Abram's Daughters 04 The Prodigal (27 page)

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JTienry had heaved himself out of bed the day after the grueling confrontation with Leah, floundering to find his robe and house slippers long before Lorraine might awaken. He had then proceeded to the bath, where he'd replayed the conversation as he lathered up his whiskers for shaving, fearing he had done the wrong thing in sharing Jake Mast's identity.

He recalled splashing on some aftershave and dressing before wandering downstairs to the sitting room between the front room and the kitchen. There he'd sat in the stillness for more than a half hour, pondering the probable destruction ol his life until the newspaper had thumped against the back door. He had risen slowly to collect it, hungry for news of the outside world to choke out his own agitated thoughts.

All morning long he had gone back and forth about tin" wisdom of having revealed the truth. Now that he was sitting at his office desk, a sliced apple and a turkey and Swiss-cheese sandwich uneaten before him, he pondered again what he h;ul done. Such stupidity!

Yet he had to hope his devastating confession was safe

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Hjti LprH. Sighing, he could only imagine what she was going BjtEjyh now. Mis doing ... all of it. Torn between the truth H| flu- |urn it was sure to inflict on her older sister, Leah Hi ii" il'Hibl, aggravated by the tremendous burden of her Bfi\vlul|',c. I le had done her a great disservice, and he was Hiiiiiicii, not only of having revealed the deed, but of having Hiiihiiiit'd it in the first place.

H I I* i ricil to picture Jake growing up in Abram's household, ihi: looked after and loved by his real mother, surrounded I In iii'Jiiiiil family.

H I i'ii/i icon't contact the authorities, will she?H 1-vi'n ii' she did not, Henry wondered if word might evenHilly fvi to Peter's and Fannie's ears. What then? He would Hi nin|H'lled to be straightforward with the Masts, if it came H thin. And what of poor Jake? The innocent young man Hull! In- forced to come face-to-face with not only his Hjoii^lii birth mother but the entire Ebersol family. Would Half's hunily ever accept Jake as their own? Would Jake Hlniui- ihem?

H Questions wrenched him every which way, and he felt as Hjd when he Reached for his sandwich as he had upon slipHu; inio bed last night. Although he had experienced no Huhle lulling asleep, he had awakened repeatedly throughout H< lung night, even startling himself with the sound of his Bn miserable moaning. And Lorraine, saint that she was, Hi sh-pr through the many thrashings and turnings he felt nimble to control.

M;v life is in ruins, Henry thought, realizing that if his wife

i i irdveied this offense, he would have to daily atone for every

n mijiloing he had ever committed . . . and there were many.

i i'H I hat she would purposely hold it over him that wasn't

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her way. His reluctance for her to know about their grandson now had more to do with Lorraine's keen interest in God, which made him feel even more culpable.

Leah suggested she and Sadie take a walk following noon dinner, to which Sadie heartily agreed. She simply went along, enjoying the wispy clouds softening the rays of the sun, bringing the slightest bit of relief from the hottest part of the afternoon.

"Did ya know that Dat doesn't believe the English know anything 'bout how to gentle a horse?" Sadie had been thinking on this, having heard Dat say to Gid earlier that morning that he thought their approach was an insult to the horse. But the lack of a response from Leah made Sadie doubt she was any too interested in talking about horses. No, it was fairly obvious, now as they'd made the turn onto the main road and were heading southeast toward the Peacheys' place, that there was something very important on Leah's mind.

Leah slowed the pace and turned to face her. "Sadie, I don't honestly know how to tell ya . . . what I must say to you, but I'm gonna try."

She could see Leah was struggling as they continued walking, coming up on the area where the road opened up and the field on the left stretched out to a pretty pond a small one, to be sure, but one that made for a lovely verdant setting, nonetheless. "What's on your mind, sister?" she asked, feeling breathless and almost perplexed at the tone of Leah's voice.

"Oh, Sadie, this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do ... but I want you to know that if I could keep this back

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lii onler to spare you if I thought it wouldn't hurt you worse in never know well, I wouldn't utter a single word." Leah \v;is absolutely shaking with emotion.

"You're frightening me," Sadie said. "What on earth is it?"

They walked for too long in total silence, but Sadie ilcfiilcd not to pressure Leah. It seemed best for her sister to I like her time with whatever was troubling her, even though Sadie couldn't begin to think what that might be.

Along the road, a green fringe of pasture flourished where I hiu feelers on sheaths of grass turned purple, then sapphire, I hc-n a deep gray-lavender as the sun shifted in and out of the laini cover of cirrus clouds.

Leah spoke again, a near whisper. "Sadie, your baby. . . I lie son you birthed in Aunt Lizzie's cabin ... he didn't die I hat night."

Sadie stopped walking and felt as if her heart might stop heating. "What are you sayin'?" Her voice cracked.

Leah reached to hold both her hands. "Come with me. I'll ti-ll you all that I've just learned."

They turned a sharp left, and she followed Leah down ih rough a vacant and large piece of land, her mind and heart m'reaming to know more even as her sister quietly shared the astounding story.

At last they stood at the grave where Dr. Schwartz had buried the Masts' real son. Sadie was scarcely able to see for her tears. Leah held her as she sobbed with both sorrow and

j< >y.

My son's alive! she thought, and when she turned to look a i her sister, she saw on her face a reflection of her own emoi ions. Sadie hardly knew what to think or say. She felt almost

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ill, and a cold shiver ran up her spine. "Dr. Schwartz has known all along?"

"Jah, I'm sorry to say."

"Well, I must tell Jake ... I must meet with him privately. Right away."

"Oh, Sadie, think on this a bit. Think what this knowledge might do to him, to Mandie ... to the entire Mast family."

Sadie shook her head. Obviously Leah didn't understand and had no idea what she was asking. Jake was a fine young man with a gentle nature she knew this sure as anything, having watched him with Abe, shaken his hand at market, and witnessed the lighthearted expression in his eyes. "I can't wait any longer, don't you see? I've already lost all this time!"

Leah's head drooped, and when she looked up at Sadie, she was crying. "Please think about your son, Sadie. Peter and Fannie are the only parents he's known. For you to go to him now and reveal this... I just think, well, I s'pose I wouldn't have ever told ya if I thought you'd press ahead without thinkin' things through . . . ya know?" Leah reached over and touched Sadie's elbow.

Sighing, Sadie whispered, "Jah," choking back her own tears. "Maybe I'm bein' awful hasty, but I want to get to know him. . . . The years have flown from me."

Why is all this happening? Why now?

The entire story was as strange as can be, yet she would not doubt it for a minute, for Leah could be trusted. And looking into her sister's eyes, seeing her concern, as well as her sadness, Sadie knew something else: She must do Leah's bidding and simply wait. But when would be the right time? She had no idea, and all she could think about now was that

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In liiul ;ilready looked into the face and felt the hand of In i only living child. Her son.

I c;ili was speaking again. "I think it wise to keep this just i wecu us till we carefully consider what we ought to do next, ll miylhing. Till we seek some wisdom from above."

"|nh, from the Lord God."

I c:ili nodded her head, eyes still glistening. "We mustn't MinIi inio something you'd surely regret later."

"And you don't think we should ask Dat or Aunt Lizzie In ml i his?"

"Not just yet, no."

Sadie, though terribly frustrated, began to slowly undernl.uuJ the reasoning behind Leah's words. At least in this soltiiiii moment she did. Later today she did not know how impulsive she might feel, how eager she might be to hitch up (lit- horse to the buggy and drive over to the Masts' orchard

I ii ii isc to tell Jake the good news that his real mother had i (uiio to take him home, where he belonged.

Ach! I mustn't do any such thing! She imagined the potenii.il scene she would make with Jake's family, his close twin, till 11is older siblings and him. Sadly she began to think that

II .he iruly loved her flesh and blood, she might need to leave ! I nin in ignorance, never knowing he was the illegitimate child nil one of the Ebersol cousins his family had shunned.

As they rose and walked back toward the main road, Sadie hiiinight of the night she had told Leah of her youthful pregin.iiK y and how the roles on this day were, in a peculiar way, li|inic reversed. Today it had been for Leah to share the truth hli.ii Sadie's own son was very much alive, instead of Sadie lli'vi.'iiling her secret about the wee babe growing inside her. I'lluly, this child of hers had been veiled in secrecy from the llliiR' of his earliest beginnings.

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1 he days slid together, hot and muggy, the mid-July heat rising like a deep green tide in the open pasture. The intolerable temperatures brought with them sultry, restless nights for all the residents of the Ebersol Cottage, particularly Leah and Sadie, who had agreed that, for now, it was best Jake not be told of his true family roots. At only sixteen, he was tot) young for such jolting news, they reasoned, and the strained relations between their two families only compounded the problem.

Leah was prayerful, even watchful over her sister, hoping Sadie might somehow manage the emotional trauma she was now experiencing with some seemliness, keeping her feelings in check, at least while in the presence of other family members. And even though Sadie and Leah had endured several rather tense days, going so far as to exchange angry words in the vegetable garden one afternoon, Leah was quite sure no one suspected them of having had a fuss over something as earthshaking as Jake Mast's being Sadie's son. Such a secret to keep!

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Wilh tomorrow a "no-church" Sunday, this Saturday nii;lii vv;is an evening when most courting couples were out ililinc; together. The traditional arrangement ensured their ii.iyihj.! out all hours didn't cause stress in the family if the il.uik'likT or son of a household decided to sleep in a bit on ' 'iiiuliiy morning.

I laving hunger pangs in the middle of the night, Leah i irpi downstairs for a glass of milk and a cookie when she li.i|i|>rned upon voices in the kitchen. Never having expected i' > I'iK'ounter Lydiann entertaining her beau here in the house "ii ;i warm and moonlit night, of all things, Leah halted in iuprise. She could see both Lyddie and a tall young man in iIk* shadows, over in the corner where Dat's hickory rocker H amlly sat in the summer, out of the way of the wood stove, \\ liich was used for cooking even during the heat of July and August. She could see the two standing quite close together, i.ilking. Not so eager to listen in, she decided to go and sit on

1110 steps leading to the second floor, hoping Lyddie might h.ive the common sense to send the young man on his way l.iirly soon. Yet even there, she could hear their voices.

"We'll get "hitched as soon as the harvest is past," the \ mng man said, startling her. "We'll be the first couple pub-

11 .lied at Preachin' this year."

Lydiann laughed softly.

"I'd marry ya tomorrow if we could."

"But we're underage," Lydiann said. "Will your father sign l< ii you to marry?"

There was a long pause; then Lyddie's beau replied, "Somehow or other, I'll get him to say he will."

Leah felt terrible sitting there eavesdropping, yet she renlizcd her girl was in over her head with this boy. Just what

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on earth could she do? Speak to Dat, maybe? But no, thinking back on her courting days with Jonas, she would not have wanted such interference, although there had certainly been enough of that coming from her father, for certain.

She rose and thought of heading back upstairs to simply wait for Lyddie to say good-bye to her fellow and head for bed. Just as she moved to do so, she heard Lydiann talking again. "Oh, I love ya so." And suddenly Lyddie burst out crying, as if her heart might break, saying she didn't see how her father would agree to let her marry so awful young. "You just don'l know what you're askin', Jake . . . you don't know Dat."

Jake.

Leah froze in place, unable to make her legs move forward. She knew she'd heard correctly, and her heart was pounding much too hard. Could it be Lydiann was seeing Jake Mast?

"Ach . . . Lyddie, don'tcha worry your perty head," Jake was saying. "Things'll work out; you'll see. We're meant to bo together."

Calm down, Leah told herself. There are oodles of Jakes round these parts. Nothing to fret about.

Even so, she knew she would not be hurrying back upstairs yet. No, she'd wait right here all night long to find out which tall Jake her Lyddie was crying over like there was no tomor-

row.

Sadie stared in the little hand mirror on the dresser thai quiet Sunday, trembling as she dressed. She looked much as she had a week ago, although she had lost some inches, since the waist of her apron was quite loose. Staring at her features,

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I i /ontic Jake Mast the way a mother knows her son? Will 1 j t /* rdlitnicd to fove him . . . share my life with him?

(lie I in icd she might never lay eyes on him again, let |il i a* H|u';ik privately with him. The droop of her mouth gave ii .',' hci Irars as she studied herself in the small mirror. M MHflH liinl always said to look at the eyes of a person to My wli;it they were really thinking, but now as she pon^Hj fhai, Sadie felt sure it was especially the mouth that P^^ytnl I he truth about a person's happiness or grief. She let ) i.iLf Mi);, without forcing even the slightest smile, and she j iiiipiiM'd at how terribly alone she seemed to appear yum* hi u I weary of life.