A Sister's Test (44 page)

“Where’s Marlene?” he asked Owen.

The boy pointed to the door leading to the living room.
“Schlofkopp.”

“Sleepyhead?” Abe repeated in English.

Owen nodded.

Abe stepped into the living room and discovered Marlene stretched out on the sofa, fast asleep.

He cleared his throat.

No response.

He moved closer to the sofa and bent close to her ear. “Marlene, wake up!”

“Was is letz do?”
The poor woman jumped up as though she’d been stung by a bee.

“What’s wrong here is that my two youngest kinner have been in the kitchen making a mess while you’ve been asleep.” Abe frowned. “And I’m hungry as a mule and there’s no lunch ready.”

Marlene clambered off the sofa. “Ach! I had no idea it was lunch-time already. I came in here to rest my eyes a minute. Guess I must have dozed off.”

“Aren’t you getting enough sleep?”

“I sleep well at night, but I’m not used to running after little ones all day. To tell you the truth, I’m feeling plumb tuckered out.” She sighed and pushed an errant strand of grayish-brown hair away from her face. “How soon do you think it’ll be before Ruth comes back to work?”

Abe grimaced. He wasn’t sure he wanted Ruth to continue working for him. He’d come to realize that not only did his offspring miss having Ruth around, but he did, as well. It wasn’t just the good job Ruth had done with the house and children that Abe missed, either. It was her smiling face, caring attitude, and gentle ways. Even so, he wondered if it might be better if Ruth didn’t come back once her back was healed. He had feelings for her, which she obviously didn’t return. He figured having her around so much would only complicate things. On the other hand, if she didn’t come back—

“Abe, did you hear what I asked about Ruth?”

Abe blinked. “Jah. Just don’t have an answer for that right now.”

Marlene shrugged and turned toward the kitchen. “I’d better tend to Molly and Owen. Then I’ll get something put together for your lunch.”

“Just worry about lunch,” Abe said, following her into the other room. “I’ll clean up the kinner.”

“I’m not sure who I’m most worried about—Mom or Ruth,” Grace said as she placed a sandwich on a plate and set it in front of Cleon. Since Anna was in school and the baby was asleep, Grace hoped she and Cleon would have a chance to visit without interruption.

He looked up at Grace, and his eyebrows drew together. “It won’t do any good to worry. I’m sure they’ll both be fine.”

Grace pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’m not so certain about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“First off, Ruth’s back seems slow in healing, and she’s getting depressed lying around all day.”

“The doctor took X-rays and determined it was nothing more than a pulled muscle, right?”

She nodded.

“Then in time, she’ll heal.”

“I suppose, but Ruth’s been through enough already. I hate to see her go through more.” Grace grunted. “Now Mom’s busy caring for Ruth when she can barely take care of herself.” She grimaced. “Even
though there haven’t been any more attacks since the horse and chicken incident, Mom’s been so naerfich. It’s hard not to worry or blame myself because—”

“Here you go again, feeling guilty because you think Gary Walker’s the one behind the attacks and you’re convinced he’s trying to get even with you for something that happened over six years ago.” Cleon shook his head. “It could be anyone, Grace. No one but the attacker is to blame.” He touched her hand. “Let’s pray,” he suggested, “and then we can talk while we eat if you have more to say on the subject.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

They bowed their heads, and Grace thanked God that things were better between Cleon and Anna. Then she petitioned the Lord to calm her mother’s fears, heal Ruth’s back, and protect her family from further attacks.

R
uth, where are you going?” Mom asked as Ruth plucked her black outer bonnet off the wall peg and slipped it over her white kapp. “Since Martha’s gone to town to do some shopping, I thought the two of us could get a little sewing done on this rainy Saturday morning.”

“Some other time, Mom. Right now, I’m going over to Abe’s,” Ruth replied.

Mom’s eyebrows shot up. “To work?”

“Not today, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to start on Monday morning.”

Mom scurried across the room. “Oh, Ruth, it’s only been a few weeks since you hurt your back. Do you think you’re ready to return to work so soon?”

Ruth opened her mouth to reply, but Mom rushed on. “Fixing meals for Abe’s family is one thing, but doing housework is quite another. If you bend over wrong or pick up something too heavy, you could reinjure your back.”

“I’ll be careful, Mom. If there’s something heavy that needs to be picked up, I’ll leave it until Abe or Ivan can take care of it.”

“Speaking of Ivan,” Mom said, “I was talking to Irene the other day, and she mentioned that Ivan’s been seeing Amanda Miller as of late.”

“Is that so?”

Mom nodded. “Irene said she’d been hoping you and Ivan might hit it off and then she’d have two of my girls for daughters-in-law.”

Ruth shook her head. “I would never consider marrying Ivan, even if he was interested in me in a romantic sort of way.”

“You don’t care for Ivan?”

“He’s a nice man, but I’m not attracted to him. Besides, I couldn’t allow myself to become romantically involved with any young man.”

“Why not? Is it because you’re still pining for Martin?”

“I do miss him, and I guess I always will, but if I were to find love again, it couldn’t be with a younger man.”

Mom raised her eyebrows. “I’m verhuddelt.”

“It’s not confusing, Mom. As I’m sure you must know, most young men want to raise a family when they get married. I can’t have any children, so I wouldn’t make a good wife for a young man.”

Mom released a sigh. “Oh, Ruth, I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why not? It’s true.”

“If a man really loves a woman, it shouldn’t matter whether or not she can give him kinner.”

Ruth slipped into her sweater. “It doesn’t make any difference, because I have no interest in marrying Ivan.”
It’s Abe I want to marry,
she added mentally.
But he doesn’t want me.

Mom pulled Ruth into her arms and gave her a hug. “Tell Abe I said hello and that we’ll have him and the kinner over for supper sometime soon.”

“I will. See you later, Mom.”

Martha had just left the market in Berlin and was about to load her purchases into the back of her buggy when someone touched her shoulder.

She whirled around and was surprised to see Luke behind her. “Ach, you scared me!”

“Sorry.” He brushed back his hair from his forehead and offered her an impish grin.

“W–were you shopping in the store?” Martha stammered. She didn’t know why she always felt so flustered whenever Luke was around.

“I was, but we must have missed seeing each other.” Luke reached into Martha’s shopping cart and lifted the bag of dog food as if it were
a feather. “Better let me help you with that.”

“Danki. It was kind of heavy when I pulled it off the grocery shelf.”

Luke placed the dog food into the back of her wagon, and she put the paper sacks inside.

“Have you had lunch?” he asked after she’d secured the buggy flap.

“Not yet.”

“How’d you like to share a pizza with me at Outback Pizzeria?”

Martha contemplated Luke’s offer. She was a little worried that someone might see her with him and tell her father, but her desire to spend time with Luke finally won out. “Jah, I would enjoy some pizza.”

“Should we take separate buggies, or would you like to ride with me and then pick up your buggy after we’re done?”

“Guess I’d better take my own buggy since it’s got stuff in it that I don’t want stolen.” Truth be told, Martha was more concerned about someone seeing her riding in Luke’s buggy than she was about someone stealing her purchases. If anyone she knew spotted her having lunch with Luke, they might think the two of them had arrived at the pizzeria at the same time and decided to share a table. But if she and Luke were seen riding in the same buggy, folks could get the impression that they were a courting couple.

“Okay. I’ll see you at the pizzeria in a few minutes.” Luke offered Martha another heart-melting smile and sprinted across the parking lot to his rig.

With a feeling of anticipation, Martha unhitched her horse and climbed into her own buggy.

When she arrived at the pizzeria, Luke was already there, sitting at a table near the back of the room. He waved, and she hurried over to join him.

“I ordered a plain cheese pizza and a couple of root beers,” he said. “I didn’t know what kind of meat you liked, so figured I couldn’t go wrong with cheese.”

She smiled as she took a seat opposite him. “Cheese is fine with me.”

“So how are things going at your place?” he asked, leaning his elbows on the table and resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

“Okay. Ruth’s back is doing better now. I think she’ll probably return to work for Abe soon.”

“I knew she was missing from church on the last Sunday we had preaching, but I didn’t know there was anything wrong with her back.” Luke frowned. “Is it serious?”

Martha shook her head. “I don’t think so. The chiropractor said it was just a pulled muscle. After several treatments and bed rest, she’s finally doing better.”

“That’s good to hear. My daed’s back has gone out on him a time or two, and he was always in a lot of pain.”

Martha took a sip of root beer. “This is good but not nearly as tasty as the homemade kind my daed makes.”

Luke stared at Martha with a peculiar expression, making her squirm.

“What’s wrong? Have I got root beer foam on my naas?”

He grinned. “Your nose looks just fine.”

She smiled in response.

“What else is new at your place? Have there been more attacks?”

“Not for several weeks. Did you hear about that last one?”

He shook his head. “What happened?”

“It was the day of Willis Wengerd’s funeral. When we arrived home, we discovered that someone had let our horses out of the corral.”

“Maybe the gate wasn’t latched, and the horses got out themselves.”

“We thought that at first, but there were dead chickens all over our front yard.” She grunted. “It was obvious that someone had come onto our property while we were at the funeral.”

Luke squinted his dark eyes. “Got any idea who might have done it?”

She shrugged. “Probably the same person who’s done all the other horrible things at our place.”

“Did you find any clues or evidence?”

“No.” Martha sighed. “Bishop King came by the other day to talk to Dad about the problem. They both think that whoever’s doing
these things is either trying to get even with someone in the family or wants to take our property and is hoping to scare us off.”

“Why would anyone want your property?”

“I don’t know.”

“So what’s gonna be done about the situation?”

“As far as I know, nothing. Dad thinks if we just keep trusting the Lord, eventually the attacks will stop.” Martha grimaced. “I have to wonder if God doesn’t expect us to do something about our problems, not just sit around and wait for Him to do everything for us.”