A Promise for Miriam (43 page)

He ran his thumb across her lips, along her cheek, and down her neck—and then he did what he’d wanted to do since the first day he’d stepped into the schoolroom. He kissed her.

When they finally pulled apart, her stomach gurgled.

“Didn’t you eat the lunch I sent?”

“No.” She laughed and laced her fingers with his. “I didn’t even see what you sent. I read your note and then drove out here.”

“I suppose we should go and fetch it.” Gabe walked her to her buggy.

“Can you leave your work?”

“
Ya
. I’m my own boss here. A few hours off in the middle of the day is okay. It only means I have to make it up later this afternoon.” He winked before reaching out to help her in the buggy.

“Oh, the heart—” She hurried back to the barn door and pulled the piece of paper out from under the sander. “I wouldn’t want this to blow away while we’re gone.”

“No. That would be terrible.”

“I’m going to show this to our
grandkinner
, Gabe. So they’ll know what a
wunderbaar
writer their
grossdaddi
is.”

“Indeed.” They climbed up and settled close to each other, and then he called out to Belle. He turned the buggy around, completely content with Miriam tucked in beside him as they headed back toward the school their
kinner
and
grandkinner
would attend, the school Grace was waiting at this very minute.

As they made their way down the lane, Miriam read aloud the words he’d labored over the night before. They wouldn’t win any awards—Amish or
Englisch
—but they had expressed what was in his heart. That she was sitting beside him was proof of that, and he’d be on his knees thanking the Lord tonight it was so.

I’m not a poet, Miriam.
But if I were, I’d write on a red heart
Words to describe my love for you.
You are the reason Gotte brought us to live
Here among these rich valleys and hills.
Will you share our life?
Will you be my bride?
I can offer you days filled with Grace
And nights of love and peace.
If you share my love,
Marry me and share our
humble home,
Along the banks of
Pebble Creek.

Discussion Questions

1.   Have you ever been slow to learn something about someone? Did you feel somehow betrayed? Sometimes there are good reasons as to why people keep their history, even their wounds, private. Yet it does help us to know how to help and how to pray if we’re aware of those things. Is Gabe justified in waiting to tell Miriam about Grace’s issues?

2.   In chapter 18, Esther starts the day with the children reading Psalm 125:2. We learn this is one of Miriam’s favorite verses. She thinks that it is “Simple enough for the younger ones to understand, and yet with enough wisdom for the older students.” Do you agree with this sentiment? Are the Psalms, or Scripture in general, simple enough for young children to understand, yet provide wisdom for our teens?

3.   Miriam is confused at the disparity in how much the Scmuckers have versus how little Gabe has. It is sometimes hard to see this economic difference in our communities. What is your reaction to this in your town? What do you think God would have us do?

4.   In chapter 25, Grace gets into a small pushing match with two boys. One of the older boys, John, reminds her of the words in Romans 12:18-19. This is a tenet of the Amish lifestyle that many of us have trouble with. Do you agree or disagree with the way John explains it to the girls? How would this change our lives if more situations were handled in light of these verses?

5.   In chapter 26, Gabe faces his real fear, that perhaps a whole home wasn’t “God’s plan for him. Perhaps he was to learn to be satisfied with the piece of happiness he had.” Has there ever been a time in your life when you thought God wanted you to be happy with less?

6.   Gabe comforts Grace when she’s worried about Miriam. He reads her a verse from Matthew. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” In this scene we see again that Gabe isn’t a perfect father and doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but he is trying to raise his daughter lovingly and with a strong faith. How do you think he’s doing? What makes a good parent?

7.   In chapter 39, we get a peek into the bishop of Pebble Creek, an austere man who doesn’t show much emotion. Later, in the meeting with Gabe, Samuel, Eli, and Miriam, his stern mask slips and he quotes Robert Frost. What does this indicate about Jacob Beiler?

8.   At the benefit auction for Laura Kiems, the little girls are looking at the quilts, and Hannah shows them one she has done. She shows them a mistake she made in the quilt and explains, “My
mamm
and I made this one. Those were my stitches when we began. I wanted to pull them out, but she wouldn’t let me. She said imperfections are important too, and that I’d be able to see how much I’d improved if I left them.” What do you do imperfectly?

9.   When Drake is unmoved by Eli’s or Gabe’s concerns, Samuel once again begins quoting Scripture. Samuel is an interesting character. When I first started writing him, I’ll admit I didn’t much care for him, but he grew on me. Yes, he’s grumpy, but what’s unique about him is that he relates to other people through God’s Word. It literally is the lens through which he sees the world, and sometimes people don’t know how to respond to him and his pronouncements. Do you know anyone like this? And if you do, what is your response to them?

10. The story ends with Gabe putting a note in Miriam’s lunch. Is this at all realistic? Why wouldn’t he just show up at the schoolhouse and speak to her, face-to-face? Do you know of any men or women who are more comfortable expressing their feelings on paper? And how does this relate to God’s ultimate “love letter” to us?

Glossary

Ausbund

a collection of hymns

boppli

baby

bopplin

babies

bruder

brother

danki

thank you

dat

father

dochder/dochdern

daughter/daughters

Englisch

something in the non-Amish world

Englischers

non-Amish people

fraa

wife

freinden

friends

gelassenheit

humility

gem gschehne

you’re welcome

Gotte’s wille

God’s will

grandkinner

grandchildren

grossdochdern

granddaughter

grossdaddi

grandfather

grossdawdi

grandparents

grossmammi

grandmother

gudemariye

good morning

gut

good

in lieb

in love

kaffi

coffee

kapp

head covering

kind

child

kinner

children

Loblied

the second hymn of praise

mamm

mother

naerfich

nervous

narrisch

crazy

nein

no

onkel

uncle

Ordnung

Amish oral tradition and rules of life

pappi

grandfather

rumspringa

running-around years

schweschder

sister

wunderbaar

wonderful

ya

yes

If you loved
A Promise for Miriam,
you won’t want to miss Book 2 of the Pebble Creek Amish Series

A HOME FOR LYDIA

Prologue

Wisconsin
April

Lydia Fisher pulled her sweater around her shoulders and sank on to the steps of the last cabin as the sun set along Pebble Creek. The waters had begun to recede from last week’s rains, but the creek still pushed at its banks—running swiftly past the Plain Cabins, not pausing to consider her worries.

Debris from the flooding reached to the bottom step of cabin number twelve. She could have reached out and nudged it with the toe of her shoe. Fortunately, the water hadn’t made it into the small cottages.

Almost, though.

Only two days ago she’d stood at the office window and watched as the waters had crept closer to the picturesque buildings nestled along the creek—watched and prayed.

Now the last of the day’s light was nearly spent. She should harness Tin Star to the buggy and head home. Her mother would be putting dinner on the table. Her brothers and sisters would be needing help with schoolwork. Her father would be waiting.

Standing up with a weariness that was unnatural for her twenty-two years, Lydia trudged back toward the front of the property, checking each cabin as she went.

All twelve were locked and secure.

All twelve were vacant.

Perhaps this weekend
Englisch
tourists would return and provide some income for the owner, Elizabeth Troyer. Guests would also ensure that Lydia kept her job. If the cabins were to close, if she were to lose her employment, she wouldn’t be able to convince her oldest brother to stay in school. Their last conversation on the matter had turned into an argument—one she’d nearly lost.

Pulling their old black gelding from the barn, she tied Tin Star’s lead rope to the hitching post, and then she began to work the collar up and over his ears.

“You’re a
gut
boy. Are you ready to go home? Ready for some oats? I imagine you are.”

He’d been their buggy horse since she was a child, and Lydia knew his days were numbered. What would her family do when he gave out on them? As she straightened his mane and made sure the collar pad protected his shoulders and neck, she paused to rest her cheek against his side. The horse’s sure steady breathing brought her a measure of comfort.

Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she brought out a handful of raisins. Tin Star’s lips on her hand were soft and wet. Lydia rubbed his neck, glanced back once more at the cluster of small buildings which had become like a small community to her—a community she was responsible for maintaining.

Squaring her shoulders, she climbed into the buggy and turned toward home.

Chapter 1

Downtown Cashton

Thursday afternoon, two weeks later

Aaron Troyer stepped off the bus, careful to avoid a large puddle of rainwater. Because no one else was exiting at Cashton, he didn’t have to wait long for the driver to remove his single bag from the storage compartment. He’d thanked the man and shouldered the duffel when a buggy coming in the opposite direction hit an even bigger puddle, soaking him and his bag.

The driver had managed to jump out of the way at the last second.

“Good luck to you, son.”

With a nod the man was back on the bus, heading farther west. A part of Aaron wished he was riding with him. Another part longed to take the next bus back east, back where he’d come from, back to Indiana.

Neither was going to happen, so he repositioned the wet duffel bag and surveyed his surroundings.

Not much to Cashton.

According to his uncle and his dad, the town was about the same size as Monroe, but Aaron couldn’t tell it. He supposed new places never did measure up to expectations, especially when a fellow would rather not be there.

The ride had been interesting enough. They had crossed the northern part of Indiana, skirted the southern tip of Lake Michigan, traveled through Chicago and Rockford, and finally entered Wisconsin in the south central portion of the state. Aaron had seen more cities in the last twenty-four hours than he’d visited in his entire life, but those had been oddities to him. Something he would tell his family about once he was home, but nothing he would ever care to see again. But passing through the Hidden Valley region of southwestern Wisconsin—now that had caused him to sit up straighter and gaze out of the bus’s window.

There had been an older
Englisch
couple sitting behind him. They’d had tourist brochures which they’d read aloud to each other. He’d caught the highlights as he’d tried to sleep.

He heard them use the word “driftless.” The term apparently indicated a lack of glacial drift. His
dat
would laugh at that one. Not that he discounted all aspects of science, but he had his doubts regarding what was and wasn’t proven as far as the Ice Age.