Abram's Daughters 05 The Revelation (7 page)

^flS over Lydiann his arm draped around her all of nature

-.rcmed at once topsy-turvy. The terrible sight led Leah's imagina-

uofi to run ahead of her to the hour the day would die away into

iwilight. And all the while, Jake and Lydiann would be out riding

alone.

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X must turn this horse and carriage around! Leah panicked and checked to see if anyone was coming from behind. On impulse, she reined the horse hard to the left.

Hannah gasped. "What the world, sister? You're gonna wreck us!"

Hannah was surely right; there was no turning as sharply as I 'ill had attempted to do. Besides, the poor horse was thoroughly

"i 11 used, pawing at the ground and neighing something fierce. I eah? You all right?"

Truth was, she was downright upset and determined to put a clop to Jake's obvifrus arrogance. What sort of young man simply ,11 i wcd up unannounced? He hadn't even waited till after sundown in come calling on Lyddie, the traditional way.

She could not get the memory of Lydiann's blissful smile out of Ikt head her girl riding next to her dark-haired beau. It spurred I cih to get on home, but the horse was presently not in a cooperaiivcmood.

"Best be more cautious, Leah." Well she deserved it, but how .1 i.mge for Hannah to be chiding her.

She thought ahead to those things that must be said to Jake. Not m> willing to get the entire family involved although what choice did she have she rehearsed in her mind a make-believe conversation with Lydiann, followed by another with Gid. Thrown in there

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somewhere, as well, would be at least a question or two or more from Dat and Aunt Lizzie.

"Ach, such a mess we're in," she said flat out.

"What're you muttering?"

Leah caught herself and explained quietly, "Just talkin' to myself." She hoped Jake Mast hadn't gotten any wild ideas about running off with Lydiann. Because if so, all of Gobbler's Knob would hear her sobbing, and she'd send a group of the People after them, or even go out looking for Jake herself . . . anything to rescue her Lyddie from certain heartache.

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"I was up in the woods writing a letter to you this very mornin'," Lydiann told Jake as they rode toward Ninepoints. "There's a beautiful old tree not so deep into the forest, and I like to sit under it and dream of you."

He smiled and touched his forehead to hers. "No need for that anymore. Because of Jonas, I'm here . . . right where I belong. With you.

She liked the sound of this. "I missed you terribly. Saved every single letter you wrote," she whispered, afraid she might cry, so happy she was to be riding in his courting buggy. "I thought my heart might break in two if I didn't lay eyes on ya again."

He reached for her hand. "If Jonas hadn't talked to my father, I'd still be in Ohio. It was a downright dirty trick my father did, sendin' me away. I 'spect he's thinkin' I'm only home for a visit, but I'm never goin' back, not if I don't have to."

"Ya mean, you might?" She fretted at the latter.

"That's not for you to worry your perty head over, Lyddie."

"But you said "

"I know what I want. That's why I'm here."

1; ' She looked down at their entwined fingers. She'd yearned to sit right next to him again this way. All their painful time apart had vanished with the morning mist.

"What is it, love?" He leaned closer. . ::

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H She hadn't realized she'd spoken anything, but perhaps she had. H*|n thinkin' that maybe I love ya more than I oughta," she told Hni. brushing tears away.

H "Himmel. . . that just ain't possible!" He squeezed her tight. H She could hardly wait to become his bride Jake's Lyddie!

Leah helped Hannah unhitch the carriage and said good-bye as lit" led. the horse up to the stable.

Down at the house, Sadie met Leah, solemn faced, standing in ihc doorway of the kitchen. "Awful bad news," she whispered. "Jake's back. I saw him come for Lyddie not too long ago."

. "I know. Hannah and I saw them out on the road."

H| "What on earth are they doin' . . . out before dark?" Sadie

Hjwned. "What can it mean?"

^M "He's flaunting his return, I daresay." Leah hurried past her. "I

^Bli'r stand here guessin' what your son's got on his mind. I say we

^m out and find 'em."

^M Sadie followed Leah into the kitchen. "And if we do what

^n? Flat out tell them what's what?"

^^ Leah shook her head. "No, we get Lyddie away from him . . . and

11-II her privately. That's the only way to handle the pickle we're in."

"But we'll cause a big scene if we do it that way, and Jake will

wonder why we're interfering. Is that what ya want?" Sadie went to

I lie sink to pour water into a glass. "Sounds like a terrible plan to me."

Leah knew*it wasn't a good idea, but what else could they do?

^1 hen 1 guess we wait till she comes home," she said slowly.

I "What if she doesn't?"

ft Terror flooded Leah's heart anew. "Do ya think Lydiann would

Tull for doin' such a dumb thing?"

"She's bent on bein' with him, same as I was with Derry . . . and I knew better, too." Sadie went and sat on the table bench. "Love's powerful, I'd have to say. 'Specially at Lyddie's age, when youthful,

1st i id ful ideas get all mixed up inside and confuse you into thinking wrongs are right."

L "Jake would surely think twice 'bout taking her away, wouldn't

i?" Feeling nearly overcome with worry, Leah joined Sadie at the

Hkblc. She turned and looked up at the day clock, high on the wall

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behind her. "I say we give her till supper. If she isn't home by then . . ." She honestly didn't know what she'd do. "What an awful test of a mother's endurance!" She twisted the hem of her apron till she'd made a wrinkled mess of it. "I can't help but wonder what Mamma might do."

Sadie leaned forward. "Mamma prayed," she said, surprising Leah. "Sometimes nearly all night. . . she walked the floors and talked to God 'bout everything on her mind and in her heart. She told me so."

Mamma had done something vital back then, and Leah wanted to do the same. Ach, but I wish Sadie hadn't prayed for Jake's return. It looked as if God had answered her sister's heart's cry. She rose and headed for the stairs. "I'll be in my room," she said, glancing back over her shoulder.

Evidently Sadie wanted to follow Mamma's wise example, as well, for she had already folded her hands and bowed her head at their mother's old trestle table.

A sob caught in Leah's throat. Lord Jesus, please keep Lydiann safe. . . and bring her home right quick! , . \

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1 ii the early evening light, Plain children often stayed outdoors playing until the sound of the supper bell or their mothers' voices i .illcd them into the house to wash up. Henry Schwartz took note ill quite a number of such youngsters on this day . . . young boys

I.id in broadfall trousers, Amish-green shirts, and straw hats, as well is barefooted girls chasing after one another in pale blue or lavender ih esses, white caps perched on their small heads. They seemed to move in slow motion at times, leaning on the white yard gate, gigI'ling, tossing a ball high over the martin birdhouse, playing ringnound-the-rosy near* the springhouse, apparently unaware of Hilumn's end, nearly in sight.

Henry had been out driving for a time after picking up a few

i-ioceries for tomorrow's breakfast, as Lorraine had requested. The

iin had been falling fast, but he did not rush his pace, not con-

tried with getting home promptly at suppertime, although his ile would hope that he might. So relaxed was he that he pulled

If the road onto the shoulder when he noticed a broken-down image, its hitch undone from the lone horse. An Amish boy and C.irl both not more than sixteen or so were flagging him down.

Getting out of his car, he saw Jake Mast and the youngest EbermiI girl. "Well, hello there, young man." He waved to them, his

1111 Ise pounding nearly out of control.

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Jake removed his hat and smiled. "Good to see ya, Dr. Schwartz. It's been a while, ain't?"

He nodded, feeling almost breathless as Jake quickly introduced his girlfriend. "This here's Lydiann Abram Ebersol's daughter."

"Hello, Lydiann. How's your family?" he managed to ask, extending his hand to shake her small one. She, however, was obviously not interested in making a good impression, saying something soft and too low for him to hear before looking away to fasten her eyes on Jake, avoiding Henry's inquisitive gaze.

"Would ya mind givin' us a lift?" Jake asked.

Henry agreed and asked, "Where to?"

Jake hesitated momentarily, glancing at Lydiann, as if unsure. Then quickly, he said, "Take us to Gobbler's Knob, if you would ... to Abram's place."

Lydiann seemed almost passive, as though expecting Jake to make this decision.

"Denki, doctor." Jake went and tied up the horse before reaching for Lydiann's hand to lead her to the car.

Henry felt as dispirited as the day he had exposed to Leah the truth about Jake's origin and his atrocious mishandling of the situation. How could it be that his flesh-and-blood grandson was seeing his birth mother's own sibling? The idea that this young couple, noticeably taken with each other, was now seated behind him even whispering under their breath made him feel like an inexperienced swimmer without a life jacket, rushing headlong down the Susquehanna River.

He gripped the steering wheel and drove as carefully as ever he had in his life, willing himself forward through the dense fog that enveloped him on this evening free of cloud or mist.

"Turn here," he heard Jake say, and Henry did so, mechanically clicking on his turn signal and tapping on the brake.

Sadie called to Leah at the sound of the automobile coming up the lane, and the two of them flew down the stairs. Scarcely ever did anyone drive a car onto their property, though she fleetingly recalled the freak snowstorm and her kind brother-in-law Robert's attempt

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i pare her frostbite by driving her home. Such distress her actions lii day had brought, resulting in yet another Proving period.

She ran to the window and saw Dr. Schwartz, Lydiann, and Jake

ling out of the car. To think the missing couple was with the

I i or, of all people! "Jake's horse and buggy must've broken down

II H'where," she told Leah, who was hovering near. "The minute we

hi |'(( our hands on Lydiann, we need to take her for a long walk,"

11. ulded.

Why not go next door with her," Leah suggested, to which "lie agreed.

|u,st as she was about to push open the back door, Sadie heard litkc's voice coming from the yard. She had wished to see her wonIn I ill boy once again, to gaze at him for as long as she dared. Inhallii| deeply, she made herself slowly step out the back door and down I In sloop, moving toward the automobile.

I )at emerged from the barn and waved at Dr. Schwartz, a h\ i ,mge look settling on his face at the sight of his youngest daughter Imliling hands with her beau in broad daylight.

Sadie could hear Leah breathing hard behind her, or maybe she w,is mumbling a quiet prayer. Whichever it was, Sadie knew for cerlam 1 she and Leah must not let Lydiann out of their sight until they hml spoken ever so frankly with their sister. Dear, poor girl! As much UK Sadie cared for Jake, she was horrified at the way he continued to look so fondly at Lydiann, still keeping her hand in his as he explained to Dat rfew the two of them had come to be riding with the i loci or in his car.

Soon Gid came across the yard, more than likely to see what was ^oinj; on. Right away he offered to help Jake go back and work on leliiidiing the carriage to the horse, briefly returning to the barn to HMiieve an old, rusted toolbox before climbing with Jake into the ill k lor's car. Bless Gid for taking Jake away for now, Sadie thought, bic.ilhing more easily.

She watched in silence as Dr. Schwartz backed up the vehicle repr.nally, making several attempts to turn around in the narrow lane, tinl looked out the back window, his face turning shades of red, while Jake sat up front, smiling and waving like a boy on Christmas morning.

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Leah broke the stillness. "Lyddie, why don't you come with Sadie and me to the Dawdi Haus? We best be talkin' some things

over.

The pointed way Leah had put it just now brought a sudden frown to Lydiann's pretty face, and Sadie felt awfully tense. Yet she followed her sisters down the walkway, bypassing the back door of the main house to head straightaway to her own kitchen next door.

In the quiet and very private room that was Sadie's bedroom, Leah prayed silently for wisdom. "Please listen, Lydiann," she began. "What I must tell you, I should've said right from the start, when Jake and you first started courtin'."

Sadie stood quietly, her solemn blue eyes blinking a mile a minute. Lydiann, on the other hand, held herself like a child caught snitching a handful of cookies, her arms folded tightly against her slight chest, the way Hannah had done earlier this afternoon when Leah had sided with Mary Ruth against powwow doctors. Leah could see unmistakably in Lydiann's eyes this was not to be the easiest conversation she'd ever set out to have with the girl she viewed as her daughter.

"Ach, I don't see why you are so upset," Lyddie burst out. "Your eyes looked like they might pop out of your head when we drove up, and Jake did nothin' wrong." She was shaking her head. "My beau just arrives home . . . comes over to surprise me ever so nicely, and this is what happens." She let out a huff and looked away toward the wall.

Sadie eyed Leah helplessly and then shrugged one petite shoulder. "We wouldn't be talkin' like this to you," she said, "if we didn't think it terribly necessary."