Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice (9 page)

BOOK: Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice
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Henry would take this, but she was altogether eager to attend the Mennonite house of worship again, and she told him about it just as he was sitting down for supper on Wednesday night. "I hope you won't mind if I go out this evening for a few hours." She went on to say what she was planning.

He was slow to speak, evidently tired. "Are you trying to keep up with your son?"

She hadn't thought of it in that light, but now that Henry had mentioned it, she assumed Robert's quest for the spiritual might have influenced her, as well. "Why don't you come along?" she suddenly suggested. "You might be surprised and enjoy yourself." _.

"My desk is piled high with paper work." The tone of his voice caught her off guard; he was insulted.

"Are you all right with this, Henry?"87

I I If looked across the table, his brow creased. "Go, if you

Iim."

I I'i n I uiiately their suppertime talk took a turn when Henry

In mi U'il lie was toying with the idea of expanding the clinic,

Iili.ips offering an internship to a medical student and build-

L "ii io make room for more patients.

I Hi is was news to her, but she liked the idea. Henry,

IiiicJi he was close to his forty-fifth birthday, had aged con-

iri.ilily in the past year virtually before her eyes. She spec-

In it I ii was due to keeping himself busy with an overabun-

Iiii i- ol patients, more than enough for one country doctor,

Li ;\\r sometimes worried about his frequent lethargy. Even

I lie liad much to teach anyone interested in medicine.

I I k-nry's need to extend himself to new blood coming up

I the ranks surely had something to do with his sons' lack of

Iricsi in the medical profession Derek having chosen a

IIIicr's life and Robert, more recently, the Lord's work. She

1* almost certain Robert's abrupt fork in the road had

lei u-i I I lenry more than he realized.

I "Any hope oftterek getting leave time for Christmas?"

m asked, changing the subject.

I "I I I'll have off two weeks, I would presume."

I "I lave you written him lately?"

I "I did a week ago," said Henry.

I ( iihhI, she thought. Her husband was keeping in touch

lli ilu'ir younger son in spite of Derek's stubborn silence.

I I Icnry shook his head and reached for his coffee. "Deep

W11, our boy does have a beating heart."

I 8hr was glad to hear this from Henry's lips and watched

w\v thank his coffee. Slowly she finished off her carrot cake

87

I *- s s f- i f- f- I t r l r f i" I *" i" ' r ^ ir^F""88s

and ice cream. If only Henry might consent to go with her to church, even a single time, she believed the pockets of stress under his eyes might soften and the spring in his step might return.

Hannah could scarcely wait to show Mary Ruth the letter from Grasshopper Level. They were already in their cotton nightgowns, each having brushed the other's hair, when Hannah asked her twin to "guess who'd written."

Mary Ruth shrugged. "I'm too tired to care, really." She slipped under the sheet and snuggled into bed.

"Well, listen to this," Hannah said. "It's a letter from our j

cousin Rebekah Mast!" ]

"What?" i

"I saved it till just now." j

Hopping out of bed, Mary Ruth hurried to peer over Han- j

nah's shoulder. "Quick, read it to me." j

Dear Cousin Hannah, i

This is the last letter I'm planning to send to you! I haven't i even told Kiamma I'm writing, but you need to know she's i awful peeved you and Mary Ruth would come here. We don't need no pies and no letters, neither, from you Ebersols.

If I sound upset, I am. After all, your sister Leah got our brother Jonas shunned by talking him into joining church over there in your neck of the woods. I won't say everything that's on my mind, but we wish to goodness he'd never laid eyes on --,

her! }

Please don't bother to answer this letter. We have nothing i89 H L^neCjacrifice

I im -.icv U) each other. Only one good thing came out of this

tiirjul mess Sadie andjonas have found some true happiness

mil iiv.st. That's all I best be saying.

I So long,

I Rebekah Mast

I "VtV 11, I declare!" Mary Ruth said a bit too loudly.

I "SIill! You'll wake up the whole house." Hannah shoved

My Iriirr into the envelope and stuffed it in her drawer.

IVCIimi ;i horrible cousin."

I "Vnii can say that again." Looking mighty gloomy now,

why Ruth headed back to her side of the bed.

"I didn't think Rebekah had it in her to be so rude."

I lYhiry Ruth pulled up the sheet and muttered, "No doubt r< I- y's echoing what Cousins Fannie and Peter are sayin' and iliinl' in),' 'bout us."

I liiMiiuh put out the oil lamp on the dresser and crawled mi. i lied. "I knew she was bossy and liked to talk a big talk, I'in i his . . ." She almost wished she'd never bothered to open 'li' i uvolope, especially not at night. Now the cutting words

Id encircle her thoughts, and she needed her sleep. i .-'How she planned to help Leah mow all the yards i <, hick, and side then burn the week's trash. That alone

- ' ! I I ;ike nearly the whole morning.

I 'oii'i worry yourself over Becky Mast," said Mary Ruth, i 11iii|,' over and stroking her hand. "Just consider the

|.ili, I s'pose."

II icy lay quietly for a time; then Mary Ruth spoke again. A i mi I izzie and I will be canning quarts and quarts of pickles

90

oi_ e w i s

tomorrow. Who's gonna look after Lydiann?"

Hannah shared with her what she planned to do, laughing a little. "Maybe Dawdi John will come over and look after our baby sister."

"That's not such a gut idea, do you think? Not as quick on her feet as Lydiann is gettin' to be." Mary Ruth had a point there.

"Jah, he may be hard-pressed to keep up with our baby sister; it's a good thing Dawdi John's hip has improved with Dr. Schwartz's help."

Hannah was anxious for sleep to come.

Mary Ruth yawned and turned to face her. "Do you ever wonder who it was Lizzie must've loved enough to give up her innocence before marry in'?"

"I hate to admit it, but I've thought about the same thing. . . ." She didn't want to speculate, but she guessed Leah's birth father must surely be the son of one of the Hickory Hollow ministers. And, if so, well . . . wouldn't it be interesting to know just who? "Best be say in' good night now," she said, hoping to turn off the chatter.

Ida found herself standing in the hallway where she had stood that first morning twenty years ago now here, at the top of the stairs, where the window looked out to the southeast, to the Peacheys' fine-looking spread of land. Tonight, though, she did not care to admire the smithy's acres and acres of corn and grazing land. No, she was looking up, high overhead. The stars captured her attention this night.

Bless the Lord, o my soul: and all that is within me, bless hisholy name. She paused to rest her hands on her middle. O

91

Lfu

jfrttlw < iiitl, place your hand of blessing on this babe of mine, fjjgjjmifig mi restlessly within, she prayed silently. HMeif ;.ln' stood, suffering twinges in her stomach on the ^^B .Npui where so long ago she had accidentally overheard ^Hiin iflling young Lizzie what she must do about her baby. ^^Jf Ii;u I begun to soften from the near-rebellious state she ^Hin when she and Abram brought her home to live with ^H|n Ma recalled, too, that Abram had repeatedly ques^Hnl I i.:;:ii- to no avail that same day. "Your baby's father . . . P""! in In:'" Her sister could only weep, not once mentioning

i< youiif, mans name.

i 'ijnv/v s/ie'II want to share the truth with Leah someday, Ida l|liniiK(lil, Mill staring at the sky strewn with stars. But deep IIIimIi!*, in ihat near-sacred place where a woman frets silently HBt her dear ones, Ida was fearful. Nervous for Lizzie and ^Hl I'nih, for what such a revelation might do to the good Bwfl u-liii ionship they enjoyed. But, most of all, she worried El \|ii;ini. If Leah were ever to know her blood father, would I i i ,1111 lose his rightful, even special place in Leah's eyes? She I "ilil only imagme what hurt this could cause him and the I All of them, really.

[ 'hi- moved away from the window, wincing as she I id her stomach . . . her unborn child, wondering if

|! '" natural father even knew he had a daughter. She liililrd down the hall, stopping at the first bedroom to look Hit mi l.i-nh, sound asleep, then on to Hannah and Mary H^i'. mom, where they, too, slept peacefully, like two small ^H*n" nearly nose to nose.

^L'lu'cking, observing, loving . . . her beloved family of ^^M, minus one. Would the hands of time turn things around

92~ /O e o e r I y J~- e iu> i s

for Sadie? Would the grace and goodness of God the blessed Holy Spirit woo her to Him faster than the People's shun? She prayed it would be so.

How she loved her girls, all of them equally, and she prayed as she walked the hallway, speaking to the Lord silently, imploring Him for each one's future. Ida longed for them to walk uprightly, to know the Holy One of Israel not only as their heavenly Father, but to embrace the atonement of His Son, the Lord Jesus.

Bring peace to this house . . . to my heart, she prayed without speaking. At last she headed back to the bedroom where Lydiann slept in a wooden crib in the corner and Abram lay sound asleep, not knowing she had been walking softly and praying earnestly. Not knowing that all too often, of late, the wee hours were filled with sharp pain, and sleep was far from her.

93^Jp

4- fri, I &-*v

Hilly sicpped gingerly into August, and soon after September Kdiiic in on wild turkeys' feet, surprising the local folk with |)in. li cooler temperatures and buckets of rain. The unsus|'i i ing gobblers wandered brazenly out of the woods, becomIih unwelcome visitors to the cornfield, as if daring someone li> -.hoot them before small-game hunting season.

I Mamma observed her forty-fifth birthday on the second Ui iv >l September without much ado other than a card shower fliiin the women^folk. Leah said the hydrangea bushes near IIH- house had seen fit to mix their brilliant hues with some lit 111 bronze on cue for Mamma's special day, the first hint of I'tn; and lazy autumn days leading the way for the harvest and fli lilling.

i V'tober's gleaming red and yellow apples rapidly turned \ applesauce, cider, and strudel, and the musty scent of wet l-iws led smack-dab into November's wedding season and

II m i;lory of deepest autumn.

I 11 was the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving Day when Iiil) consented to ride along with Smithy Gid to visit his

94

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ailing uncle Ike. She was glad for the heavy woolen lap robe protecting them, since the open carriage provided no shelter from twilight's falling temperatures.

Gid held the reins with one hand and steadied his har-

monica in the other, playing one tune after another as they rode along. In between songs, he whistled, as cheerful as she'd ever known him to be.

We're practically betrothed, she thought but instead quickly brought up the subject of his uncle. "Has a doctor seen him for his pneumonia yet?"

"Aunt Martha wants to call in the hex doctor, but Uncle Ike won't hear of it. Seems they're at a standstill, but I'm sure my uncle will have his say-so."

Leah thought on this. "What do you think of powwowing, Gid?"

"I don't rightly know. Pop says there ain't nothin' wrong with having the hex doctor have a look-see when somebody's sick, but Mamm, now, there's a whole 'nother story."

"She goes to the medical doctor, then?"

"I believe Mamm would rather die than have white witch-

craft goin's-on in our house. And that's just how she says it, too."

White witchcraft? Leah pondered that. Seemed her own mamma lined up with Miriam Peachey on this matter. Dat, now, he didn't seem to care one way or the other neither did Dawdi John. Aunt Lizzie, though, liked to have had a fit when Leah mentioned it some time back in regard to the day she was born. "Was there an Amish midwife or hex doctor on hand?" she'd asked, to which Lizzie had replied, "No midwife . . . not the powwow doctor, neither one," turning an 95IV.

C n e Cjacri/ice

iJiLiiarumt shade of peach when Leah mentioned the latter.

"Wlint do the ministers say 'bout powwowing?" she asked.

' lid shook his head. "They'd prob'ly say they have more m.>i irrniit i lungs to think about."

| -Veined to her the brethren ought to have an opinion one h i .11 i he other. Still, such a topic would never be preached :iuy Sunday sermon.

Recalling that Jonas used to write her about certain Scrip:li\rn not being used in sermons here in Gobbler's Knob, she iIii'IIKIu "I asking Gid what he thought of that. But she kept in pence, not wanting to touch on the past good or bad.

The road from Quarryville was particularly deserted this vci in i|_;. Most folk were indoors keeping warm on such a brisk h in, Robert Schwartz assumed. He wanted to surprise his | nis by arriving early for Thanksgiving but had been just ifier to attend the Oak Shade Mennonite Church before i: I'linjj; northeast to Gobbler's Knob.

I I ie minister had begun by speaking slowly to the congrejttii'Hi in an almost conversational tone. As time passed, it. nii'Ji, his discourse had become swift and strong in its delivts, .iinl Robert had been enthralled by the message, "Finding <."l'\ I'Ian for Your Life."

"As sons and daughters of Christ Jesus, we have an oblijfiiiim to seek out His will and live it," the preacher had ii i mi ted. "We must delve into the Word of God for answers. \ li.it would God have you do with your remaining days on ..nil:1 Will He send you forth into the field, for it is white Hun harvest?"

\\"/w'k' unto harvest. The words had seeped into Robert's

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r i | i t I I 1 t t ' ' 96

ly J2e

heart, taking hold. To think what he might have accomplished for God in the weeks and months leading up to the invasion at Utah Beach in Normandy. The Allied air forces had dropped all those bombs . . . twenty thousand tons on France alone. Too many of his buddies had died on those bombing missions. And he'd lost his sweetheart, a true flower of a girl, though an unbeliever. If only I'd known the Lord then, he thought sadly as he remembered Verena.

BOOK: Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice
4.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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