The Thorn (34 page)

Hen sighed. "We've already talked about this."

"Right." He headed for the back door. "Well, thanks again for the good meal."

Her heart sank. She'd wanted to share so much more. "I spoke to the bishop," she said, hoping he might stay while Mattie Sue was over next door.

He nodded. "Hope you got everything about your sinful past squared away."

Disheartened, Hen stood at the door, watching him pause there on the little porch. Everything the bishop and Barbara had said came rushing back to her - about being kind and accommodating to him. Shower Brandon "with love.".. .

"I hope you'll come again," she said quietly. "For supper ... or just to visit."

He didn't respond, nor did he ask what she'd discussed with the bishop. But he did turn slightly and said with a straight face, "Mattie's puppy will stay with me."

"Aw ... Brandon."

He shook his head. "She can have it when she comes home."

Her heart flew into her throat.

"Listen, Mattie doesn't have to live your very weird life, Hen. Let her decide where she wants to live - and how." He turned and headed for the car just as Mattie Sue came across the lawn, caressing the puppy.

Mattie Sue's too young to know where she should live! Hen watched helplessly as Brandon leaned down and talked to their daughter, touching the back of her head.

He's telling her the puppy's going with him!

It was all Hen could do not to rush out the door and cause a scene. Mattie Sue glanced back at the house, not seeing her. Then she looked up at Brandon, so trusting ... so naive about what was ahead.

Mattie reached to take her daddy's hand and nodded her little head as she followed Brandon to the car.

No, dear Lord ... please don't let this happen!

Silas was waiting for Rose beneath the grove of trees right after the bend on Salem Road. He stood beside his horse, wearing a crisp white long-sleeved shirt and black vest and trousers. Rose was incapable of keeping her smile in check. Oh, how handsome he looked in his black felt hat. She recalled him saying his straw hat was "wearin' thin" last Sunday evening after Singing.

"Rose Ann." He nodded his head.

"Hullo, Silas." It had been nearly a full week since she'd last seen him. Almost that long since Hen has seen Brandon, too, she thought as she got herself settled in the open buggy.

As they pulled away from the shoulder of the road, her thoughts and prayers were with Hen, who might still be spending time with her husband. Rose had seen the sweet gift from Brandon, Mattie Sue's new puppy, before she'd managed to slip away to meet Silas.

Surely a hopeful sign, she thought of the cute cocker spaniel. Mattie Sue had been so giddy, she could hardly speak. Mamm, too, had been delighted to pet the dog and said she must bring him over so they could play with Wiggles together. For a woman who did not care one scrap about having animals in the house, Mamm was certainly taken with Mattie Sue's new puppy.

Rose shared the story of the little dog with Silas, and about meeting Beth Browning for the first time. She also told him that Hen and Mattie had moved home for a while. "All of this in the space of a single week!" she said.

But Silas was quieter than any other time they'd been together. It wasn't until they'd ridden in near silence for quite some time that Silas said his father had seen her in Quarryville. Rose had hoped Reuben Good might not bring it up to Silas, since her being with Nick had no bearing whatsoever on her and Silas's courtship.

"Daed noticed you were riding with another fella," said Silas, not looking at her.

"Well, it was strange how it all came about," she replied. "I'd fallen and hurt my leg - could scarcely walk. Nick happened by and took me to Old Eli's."

"My father wondered why one of your brothers didn't take you instead."

"Jah, it must've looked a bit odd, 'specially if he knows you and I are courting."

"Daed was troubled by it, I'll say." Silas paused and glanced at her. "Mainly because it was Nick you were with."

Rose felt put out suddenly. No one knows him like I do, she thought, but she was smart enough not to refute Silas.

"That no-gut Nick ... he's caused so much grief for Bishop Aaron. Christian too."

Rose knew Silas and Christian were longtime close friends. "Some brothers tend to argue too much at times," she said in Nick's defense, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh, but not many carry a grudge for years."

"A grudge? On whose part - Christian's?"

"No ... Nick's." Silas sounded so adamant she was taken aback at his loyalty to Christian.

"Well, what about?" she asked.

"He's carried a chip on his shoulder since the bishop brought him here, is what Christian says. Nick despises anything to do with the Plain life."

"Then, why's he still here?"

"Mighty gut question." Silas turned to look at her again. "But Christian has a theory 'bout that."

"Oh?"

He nodded his head emphatically. "He's certain it's because of you, Rose Ann."

"Me?" She remembered Nick's pleading with her to go to visit his mother's grave, to visit the English world. "That's mighty farfetched."

"Christian says the two of you - you and Nick - are much closer friends than anyone knows."

She stiffened. What anyone had to say about that, well, she really didn't care. Truth was, she and Nick were close, but they'd guarded their friendship to keep tongues from wagging - and to keep folks from jumping to the wrong conclusion. "We work together in Dat's barn most afternoons," she offered. "I'm sure Christian told ya."

"He did indeed."

She held her breath, hoping there wasn't more to defend. Yet why should she have to? She and Nick had done nothing wrong.

"Christian suspects the two of you go ridin' alone sometimes."

Rose sighed. This was not turning out to be a very good night!

"I hope he's mistaken about that," Silas said, "since you're my girl now."

For a brief moment, just to demonstrate her innocence, Rose thought of describing a few of the adventures she'd had with Nick. But something powerful stirred within, and she recalled having a similar ominous feeling that terrible day so long ago when her mother left for market. This time she heeded her intuition. "I am your girl, Silas ... and happy to be," she said and left it at that.

In saying what she did, Rose had also protected her friendship with Nick, which was as important to her just now as sitting there beside Silas Good, who smiled and reached for her hand.

In that moment of sheer blackness, Hen watched her world tip and plunge upside down. She pressed her hand to her heart.

Mattie Sue, my precious child!

Her heart cried out for her daughter, yet she was mute. Her legs were as useless as her mother's, who was surely over next door in the main house talking with the bishop's wife and Kate ... her little granddaughters at her knee.

Hen's anger filled her beyond reason as she watched Brandon take the puppy from Mattie Sue and place the pet into the carrier in back, behind the driver's seat. Then, like a robot, he marched around the car and opened the door on the opposite side, waiting for Mattie to get in.

Just when Hen's heart was in the process of shattering, Mattie Sue looked back at the house - and saw Hen there at the door. She raised her little hand to wave. Brandon urged her to get inside, but Mattie Sue dug in her heels and shook her head. Then, like a dart, she moved quickly away from the car and dashed toward Hen, her long skirt and apron flying. "Mommy . . . Mommy!"

Hen thought she must be returning to say good-bye, but her little girl's face was wet with tears. "Oh, M-Mommy . . ." Mattie Sue stuttered, unable to do more than sob in her mother's arms. "Daddy's t-taking ... Wiggles away from ... me."

"But you're here, baby ... you're still here."

"I thought Wiggles was mine."

Hen continued to hold Mattie Sue, then carried her into the house and closed the door behind her. She leaned against it, her daughter clinging to her neck and crying for both the puppy and for Mommy, all in one sorrowful blend of betrayal and confusion.

The next morning Rose Ann awakened with Hen and Brandon heavily on her mind. She hadn't gone over to talk to Hen after arriving home last night because Hen's gas lamps had already been extinguished. But she'd discovered her distraught father in the kitchen, unable to sleep, all bent over his Bible as he prayed for Hen and her little family. It was at that late hour she'd learned of Brandon's trickery. Poor, poor Mattie Sue!

Now, as she stretched out her feet in bed and slipped her hand beneath her cheek, she wondered if Hen might not be wishing this Lord's Day were a Preaching Sunday. Rose couldn't help but think such a gathering might do her sister some good. Next Sunday, she thought, anxious herself for worship with the People.

She heard Hen downstairs - at least, she assumed it was her sister - starting breakfast. Soon she also heard Mattie Sue's birdlike chatter. Mamm must be down there, too, she guessed. Who better to comfort Mattie over the loss of her puppy than dear Mamm? It pained Rose when she thought about Brandon's cruel deed.

How could a father do such a thing?

Later, after the noon dishes were redd up and put away, two of Rose's cousins, Sarah and Sadie Kauffman - and their parents - stopped by on their way home from having also visited the bishop. After a time, Rose and Sarah slipped out of the house and went walking together. They'd invited Sadie to join them, but she'd wanted to stay and visit with Mattie Sue instead.

"Are ya planning to come to the next Singing, Sarah?" Rose asked as they strolled through the meadow behind the barn.

Sarah's pretty eyes twinkled in the sunlight. "I hope to."

Rose leaned near to whisper, "Is there a chance you might flirt with Nick again ... like last time?" She felt strangely blunt, yet she wasn't at all adept at this sort of thing.

"Honestly, do you really think I'd waste my time with the likes of him?"

Her response surprised Rose. "I was just wondering. You and Mary seemed bent on getting his attention ... well, last gathering."

Sarah moistened her lips and smiled. Now it was her turn to whisper in Rose's ear. "He's a cold fish, seems to me."