Abram's Daughters 04 The Prodigal (33 page)

At once she opened her heart to the woman she'd often confided in as a young girl. "I'm hopin' ya might help me gel word to Dat's ears somehow. . . about Jonas Mast," she began. She did not plead with fancy words, nor did she fight back tin1 tears that threatened to spill. She prayed silently and spoke honestly, hoping a gentle approach might work more effectively than dramatically beseeching Lizzie to do her bidding . . . for dear Leah's sake.

Abram was dressing around for Tuesday morning chores when Lizzie sidled up to him and said, "I have an idea . . . and I want ya to think on it."

"Oh?" He leaned down and kissed her full on the lips. Then, when she tried to wiggle free from his tight embrace, he kissed her again.

"For goodness' sake, Abram!"

He looked at her, all fresh and sweet from a good night's rest. "How was I to know what you had in mind, dear?"

She smiled and went to sit on their bed, her arms folded

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^H "I've heard tell that Peter Mast's eldest son is as un^Bjli'

F lip lili ihe frown crease his brow. "Well, how on earth I. -

I I iizlc looked at him with love in her eyes. "My dear r ' > iffl, y> hi host be trustin' me on this," she said. "But I know I ilnni: you could put a smile on more than one person's I ii ii ii u I here if you'd be willin' to write one short letter." I i li> had no idea what she was suggesting and told her so. | 'We've heard from someone in Ohio" and here she j I'd in him, as if to make her meaning clear "who knows | lire that Jonas has never married."

I And just who's that?" he asked, beginning to suspect the

I1 ' .iin for the sadness in Lydiann's eyes.

I "I Xni'l know exactly. . . though I wouldn't tell ya, prob'ly, I I,lid."

I i >h, he loved this spunky wife of his. He walked over to |i> i ,ind raised her up so he could hug the stuffings out of her. I "Think of it, Abram Jonas not hitched up yet," Lizzie Hi'I In his arms. "And Leah still single . . ."

I I Ic ligured out then he was supposed to put it together Ih ii iIk- two of them might yet secretly care for each other.

I1 ih's happiness, according to Lizzie, lay right in his ownLn.k

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I Lizzie was adamant. "Peppermint oil in tea does fight Itilils!" She glanced up at Hannah's girls playing in the haymow as she talked with Lydiann below. "My mother and

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grandmother both said this, and I know from experience \\\ true."

Lydiann sniffled and then pulled out a handkerchief from her dress pocket and sneezed. "This always happens to mo ;ii the beginning of autumn," she complained. "What is it 'boul that?"

"Oh, the change of seasons, I 'spect. Some folk get down right blue when summer turns to fall, and others catch a cold, just like you are. But. . . ya really oughta try some peppermint oil in a cup of tea, I'm tellin' ya."

Obviously uninterested, Lydiann turned up her nose yi-i again.

"All right, then, but don't say I didn't try 'n' help."

"I won't." Lydiann shrugged and headed for the ladder in join her young nieces.

A stubborn sort, she is, thought Lizzie, wishing Lydiann wasn't so much like Sadie had been at this age. But then again, who was she to talk?

Seeing Hannah's girls so playful just now, she thoughi ol Mary Ruth and Robert. She could scarcely wait for their Iiim baby to arrive, another grandchild by marriage for her. Sinfelt so full of joy each day, walking and talking with the Lohl Jesus and enjoying the young ones growing up around lu-i Sometimes she felt she ought to pinch herself to see if all I u i dreams had really come true, though she knew they surely had.

Only one thing clouded her happiness, however in frequently. Still, she wouldn't let it rob her peace, but it mis something she could never quite shake. She wondered when she ought to finally bring herself to sit down one-on-one wiili Leah and be done with it. . . reveal everything about liei

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fillings. ( V at least all she remembered. She had been taki Into mcoumt the sorrows and disappointments Leah had RlMn.1 those years, not wanting to further hamper her dear ^1 m(eming contentment with the potentially burdensome m'lrd^. She'd thought of asking Abram his opinion on N H' he thought it a good time to consider addressing it n I nth even though he himself was in the dark about the n who'd fathered her one and only child. Truth was, she iltln'l bring herself to reveal this to Abram, either not

; yd,

Hi full bad by no means endeavored to keep up with the

Hjll^li in the neighborhood. For one thing, talk of daylight

ni^s lime coming to an end here pretty quick made her

Ii under her breath. Lorraine Schwartz loathed "losing

hi .ii the end of the day," as she liked to say, so it always

II in Leah to change back the settings on their clocks to

! > i ime" come the last Sunday of this month. Seemed odd

I mi, Ifeally, fancy folk wanting to go back and forth like

M, especially since the People never observed "fast time" in

HfnM place.

HShc did as was requested of her all the same, heeding the Hits and wishes of her employers. Both Dr. Schwartz and his H' Ii;id become accustomed to her being altogether depend' H, except for the few days, of course, when she had quit her Himii of sheer anger. The problem with working for Dr. Hvviiri'z, whom she'd long seen as an upstanding man, was H wbe no longer viewed him as so good, after all. Leah Retimes wondered if there was something she might do to

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help point him toward the Savior his heart undoubtedly longed for.

As Leah set about dusting the many framed family pictures, taking note that the pictures of Derek as a teen hud been removed and replaced by wedding pictures of Mary Ruth and Robert, she thought how odd it was that the doctor's seo ond grandchild was also to be an Ebersol by blood, though the circumstances were vastly different.

Sighing, she would not allow herself to feel upset for having approached Dr. Schwartz as she had. There had been extreme frustration and sadness in his eyes that day, but also absolute relief, as if the man had been waiting all these years for someone to condemn him!

Well, now that he had finally owned up to the truth, sin1 felt almost sorry for him. Leah hoped she might share the love of the Lord Jesus with him if not in words, then by Iktdeeds, . ..;., ,. . ..-. .... .-,. ;., :,.> .-. ,

Jonas stared down at the unexpected letter Jake had thrust into his hands, quite stunned to see it was from stubborn Abram Ebersol.

Meanwhile Jake tried to explain. "Tell ya the truth, I was mighty surprised gettin' this letter from Lyddie's father, alon^ with a short one from her, too."

Jonas ran his hand through his hair, saying nothing.

"You all right?" Jake stared at him but good.

"Never better." Jonas had to suppress the urge to chuckle, but nothing of what Abram had written had anything to do with Jake. Except without this mighty handsome brother t >l

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l| ttlrtluliiiH here, how long might it have been before Jonas wl hfHfil difv word about Leah ... let alone that she was still I ' l lf I K- slipped the paper into his pants pocket.

iv punned, wanting to get the words out just right. "I P ' it V* 11 i jufl 1 time I find out for myself why you were sent H Ytiui' I id ing here makes no sense to me at all." Jonas

I In linn hand on his brother's shoulder. "Time I heard

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m* Mitilifht from the horse's mouth."

I Jrtkp expressed his wholehearted enthusiasm for the idea, nil 11 nil in hurried to finish the new desk he'd promised to |>i<-i-iotc? by next week. The more Jonas deliberated on it, the I' ' he pondered how Jake's inclusion with the men who'd (h> irnded none of the others had any complaints, evi-

11111 v -iippeared much like what had happened to him years In i, 11 Mr us he was preparing to wed Leah. I While sanding and smoothing out the wood's surface, he li "i;tilzed that he had no idea what his first step upon his tin11 would be toward Leah. Could he actually show up at Minim's home unannounced and knock on the door? He was Illiiinncd man. Even if he were to be so brazen, Leah would P'H'R' to the*Old Ways, he was sure. And knowing Abram, htuI not consulted with Leah before writing this brief let-

I Rubbing the wood all the harder, he wondered if Leah KHlId ever want to see him again. Abram had hinted as much, It nagging thoughts continued in Jonas's head. Truth was, m two of them scarcely knew each other anymore. Is a futureW us even possible?

I Unjust as his shunning was, Jonas was suddenly very eager ijiet home and set things aright. For Leah's sake.

He scrutinized the piece of wood intended for the desk top

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and immediately spotted the small yet visible dip where hr\l sanded much too hard. Straightening, he stopped his work,Outcast or not, it's time I correct the foolishness of the past . , , time 1 did what 1 should've done long ago.

"This desk will have to wait for finishing," he announced, Jake looked up, eyes blank. "What do ya mean?" "I'm closing up shop for a few days. I'll explain everything when I return."

Feels like a lifetime of waiting, he thought.

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I lie sun had already begun to make its way southward in I .mi iisirr County. High in the sugar maple trees, birds I'li-t'iicd and twittered contentedly, and, Jonas imagined, perIim|v, mii ornery crow poked at an abandoned wasps' nest.

I If was very aware of the many familiar landmarks as he i U- in the backseat of the taxicab he'd taken from the train

> limn in downtown Lancaster. Staring out the window, he "i HIt- tip his mind to do things the right way, with some semI lime of propiiety, at least. On the other hand, since he was

11 if iv visitor, there was no harm done in simply putting off

i visit to Bishop Bontrager.

While it was Leah he longed to see, he felt he must head

u;ii|.;ht to Grasshopper Level to speak with his father before nifiiaining notions of a visit to Gobbler's Knob. So the cab \\ m.s traveling through the village of Strasburg, southeast i< hvmrI Peach Lane with its tall trees and curving road dotted I'V Ainish farms on either side, and then on to the Mast nit hard house. He gazed out at roads he and Leah had not i 'i ily ridden on together in his open buggy, but had walked on

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numerous times, enjoying the sun, the earthy smell of tlicfields, and their easygoing talk.

When he arrived at his father's house, Jonas hurried around to the back door, where he saw his mother in a green dress and old black apron standing by the cookstove, stirrinj', a big soup kettle with a long wooden spoon.

Turning to look his way and seeing him just then, she let out a gasp and put her hand to her throat. "Ach, is it you, Jonas?" she said, coming quickly to the door, her eyes shininj,' with happiness and tears both as she stared at his face ami beard. "You've come home!"

But almost as fast as she'd expressed joy on her sweet face, the reality of his shunning must have set in, for her eyes dark' ened and she began to back away.

"Hullo, Mamma. Is Dat home?" His pulse throbbed with every breath, and he felt as though he were sleepwalking.

His mother struggled to hold back her tears, the thinly disguised longing evident on her dear face. "Your father's in the barn," she said softly.

"Believe me, I mean no trouble . . ." he managed to say, knowing full well he was required to speak to his father first, as was their custom when an excommunicated family member returned home.

Jonas hurried across the yard toward the large bank barn. The luster of orange and yellow trees captured his awareness yet again, but only for an instant. His stride was strong and he felt the determined set of his own jaw, his gaze steadfast on the open barn door.

He found Dat tending to the mules, talking low, slow words in Dutch, just as Jonas remembered his father doing when he was a boy. Standing there, he took in the old place

\*

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... i I|n imi livable barn stench, recalling all the years he'd .1 ml alongside his father and younger brothers . . . the i niti they'll (Hilled on each other, the times when he was illnVYtd In wear Dat's work boots and he'd gone clunking and lulling tliMHigh the haymow, kicking up a dust to kingdom

I If vv;iiied to speak till Dat's back was no longer turned so I.. -.\imill not startle his aging father. "Dat, it's Jonas."

\n lull and brawny as ever, his father inched his head up, i .1 mi; uneven breaths, his large shoulders rising with each .,,. ed heave. "Son?"

"I've come a long way to speak to ya." He wanted to hurry in Mill's side, reach around the familiar burly frame and hug Hi- mini he'd missed so terribly.

M:ii extended his hand. "Come here to me, Jonas. Let me I...! ai ya."

1 obediently he moved across the barn floor; his mouth t\. ni dry as the moment hit him hard. "I wish to talk to ya,M,i"

"You're a married man, jah?" His father chewed on a piece 'I .1 raw he held in his callused hand as he studied Jonas's

1 11 in. "Where's your missus?"

|onas felt the softness of his beard. "Oh that. Well, things .in- a hit different out in Ohio. We let the whiskers grow right away, followin' baptism. I'm still unhitched."

I )at kept staring, as if what Jonas had just said and what Ma I was seeing with his own eyes didn't quite register. "Jake wioie us a letter. . . said he'd run into ya. . . but I never expected him goin' out to Ohio would bring you back to us."

How can I tell him otherwise? Jonas wondered, but he didn't hnvc to reveal his plans not just yet. "I'm home to talk over

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some things with Bishop Bontrager," he volunteered. "Infoci, I'm headed up to Gobbler's Knob after a while."

Dat seemed interested in hearing more, nodding his ho;ul quicklike. "Well, now, I sure hope you're goin' to talk abom repentin' and returning home . . . where ya belong, after ;ill these long years."

Jonas didn't have the heart to say differently when he took in the look of longing in his dear old father's eyes. "I have some questions to voice, for now." He didn't say what, but he added, "And I'm here to ask something of you, too."