Abram's Daughters 04 The Prodigal (15 page)

"I saw you from the window," she told Mary Ruth, matching her stride as they went. "Need to talk to you privately."

Mary Ruth's face was red with the cold, but she didn't mince words. "Shouldn't you head back, what with the rules of your Proving and all?"

Sadie shook her head. "I'll risk that for now."

"Well. . . what's on your mind, then?"

Inhaling, she held in the frigid air before breathing out. "I've been wantin' to ask ya something for the longest time," she began. "It's about your beau's brother."

"Derek?" .: '

"Do ya happen to know him at all?"

Mary Ruth hesitated, as if pondering her response. "I've seen him only twice. Once long ago at the vegetable stand and, later, out on the road at Christmastime some years ago now. Why do you ask?"

Pausing, Sadie worried how her questions might sound, but she persisted. "Do you know he was the father of my first baby?"

Mary Ruth nodded. "In fact, he wasn't shy about telling

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Ww who In- was that Christmas Day. I must say, I was mighty

liMtfH'lNeil,"

I "Plil ho ask about the baby... or me?"

I Miiry Ruth said she recalled that afternoon quite clearly.

I"11*' ecmed to be in a big hurry. . . headed down this same

Ifnmi, toward the house."

I "Our house, ya mean?"

I "That's right. He was out of sorts, swinging his arms like

|h<' whs lookin' for a fight."

I Smlii- didn't care to reflect on the way Derry had behaved

l\* Im n he was irritated; he'd displayed his bad temper too many

Ilimi'M lor her to forget. "Did you tell him I wasn't livin' at

in' niie liny longer?"

I "Since we'd heard you were married to Jonas Mast back

It I m ii, I said you were out in Ohio somewhere and married.

IlLiI was all."

I Sadie slowed her pace now. "Anything else?"

I "lie asked if you'd had a boy or a girl, and I told him your

Bul'V son had died at birth. That was pretty much the end of

|tln conversation. He turned and left, headed back toward his

*,iit-iii's' house." *.

I Sadie breathed more deeply, taking all this in. Derry had

|i. i'ii heading toward Dat's house. Why was that?

1 I hey fell silent for some time, walking more briskly to

1 i p warm.

I When they grew closer to the Nolts' place, Sadie asked if

I" i i Robert talked about his brother.

I "hast I heard, Derek's stationed somewhere out in Wash'

Ini:inn state. He hasn't been home in seven years... not

in i< c I bat Christmas." Mary Ruth was frowning. "I'm worried

III.H you're asking all these questions, Sadie. You never should

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have met him in the first place. Why would you want to know about him now?"

Abruptly, Sadie stopped walking. "I wondered what he knew. I guess I thought it might help me to put the whole thing to rest and forget the past."

"This happened a long time ago. And since I've told you everything you need to know, why not head on home?" Mary Ruth urged. "I'm nervous for you."

Sadie felt she was walking on dangerous ground, too, having wandered this far already. "Jah, s'pose you're right."

Mary Ruth turned and hugged her. "So long for now."

Waving, Sadie turned and started back down the lonely road. She shivered against the fierce cold and, when the weather turned even more blustery, she wished she'd stayed put at home in the kitchen near the wood stove. What did it matter, anyway, that Derry had asked about her or their baby? So cruel he was, she thought.

Less than halfway home, a squall of snow came up. She tugged on her coat and drew the muffler around her neck more securely, bracing herself against an afternoon storm that had in short order become a full-blown blizzard.

Sadie tried in vain to see her way, unsure if she was wandering toward the shoulder or out into the middle of the road. But she kept going, hoping she might make it home before Dat or Leah began to worry. Her hands, feet, and face were so cold they were beginning to sting with pain, yet she must not focus on that. Reminded of young Abe's struggles with frostbite, she happened to notice automobile headlights creeping toward her. Moving out of the way, she was surprised to see Robert Schwartz waving at her through the snowy windshield.

Mary Ruth's beau stopped, opened the car door, and

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IWIkUkI sIk1 get inside. "What are you doing out in this?" he

< Mhe didn't think twice about accepting his invitation,

Vm though i lie mandate on her Proving was once again

(filed I lie minute she climbed inside the warm car.

^|il< you," she said, shivering uncontrollably. "I thought I

^B liniki' it home. ..."

^Thiink (he Lord I saw you."

^JhIi." She was grateful indeed and kept her face forward,

^Ag n| iff as can be as he turned the car around and headed

^Wil her father's house. "I'm much obliged," she said, not

^wl I \g what else to say now that she was alone with Derry's

^m brother.

^Your family will be glad to see you safe," Robert said.

^Blit' mentioned she'd just spent some time walking with

^B Ruth. "She sent me on home."

^B'll get word to her by phone that you're safe and sound,

^MI nrrlve home."

^my f>/ionc. . .

^Htily, Mary Ruth had all the conveniences of the world

^HuLioinc b%)yfriend with a fast, warm car; a pretty house to

^Bi with heat, electric, and a telephone.

^he was glad for the offer. "I might've lost my way in the

^H II you hadn't come along."

^Hf not that, at least I may have spared your hands and

^B'Min frostbite."

^Hn' smiled at that, though her face was so numb she could

^Hdy feel the muscles move. "There's the lane to the

^Hi" she said, pointing to the left.

^HTiLinks, I would have missed it," he acknowledged with

^Huklc Making the turn, he stopped the car without a

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warning and set the brake. "Uh, Sadie." He turned to face her. "Mary Ruth shared with me what happened between you and my brother some years ago." His face was solemn, even sad. "I'd like to offer an apology on behalf of Derek."

Sadie was both stunned and moved. "That's kind of you, but it's not for you to say." Still, she greatly appreciated the

courteous gesture.

"It's best, I believe, that my brother's long gone. Otherwise, you might be tortured by running into him from time to time."

"Jah" was all she could manage to utter, looking away

now.

Without saying more, Robert released the brake and inched the car forward. The tense conversation was behind them, yet she marveled at the timing of her encounter with Mary Ruth's beau. Who would have thought, when she'd set out to catch up with Mary Ruth earlier, she would be hearing apologetic words from no less than Derry's own brother?

However, when they arrived near the back door, she was completely aghast. Bishop Bontrager was walking to his carriage, leaning hard into the wind. But just before he moved to step in, he looked straight at her. Their eyes met and held.

"Oh," she groaned with deepest despair. "I'm surely ruined."

"Beg your pardon?" Robert said.

She shook her head, again muttered a feeble thanks for the ride, and headed out into the elements, toward the house and her certain Schicksaal her fate.

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I In- bishop motioned for Sadie to follow him back into the kutl*t\ where she stood, unmoving, in the utility room as the BJ| ol' Gnd announced to both her father and herself that BjWns fo he sent away for her disobedience. BmYnf away? She hung her head not so much in shame as Bailment. Surely Bishop Bontrager knew she would never BS accepted a ride with a man had it not been for the Me weather. Still, she knew she'd ignored the rules of the BVIdk and for ifrat deserved what she was getting. Bill spoke up. "But the blizzard . . ." he said, attempting to BMid lier. "Sadie wouldn't have "

BSSiK'h has no bearing on the matter at hand," the bishop BS lifting him off. At once the older man turned and |HcJ out the door, leaving Sadie standing alone with Dat, BXdy able to raise her eyes to his. When she did so at last, P? anight his look of both disappointment and aggravation. K'nh a low groan, Dat walked toward the kitchen.

IHshoji would've sooner I froze to death, Sadie decided, going i' 1110 window to watch his horse and buggy head down the

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lane toward the main road. The back of the buggy whisked out of sight as it quickly became shrouded in the whiteout of dense, wind-driven snow. Moving from the doorway, she hung her coat on the wooden peg and, feeling dreary, removed her mittens, muffler, and boots. From the kitchen came the low hum of voices no doubt the rest of the family was talking about the bishop's visit.

Why'd he come on such a dismal, stormy day, anyway?

Suddenly she knew: The bishop had come to see how poor Abe was faring.

She could have kicked herself for having chosen this day to display such open disobedience. The lie she'd told Leah earlier hung on her conscience like a yoke; she'd drifted much too far from the house, not to mention accepted a ride in an automobile with a man. All were clear violations of the Proving.

Sadie sighed deeply. How foolish I am to have tempted fate

so. . . .

Leah had suspected all along where Sadie had gone, because not but a few minutes before her departure, Mary Ruth had walked past the house, probably coming from a visit with Hannah. If Sadie didn't flat out lie, saying she didn't know where she was going! Now her untruthful sister was coming into the kitchen, her cheeks mighty red from the cold in spite of her ride home in Robert Schwartz's car, of all things. What on earth was she thinking?

Sadie didn't stop to say hello or to join in their conversation, all of them having hot cocoa at the table she simply forced a smile and made her way to the stairs. Leah could hear the quickness of her sister's footsteps as Sadie nearly flew upstairs.

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] './ir's been caught again, Leah thought, feeling both sad and

|v >

I' In'-, emotional state. She found herself tuning out the talk Luii J her, anxious about how the bishop would ultimately land If t his transgression, with Sadie already nearly three munili.s into her Proving.

-+-

I he afternoon after the bishop's visit, while Abram and tih were out in the barn amidst the cows and the milk buckH -, Ahntm brought up his great frustration, for possibly the I>M.I lime. "Sadie needs to be livin' with us, not somewhere

11 > ''us not for widows to live apart from family." | I eah was sitting in Sadie's usual place under OF Rosie,

|>l -ing the cow's teats for all she was worth, evidently irri-

|-ii' . I no end. "This could push Sadie into deepest grief yet j .hi. Seems to me she just got home."

|.ili, I was surprised she held up as well as she did yesterI > I lie bishop talked mighty straight to her. His face was |. mi i;;ht purple."

I "So . . . do ya think Bishop will hold a firm stand?" Leah

L-r,|.

j A hi am considered this. "Hard to say. I'm hopin' he comes

I1 lii-. senses, and right quick."

j \ I tram went on to mention he'd spoken with Dawdi John

II i I lie bishop's harsh stance toward Sadie, and Dawdi

j|!i' 11 l hey must go along with it, whether they liked it or jii "What about Mary Ruth could she make room at the ||..lr.' lor Sadie?" he asked. I I eali sighed softly. "How would that set with the brethren,

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her livin' with Englishers and all?"

"The Nolts are less fancy than, say, the doctor and his wife. I don't know where else she could go right now." His heart sank as he worried about losing another daughter to the world. He wanted Sadie under his roof, or within close riding distance at least, in hopes the bishop might allow them to visit her on occasion. Most folk under church discipline benefited greatly from words of kindness and admonition.

Truth be known, Abram wished he'd spoken up even more to the bishop yesterday when Sadie returned home the elderly minister was taking this much too far. Sure, she's brokenspecific requirements of the Proving, but the discipline doesn'tseem to match the offense. If Robert hadn't come along in his car when he did, who knows where they might've found his eldest daughter. Abram's heart was torn between the Ordnung and his love for Sadie, and there was no getting around it.

Leah's good-byes to Sadie were not nearly as emotional as Lydiann's tearful farewell. Poor Lyddie followed her all the way out to the sleigh, crying her name. Now she stood with nose pressed to the front window, watching Dat take Sadie up to the Nolts'. Dottie herself had surprised them by coming over, once the roads were plowed, to drop Mary Ruth and Carl by to visit Abe, who was still suffering headaches and frequent dizzy spells. Leah had made it a point to follow Dottie out the back door, where she had quickly shared the family's dilemma, taking care not to point fingers at the bishop. Surprisingly Dottie had taken to the idea with enthusiasm, and the arrangements had been made just that quickly. Sadie

153-Prodigal

Ifirtil > inssly gone to pack her bags when Dat had okayed the

I l.ydiann hurst out sobbing to high heavens when she Ii-Mild mi longer see the horse and sleigh moving down

II iiiii'gclown Road. "Dat's takin' my big sister away from me!" I "Adi, don't cry so, Lyddie," said Leah, going and wrap[ffiilH her arms around her. "Surely the bishop will let us visit Ifimlle now and then . . . help her get back on the straight and Iftiiri'ow. Surely he will."

1 "Hui you don't know that for sure . . . and she's goin' to