Dark Crossings (25 page)

His lips pressed into a hard line. For a moment, she thought
she had gone too far, pried too deeply.

He gave a deep sigh. “I reckon you are bound to hear the story
sooner or later. It is said that a man’s pride goes before his fall. So it was
with me, only it was my wife and child who suffered because of my sin.”

CHAPTER NINE

I
SAAC
’
S
VOICE
SHOOK
with raw pain. Lena wanted to wrap her arms around
him and hold him close, but she sensed he would reject her comfort. Instead, she
said, “Tell me what happened.”

“My carving was much in demand in the little community where we
lived. Many
Englische
tourists came to our town and
they paid well for Amish crafted furniture. Instead of giving more of my
earnings to the church, I spent far too much to buy a high-stepping, spirited
horse and a new buggy, the kind I always wanted when I was a boy.”

He fell silent. Lena didn’t press him. He had to find his own
way to tell the story.

After drawing a deep breath, he said, “Ada Mae disliked our new
horse. She didn’t trust him. I told her she was being foolish. One day, she
wanted to go visit her sister, who was ill. I promised I would close the shop at
noon and take her, because I knew how much she hated to drive that horse.”

Isaac stopped walking. Lena stood beside him. They were alone
in the world, cocooned in the lantern light, with only the moon and the stars to
see them.

After a short while Isaac began speaking again. “As I was
closing up my shop, a man came in. He owned a store in New York City. He wanted
to feature some of my work there. I was flattered by the offer and greedy at the
thought of the money to be made. To my shame, I forgot that Ada Mae and Ruby
were waiting for me.”

“You are only human, Isaac. We all forget things.”

“You are kind to say that, but it was my pride that made me
forget them. When I came home an hour later, I found my wife lying in the barn.
Ruby was with her. Ada Mae had grown tired of waiting for me and decided to
drive herself. I wish she had simply come to the shop, but I imagine she was
upset with me. She did have a temper at times.

“When she tried to harness the horse, he kicked her in the
chest. The doctor said a broken rib punctured her lung. She lay dying for more
than an hour as I discussed money with a man whose name I can’t remember
now.”

“Oh, Isaac, how terrible.”

“Terrible for me, yes, but worse for Ruby. She was with her
mother the whole time. My workshop was less than two hundred yards away. I don’t
know why Ruby didn’t come get me. If only she had.”

He stopped as his voice broke with emotion. After a moment, he
recovered enough to continue. “I managed to get Ada Mae to the doctor, but it
was too late. She died in the hospital emergency room. If only Ruby had come to
me as soon as it happened, Ada Mae might have been saved. I try to accept it was
God’s will, but I can’t stop thinking that I could have saved her.”

“Why
didn’t
Ruby get you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve asked her that a hundred times. Ada Mae’s
parents and her sisters, our bishop, my family, we all asked Ruby the same
thing. She has never answered any of us. She’s never spoken since that day.”

“The poor child.” The answer to Ruby’s silence lay in the time
she’d spent with her dying mother. Somehow, Lena needed to learn from Ruby
herself what had happened that day.

She and Isaac walked along in silence until he said, “I don’t
know if she forgave me.”

“Ruby?”

“My wife. I don’t know if she forgave me or not. I pleaded for
her forgiveness, but she never woke up. Now I will never know.”

Lena grasped his arm, forcing him to stop and face her. “Isaac,
was your wife a devout woman and true to her faith?”

“She was.”

“Did she often neglect her Christian duty?”

He shook his head. “Never.”

“You say that with great certainty.”

“Ada Mae loved God. She lived her life to please him.”

Lena wanted to shake him. “Why then do you think her faith
failed her at the end?”

His brows drew together in a frown. “I never said she lost her
faith.”

“Is not forgiveness the cornerstone of all the Lord has taught
us?”

“You know it is.”

“Then
believe
that she forgave you,
Isaac. To doubt that she did is to say her faith meant nothing to her.”

“You are right,” he admitted in a bemused voice.

“Frequently.” She tugged on his arm. “Come, it’s late and I
have lessons to prepare for the morning.”

The woods receded on one side as their route skirted the creek
near the school. They were almost at the school lane when the sound of raised
voices reached them, coming from near the covered bridge.

Isaac said, “Stay here. I will see what is going on.”

“
Nay,
don’t go.” Lena grabbed his
hand.

He squeezed her fingers. “Someone may need our help.”

She was being silly. The woods weren’t populated with bogeymen.
She nodded. “You’re right.”

“Occasionally,” he said, with a smile that set her insides
whirling.

She grinned in return, but quickly sobered. “Be careful,
Isaac.”

A chill wind swept over her skin, making her shiver as she
watched him walk toward the bridge. He held the lantern high and called out, “Is
everything all right? Do you need help?”

A flash of light, followed by the report of a gun, made her
jump. The lantern in Isaac’s hand exploded and went dark. A second later, she
was knocked to the ground by a hurtling force that carried her off the edge of
the road and down the creek bank.

A hand clamped over her mouth. She struggled to get free until
Isaac whispered in her ear, “Quiet.”

Reeds poked Lena’s back and scratched her neck. She lay panting
under his weight, listening for the sound of another shot or the burning pain of
a bullet. Silently, she prayed as she’d never prayed before.

Nearby, she heard a man’s voice growing closer. “Are you crazy?
No one cares about a few dead deer. If you kill a man, the law will be crawling
all over us in no time.”

“Quit your whining. I aimed for the light. I just wanted to
scare him.”

“How do you know you didn’t scare him to death?” The sound of
footsteps stopped on the road above. Lena squeezed her eyes closed.
Lord, deliver us from evil.

“The Amish are tougher than that. Mind your own business after
this, farmer.” An engine roared to life and a vehicle rumbled closer, then moved
past, the noise fading into the distance. Gradually, the night sounds of the
forest returned.

Lena realized her arms were pinned to her sides by Isaac’s
strong embrace. His face was mere inches from hers. He was listening intently.
After a few minutes, he fastened his gaze on her face.

She whispered, “Are they gone?”

“I think so. Are you hurt?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t believe so.” She was shaking from
head to foot. She tried to sit up but his weight prevented it. She wiggled
beneath him.

“Be still, woman.” His voice held an odd quality that made her
freeze.

“Isaac, let me up.”

“Not yet. Lena Troyer, I’m surely going to regret this,” he
whispered, his breath tickling her ear and sending shivers over her skin.

“Regret what?”

“This.” He lowered his face to hers and kissed her tenderly on
the mouth.

It was Lena’s first kiss, and so much more wonderful than she
had imagined it would be. Isaac’s beard prickled her skin, but in a good way,
for it was softer than it looked. To her surprise, her nose didn’t get in the
way at all. Warmth flooded her body from the inside out. She wanted her arms
free so she could wrap them around him.

As abruptly as it began, the kiss was over and Isaac was
pulling her to her feet. “We should get out of here.”

“Where shall we go?” she asked breathlessly. If he suggested
they fly to the moon she was willing to go along with him.

He looked at her closely. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

The warm, fuzzy haze brought on by his kiss was quickly being
replaced by the cold reality of the situation. Gathering what dignity she could
manage, she scrambled up the bank unaided. “I’m fine. I’m not the one they shot
at. Are you okay?”

“My hand stings. I reckon I have a cut or two from broken
glass.” He climbed up after her.

She grasped his arm and held it toward the faint light of the
moon. His hand was laced with black rivulets. She could smell the blood. Without
a lantern it was impossible to tell how badly he was injured. “Should we go back
to town?”

Isaac pulled away from her. He walked across the road and
picked up his hat. After reshaping it, he settled it on his head. “They went in
that direction. It’s closer to go to your father’s house.”

“It is closer still to Clara’s home. She has a phone. We can
call the sheriff.”

Isaac laid a hand on Lena’s shoulder. “There’s no need to do
that. We must forgive these men and pray for them.”

She nodded, embarrassed that she had so easily forgotten the
teaching of her faith during her fright. “Then let us hurry home before they
come back. They are surely madmen. May God protect us.”

“And all those we care about,” Isaac added, staring in the
direction the men had gone.

* * *

T
HE
FOLLOWING
MORNING
, Lena arrived at the school much later than normal. She had
taken hours to fall asleep. It wasn’t the fright that kept her awake, or the
fact that she’d lost her job. No, it was reliving Isaac’s kiss that had her
staring at the ceiling of her bedroom until the wee hours.

What did it mean? Was he in love with her? How was that
possible? They’d known each other only a few weeks.

She liked him. Okay, she more than liked him, but he’d not said
a word about his intentions all the way to her father’s house, or later, after
she’d patched the cuts on his hand.

It was clear he still mourned the loss of his wife. Did Lena
somehow remind him of her?

No, he kissed me!
In her heart, she
knew he hadn’t been thinking about anyone else.

He was coming to tackle the barn repairs today. Somehow, she
would find a chance to ask him what he meant by kissing her. Did he regret it,
as he’d said he would?

“Please don’t let that be so,” she whispered.

She glanced at the clock; it was time to start classes. This
would be the last time she did so. Tears stung her eyes as she rang the bell to
call the children in from their play.

When everyone took their seats, she saw that Ruby and the twins
were still absent. Lena glanced again at the clock on the wall. She would have
to have a conversation with the twins’ parents regarding their tardiness.

No, she would leave that task for the new teacher.

Suddenly, the door burst open. The twins came in, half
carrying, half dragging a man between them. Blood covered the front of his
clothing.

Lena rushed toward them. “What has happened?”

“We found this fellow down at the bridge. He’s been shot.”

The stranger’s face was twisted in a grimace of pain. His eyes
opened and focused on her. “They’re following me. Don’t want to lead them here.
Don’t want to put the children in danger. Have to find Isaac.”

“Isaac Bowman?”

“
Ja,
my brother.” He tried to stand
on his own but slumped forward. The twins kept him from falling.

Katie looked out the door. “There are two men on four-wheelers
coming this way. Lena, they have guns.”

“How far away are they?” she asked.

“They’re at the bridge.”

Lena ran down a list of possible hiding places, and discarded
them all. There was no time to get the man up to the attic or out to the barn,
and those were the first places the others were sure to search.

She glanced around and her gaze landed on her desk. In one of
the romance novels she’d read, the heroine had hid inside the kneehole of a desk
to avoid being detected. Would it work? She had no other choice.

Lena spoke to the children. “I want everyone to take his or her
seat and remain silent no matter what happens. We must all pray to God to
deliver us from evil this day.”

She turned to the twins. “Help me hide him under my desk.” The
boys nodded and assisted the stranger to the front of the classroom, where he
sank to the floor. Lena leaned down to speak to him. “You must remain silent.
Can you do that?”

“Don’t put yourself at risk for me,” he managed to whisper.

“Just do as I say and be quiet.” She helped push him into the
space beneath her desk. He barely fit.

Quick-thinking Katie was already wiping up traces of blood from
the floor with her apron. She stuffed it in her desk and sat down.

Lena spoke to the twins. “Take off your coats and give them to
me. They have blood on them.”

The boys did as she asked, and she used their coats to cover
the wounded man. “Quickly, everyone take your seats and pray.”

Lena pulled her chair up as close to the desk as she could get
it. There was fear in every face looking up at her for courage. Barely a second
later, the men drove up to the school. One appeared in the open doorway. The
other came in the back way. Lena tensed. Both men carried rifles.

Lena stayed seated, hoping her skirt would hide the wounded man
as one of the gunmen walked behind her.

“May I help you?” She was amazed at how level her voice
sounded.

“We’re looking for someone,” the man in front of her said. Lena
realized that she knew him. It was Chuck Carter, the husband of Wilfred’s
granddaughter.

Lena held her hands wide. “As you can see, there is no one
dangerous here.”

“I think we’ll just have a look for ourselves.” Chuck advanced
into the room. His companion went to check out the window.

Lena said, “You are frightening the children with your guns.
Please take them outside, then search all you want.”

“Not a chance, lady. If everyone sits quietly, no one will get
hurt.”

Lena repeated what he had said in Pennsylvania Dutch so that
the youngest children could understand. She calmly reassured them in the same
language.