Abram's Daughters 01 The Covenant (9 page)

Ida glanced out the window, watching their youngsters playing a game of near-silent volleyball. Her gaze found Sadie tall, slender, and beautiful. What a shame that such ;i girl wasn't nearly as perty on the inside. Sighing, she watched87 C o o e n a ni

I i-iiti ftjp ti lime. Quite the opposite was true of her tomboy

yM \ Itly while heart, for sure and for certain as perty as

ff !" , whom.' radiance shone through to her pleasing coun-

ttMM_r Ach, such an odd pair . . . complete opposites. Just

^^y (she find Lizzie had been in their youth. Not so any-

^^^|l ilt1'* hurd knocks had a way of pushing you down on

^^^Hlin'4, Both she and Lizzie had become prayerful women,

^^^B like good Mennonites they were, talking silently to

^^^Binl God heavenly Father about everybody and every-

^^^inlr broke the silence. "Peter and I ... we're gonna

^^^Btt nnolher baby next spring end of March."

^^^WrII, now, won't that be nice."

^^^llr turned, a grin on her face. "Ach, how nice!"

^^^Hiivcn'l told anyone just yet," Fannie said, eyes bright

^^^Bir news. "Peter is ever so glad. And Jeremiah will have

^Hninlt',"

^^^i hms happy for Fannie. The new baby would be the

^^^i>iiiijVNi of all her many first cousins' children. Jah, a

^^^Hl' would bring joy to all, especially at their many family

^^^HtlVr you ever thought of having another baby, too ^^^H w hoy this time?" Fannie asked unexpectedly. ^^^B/Iiy, no, guess I haven't, really." She was a bit taken ^^^Btiy Fannie's bluntness. "I'm movin' past childbearing

^^^Hlii i four girls, wouldn't it be awful nice for Abram to ^^^H i'i i his son?" came Fannie's too-quick reply. "To carry ^^^B luinily name."

^^^B lliought it but didn't say that Leah had always been ^^^Mt-il Abram's son. That was fairly common knowledge

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amongst the People. Of course, Leah was blossoming more and more as a young woman here lately. Chances were thai someday Leah would get weary of the outdoor work and star! wanting to prepare for marriage . . . learning to quilt and sew at long last.

She found it awkward that Fannie would talk so. The truth was, neither she nor Abram had ever worried their heads over the Ebersol name not being passed on. "We've always trusted the Lord for our children," she said. "If God wanted us to birth boys, well ... I do believe we'd have some by now."

That silenced Fannie right quick, and Ida was more than relieved.

Sadie was startled when a car drove into the dirt lane, and she wouldn't have known who the driver was if she hadn'i looked just then between plays. Her side of the volleyball net was rotating positions, getting ready for young Isaac to serve the ball, when a shiny gray car pulled up next to the house.

Once she realized who the driver was, she had to will herself to turn her attention back to the game. But she only hall succeeded and watched Derry Schwartz get out of the car and hurry to the back door as if he was family or something. His boldness further shocked her. Nobody but relatives ami friends would knock at the back door of a Plain house. Anyone else used the front door. But Derry hadn't knocked on the door at all; he'd gone immediately inside, as though Peter or Fannie had been expecting him.

How odd, she thought. Does Derry know Mamma's cousins!

It wasn't but a few minutes and he came back out again, carrying a large basket.

That's when Jonas called to him from the server's posi-89

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I In, I H'iek! Did you finally pick up the strawberry mi mamma.'"

|it4HNcil before getting into the car. "I was out this 'iinfill I'd drop by," he said, his hand on the door. iimlte some brownie points at home." i I an I in i inkling what Derry meant by that. And she

I her best not to call attention to herself, when

I1 I'd I Vrry to set the basket down and come meet

"li IhiIkt's kin.

, ullll hadn't noticed her there; otherwise, she

1 lie would have put the basket of preserves in the

I I he car and come over to meet them at all. She ! ilic might breathe too quickly and pass out, so ner-

VUh,

| Din in brought him over to her, Derry only smiled

''Nk'f to meet you, Sadie." Just as he had before

tiliK l-wih, Hannah, and Mary Ruth. He'd treated

Mir, us if she wasn't his sweetheart-girl at all. Just a

hit Ivc to Jonas Mast and his family, playing a game

i ill nil a hot Sunday afternoon.

i

< i i.illy when Derry seemed to catch her eye for an

In- lunied the car round in the lane, slowing some

t'd diii the window at all of them, heading for the

yaiW had introduced her English beau to them as one

HbriN hired help. So Derry was working for Mamma's

BgU'i Must. Doing what? And why hadn't he ever told

Bldr many woodland walks that he worked for an

Hhiiii^hts flew ahead to the next time she was to see H|ii i LI ho explain why he'd pretended not to know her

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today? Why he acted as if he was meeting her for the firsi time?

Leah collided midplay with Mary Ruth, both of them reaching high for the ball. Her sister wasn't hurt at all, bin when Leah lost her balance and fell, she wrenched her anklr and lay there in the grass, unable to move her foot. Joruis rushed to her side first, asking whether or not she could walk. Then, while moaning and holding her foot the pain w;is unbearable she bravely tried to get up and see if she could take a step.

But before she could, Jonas reached down and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her across the yard toward tinhouse. "I've got you, Leah," he said softly again and again. "You'll be all right."

She nestled her head against his blue shirt, embarrassed to have fallen, and feeling nearly as light as a pigeon feathu the way Jonas was carrying her so confidently.

"I'm sorry. . ." she muttered.

"Ach, 'twas an accident, Leah."

The steady throbbing from her ankle may have clouded her ability to hear, but she almost thought Jonas had said "my Leah" as he strolled up the back steps with her and into tinkitchen. So maybe he hadn't forgotten their childish secivi engagement!

Ida, Fannie, and Lizzie all turned and looked at Jon us bringing Leah into the kitchen, carrying her, of all things, their conversation abruptly interrupted. Ida was rathei relieved to have a diversion from the direction their talk w;i,\

taking. But, goodness' sakes, she was sad to see Leah in so

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i.iin, Wlini on earth had she done to herself? And what i "Id liink ol triumph on Jonas's face? >!> hull lier ankle," Jonas announced, still holding

mi. fairly llcw to Jonas, instructing him to put Leah

in ilte si might-backed chair near the wood stove.

i-ftrHul, that's right . . . don't jostle her too much."

| I Llxzie were close behind, kneeling quickly to tend

|J< iifulitol ankle. "Best to get the pained foot iced,"

ll'

ji> 'leviiU'd above your heart, so the swelling can go

*' ,'lc broke in.

| go get some cold packs down cellar," said Fannie.

| 'tin out of earshot, she mumbled, "And make your-

ji-i. l?or pity's sake."

I 11 'vvnc'il. Wasn't it clear that Jonas had done his part li "in Lenh inside? Holding Leah's swollen left foot in

II .1 I mini, she touched it lightly where black and blue En, irked the painful area. Silently she prayed for two I ii'H Leah's,ankle was not broken, and that Jonas's l"i were simply helpful ones.

I I UNtling at the memory, she recalled the snowy Jan|i nenrly six years ago when Abram and she had li i Keir young brood here to Peter and Fannie's for dinI lebmtc "Old Christmas," or Epiphany. Leah had [ill. ten at the time, and Jonas thirteen a new teen[!" \| noticed them looking at each other across the [li aid on during the meal, grinning to beat the band. KM Inter in the afternoon, she'd happened upon them I lit the milk house. Of course, they were only talking, mm fhnl rnpt gaze in Jonas's azure eyes that worried her

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enough to mention something to Abram later after they returned home. Her husband, who had already decided that Leah should fall in love with the smithy's boy, was mighty quick to give the poor girl a tongue-lashing. Much later, in the privacy of their bedroom, Abram told Ida, "Nothin's getting in the way of Gideon Peachey becoming Leah's husband. Not even your cousin's eldest."

She shuddered, remembering the fury in Abram's voice and eyes. He had paced like a mad dog, back and forth across their upstairs room, stopping only to stare out the window for a moment, then turning, had paced some more, his hands pulling on his brown bushy beard, gray eyes flashing. "I'll be fleabit if Leah doesn't end up with Smithy Gid!" he'd said.

But, ach, this wasn't the time to dwell on such a day. Best to keep her attention on her dear girl's painful ankle, get Leah into the main-floor bedroom, have her recline so her wounded foot could be propped up higher than her heart, as Lizzie had said to. :, i !

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iri'i' IMble reading and evening prayers that night, Leah

li d up the stairs before anyone could offer to help her.

muled to be alone needed a reprieve from the events

ilay, The one pleasant thing that still made her heart

i wun Jonas being concerned enough to carry her into

i u inc! thataway. She thought again of her face against his

hlis strong arms holding her safe, his words of comfort

i'iinsurance, ^hy hadn't he waited to see if she could

idler she'd "Stumbled to the ground? Thinking back on

'i ciclent, she felt she might've been able to limp to the

', given half a chance. But Jonas had been so impulsive,

Mlo Kelp her himself.

m I he stillness of the shared bedroom, she stood on one

1-Iku" good one and peered into the hand mirror, trying K I lie beauty Rebekah had seen in her. But the reflection g buck just now wasn't near as perty as Sadie's or even Wn face, not the way she thought of a girl being attrac(Mnybe it was because her sisters had such light hair; I I hat be it? But no, she knew within her soul made no

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difference that her hair was brown, she just didn't feel perty. Tomboys weren't supposed to be attractive. The truth came home to her yet again, pounding its way into her temples, causing pain in her head as well as her wounded ankle.

Mamma and Aunt Lizzie were mighty kind to her during the next few days, insisting she remain indoors, keep her left foot elevated either while in bed or on the downstairs couch. They brought her breakfast, dinner, and supper on a wooden tray, coaxing her to eat more than she needed, probably, but it was their way of demonstrating their love. Dat was shorthanded outside, what with early potato digging and the second alfalfa cutting coming on real soon. But there wasn't anything she could do about it. Smithy Peachey and son Gid came over several times to help out during the week, but other than that, the work fell entirely on Dat's shoulders.

Aunt Lizzie said she was willing to walk to a nearby doctor, have him come take a look at Leah's ankle, tell whether or not it was broken. But Mamma didn't think it was, especially since Leah could move her foot wiggle her toes, too without causing her additional pain. So it was mutually decided that the ankle was just sprained. "Which," Lizzie reminded her, "can be as painful or worse than a break."

After the first few days Leah yearned for the outdoors, in spite of Hannah and Mary Ruth showing her how to embroider, Mamma giving her pointers on mending clothes by hand, and Sadie and Aunt Lizzie teaching her how to make the tiniest quilting stitches things she might've never learned till

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now, since she was rather laid up. So, in some ways, her '.prained ankle was turning out to be a blessing. Providential, :.he began to think, and she was more determined than ever ro become a real woman. The kind of woman Jonas would be proud to have stand alongside him.

She enjoyed a good many unexpected visitors throughout that week. Two being Fannie and Rebekah Mast, which was awful nice of them to come all this way.

The next day Jonas Mast surprised her by dropping by with two blueberry pies and a burnt sugar cake for the family. While he was delivering the desserts from his mamma, Leah, who was reclining in the front room, happened to see him just where he stood in the kitchen. Of course, Mamma put her foot down about him going any farther than the doorway, only allowing him to call to her "Hullo, Leah . . . hope your Wilde's healing quickly" before he was herded out the back way.

Adah Peachey stopped in one afternoon and stayed for two hours, reading the Bible and some of her own writings she called them "personal essays on life and other things." Leah found her dear friend's sharing so interesting, even lovely, and told her so. "Mamma just won't let me do hardly anything till my ankle's better," she explained. "I'm ever so glad you came to visit."

They were upstairs in Leah's room, where Adah sat on the chair next to Leah, who was perched on top of the yellowand-green quilted coverlet. "There's something else I'd like to read to you before I go," Adah said, her sea green eyes soft and glistening. She opened an envelope and removed the folded letter. "Well, on second thought, I 'spose you could read it for yourself."

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Leah accepted the letter, and when she spied Gid's handwriting she knew Adah's brother, still sweet on her, had sent it.

"Go ahead, open it. My brother has a nice way with words," Adah encouraged her.

Honestly, she was tempted to push the letter back in the envelope.

"Aw, Leah, for goodness' sake, read the note."

Lest she hurt Adah's feelings, or worse how would Gid feel if Adah recounted this moment to him later? Leah

opened the letter from the young man her father seemed to admire above all others. She began to read.