A Sister's Test (35 page)

“I thought Abe’s sister was taking care of his house and kinner.”

“She was, but she’s going back to Illinois to help her mamm, who recently broke her hip.”

“That’s too bad.” Daniel hiccupped several times, and Grace rubbed the small of his back until the hiccups subsided. “How’d you talk Ruth into working for Abe?”

“I didn’t. Rosemary took care of that.” Mom poured milk into Grace’s glass, brought a plate of cookies to the table, and took a seat. “She seems to have some persuasion over Ruth that none of the rest of us has.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing she’s come back to Holmes County.”

“I was thinking that, too.” Mom held out her hands. “How about I hold the boppli while you eat those cookies?”

“Are you sure? Daniel’s cutting a tooth, and he’s been fussy all week.”

Mom clicked her tongue. “Have you forgotten that I raised three
girls of my own? I do know a thing or two about fussy bopplin.”

“Guess you’ve got a point.” Grace handed the baby to her mother. “Has Aunt Rosemary tried to speak with Dad again?”

“Not yet, but she said she might try after she and Ruth get home from Millersburg.”

“I hope he’ll listen. Maybe there’s a good reason Aunt Rosemary never contacted any of her family.”

Mom nodded. “There are always two sides to every story. Your daed ought to be smart enough to listen to his sister.”

A knock sounded at the door, interrupting their conversation.

“Want me to get it?” Grace asked.

“That would be good since I’ve got my hands full of baby right now.”

Grace pushed her chair away from the table and hurried to the back door. She found Donna Larson on the porch holding an angel food cake.

“I was at the bakeshop in town early this morning,” Donna explained. “They had angel food cake on sale, so I bought two—one for me and one for your mother.” She peered around Grace. “Is she at home?”

“She’s in the kitchen. Would you like to come in and have some freshly baked molasses cookies and milk?”

“The cookies sound good, but I’d prefer coffee if you have any.”

“Mom probably has a pot on the stove. She usually keeps some warming for my dad.”

Donna followed Grace into the kitchen. “I brought you an angel food cake from the bakeshop in Berlin,” she said, smiling at Mom.

“That was nice of you,” Mom replied. “Why don’t you join us at the table?”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Donna set the cake on the counter and took a seat. “That baby of yours is sure growing,” she said, smiling at Grace when she handed her a cup of coffee.

Grace nodded. “He seems to grow an inch every day.”

“How’s Ruth getting along? Is she dealing any better with the loss of her husband?”

“I think so,” Mom replied. “Abe Wengerd came by a while ago and
asked if Ruth would come to work for him as his maid.”

“I thought his sister was helping.”

“She was, but she’ll be going home to care for her mother, who was injured recently.” Mom smiled. “Miracle of miracles, Ruth agreed to take Sue’s place as Abe’s maid.”

“Where is Ruth today?” Donna asked.

Mom explained about Aunt Rosemary and how she’d been gone for thirty-some years but had come back to Holmes County. She ended the story by saying, “Rosemary’s the one who convinced Ruth to agree to work for Abe. The two of them left a while ago to go shopping and out to lunch in Millersburg.”

“It’s good to hear Ruth’s getting out. I hope working for Abe will help with the pain of her loss.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for, too,” Mom said with a nod.

Donna blew on her coffee then took a sip. “How’s everything else around here? Have there been any more acts of vandalism?”

“Not since Ruth and Martin’s buggy was run off the road. We’re hoping things stay that way.” Mom bent her head and kissed Daniel’s cheek. “It’s not easy to spend your days and nights worrying that something bad might be just around the corner.”

Donna tapped her fingernails on the edge of the table. “If the attacks should start again and you and Roman decide you need to move someplace else, I hope you’ll let Ray and me know before you put the place on the market.” She smiled at Mom then at Grace. “We’d like to be given the first opportunity to buy your land.”

“Roman thinks moving would be the coward’s way out,” Mom replied. “He said it would be like giving in to the attacker. If the attacks should start up again, we’re hoping the sheriff will catch the criminal. In the meantime, we’ll keep trusting the Lord to keep us safe.”

Donna looked as though she was going to say something, but Martha burst into the room, interrupting their conversation. “You should see how well Bo and Polly are getting along. I think things will work out better with this dog.” She skipped across the floor but halted when she spotted Donna. “Sorry. I didn’t realize we had company.”

“I’m not really company,” Donna said with a wave of her hand. “I’m just your friendly neighbor who decided to drop by with an angel
food cake because I know it’s one of your mother’s favorite desserts.”

Martha eyed the cake sitting across the room. “Looks real tasty.”

“There’s soft molasses cookies, freshly baked,” Mom said, motioning to the plate in the center of the table. “Pull up a chair and have a few. It’ll tide you over until lunch.”

Martha took a seat and plucked two cookies off the plate.

“Don’t you think you should wash your hands first?” Grace asked.

“I washed them at the pump outside before I came in.”

“Oh.”

Martha looked over at Grace, and her eyebrows pulled together. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, and the reason I didn’t say anything sooner is because I know how shaken up everyone’s been over Aunt Rosemary’s sudden appearance. I didn’t want to give you one more thing to worry about.”

“What is it, Martha?” Mom asked. “What’s happened that might make us worry?”

“When I was working at Irene’s the other day, she had an unexpected visitor.”

“Who was that?” Grace asked.

“Gary Walker.”

Grace’s mouth dropped open. “But I thought he had left Holmes County and wasn’t coming back.”

“He said he’s been hired at the newspaper office in Millersburg and that he’s decided to move here permanently.”

Grace clutched the edge of the table as a sense of panic gripped her like a vise. If Gary was moving to Holmes County, then the attacks would surely begin again.

A
s Ruth stood in front of Abe’s kitchen window, watching Anna and Esta play a game of hide-and-seek, she reflected on the past. She could still remember how it used to be when she and her sisters played hide-and-seek as children. Playing childhood games used to make her happy whenever she felt sad. Now, thanks to her depression, very little made her laugh. Even her trip to Millersburg with Aunt Rosemary hadn’t helped much, although she did feel comfortable in the woman’s company.

Aunt Rosemary had seemed disappointed that Dad wasn’t in his shop when they’d returned home that day. She’d told Ruth she would return in a few days and try again. The woman obviously wasn’t one to give up easily. The fact that she’d been able to talk Ruth into taking the job as Abe’s maid was a good indication of her ability to make people do things they didn’t want to do. Maybe in time, she would get through to Dad.

Ruth moved away from the window and over to the door. Stepping outside, she took a seat on the porch swing to better watch the children. Anna had come home with Esta after school so the girls could play, and soon after their arrival, they’d initiated the game of hide-and-seek with Esta’s siblings. All but Gideon. He kept to himself most of the time and had gone to the barn as soon as he’d arrived home from school.

Ruth’s eyes drifted shut as she thought about how well things had gone on her first day working for Abe. She had arrived early this morning in time to feed the children breakfast and make the older
ones’ lunches for school. After breakfast, Abe had gone to his harness shop. Soon after that, Gideon, Josh, Esta, and Willis had headed for school. Ruth spent the rest of the morning washing clothes, baking bread, and keeping an eye on Owen and Molly.

She reflected on how warm and cuddly Molly had felt as she’d held the little golden-haired girl in her arms and rocked her to sleep after lunch. Molly had called her
Mammi
before she’d fallen asleep, and it had touched Ruth’s heart to the very core.
If only I was her mammi,
she thought.
I’d give most anything to have a child of my own.

“Here I come, ready or not!”

Ruth’s eyes snapped open, and she saw Willis zip past the porch, obviously on his way to seek out the hiding places of the other children. A few minutes later, she heard giggling and figured one of the girls had probably hidden under the porch.

She yawned and was on the verge of drifting off again when a shrill scream jolted her fully awake.

With her heart pounding like a herd of stampeding horses, Ruth jumped off the swing and dashed into the yard. There lay Willis, holding his nose and whimpering. She dropped to the ground beside the boy. “What happened?”

“I was chasin’ after Josh and run into the tree.” Willis removed his hands, and Ruth gasped when she saw blood oozing from his nose.

She pulled out the handkerchief tucked inside the band of her choring apron and covered the boy’s nose with it. “Come inside so I can get that bleeding stopped,” she said, helping him to his feet.

The other children came out of their hiding places and followed Ruth and Willis into the kitchen.

“Is he gonna be all right?” Esta asked as Ruth seated Willis on a chair and placed a small bag of ice against the side of his nose.

“His
naas
doesn’t appear to be broken,” Ruth said. “Once we get the bleeding stopped, he should be fine.”

“My nose bled like that once,” Anna said, leaning over to stare at Willis’s nose. “It was when I was livin’ with Poppy and Grammy Davis. It happened ’cause I had a bad cold and blew too hard. Poppy soaked a piece of cotton in vinegar and put it inside my nose.”

“Eww.” Esta puckered her lips. “That must have stung.”

“It did. But it made the bleeding stop real quick.” Anna looked up at Ruth. “Are you gonna put vinegar in Willis’s nose?”

“I hope the ice will do the trick.” Ruth motioned to the plate of peanut butter cookies sitting on the counter. “Why don’t you all help yourselves to a couple of cookies and go back outside to play?”

“What about Willis?” Owen wanted to know.

“He’ll stay with me until his nose stops bleeding. Then he can have some cookies.”

The children each grabbed a handful of cookies and tromped out the door.

Several minutes later, Abe stepped into the room. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Josh told me Willis had a run-in with a tree.”

“Jah, he did.” Ruth placed her hand on Willis’s shoulder. “He was looking for one of the others in a game of hide-and-seek when it happened.”

Abe knelt on the floor in front of Willis and touched the boy’s knee. “You gonna be all right, boy?”

Willis nodded, although a few tears trickled down his cheeks.

“The bleeding’s probably stopped by now,” Ruth said, removing the ice bag to take a look. “Jah, it seems to be fine.” She extended the plate of cookies to Willis. “Why don’t you take a couple of these and go sit on the porch? No playing or running around, though.”

Willis snatched up three cookies and grinned at her. “I’ll sit real still; I promise.”

“Good thing he’s got youth on his side,” Abe said when Willis had left the kitchen. “If that had happened to me, I’d probably be bleeding like a stuck pig.”

Ruth smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d been able to offer since Martin’s death. “Would you like a cookie?” she asked.

He took a seat at the table. “Danki. They look good.”

“I brought them from home,” she said, sitting in the chair across from him. “My mamm made them on Saturday.”

Abe chomped one down and smacked his lips. “They taste as good as they look. Only thing that might make ’em better would be a glass of cold milk for dunking.”

“You sound like my daed. He’s always got to have milk to go with
his cookies.” Ruth started to rise. “I’ll get you a glass.”

“Don’t trouble yourself. I can fetch it.” Abe hopped up. “Would you like one, too?”

“I believe I would.”

Abe was back soon with two glasses and a jug of milk.

“Danki,” she said when he handed her a glass.

“How’d everything go here at the house today?” Abe asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Did you have any problems?”

“Except for Willis’s little accident with the tree, everything went well.”

“Glad to hear it.” Abe leaned his elbows on the table. “If you ever remarry, I think you’ll make a fine mudder.”

Ruth dropped her gaze to the table. “I thought you knew that I can’t have any children.” She drew in a quick breath, hoping to keep her emotions in check. She would not allow herself to break down in front of Abe, no matter how much her heart might be breaking.

Abe slapped the side of his head. “Ach, what a
dummkopp
I am. I did know about your injuries and the surgery you had; I just wasn’t thinking.”