Where Grace Abides (4 page)

 
4
 
A S
ECRET
W
ANDERLUST

For we are the same things our fathers have been;
We see the same sights our fathers have seen;
We drink the same stream, and feel the same sun,
And run the same course our fathers have run.

W
ILLIAM
K
NOX

G
ideon Kanagy was on his way back to the shop when he met up with Emma Knepp. As was her way, she walked with purpose, head down, her steps brisk, hands clasped at her waist.

Emma always seemed to know exactly where she was going, as if she'd plotted her destination well in advance and knew precisely what route would take her there. Gideon wasn't surprised to see that, though the day was warm, she wore a black shawl, pinned in front, and a black bonnet.

Emma lived the way of the Plain People, with great attention to the rules.

She was pretty though. The fair hair, just barely peeking out from under her bonnet, glistened in the afternoon light, and her complexion seemed touched year-round with an apricot blush.

It was a wonder she was still unmarried. From what Gideon had heard, it wasn't for lack of trying by some of the single fellows in the Riverhaven area. So far as he knew, though, she'd not yet allowed any one of them to court her.

He was almost in her face, before she looked up and recognized him.

“Emma,” he said, planting himself in front of her so she had to stop.

Her face flamed. “Oh—Gideon! Hello. I didn't see you.”

“Where are you headed in such a hurry?”

She looked confused. “I…was supposed to meet Dat and my brothers back at the buggy, but I ran into Sally Lape, and we got to talking. Now I'm afraid I'm late.”

Emma was the only daughter in a family with three sons, all older than she. Her father, Levi Knepp, was known to be plenty strict with all his children—but especially with his only daughter. Gideon wasn't surprised that she seemed a little flustered by the thought of showing up late.

Even so, he made no effort to move out of her way. “How's your family?”

Without really looking at him—for whatever reason, Emma
never
quite looked at him but always just past him somewhere—she replied, “Everyone is
gut.
And yours? Your mamma and Rachel and Fannie?”

“Far as I know, they're just fine,” he said watching her.

He hadn't been up close to Emma for several months and was caught unawares by just how attractive she actually was. She didn't have the dramatic good looks of his latest interest, Abby Frey, who was
Englisch
and prettied herself up by curling her hair some and using a little rouge. Emma, being Plain, wouldn't resort to such worldly adornments.

But then Emma didn't
need
such worldly adornments.

Even though she wouldn't meet his gaze, he knew those eyes. They were a color of a blue that held a touch of smoke and sky, with long, ink-heavy lashes that looked to brush her cheeks when she blinked. He remembered that she blinked often. In fact, more than once Gideon had wondered if Emma needed to wear eyeglasses.

He realized now that he always thought of Emma Knepp as a
girl.
A child. He was older than she by at least two years and had watched her grow up. For the first time, it struck him that she was no longer a girl but a young woman. A young woman lovely enough to steal a fellow's breath away and, unless she'd changed a lot, with a sweetness of spirit to equal her comeliness, though she'd always been reserved to the point of an awkward shyness.

“I should go,” she said abruptly, looking past him as if in search of an escape route.

Gideon hesitated, reluctant to let her pass. Finally, though, he stepped aside, saying, “Give my best to your family.”

She glanced at him, then quickly looked away. “Yes—all right,” she stammered.

“And stop by the shop next time you're in town and say hello,” he added, knowing full well she would do no such thing.

He would no longer be in the Knepp family's good graces—if he ever had been. Though he hadn't been shunned, having never joined church in the first place, he was living outside the community and working for an
Englischer.
Levi Knepp would not want him associating with his only daughter.

More to the point, Levi's
daughter
didn't seem overly eager to associate with him.

He watched her hurry up the boardwalk. From time to time, some of his Amish friends had teased him about Emma being “sweet” on him. Now he found himself wondering if she
had
been. Truth be known, he'd never thought of Emma that way. She had always been just Levi Knepp's shy daughter who lived up the road.

For a moment he entertained the idea of Emma liking him and found it oddly pleasing. Just as quickly he shook it off. There was no way he'd be courting Emma Knepp as long as he lived outside the Plain community.

Besides, he already had a girl, and a pretty one in her own right. Abby had the reputation of being a little wild, but that was all right.

He wasn't of a mind to settle down, not for a long time. An
Englisch
girlfriend who wasn't all tied up in a bunch of rules and restrictions suited him just fine for now, though when it came time to marry, she wasn't the sort he'd turn to.

He watched Emma until she was out of sight, then turned and started off again for the shop.

He saw the wagon at the same time he reached Edgar Folsom's leather shop.

The day was dry and hot, and the big draft horse kicked up a thick cloud of dust and stones in spite of its slow pace. The heat and the dirt burned Gideon's throat, and he put his hand up to cover his mouth.

It took him a moment to recognize the driver of the rattling farm wagon. He stopped where he was, struggling to remember the man's name. When it finally registered, he raised an arm to hail him.

“
Asa!
”

The big black dog stood up on the driver's bench and barked, and the driver shot a puzzled look in Gideon's direction. Then, as recognition lighted his eyes, he slowed the horse and pulled up to the rail beside the boardwalk, where Gideon met him.

Asa gave a nod. “Mr. Gideon.”

“You remember me, then,” Gideon said. “Well, I expect you're looking for the captain.”

“I am.” The dog barked again, and Asa shushed him. “Miss Rachel—your sister—told me I'd find him at the carpenter's shop here in town.”

“You went to Rachel's first? Oh, that's right—you wouldn't have known where to come otherwise.”

Asa looked past Gideon to the buildings behind him. “The captain—”

“The shop is just three doors down,” Gideon said, hauling himself up on the side of the wagon. “You can pull around back. Come on, I'll show you.”

The dog—“Mac,” as he recalled—looked Gideon over with those eerie eyes that seemed almost human in their piercing intelligence, but he remained quiet.

Gideon pointed the way up the street to the narrow lane that ran between the shop and Hudson's dry goods store. “Turn down there. Captain Gant sure will be glad you're back. He's been real worried about you.”

“How is the captain?” Asa's expression left no doubt as to his concern for his friend. “Is he well?”

“He's doing all right. Of course, you know about his leg. I can tell it still bothers him some. But he never mentions it.”

Asa nodded knowingly, turning off the lane and pulling around to the rear of the buildings.

“Here we are,” Gideon said, gesturing to the back door of the shop. “You can pull your wagon right up there by the storage shed.”

Gideon smiled to himself as he imagined the captain's surprise. Gant was a quiet man, never a big talker, but lately he'd been even more reserved than ever. He was an unhappy man these days, there was no missing it, and if Gideon were to guess the reason for his employer's grim disposition, he was fairly sure it had to do with Rachel.

In any event, he hoped Asa's return would cheer the captain up a little.

It caught him off-guard to realize that he actually cared about his employer's feelings. When Gant first showed up in Riverhaven, Gideon's attitude had ranged between curiosity about the mysterious stranger's past and resentment for the problems he brought upon Gideon's sister Rachel by turning up wounded on her doorstep.

After working for him for several months, though, he'd found the former riverboat captain an easy man to respect, even like, albeit not
an easy sort to get close to. From the beginning, Gant had treated him like a man, not a boy, complimenting him on his work when warranted and teaching him more than Gideon had ever learned from the former owner of the shop, Karl Webber.

Gant had magic in his hands when it came to wood, and there seemed no project he wouldn't tackle, no problem he couldn't solve. He was also an interesting man. Gideon had no idea whether he had educated himself or gone to some fancy school, but he clearly knew a lot about a lot of other things besides carpentry.

Gideon liked to get him talking about his life on the river and some of the places he'd been. It seemed that Gant had been in several different states, even way up north. He didn't seem to mind answering Gideon's questions. And Gideon never ran out of questions for him to answer.

He had always wanted to travel and see faraway places. Rachel had once accused him of having a “wanderlust” in him. Was that such a bad thing? He had never been
anywhere,
after all, had never ventured farther away from Riverhaven than Marietta and once, when he was a boy too young to remember much about the trip, had gone with his family to visit relatives near Columbus. Gant's stories made it possible to imagine different places, even though Gideon might never see them for real.

He had never taken to farming. He liked the land well enough, liked to be outdoors and even liked to watch things grow and come to maturity. But the
process
of planting and tending and harvesting he found tedious.

Many times while he was still growing up and living at home, he would walk away from their property. He would walk for miles through the fields and into the woods or sometimes go down by the river and simply sit and watch the big boats, trying to imagine where they were going and what they would see along the way.

He glanced at Asa, as they started for the back door, Mac trotting along at their side. Could be he'd have a chance to hear even
more stories now. The captain never talked about the business he and Asa carried on with the runaway slaves, but Gideon knew what they were up to. He'd overheard enough conversations between his mother and Rachel—and between Gant and Dr. Sebastian—to be pretty sure that the captain and Asa were involved with the mysterious Underground Railroad.

He also knew that even though Captain Gant had had to give up his traveling for the time being because of his bad leg, he
hadn't
given up helping a runaway slave every now and then. He'd seen things the captain didn't know he'd seen—at night—when he stood at the window of his upstairs room in the back of the shop and looked toward Gant's house on the hill.