves a nice new house with

Htil y i il room for their growing family of young sons.

I Thankfully they were nearing home when Lydiann piped

m, "I lv.it was our doctor in the field, jah?"

I i cull didn't say it was or wasn't; she simply hurried up the

Iru1 lending to the barnyard.

I When they approached the house, Lydiann asked again.

I "Dr. Schwartz owns that field" was all Leah cared to say.

282X-'Jt-

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YL

JTTannah must've wanted to talk to Leah in the worst way, because she followed her up to the outhouse. "I know sonic thing 'bout Mary Ruth, but you can't tell a soul," she sniil, hurrying to keep step.

Leah had made several promises in her life that had owl her dearly, so she was rather hesitant for Hannah to say more "Happy news, I hope?"

Hannah's face shone with the secret. "You'll be so sin prised, I'm thinkin' . . . and jah, it's right happy. Wann,i guess?" !

"I'm afraid I'm too tired for that." I

]

"Ach, don't go spoilin' my fun." Hannah looked hurt. \ Leah couldn't have that. "I do want to hear what's on your;

mind. It's just, well . . . I'm not so interested in hearsay, yn

know."

With a most sincere smile on her face, Hannah said, "I 'lilt

came straight from the horse's mouth, so ya don't have in

worry none." She stopped to bend down and pull a weed oui

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hum lift ween her toes. "Mary Ruth must've forgiven the EngIlili driver."\Vlu>!" H| "You know . . . the young man who hit and killed Elias

I Iui'un."

H Hubert Schwartz? Leah suddenly felt tense.

H "She's seein' the doctor's son, that young minister she and

HU*tml preach in Quarryville years back, remember?"

H "Arc you certain of this?" She knew she must sound like

Brother hen talking so straight, but, if true, this was inter-

H:|mk news!

Hj "Mary Ruth told me . . . and agreed only you could know,

H i V,i know, if Robert Schwartz should end up marry in' our

Hpi i. well, she could be a schoolteacher and a preacher's wife

Him day. Now, don't that beat all?"

H Actually, Leah was somewhat startled at Hannah's appar-

Hi riiihusiasm. "I didn't think you cared two cents 'bout

Hi'imonite beliefs. So ... why are you happy?"

H "After Elias died so young and all, I'm awful glad Mary

Hh!i''. not grievirfrg anymore," Hannah said. "She's lookin'

Hcik! to her future."

H "The doctor and his wife are fine folk," Leah said. "I

HnuKI hope their older son is just as nice, 'specially if he's a

Bi'.idier. But can you imagine him falling for an Amish girl?"

"Well, she ain't so Amish anymore."

"|ah, 'tis true." Leah couldn't help but think how odd it wmk that another one of the doctor's sons had fallen for a Plain

"Mary Ruth says Robert's completed his Bible studies in wylnia and has been offered a part-time job at the Quarry-

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ville church. I guess he'll fill in for the head pastor at tinicn and teach Sunday school some, too. Mary Ruth will sec him plenty . . . gut enough reason to attend services." To this I Inn nah laughed softly.

"I wonder if she realizes what might be required of her if they were to, well . . . marry," Leah said.

"I s'pose that remains to be seen. But for now she's all smiles. For sure and for certain."

Leah pondered the news. If Mary Ruth continued to se Robert, more than likely she'd never return to join the Amlnh church. Dat would be awful disappointed over that. Maninm, on the other hand, wouldn't care one bit up in heaven, hill then again, a crush wasn't much to worry about, was it?

Robert sat behind the wheel, waiting for the gas stniimi attendant to wash and dry the car's front and rear window.!. He made some quick notes for his upcoming sermon, ;mj when the time came to pay the bill for the gasoline, he dug into his pants pocket for the required cash while the i:il| attendant stood patiently. !

On the ride home, his thoughts turned to Mary Rnili Ebersol, the young lady he was presently dating. It was sin1 who had once loved and lost Elias Stoltzfus, the boy he I mil accidentally struck and killed nearly seven years ago. Though trusting the Lord for victory over his intense struggle, in ill truth, recurring nightmares of the accident continued in haunt him. To think he had fallen hard for young Elins'iri intended, a homegrown Old Order Amish girl who'd converted to the Mennonite church of her own volition. Yel liln

association with her, pleasant and even exciting as it wim,

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ml him to have to face the catastrophe yet again. iKriliivcting his thoughts to his sermon outline, Robert Id rial the Lord's own Sermon on the Mount, taking cornI In its promises. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherithurih.

^HI riih's bare feet took her across the cornfield to the Peach-

^B lu ii isc. Dat, Lydiann, and Abe had all gone fishing, and

^Hi N'Hiio unexpected hours to herself, she had a hankering

^Hti'i- Miriam today. She felt nearly carefree enough to skip

^My, i he way.

^Hj When Miriam saw her from the porch swing, she called

H, "Hullo, Leah!"

^M "Wie geht's?" she asked, happy to see Miriam looking so

Hi

^M "i Mi, I'm fair to middlin'. Come sit with me here on the ^li).;," Miriam slid over to make room. "It's awful pleasant ^wty, but this weather won't last. The heat of June is just ^lul the bend. We'll be tryin' to escape the sun in a few lib." ,

^B "And the mosquitoes will be out in full force." .-.. ^M "I low are your little ones, Leah?"

^m She smiled. "They're sweet as strawberry jam." Seemed

Bftryone considered Lydiann and Abe hers now. Too soon,

^'iLIKh, they'd be itching to try out their wings and fly, to

"iiU" I heir own families; it was the way God set things in

km it ion for humankind. Leah wasn't sure where she'd live or

vvliill she'd do once that time came, though it could be she'd

^id up living in the Dawdi Haus with Aunt Lizzie once

^wili John passed on. But since no one but the Lord God

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knew the end from the beginning, there was no need to wony over the future.

She remembered, quite unexpectedly, Mamma saying I Insame thing to Hannah, especially when the twins wenyounger. Even Aunt Lizzie liked to point out that "Worry m 'stead of trustin' just ain't the way of God's children." I <-.Ji sometimes wished she could be consistently cheerful, iimm, like happy-go-lucky Lizzie. Someday I will be . . . if I live Imif enough,

"What can I do for ya?" Miriam asked.

"I'm curious 'bout one of Mamma's old recipes. It's nnl written down anywhere, since Mamma knew it by heart, I ml she's not here and . . ."

Miriam glanced at her and gripped her hand. "Aw, honey, You miss her, of course ya do. We all miss Ida so."

She hadn't come here just to ask about a recipe, nm in get sympathy neither one. Truth was, she enjoyed talkiiij: in Miriam, and though she saw her several times a week Ir. in afar and at church twice a month, there were certain lim, when Leah felt she simply needed to look into Miriam's c >, and see and know the understanding Mamma had always found there.

"Which recipe are ya thinkin' of?" asked Miriam.

"Mamma's pineapple upside-down cake. I can't seem m remember how much of the shortening, baking powtk-i, <>i vanilla. All the pinches of this and that tend to get stm I m my head."

"Seems to me that happens to all of us at one tinu- m 'nother. Come inside. I'll try 'n' write it down so you'll have

it.'

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I Vnki." She followed her into the big spotless kitchen. Hjlin; lor her to get a pad of paper and pen, Leah felt sudHy w;irm inside, most pleasantly so. Having this special ^Bc in her possession would be yet another connection to

Hltllil.

H\l precisely that moment she realized why Mamma ^f'vt1 risked disobeying, keeping back the forbidden letter ^Sndie. It's about losing and trying desperately to hold on, she Hght:.

^Kvci) all these years later, she felt almost too glad to have

^Oyi'd the evidence, lest Dat, the preachers, or the bishop

^gotten wind of it and thought less of Mamma than she

>\-<-J. Truly, coming to visit Miriam this day was one of

l ".i things Leah could've done for both herself and her

itiiioiy of Mamma.

liven the meadowlarks sang more sweetly as she accepted ^^fiko recipe from Miriam and hugged her good-bye, headH)nrl< across the cornfield toward home.