Abram's Daughters 05 The Revelation (12 page)

"I thought you oughta know what you're up against, is all," Jake replied. "I came all the way home to speak my mind. That, and for one other important reason."

lake didn't let on what he was thinking, but Jonas was certain lake's main reason for returning was to get Dat's permission to marry Lydiann. "Time to get that water we came for," he said now, walking faster.

With a shrug, Jake followed.

/ wish Jake had bided his time and kept his mouth shut, thought |oiias, heading glumly toward the well.

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The afternoon mail had just arrived, and Jonas could hear Mandie hollering to Jake. "There's a letter for you!" Somehow or other, she always managed to be the first one out to the road this late in the afternoon, and she seemed to take great delight in calling oik the names of those who had received mail.

A large russet squirrel scampered across the barnyard and began filling his pouches with food for the winter. Jonas kept his eye on the bushy-tailed critter and headed for the well to pump a glass of water, too dirty from his barn work to enter Mamma's clean kitchen. All the while, he thought about the audacity of Jake, thinking it was his place to set the bishop straight. On the other hand, Leah had wanted to do nearly the same thing, though she'd had the sense to talk it over with him first. . . and to respect his wishes.

Some time later he spied Jake rushing out the back door, face as red as a beet. "What the world?" he muttered, turning to watch his brother make haste up the hill toward the springhouse. He decided to catch up.

What's got into him? Surely Jake could see him following, but he made no attempt to acknowledge Jonas. No getting around it, Jake was pigheaded when he wanted to be. Much like Dat. Jonas grimaced, but his impression softened when he was close enough to notice Jake's stiff jaw and trembling hands.

"All I ever did was love her. . . ." Jake stared at the ground.

Without speaking, Jonas placed his big hand on Jake's slender shoulder, immediately aware of the blow his brother had obviously been dealt. Lydiann must have found herself another beau, he thought, hoping he was wrong. There's nothing worse than losing your sweetheart to another man . . . or assuming it to be so.

Not wanting to pry, he squatted down to eye level with his brother, who'd perched himself on an old milk can, tears welling, lip quivering.

It must be a misunderstanding. He'd heard Jake speak fondly of Lydiann and assumed she cared similarly for him. So what had gone wrong?

104The Rev elation

I Al last )alcc wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt and raised

In eyes. "I can't just let her walk away," he said. "She's the dearest,

iH ,i beam if ul girl I know."

I |onas listened, wondering if perhaps Dat had thrown a wrench

it filings.

I Standing abruptly, Jake announced, "I have to talk to her. I

pVuni Id someone else come between us."

W "Is it possible you're jumpin' to conclusions?" Jonas felt he

hiiulil say this to help Jake think more clearly. There's too much at

Mlnkr to rlo otherwise.

I " No, tbcre can't be any other reason. Someone's come along and

p^mi doubts in my girl's mind. That has to be it!"

I line was no talking sense to Jake now. "When did ya see herIi .1:'" |oiias asked.

Ignoring the question, Jake pulled out a folded letter from his I>

Idiias inhaled deeply and felt as if the clock had been turned lu< k to another time and place. "I'm awful sorry."

|akc coughed as if he was trying to choke back more tears. "I know she has every right to see who she wants . . . but we were ponna be married. We were in love. I'm sure of it."

" Best to let some time pass before you say or do anything," he '.iij'^c.vLcd. "It won't be easy, but it's better to wait."

"We'll see 'bfbut that." Jake shook his head and slapped his hand mi 11is thigh. "I'm not nearly as patient a man as you, Jonas."

|onas wasted no time falling into step with Jake. They headed huck toward the barn for afternoon milking, and along the way Jonas noticed a squirrel, possibly the same one as before, nibbling uway on a seed or a nut. Once winter sets in, Jake will be terribly lonely, lie thought, recalling the lengthy days and the long, long winters he li.ul endured till surprising word had come of Leah's singleness.

' I bo bad their father would most likely be a thorn in Jake's side, lumping for joy when word reached his ears if it hadn't already which would not sit well with tetchy Jake. And perhaps Dat would Mill eventually insist on Jake's returning to Ohio. Now that Jonas thought on it, such a thing might not be such a bad idea.

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/\l breakfast the morning after receiving Lydiann's letter, Jake rehtsccl lo reveal his anger or disappointment as he slid onto the bench next to Mandie at the table. Lacking an appetite, he did his best to caf the food Mamma served: fried eggs and potatoes, cornmeal

klish, toast, butter, and strawberry jam.

I He glanced across the table at his father. Has Dat interfered with

WNtliann and me? Is that what happened?

H Jonas mentioned something about helping their father shovel

Manure in the barn following breakfast.

"Jake'U help us." Dat nodded his head in Jake's direction.

Jonas and their father carried the conversation for the next few

minutes, and Jake noticed an interesting camaraderie between the

i wo. What sort of agreement had Jonas and Dat worked out, allow-

nig Jonas to live here, yet court Leah? And Jake was mighty sure

|<>n;is was doing just that, seeing Leah at least once a week. There

would have been no other reason for him to move home from Ohio.

When it came time for the prayer following the meal, they

I lowed their heads for the silent blessing, waiting for Dat to make

i he guttural sound that signaled the end.

Mamma and Mandie talked of going to the mill near Grasshopper Level to have some corn ground into cornmeal as Dat, Jonas, .oid Jake headed out to the barn.

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The minute I can break free, I'm going to Gobbler's Knob, Jake thought.

By the time Jake was able to get away, it was well after supper, but Jake was rather glad of the hour. This way he could stand out injj Lyddie's side yard, a ways back from the farmhouse, and observe,! Abram and his family gathered in the kitchen for Bible reading andl prayers. He was quite shocked when it came time for the siletill prayer, since it was obvious Abram's lips were moving. Was he pray-J ing aloud? If so, this was something Jake had never heard of in theiij Old Order community, let alone witnessed, although he did recall! Lydiann saying her father was most interested in reading aloud fromj the Bible every night. |

He waited awhile till he thought Lydiann might be alone in| the kitchen doing a bit of sewing, but when he gingerly knocked! on the back door, it was Leah who came to open it and peer out atjhim. I

"Could I ... uh, talk to Lyddie right quick?" I

Leah turned and glanced momentarily over her shoulder beforel turning back to him. "Is she expectin' you?" she asked softly. I

"Well, no, she ain't." I

She sighed loudly. "Honestly, Jake" her voice was almost a| whisper now "I daresay it's too late tonight for an unexpected visi-J tor." With that she lowered her head, as if pained; then she slowly] pulled the door shut. j

He felt as grief stricken as when he'd first laid eyes on thei wretched letter. Lyddie doesn 't want to have anything to do with me! I

He wandered without a purpose now, shining his flashlight toi find his way back to where he'd left his horse and open buggy] parked some distance down Abram's lane. 1

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Leu 11 suspected from Jake's demeanor the night of his attempted thii ili.u I yddie must have put an end to their courtship certainly I vlilic herself appeared morose and kept close to home in the days

111.11 followed. Leah, meanwhile, attended to her housecleaning dulit*!i lor I )r. Schwartz at the medical clinic and for his wife, Lorraine, rtt their big two-story house. She took her responsibilities seriously tliiMing, mopping, and running the sweeper, as well as cleaning the bathrooms, leaving everything as sparkling clean as she and Aunt I i//,ir strove to do at home.

11 was midafternoon when she happened to see Mary Ruth corniu}', in the door of the clinic, bringing tiny Ruthie for a one-month i liivkup. "Hullo, sister," said Mary Ruth right away.

I .cah hurried over to peek at the sleeping bundle. "Aw, she's so

*.\Vi'('l."

Mary Ruth smiled. "I think Robert's been spoilin' her."

" Ach, that's not possible with one so small." Leah took the baby in I hi arms. "Now, is it?" she whispered down to the infant.

Mary Ruth laughed and said her husband had decided there was in. need for their firstborn to cry herself to sleep. "Not ever." Mary I'inh shook her head. "Which means one of us is either rocking her < 'i walking the floor every night."

"I hope she doesn't have the colic like Mimi did."

"Oh no, our Ruthie's not suffering any pain. Just getting pamI" u-d but good," Mary Ruth said.

"I'd be tempted^to do the same, such a doll baby she is. Do ya

wr just stare at her so perfect and all and nearly cry for joy?"

"Sometimes I do that." Mary Ruth stroked the wisps of hair on hip of Ruthie's soft little head and began to share about the work Kobert was doing with the young people at their church in Quarry vi lie, mentioning that her close friend Dottie Nolt's son, Carl, was tiinong them. "Carl's had quite the time of it recently. It seems his high-school girlfriend has jilted him."

Nodding her head in sympathy, Leah thought immediately of Lydiann and her sad situation. "Was Carl serious 'bout her, do ya think?" she asked.

Mary Ruth frowned momentarily, as if thinking what she best

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ought to say. "To be frank, I think Dottie is somewhat relieved, siiuv this was Carl's first girlfriend and all. Still, as I understand, Carl's taking the breakup rather hard."

"Jah, where the heart's involved . . . there can be awful pain." Leah remembered Mary Ruth's grief after her first beau, young Eli;is Stoltzfus, was killed, fifteen years ago now ironically by a car Robert Schwartz was driving.

But Mary Ruth's thoughts must have turned to Lydiann, br cause she suddenly asked how their youngest sister was doing. "Hits she been going to Sunday singings again?"

"I have no idea, but I doubt it," Leah said, wondering if Lycli ann had indeed broken up with Jake, yet not comfortable volunteer ing more about so private a matter. Instead, she settled back willi Ruthie nestled in her arms to listen to Mary Ruth chatter on pleas antly about the weather, church activities, and what color the tiny booties and blankets were she was crocheting for Ruthie.

It was as her sister was reaching for her baby, with Leah beiti;1, careful to support Ruthie's head just so, that a thought crept into Leah's mind. Before she could even mull over the idea, she said ii right out. "What would happen if Carl and Lydiann were reintro duced to each other?"

Mary Ruth's eyes widened and she began to blink fast. "Whai did you just say?"

"I was only thinkin' it might be nice for two childhood friends to meet up with each other again somehow. They used to have quite a bond when they were schoolmates at the Georgetown School. Remember?"

"Well, I never thought I'd hear such a suggestion from you, Leah. Carl's most definitely preparing to join Oak Shade MennoniuChurch Dottie's said as much."

Leah had expected this sort of reaction from Mary Ruth, but she had no wish to explain her reasoning. "It might be nice for them to renew their friendship, is all. Nothin' serious, mind you."

Mary Ruth chuckled, touching Leah's hand. "Well, if you'iv sure about this . . ."

"You could start by puttin' a bug in Dottie's ear," Leah said. "Lei her handle it the way she sees fit."

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Mill y Ruth agreed. "I think this just might put a smile on Carl's

I."

Wish I could say the same about Lyddie, thought Leah, hoping If ol (his matchmaking would backfire. .

Anything to take her mind off Jake Mast!

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JVIary Ruth was going about her usual preparations for a Friday evening meal when her husband came in the back door, looking pale us ran be. "The president's been shot!"

"What?"

"Killed by an assassin's bullet."

"Oh, Robert!"

II e reached for her hand. "People were standing around the sidew.ilks near our church, crying ... a few came in and knelt at the alia r. I suppose some will even think the end of the world is coming." I Ic paused. "I tan see why they might think that."

Tears sprang to her eyes. "This is just terrible."

"He was much too young to die. ..."

"Makes me think how awful short life is." Mary Ruth brushed away tears and went to check on her little one, sound asleep in her uadle. She didn't bother to tell Robert she had noticed Lydiann walking alone on the road earlier today, looking rather forlorn. At ilu- time Mary Ruth had been running an errand with a friend and bad merely waved, but she wondered now if it was possible lydiann had somehow heard of the president's death. But how i (Ki!d that be with no radios in the house? Even with Lydiann in (lit: midst of rumschpringe, Dat would never allow such worldly ihings.

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"The vice president will take over President Kennedy's duties, ol course," Robert was saying, "but our president was so well liked th;ii his death will certainly leave a political hole for years, maybe even decades."

She recalled having studied the line of succession in high school, but understanding it and realizing its dire necessity were two sepa rate issues. She could scarcely bear to listen as Robert described the sad scene in Dallas, Texas, today as relayed by an obviously shake) i Walter Cronkite.