Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice (28 page)

H|)oll would lead to Naomi's parents' farmhouse when Han-

^Bi lopped talking and began humming a hymn from the

^Hhlnind.

^B,' .mi t Ky Gid came to mind and Leah said, "I think you and

^1 ,in-a right nice match."

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"Oh?"

"Both of you enjoy music so."

"Jah, he plays his harmonica all the time." She paused) blushing a little.

"Not all the time, I hope."

"Oh, Leah ... you know what I mean." At this ihcy began to giggle.

Just then two old codgers rode toward them, their whlti; beards as long as any Leah had ever seen. They were leaning back against the seat, downright relaxed, just taking then sweet time. "Like there's no tomorrow," she whispered %m Hannah. m

The presence of another carriage made them quick gather their wits and stop the tittering, since the men weH within earshot. Once they'd passed, Hannah resumed thaH conversation. "If you feel comfortable 'bout it, I'd like you be one of my bridesmaids, Leah." M

"That's awful nice of you," Leah replied, meaning it. 4

"So you'll stand up with me?" -j

"'Course I will." |

"'Tis awful sad Mary Ruth has no chance of being my: bridesmaid." ;

Leah felt sorry, too. "Jah, but I wouldn't think of askii\' j Dat's permission on that. I can imagine what he'd say." j

"Ain't that the truth." j

"Be glad Mary Ruth will at least be in attendance," Lenh ! reminded Hannah. :

"Jah, that I am." i

Leah, eager to cheer her sister, continued on a posiiivo j note. "Just think how happy Mamma would be over your i

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I mlng marriage," she said. "She always liked Gid, ya

I i l.miiiili sighed. "We'll all miss her ac the wedding, ain't

I I .-iili agreed and closed her eyes, thinking of dear

fiiiim.i

I I luniKih stirred her back to the preset. "I wish with all

I nr- In-art cine certain sister could be or> hand to witness my

I i^i1, loo."

I I rowsily Leah reached over and patted Hannah's hand. "I llmv, donr sister. I know."

I I I try rode quietly now, surrounded bf the twitter of birds |i I i In; scent of new-mown hay and earlY harvest apples ripSm.r in orchards. Leah found herself wondering how many |< .. I imes she might be asked to be a bridesmaid. Naturally,

1 nine went on, she would be passed over; no bride in her khi mind would invite an old maidel rP stand up with her. litybc this would be the last time, whicl^ was quite all right. W\\\y\ with both Sadie and Mary Ruth having flown the nest, TV inuld be Hannah's supportive and gentle right hand. IlHiwing her, dear Hannah would need a close sister-friend In lu'i- wedding day.

I Evident in Hannah's eyes was hef deep fondness for Inui liy Oid. Leah was fully aware how m ch in love her sister Ilii I (lid were. The love they share is the ^d Jonas and 1 had L;.i/irr, she thought. The kind both Gid dM Hannah deserve.

While she had cared a great deal fof Gid, lately she had linn- lo the realization her love for hifn had not been the tine as her love for Jonas. She had matie this conscious dis-

11very simply by watching Hannah's fade when she spoke of

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Gid, and, on one occasion, by observing them from ahir ,i they held hands and walked together, Hannah leaning In-i head against Gid's strong arm. The adoring way they secin<-.l to bend toward each other, even as they walked and talkol, brought back a rush of memories. So like the way Jonas aiul Ialways did. . . .

Upon their return home, Leah let Hannah unhitch ilic horse and lead him to water in the barn, as she had so kindly offered to do. Leah tried to swallow the lump in her throat but did not succeed. Hastily she headed to the house, more eager than ever to hold Lydiann and Abe her little ones = close to her heart.

270- "*-

4 J*& &

There is no greatness where there is

no simplicity, goodness and truth.

Leo Tolstoy

#

Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again,

William Cullen Bryant271^-(lT*

l<)56

II.,, I

H, lie month of May arrived in misty splendor. Yellow daffoK nliing with purple and red tulips, raised their radiant Ii 1.11, id the sky. Creeks were swollen and burbling, and it

11 n H-i I to Leah every song sparrow, robin, and meadowlark [in -i lu- joining in the springtime chorus. I ilu" stood out near the hen house, watching Lydiann scat\ i iced, talking soft and low to the chickens and the solitary \i i it. The way 1 always did, she thought, smiling. Leah was l.i,l .H'liool door^-were closed for summer vacation, the last |ii\ li;iving been Friday, the eighteenth, one day following \ Ii.inn's ninth birthday.

i I ill I for her age, Lydiann reminded Leah of Sadie as a |liil.l. Though rather lanky like Leah, the energetic youngster 'in'I outgrown her topsy-turvy tendency to fall over not only h r.i'll' but also occasional buckets of fresh milk, half'gallon

1IIIIH-U

272 /? e r i y =i_- e iv I s

Hannah lived snug and contented in Aunt Lizzie's former luj house, while Lizzie had moved down to the Dawdi Hans u care for Dawdi John after Gid and Hannah had tied the kiml at a late autumn wedding four and a half years ago.

Cheerful and hardworking, Abe was almost six and a hull and his father's shadow. Leah felt truly blessed to witness I lie close father-son relationship unfolding daily.

"That rooster's poutin', ain't so, Mamma Leah?" Lydiiiiin said, frowning.

"I daresay you could be right 'bout that." "He's mighty pushy, too . . . whatever's botherin' him?" She went to stand near Lydiann. "Seems to me he wanlN some attention."

"From one of the hens ... or from me?" Lydiann's swirl voice still retained its childlike appeal.

Leah smiled. "All the hens, prob'ly."

Laughing, Lydiann grinned at her. "Ach, Mamma, you're pullin' my leg. He don't want all them hens a-lookin' at hint preenin', does he?"

"Well, maybe not." She put her hand on Lydiann's slender shoulder. They stood rooted to the spot, watching the chick ens peck and scrap over their dinner, amused at their antics.

Abe came hollering out of the barn, running toward them. "Mamma! Lydiann! You's must come have a look-see!"

"What on earth?" Leah hurried to follow him back to i he barn, with Lydiann close behind.

Abe made haste, climbing as fast as his short legs would take him, up the ladder to the hayloft. Getting to the top, Inset about catching one of many cats. When he'd done so, lie

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Mil ll up by the nape of its neck and pointed to its hind end. Hi > . ilic's missin' her tail!"

i i-nh didn't know whether to laugh or cry at such a sorry

V1l>

B l.ydiaim spoke up first. "She got it cut off during the harBll liwt year's my guess."

I ither that or the fellas got her on a lark durin' a pest

mi," volunteered Abe.

I i'iih flinched. Abe was much too young to be aware of wli things; he was just out of first grade, for goodness' sake! hilh was, some of the young men in the community were a f | no rowdy for her liking. They chose up sides nearly every Hjhl during harvest, giving themselves points for snuffing out In lil'u erf farm pests, a practice that kept teenage boys in the ii I i of rumschpringe busy in Gobbler's Knob instead of out It" 'I- Ing or chasing after worldly girls in Lancaster. Each side i'll'-i'ted heads and tails for points, everything from rats and I 1111 iws, to hawks and starlings. The group with the most Ii i u i n was rewarded with a baked-ham dinner.

I "Does it hurt anything for a cat not to have a tail?" asked

lyiliiinn.

I "Makes it hard to keep the flies off her, I'd think," Abe

niki* up, his dark blue eyes twinkling, framed by long thick

twin's,

I "Why did a cat get picked as a pest, I wonder?" Lydiann

Ijficd closely at the spot where the tail had been severed.

I "Too many kitties can be looked on as a problem by some

|till ," Leah answered, wishing to switch to another subject.

Nhc'd known of farmers who drowned or shot their excess

line population, but if she had her way, there'd be a house

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cat or two living inside the Ebersol Cottage. Mamma ik-wi cared much for indoor pets, though, and neither did most < >i the women folk in the community, for that matter. Tho days, Dat had better things to do than argue for or against having a favorite cat, and Leah had decided not to pursue I he matter.

"This one must've wandered over to the Peachey farm laM fall, ain't?" Abe said, eyes still wide.

"Sad to say." Leah turned to head toward the ladder, hop- : ing the children would follow and leave the subject of iIip poor cat be.

"I heard from brother Gid that Smitty asked for a pest hunt." Abe put the cat down and shuffled across the haymow, "Too many sparrows were diggin' holes in the straw stacks ;nu| roostin' in there. Them boys sewed some big ol' blanketn together and trapped the birds inside the stacks. Once they got too hot or stopped breathing, the fellas just went in ami cut off their heads."

Lydiann shrieked. "Mamma, make him stop talkin' 'bout that!"

Leah waited for Abe to bound down from the ladder, then placed a firm but gentle hand on his head. She stroked his blond hair, the color of the straw stacks he'd just described, "Best not be wishin' your youth away, young man," she said, "There's plenty of time for goin' on a lark with the boys." j

"I s'pose" was all he said, and they headed back outside. I

Lydiann tugged on her brother's black suspenders. "Looker up there," she said, pointing at the sky. "Now that's a sighl worth talking'bout." : : , :

And it surely was. Leah noticed sunbeams threading a |

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^Blivviiy through a wispy patch of clouds, thankful for ^Hlmiii's keen interest in the more pleasant side of nature. ^m, dl course, was all boy with an ongoing appetite for food ^H otherwise and far louder than any of Abram's daughters ^Ki ever been, full of pep and broad grins. He was always ^hly eager to find the first bumblebees come spring, which ^Btlil il was finally time to shed shoes and run barefoot. He P> loved to take his fishing pole to the nearby creek or I ukbird Pond, sometimes joined by both Gid and Dat, but ntly -Leah knew this all too well taking off to his favor-

"> (ishing hole without ever telling a soul where he was

Im itiled.

I iisi now he looked downright ornery with his front tooth HbiMiig a true disheveled schoolboy with cropped hair. Him< cly, though, did Abe ever wear the straw hat expected H In1 worn by all men and boys starting at age two. Hat or H{, he's ever so dear, she thought, wishing Mamma might Hive lived to see this day. These precious beautiful children K-ic having the best time of their young lives, soaking up Hlumertime. % I (iod doeth all things well. . . .

I She and Lydiann headed into the house. Without being Hid, Lydiann scrubbed her hands, and then set the table Hlile Leah took the roasted chicken, stuffed with bread dressBH> out of the oven.

I ' Thinking again of Mamma, she asked Lydiann if she'd like H) lake a long walk after dinner. Bobbing her blond head, wilhinn said she would. Abe would be going over to Smithy Bid's grandfather's place with Dat this afternoon because Mlil'hiiis Byler, Miriam Peachey's father, needed a hand with

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transplanting young tobacco plants into the field. Abe especially liked to go to "Dawdi Byler's," as Gid encouraged him to address the older gentleman, since young Abe got a kii I* out of hearing both Gid and Gid's grandfather play their hai monicas together.

After dishes were washed and dried, she and Lydiniui made their way down the long lane toward the road, heading past the Peachey farm, clear out to the turnoff to the Kiiul'l

mans

Down the road a ways, they turned and climbed over n vine-filled ditch and then up a slight embankment, heading to the Amish cemetery protected by giant shade trees.

"Dat's parents are buried here somewhere," Leah s;iiil softly.

"They passed on before I was born, ain't?"

She nodded, looking down at Lydiann. "You would'vc loved Dawdi and Mammi Ebersol ... a lot."

"What were they like?" tj

"Dawdi was kind and fun loving, yet he had his own ideaft I guess you could say."

"Bullheaded, ya mean?" Lydiann surprised her by saying. .,' "Ach, that doesn't become you, child."

"Es dutt mix leed." Lydiann hung her head.

"You best be sorry," Leah was quick to say, reminding lu-i self of Mamma, who had never approved of her daughiir. speaking out of turn, calling folk names.

"Mammi Ebersol was sweet as cherry pie . . . never said ;in unkind word 'bout anyone. Not her whole life."

"I could be that sweet even as honey," Lydiann said, looking up at her with innocent, yet spirited eyes.

277Cjacrl/ict

M]nh, (hat you can certainly be." When you want to, she itmiiyhi.

Wil h that Lydiann reached for her hand, and they walked lict u while amidst the headstones and trees. Leah was aware, < H ii'0 ii^ain, of the birds' exhilarating song. "Did you ever hear iliH verse from the Good Book? 'The flowers appear on the t-iiilh) the time of the singing of birds is come . . .'?" > '

"Can't say I have. Where'd you hear it?"

"Miimma told it to me once. She loved to listen to the Ii||i.U, 'specially early in the morning."

I ,y (.Harm's eyes suddenly looked bluer. "What else did Miiinmn love?"

"'I'liar's easy." She turned and knelt down in the soft

ntlhind grass. "She loved you. I wish you could remember

I" i ranryin' you here and there, talkin' to you in Dutch and

I n^lltih both, hopin' you'd grow up to respect the land and

li i i'ii (or the song of nature all round you."

"Aunt Lizzie does that, too, ain't so?" . :r

"Maybe more than all of us." ;'; i;: