The Bridge of Peace (30 page)

Lennie didn’t look up, but Grey knew she was speaking to him. “It’s bird-hunting season. Does it matter the type?”

Her eyes moved to him, shining like emeralds in the glow of the kerosene lamp. “Don’t bring back any quail.”

“You don’t like them?”

“I love quail.”

Allen raised one eyebrow before opening his newspaper, looking determined to stay out of this conversation.

Realizing where this conversation was headed, Grey moved to a chair across from her. “So if you like them so much, we need to shoot ’em and bring ’em home to be cooked, canned, or frozen, right?” With the face of the small cards against the tabletop, he shifted them around until she had no idea what was where. She added the last cards to the table, and they began a fresh game.

She picked up a card and tried to find its match. Then she laid both of them down again. “If you shoot a quail, I’ll …” She took another card, only this time she found its match, so she took another turn.

When it was his turn, he flipped over a card and then chose another one. “You’ll what? Oh, wait. I’ve got it. You’ll throw cake at me or make me ride for two hours in the freezing temps so I can do a favor for you.”

“Have you ever listened to a quail?” She picked two cards, but they didn’t match.

“It’s hard to avoid hearing them in these parts.” He lifted a card.

“They are a beautiful-sounding bird.”

“Ya, but they’re still just birds. They taste good too.” He found its match and set it beside him.

“If you listen to a bobwhite, its melody might take you places without you ever leaving your yard.”

“It’s a bird, Lennie.”

She gave a half shrug while winning several more cards.

“Are you actually serious?” He matched three sets before she took another turn.

“I can’t imagine picking up a gun to kill anything, so my opinion isn’t worth much to a hunter, but it’s how I feel.”

“How come I never knew this bothered you?”

She studied him, her eyes reflecting dozens of thoughts. “I began feeding quail a couple of years back, and then I saw one that had been shot but wasn’t dead.” She shuddered.

“Do you still capture critters that have worked their way into your house and release them outside?”

“Maybe.”

He laughed and leaned the chair back on two legs. “Allen, we’re going pheasant hunting.” He lowered his chair. “Of course this means we need a bird dog. Can we borrow Nicky?”

“She’s more of a butterfly dog.”

“And you let her engage in that activity?”

She shrugged. “Not when I can stop it.”

Allen folded the newspaper and tapped it against his leg. “Dugger has a bird dog we can use.” Allen tossed the paper on the couch. “You can’t listen to my sister, or we’d all be vegetarians.”

Lennie clicked her tongue. “Or we could wait on you to fix a meal and starve to death.”

Grey laughed. “So we won’t go quail hunting. But, Lennie, you do know this means you have to clean and pluck the pheasants as a trade-off.”

She won the last few rounds and tossed the cards onto the table in front of him. “If I was any good at plucking feathers off something, I’d have done it to Allen long ago.”

He chuckled. “One minute she’s sweet, and the next she’s sassy as everything.”

She stood. “One minute I was asking a favor, and the next I had what I wanted.” She gave an evil laugh, then looked at the stairway. “I promised the young uns a game of indoor freeze tag.”

When she was out of hearing range, Grey turned back to Allen. “Is she serious about the quail, or have I just been had—Lennie style?”

“I was only half listening and not watching her at all, so I don’t know.”

“Has she been feeding quail?”

Allen shrugged. “Not a clue. But if she has, we should find out where. Those will be some nice plump quail.” Allen smiled. “Wouldn’t she love that?”

“Listen.” Grey lowered his voice. “There was a man in your barn when I put my horse up.”

“A man? Any idea who?”

“None. He caught a glimpse of me and ran. Had a horse waiting near the barn.”

Emily walked into the living room, drying her hands on a kitchen towel. She sat down and put her very swollen feet on the coffee table.

He and Allen dropped their discussion, and the conversation among the three of them ambled onto a dozen different topics as the children ran in and out of the room.

Emily held her hand out in front of her. Allen stood, took her by the hand, and gently helped her up. She whispered something to him before leaving the room, and he smiled.

Allen sat. “I’ll keep an eye out, and if I see any signs of someone hanging around, I’ll tell Emily. You haven’t heard news about any trouble, have you?”

“No.”

“The midwife gave Emily a cell phone last week in case she goes into labor.”

“And you’re planning a hunting trip?”

“She’s yet to go into labor before her due date, but since you saw someone lurking around, I’m not going anywhere until I’m certain he’s long, long gone.”

Dwayne rode the horse hard for nearly a mile before he slowed. He struggled a bit to catch a decent breath. Grey had messed up everything. Dwayne could’ve made the whole thing look like an out of control horse did the job. Lena finally had gone somewhere without that stupid dog of hers. He could have got her tonight, but then Grey showed up. Dwayne couldn’t catch her in her own barn. When she drove a rig, her Daed hitched it for her in the mornings and brought it around to the front of the house. And he met her in the evenings when she arrived home. She arrived at school alone, but the lean-to stood open toward the road. That could mean witnesses.

Her brother’s barn seemed perfect, and finally she didn’t have the mutt with her. But Allen had come outside to meet her when she arrived. What was it with these men in her life? They treated her better than most dogs. It didn’t make sense. Couldn’t they see that God Himself hated her?

And she had no right to steal Peter’s loyalty. None. He hated her so much he wanted to kill her now and be done with her.

All he had to do was find the right place and the right time.

Twenty-Six

Grey and Allen had talked for nearly an hour uninterrupted by children, who were upstairs with Lennie and Emily. That tended to be unusual, and Grey wondered if he should go up and see if he needed to rescue either or both of them.

Allen stretched and yawned. “I’m hoping Lennie and Emily come down and we play games soon. If I don’t win a few rounds of spoons against Lennie tonight, I have to mow her grass all summer.”

“I can’t believe you bet against your sister, knowing she rarely loses at spoons. You’re not as smart as I thought you were.”

“You know, you’ve made that statement about me throughout most of my life. Seems like I’d hit bottom at some point and you couldn’t think of me as any less smart.”

“You’re right.” Grey chuckled. “I won’t be caught thinking too highly of you again, no matter how low that is.”

Bumps from upstairs rattled the ceiling as the children ran across the wooden floor. Bursts of laughter filtered down the stairway. As bedtime approached, Lennie had to be ready for one less child to be under her care, so he should get Ivan and head home. Normally, the adults took turns looking after the little ones, but for some reason she hadn’t come back down.

Grey stood. “I need to go on home.”

“No, stay,” Allen said. “All you’re going to do is tuck Ivan in and sit around by yourself. Let Ivan go to bed here. He can sleep over, and you can go home when we’re finished winning against Lennie. I do not want to mow her yard all summer.”

When he heard Lennie trying to settle the children down, he moved to the foot of the steps and hollered for Ivan. His son peeped over the railing, and Grey told him they needed to head for home in five minutes. Ivan nodded and then disappeared. Grey knew what would happen next. The boys would go in a bedroom and play very, very quietly in hopes of extending the visit. “Lennie?” Grey called.

“Ya.”

“You need a hand?”

She came to the top of the stairs, carrying a suitcase.

“Maybe I should have offered to help sooner. You running away?”

She tossed the bag to him. It didn’t have much in it, but it wasn’t empty. Emily waddled onto the landing with her hands on the lower part of her back. Lennie helped her ease down the steps. Lurking strangers or not, Allen wouldn’t be going hunting next week.

“Oh, Allen,” Lennie sang softly once at the foot of the stairs. “Guess where you’re going tonight.”

Allen studied Emily. She shrugged. “My water broke. I called the midwife. She’s got two others in labor, so she can’t come here tonight. We’re supposed to meet her at the clinic.”

Allen stood. “You have yet to go into labor during the day.”

“Are you complaining to the woman who’s in labor?” Emily rubbed her lower back.

Grey chuckled. “The man’s never as smart as he should be, Emily.”

Lennie headed for the door. “I’ll get the carriage.”

“No.” Allen hurried ahead of her. “I’ll get it. Grey, you’ll stay tonight and give Lennie a hand?”

“Ya, no problem.”

Lennie looked at him and raised an eyebrow, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, a bump from upstairs vibrated the room. She took off even before the child let out a yelp. “I got it. We’re fine. Go have a baby.”

Emily chuckled. “Those children went wild with excitement when they saw my suitcase. I might just have an easier night of it than your sister will.”

“Good. Serves her right.” Allen winked at his wife.

Grey walked out with them and helped Emily get into the buggy. Once they were on their way, he went back inside. Lennie sat on the couch, reading to the children. All of Allen’s children were dressed for bed. He assumed she’d done that earlier, unless she had a bit of a magician in her.

Ivan glanced up and then down again, clearly hoping his Daed wouldn’t tell him it was time to leave. Grey took a seat and read the newspaper. The sense of belonging and friendship surrounded him, and he realized afresh all that he had to be thankful for.

Nearly an hour later he laid the newspaper in his lap. Lennie’s reading had done its job. The children were relaxed and sleepy. Snuggled against Lennie, Phoebe had already fallen asleep. When Lennie closed the book, he moved to the couch and lifted Phoebe. Lennie put her index finger over her mouth, picked up little David, and motioned for the other children to follow her. Grey walked up the stairs behind them, enjoying the hushed serenity that now filled the home. Lennie went into the boys’ room, and he walked into the girls’ room. A kerosene lantern from inside the playroom gave off enough light so he could navigate around the strewn toys and books. Emily wasn’t a fussbudget about tidiness. Her energy went into feeding and caring for her growing brood, not picking up toys. Six-year-old Katie crawled into the regular-sized bed. Grey pushed the covers back and slid Phoebe into the bed next to her sister.

“You’ll leave a light on?” Katie mumbled as she rubbed her eyes.

“Ya.” Grey went into the adjoining playroom and got the kerosene lantern. He turned the wick to its shortest length, causing the flame to barely give off light. Before leaving the room, he noticed a small circle of red tape on the floor. A doll sat in the center of it, holding a small piece of paper.

He moved to the night-light shelf in the girls’ room and set the lamp on it. As he stepped out of their room, Lennie came out of the boys’ room. “Ivan put on a pair of pajamas belonging to Amos, and all three boys are asleep.”

“Time to relax.” Grey motioned for her to go down the stairs ahead of him. The wooden steps creaked, reminding him of the age of this homestead. Grey had built his own place, but Allen had inherited his from a grandparent, who’d inherited it from a grandparent. A lot of family life had taken place here, and he wondered if any of them had dealt with as much marital unhappiness as he and Elsie had.

Another shard of isolation gouged at him. It never seemed to end. He’d once stood on a piece of earth by himself, able to see Elsie across a canyon, but he couldn’t reach her. The sense of loneliness felt unbearable, but they could see each other, sometimes catch a few words as they yelled back and forth, and he always kept a smidgen of hope that he could build a bridge and cross over.