Men like that only existed on the pages of romance novels. Destiny looked at her brother. Vito was a good guy. He was handsome, burly, kind, extremely respectful of women. She supposed if there were one thing to criticize about her brother, it would be his lack of ambition.
Working as a bouncer at a strip club wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Still, Vito had something that most men didn’t. He treated women as delicate creatures. He knew women were resilient, strong, and many times smarter than most men, but he still treated them gently. In Destiny’s mind, that was right. Vito protected and cared greatly for the women who danced at the club, same as he did for all the women he knew.
She would bet he thought along the same lines as her and wanted a woman who would put family before career. Maybe it was something to do with their heritage. Or maybe it was just that Destiny envied the sense of balance and peace here on the farm. Seeing such old-fashioned values at work made the outside world seem all the more exhausting. While the Amish were busy getting things done, the modern world seemed to be all racing to the top, moving their legs in a million directions and at the same time getting nowhere.
Cain returned from the barn just as Destiny finished the last bite of her eggs. His color looked better, and he was smiling. He must have had some coffee or something because there was a pep to his step that wasn’t there when he left.
“Are you handy with an ax, Vito?”
Her brother looked up at Cain, and the expression on his face was almost comical. Maybe Vito wasn’t quite like her. Where she could move to the country to raise a family, Vito was city folk through and through.
Destiny laughed. “You say ax, and Vito thinks of a brand of soap.” Cain didn’t appear to get the joke, but Vito did and narrowed his eyes at her.
“I can use an ax,” he told Cain.
Cain smiled. “Good. I’m taking out a tree stump today on the other end of the property. I could use some company.”
A sad feeling of being left out filled Destiny, but then Gracie said, “Destiny, would you like to learn how to milk a cow and bottle feed a calf?”
Excitement bloomed in her chest. “Yes.”
“Good. I just need to go check on Anna and then I’ll take you to the barn.”
“What’s wrong with Anna that you need to check on her?” Cain asked, concern straining his normally merry features.
Gracie wouldn’t look at him. She busied herself by cleaning up the cook surface while she answered, “Annalise is fine. Her back has been paining her, and the babe has dropped. She’s a little early, but she’s getting close to her time. I’m sure it is just her nerves.”
Destiny looked at Cain who appeared to want to say something, but worked very hard at keeping his thoughts to himself. Finally he said, “It’s too early.”
“Not really.” Gracie commented. “You know how our…family tends to go early. The baby will come when he’s ready.”
Destiny frowned. She had thought for some reason that Anna was an in-law, but according to Gracie’s words she must have misunderstood. “She’s having a boy? Do Amish use modern technologies when a woman’s pregnant?” Gracie squinted at her so she clarified. “She would’ve had to have had an ultrasound to know the gender of the baby.”
“Gracie just thinks it’s a boy,” Cain said quickly. He stood. “Please tell Annalise I hope she feels better soon. Vito, are you ready, my friend?”
After Cain and her brother left, Destiny followed Grace to visit Annalise. She was, as Gracie had mentioned,
very
pregnant.
“How far along is she?” Destiny had whispered to Cain’s sister.
“Seven months.”
“Surely she can’t be ready to give birth yet. That’s too early.”
Gracie patted her arm reassuringly. “Amish women are stronger than English.”
Although Destiny didn’t doubt it, she still worried that if the woman gave birth at this point, the baby would face many challenges. Seven months was quite premature. However, Destiny did have to note that by the way Anna carried, she appeared more like a woman two weeks past her due date.
She grew excited for the new mom. Annalise was a lovely woman. She was much more laid-back than the other women she had seen. It was almost as if she had been exposed to the modern world more than the rest of the Amish.
She didn’t have that Pennsylvania Dutch lilt to her voice. Her hair was down and uncovered. She cursed twice while they were visiting, and if Destiny wasn’t mistaken, she had noticed small holes on the lobes of Anna’s ears as if they had been pierced at one time. The most peculiar thing about Amish Anna, however, was when she was pouring their drinks, she had started humming and Destiny could swear it had been an Aerosmith tune she was replicating.
When they had left Gracie walked her to the barn. It was a lot nicer when in her mind. She’d imagined some sweet little image that resembled
Charlotte’s Web,
with her and Gracie wearing clogs and aprons as if they were marching out on a stage during a Christmas show for the line “eight maids a-milking.” In reality the animals were loud, there were flies regardless of the cold, and everything smelled like shit.
“The first thing we do,” Gracie said after she moved the cow up to a trough filled with hay and feed and sat on a stool, placing a bucket under the cow’s pink udders, “is wash the udders. This is just gentle baby soap.”
Destiny watched as Grace cleaned off the underbelly of the cow. She scrunched her nose and hunched her shoulders. Looking at that part of a cow up close made her nipples hurt.
Once the cow’s udders were all clean, Gracie moved the bucket of soapy water away and replaced it with a clean, empty metal pail. “And then you just pull,” she said as she demonstrated.
A fast whiz of milk came shooting into the pail, echoing inside the metal container. With each tug another stream shot into the bucket and soon it was almost full. The milk was warm and slightly steamed in the cool air of the barn.
“Want to try?”
Destiny hesitated. Cows seemed much larger when one was standing right beside them. “Um…I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
Gracie nodded. When the bucket was full she placed a quart-sized container on the ground and poured some of the thick, creamy milk inside. She screwed on a big red nipple and led Destiny to another small pen. As soon as Destiny spotted the little calf, she smiled and crooned at the sweet baby.
“She’s been milking from the bottle for almost two weeks now, so when she sees it she knows it’s food time. Are you ready? Hold on to the bottle tight.”
Gracie opened the pen and the soft little calf came trotting right over to Destiny. She held the bottle out and it latched on immediately. She wasn’t prepared for how hard the little thing would suck and almost dropped the bottle. The calf tugged for all of three minutes, and then the bottle was empty.
“You’re a little piggy,” she teased as it pulled at the nipple insistently hoping for more.
“They all are at that age,” Gracie laughed as she corralled the cute little brown calf back into the pen. “Come on, let’s fill a basket with eggs and then I’ll show you how to make Shoo Fly Pie.”
Chapter 18
Cain had enjoyed a hard day’s work more than he had in quite some time. Vito had proved to be good company and a hard worker. Cain found it amusing, watching the man try to become acquainted with the primitive ax. He made sure to mention quite a few times how the English had tools and choppers to do such jobs in half the time, but Cain just kept reminding him that some good hard work never hurt anybody.
He was actually grateful he brought Vito along. Halfway through cutting out the stump Cain had started getting odd twinges of aches in his back. He fed that morning when Gracie had chased him out to the barn and must have drunk from an animal that wasn’t quite healthy. Immortals rarely felt ill, but if they fed from an unhealthy source it could really affect them sometimes. He rubbed his back through his discomfort and kept his complaints to himself.
They had finished the job around four o’clock that afternoon. Vito had worked up a good sweat, and Cain had enjoyed the early spring weather. February was finally over, and he would be glad to see this long winter end.
They walked back, and Cain kept a leisurely pace so that Vito could enjoy the sights. Cain’s mind returned to Destiny more than a few times that day. He couldn’t wait to get back to her. It struck him as odd that he was very eager to hear about her day and how hopeful he was that she had enjoyed her first full day on the farm.
Destiny was a modern woman, but there was something about her, something in the way her expression became enchanted when she noticed something new, that told Cain she would be up for playing at Amish life for a day or two.
Cain brushed the back of his wrist over his brow as it beaded with perspiration. “Hot today,” he commented.
Vito shrugged. “It’s a little chilly if you ask me.”
They walked on, and Cain had the sudden urge to stop for a moment. He puffed out his cheeks and let out a gusty breath. Perhaps it was the piece of sausage he had at breakfast. Leave it to Gracie to still be upset with him and try to poison him for the day. He grunted and slightly stumbled.
“Whoa, you okay, man? You want some of this water? Maybe you overdid it.”
Vito held out the canteen, and Cain ignored him. Overdid it. Ha. He had just drank some bad blood or eaten a spoiled piece of meat. His vision blurred, and his heart suddenly started to race regardless of the easy pace they kept.
Cain shook his head and licked his dry lips. When he ran a hand over his head, it was damp with sweat. He would make Gracie pay if she had done this to him.
He stopped for a moment, needing to catch his breath. He spread his knees and lowered his head. Bracing his palms on his bent knees, he focused on the ground as he concentrated on breathing through the pain pressing low into his back.
He blinked as rivulets of salty sweat trickled into his eyes. This was
unfershtendich.
He had never felt like this before in his life. There was a terrible pressure in his lower back, and his legs were incredibly weak. His arms trembled. He looked up and squinted. They were almost home. Vito looked concerned as if he were contemplating finding help or not.
Cain turned to tell the man he was fine when a sudden shock of pain ran up his spine and took hold of him. He screamed as he had never screamed before. His legs buckled, and he fell to his knees.
“Holy fuck! Are you okay?” Vito said, kneeling down beside him.
Cain’s fingers dug into the dry earth like claws. His fangs punched through his gums as another wave of pain shook him to his core. Vito placed a hand on his back, and Cain turned and growled at him, “
Don’t touch me!
” The man immediately removed his hand.
Cain’s breath bellowed in and out of his lungs as he panted through his clenched teeth. Was he dying? No ill blood or tainted meat could cause this much pain. He tried to sit up, but only managed to fall to his side on the ground. Sweat had drenched his clothing, and Vito looked like as though he was vicariously feeling Cain’s pain.
The man bounced nervously from one foot to the other, mumbling to himself, asking what he should do. Cain curled into a ball on the ground and gripped his stomach. He tried to crawl and
rootsh
toward his house, but only made it about a foot before a pain greater than anything he had felt thus far took hold of him. A blood-curdling scream ripped from his lungs. Surely someone would hear him and come to his aid.
Vito was again on the ground. He tentatively placed a hand on Cain’s tense brow and poured a splash of cool water over his hair. He didn’t want to be touched, yet at the same time the physical comfort felt nice.
“That’s it, man, just breathe through the pain,” the other man said, placing Cain’s head on his thigh and patting him awkwardly.
The pain subsided for a few moments, and Cain opened his eyes. He was suddenly exhausted. There could be no more. Vito looked frantic as he watched the houses in the distance, no doubt hoping someone would come help them.
“Do you think if I carried you back to the house you would be okay?”
There was no way in hell Cain was letting another man carry him because of a stomachache. He shook his head.
“Should I go get help? You don’t look good. Do you have some kind of illness I don’t know about? Has anything like this ever happened before?”
Why was he asking so many questions? He sounded like his sister. His voice grated on him.
“Stop. Talking.” Cain clenched his teeth. He breathed quickly in and out of his nose as the pressure inside of him built once again. “No,” he groaned, turning his face away from the other man.
This time when the pain came it didn’t stop. It built and built, and Cain’s breath labored through him like a hurricane. “Breathe, breathe!” Vito encouraged. “It will all be over soon. Just breathe through it.”
The wind kicked up, and heavy black clouds rolled in, putting an end to the nice day they had been having. Thunder cracked like a whip in the distance as lightning lashed through the sky, mimicking the hurricane assaulting his gut. Cain became the pain, heavy and hot, all consuming.