Abram's Daughters 02 The Betrayal (3 page)

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barely. In all truth, it was leaning slightly to the left, and as she stepped back to take in the strange place, she could see it was quite old and in dire need of repair. Walking gingerly around its perimeter, she decided the wood shack was probably safe enough to enter. She did so and quickly, too, because the wind had suddenly come up, blowing hard from the north with an edge to it.

The sky was growing darker now, even as she pushed hard against the rickety door and hurried inside. Much to her surprise, she found a rather cozy, if untidy, room with exposed plank walls and overhead beams. Several wooden benches were scattered round, the only places to sit. A waist-high, makeshift counter stood in the back, along with a metal trash can. Still, nothing inside really hinted at what purpose the shack served.

Placing her writing paper down on one of the benches, she stood in the center of the little room and curiously looked around. It was in need of a good redding up, as Mamma would say. Both Mamma and Lizzie required cleanliness in all things, and had they come with her today, they would have immedi' ately set to work picking up the paper debris and whatnot littering the floor. Never mind that the shack wasn't part of someone's house or barn; it needed some tending to. Even Mamma's potting shed was far neater.

Going to stand at the window, she leaned on the ledge and looked out at the wind beginning to whip through the shrubbery, bending the trees something fierce. She decided she might as well stay put for the time being, what with a storm rustling things up so. Not that she would complain about a blustery rain shower not since the Good Lord had

31The betrayal

Veil this heat wave to encompass the region. Thirsty crops IKI ilrlnk up a downpour like this in short order. BIu4 was ever so glad for even this unsteady shelter. The I Intensified, hammering wildly on the ramshackle roof. fillip down on a bench, Leah picked up where she'd left HVll'h her letter to Jonas, putting her pen to the creambed paper.

I There's one thing I should tell you in case you hear it Wihvtiugh the grapevine. (1 hope you won't feel bad about this.) , ttlerti lately I've had to help my father outdoors more than jlwr, since Dawdi John's hip gave out a few days ago. It's a mity seeing Mamma's father suffer. My sisters and 1 take our Ifunis keeping him company, as does Aunt Lizzie- Sometimes ltd /ic!/> Mamma, I take him over to the village doctor, Henry Kihwartz, who's as kind as he can be. I As for working alongside Dat again, I've always known 1 Iw'riv meant for the soil. Called to it, really. And once you and Ij /ire married, Dat will simply have to hire some extra help. Boo)i I'll be tending my own vegetable and flower gardens and Ktioking and keeping house for you while you build oak tables :: Ifltid chairs in your carpenter's shop nearby. We'll be happy as Vtirks! \,

I tty the way, there's a small house with a For Rent sign in hhc front yard less than a mile from here set back a ways

1/roin the road, even has an outbuilding on the property. iMaybe Dat and I will go see about it if you agree we should. ':' I I'II send this off right quick, then wait eagerly for your next :i Ijetier. ...

I . All my love, :

I : Your faithful Leah ,., - ,

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She reread the letter, then folded the stationery. Leaning back, she stretched her arms and noticed a leak in the highest peak of the roof. Within seconds the droplets turned to a trickle; then a near-steady silver stream intruded upon her refuge against the cloudburst. Not a bucket was in sight, only the trash can overflowing with refuse. She searched for some' thing else to catch the water but was startled to hear running footsteps outdoors and rushed to the window to look.

What's Aunt Lizzie- doing out in this? she wondered.

The door to the shanty flew open, and there stood Mamma's younger sister soaked clean through to the skin. Lizzie's face turned instantly pale upon seeing Leah. "Well, I never "

"Hurry and come in out of the squall, Aendil"

The brunette woman leaned hard against the door, shoving out the wind and rain. "What on earth are you doin' here?"

"Oh, I'd hoped to find a comfortable spot under a tree somewhere . . . before the rain was makin' down so suddenly." She glanced over at her letter. "Caught me by surprise, really."

Lizzie nodded her head. "Seems the woods have a climate all their own, ain't so?"

Leah knew how much her aunt, even at thirty-five, enjoyed exploring the forest truly, Lizzie's own backyard. Drawn to small woodland creatures, Lizzie often amused Leah and her sisters with animal-related stories. Leah sometimes

wondered how it could be that Aunt Lizzie seemed so at home in the very woods she'd always warned against, knowing the name of each tall and dark tree at first glance. Lizzie's heart was as tender as the petal blossoms she cherished, and she

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| I nn Iht nieces beyond all reason.

i MiInIiK-, I he rain was spilling fast over the eaves in elon| l ilniplcis, like the delicate, oval pearls Leah had seen on f iitilT neck of a worldly English woman in a Watt & I1 h|'n department store newspaper ad. But inside, the j> 'i| from the unseen hole in the roof had taken up a ityilttn all its own, predictable and annoying.

I "()() you chink you could help me find one particular tree

I1 dpwribed it? I mean, after the rain stops."

L Aiini Lizzie smiled, pulling on the soaked-through purple

Mb

^Hr i li;ii clung to her arm. Her long black apron and prayer

^H^i'ir ;ilso sopping wet. "Which tree's that, honey-girl?"

^H >i it - where the grass is soft and thick and grows right up

^Hu 111ink. I must admit to thinkin' of the forest floor

^HjiIi il as my piece of earth." She went on to tell about

^Hiii n his honey locust tree. "It has no thorns. And if ever I

^Hl Inul it once more, I believe I might somehow mark it

^HiniLI return there again and again."

^B. >li . . .'twas a wonderful-gut place to daydream, jah?"

^HNol dream so much as write a newsy letter," she con-

^Hjl "My sisters are awful nosy sometimes. They'd just love

^B"vv what I'm writin' to Jonas."

^Wrll ... so that's what brought you here." Lizzie seemed

^Hliiiw relieved as she spoke. She went and sat down on

^Hli isost bench, and Leah did the same.

^B never knew this place existed."

^Wt'll, I daresay it's 'bout to come a-tumblin' down.

^H'h, i! you ask me, might be a gut thing."

^B 'ii, I don't know. Maybe with a little sweepin' and

^n' up it could be a right nice spot to "

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"No . .. no." Aunt Lizzie shook her head, turning to face the side window. "Best leave it for the turkey shooters, come Thanksgiving."

With Lizzie's quick remark, Leah felt she understood. So ... the lean-to had been built long ago to provide shelter for small-game hunters. Nothing more.

"Since we're up here away from everyone," Leah said softly, "I can tell you I'm terribly worried 'bout Sadie."

Aunt Lizzie stared hard at the floor. "Jah, I fret over her, too."

"Must be somethin' we can do."

Aunt Lizzie nodded, removing her wet prayer bonnet. "I have to say I do miss her perty smile."

"And I think Mamma does, too."

"A cheerful countenance comes from the joy of the Lord God rising up from one's heart."

Leah wasn't surprised at this remark. Aunt Lizzie often spoke of the Holy One of Israel as if He were a close friend or relative. "What more can we do?" she asked.

"Nothin' short of haulin' Sadie off to the preacher or the deacon, I s'pose." Aunt Lizzie's face dropped with her own words. " 'Tis awful frustratin'."

"Honestly ... I never would've promised to keep mum if I'd thought Sadie would remain stubborn for this long."

For a time Lizzie was silent. "Your sister would never trust

you again. And she might not forgive me, neither."

"We can't just let Sadie lose her way. Can we, Aunt Lizzie?"

"Indeed. Seems to me somethin's got to break loose here 'fore long. Either that or she'll make a run for it."

35^betrayal

^M t,puh gasped. "Sadie would leave?"

^M "I'm afraid it was my idea. Last year I'd suggested a visit

^mj^ltln might do her good, but I fear now she might never

Bum"

H| l.i'iih Iblt limp all over. She didn't know what to make of ii Htttlie hadn't mentioned a word.

Aunt Lizzie continued. "1 pleaded with her to stay put itnlll tit least your wedding. Perhaps by then she'll come to I Iff anises. I pray so." She rose and went to the window. "I've

^glkpil fo her till my breath is nearly all ... to no avail. Still,

H| n'l stop beseechin' the Lord God heavenly Father for

^j ' stark silence followed, and Leah was mindful of the ^Hin . naside, as well. The summer shower had passed.

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I \w, ground was soggy beneath their bare feet when Leah iltd Lizzie left the safety of the hunter's shack to hike down i Id* hill toward home. Birds warbled a chorus of gladness, and il|<* overcast sky steadily brightened as the sun finally suci I'cvled in peeking out of the slow-moving gray clouds.

I izzie put her nose up and sniffed. "Does the air smell I'i ( to you after a shower?"

B I cah inhaled the clean, mintlike scent. "We could stand B li;ive moisture like this every single day from now till Jonas Bui I . . ."

B I izzie offered a gentle smile. "Well, go on, Leah dear. I can Bt|> quiet about your weddin' plans. You can trust me with Bf day Jonas will take you as his bride." B "Jah, I would, but . . . well," she sputtered a bit. B Lizzie must have sensed the awkwardness and attempted 'dinooth things over promptly. "What do you 'spect we'll do

Bfl|

Bout all that parched celery, honey-girl? You and your Htaima will have a whole houseful of folk to feed at the wedBfl' feast, with no celery."

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Mamma's celery stalks had been looking altogether pathetic, what with the intense heat and lack of precipitation, even with the additional hand watering they'd been doing lately.

Leah spoke up. "Maybe Fannie Mast's vegetable patch is farin' better than ours." She could only hope that was true, although with infant twins, Mamma's first'cousin Fannie would be hard-pressed to keep her one-acre garden going without help from daughters Rebekah, sixteen, and Katie, thirteen, and occasionally nine-year-old Martha.

Aunt Lizzie pushed ahead on the unmarked path, Leah following close behind, aware of the People's whispered tittletattle surrounding the wedding tradition of serving celery.

Taking a long breath, she held it a moment before letting the air out. "Mamma says it's, uh . . . necessary for the young couple to eat plenty of celery at their weddin' feast."

"For the sake of fruitfulness," Aunt Lizzie replied over her shoulder. "The Lord God put every plant vegetable, fruit, and herb on the earth for a purpose. Some have healin' properties, others aid in digestion and, well . . . getting young couples off to a right good start, ya know."

And that was the closet thing to a lesson on the birds and bees she knew she'd be getting from either Aunt Lizzie or Mamma. Of course, Sadie could easily fill her in to high heaven if she chose to, but Leah didn't care to ask. Not the way Sadie had gotten the cart long before the horse. Better to discover such things later, after Leah belonged to Jonas and he to her in the sight of the Lord God.

They had reached the place where something of a meandering dirt path appeared, descending into a grassy area

39lOetrayat

j>t lew underbrush to tangle one's bare feet. Lizzie's small Die wh.n ii) sight at last, up ahead on the left. This corner of jj'ii yi'ffii earth had a pungent fragrance, and its pleasant-

I liuuic Leah suddenly think of Mamma and an earlyRiinH promise Leah had made. "Ach, I nearly forgot."

I i )( turned quickly. "Forgot what?" i liimma's expectin' me home." XVII, then, mustn't keep her waitin'. . . ." I ill glanced at the sky. "We're going to bake up a batch i In ny pies . . . then after a bit Dat will be needin' me at

II in' lime."

11 iu'11 have to come visit me again soon." I Guiding, she said she would. "Or . . . better yet, why i i you come down tonight and have a piece of my pie? I'm i tunned for it to taste wonderful-gut." " Vou'll do just fine. And when your dessert turns out to be 'i < delicious, we'll compare notes, jah?" "Miiinma scarcely ever writes down recipes, you know. It's up here." Leah tapped her head.

"Your mamma's one of the best cooks round here. She t the cake, no$, don't she?" Lizzie said, a hint of sadness IH i eyes. Sadie's unwillingness to repent seemed to tinge lily everything.

Lenh hugged her, then broke free and headed on down the ||p road toward home, turning briefly to wave to her dear II, Hut Lizzie was already gone.

It la had been standing at the open window upstairs, havpui I he baby down for an early afternoon nap. Grateful the coolness after the rain, she stepped back to allow a

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breeze into the bedroom. She could clearly see Leah up there in the woods, waving a fond good-bye to Lizzie. Then, here she came, bounding almost deerlike out of the trees as her long skirt swept the damp ground.

What's rrry sister filling Leah's head with today! she wondered, suspecting the pair had gone walking together, picking wild flowers, making a fuss over every little plant and animal. That was Lizzie's way always had been. She was bent on soaking up every inch of the woodlands, introducing each of Ida's girls to the vast world of flora and fauna. Sadie had been spending all kinds of time up at Lizzie's during the past few months. Nearly all summer, really, until just the past week or so. More recently, Lizzie had singled Leah out.