A Sister's Secret (39 page)

“Are you sleepin’?” a male voice asked.

Ruth’s eyes snapped open. Toby King and Sadie Esh stared down at her.

“I didn’t realize anyone else was here.”

“We weren’t. I mean, we just got here,” Toby mumbled.

“Too many people were milling about the Wengerds’ yard, so we decided to take a walk by ourselves,” Sadie said, her cheeks turning rosy.

Ruth nodded.

“Seems like nearly everyone in our community came out for Alma’s funeral. Everyone but Luke.” Toby shook his head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t spending the day with his English buddies. Seems to have more time for them than he does his Amish friends these days, uh-huh.”

Ruth made no comment, preferring not to discuss her ex-boyfriend. She had other, more important things on her mind. Things like how she could help little Esta and her siblings cope with the loss of their mother.

Toby gave Sadie’s arm a tug. “Are we goin’ for a walk or not?”

“Jah, sure,” she said with a nod. “See you at work tomorrow, Ruth.”

Ruth lifted her hand in a wave and closed her eyes again as she leaned back in the grass. A few minutes later, she heard a man clear his throat, and her eyes snapped open.

Her insides quivered when she saw Martin standing over her.

“Saw you heading this way awhile ago and thought I’d come talk to you,” he said, his face turning a light shade of red.

She patted the ground beside her. “Would you like to have a seat?”

“Jah, sure.” Once Martin was seated, he removed his hat and flopped it over his bent knees. “Sure was a sad funeral, wasn’t it?”

She nodded, afraid if she voiced her thoughts, she might dissolve into a puddle of tears.

“Just goes to show that no one knows what the future holds. You can be going along fine one minute, and the next minute some unexpected tragedy occurs.” He shook his head. “I’ll bet Abe never dreamed when Alma went out to feed the chickens that he’d never see her again—leastways not in this life.”

She nodded again.

“I couldn’t help but notice the way you were comforting Abe’s kinner—especially Esta when she was so upset.”

Ruth swallowed around the lump in her throat. “They’re all going to miss their mamm, that’s for sure.”

“Seemed like you got her calmed down, though.”

“I did my best.”

Martin pulled up one blade of grass after another. Finally, he turned to Ruth, cleared his throat a couple of times, and said, “I enjoyed the time we spent with each other at the young people’s gathering the other night.”

“Me, too.”

“I was wondering ... that is ... would it be all right if I came calling on you at your home sometime next week?”

Ruth didn’t want to appear too anxious, but the thought of being courted by this kind, gentle man made her feel so giddy she could barely breathe. “Jah, Martin. I’d be happy to have you come calling,” she said with a nod.

***

“I’m sure sorry about Alma,” Roman said as he clasped Abe’s shoulder. “If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”

Abe nodded. “I appreciate that.”

“Will someone from your family help with the kinner?”

“My youngest sister, Sue, who isn’t yet married, said she’d move in and take over their care.” Abe ran his fingers through the back of his reddish-brown hair as he leaned against the barn door. Tears welled in his eyes. “Alma was only thirty-two when she died. Don’t seem right for one so young to be snatched away from her family, does it?”

Roman shook his head. Judith was forty-four, and he couldn’t imagine losing her.

Abe groaned. “We celebrated thirteen years of marriage a few weeks ago. Alma was nineteen, and I’d just turned twenty when we tied the knot.”

Roman clasped his friend’s shoulder again. “From what I knew of Alma, she was a fine Christian woman.”

“You’re right about that, and she was a good mudder to our six kinner.” Abe stared across the yard where his two oldest boys played a game of tug-of-war with some of the other children. “Losing Alma is gonna be hard on us all, but I’m especially worried about Esta. At the end there, I was torn between helping her and getting my other five back to the buggy. I finally decided to tend to them first and then see about Esta, but when I caught sight of your daughter Ruth comforting Esta, I figured I’d let her handle things.”

He turned to face Roman. “Esta’s the oldest of my girls, you know, and the truth is she got along with her mamm better than she did me. I’m thinking now that Alma’s gone, Esta will need the hand of a woman to guide her along.”

“I’m sure my wife and daughters will be willing to do whatever they can to help, along with your sister, of course.”

“We’ll appreciate any help we get.” Abe turned away from the barn. “Guess I’d better go visit some of the others for a bit. Although, if I had my druthers, I’d go in the house, climb into bed, and pull the covers over my head.”

Roman nodded in understanding. Ever since the attacks on his family had begun, he’d felt the same way.

***

As Grace dashed through the house screaming for Anna, her eyes stung with tears, and her lungs filled with smoke. “Anna! Anna, where are you?”

All she heard was the crackle of flames lapping against the wooden structure of her home. Unless help came soon, they would lose everything. But Grace couldn’t worry about that right now. She had to find Anna and get her out of this inferno.

Coughing and choking, Grace looked everywhere, hoping for some sign of her daughter. She could barely see for all the smoke and worried that Anna might have gone upstairs. “Anna! Anna, where are you?”

The front door
swooshed
open, and Cleon burst into the room. Grace gulped on a sob and threw herself into his arms.

“Thank the Lord, you’re all right,” he panted, squeezing her so tightly she could hardly breathe. “When I got home and saw the place was on fire, I was afraid you were inside and had been—”

Grace pulled away and hiccupped on a sob. “Anna’s missing, Cleon. I’m afraid she may have gone upstairs.”

Cleon motioned to the door. “It’s not safe for you to be in here with all this smoke. Go outside, and I’ll search for Anna.”

Grace hesitated, but the intense heat from the flames made her realize that she needed to get out of the house. They all did—especially Anna, her precious little girl. “Oh, Cleon, I—I don’t think I could stand it if something happened to Anna. I need to find her—to be sure she’s all right.”

“I promise I’ll find her,” he said, practically pushing Grace out the door. “I love you, Grace, and right now you need to take care of yourself so that boppli you’re carrying has a chance at life, too.”

Grace blinked a couple of times as she let Cleon’s words sink in. He’d said he loved her and was concerned about the child she carried. Did that mean he’d forgiven her, too? There was no time for questions, and Grace didn’t argue further, for she knew Cleon was right. He had helped on the volunteer department and would have a better chance of saving Anna than she ever could.

Moments later as Grace knelt on the grass in their front yard, she whispered a prayer. “Help us, Lord. Help Cleon find Anna, and keep them both safe.”

With each passing second, she struggled against the desire to run back into the house and help search for her little girl. What if Cleon couldn’t find the child? What if he and Anna both perished in the flames?

She stood on trembling legs and was about to head back to the house when Cleon emerged from the building, Anna in his arms.

“Oh, thank the Lord!” Grace rushed forward and reached for her daughter, who clutched her faceless doll in her hands. “Where was she?”

“Found her upstairs in her room, trying to rescue her dolly.”

“Is she hurt?”

“I think she breathed in quite a bit of smoke, but I didn’t see any burns, and I think she’s gonna be—”

Before Cleon could finish his sentence, Anna buried her face against Grace’s neck and cried, “Poppy saved me from the fire!”

“Oh, no, daughter,” Grace said, as she patted the child’s back. “It was Cleon who went into the burning house to rescue you.”

Anna turned her head toward Cleon as tears rolled down her flushed cheeks. “Can I call you Papa?”

“I’d like that.” Tears welled in Cleon’s eyes. “I owe you an apology, Anna. I’ve been selfish, thinking of my own needs, and never considering what it must be like for you coming here to live with people you didn’t know and trying to adjust to a new way of life.”

Anna reached out and touched Cleon’s damp face. Then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

His gaze turned to Grace. The look of tenderness she saw on his face caused her to choke on a sob.

“One day while I was off buying some beekeeping supplies, I thought about a verse of scripture, and it made me realize—” He gulped in a deep breath. “I love you, Grace. That’s never changed. And I’m sorry for my unforgiving spirit. Will you forgive me for being such a stubborn
narr?
”

“You’re not a fool,” Grace said with a shake of her head. “You were just deeply hurt by my deception.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” he said, leaning down to kiss her lips. “I promise to be a better husband from now on.”

Tears pooled in Grace’s eyes, clouding her vision. “And I’ll try to be the best wife I can be.” She sank to the ground, placing Anna in her lap; then pointed to the house as angry flames lapped at the sides and shot through the roof. “Oh, Cleon, if help doesn’t come soon, we’re going to lose the whole house.”

He knelt beside Grace and reached for her hand. “John Peterson gave me a lift home, and when we realized the house was on fire, he said he’d call for help. The fire trucks should be here soon, but even if we should lose the house, it doesn’t matter.”

She blinked several times. “What do you mean, ‘it doesn’t matter’? We’ve worked hard to build our home, and if we lose it—”

“The house doesn’t matter; it can be rebuilt. What counts is you and Anna—that you’re both unharmed.”

“You’re right,” she murmured. “God has given us a second chance, and all that matters is that we obey Him and try to do what’s right.”

Sirens blared in the distance, and Cleon took Anna from Grace as they clambered to their feet. Two fire trucks roared up the driveway, followed by John’s rig. Several firemen hopped out of the vehicles and set right to work, but the house was nearly gone. It looked hopeless.

“Do you have any idea how the fire got started?” the fire chief asked Cleon.

He shook his head as he put his arm around Grace’s shoulders.

“There’s been no more lightning since the day one of our Amish women was struck down, so it couldn’t have been that,” she replied. “Were any of your gas lamps left burning inside the house?”

“I thought I had turned them off before my daughter and I left for Alma Wengerd’s funeral this morning, but then I’ve been so upset about Alma’s death, I guess I might have left one on without realizing it.”

“Once the fire is out, we’ll conduct an investigation,” the fire chief said. “In the meantime, you all need to let the paramedics check you over.”

Cleon nodded, and his arm tightened around Grace’s shoulders as they headed for the rescue vehicles. “When I think how close I came to losing you, I feel sick all over.” He grimaced. “And I feel even sicker when I think how terrible I treated you after Anna arrived and I learned the truth about the secret you’d been keeping.”

“As Bishop King said to me the night Anna showed up on our doorstep, ‘The past is in the past, and nothing’s going to change what’s been done.’”

Cleon stopped walking and turned to stare at their home. The fire was out now, but the house was burned beyond recognition.

Grace leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “It’s going to be all right. We have a boppli to look forward to, and with the love and support of each other and with God as the head of our home, I know we can face whatever might come in the days ahead.”

“You’re right, my blessed gift.” He kissed her tenderly on the mouth, then leaned down to kiss the top of Anna’s head. The little girl smiled up at him.

Grace’s heart filled with joy. “And from now on,” she promised, “we won’t have any more secrets.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Image I

WANDA E. BRUNSTETTER
enjoys writing about the Amish because they live a peaceful, simple life. Wanda’s interest in the Amish and other Plain communities began when she married her husband, Richard, who grew up in a Mennonite church in Pennsylvania. Wanda has made numerous trips to Lancaster County and has several friends and family members living near that area. She and her husband have also traveled to other parts of the country, meeting various Amish families and getting to know them personally. She hopes her readers will learn to love the wonderful Amish people as much as she does.

Wanda and her husband, Richard, have been married forty-four years. They have two grown children and six grandchildren. In her spare time, Wanda enjoys reading, ventriloquism, gardening, stamping, and having fun with her family.