Abram's Daughters: The Betrayal Part 14

H Abram felt he might burst, so frustrated was he. " 'Tis best Hi i confide in Preacher if you care 'bout her at all."

H "Sisters may come before a beau," Ida added, "but not fore the Lord G.o.d or the church." She was growing tearful Htfli'1- "Oh, what'll we do round here without Sadie?" she whimpered.

I le felt right sad for his wife, surely he did. He understood hiivv she felt because he felt the selfsame way toward Leah.

i m >hR over, he placed a gentle hand on Ida's shoulder. "Might Av i his is gut timin', seein' how rebellious Sadie's been lately." H w:is mighty hard to erase from his mind Sadie's repeatedly Hinilyways.

JF "Maybe she'll appreciate home more once she returns," "t.fiih offered.

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Ida wiped her eyes. "Meanwhile, what'll we tell the twins?"

"Best let me think on this and discuss it tonight at supper," Abram spoke up.

Ida nodded in agreement. So it was settled. Hannah and Mary Ruth would be told something just what, he didn't know yet. He was thankful to have Leah still here living under his roof, that much was certain. Could it mean her affection for Jonas was beginning to fade? He would continue to hold out hope to that end.

"Sadie's visiting some of Fannie Mast's cousins in Ohio for a few weeks," Abram said when they'd all gathered at the table. The twins had begun eating Ida's Swiss steak and rich gravy, but when realization set in, their fair faces drooped identically, as if they'd each lost their best friend.

"This surely is awful sudden, ain't so?" Mary Ruth spoke up. "But Sadie did seem dreadful sad, I daresay. Maybe she'll be happier there."

"Will Sadie be looked after ... out there, so far away?" Hannah asked shyly.

Abram was glad to rea.s.sure his gentle Hannah. So much like Leah, this twin was. Mary Ruth, on the other hand, reminded him of Sadie a troubling thought, to be sure. "Sadie will be just fine, and you'll hear of Millersburg in her letters."

Leah was noddirig at that. "Sadie said she'd write. I 'spect 178.

^'11 Ik-hwrrin' something in a few days." H Miuy Ruth looked up from her plate and gazed at Leah Hit tluii. Abram noticed the knowing glance exchanged dfWrci i the two. Just as I guessed, he thought. Mary Ruth pro>;fml (/)< money="" for="" the="" train="">

I .-hi cr, during Bible reading, he read from the Ninety-first i flliii lo comfort his family. " 'He that dwelleth in the secret I'liicr i l (he most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my forlu-'i'., my G.o.d; in him will I trust.'"

I 'rsiJi's him, Mary Ruth was the only one not sniffling as I liinslu'd up the chapter.

H I i/zie paced back and forth in her kitchen, wishing she'd Hi 1-I* I ;i chance to stop Leah from doing what she'd gone and Hi" She was downright annoyed to hear the news from HTi.hu of Sadie's leaving, much preferring Leah or Sadie to Hv< 1="" old="" of="" their="">

H Sighing, she was awful sure they'd never see hide nor hair HthHr pretty Sadie again. Ach, the pain of it all, she thought. Hit slopped out onto her back porch and went to lean on the ^llNU-r, taking comfort in her colorful garden flowers, nearly H) niiiny to count. It was as she leaned hard against the railH{ that she was struck anew how this whole terrible idea of H^k-'s to forever keep such a secret was so wrong. She, of H pi'ople, knew what it was like to have a secret burning a Hie in your heart. And with the knowing came the ^111 break ... and the praying.

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E I o day after Sadie's departure, Ida carried sleeping Lydiann I ilie wooden crib, recently pa.s.sed down from her sister-inIw Nancy Ebersol, Abram's younger brother's wife. "Sleep Llii, little one." She kissed the sweet face, then gently lowit -i I i he tiny girl onto the small mattress. I With Lydiann snug for her first long nap of the day, Ida til ihe idea to get a head start on some fall cleaning. She in I i o do something with herself to get her mind off her eld { slipping away without thinking enough of them to say liincihing ahead of time. Ever so sneaky, it was. And Abram's tilli ... goodness' sake, what was she thinking by helping Itilii' do such a thing?

I 11 wasn't enough for Leah to tell her side of the story hours ifiT Sadie had already left Lancaster by train; Sadie should fcvi' spoken for herself. Leah revealed she had gone so far as I1 nntact Jonas Mast to make plans by ringing the telephone pvid Mellinger kept out in the woodworking shop ever so Bprising that was. So ... the Mellingers were much less conBVt.i.tive folk, it seemed, if they were allowed a telephone on

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mm the property. She did know of a family who had urgent need of a phone for emergencies a child allergic to beestings, she recalled. So maybe David had gotten permission from his bishop for some such reason. A rare thing, indeed. Whatever the circ.u.mstances were, the ministers here felt strongly that telephones were not to be had by "a holy generation." Let the Mennonites have their telephones, electricity, and automobiles.

Ida much preferred the strict teachings of their church district, where the People were encouraged to carry the truth within them, hour by hour, and simply write letters or go visiting whenever they could. After all, they were working toward the highest goal: to get to heaven some sweet day.

Most disturbing was that both Sadie and Leah had taken matters into their own hands. Such behavior was typical ol the teen years, though Sadie had already joined church ami wasn't considered to be running around any longer. Ida would be ever so glad once all her girls had joined church, safely within the Fold ... and settled down as young wives. So surprising it was that her pretty eldest daughter hadn't yet chosen a life mate. If only Sadie could be married first, before her younger sister.

She sighed and got to thinking about making ready for heavy-duty housecleaning. With Hannah and Mary Ruth goinv off to school next Monday, why not have all the girls pitch in amihelp? she thought. Standing at the top of the stairs, she calk-il down to the twins. "Hannah ... Mary Ruth ... can you hear me?"

When she received no answer, she a.s.sumed they were out doors, so she headed downstairs herself, to the utility room 181.

i' heir she kept her many mops. Back upstairs, she hurried to 11 if I wins' bedroom, eager to eliminate any and all cobwebs ilmt illicit be hiding from view. Though she could not move iln! heavy double bed herself, she got down on the floor and lilied tip the quilt, peering beneath. Pushing the dry mop as (hi hick against the wall as she could, she felt satisfied. Then to n >sc and went to do the same on Mary Ruth's side of the I1.

^^ I his time the dry mop b.u.mped into something, and she 'M-il I lie quilt even farther. Getting down to look, she was i prised to see books a good many of them. "Well, what's fliifti1" she whispered, stretching to reach them.

Mary Ruth knew right away she was in hot water when Mtiintna singled her out upstairs following the noon meal. "I iirnl lo ask you something," her mother said. ( u'sturing for her to go into the big bedroom, Mamma ^tii and pulled out the bottom drawer of her wide dresser ^1 brought out Mary Ruth's library books. "I dust mopped Hr room," she said, waving Uncle Tom's Cabin at her, "and I ^Hiul these under your side of the bed. I s'pose they belong Hyou?"

^B By the way Mamma's brow knit into a frustrated frown, H iy Ruth knew she was in big trouble. Probably more so, ^w (hat Sadie was gone from home and Mamma missed her H "They belong to the public library," Mary Ruth answered.

182 X-. e ua i s "Why is it you have to go behind my back mine anil Dat's?"

"I like books, Mamma. I enjoy stories that take me to places I can only hope to see... and the story people, ever si > different than me." And some not so different, too, she thought, thinking of poor Eliza, the slave girl who had very few choices in life, except to mind her mistress. She couldn't go on to say that looking forward to reading a book was one of the besi things about getting up in the morning. Could she?

"You ain't so much studyin' with this sort of book but readin' lies, Mary Ruth, don't you see?" Mamma meant, ol course, the novels, the made-up stories Hannah had spoken out against, too.

"Books like that have plenty of truth in them. Sometimes it's what the characters learn from goin' through a trial; other times it's "

"My dear girl," Mamma interrupted, "you best be holdin' your tongue."

"Aw, but, Mamma, you could see for yourself." She hurried to her mother's side and removed Harriet Beecher Stowe's book from the pile. "Just look." She opened the pages to the beginning, hoping against hope Mamma might give her an opportunity to explain.

Her mother gave her a stern look. "You must return the books before they start you thinkin' like the English."

"All the books, Mamma?"

"If they ain't for studyin', then I'm 'fraid so."

That was the last word on the subject. Mary Ruth knew better than to continue to argue. She collected the four nov els from Mamma's hands. Suddenly she thought of a place she 183.

!if store them till it was time to return them to the library. puld Dottie Nolt mind if she kept some books at her house? hi c she was headed to the Nolts' after the noon meal in .I row, the timing was altogether perfect. j "Will you be tellin' Dat?" Mary Ruth hoped to be spared I Miiniina's eyes softened. "Your father has enough on his If ii I now, what with Sadie off in Ohio. As long as there are mure books like that kind in this house, he won't know (mime."

I ' 'lulling, Mary Ruth thought yet again of Dottie, who was IliiiilCTStanding a woman as any she'd known even if DotI mii on Englisher.

^H I cab took Dawdi John to another appointment with Dr.

^Hnviirlz late in the afternoon. If she got the chance today, H would thank the doctor yet again for allowing her to use ^B nil ice telephone before clinic hours to make her long- ^Htnncc call to Jonas. He had even been kind enough to step H i il the small room, giving her a bit of privacy. Carefully rftlldwing Sadie's instructions to tell the phone operator David U'llinker's name and home address, Leah had thought plac- ,< p="">

H Until Dawdi would return to the waiting room, Leah 184.

lu e wandered over to the bulletin board near the receptionist V. alcove. There she scanned the many personal ads baby-si I ting needed, lost dog, and suchlike.

It was the typewritten notice regarding fall cleaning, ;i request for window washing, that caught her eye. When she looked closer, she saw the person posting it was none otha than Dr. Schwartz. Then and there, she decided if he was wil I ing to hire her to wash the clinic windows, she could earn back the money she'd borrowed from Mary Ruth. In shori order, maybe. Truth be told, she was also downright curious about the doctor, who seemed altogether kind and gentle :i far cry from his son, if it was his Derry who had fathered Sadie's baby.

When Dawdi John came out of the examining room lean ing on the doctor's arm, she quickly went over and asked wh;ii she must do to apply for the job. She turned and pointed i > the bulletin board.

Dr. Schwartz lowered his gla.s.ses and smiled, narrowing his gaze to focus on her alone. "I'd like to think I'm a man who knows an honest face when I see one." He turned to Dawdi.

"Can you vouch for your granddaughter?"

Dawdi John beamed from ear to ear. "Leah's one responsible young woman."

"Then, I say she has the job."

"When would you want me?" she asked, feeling good about this already.

"This Sat.u.r.day, first thing."

She said she must first help her father with the morning milking but that she could arrive shortly thereafter. "Is thai agreeable to you?"

184 18511 tipnicil pleased. "I'll look forward to having clean win- .

I In! nice of you to lend me your telephone before," she l-iul'tTCil to say as she helped Dawdi to the door.

I iiytimo," the doctor replied.

I 'ii rhe ride home, Dawdi asked, "Do you think your I will upprove of you working for Dr. Schwartz? He's Eng- NIltTilll."

rWcll, why not?" she replied quickly. "Mary Ruth is lots lie i. mid Dat lets her work for Englishers. Besides, it's just it i inn1 job, not every week like Mary Ruth's work at the ^HTIi.u evening when Leah approached her father about the P" t.i.t I In-clinic, Dat said he didn't mind if she wanted to M hit of pocket change. She was both glad and relieved, : lu* ik'sired to continue her peaceable working relationship phi* I 'nl. But, more and more, she felt it wrong to hold out Nil I ii ill i him and Mamma regarding Sadie's plight. By I'i baptism day was soon upon her hers and Jonas's ^Hii was time to be honest with herself about just what sort ^Hrl she truly was, deep down. Far as she was concerned, HrI h; id no right to speak out pointedly to Sadie about it i" nl ing, not with her own heart so tainted.

' ilu-swept out the barn, then went out to the pasture, frxUf hi bring home the cows for milking. All the while she Wtl'il within herself, feeling more wicked with each pa.s.sing

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hour. Here she was learning from the ministers all the Scrip tures pertaining to baptism, even memorizing the articles <>l faith, and what was she doing but concealing a secret sin. Noi her own, true, but in a way it might as well have been. Tinsecret pact she'd made with her sister had come between hoi self and the Lord G.o.d. This she knew, sure as the harvest.

Almost immediately on this first full day in Millersburg, Sadie made the surprising discovery that the area postman delivered the mail at four o'clock of an afternoon the Mel' , linger spread being the last house on his route. The Widow < mellinger="" had="" written="" out="" a="" list="" of="" ch.o.r.es="" for="" sadie="" to="" do,="" i="" "once="" you're="" settled="" in="" a="" bit."="" one="" of="" the="" things="" expected="" of;="" j="" her="" was="" to="" bring="" in="" from="" the="" mailbox="" the="" widow's="" many="" letters:="" j="" coming="" from="" sugarcreek="" and="" walnut="" creek,="" ohio,="" and="" even="" ;="" some="" from="" shipshewana,="" indiana.="" edith="" loved="" hearing="" from="" her="" friendship="" circle,="" all="" of="" them="" plain,="" including="" several="" oki="" order="" river="" brethren="" women.="" sadie="" didn't="" blame="" edith-after="" all,="" the="" woman="" could="" scarcely="" move="" about="" the="" dawcli="" haus,="" what="" with="" her="" asthma="" acting="" up.="" still,="" edith="" mellingit="" went="" at="" her="" correspondence="" as="" if="" her="" very="" existence="" were="" in="" ,="" jeopardy="" if="" she="" would="" but="" dally="" only="" a="" few="" hours="" before="" responding="" to="" her="" beloved="" pen="" pals.="" ;="" david="" and="" vera="" mellinger's="" farmhouse="" was="" laid="" out="" muchj="" like="" the="" ebersol="" house,="" with="" several="" exceptions,="" one="" being="" a-n="" connecting="" doorway="" between="" the="" large="" kitchen="" in="" the="" main="" house="" and="" the="" small="" kitchen="" in="" the="" dawdi="" haus,="">

187Hn moiber, Edith, resided. Back home, the connecting pi'-'Myg were between the two front rooms, making it a { i trek lor Dawdi John to get from his rocking chair to I iil'l ruble.

P > He's bedroom was situated on the second floor of Edith's

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> h I Luis a secluded sanctuary, to be sure, since Edith i I bmvly negotiate the main-level rooms, let alone the I1 Once Sadie ascended the wood staircase in the eve > I [v lelt as if she were heading off to a vacation of sorts, (i 1.1,1 ()f it.

I ueiously, Vera had urged her to come over "next door" I1,' ' niie at all and help herself to whatever she could find in I i i-box. Sadie had felt altogether comfortable around both I < und="" vera="" from="" the="" start.="" the="" three="" mellinger="" children="" i'="" in="" delightful="" and="" well="" behaved="" as="" any="" youngsters="" she'd="" ii,="" jonas,="" too,="" seemed="" to="" be="" going="" out="" of="" his="" way="" to="" be="" in="" i="" beginning="" with="" his="" warm="" smile="" when="" he="" greeted="" her="" at="" i="" i="" nursized="" train="" depot.="" i="" l="" "="" lay="" she="" had="" just="" opened="" the="" icebox="" to="" get="" some="" ice="" i="" lor="" the="" sun="" tea="" vera="" had="" set="" out="" on="" the="" back="" porch="" when="" i1="" .ime="" jonjfe="" into="" the="" kitchen.="" "would="" you="" care="" for="" some="" i="" '"="" lie="">

I I Ic nodded. "How'd you know that's what I wanted?"

I "y I he thirsty look on your face." She felt a little silly Iliil! so.

I I Ic chuckled at that. "David sent me in for a Thermos I."

I "I'll be glad to fill it for you anytime," she offered.

j I If stood there, still smiling. "First time away from Bin-.'" he asked.

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