Destiny Calls (17 page)

Cain’s grandfather answered as if in a daze. “My
bredder
will be three hundred this March.” The elders bowed their heads for a moment in respect to the elder and what this must be costing him. There was no shame in being Isaiah’s brother. He had been a good male. Unfortunately he had never found his mate and therefore lost his mind many years ago. The likelihood of his mate, if mortal, even being alive today was doubtful, and once a mate was lost, the law of nature showed there was never to be another. Isaiah’s fate was inevitable.

“I call that we form a band of brothers prepared to hunt our lost elder and, if at all possible, return him here,” Elder Thaddeus Christner, Cain’s grandfather on his mother’s side, announced.

“I object. There is no call for endangering our females and children by bringing this monster into our home,” a tall male called from the back.

Thaddeus nodded in understanding of the male’s concerns, yet countered them with his words. “It is a sad day when one of our own is lost. It has been eighty years since we all bid Brother Isaiah farewell and Godspeed. Many of you weren’t even born yet. For those of us who were alive, we do not know this monster, but remember a gentle Christian male who was good and kind.

“Isaiah was a man who doted on the children and went out of his way for others. He never allowed his friends to face hardships alone and often went to great measures in order to find solutions for issues that had no effect on him whatsoever. He was one of the nine original elders that formed this order and as such is deserving of a dignified death. I understand his actions are beyond forgiveness. Innocent lives have been lost.

“Let us not forget these others, the devil’s children as Cain calls them, were all meant for other fates as well. Isaiah was called to follow God’s plan, and now he shall only find redemption at the hand of God Himself. We are more than men, but we are not gods.

“Let us not cast stones as if we are without sin. And let us not forget the fact that one of our own, Council Elder Ezekiel Hartzler suffers most for the sins of his
bredder.
While Isaiah is past the point of conceiving guilt, his brother is not. He pays the price for crimes that are not his own and for such reasons, Elder Ezekiel deserves to see his brother brought to an end peacefully.

“For there is no redemption for this male, but let there be peace for those who loved him. Let us not allow ourselves to become monsters simply to save the world from one.”

Cain observed his grandfather carefully as his other grandfather spoke. Ezekiel kept his eyes downcast and his face devoid of emotion.

Bishop King spoke. “I agree with Council Elder Thaddeus. If there are enough males present to safely incapacitate Isaiah and return him to the farm where he can be locked in seclusion, that’s what shall be done. However, if the dangers are too great and he’s in fact too strong, then he’s to be destroyed on the shadow of which he stands. Do not forget, eighty years ago a band of thirteen males went to find Isaiah, and even then he was too powerful. Do not expect him to recognize you as anything other than a male trespassing on his territory. If he would attempt to slaughter his own brother eight decades ago, he will have no hesitation in ending any other male.”

The bishop then stood. “Who is brave enough to take this burden upon their shoulders and put an end to this evil?”

* * * *

Ezekiel watched as a male in the back stood. “I shall go.” Then another male and another. Soon enough there were over twenty large, imposing males vowing to bring his brother home. He was grateful for the respect being given, yet pained that in the end there would be no saving his brother.

His mind went back to a time long ago in a different place. It was Europe. The plague had unleashed an unstoppable havoc on males and females, mortals and immortals alike. They were merely boys on the brink of becoming men. He could still see Isaiah clear as day in his mind, his long dark hair only dusting his shoulders at that point and his silver eyes shining bright as he spoke in haste.

“I have heard of a new world, Zeke. It is fruitful and healthy. No plague has touched this place, and we must go there.”

“
Pére
will never allow it. He believes we are to stay here.”

“Then we shall die here,” Isaiah had hissed vehemently. “Look around you, Zeke. There is nothing left but death. I am tired of starvation, tired of fearing I will ingest some putrid form of disease each time I feed. We must leave this place and start anew. I believe it is our destiny to do so.”

“And what of
Maman
? She will not leave
Pére
. Her heart will break to see her only two sons go.”

He had pursed his lips and sighed regretfully. “Her fate is here,
frére
. Ours is there, in the new world. I see it.”

“You have had another premonition?”

“
Qui
. There will be a great ship, and we shall voyage for many nights. There will be death and sadness upon the decks of this vessel, but you and I shall live. Vashti and Caleb are going to be on the ship.”

The mention of Vashti had irritated him. He favored the young woman, but she favored another. Traveling over an ocean beside the happy couple was not appealing. “And why should that tempt me, Isaiah? I have no interest in watching their affair.”

Sadness flickered in his silver eyes. “Do not judge them harshly, frére, for they will suffer much hardship on this expedition. When they arrive, they will no longer be three, but two.”

Ezekiel’s jaw unhinged. “The babe?”

“
Qui
. You mustn’t speak of this. They need to go to the New World, for their destiny is there as well. Unfortunately the price is the life of their child.”

He imagined poor Vashti mourning her babe. “No, Isaiah, you must warn them. She cannot suffer so. It will destroy her spirit, and I will not bear it. She is so full of life. I want nothing to ever change that, be her mine or Caleb’s.”

“Hush,
frére
.” He smiled. “When they reach the Americas they shall build a home, and in that home they shall raise a brood of babes. She will have more children. None shall replace the one she lost, but one, a little girl, is the only child you need concern yourself with.”

He frowned. “Why is that?”

“Because she shall be
your
destiny.”

Isaiah had always had premonitions. Ezekiel had learned long ago to trust his elder brother’s instincts. He had been right. Vashti had lost her babe and mourned terribly. Distraught and inconsolable, Ezekiel feared she would never be the same again. Perhaps she wasn’t, but she did go on to have four more children, one of them a beautiful child by the name of Faith. His Faith.

That was not all Isaiah had spoken of that fateful night. They had sat by the open wall. A torch and moonlight cast moving shadows over them as Isaiah went on about their destiny in the new world.

“I must go, too,” he had said cryptically, the resignation of a man on the front lines of battle showing in his eyes. “I shall go and I shall be a good, noble male for as long as God allows. I will grant every man, woman, and child a memory of the good in me and pray they remember that when the time comes.”

Ezekiel didn’t understand the morose tone in his brother’s voice that night. He had been distracted with thoughts of his own mate, yet thinking back, it had all made perfect sense. Isaiah had done exactly as he set out to do. He was a charitable man, always helping others, protecting the females, and gifting the children with numerous whimsical finds. His presence was sought after and his stories were legend.

When they had finally arrived in the New World, they were in pitiful shape, every last one of them. Sadness weighed every stride they took on their pilgrimage to Lancaster from Philadelphia.
The Charming Nancy
had been a tomb upon the sea, and many immortals found their mortality upon that dreaded voyage. The emotional journey they had taken cloaked their people for months. Perhaps they had been on the farm for over a year before the first member dared smile again. It was the children who did it. They replenished the joy in the adult’s lives and made the pain of loss a little less with each innocent chirp and babble.

The males decided to form a council, taking direction from the other Amish orders in the area, many of which had traveled among their kind. There had been nine immortal families. The senior male of each family stood as a council elder, and as a group, they elected Eleazar King to represent them as a whole.

For a century, they had managed a small farm, and then the callings began to happen more and more. Ezekiel had watched Faith grow into a beautiful woman and married her on her seventeenth birthday. Many other immortal matings had taken place, but it was the matings with the English mortals that impressed him most. With each mate who was discovered among the locals, Ezekiel became more and more convinced that this was where they were intended to be.

He recalled the late 1800s, just before the turn of the century. He had been drunk because Faith had gone through a terrible labor delivering Fisher. His memories were blurry, but he would never forget how distracted Isaiah had been that night.

“Congratulations,
bredder
,” Isaiah had praised, patting him on the back. His words were sincere, but something clouded his happiness.

“What is it, Isaiah?”

“It is nothing,” his brother lamented, never wanting to burden anyone with his own troubles. “I am simply happy for you and perhaps a bit envious. Shame on me.” He laughed. “I am quite proud of you. All of these children have made you an honorable male. You will do fine on the council someday.”

He had frowned. So long as another male was his senior, he had no place on the council. “You are speaking nonsense, Isaiah. Have a drink.”

He had. They drank for several hours and in the early dawn, Faith had given him a stern lecture about sobriety and babes. It seemed like a thousand years ago, a time where even their arguments were happy. There was an air of invincibility then. Sadness was only an illusion he could not wrap his brain around, yet now it was what laced every breath and thought he had.

A decade had passed of pure delight and not another cryptic word from Isaiah. He continued to bring happiness to the children of The Order, doting on his nephew, Jonas, especially. And then came the day he had found his brother in the barn, sharpening a metal rod.

“Isaiah? Jonas says you will not be joining us for supper?” When he came closer he saw the blood darkening the material of his brother’s slacks. “What have you done?”

“I have wounded myself,
bredder
.”

“I can see that. Why?”

His hands were covered in oily crimson, and he would not meet his eyes. “Jonas is in love with the young Abilene.”

“Yes.”

“Are you planning on permitting the match?”

Ezekiel had sighed. “There is little I can do to stop him. He is now a male of fifty. She is but a girl. His mind may change, but I cannot deny his intensions to marry her when she comes of age. It will be the council’s decision, however, not mine.”

“They will permit it.”

“Why does this bother you, Isaiah? Do you predict them being unhappy together?”

“She is not his true mate.”

“You are certain of this?”

“I am.” Ezekiel winced as his brother pressed the metal into his hand. Though he did not react from the pain, the wound bled. “It is important that Jonas know his obligations to The Order. He must be certain, knowing that if he marries the young Abilene, another will someday call him and it is his duty to follow that call.”

That was Isaiah, always so concerned with honor and the proper order of things. “He knows,” Ezekiel promised. “Come, let us clean you up. Faith is waiting.”

Rather than stand, he looked at him. The desperation in his brother’s eyes gave him pause. “I am unsure, Zeke. For the first time in my life, I am unsure what to do.”

“Unsure of what?”

“Destiny.”

He waited, but his brother said no more. “I do not understand, Isaiah. Have you had a vision?”

“My premonition has always been the same. I see her. I’ve always seen her, but now…Jonas will have a family, three sons and two daughters. They are necessary. The youngest girl looks like Abilene. It is all there, laid out in perfect order, yet…”

“Why does this concern you?”

“Because while his family is necessary, they will also be hindering fate. Jonas’s choice to take Abilene as his wife will change everything. God will charge him for his choice, taking penance on his eldest son.”

“Then we shall warn him.”

“No,” he said with absolute certainty. “It will happen. It must. I am simply ill at ease with the events his actions will set in order. I’ve thought it over and I see no other way. I am sorry,
bredder
,” he said solemnly, a tear slipping past the dark lashes of his eye.