A Winter's Promise (21 page)

“
And then you walked all the way back here? It must
be ten miles from Ogema!
”

“
More like thirteen. But we were used to walking,
and just being together made it seem no distance at all.
”

“
And you didn
’
t have any celebration?
”

“
No. Al kinda
wanted a square dance, but he knew I
don
’
t enjoy them. We were too busy just getting down to plain living for a lot of fuss.
”

Jenny sat quietly a moment, and Emma began knit
ting again.
“
Shall I finish reading this chapter and stop
for tonight?
”
Jenny asked.
“
Morning comes fast!
”
She
read a few more pages and paused.
“
Why don
’
t you read
the last page of this chapter, Emma?
”

Reluctantly Emma laid down
her knitting. She
hadn
’
t read two sentences when she came to a word she
didn
’
t know. Patiently Jenny leaned over and helped
her
sound it out. Whew! Emma pronounced the word
and
read the rest of the page as rapidly as she could
while
Jenny
’
s onion breath engulfed her.

As she undressed later, smiling to herself in the dark,
she planned how she
’
d tell Al about it.
“
I didn
’
t know I
could read that fast,
”
she
’
d tell him. It always felt so good to laugh together.

On Wednesday, Emma thought a lot about the sisters
in the book. When the children napped, she read a few more pages, but it wasn
’
t nearly as much fun to read it
herself as it had been to listen to Jenny. She put the book
down with a sigh. How did Jenny learn to read without
ever stumbling over a word?

Each time Emma went
to do chores knowing the chil
dren were safe with Jenny, her thankfulness grew. Wed
nesday night she nearly wept with relief when she
looked out of the barn window at the pale light from the cabi
n
and thought of the children laughing and secure
while she worked.
I
don
’
t deserve it. But will it last? Maybe she
’
ll have to go back to Grandpa
’
s,
if
she keeps
having trouble getting the fire started.

When Emma came in, Jenny had the children ready
for bed. She was sitting in the rocker with Ellie in one
arm, Georgie in the other, and the boys at her feet, sing
ing a silly little song Emma had never heard.
I
can
’
t wait
to
tell Al how happy the little ones are,
she thought as
she washed her hands.

When the children were in bed, Jenny sat down close
to the lamp with
two
books.
“
Emma, I
’
ve been thinking.
Wouldn
’
t it be good if we read the Bible, too, each even
ing?
”

“
Yes.
. . Yes, I suppose so,
”
Emma faltered.

“
Would you like to begin with the Gospels, or go on
to one of the Epistles?
”

“I
—
I don’t know.”
Emma
lowered
her
eyes.
“I mean,
I don
’
t know what they are.
”

“
The Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John
—
the story of Jesus
’
life here on earth, His crucifixion
and
resurrection,
”
Jenny explained withou
t a hint
of
re
proach in her voice.
“
The Epistles are letters that
the
apostles wrote to the early churches.
”

Emma
still
didn
’
t look up.
“
I don
’
t know much about
the Bible. The only time we went to church was a
few
times when we lived in Phillips and, before I was ten,
when we lived in Oshkosh.
”
She sighed.
“
I tried to read
it once, but I never got farther than Numbers. It was
hard to read that
tiny print by lamplight ... and all
those
funny names.
”

“
We
’
ll read from the New Testament. That
’
s easier,
and there aren
’
t so many names.
We’ll
find things that
will mean somethin
g to us for right now—things we
can
use!
Wait
’
ll you hear!
”
Jenny flipped through the
pages, holding the Bible close to the light.
“
Listen to this,
from Paul
’
s letter to the Philippians, chapter four, verse
four:
‘
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice.
Le
t your moderation be known unto all
men. The Lord
is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in
every thing by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
re
quests be made known unto God. And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your
hearts

J
enny smiled at
Emma.
“
Isn
’
t that beautiful?
”

Emma looked puzzled.
‘
Will you read that first part
again—about not being careful about anything? I don
’
t
understand.
”

“
Let
’
s see. That
’
s verse six:
‘
Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
”

“
Why aren
’
t we supposed to do things carefully?
”

“
It doesn
’
t mean that. It means we aren
’
t supposed to
be f
ull of care
—
anxious
—
about
anything. We
’
re not
supposed to worry.
”

“
Oh, my goodness! I didn
’
t know that!
”

Jenny
’
s eyes glowed.
“
Isn
’
t that wonderful. We don
’
t
have
to be concerned and fearful. All we have to do is bring our worry to God in prayer!
”

Emma didn
’
t answer. That sounded real nice, for people God wasn
’
t angry with.
“
Did you go to church a lot?
”
she asked, trying to change the subject.

“
Oh, yes! Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednes
day
night. And sometimes we had prayer meetings on Friday nights.
”

“
Prayer meetings?
”

“
Didn
’
t you ever go to a prayer meeting?
”

Emma shook her head.
“
Didn
’
t you get tired of going
to church?
”

“
When I was little I did, and when I was in my teens I
didn
’
t want to go to church at all. I wanted to live my
life the way I wanted to live it, and I was afraid if I let
God take it over, He
’
d take away all
my
fun.
”

“
What happened? Did He?
”

Jenny laughed.
“
No. He certainly didn
’
t. It seemed that during those years when I was holding out, the harder I tried to have fun and do things my way, the
worse I felt. I tried to act like I was happy, but I wasn
’
t
fooling anybody. I found out later that my grandparents, my parents, an
d especially my brother Peter, were
pray
ing for me all the while. Finally, one Sunday night, I
started to cry in church. I couldn
’
t stop until I told God I
was
tired of trying to run my own life, and if He wanted
me He could be boss—I mean the Lord of my life.
”

“
Were you ever sorry you gave in?
”

Jenny beamed at Emma.
“
Never! He didn
’
t take my fun away. I found out that God never takes anything
away, unless He replaces it with something much better.
The things I thought were fun weren
’
t important anymore. I started to like different things.
”

“
I
gave m
y life to Jesus when I
was
a little girl In Os
h
kosh.
”

Jenny squeezed Emma
’
s hand.
“
Oh, Emma!
I
’
m
so
glad you did.
”

Jenny closed the Bible and began to read from
Littl
e
Women,
but Emma wasn
’
t concentrating. She was try
ing to
imagine Jenny fighting God, but all
she could see
was Jenny the way she was now, her eyes full of love.

Thursday was a long day. Albert waited impatiently
for Miss Clark to bring the slate. Even though there was
a cold wind, Emma finally bundled him up and let him
play outside while he waited.
“
Don
’
t go any farther than
the bend!
”
she warned him.

Of course Jenny was later than usual, because she had
to stop at Grandpa Verleger
’
s to get the slate. Albert must have run from the house to the bend fifty times before he came puffing in behind Miss Clark.

“
See,
”
Jenny explained when they got their coats off,
“
I
’
ve printed your name on the top. Now you can print
it below.
”

She handed him the slate pencil and winked at
Emma.
“
That
’
ll keep him busy,
”
she whispered.
“
Fred!
Ellie! Come here! Tell me what you did today. Can
you
sing the song we sang last night?
”