The children scattered. Faith had never seen such quick obedience.
Nancy gestured toward a rocker, and Faith sat down. Nancy pulled a second rocker close and sat beside her.
“You came sooner than I expected,” she said. Faith saw her lower lip tremble as if nervous.
“Yes. Is it all right?”
“Jah. I figured you’d come quickly.”
Faith licked her lips. “Thank you,” she said in a near whisper. “Thank you for letting me come.”
Nancy’s eyes welled with tears. She put her hand on Faith’s arm. “Nee, child. Thank you for wanting to come.”
Faith tried to stem the tears that sought to keep streaming for it was too hard to speak when she was crying. She took a deep breath. A million thoughts surged through her mind, tangling amongst themselves until she couldn’t speak a one.
Nancy bit her bottom lip. Then she chuckled softly. “Seems that the cat’s got both our tongues.”
Faith nodded, soaking in every detail of her mother’s face. She wondered how long her hair was under her kapp.
“We’ll have time, won’t we? How long can you stay?”
Faith swallowed. “I can stay.”
“But don’t you have college classes?”
“I don’t care,” Faith said vehemently, then felt her cheeks go hot. “I mean … well, what I meant was, it’s okay. I can miss them for a while.”
“You’ll stay with us,” Nancy said, folding her hands in her lap.
Faith’s heart lurched. “Really? I can stay here?”
“Of course, you can stay here.”
Just then, a man approached the porch. “Nancy?”
Nancy jumped up and ran down the stairs. She grabbed the man’s hand and pulled him to the porch. “This is Faith,” she said, her pride evident. “Faith, this is my husband, Abel.”
The man studied her, his expression inscrutable. Faith stood. “Hello,” she said.
He took off his straw hat and nodded. “Good day.”
Faith remained standing, feeling completely awkward as the man continued to look at her.
“Faith can stay for a spell,” Nancy said, her words too fast. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
The man put his hat back on. “You’re welcome for as long as you like,” he said. He gazed at Nancy, and she gave him such an appreciative look that Faith’s breath caught in her throat.
“I’ll be back in for the noon meal,” he said. He gave Faith another nod and left them.
Nancy watched him go and then turned back to Faith. “Shall we get your things?” she asked.
“Okay.”
The two of them walked together to the car. Faith was taller than her mother, but her mother’s stride was long, easily matching Faith’s. When they got to the car, they both stopped and turned to each other.
The questions that had burned in Faith for years were quieter, softer, and a deep peace settled over her. Oh, she would still ask her questions. They were still there. She knew that. But the frantic need to have them answered immediately was gone. Evaporated. Her heart sat easier. Lighter. She had time. They had time. She sucked in her breath. Yes, there would be time for every question.
But for now—this minute … this hour—all Faith wanted was to be in her birth mother’s presence. Soak her up. Watch her. Hear her. Touch her. Explore her world.
“Faith?” Nancy’s voice was soft, melodic.
“Yes?”
“I know you’re wondering so many things.”
Faith nodded.
“I will tell you everything you want to know.” Nancy reached out and squeezed her arm. “No more secrets. No more hiding.”
Faith bit back her tears. “No more hiding,” she echoed. She couldn’t take her eyes from her mother’s face.
“And you’re here now, aren’t you?” Nancy reached up and brushed a wisp of Faith’s hair from her forehead. “I can hardly believe it.”
“Yes. I’m here now,” Faith answered, hardly believing it herself.
“And you’ll stay a right long time, won’t you?” Nancy asked, the hope on her face nearly blinding.
“Yes. Yes, I will.” Faith smiled. “A good long time.” And the minute the words left her lips, Faith knew it was true. She was going to stay a good long time. She had nineteen years to make up for, after all.
Nancy blinked back her tears and grinned. “Gut,” she whispered. “Gut.”
And then together, they took the luggage out of Faith’s car and carried it into the house.
The End
Home at Last
Faith’s Story Book Three
Chapter One
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
II Corinthians 5:1 (KJV)
Faith perched nervously on the long low bench. She held her hands in her lap, watching and waiting. Not wanting to make a mistake.
“Shall we pray?” Abel said, bowing his head. The children bowed their heads as did Nancy, her birth mother.
Faith quickly lowered her gaze to her lap. She waited for Abel to begin the prayer, but there was only silence. She tilted her head and peeked from one eye. Was she missing something? Was she supposed to voice the prayer? Surely not. She was the guest. The first-timer. The Englischer.
No one seemed disturbed. In fact, twelve-year-old Jeremy, her half-brother, had his face contorted in what appeared to be a very earnest prayer.
All right, then. Everyone said their own prayers silently. She could do that.
Dear Lord, thank you that I’m here. That finally, finally, finally, I’m here meeting my mother and her family. My family. Oh, how wonderful that sounds. My family.
Abel cleared his throat and everyone looked up. He started the food around the table. Earlier, Nancy had told her that most days for supper, they had simple fare. Left-overs or sandwiches. Their heavy meal was at midday.
“Of course, I would have put on a spread if I’d have known you were coming,” she’d assured Faith, her cheeks flushed with pleasure. “Tomorrow, we’ll have a special dinner.”
Faith had raised her hand. “No. No, that’s not necessary. Please.”
Nancy had gone still for a moment. Then she spoke, her voice quiet and choked with tears. “Faith, let me do this. I’ve waited nineteen years to meet you properly. The girls will help me cook.”
So Faith had acquiesced. She would do anything to please Nancy. Anything…
“Mamm?” Nine-year-old Debbie asked, pulling Faith from her thoughts. “We going to have Daadi and Maami for dinner tomorrow? So they can meet Faith?”
Nancy dropped her fork and a look of dismay flashed over her face. “I’m not certain. Let’s wait and see.”
“But they’ll wanna know Faith,” five-year-old Gracie chimed in.
Nancy’s eyes darted to Abel, who also had stopped eating. “Kinner,” he said evenly. “You let the grown-ups decide that, would you?”
Faith had already figured out that Daadi and Maami must be the grandparents. But whether they were Abel’s parents or Nancy’s parents, she didn’t know. What she did know was that neither Abel nor Nancy seemed eager to have their company. Faith assumed that these grandparents weren’t aware of her existence.
Which wasn’t really a surprise.
“Faith?” Gracie asked. “Wanna play tag after supper?”
“She don’t want to play tag,” said Jimmy. “She’s too old.”
Faith laughed, looking at the young boy who she knew was seven. “I guess I am pretty old,” she said.
“Jimmy, you’re dumb. She ain’t old,” Gracie insisted.
“Gracie! Enough of that kind of talk,” Abel reprimanded her with a stern look. “Perhaps, you need to eat the rest of your meal in silence.”
Gracie grimaced and looked down at her plate. “Jah, Dat,” she muttered.
The baby let out a holler and threw her tiny spoon across the floor. Jeremy l
aughed and jumped up to fetch it. He wiped it clean on his cloth napkin.
“Here you are, Miriam,” he said, handing her utensil back to her.
“I guess she wants more attention,” Nancy said, smiling at Faith.
Faith smiled back. Then she ate a few more bites of her fried potatoes. She wasn’t used to sitting at a meal with so many people. There were eight of them, including her. Back home, it was only she and her sister Penny and her parents. And many times, Penny was out and about, or she herself was working and missed the evening meal.
Eight people felt like it should be a holiday or something. Truth was, last Thanksgiving at her house there had only been seven people, counting her grandparents and her uncle.
She gazed around the table. She could get used to this crowd. She liked it.
When everyone finished eating, Debbie got right up and started clearing the plates. Faith got up, too, and began helping.
“You don’t got to help,” Jimmy said. “You’re company.”
Faith paused.
“No, she ain’t,” Gracie said. “She’s our new sister. That ain’t company.”
Faith wanted to grab the girl up in a hug and kiss her. No. She wasn’t company.
Nancy stood. “Gracie’s right. Faith isn’t company, and I’d welcome the help.”
Faith exhaled slowly. Without further comment, she stacked the dirty dishes up, carrying a big pile into the kitchen. She set them down in the sink and went back for another load. Debbie nearly knocked into her.
“Oh, sorry, Debbie,” Faith said.
Debbie smiled at her. “That’s all right,” she said. Then she stopped, still balancing two large serving bowls in her hands. “You can play tag with us if you want.”
“Tag. Hmm. I think that’d be very nice.” Faith touched Debbie’s shoulder. “But I have to warn you. I’m a fast runner.”
Debbie giggled. “So am I. Gracie gets awful mad.”
“I do not!” Gracie said from behind Faith. “You guys just gang up on me sometimes.”
“I won’t gang up on you,” Faith said, turning around. “In fact, we can run together.”
Gracie’s eyebrows raised in pleasure. “We can?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Okay.” She grinned.
Faith was ready to go into the dining room when she caught sight of Nancy, who stood next to the sink watching them. There was such a glow of happiness written on her face, that Faith stopped short. Nancy gave her a warm smile, and Faith saw tears in her eyes. For a split second, Faith wanted to run across the room like a young child and throw herself into her mother’s arms. But how absurd.
She’d only been there for a few hours and such a move would be entirely too bold. And familiar. Plus, for all Faith knew, running into someone’s arms was too forward no matter how close the relationship.
She blinked. She had so much to learn about the Amish culture.
Nancy gave her a slight nod and turned around to begin washing the dishes. Faith went back out to the table, her heart nearly bursting with excitement at the fact that she was there.
Nancy lay in bed that night, smiling. She couldn’t stop smiling. The muscles of her cheeks were tired, but the smile remained. Abel stirred beside her.
“You still awake?” he asked in a groggy voice.
“Jah.”
He rustled about, stretched and then propped himself on his elbow looking at her in the thin moonlight from the window.
“Can’t sleep?”
“I’m so happy, Abel,” she said. “So happy.”
“Faith seems right nice.”
“That she is. And did you notice how she jumped right up to help with the dishes?”
“I noticed.”
“And the kinner seem to like her. And they loved her playing tag with them. Not many young women would run around playing tag.”
Abel shook his head. “She’s right nice,” he repeated.
“Tomorrow, I want to cook a special noon meal. Kind of a celebration. How does that sound?”
“The kinner will wonder why your folks ain’t here.”
Nancy sighed.
“Your folks always come when we have a special dinner.”
Nancy sighed again. “I know.”
“You’ve got to tell your mamm,” he said.
Nancy knew he was right, but everything inside her balked. The last thing, the very last thing she wanted to do was to tell her mother that her lost daughter had come to visit.
“She’s going to find out anyway,” Abel said. “How long can we keep an Englischer without the whole district knowing? Her car’s sitting right out there in plain sight.”
“I know.”
Abel lay back on his pillow. “You’ve got to tell her.”
Nancy closed her eyes. Her smile was gone now. “Fine. I’ll tell her in the morning.”
Abel reached over and squeezed her arm. “It’ll be all right.”
Nancy shook her head. No, it wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be all right at all.
Faith had been put in a small bedroom at the very end of the hall. She lay on the firm mattress and ran her fingers over the fine quilt covering her. The night held a bit of a chill. She’d nearly closed the window, but she figured if everyone else in the house was sleeping with an open window, then she would, too. It was so dark. No electronic lights, no night lights, no porch light, no lights in the yard. Just dark.
Slipping out of bed, Faith tiptoed over to her suitcase and opened it. Rummaging in the bottom corner, she found what she was looking for as it was easy to recognize by its feel. She took it over to the window and leaned against the sill, gazing out into the sky. Then she tucked her hair behind her ears and put on the kapp she’d bought the last time she’d been in Landover Creek. She tied the strings loosely under her chin so that the knot hung near the base of her neck. Her hair streamed down her back from under the kapp. Which, of course, was all wrong. But she hadn’t any pins to put it up into a bun.
She wished it was light enough to see herself in the small hand mirror lying on top of the dresser. She patted the kapp, envisioning what it looked like. Truth was, she’d tried it on more than once. One time, her sister had nearly walked in on her when she’d put it on in her room back home. Faith had torn it from her head and sat on it, just as Penny had entered.
“What are you doing?” Penny demanded. “You look totally guilty.” She sniffed the air. “You smoking in here or something?”
“Right,” Faith had answered her. “Like I’d be smoking.”
Penny plopped on her bed. “Okay. Not smoking. But something.” She narrowed her eyes. “Hmm. Let’s see. You’re sitting there staring at yourself in the mirror. Thinking of dying your hair?”
Faith grimaced. “Penny, give it up. What do you need?” She would have liked to have gotten up and chased Penny from her room, but she could hardly stand without revealing the kapp.
“I need you to drive me to the mall again.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “Fine. But give me a minute. I’ll be right out.”
Penny had flounced from the room, and Faith had tucked the kapp back into her underwear drawer, safely beneath everything, strings tucked neatly inside the head covering.
Faith smiled at the memory. It was hard to pull anything over on Penny. The girl’s sharp eyes didn’t miss a thing.
Faith undid the knot and took the kapp back off, returning it to her suitcase. What would Nancy think if she knew the kapp was there? Faith felt her cheeks grow warm. It’d be embarrassing for sure—like Faith was playing dress-up with her mother’s old clothes.
Chapter Two
Nancy stood in the front room, directing each child to their assigned chores. “Faith?” she said at last.
“Yes?”
“Can you please watch Miriam for me? Debbie usually does it, but I’m going to have her working in the kitchen.”
“Of course,” Faith said, all smiles. “I’d love to watch the baby.”
�
��Thank you.” Nancy let out her breath. “I’ll be back after a spell. Debbie, get those potatoes on, and Gracie, don’t forget the carrots.”
“Jah, Mamm, you already told us.”
And she had. Nancy was stalling, and she knew it. She dreaded her trip to her folks. She’d rather stand all day in the front room, repeating her instructions.
“Well, then. I’m off,” she said reluctantly, going out to the porch. The grass was covered with dew. Soon, the days were going to get cold. She preferred the warm summer days, unless it got too hot. Then, no matter what a body did, it was impossible to get comfortable. More than once, she was tempted to jump into the nearby pond along with the kinner. But splashing about in the water didn’t get the work done.
At least, when winter came, the chores slowed down. That was the season to sit back and relax a bit, enjoying the results of all the long tiring days of canning they’d done. All the days of putting food up in preparation. And during the winter, Nancy saw Abel more often. Yes, winter was a time to hunker down in front of the stove and play an occasional game of checkers or read a book to the kinner. Of course, there was work to be done, but somehow it didn’t feel as burdensome.
Nancy climbed into the pony cart that Jeremy had hitched up for her. Well, it wasn’t winter yet. She gave a rueful smile. Although once she spoke with her mother, she would feel the ice of winter.
Her parents didn’t live far away. Truth was, Nancy could have walked. But perhaps she wanted the cart for a quick getaway. Ach, she thought, get yourself under control. Such thoughts aren’t fitting. They don’t please the Lord Gott, that’s for sure.
She offered up a quick prayer and straightened her spine. A couple more minutes and she’d be there. When she pulled into her parents’ farm, she spotted her mother immediately. She was walking across the yard, with her apron pulled up as if she were carrying something in it.
“Why, Nancy!” Esther called out. “What a surprise!”
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