Faith and Love Found

by Claudia Hope

  She knew that the younger girls would need a man in their life as a father figure and she knew that her mother needed a man to love her and take care of her, but she also felt that the only man who should hold those positions was her father. Racheal did her best to smile and pretend that she was happy for her mother and that she was interested in all that her mother had to say about William.

  She could see the happiness in her mother’s eyes when she spoke about William. Racheal really did want her mother to be happy, but more than anything she wanted to take some of the pressure off of Elijah and she wanted to make sure that he could live a normal life. She felt that there was already so much pressure on him that it would spill over into their marriage and that was the last thing that she wanted happening.

  Racheal decided that no matter what she felt, she had to make her mother feel as if she approved of this man William so that she could free Elijah of the burden that her father had left behind.

  “I think we should invite him over for dinner one night and see how the girls react to him,” Racheal told her mother.

  Rebecca looked surprised by her statement. “I just think that it is important for the other girls to have time to get to know this man and to build a relationship with him. After all, they are the ones that will have to live with him,” Racheal said winking at her mother.

  She watched her mother as a large smile formed on her face and a sparkle twinkled in her eye. It made her happy to see her mother happy and she had decided that it was not up to her what her mother was going to do with the rest of her life.

  Racheal knew that she would have to explain to her sisters that it was not fair for any of them to try and decide how their mother should live the rest of her life and it was not right for them to expect her to take on all of the responsibilities that their father had left behind.

  “I don’t know how well that would go over,” Rebecca said, her smile fading away.

  “Don’t worry about it mamm,” Racheal said, looking at her mother. It hurt her that her mother thought there was no hope for her own future and that it was because she felt that her own daughters would not allow her to be happy. Racheal felt responsible for her mother feeling this way and decided that she was going to make sure that her mother was happy and that this man she was so interested in was welcome in the home if for no other reason than to help her own future husband.

  “I will take care of it,” Racheal continued, “I will talk to the girls and make sure that they understand and that they behave.”

  “I don’t know,” Rebecca said sadly, “I will think about it though.”

  Racheal could not bear seeing her mother sad, “Elijah and I are ready to start planning our wedding,” she announced to her mother. Rebecca turned and threw her arms around her daughter. “I will help you with your quilt,” she said and Racheal could hear the excitement in her voice, “There is so much to do we need to get everyone together to build you a house and a barn.”

  Racheal could tell that her mother could hardly contain herself. She was glad that she could do something to help make her mother happy.

  Racheal knew that there was a lot of work to be done and she was not sure if she and Elijah would be able to get it done. He was supposed to get the crop planted, tend to the fields and work with his father in his spare time.

  Rebecca already had several orders for quilts that she needed to fill and Racheal did not want to take up too much of her time but knew that she would need help at some point. It all seemed as if it were too much for Racheal and the more she thought about it the more her head began to spin.

  She spoke to Elijah that night about having William over for dinner and he thought it was a good idea. He told Racheal that he would help her talk to the girls if she wanted him to and she said that she would consider it. On top of everything that she needed to do she knew that talking to the girls and having this dinner with William should be her top priority.

  That night as she sat on the couch she started her quilt and began thinking about what she would tell the girls as well as how she would answer their questions. She had no idea how to prepare herself for what was to come, but she knew that she had to face her sisters and try to make things easier for her mother.

  She hoped that this man William intended on marrying her mother because this would be the only time that she would ever have anything to do with a man that was not her father. Racheal had to remind herself that this man was not trying to take her father’s place, but was trying to make her mother happy.

  She decided that she would talk to the girls the next day and then explain to her mother that they wanted to meet William. She just hoped that they did want to meet William.

  The next morning Racheal woke up early and started making breakfast for her family. Elijah would be working the fields all day and she wanted to help him as much as she could, but she wanted to talk to her sisters first. She knew that her mother would be meeting with William later in the day and wanted her to invite him for dinner that evening.

  She did not want to give her sisters any time to change their minds about meeting William once she had convinced them that it was a good idea. Racheal made a large pan of scrambled eggs and a heaping plate of bacon with biscuits for her family. She also packed a few extra biscuits for Elijah to take with him to the field in case he became hungry before lunch.

  She knew how hard working the field was and that it could make a person very hungry. Elijah was a very thin man, although very muscular and Racheal did not want him becoming weak while he was working. She made coffee for her mother and Elijah and had everything prepared before anyone else awoke.

  She made her way up the stairs and one by one began waking everyone up for breakfast. She knocked on Elijah’s door and told him that his breakfast was ready instead of going into the room like she did with her sisters and mother. It was not proper for her to go into his room alone and she was not sure if he would be covered. She did not want to do anything that would upset the church or risk her or Elijah getting shunned.

  She had seen other girls get shunned before. Having an affair or being alone with a man when she was not married to him. One of her best friends had been caught sitting on her boyfriend’s bed, fully clothed and had been punished even though nothing was going on. She had been warned against that behavior and told if it happened again she would have to leave the church.

  Racheal did not want to put that type of stress on Elijah even though she longed for time alone with him she was not going to risk their future. She knew that their time together would come soon enough.

  Once everyone had gotten dressed they made their way down the stairs and looked at the breakfast Racheal had prepared happily. She poured her younger sisters some orange juice and sat down at the table with her family.

  She looked around and saw all of the smiling faces, she hoped that what she was about to say would not upset them all too much.

  “I need to talk to all of you,” Racheal began. Everyone looked up from their plates still chewing their food as she spoke. “I know that things have been hard since we lost Dat but it is important to me that Mamm is happy.”

  “Racheal,” her mother hissed, “now is not the time.”

  Racheal took her mother’s hand and smiled. “Now is the time Mamm,” she continued, “I know that you girls are not going to understand, but I want to let you know that Mamm has someone special in her life. His name is William and I want us all to meet him.”

  She could see her sisters mouths drop open as they looked from her to their mother and back again. “This man is not going to replace Dat but it is in Mamm’s best interest that we are all polite and respectful to him. We need to treat him the way Dat taught us to treat our elders,” Racheal felt very grown up talking to her sisters this way and even though she could see the fear in her mother’s eye she could also tell that she was very proud at the same time.

  The younger girls did not say a word, but sat in silence, listening to their sister,
“Elijah and I have decided to marry,” she continued. This grabbed her sister's attention and she could see the excitement on their faces. “This means that we will not always be around to take care of all of you. We will do our best to make sure you are taken care of but we have our own lives to live. It would not be fair to Elijah if we expected him to provide for two households. Do you understand?”

  The younger girls shook their heads yes and Rebecca stared in amazement at her oldest daughter. She was reminded of her husband and how much Racheal was like him. Abe had never been mean to his daughters, but he spoke with authority in much the same way that Racheal had. His demeanor demanded respect and as Racheal grew into a woman, Rebecca could tell that she had learned how to demand respect gently from her father.

  “Mamm,” Racheal said, looking at her mother, “I want you to invite William and his children over for dinner tonight while this is still fresh in the girls' minds. I will work with Elijah for part of the day, then I will come help you prepare dinner.”

  Rebecca looked at her daughter. She wished that she was as outspoken as she and for the first time realized just how much responsibility she had put on Racheal throughout the years. She had expected Racheal to help with the younger girls, to help with the household chores and to become almost like a second mother to her sisters. She did not regret the way that she had raised Racheal but part of her wished that she had taught her how to me more lady like.

  Rebecca was a quiet woman who went about her chores with no complaints. She never demanded anything of anyone and if there were any issues she had always left it up to Abe to speak out about them. She knew that Racheal would have to learn to hold her tongue in her marriage and allow Elijah to take control but that was something they could discuss later.

  Rebecca nodded at her daughter as Racheal got up from the table and cleared her plate. She looked at Elijah, who was staring at his future wife wondering where she had gotten the nerve to be so demanding. He picked up his plate and took it to the sink, then the two of them headed out into the field.

  “What was that?” Elijah asked as soon as they were outside of the house.

  “What?” Racheal asked with a sly smile on her face.

  “That,” Elijah continued, “that bossy, demanding woman who took over your body and told everyone how it was going to be.” Elijah was smiling and Racheal knew that he was not worried about her behavior.

  “It had to be done. Did it not?” she said, taking his hand, “I had to make sure that you were not under the pressure of taking care of two families forever. I know that no matter how much you want to do it that it will take a toll on you and probably on our marriage as well.”

  “This does not mean that she will marry him,” Elijah said, looking at Racheal with concern.

  “Maybe not immediately,” she replied, “but I am sure that he will. They have already discussed him coming to join the community. Mamm was just afraid of how the girls would react to him. I want us to have a fair start and I want my mother and sisters to be taken care of. Is that too much to ask?”

  “No, it is not,” Elijah said sadly. He had not thought about how worried Racheal was about him and their marriage. He knew that it would be hard to take care of her family while trying to build a life of their own, but he was willing to do whatever it took. It made him feel better knowing that for the first time in his life someone was actually looking out for what was best for him.

  His family had never been like Racheal’s. Of course, his mother loved him, but he had learned quickly that the one thing that mattered in his family was making sure that his father’s business was successful. He had looked at other families in the community, those like Racheal’s that loved each other more than anything except for God and he had wanted that so badly. He knew now that he would have exactly what he always wanted growing up and that he would be able to give his future children the life that he had only dreamed of.

  He hugged Racheal and the two of them headed off to the fields. It had been such a long time since they had worked the fields together that it hardly seemed like work. The two of them talked, and shared their feelings and just enjoyed the time together. Racheal realized how much she missed working in the field with Elijah. Even though the work was hard, it was worth it to spend time alone with the man that she loved.

  “Promise me something,” she said, looking at Elijah.

  “Anything,” he said, looking up from his work.

  “Promise me that if we ever fight or are not getting along that you will drag me out to the fields and make me work with you,” she said smiling at him.

  Elijah understood what she meant. They had gotten to know each other while working the fields. It was a place where they could open up to each other and not have to worry about upsetting the other. It was also the place where they had fallen in love and being in the fields together only made that feeling stronger.

  That evening William joined them for dinner. The girls laughed at his jokes and enjoyed spending time with his children. Rebecca was ecstatic that everyone seemed to like William and his children. She was thankful to her daughter that she had brought everyone together.

  After William and his children had left Rebecca’s house her younger daughters expressed how much they liked William and his children. Rebecca went to bed that night feeling as if the weight of the world off of her shoulders. Racheal felt the same way in that she knew that if her mother did fall in love with William he would be accepted by her sisters and Elijah would not have to care for her mother and sisters.

  Spring passed quickly and Racheal spent most of her days out in the field with Elijah. Levi announced his marriage and Elijah began helping him as well as the rest of the community build their house. Each Saturday the men would gather and work on Levi’s house, spending their entire day, ensuring that every detail was perfect. His fiancé Sarah had been spending a lot of time with Rebecca creating her own quilt for her wedding night and had become close with Racheal and Rebecca.

  Each weekend after Elijah came back to Racheal’s house he would bring her a small trinket that he had carved out of left over pieces of wood. Sometimes it was a beautiful flower and sometimes it would be a small animal. He told Racheal that it was for her to put in their own house once it was built.

  As time went on, Racheal began to feel jealous that Elijah was spending so much time on Sarah’s house. She wanted him to be working on her house, but knew that he had made a commitment to help Levi. She also knew that it was part of being part of the community, but she hated that all of his handy work had been put into Sarah’s house.

  Racheal prayed every night that she would be able to overcome the jealousy that was inside of her and that it would not come between her and Sarah. Then the day came when the house was finished and everyone was gathering to view it.

  The day was filled with excitement. The women played games and spent time working on their various sewing projects while the men worked on the barn raising. That evening there was a potluck dinner, followed by more games and then a tour of the house.

  As Racheal walked through the house, she noticed the little things. In the bedroom there was a table beside the bed that had intricate carvings on the top. There were small flowers just like the ones that he had made for her. Racheal tried to fight back the jealousy that she felt when she saw it knowing that the table should have been in her bedroom.

  In the kitchen, she noticed that there were small flowers carved in the corners of the cabinets as well as on the back of the kitchen chairs. A tear fell from her eye when she saw how much work he had put into the house. She wished more than anything that it was their own.

  Sarah walked up to her with a smile of approval on her face, “Isn’t it beautiful,” she asked Racheal.

  “It is,” Racheal said, forcing a smile, “I am sure that the two of you will have many happy years in this house.”

  Sarah giggled a little and handed Racheal a small box. Racheal opened the box and inside she found a key.
“I am sure you and Elijah will have an amazing life here,” she said giving Racheal a hug.

  Racheal looked at her mother stunned and not knowing what to say. Her house was supposed to be built on her mother’s property so that she would not have to worry about doing all of the chores herself.

  “William has asked me to marry him,” Rebecca explained, “You and Elijah can have a normal life and not have to worry about me or your sisters. Everything is working out the way that it is supposed to be.”

  Racheal threw her arms around her mother’s neck and congratulated her. Then she saw Elijah standing at the entryway. She let go of her mother and ran to her soon to be husband.

  “You knew about this the entire time,” she asked him.

  Elijah smiled and told her that it had been difficult to keep the secret from her knowing how badly she wanted a normal life with him. He explained that each of the trinkets he had given her had a special spot in the house where it could be placed.

  She was amazed at how much thought he had put into the house and she knew that for the rest of her life when she looked around she would know how much he loved her. She promised to take care of the house and that she would be the best wife that she could possibly be.

  She looked over at Sarah, who was smiling at her friend and felt guiltier than she had ever felt in her life. She wanted to know when Sarah would get her house and what she could do to help her. Elijah explained that Sarah’s house would be built in the following weeks and that she had known the entire time what was going on. It was in fact Sarah’s idea to say that the house was hers and to surprise Racheal. She had told Elijah and Rebecca that it would cause too much stress on Racheal if she had to handle all of the details of the house. For that reason Sarah had asked Racheal questions about what she wanted in her future home, then relayed those answers to Levi who told Elijah. They made sure that the house was everything that they ever dreamed it could be.