Lancaster Hearts (Out of Darkness - Amish Connections (An Amish of Lancaster County Saga)) (9 page)

When they arrived, a half hour later, she took up the bag of food and started followed her mamm from the wagon. Rachel's younger brother Hezekiah took their horse with a grin.
“
Gut'en'owen,
”
he said. Mamm's been cooking since last night, and she'll sure appreciate the extra food.
”

“
Judith made the corn pudding,
”
Esther stated with obvious pride.

Judith nodded. Since her daed's death, she'd learned the recipe, and though she'd worked hard to get the flavoring right, the memories made it difficult to swallow. Esther led the way up to the porch, and knocked on the door. To Judith's surprise, Deacon Hilty opened the door. He wished them a good evening, and though the day was a good deal cooler than it had been in recent weeks, his round, cheerful face was flushed, and sweat trickled down his brow and down his neck. 

“
Good to see you,
”
he said.
“
I admit, I was a bit surprised when my Rachel said she wanted to have company, but it's a good thing, considering.
”
His gaze flitted from Judith to Esther.
“
Mr. Graber and his son are in the sitting room. Why don't you join them? I'll send Rachel in with some lemonade. It'll be about ten minutes to dinner.
”

The smell of roasted chicken and sweet-potatoes suffused the house, making Judith aware of her hunger.
“
Danki,
”
Esther said.

Judith found herself a bit concerned at how his breath puffed as he led them into the sitting room.
“
Are you okay?
”
she asked as they walked.
“
Have you seen a doctor?
”

“
That's sweet of you to ask,
”
the deacon said with a laugh.
“
I'm right as rain. The Englischers have me on these pills to take off the swelling in my feet, and I get them most days.
”

“
You should take them every day,
”
Judith said.

“
Ja, ja,
”
the deacon said, waving his hand dismissively as they passed through the threshold to the sitting room.
“
Give me that food, and I'll pass it along to my wife. You'll want to sit with the other youths, I'm sure.
”
He glanced back, and gave Judith a
wink.

Did everyone know about Isaac and her plans to court with him? She wished it didn't embarrass her so. She certainly had nothing for which to be ashamed. Judith wiped her hands on her apron nervously,
“
Is there anything I can do to help in the kitchen?
”

“
Nee. There's already too many hands there as it is.
”

The room had three large windows, with yellow and red checkered curtains opened wide and rippling in the breeze through the screens. Though the day was a bit overcast as clouds drifted across the sun, the windows were well placed to cast light in all corners of the room. A sofa sat across from two of the windows, beneath it a woven rug incorporating the same colors as the curtains and more besides, rich blues, and a darker green, woven together in patterns of triangles bordered by a frame of wine red. Two k
inner, a boy and a girl, were sprawled on the floor playing
“
On the Farm
”
, a pair of half-full glasses of lemonade beside them. Mary and Miriam plopped down beside them and asked to join the game. Judith smiled as she remembered her and her brother Samuel'
s epic childhood battles to acquire the most livestock when they'd played the game as children, but her heart truly took flight when she rested her gaze on Isaac.

He was seated on the sofa beside his daed. Isaac had his palms on his thighs, feet flat on the floor and back straight as a tree as he sat stiffly on the sofa's edge.
“
Judith!
”
he said, jumping to his feet when she entered.
“
And Mrs. Hershberger, Miriam, Mary,
”
he added.
“
It's lovely to see you.
”

Esther laughed.
“
Gutt, gutt. Mr. Graber,
”
she said, giving Jacob a nod, which the man returned, his face as sour as a lemon.

Esther took the sofa across from the window, and Judith followed with a shy smile for Isaac. 

They sat in awkward silence, before Isaac ventured to ask,
“
So, you haven't had any more trouble Mrs. Hershberger, have you, from those men?
”

“
Nee,
”
Esther said.
“
And bless you child, those thugs had the fear of God put in them. I suspect they'll be running until the Englischer police catch up to them or they reach the Pacific
Ocean
.
”

“
What exactly happened?
”
Isaac's daed asked.
“
It's unclear how a house full of women managed to drive off two criminals.
”

Esther laughed.
“
A house full of women and the good Lord, dear Mr. Graber. I admit, I was in sore quandary about what to do with those men, one dragging poor Sofia off into the cornfield like that. But then I remembered the words of Mark, and he said to th
em, 'This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer,' and I fell to my knees. I don't know whether it was the old rooster, or the lightening that made them feel the movement of the Almighty, but their spirits were moved, and like the hand of God par
ted the Red Sea, those evil men were well frightened, and they stepped away.
”

On the floor, the children had entirely stopped playing the game and listened with rapt attention.

Isaac's eyes widened.
“
That is incredible!
”

“
An incredible tale, indeed,
”
Isaac's daed said.
“
Though there is the matter of your oldest son, who from what I've been told, was quite devoted to your guest but who seems to have been absent at the time of the event. It seems unbelievable that he'd simply watch his mamm and sisters as they stepped into harm's way.
”

“
Oh, Samuel didn't just watch,
”
Mary said.
“
He used his gun--
”

“
Mary!
”
Esther shouted.

Mary's mouth immediately snapped shut.

“
Gun?
”
Isaac's daed said.
“
I see the values you've instilled in your kinner. I assume Samuel took the hunting rifle when he fled? How many shots did he fire?
”

“
He didn't--
”
Mary started, and then looked up at Esther.

“
The firearm was my son's purchase, and while he made an egregious error or judgment bringing it into my home, he didn't fire it.
”

“
Ja,
”
Mary said,
“
And mamm threw him out of the house, right after, for not respecting the Ordnung.
”

At that moment, Rachel came in with a tray full of glasses.
“
I have lemonade. We'll be serving dinner in about ten minutes, so you can just bring your glass with you if you haven't finished.
”

Judith stood and helped Rachel distribute the glasses. When she'd finished, she wiped her hand on her apron nervously and asked,
“
Are you sure there isn't anything you need help with?
”

“
Nee,
”
Rachel said.
“
Mamm's got things well in hand. In fact, she gets irritated if too many people are underfoot with the finishing touches, which is why I'll be loitering here until it's time to serve dinner. Deacon Hilty's in the back yard with my daed, probably having his pipe. He prefers it if we don't notice, even though there's nothing in our Ordnung against it.
”
Rachel laughed. 
“
It wasn't much to persuade the deacon to stay for dinner, instead of running off in his buggy back to his empty home. His wife and kinner are staying with her sister, since things have been difficult for her, what with preparing for the baby.
”

Judith nodded.
“
I'm a bit worried about him. He seems tired and his breathing isn't good.
”

“
Well he was out all day in the fields with my daed and Mr. Graber. He's supposed to use the Englischer sunscreen, but he always forgets, my mamm says, and gets sunburns.
”

“
I lent him some of mine,
”
Isaac's daed said.
“
But it was hot.
”

They spent the next ten minutes making small talk, after which Rachel's mamm called the group into the dining room.

There were two tables, one in the open space of the kitchen for younger children and another for the adults. The adult table had clearly been used for another purpose as it was too large for the room and had two tablecloths over it beside. Rough wooden ben
ches had been placed along the longer sides, with kitchen chairs, a bit too high for the table, were at the head and foot.  Deacon Hilty and Rachel's daed were already seated at the adult table when Judith and the rest arrived.

“
Why don't you take the head, Mr. Graber?
”
Rachel suggested, beckoning Isaac's daed to sit down. Isaac took the empty chair at his left, and Judith seated herself across from him, ignoring his daed's disapproving gaze. Isaac smiled, and Judith returned it shyly, glad that she'd chose
n to be brave. To Isaac's left sat the Deacon, and then Rachel's daed and Hezekiah, who at age fourteen was deemed old enough for the adult table. Rachel sat beside Judith, and then Miriam, with Esther taking the place closest to the foot, next to the empty seat closest to the kitchen reserved for Rachel's mamm.  

Rachel went to help her mamm bring in the chicken for the table, as well as the bread warmed in the oven from Monday's baking.

“
Miriam, go help with those potatoes,
”
Esther ordered, and Miriam dashed off with a look of gratitude after Rachel into the kitchen. Judith wished she had an excuse to follow instead of sitting in awkward silence as Deacon Hilty began some absentminded ram
bling about one of his horses from which he'd remove a difficult stone from the hoof this morning.

“
Dear God, I thought that gelding was going to take a kick at me, he was so riled up,
”
Deacon Hilty said, taking a deep breath after. The smell of tobacco wafted from his clothing.
“
He'll let my wife do anything she likes with him, but me, good God no.
”

Miriam came in, carrying a glass serving bowl of sweet potatoes with marshmallow and placed them in the middle of the table, between herself and Hezekiah.

“
My
,
those potatoes look good,
”
Deacon Hilty said.
“
But I'd be a fool to lay a spoon in them before your Sweet Potato takes her fill, Esther,
”
he said, laughing.

Rachel and her mamm followed, the first carrying a large tray of bread with a crock of fresh butter, and the latter a tray of herb roasted chicken. The brown skin positively glistened in the light of the dying sun and the gas lanterns hanging on the walls. 

When all of the food was served and everyone was seated, Rachel's daed said,
“
Mr. Graber, you had mentioned earlier you wished to say the Grace, and it would be our honor.
”

Isaac's daed nodded gravely.
“
Danki,
”
he said, and took a breath, his gaze resting over each person as though he held in his eyes the full judgment of Christ, and began in Pennsylvania Dutch.
“
Mr. and Mrs. Schrock, it has been my and my son's true privilege to spend this week in your home.
”
He beckoned an open hand towards the food. Judith folded her hands together and closed her eyes, as Isaac's daed said,
“
For as in the words of Matthew, I was hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in... It is clear from your hospitality that you hold the impetus of the Lord firmly in your hearts: Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
”