A Reluctant Bride (2 page)
The deepest pains may linger through the night, but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.
P
SALM
30:5, T
HE
V
OICE
ab im kopp:
crazy, crazy in the head
ach:
oh
aenti:
aunt
Amisch:
Amish
appeditlich:
delicious
auld:
old
bann:
shun, shunned
boppli/bopplis:
baby/babies
bruder:
brother
bu/buwe:
boy/boys
daed:
dad
danki:
thank you
Deitsch:
language spoken by the Amish
dochder:
daughter
dumm:
dumb
dummkopf:
dummy
Englisch:
non-Amish
familye:
family
frau:
woman/wife
geh:
go
Gott:
God
grienhaus:
greenhouse
grossmammi/grossmutter:
grandmother
grossvatter:
grandfather
gut:
good
gute nacht:
good night
haus:
house
herr:
man/mister
kaffee:
coffee
kapp:
head covering worn by Amish women
kinn/kinner:
child/children
kumme:
come
lieb:
love
maed/maedel:
girls/girl
mamm:
mom
mann:
Amish man
mei:
my
mudder:
mother
nee:
no
nix:
nothing
onkel:
uncle
Ordnung, the:
rules the Amish follow
schee:
pretty/handsome
schwester:
sister
sohn:
son
vatter:
father
ya:
yes
Yankee:
non-Amish (Middlefield only)
yer:
your
S
adie Schrock gripped the four heavy ice bags, struggling to keep them from slipping out of her hands and crashing to the ground on the side of the road. She wished it hadn't been her turn to fetch them from the ice cooler nearly a half mile from her family's grocery store. She also wished she'd taken her mother's suggestion and brought their small pull wagon. That would have been the smart thing to do. Instead she was stuck hauling the bags with her hands, the ice seeming to grow heavier with each step she took.
As she plodded along the road, the summer sun pressed down on her sweat-soaked body. Her dress clung to her back, and heat radiated from the asphalt beneath her tennis shoes. She couldn't get home fast enough and into the cool building that housed Schrock Grocery and Tools. Her dry mouth longed for a huge glass of iced tea, heavy on the ice.
As Sadie walked along a cornfield, the tall, lush stalks standing still and proud under the blazing August sun, she hummed a simple tune of her own invention.
The stalks beside her suddenly rustled.
She paused. Her scalp tingled beneath her white
kapp
, signaling some kind of warning she couldn't discern. The road stretched out in front of her, surprisingly deserted for midmorning. Sadie turned and looked at the cornfield. The stalks were moving, gently pushed by a weak, hot breeze. She blew out a breath, feeling ridiculous. Last night would be the last time she and her sisters, Abigail and Joanna, stayed up late telling foolish ghost stories. None of the stories were real. They all knew that. They weren't even that scary, just made-up tales about some old legends in the Birch Creek area. Still, it had been fun to be a
little
frightened in the safety of Abigail's room, the three of them sitting on the floor in low candlelight as they tried to see who would scare first.
Sadie glanced at the cornfield again. From now on she was done with scary stories. She quickened her pace, dangling the plastic bags of ice that had grown slick with condensation.
“Whatcha doing, Sadie?”
She nearly dropped the bags as Solomon Troyer jumped out of the cornfield and blocked her path. She took a step back and breathed in. “Good grief, Sol. You practically scared the life out of me.”
But instead of offering an apology, he moved toward her, a wolfish expression creeping over his long face. He'd turned nineteen last month, and from almost the day she'd turned sixteen earlier that year, he had looked at her in a weird, unnerving way whenever she saw him. Today wasn't any different. He wasn't wearing his straw hat, and another shift of the sultry breeze lifted the damp ends of his reddish-brown hair. He took a step toward her, his lips curving into a leer. “A
maedel
shouldn't be walking down the road by herself.”
“I walk down this road by myself all the time.” She scowled, then wrinkled her nose. He smelled. Not just of sweat and sawdust, but of some kind of alcohol. He'd been drinking. Again. She didn't have time for his nonsense. “I have to get back to the store, Sol.
Mamm
and
Daed
need this ice and it's melting everywhere.” She couldn't keep the bite out of her tone. “In case you haven't noticed, it's really hot today.”
“That's not the only thing that's hot.”
Ugh. Not only was he creepy, he was corny too. “Sol, I'm serious. Get out of
mei
way.”
His bloodshot leer wandered from her eyes to her lips. “Don't you have a little time to talk?”
He was making her skin crawl. “
Nee
. Now let me by.” She moved to walk past him, but he blocked her again.
“You could be a little nicer to me.” He blew stale breath in her face as he leaned over her. “Let's
geh
in the cornfield. I have something to show you.”
Her blood stilled in her veins. Sol was at least six inches taller than she was, and although he was lean, she knew he was strong. Still, she wasn't afraid of him . . . at least not too much. Although the sun was bright, his pupils grew wide. Dark. She definitely didn't want to see whatever it was he wanted to show her. He was taking a risk, being bold like this. A car could come by at any minute. She suddenly prayed that one would. “I don't think so,” she said, tightening her grip on the slippery plastic bags.
He licked his dry lips. “Oh, I thinkâ”
“Sol!”
Sadie turned to see Sol's younger brother, Aden, appear from the cornfield. She let out a relieved breath. She'd never been so glad to see Aden. The Yoder family owned this field, and Sadie was sure they wouldn't appreciate the Troyer brothers taking a
shortcut through it. But they were the bishop's sons, so no one would say anything.
“
Daed
's waiting on us, Sol.” Aden's apprehensive look met Sadie's for barely a second. “Hi, Sadie.” Then he glanced away, his eyes fixed on the ground.
“Hi, Aden.” She managed to keep her voice even despite the panic stirring inside her. They were the same age and had grown up together, attending the same school and seeing each other at church services. But Aden was shy, painfully so. She'd never paid much attention to him. Most of the time she didn't realize he was even there. Aden Troyer had always blended into the background, always kept his distance. Right now she was happy he'd chosen this moment to make his presence known. Sol wouldn't try anything with his brother as a witness.
Feeling more confident now that Aden had arrived, she started to push past Sol. “See you all later,” she said, striving for a light tone she didn't feel.
Sol took a step to the left, blocking Sadie again. “Not until you and I have had our . . . talk.”
“Sol,” Aden said, his voice cracking on the last letter. His voice wasn't as deep or as confident as his older brother's. It wasn't cruel or lecherous either.
Sol turned to him, smirking. “You
geh
on home. Tell
Daed
I'll be there in a little while.”
Aden paused. “Butâ”
Sol looked at Sadie again, a spark of anger replacing the leer in his eyes. “
Leave
, Aden.” His mocking stare never left Sadie as he spat out the words.
Despite sweating from a mix of heat and anxiety, her body shivered. She shot Aden a pleading look, begging him silently to do something. Sol's determination to get her alone was starting
to frighten her. Surely Aden could convince his brother to let her be. But when Aden looked at her again, she saw her fear reflected in his fern-colored eyes.
His mouth opened, as if to say something. Then he clamped it shut, turned around, and ran back into the cornfield.
“Aden!” she called out. But the only response she heard was the whispering swish of the cornstalks as he left her and Sol together. Alone. Just like Sol wanted.
Coward.
There was nothing she could do but try to escape on her own. She started to run, but Sol grabbed her around the waist, making her drop the ice bags. She pushed against him as he dragged her deep into the cornfield and set her down hard on the ground. Sadie looked around wildly, unable to see the road through the veil of endless corn.
Sol's fingers dug into her arms. “You're not going anywhere.”
“You're hurting me!” she said, struggling against him.
“Settle down.” His voice was low, menacing. His face moved closer to hers. “All I want is a little kiss.”
She shook her head, trying to pull back from him. “Let me
geh
!”
“Just one kiss.” His grip lessened slightly. “Then I'll do whatever you ask.”
She stilled, searching his reddened, sweaty face, looking for deception, unsure what the upward curling of his top lip meant.
Lord, I hope he's telling the truth.
“Okay.” Her mouth trembled. If he kept his word she would be free of him. “One . . . one kissâ”
He slammed his sour mouth down on hers, mashing so hard it hurt. His lips moved as she winced against him. When she tried to stop him, he kept pressing closer until there wasn't any space between them. She managed to insert her hands between
their bodies and shoved against his chest. When he didn't move, she bit his bottom lip. Only then did he stop.
“You kissed me.” She gasped for fresh air. “Now let me
geh
.”
But Sol only grinned in response, a drop of blood forming where her teeth had clamped down. He licked it away, clutched her arms, and squeezed until she cried out. He ran the back of his rough hand down her cheek, as if he owned her face. As if he owned
her
. She could see flakes of sawdust in his hair, evidence of his carpentry work. Why wasn't he at his job? Why had he been drinking?
Why
was he doing this to her? The questions darted around in her mind as she tried to wiggle out of his grip.
“We're alone, Sadie.” He whispered the words. “I can do whatever I want . . . and no one is going to stop me.”
He was right. No one would. Aden had disappeared. And if she screamed, Sol might lose his temper and do more than kiss her. A white-hot rage she'd never felt before consumed her. She couldn't let him touch her again. Desperate, Sadie brought up her knee and rammed it into his crotch.
