Abram's Daughters 01 The Covenant (26 page)

But Ezra Stoltzfus, who happened to be Hannah's partnei, of all things, looked downright delighted to have managed u> get in line, just so, to be precisely across from her twin. M;uy Ruth couldn't help but think that somehow she and Hann;ili were supposed to be matched up with the Stoltzfus brother, for the wedding feast, recalling how spunky Elias had been about asking her if he could sit across the wedding table from her.

Thinking back on his unexpected visit at the prod in stand, she felt her heart beat a little faster at what mij;lii become of their friendship. And at the years ahead, mayU Then and there she decided to be the most cheerful weddiii]1, feast partner to smiling Elias, who kept eyeing her in I In

261

ml

Iliieup of girls, then quickly looking down his line of boys and

i"ibhii i'. his head, as if counting how many there were and

hm- In- landed making double sure he ended up being her

Well, now, what a right fine day of days, thought Mary I'nth, overjoyed.

Abram felt he'd done a dance of sorts, trying his best to ill Ida's brother, Noah Brenneman. Still, it seemed his "iiher-in*law was determined to confront him about the

i in, Yet another time.

H The weathered farmer walked up to him after the feast. Hfuu're avoiding me, Abram." H " 'Spect I am."

H "Well, now that we've witnessed a blessed wedding and He nin\selves full, don'tcha think you could stand still for just Hiiiinule or two?"

H "I'll see 'bout that." Abram wasn't surprised at the grayHniiiled man's acute bluntness. Noah shot off his mouth thisBiiy quite regularly; at least he had back years ago when the Hn 'i i y problem between them had first reared its ugly head. PP "Still holdin' a grudge, 1 see . . . after all these years," i".ih said straight out.

"|;ih, maybe so." Abram leaned on the well pump handle. Hui you know the truth, same as me. What you had in mind im Lizzie . . .'twas awful wrong! That should be real plain to. T now."

Ndiih stared him directly in the eye. "Maybe so, but I >v,mini to protect my family. I can't say the same for you,

1I1U1114I1, Tis a mighty big secret you're keeping, Abram. Mark my words. It'll blow up in your face one day."

262

"You leave that to Ida and me. That's our business."

"Don'tcha forget, Lizzie's my sister. What you and ymn family do affects all of us Brennemans." With that, Nmli turned on his heel.

Abram shuddered. Noah's vicious remarks rang in his *.-: as Abram tuned out the frivolity, what with young peopli scampering round. He wished Noah would just keep to him self and his wife, Becky.

By gollies, he thought, will we never see eye to eye?

After supper that night the young people gathered in die Masts' big barn. There they had a singing of sorts, playiny games till late.

Just before dusk, though, Leah and Adah Peachey left ihr games for a breather. They went for a quick walk by them selves, over in the high meadow behind the barn.

"I'm wore out," Adah said, reaching for Leah's hand ;im they made their way up the slope.

"A wedding day is always long. 'Tis understandable," LimIi said.

"There's another reason I'm done in. My brother wanls io know if you and Jonas are officially courtin'."

"And that's tiring you?" Leah said.

"Well, he keeps askin' . . . even though it's not his business to know."

"What do you say?"

"I tell him, 'open up your eyes . . . what do ya see happening at the local singings?' "

"Maybe he oughta go to a different singing," Leah sii|; gested.

"I've told him that. Believe me." Adah sighed. "Bui ii

263o d e n a n i

I* nothing. Gid's waitin' for you. He's stubborn thataway."

I I Ills puzzled her. "Why should Gid be marking time? He

IihiM he courtin' a girl of his own by now."

I 'Maybe so, but he cares for you, Leah."

I I he knowledge of this annoyed her. "Is this about some-

ptiiMi well . . . that our fathers are wanting?" Leah had to

IftMW,

I "( lid's future has been placed in his own hands now,"

pi lull Huid, then became ever so quiet.

I This was news to Leah. "Since when?"

I lust here lately."

I Arc you sure?"

I -.thili nodded her head, letting go of Leah's hand to reach

I ii ;mk1 pick a dried-up wild flower. Gathering a bunch of

in in, Adah stood up and rubbed them together between her

1 !. I:., letting the breeze scatter dead pieces into the air. "Pop

lii I i lid the other day that love can be fickle. 'Tis best not

I I. ni|; loo high a hope on it," whispered Adah almost mys-

I 11 Kisly. "My father told him to go ahead and court whoever

Kt pleases."

I I I'iih could hardly believe her ears.

1 \d;ih turned and gave her a strange little smile. "Why

I iildn'i you give my brother half a chance? I think you and

jii I ould've been a right gut pair is all I best say."

I I'm ever so sorry, Adah. Truly, I am." Leah wondered all

Iti. ie.Ni of the day if her father and the smithy had resigned

l|t> iiiNelves to her courtship with Jonas, which surely they

I* w hum either Adah or Gid.

I ' 'u most likely Dat knew about Jonas and had done abso iH' ly nothing to stop them. Downright peculiar it was.

265K^.'-fP'O-

VJP>

e^-t-

iv- es'H'

fy- J"*-

1 hey intended one wedding after another all the rest of \< in her and deep into the month of December. The onM-H weather could not have been more bitter with snowfelt 11 hills and dreary gray heavens, scattered with unsettled liii'!'. Wind and sleet visited them from the northeast, cornm in wiIh a vengeance from the Atlantic Ocean. I IIic forest behind the Ebersol Cottage seemed to grow lii with each passing day. Songbirds had long since flown in h, ;ind Ida especially missed hearing their cheerful warble lilu | in be within her grew. She looked ahead to spring with

h .1 longing and a joy, and all who knew her said her face In .imply "aglow" with radiance.

I I'Iknigh she was preoccupied with her coming child, she Vi|u-i I oil something was terribly wrong with Sadie. But Ida

mill not allow her thoughts to stray down that path.

I i-.ili was content to help her sisters and Mamma sew i v rhings for her own hope chest and others' and attend linitf bees and cookie frolics. Often she kept Aunt Lizzie

266

-lu J3e

company on the coldest afternoons, donning her snow hoi tin and tromping up the hill to the cozy log cabin. Sometimo she would spend the night there by herself or with Sad if m Mary Ruth. Hannah never was one to care much for sleeping away from home, though. There at Aunt Lizzie's, they baknl sweet breads and drank hot cocoa, or Lizzie's favorite Imi drink, Postum. Leah enjoyed jotting down dozens of In i aunt's recipes, asking for even more "for my own reci|>< files . . . come next autumn." That way Lizzie would kimw enough to quietly tell Mamma they'd need to sow a plentilnl batch of celery next July for Leah's wedding feast in the liill. Lizzie's eyes lit up as the truth dawned on her, and she pnnii ised to keep Leah's plans quiet "till the time came."

Leah was ever so happy to entertain Jonas once each wr> I all winter long, reading aloud to him from the book of Psalm and occasionally from Martyrs' Mirror stories from sevm teenth'century Christian martyrdom. Together they looked ;ii colorful pictures in Jonas's book of birds, learning the you r and call of many different varieties.

One evening Jonas shared his keen interest in carpeniiy with Leah, telling her that some years ago he and his failui had discussed the possibility of dividing up the Mast orcli;uil and surrounding land if Jonas never had the opportunity in learn the trade of cabinetmaking. He and his bride con LI make their living growing apples and overseeing a truck faun, but Jonas wanted them to live close enough so Leah could l>r within walking distance to her sisters. Thus, living on Gr:i,v. hopper Level wasn't an option, really.

They talked of joining Leah's church come next Sepu-m ber, getting married early in November, settling down iu-.u the Ebersol Cottage, perhaps at first renting a little (aim

267

ini

Rpy discussed in whispered tones their future children and lulchildren, and at times played checkers into the wee

PI I IN,

I t*nh felt truly blessed to love and be loved in such a joybl way. She did sometimes worry, though, that she oughtn't I inurry before Sadie, since that honor should go to the first in filter of their family. So she prayed that God would send iJli|,' someone right quick for her older sister.

H Sadie, who was becoming more self-conscious about her

Hilly as January came and went, promised herself she would

HlMt'how change her outlook on life. Without offering

Hfumtance by sheer willpower she made an effort to

Hcoine a more obedient daughter and loving sister . . . espe-

Hilly to Leah, who had put up with far more than she herself

Hijjht have tolerated from a sibling back last summer.

H I )n the Saturday nights that Jonas Mast came calling,

H(l!o stole next cloor to visit Dawdi John, who enjoyed tell-

Hg her sometimes the twins, too the familiar stories of his

Htnving-up years. "The olden days," he'd say . . . how he

Hgrncd to cut wood as a boy and catch fish with his own

MilWill, and about the day he asked Mammi Brenneman to

i|t?l hitched" with him. If he happened to light up his old

l'Ijit? and smoke by the fireside, the smell of sweet tobacco

hiudo Sadie feel a bit light-headed, took the edge off her

l''tpcst fears. At such times she came mighty close to letting

li',T secret slip out, knowing full well she could trust Dawdi,

I nit nIic never quite let herself go that far.

268

e u> e r I l

Lu t

Sooner or later, though, she knew she'd be telling LimIi. Time was passing and she had fallen in love with her b;ihy, felt it was surely a boy, though she wouldn't have known b

Meanwhile, Mary Ruth poured herself into school studii\ making the best grades she ever had through February. Mum and more she hungered for book learning, knowing full wi II how this might sit with Dat and Mamma when she finally hiul the nerve to tell them she wanted to attend high school Then . . . college someday. Her twin was the only one wlm knew her true heart on this, and it pained her the realize tion that one day their paths would surely have to pan, knowing full well that Hannah intended to follow the Lord in holy baptism and join the Amish church.

Hannah had begun to write down her most personul thoughts in a journal every other day, starting back on New Year's Day. Some paragraphs about certain boys she could just imagine Mamma's eyebrows arching ever so high at whai was being recorded. Her embroidered handkerchiefs hud found a business outlet in a small gift shop in Strashuri;. Hannah was saving her money toward helping Mary Ruili

269

o 0 e n a n t

l'h her secret goal of attending a teachers' college in the lire. Yet the thought of living without her twin nearby was RonI too painful to ponder.

I Ah rum spent winter evenings reading the Bible in ftimn and praying silent prayers with the family gathered Hr, Ida, who was putting on some extra pounds, sometimes ni'lained that the wood stove put out too much heat for Ir liking. So they'd all get up and head to the front room, fit the girls would shiver a little, all but Sadie, who Iiu't.1 as comfortable in the cooler rooms as Ida.

I II i:he topic of politics came up at all, which it sometimes I, he made a point of emphasizing to his family, especially

i i i laughters, that he didn't have much use for America's w president. "Anyone who's bent on using such profanity,

II ... he ain't leadership material, not in my book."

Hut even more than Harry Truman's cussing, Abram was

it terly annoyed by Jonas Mast's out-and-out determination to

ui Leah's hand. The smithy was none too keen on the idea,

II her, since Gideon hadn't shown the least interest in any i her girl in the "church yet. Leah was obviously Gid's one ml only sweetheart girl, and he'd set his sights and heart H her, and nothing either Abram or the smithy thought Unit Jonas Mast made any difference. Far as Abram was con-

fried, his dear, dear girl was missing out on a gem of a boy lillc getting cozy with, even planning to wed, Ida's cousin's n. But if Leah loved him and he loved her, well . . . what

in Abram to do? He couldn't demand his own way, could Ml Why, no, he might push Leah away from his own heart, Id then how could he live with himself?

270lO i

ty e

Derek Schwartz never looked back once he'd packed lir. bags and headed for boot camp. His mother was teary eyed ;ii the bus station, but his father appeared to be more serioir. than sad. Robert, not in attendance at Derek's farewell, h;ul managed to beat his brother out of town, driving to Harrison burg, Virginia, where he planned to find a part-time job mid settle into an apartment, then begin second semester ;n Eastern Mennonite College. His father had been baffled m Robert's sudden interest in Anabaptist beliefs, in wanting i<> go into the ministry, too, but Mom had encouraged him in "follow your heart, Robert . . . wherever it may lead." It wiin typical of her, though he knew she hadn't taken too kindly to his brother's leaving home again.

Derek, on the other hand, figured it didn't matter as much what he did with his life. Mom would have turned irateDad, too if either of them had known he was completely shirking his duty as a father-to-be, leaving na'ive Sadie Ebci1' sol to cope with raising their grandchild on her own. But nn turning back now. Hadn't he offered to help her end iho unwanted pregnancy? And she had refused in no uncertain terms. So there was nothing more for him to say or do. He had been smart, too, not falling for her ridiculous idea of marriage. ..,-'