Abram's Daughters 05 The Revelation (15 page)

"You know I never cared one way or the other about powwow ing," Gid said, "but now I've come to believe the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, 'which are able to make thee wise unto salvation.' "

"It surprises me that you're quotin' the Bible so freely," she said meekly. "Even Mimi looked troubled by your talk tonight. . . and she has no idea what's expected of us from the bishop."

He offered a smile, obviously unfazed by her comment. "Between you and me, I've memorized quite a lot of verses here lately whole chapters though not to boast. I do it because I've come to know the God of the Bible, Hannah, really know Him and something of what it means to be a servant of Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior. And ain't it awful strange this should happen to me since becomin' a preacher?"

She wondered what on earth Bishop Bontrager might say to this admission, but she continued to listen as Gid shared his "unexpected faith," as he called it.

Then he said something else that truly caught her off guard. "I've been thinking, and I'd like to say this outright: Your twin sister is welcome to visit here with you anytime." He reached for her hand. " 'Tis high time to make amends on that count. I'm sure my harsh decision hurt both you and Mary Ruth terribly, and I'm sorry for that."

She was astonished at this change of heart. "You're sayin' it's all right for her to visit with me alone?"

He nodded and kissed her hand. "You've missed out on some important sisterly chats, I daresay. And the girls need to see both her and their uncle Robert more often, too."

She felt nearly scatterbrained with joy, and she smiled her gratitude back at her husband, letting the pleasant expression on his face quiet her heart. In one short span of time she had been both reprimanded and rewarded.

"Mary Ruth might not know what to think, if she doesn't hear this directly from you," she ventured.

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'" I 'hen we'll have them over for supper this week. How'd that be?"

"I'll drop a note to her tomorrow, first thing invite her and Uoluii and little Ruthie." Hannah couldn't help wondering if Gid liiid j'one a tad ferhoodled, forgetting the initial reason he'd given lor her not to spend time alone with Mary Ruth: talk amongst the IVoplc. Supposedly, some were bothered by a preacher's wife having liT(|iicnt fellowship with a Mennonite who claimed to have receiveds.il v.i I ion.

So what changed? That Gid was seeing things much differently lliesc days was obvious. He'd admitted to a newfound faith. Was it I lie sort of one Mary Ruth and Robert also shared?

With all that Gid had opened up to her about, Hannah felt she (iii}',ht to at least say something more about her trip to see the Henikts. "1 honestly wish I could say I'm sorry for visitin' Zachariahand M.ny Ann," she said at last. "Shouldn't have gone without your const*ill, I know."

Gid finished off the last bite of his pie before he spoke. "Next I imc you have a hankerin' to visit a sympathy healer, come and talk lo me first, won't ya?"

Quite unexpectedly Hannah began to feel awfully blue again as .1 wave of depression nearly toppled her in spite of her best attempts to stand. All this intense yearning for the gift how could she simply turn it off? And what would happen if she were to be chosen, afler all? Would Gid forbid her to accept?

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x inding out which Sunday night singing Lydiann would attend, il she was going at all, felt like searching for a lost boot in the depths of a forest. But Jake thought it through carefully, backward and forward, until he'd decided on what he felt was a good plan.

He waited till dusk to ride to Gobbler's Knob, about the time he assumed Abe would be taking his sister. Once in the vicinity of the Kbersol house, he tied up his horse within running distance and hid in the thicket not far from the entrance to the long lane. Waiting was (lie hardest part of'&ll.

It was not but ten minutes later and here came Abe at the reins, driving fast, with Lydiann alongside.

Nearly breathless, Jake watched. His dear girl was in the Ebersol lamily buggy with her brother.

Which direction will they go?

He kept himself concealed as best he could till Abe turned onto the main road, heading west. Jake breathed more easily, knowing I hey wouldn't spy an abandoned horse and courting buggy just east nl them.

His instincts had paid off, and he felt a boost of energy as he dashed back, ready to follow Abe and Lydiann, wherever they were headed.

134II

Beverly Lewis

When Lydiann noticed Jake sitting with a group of fellows from the Grasshopper Level church at the singing, she was at once sur prised and instantly disheartened.

What's he doing here? she wondered, thinking surely he wasn'i ready to begin looking for a new girlfriend. Oh, how terribly awkward if that's true. . . .

Quickly she determined not to look his way a single time more all evening long. She would have kept to that if he hadn't come walking right up to her following the actual singing part of the gettogether. Different couples were already pairing up and walking or talking together within the large expanse of the swept barn floor. She even spied four young people sitting high in the haymow, one girl cuddling a midnight black cat.

"Hullo, Lydiann," said Jake, standing much too close to her.

She stepped back slightly, heart in her throat. Oh, she'd missed him something awful! Yet seeing him now, she felt she saw something of Sadie in Jake's face for the first time, and she found herself all but too shy to speak.

"I got the letter you sent, and I don't believe I see eye to eye with ya at all." He looked down, fidgeting with his thumb. "Tell ya the truth, I think the whole thing is baloney, plain and simple, and I won't have any of it. So there." He was grinning now, holding out his hand to her. "Let's just let bygones be by "

"No, you don't understand. I... we can't go on courtin'."

"Why not? I love you." He reached again to hold her hand, and she felt her body shiver.

She looked at him, hoping he hadn't seen in her eyes the apprehension she'd felt. She had planned this moment so differently, having already decided what she might say if she encountered him again . . . knowing she must speak the truth on her heart. But it was too late for that.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" He released her hand, the pain on his face unconcealed.

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K "I love you, too, Jake," she whispered. "What I mean is ... I nrh/. Ami if you listen carefully, I can explain why." I k- grimaced. "What're ya sayin'?"

I I r- promise she'd made to Mamma Leah and Sadie now struck lii'i lull in the face. How much easier to simply tell him the truth mil i i|',lii and let things fall into place as they eventually must!

She managed to move back, even turned away from him moiiii-iu.irily, hoping he might walk away from her and be done with it. Hut Mo, she felt his hand on her shoulder, spinning her around to l.u c liiin yet again.

|b "II there's someone else for you, just say it to my face, Lydiann hnsol!" He was talking much too loudly, and several of the other Hun;; people turned to stare their way. H ").tke please!"

Hj "There is another beau, ain't?" he said more softly. "Why else HpMiKI ya write such a letter?"

"That's not the reason at all." She searched his eyes, his face. "If

vi>ii knew the truth, you wouldn't be raisin' your voice." Tears

pilled down her cheeks. "You'd be sayin' to me: 'Ach, Lyddie, I'm

rvcr so sorry to hear this . . . and I hate it, too, something awful.'

I hat's what you'd be sayin'."

Jake was shaking his head now, staring as if he thought she was .1 crazy woman. She should have backed away right then and run, I iii she couldn't make her legs move.

"What do^ou mean, that's what I'd be sayin'?" "Oh, Jake . . . it's no use. . . ." She began to inch away, but he I'.nibbed her arm, literally pulling her out of the barn with him, his I.ice red.

"You're hurting me." She tried yanking away, and he tightened his grip.

"I won't let you go! I'll never let you go, don't ya see? How can you forget the promises we made . . . the love I thought we shared? Is it ihat easy to walk away?"

When they reached the tobacco shed, he loosened his grasp and pod there facing her in the light of the moon. H "It's not easy at all, Jake. I still care for you."

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He reached for her and pulled her close. "What do you mean when you say such things? Tell me, what's in your head?"

Lydiann had no choice. Promise or no, she felt she would nevci be able to get Jake to understand unless he heard the whole story. S< > she pleaded with him to go and sit on the fence nearby, and she crossed her arms in front of her, breathing hard.

In that moment she remembered how Mamma Leah often askal God for wisdom, even under her breath sometimes. Drawing in lungfuls of air, she asked the Lord God above to help her say wh;i( she knew she must.

"We're both Ebersols, Jake" came the words.

His eyes narrowed, but he held her gaze without blinking or speaking.

"It's a long and knotty tale, but according to what I've jusi learned, you are not Mandie's twin brother, nor the natural son ol Peter and Fannie Mast."

Jake began to shake his head, no doubt bewildered. She shiv ered, horrified by the things she had shared. She had broken her promise, but there was no turning back.

"Your mother is my sister Sadie." She sighed, not caring her tears were falling fast. "We can never, ever marry. . . 'cause I'm your aunt."

Then, as if it had finally sunk in, he gasped. "I've heard of girls makin' up stories to suit their fancy, but this? Lydiann, you best just come right out and say we're through for any other reason under the sun than this crazy, mixed-up one." He jumped down off the fence and began to pace in front of her. "I daresay you're as flighty as my father says all you Ebersols are." The tone of his voice had changed.

Quite unexpectedly, he turned to look at her again, coming too close for her liking. "But if you ever decide to stop tellin' fibs anil want to fulfill your promise to me, I'll be waitin' for ya." With thai he began to hightail it toward the barn.

"No! Wait, Jake!" She ran hard to catch up, nearly plowing into him when he stopped. "If ya don't believe me, go 'n' pay a visit to the doctor."

"Dr. Schwartz?"

"He'll tell you what's what." She turned away. j j

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"All right." His voice grew stronger again, as if he was challenging her. "I'll do that. Right away tomorrow, in fact."

I lei heart felt like the heavy stones Dat, Gid, and Abe dug up mil of i he fields this time of year, but Lydiann knew she must not liink b,n k. She had to keep walking all the way home, hoping dp.Miasi hope Jake would follow through with seeing Dr. Schwartz.

Before first light Jonas hurried out to the barn to get things lulling lor milking, wondering how Jake felt after seeing Lydiann, if

111.11 was indeed where he had gone. He was mighty sure Jake had iiilu-ii himself off somewhere last night, most likely to one of the kini singings, looking all spiffed up in his for-good trousers, white n(1111, .ind black vest.

So when Jake came dragging into the barn, looking down in the mi mill, (onas knew he had his work cut out, either getting Jake to

1,1 Ik m trying to lift his spirits while they hand-milked their several

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I he morning had gotten off to a cold and windy start with the luniy lap of sleet on the windowpanes long before it was time to ,ii i>e. With the approaching nasty weather and the knowledge that vi another November had come and was nearly gone without his in iitying Leah, he wasn't in the mood for a sorry ending to Jake's i uiiriship with Leah's youngest sister, as she was in most folks' eyes.

11 uly, Lydiann was Leah's first cousin, and he had never forgotten i he surprising account of Leah's beginnings Abram had given him i Icep in the cornfield seventeen long years ago. Not a whit of it bothcied Jonas enough to ever unduly ponder Lizzie's having conceived Ir.ih without being married. People young and old alike made tliie mistakes, ofttimes paying dearly for them their entire lives. Kventually Lizzie had become an upstanding woman in the eyes of (he People, and what mattered most to him was that Leah had grown from a sweet girl into a precious and honorable woman.

All the same, if Jake had a hankering to talk now, Jonas would tlo his utmost to listen and encourage him to try and move forward

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with whatever good things his life had to offer, whether here or in Ohio. The pursuit of a wife, while important, was only a part <>l that. Anyway, he's too young to marry even next year, thought Jonas ;is he recalled his own midteen years and his near-constant yearning to spend time with Leah. Seems like just yesterday. . . .

With that thought, he turned his attention to somber-faced Jake, lest his own longings for marriage overtake and distract him.

Studying Jake, he realized again what a strong and gritty younj', man he had become, one who understood and thrived in the aduh world of farming, tending to orchards and barn animals alongside their father these many years.

"I don't s'pose you'd care to hear a downright dreadful story," Jake said from his place on the old, three-legged milking stool.

Jonas cocked his head. "Speak your mind."

"I'll say it straightaway, but you'll never believe this. Still, it's the reason Lydiann's givin' for our breakup."

Such a long pause ensued that Jonas nearly spoke, but a glance over at Jake's frowning, pinched face made him hold his tongue.

"According to Lyddie, I don't belong to this here family. She says I'm Sadie's baby son, all grown up ... ain't a Mast at all." Jake looked right at him clear through him, really. "Have you ever heard such a ridiculous thing?"

"There's no way she can believe that." Puzzled, Jonas wondered at the source of this tale. "Did you ask her how she came to think such a peculiar thing?"

"She seemed altogether sure it's fact even said I ought to go 'n' see Dr. Schwartz 'bout it."

"What on earth?" Jonas mumbled, considering what this odd suggestion might mean.