Abram's Daughters 02 The Betrayal (18 page)

I Miiniina's eyes softened. "Your father has enough on his

If ii I now, what with Sadie off in Ohio. As long as there are

mure books like that kind in this house, he won't know

(mime."

I ' 'lulling, Mary Ruth thought yet again of Dottie, who was

IliiiilCTStanding a woman as any she'd known even if Dot-

I mii* on Englisher.

^H I cab took Dawdi John to another appointment with Dr.

^Hnviirlz late in the afternoon. If she got the chance today,

H| would thank the doctor yet again for allowing her to use

^B nil ice telephone before clinic hours to make her long-

^Htnncc call to Jonas. He had even been kind enough to step

H| i il the small room, giving her a bit of privacy. Carefully

rftlldwing Sadie's instructions to tell the phone operator David

U'llinker's name and home address, Leah had thought plac-

,

hud been rather astonished at how much Sadie knew about

11 if English world, though in this case, her sister's understand-

liw of the telephone had turned out to be downright helpful.

H Until Dawdi would return to the waiting room, Leah

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wandered over to the bulletin board near the receptionist V. alcove. There she scanned the many personal ads baby-si I ting needed, lost dog, and suchlike.

It was the typewritten notice regarding fall cleaning, ;i request for window washing, that caught her eye. When she looked closer, she saw the person posting it was none otha than Dr. Schwartz. Then and there, she decided if he was wil I ing to hire her to wash the clinic windows, she could earn back the money she'd borrowed from Mary Ruth. In shori order, maybe. Truth be told, she was also downright curious about the doctor, who seemed altogether kind and gentle :i far cry from his son, if it was his Derry who had fathered Sadie's baby.

When Dawdi John came out of the examining room lean ing on the doctor's arm, she quickly went over and asked wh;ii she must do to apply for the job. She turned and pointed i > the bulletin board.

Dr. Schwartz lowered his glasses and smiled, narrowing his gaze to focus on her alone. "I'd like to think I'm a man who knows an honest face when I see one." He turned to Dawdi.

"Can you vouch for your granddaughter?"

Dawdi John beamed from ear to ear. "Leah's one responsible young woman."

"Then, I say she has the job."

"When would you want me?" she asked, feeling good about this already.

"This Saturday, first thing."

She said she must first help her father with the morning milking but that she could arrive shortly thereafter. "Is thai agreeable to you?"

184 18511 tipnicil pleased. "I'll look forward to having clean win-

|

I In! nice of you to lend me your telephone before," she

l-iul'tTCil to say as she helped Dawdi to the door.

I iiytimo," the doctor replied.

I 'ii rhe ride home, Dawdi asked, "Do you think your

I will upprove of you working for Dr. Schwartz? He's Eng-

NIltTilll."

rWcll, why not?" she replied quickly. "Mary Ruth is lots lie i. mid Dat lets her work for Englishers. Besides, it's just it i inn1 job, not every week like Mary Ruth's work at the

^HTIi.u evening when Leah approached her father about the P" tit I In- clinic, Dat said he didn't mind if she wanted to M hit of pocket change. She was both glad and relieved, \: lu* ik'sired to continue her peaceable working relationship phi* I 'nl. But, more and more, she felt it wrong to hold out Nil I ii ill i him and Mamma regarding Sadie's plight. By I'i baptism day was soon upon her hers and Jonas's ^Hii was time to be honest with herself about just what sort ^Hrl she truly was, deep down. Far as she was concerned, HrI h; id no right to speak out pointedly to Sadie about it i" nl ing, not with her own heart so tainted.

' ilu- swept out the barn, then went out to the pasture, frxUf hi bring home the cows for milking. All the while she Wtl'il within herself, feeling more wicked with each passing

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hour. Here she was learning from the ministers all the Scrip tures pertaining to baptism, even memorizing the articles <>l faith, and what was she doing but concealing a secret sin. Noi her own, true, but in a way it might as well have been. Tinsecret pact she'd made with her sister had come between hoi self and the Lord God. This she knew, sure as the harvest.

Almost immediately on this first full day in Millersburg, Sadie made the surprising discovery that the area postman delivered the mail at four o'clock of an afternoon the Mel' , linger spread being the last house on his route. The Widow < Mellinger had written out a list of chores for Sadie to do, i "once you're settled in a bit." One of the things expected of; j her was to bring in from the mailbox the widow's many letters: j coming from Sugarcreek and Walnut Creek, Ohio, and even ; some from Shipshewana, Indiana. Edith loved hearing from her Friendship Circle, all of them Plain, including several OKI Order River Brethren women. Sadie didn't blame Edith-

after all, the woman could scarcely move about the Dawcli Haus, what with her asthma acting up. Still, Edith MellingiT went at her correspondence as if her very existence were in , jeopardy if she would but dally only a few hours before \ responding to her beloved pen pals. ;

David and Vera Mellinger's farmhouse was laid out muchJ like the Ebersol house, with several exceptions, one being a-n connecting doorway between the large kitchen in the main house and the small kitchen in the Dawdi Haus, wherGJ.

187Hn moiber, Edith, resided. Back home, the connecting pi'-'Myg were between the two front rooms, making it a { i trek lor Dawdi John to get from his rocking chair to

I iil'l ruble.

P > He's bedroom was situated on the second floor of Edith's

1

|> h I Luis a secluded sanctuary, to be sure, since Edith

|i I bmvly negotiate the main-level rooms, let alone the

I1 Once Sadie ascended the wood staircase in the eve|> I [v lelt as if she were heading off to a vacation of sorts,

(i 1.1,1 ()f it.

I ueiously, Vera had urged her to come over "next door" I1,' ' niie at all and help herself to whatever she could find in I i i-box. Sadie had felt altogether comfortable around both I < \ und Vera from the start. The three Mellinger children I' in delightful and well behaved as any youngsters she'd |ii, Jonas, too, seemed to be going out of his way to be In I beginning with his warm smile when he greeted her at I i nUrsized train depot. I l " lay she had just opened the icebox to get some ice

I lor the sun tea Vera had set out on the back porch when

I1 .ime Jonjfe into the kitchen. "Would you care for some I '" lie asked.

I I Ic nodded. "How'd you know that's what I wanted?"

I "\\y I he thirsty look on your face." She felt a little silly

Iliil! so.

I I Ic chuckled at that. "David sent me in for a Thermos

I."

I "I'll be glad to fill it for you anytime," she offered.

j I If stood there, still smiling. "First time away from

Bin-.'" he asked.

187 188 e u> e r I y J -eu?i!

The peace of Millersburg had caught her off guard, and s< > had Jonas Mast. "Well, jah, I s'pose it is."

"Anytime you're homesick and want to take a walk, jusi let me know. After all, we're soon to be brother and sister, ain't?"

She was a bit startled by his disarming smile and cordial ways. "Denki," she managed to say. "I'll let you know."

Weary from a long and busy day cleaning the clinic win dows, Leah headed upstairs after evening prayers and win. quite surprised to discover a small notebook lying open on hu bed.

"What's this?" she whispered, picking it up and realizinc it was the makeshift diary Hannah wrote in most every day. The note, attached with a paper clip, caught her eye.

Dear Leah,

1 feel anxious and peculiar asking you to read one of my recent diary entries, but when you do, I hope you'll understand. I've wanted to share this with you for a few days now, but I've been back and forth with the notion . . . ever so confused, really.

Maybe we should talk privately after you read this.

With love, Your sister Hannah

Well, she'd never encountered this before. What could U so important her shyest of sisters should invite a peek at In i

secret musings

188 189lO et r a y a I

' ' it }.)iiiry,

I'his i% a sad day for our family. How awful strange not

know what to think or do first. So I'm writing what I know, litdlt'Vt' (o know, in this notebook.

To hfi'jn with, 1 innocently overheard my eldest sister say

ni< friyliwning things to baby Lydiann this morning while

'HHTUi was gone from the house. Sadie was holding Lydiann

1 Vr rtrtfix, talking ever so softly about another baby. A baby

.SfldiV had supposedly birthed but he had died for some

on, she said. I'm guessing I must've heard wrong. Surely ".in' of this is true. Is my Sadie suffering in the head? I'm tHp(T so worried for her!

N(W 1 fear I must tell Mamma . . . or Leah, maybe.

1 uiwrwise, I cannot live with this knowledge. Please, dear I < hi/ (>ud heavenly Father, may Sadie understand that by my ii i tndhig these words here, I am doing what I believe to be )if

l'/ f/l/S.

Respectfully, Hannah Ebersol

f r.ili looked around the room she'd shared with Sadie her Ir lilc. The place seemed too empty just now. What am 1

'' .'.In- wondered.

"n\\ she knew she must nip in the bud those things Han-

I UK I overheard. She took the diary notebook with her and

h%\ down the hall to Hannah and Mary Ruth's bedroom. i cull knocked and poked her head in after one of them "('nine in." Turned out both twins were dressed for bed,

M;uy Ruth had begun brushing her strawberry blond

I l.innah was sitting on the cane chair near the dresser,

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removing her white head covering. "What is it?" she asked, glancing nervously at Mary Ruth.

Leah motioned with her finger, trying not to call ton much attention to herself, carefully keeping Hannah's diary behind her back. "Can you come to my room for a minute.'" She hoped Mary Ruth wouldn't trail along as she often did. Where one twin went, the other seemed content to follow.

Once Leah had quietly closed her door, she opened Hannah's notebook to the revealing page. "I just read this. You did the right thing, sharin' with me this way."

Hannah was silent, brown eyes blinking.

"Best keep mum about this for now." She paused. "No need worry in' Mamma and Dat."

Hannah nodded, seemingly willing to keep both her diary closed and her lips locked tight.

Such a sorry situation this was. Not only did Naomi Kauffman and Adah Peachey know something of Sadie's sin, but now Hannah knew and knew the worst part of it. Goodness'sake, Leah thought, it won't be long before everyone knows!191l-'H-

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es-t,

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^Htl next to Abram in the front seat of the open spring ^K Inooding over Sadie, now absent more than a week. ^Hn was exceptionally warm for the second to the last day PmRtist, and there was precious little breeze as they rode to In hopper Level for a Saturday afternoon visit with Peter Li l.imiie Mast. Ida was awful glad to have received word [i>> Millersburg, though not directly from Sadie. Vera Mel|i i, David's wife, had taken time to pen a quick note, sayI'.Ml is well here with your eldest. We'll take care to see she l-ii./'. church with us, as well as Bible study on Wednesday

Zip.

I I icither Ida nor Abram had figured Jonas was involved in ili i forward-looking church. The Amish here shied away lin organized study of the Bible. So now Sadie, too, would liii tending a more open-minded community. Still, Leah had ii |i >nas spoke favorably of the bishop there, so Ida tried to I .t-.it.lc her concerns and simply look forward to Sadie's nun in time for the Mast-Ebersol wedding. She would pray l\v;is well with her dearest girl.

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In the second seat of the wagon, Leah and Aunt Lizzie sal together, with Hannah and Mary Ruth on the bench behiml them. The wide cart was still full despite having a bit more breathing room, given Sadie was absent and Dawdi John h;ul decided to stay home and rest. In no time Lydiann fell asleep in Mamma's arms, lulled by the swaying and the peaceful dip clopping of the horse's hooves.

Leah watched the landscape drift slowly by plentiful trees, songbirds, grassy fields, and acres of cornstalks standing sentry. She wished she might relive the day she'd gotten hei self so mixed-up in the forest embarrassingly lost. Thinkini: back on it, she felt downright peculiar about Gid making ovn her like he had. She hoped to goodness he hadn't gotten iInwrong notion from her. Still, it was awful kind of him to fiinl her and help her home, weary as she'd been.

Sighing, her thoughts flew to Sadie, as they often did now, and her sister's final words to her at the Strasburg trolley. I'll be missing your baptism. . . . Sadie had said it so convincingly, as if it truly mattered she wouldn't be a witness to Leah's lidcovenant.

She wondered how long before a letter from her sisu-i might arrive. After all, Sadie had offered to write, and LimIi was glad about that. She felt she might burst into tears, I Inwhole of it was such a troubling thing, even now.

Aunt Lizzie touched her arm, patting it gently. "Best nui fret, Leah," she whispered.

Leah knew she must trust in the Lord God heavenly Father on behalf of Sadie. She would try harder to pray more often for her sister. That and encourage Jonas in her very next letter to look after Sadie, though there was little time

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^Hmi- In \| be home for his baptism. She could hardly wait! ^wliii: Jonas back even for a weekend would lift their spir^Hsull dl ihem for he would surely tell how Sadie was get^Bf nliing at the Mellingers'.

^B'1-' i lie minutes wore on she watched the clouds glide