The promise, p.6
The Promise, page 6
He swallowed hard and looked the other way. “This region is different from our Amish country.”
“How so?”
“Amish farms back east normally have large white barns and white houses with multiple smaller houses cobbled together. Here in Kansas the Amish houses don’t look different than any other farmstead.”
“I imagine a casual observer might miss the fact that electric lines strung along the roads bypass one house but lead to another. A tractor in the front yard doesn’t tell you it’s an Amish farm unless you notice the trailer behind it is a refurbished pickup bed. Most of our buggies are stored in sheds until we take them out to go to church every other Sunday morning.”
They passed a field where a man on a tractor was plowing. Levi knew he was Amish by his dress and his beard. “I miss seeing the draft horse teams. It is strange to know an Amish fellow is using a massive piece of farm equipment that is gas or diesel operated and not pulled by horses.”
Sarah nodded in understanding. “A combine harvester or even a large grain truck traveling down the road might be driven by an Amish farmer or by an Englisch one. The only way to tell the difference is if you get a glimpse of a ball cap or a straw hat.”
It was a different lifestyle. It would take a lot of getting used to. Except he didn’t want to become accustomed to Kansas farm life.
A green pasture dotted with sheep drew his attention. A little girl holding a large white puppy in her arms waved and called out to them as she ran to the fence. Ernest tapped Isaac on the shoulder, and he pulled the tractor over to the side of the road. The little girl came running up to them. “Hello, Onkel Ernest. Hello, Sarah. Did you lose your kapp?”
Sarah leaned her arms on the side of the trailer. “Hello, Grace. My kapp came off when I fell in the lake. Now I’m trying to get my hair dry.”
The child’s eyes grew wide. “Mamm can lend you one. Shall I go ask her?”
“Nee, I have it here. My friend Isaac fished it out of the water for me. Isaac is driving the tractor, and this is his brother, Levi. They have just moved into our church district along with their mother.”
Levi smiled at the child. “That’s a mighty fine dog you have.”
The little girl lifted the big puppy higher. “This is Muffin. When she grows up she’s going to help Meeka guard our sheep, isn’t she, Onkel Ernest?”
“I hope so. But what did I tell you about making her a pet?” Ernest asked.
Grace gave him a sheepish look and put the puppy on the ground. “She has to live with the lambs, so she knows they are her family. But I’m her family, too. She likes me a lot.” The puppy danced around her feet, begging for attention.
A Great Pyrenees came loping across the pasture to check out the activity. Ernest gestured toward the big white dog. “Meeka has to teach Muffin her job. She can’t do that if you are always taking Muffin away from her.”
Grace’s contrite expression made Levi grin. She gave Sarah an imploring look. “Can you come visit us?”
Sarah nodded. “We will one day soon.”
Grace brightened. “And Caleb, too. Don’t forget to bring him.”
Sarah laughed. “I’m certain Laura Beth and Joshua will remember to bring the baby.”
“Okay, goot. Bye.” She waved and began running toward a farmhouse in the distance. The puppy and several of the lambs raced beside her.
“She’s a cute kid,” Isaac said.
Ernest grew uncharacteristically somber. “She is my great-niece and we are blessed to have her. If it weren’t for Sarah, Grace might not be here at all.”
Levi glanced at Sarah. “How so?”
She shrugged. “Gott put me in the right place at the right time, that’s all.”
“You are being modest, as you should be,” Ernest said. “I will tell the story. A year ago last winter, Grace was found on my porch by my nephew Owen during a blizzard. No one knew who she was. Owen took her to our neighbor Ruth while we tried to find out where Grace belonged. Several weeks later her mother was found dead. She had been shot. The man who did it was Grace’s father, a criminal who wanted to take Grace away. Owen, Ruth, Sarah and Grace were trapped by him in their barn. He threatened to shoot them if they didn’t give him Grace. Owen and Ruth hid Grace and tried to stall the man while Sarah climbed through a skylight in the roof and went to call for help. The sheriff arrived in time to save them.”
“What happened to the criminal?” Isaac asked eagerly.
“He was killed in a shoot-out with the sheriff,” Sarah said quietly.
Levi could see she was distressed at having the story repeated. He read the sadness in her eyes. The loss of any human life by violence was tragic. It seemed there was more to Sarah Yoder than the silly girl trying to gain his brother’s attention that he had seen so far. “That was very brave of you.”
She shook her head. “Not really. I just happened to be small enough to fit through the skylight.”
“You’ve got to tell us all about it,” Isaac said, clearly wanting more details.
“Maybe another time,” Levi said. “I think we should get Sarah home. She has had a trying day.”
She sent him a look of gratitude. “Danki.”
“Okay, sure.” Isaac gazed at Sarah for a long moment. Then he started the tractor again.
Levi hoped his little brother was seeing Sarah in a new light, too.
* * *
SARAH HAD A full-blown headache by the time the tractor chugged and jerked up the final hill to her home. Laura Beth and Joshua came out of the house to meet them as Isaac came to a stop. The scent of the lavender fields in the sun lifted her spirits, as did the sight of their dainty blooms nodding in the wind. The look of surprise on her sister’s face told her she had a lot of explaining to do once their company departed.
Joshua looked up at Ernest. “Your old tractor is running a little rough. Do you want me to take a look at it?”
“Would you mind?” Ernest got down to stand beside Joshua and Isaac as they gathered beside the front of the machine.
Levi got out and helped Sarah down from the trailer.
“What happened to you?” Laura Beth asked, eyeing Sarah’s loose hair and borrowed clothing. “That isn’t the dress you left the house in this morning.”
“It belongs to Susan Miller. I fell in the lake and she gave me some dry clothes to wear.”
“It’s a mighty fine story,” Ernest said from his spot beside the tractor. “Young Levi here dived in to save her after her canoe tipped over. Fortunately, the snake got safely away.”
Sarah scowled at him. “And you would still be laughing as I went to a watery grave. At least Levi was brave enough to save me.”
Ernest looked taken aback. It wasn’t like her to be snappish, but she was tired, her head hurt, she wanted to lie down and for some reason she felt like crying.
Laura Beth slipped an arm over her shoulder. “Come on in the house, dear. I’ll make you a cup of hot tea.”
Tears sprang to Sarah’s eyes. “Danki. I would like that.”
She allowed her sister to lead her inside and she promptly burst into tears. Laura Beth gathered her into her arms and held her close as she patted her back. “There, there. Everything is okay now.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Sarah wailed.
“It’s obvious you have had a stressful ordeal. Come into the kitchen and tell me about it. Start at the beginning. What happened after you left home this morning?”
Sarah wiped her eyes and followed her sister into the kitchen. She sat down at the table and used a paper towel to dab her eyes and blow her nose. “I walked over to the Novak place. I borrowed their canoe.”
“What on earth for?” Laura Beth filled the kettle at the sink.
“You’re going to think I don’t have the sense Gott gave a goose. I know I used to say that about you, but in this case I’m the guilty one.”
Laura Beth laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Sarah managed a tiny smile. “True. I thought Isaac would be as happy to see me as I was to see him. We’ve been apart for so long.”
Laura Beth carried the kettle to the stove and turned on the burner. “Are you saying he wasn’t?”
“He almost ignored me. It’s like he has forgotten how close we were. We were more than friends.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know. I was just so certain of his feelings.”
“Not to make light of your disappointment, but what does that have to do with a canoe?”
“On our way home the other day I told Angela that Isaac didn’t seem to remember how close we used to be. She said that I needed to remind him. That true love is something worth fighting for. I had overheard Ernest offer to take Isaac and Levi fishing. I knew the spot where he liked to go. I packed a picnic lunch, borrowed the Novak brothers’ canoe and paddled over to where I thought they would be. Isaac and I went canoeing at least a dozen times the summer he was here. I thought seeing me in the canoe might prompt him to want to join me and we could go enjoy a nice picnic lunch together.”
“Things didn’t go as planned?”
“A snake fell from a tree into the canoe with me. I jumped up and tipped over.”
“How awful.”
“The awful part was hearing Isaac and Ernest laughing their heads off. Fortunately, Levi didn’t see the humor in it and came to my rescue.”
“Thank Gott for his presence and quick thinking.” Laura Beth left the room and came back with a brush in her hand. “Let me get those tangles out.”
Sarah untied the kerchief on her head and leaned back as her sister began brushing her hair. “Levi guessed what I was trying to do. He wants his brother to settle down. He thinks he might be able to help rekindle the romance between myself and Isaac.”
Laura Beth stopped brushing. “What is he suggesting?”
“He has offered to be a go-between for us. He’s going to find out exactly what Isaac’s feelings are for me.”
“That certainly seems sensible.”
“I thought so, too, but...”
“But what?”
Sarah turned her head to look at her sister. “I’m afraid to hear what Isaac tells him.”
Laura Beth smiled at her. “That’s understandable. You hope that his feelings haven’t changed but it appears they may have. My question is, have your feelings changed now that you have spent some time together?”
“We haven’t really spent more than a few minutes together. I’m so confused by his behavior that I don’t know what to think.”
She rubbed her throbbing temples. “When Angela told me Isaac had moved here with his mother, I was sure it was part of Gott’s plan for me. I thought we would take up where we left off. We would court and eventually marry and be neighbors with you and Joshua.”
Laura Beth stopped brushing Sarah’s hair. “We can’t know Gott’s plan for us until it unfolds. Joshua and I are the perfect example of that.”
Sarah looked up at her sister. “I know you both suffered before you found each other. It is a joy to see the two of you so happy together. Oh, Susan Miller wants to know if you’re expecting. Are you?”
Laura Beth leaned down. “I am,” she whispered, “but it’s too soon to share the news. If all goes well, I’ll let Susan know in a few weeks.”
“She’s praying for a little girl.”
“I’m praying for a healthy baby.” Laura Beth laid her hand on Sarah’s shoulder.
Sarah reached up and squeezed her sister’s fingers. “That’s what I pray for, too.”
Laura Beth and her first husband, Micah, had been childless through the ten years of their marriage. Sarah knew the anguish her sister had endured during the months when her husband was ill and eventually died. Laura Beth deserved every happiness the Lord could shower upon her.
“My problems are small in comparison to the ones you have faced. I will stop feeling sorry for myself and do what I can to regain Isaac’s affections.”
“If you don’t mind some advice from your sister, the most enduring marriages begin with friendship. Be a friend to Isaac. And please avoid any more brazen behavior like today.”
“I had to leave my hair down to dry.”
“I’m not talking about your hair. I’m talking about chasing after Isaac in a canoe.”
Chastised by her sister’s words, Sarah nodded, but she knew her future happiness depended on what Levi learned from Isaac. How soon would he speak to Isaac and how soon could she see Levi again to hear what Isaac had to say about her?
CHAPTER FIVE
THEIR MOTHER WAS standing by the kitchen sink rubbing her temples when Levi and Isaac entered the house after their fishing trip. She straightened and raised her chin. “Well? What did that man have to say about me?”
“What man?” Isaac asked, hanging up his hat.
“I think she means Ernest,” Levi said.
Her lips thinned. “Of course I do. What did he say? Tell me now.”
Levi shrugged. “Nothing.”
Mamm didn’t look like she believed him. “Nothing? He didn’t say anything about me? He didn’t talk about your father?”
“What did you expect him to say about you? Are you okay? Do you have another headache?” Her brow was creased with pain.
“I think Ernest said, ‘At least she spoke to me,’ or something like that.” Isaac sniffed the air. “Smells goot. What’s for lunch?”
She gestured to the stove. “There is a meat loaf and vegetables in the oven. I have already eaten.” She turned and left the room without answering Levi’s question. She had been suffering from headaches a lot lately.
He took off his straw hat and hung it on one of the pegs by the kitchen door. “I would like to know the story between our mother and Ernest.”
Isaac lowered the oven door, picked up a pair of hot pads and brought out a foil-covered pan. “You won’t learn it from Mamm until she is ready to share.”
“I’m afraid you are right about that.” Levi found a pitcher of lemonade in the refrigerator and filled two glasses at the table.
Isaac dished up a plate for himself and one for Levi. The two men ate in silence. When they were finished, Levi carried the plates to the sink and washed them. He returned to the table and sat across from his brother. “Would you care to explain your relationship with Sarah to me?”
Isaac donned a wide-eyed puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”
Levi wasn’t fooled. “Sarah says you asked her to marry you before you left Cedar Grove. Is that true?”
“I was joking. Did she think I was serious?”
Levi folded his arms on the tabletop and leaned toward his brother. “Why don’t you tell me your side of the story? I have already heard from her.”
Isaac stirred a spoonful of sugar into his drink. “It was such a long time ago. I don’t really remember what went on.”
“Did you propose to her?” Levi kept his gaze fastened to Isaac’s face. He could usually tell when his brother was being less than truthful.
“I was seventeen. I might’ve said something that she took for a proposal. I’m not sure.”
Levi leaned back in his chair. “‘Will you marry me, Sarah?’ Is that what you said?”
Isaac stirred his lemonade a little faster. “I know I never used those words.”
He stopped stirring and laid down his spoon, but he didn’t look at Levi. “I might’ve said something like I could see myself spending the rest of my life with her. Now, that isn’t a real proposal.”
Levi blew out an exasperated breath. “Isaac, that’s pretty close. A sixteen-year-old girl who fancies herself in love with you could easily see that as a will-you-marry-me moment.”
Isaac finally met Levi’s gaze. “I have never thought of us as anything other than long-distance friends. We exchanged letters but they weren’t love letters.”
Levi sat back. “She’s kind of cute and funny in an odd way. Would you consider going out with her?”
“Nee.”
So much for fostering a romance between the two of them quickly. Levi moved to his backup plan. “Okay, that’s goot.”
Isaac shot him a puzzled look. “It is?”
“Mamm intends to deed this land to the first son that marries.”
“Oh, so you’re interested in going out with Sarah to get this farm. Why? To spite me because you know I’d love to own my own land? You don’t want to be a farmer. You want to raise horses.”
“I do want to raise and train horses. This is valuable land, and the owner can sell it. Like I said, Sarah’s cute. Right now she has her eye on you, but I can change that.” Levi hoped his words were enough of a challenge.
“You’re giving yourself too much credit, brudder. Face it—the girls have always liked me better than you.”
That was exactly what Levi wanted to hear. “She also mentioned that you are thinking about not joining the faith. Is that true?”
“If you must know... I’m in love with someone back in Pennsylvania. She isn’t Amish. Her name is Brittany.”
Levi drank the last of his lemonade as he processed this new information. “How serious are you about this Englisch woman?”
“Plenty serious.”
If that was the case, why hadn’t he stayed in Pennsylvania? He could have gone to work for any stable. Arnold Diehl would have hired him out of respect for their father. Something didn’t add up. “How serious is she about you?”
“Her folks don’t approve of me. I’m not educated enough. She’s attending college, but I’m not giving up on her.”
