The Shunning (19 page)

Levi jumped to his feet and hurried to the door in time to see Sadie getting out of Samuel's buggy. "Samuel, will you come inside, please. We need to talk."

"
Dat
, Samuel did not arrange for us to meet. It was all my idea. He drove me home because he didn't think it safe for me to walk." Sadie didn't want her
Dat
to lecture Samuel for her disobedience in sneaking out of the house and going to see Samuel. She so badly wanted the ban lifted so that they could openly court again!

"It is all right, Sadie," Levi said softly, and saw the shock in her eyes. "Go on inside, daughter."

"Sir, I love Sadie, and nothing on earth is going to keep us apart," Samuel said as he stepped upon the porch, his voice strong and firm as he looked at Sadie's
Dat
.

"Please come inside and sit down. I have something serious to tell you both."

"Is something wrong with Mama?" Sadie immediately asked, worried about her pregnant
Mamm
.

"No, child. She is fine, just resting in the living room."

"Let's go inside as your
Dat
wishes, Sadie," Samuel said, taking her arm and moving her inside the door and then into the living room, where Martha was sitting and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Mama, what is wrong?" Sadie asked, kneeling beside the chair. "Are you in pain? The
boppli
...?"

"Oh, Sadie, I am just sad. I will let your
Dat
speak for us."

"Sit with Samuel, Sadie," Levi instructed, pacing the floor nervously as she rose and went to sit with Samuel on the sofa. "I must ask forgiveness from both of you. I have wronged you both. Sadie, you were right to stand by Samuel and insist he was innocent; I should have done the same. Samuel, I allowed my fear that you would take Sadie away to color my decision when I should have told the Bishop that he was wrong. It shames me to admit that I now know who is responsible for starting the rumors about you, and first thing in the morning I will see the Bishop and set this nonsense to rights."

"Was it Mary?" Samuel asked quietly.

"
Ja
, it was," Levi answered, his heart filled with shame.

"Why?" Sadie asked, her voice full of pain. "Why would she do that? Samuel has done nothing to her!"

"She is filled with bitterness about the new
boppli
," Martha told her. "She is afraid that all of the household and care of the
boppli
and the other children will fall on her. I think she is very jealous of you, Sadie."

"I cannot believe she would do something so awful!" Sadie was angry now and it showed. When she jumped to her feet to run upstairs and confront Mary, Samuel reached for her and pulled her down beside him. "Let me go, Samuel! I want to..."

"Hush now, Sadie," he said calmly. "It is our way to forgive others."

"I do not need to be reminded of that, Samuel! But, I certainly am not going to turn the other cheek after Mary has kept us apart for weeks! Let me go!" she demanded.

"No, little Sadie. Not until you calm your temper and think. Put yourself in Mary's place."

"That is impossible! I would never tell lies meant to break up her plans to marry a man!"

"No, you wouldn't. But, Mary needs your love, Sadie. She is in pain, and I think that she needs understanding right now."

"Are you telling me that you intend to go on as if nothing has happened and treat her as before?" Sadie looked at him in shocked disbelief. "Are you not angry with her?"

"Oh, I am very much upset, and a part of me would like to turn her over my knee and spank her until she can't sit for a month of Sundays," he admitted. "But, what good will our anger do, Sadie? Push her even farther away? We don't need that. We need to find a way to heal whatever is wrong. It is going to be difficult for Mary when she has to face others and admit what she has done."

Sadie rested her head on his shoulder and said, "You are wise, Samuel."

"I am so sorry," Martha said, crying silently. "We can't undo the pain that Mary has caused you both, and we are both so sorry for our part in your pain. Samuel, will you please forgive us?"

"Of course, Mrs. Miller," Samuel said, getting to his feet and going to her and leaning down to hug her. He kissed her on the cheek and then said, "Please don't cry. Everything will be all right. We will all do our best to help Mary through this time," he said, trying to comfort her.

Levi was touched by Samuel's obvious concern for Martha. "I am sorry, too, Samuel. I ask your forgiveness."

Samuel offered his hand and Levi clasped it firmly. "You are forgiven as well, Mr. Miller. I cannot fault you for wishing to protect the woman I love with all my heart." He turned to Sadie and winked before stating, "Sadie and I wish to marry this November, and I hope we have your blessing?"

"You do," Levi answered. "Sadie, you'd best tend to making your wedding dress.
Mamm
can take you shopping, and I want you to get whatever you like to make your dress as special as it can be. I know that we are plain, but one day in a woman's life that she needs to be beautiful is her wedding day."

"Thank you,
Dat
," Sadie went to him and hugged him.

"Am I forgiven then, daughter?" he asked, mindless of the tears filling his eyes. "I took away your job and gave you no freedom at all... I treated you as an errant child, and I was a fool."

"You are forgiven,
Dat
. I know you love me and you thought you were protecting me."

Levi held her close and hugged her. "
Danki
, Sadie.
Danki
," he whispered.

"I think we need some
kaffi
and some cookies!" Martha declared, starting to rise.

"Sit, Mama. I will go and make
kaffi
and get the cookies," Sadie offered.

"I will help you, Sadie," Samuel offered, wanting a few moments alone with her.

They left the room and Levi turned to Martha and said, "I am not so sure I would have been as gracious and forgiving as Samuel and Sadie have been, but I am thankful. I do not wish to lose our Sadie because I was such a fool."

"Sadie loves you, Levi, and I am sure she is simply happy to have this horrible time in her life over with." She shook her head sadly and then asked, "What are we to do with Mary, Levi? How can we get through to her and help her find joy in her life? I am not sure a
bletching
is the right thing to do in this situation."

"No, it will give her another reason to believe she is 'right'," he agreed with her. "I am considering withholding her
rumspringa
for another year. I do not feel she is mature enough to be trusted to make good decisions."

"She will be crushed, especially since she has already been seeing Joseph Yoder!"

"I will have to put an end to that. Joseph is David's age, and old enough to know better than to secretly court a fifteen year old girl."

"She will be sixteen next week, Levi."

"An immature sixteen," he added, and then asked, "Do you agree with me, wife? Do we take away her
rumspringa
and forbid her the singings for another year as her punishment?"

"She needs time to consider how her behavior affected Sadie and Samuel. The loss of something she has looked forward to for so long just might make her reflect on her behavior. Of course she is going to be terrible to live with in the meantime."

"I have a strap in the barn and I'm not afraid to use it. I also expect my wife to share Mary's misbehaviors with me. Mary needs to grow up, and I will not have you protecting her from me when she is misbehaving and giving you a difficult time. Do you understand me, Martha?"

"Yes, Levi. I should have shared my suspicions with you sooner, husband," Martha conceded. "Are you upset with me?"

"I am not upset, wife. Especially when you are carrying my
boppli
," he said with a loving smile for her. "But, if you feel guilty about the matter, I will turn your pretty bottom red with my hand to take away your guilt." She blushed, and then looked down. He had his answer, and he took her hand in his. "I will tend you well, Martha," he promised, his words a whisper in her ear.

* * *

Sadie and Samuel turned to each other the moment they were in the kitchen and out of sight of her parents and Sadie flew into his arms and they kissed happily. "At last this is over!" she whispered.

"My prayers are answered."

"And mine. Oh, Samuel, I am so sorry that Mary did this to you. I promise I will make it up to you some way." Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"It isn't your fault, sweet Sadie. I know you are hurt and angry, but it is our way to forgive," he reminded her once again.

"I will need some time to be able to forgive her, Samuel," Sadie admitted. "She heard me crying night after night and she did nothing at all to ease my suffering; she said such cruel things to me about you, telling me I was foolish for ever falling in love with you. She knew all along she was responsible for our unhappiness; she lied to the entire community about you, Samuel! I feel like going upstairs and slapping her silly!"

"Would that change things, Sadie? Would that take away the last few weeks?"

"No, it wouldn't, but it might make me feel a bit better!" she angrily declared, and in the next instant she was bent over the kitchen table and Samuel was giving her a spanking, right over the fabric of her dress! "Samuel!" she whispered loudly. "Do not!
Dat
might hear!" She was embarrassed.

"He would do the same, young lady. Slapping your sister will not make you feel better."

"Then why are you spanking me?" she demanded, tears coming to her eyes. Samuel wasn't spanking her hard, but he was spanking her, and it hurt her feelings, especially after the evening they shared.

"Because I want my fiancee to practice forgiveness as is our way."

"I will forgive her, Samuel, but you can't force me to do it now. I need time," she explained. "Spanking won't help," she added when he gave her another soft swat.

"Will you try to control your anger, sweet Sadie?" he asked, giving her another spank that she felt. "It would please me very much."

"I will try... if you stop spanking me!" she answered, holding her breath and hoping he wouldn't give her a serious spanking.

"I enjoy spanking you, Sadie," he whispered, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I love that you are feisty; I will have many excuses to take you over my knee and spank your pretty bottom." He helped her up, giving her backside a rub as he smiled at her. "I am not taking my duties as your fiance seriously tonight. I haven't given you one serious swat even though you earned at least three spankings!" He wasn't complaining, but was teasing her.

"You were sweet to me tonight." She caressed his cheek with the palm of her hand. "Thank you. I needed your love much more than I needed a serious
bletching
."

"I needed to hold you, too, and I wasn't about to send you home with a stinging bottom after you dared so much to come to me. You'll never know how much I needed to see you and know you still felt the same about me, Sadie."

"I needed to see you for the same reasons, Samuel. I didn't want you to get it in your head to leave this district without me."

"I wouldn't have left without you. You're mine."

Sadie was so happy she squealed as she gave him another hug. "I love you, Samuel Hilty, and I can't wait to be your wife!"

"You'd better start that
kaffi
, Levi's Sadie, or your
Dat
will be coming out here to scold."

"I am so proud of you for the way you shook
Dat's
hand," Sadie told him. "
Dat
is a proud man, and it was difficult for him to face you and tell you he was wrong. You made it simple and easy.

"Your
Dat
was only protecting you, and by the Bishop's orders. How can I fault the man for loving you? He was lied to, Sadie, and the fault is not his. It is Mary's fault, and while I will forgive Mary, I am sure it will be difficult to forget this for a long, long while."

"I will leave her to
Dat
and
Mamm
," Sadie promised. "If up to me, she wouldn't sit down comfortably until we were wed."

* * *

Martha was nervous as Levi took her hand and led her upstairs to their bedroom. Atlee and David had come home while they were having kaffi and cookies, and Atlee had to be talked out of going upstairs and dragging Mary out of bed and taking a switch to her! Martha had no idea why he was so angry until he explained about Miriam spreading gossip and being responsible for tales about Samuel being carried directly to the Bishop. Finally they calmed him, and now the house was quiet. It was after midnight, and for a household that was normally in bed by nine o'clock, it was very late to be up. Still, Levi promised to spank her, and she knew he would not forget. She hoped the children were all asleep.

Levi set the lantern on the bedside table. "Change into your nightgown, wife," he ordered softly, and then we will deal with the guilt you are feeling for not coming to me sooner and telling me what our Mary was doing."

"I should have told you, Levi, but telling it would have made it true," she explained. It didn't take her long to change, and to take down her thick, long hair. Samuel took the hairbrush from her hand and ran it through her hair, and then he gently turned her face down over their bed.

"Pull up your gown and bare yourself, wife," Levi said firmly.

Mary did as he said, making sure the cotton gown was well above her waist. She was naked from the waist down, and Levi's large hand rested on her rounded bottom. "Why is this spanking going to happen, Martha?"

"Because I didn't come to you sooner and share my concerns about Mary, and tell you how she was behaving toward me and toward Sadie. I am so sorry, Levi. I could have spared Sadie weeks of anguish if only I'd talked to you!"

Levi didn't think that Martha had done anything so very terrible, but it was obvious she was feeling terribly guilty, and she needed a good spanking to ease her guilt. She'd even pulled up her gown without one word of protest, and she hadn't mentioned waking the children even once. "Very well, young lady," he made himself sound firm. "I am going to turn this bottom of yours nice and red and the next time there is a problem with one of our children, perhaps you'll remember to come to me."