by Jan Drexler
Hoofprints covered the ground, leading to a larger trail that went north and west, down the ridge. On the other side of the clearing, a similar trail led south and east, around the base of the knob.
Whoever had been camping here hadn’t been gone long, and they could still be in the area.
Ruby.
Gideon looked up at the knob. Everything seemed quiet. He took off at a run, retracing his path until he found where Ruby had turned off the game trail and headed straight up the hill. When he reached the top, panting, she was there, sitting on a rock.
“I thought you said you were going to get here before I did.” Her eyes sparkled as she laughed at him.
Gideon dropped to his knees, still trying to regain his breath. “You didn’t see anything on your way up here? Did you hear anything?”
Her smile faded. “Only the birds singing. Why? What is wrong?”
“I found a campsite down below. There had been a group of men and horses there not more than two or three days ago.”
“They aren’t there now?”
He shook his head, still trying to catch his breath.
“They were probably just hunters, or travelers passing through.”
Gideon sat on a rock near hers, looking out over the farm fields and woods to the west. He knew, even though he had no evidence, that the men who had camped there weren’t peaceful hunters or travelers. “These men didn’t want to be seen. This is a remote area. Have you ever seen strangers up here before?”
“I don’t come here that often, so I wouldn’t notice. Maybe people use that spot to camp in all the time.”
Gideon stood and turned in a slow circle, trying to see beyond the trees, trying to spot anything out of place. Where had those men gone?
Ruby sighed. “Why are you so worried? Just enjoy the view.”
“I can’t stop thinking that there is danger somewhere out there.”
“Maybe it is only your imagination.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “Your time with the army last spring has made you see danger behind every tree. But we’re not in Virginia, we’re here on our own land. This is Weaver’s Knob, in the middle of Holmes County, Ohio. This is the safest place I know of.”
Gideon gave himself a shake, trying to clear his head, then sat on the rock again.
“You’re right.” He smiled at her. “There is nothing to be worried about.” He ignored the relentless dread in the back of his mind.
Ruby turned to look at the view to the west. “Isn’t this beautiful?”
Gideon followed her gaze. It was as lovely and peaceful as she claimed. He began to relax.
“I was up here one time at sunset,” she said. “It was wonderful, with colors filling the sky as if someone had painted them.”
He glanced at her. “You wander around these woods alone at night?”
She hugged herself, as if she was suddenly chilled. “Not alone.” Ruby stood up, turning away from the view. “I guess we should get the rest of the honey back to the house. I need to strain it and then get jars from Mamm and Anna to put it in.”
As Gideon followed Ruby back down the faint trail, he watched her. No longer purposeful and confident, she was hesitant, careful. As if she was afraid she would take the wrong step.
He looked back up at the limestone outcropping, wondering what memories that place had brought to her mind. Every moment he spent with Ruby opened a new door, giving him another glimpse into her mind and personality. It would take a lifetime to learn to know her completely.
12
Monday morning was washday, and Ruby took the family’s laundry to Elizabeth’s to take advantage of the sunny open yard. Gideon’s cabin was sheltered by trees, which helped to keep the house cool on hot summer afternoons, but drying the clothes took a long time.
Ruby pulled the little cart Gideon had made on Saturday. The cart was similar to a dog cart, but smaller. It had high sides so that Ruby could haul clothes or wood, or just about anything else. Today, Daniel rode on top of the pile of laundry, holding on to the vertical slats and laughing at every bump.
“I like going to Elizabeth’s house,” Roseanna said as they pulled the cart together. “But I wish she had children to play with.”
Ruby pulled the wagon around a rough spot in the road. How could she tell an eight-year-old that some families were never blessed with little ones?
“Elizabeth enjoys having you come to visit too. She doesn’t like being alone so much.”
“Doesn’t she have a husband?”
“She does . . .” Ruby drew the answer out. Roseanna asked such complicated questions.
“Where is he? Why haven’t I ever seen him?”
“He is away, fighting in the war.”
Roseanna peered at her. “Isn’t he Amish?”
Ruby shook her head. “He isn’t Amish.”
“But Elizabeth is.”
“Elizabeth has never been baptized. She isn’t a member of the church.” Ruby bit her lip. If Elizabeth hadn’t married Reuben, she would have joined the church years ago. But now she couldn’t. Not as long as she was still yoked to an unbeliever.
They reached Elizabeth’s house before Roseanna could ask another question. Her sister already had a fire burning under the big iron pot and was pouring a bucket of clear water into the rinsing tub.
“It looks like you’re ready for us,” Ruby called as Elizabeth waved.
“I started as soon as you left for Gideon’s this morning. I knew you wouldn’t let time go to waste.”
Elizabeth lifted Daniel from the cart and snuggled him close. She longed for a child, but she had confided to Ruby that she was afraid that her little ones would have a hard life with Reuben for a father. So as her longings went unfulfilled, she was torn between sadness and relief. At the same time, she enjoyed her nieces and nephews, and claimed Daniel whenever she could.
As Roseanna and Sophia took Ezra to play in the sandy spot at the edge of the garden, Elizabeth watched as Ruby shaved soap into the warm water in the pot. “How is Gideon this morning?”
“I suppose he is doing well. I was busy getting the laundry together while he ate breakfast with the children.”
“You didn’t talk this morning?”
“He has been extra busy lately, and we haven’t spent time talking like we did last week.”
“Busy doing what?”
Ruby glanced at her sister while she stirred the soapy water with the washing bat. “You are very curious this morning.”
“I want you to be happy. I want you and Gideon to fall in love, get married, and give me many more nieces and nephews.”
Ruby ignored the clutching of her stomach at Elizabeth’s words. “We are friends, and I’m sure things will stay that way.”
“Didn’t you tell me that you promised Lovinia you would marry him?”
“I promised her that I would take care of the children, and that I would consider marrying Gideon. I’ve considered it, and so has he. This arrangement satisfies my promise to Lovinia, and I’m not looking for anything more.”
Elizabeth didn’t answer until Ruby looked at her again. Then she stepped around the fire to stand next to her. “Don’t tell me you don’t think about what it would be like to have Gideon for a husband. He’s a handsome man, and gentle. I’ve never seen a man who is kinder to his children. So you won’t convince me that you haven’t thought about being his wife.”
Ruby picked through the laundry until she found Gideon’s white Sunday shirt and put it into the water along with Roseanna’s and Sophia’s aprons and Ezra’s white shirt. She added her own white Sunday apron to the water, then swished the laundry with the bat.
“All right, I do think about it. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to marry him. There is more to consider than my feelings.”
Elizabeth looked past her toward the road. “Someone is coming. A man.”
Ruby glanced over her shoulder. The man was dressed in black and riding a sorry-looking mule.
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“He’ll probably just ride past.”
“He stopped at Mamm and Daed’s. I saw him earlier.”
Ruby kept stirring as she watched the man urge his mule off the road and onto the grassy space in front of Elizabeth’s house. Then he stopped, took off his shabby hat, and addressed both of them.
“Excuse me, ladies. I’m looking for Miss Elizabeth Kaufman?” The man’s voice was soft and his words dripped from his mouth like slow molasses.
Ruby and Elizabeth exchanged glances.
“I’m Elizabeth.” Her hands were shaking as she handed Daniel to Ruby and stepped forward. “What is it? Do you have news of my husband?”
“I don’t know about a husband, but I do have a message for you.” He reached inside his coat and dug into a pocket. When he didn’t find what he was looking for, he patted the front of the coat, raising a cloud of dust, then fished in another pocket before pulling out a folded piece of paper. “My name is Cyrus Benson, a minister of the gospel, lately of Vicksburg, Mississippi.”
He nodded to both of them, ignoring the paper in his hand. “I had the pleasure of officiating at the wedding of Captain Reuben Kaufman and Miss Emily Parker during the winter past.”
“Wedding?” Elizabeth’s voice squeaked.
“Yes’m. I see that news has come as a surprise. You see, the wedding had to be rushed, if you understand my meaning, and he didn’t want to take the time to send word to his family. And with the war and everything . . .” He lowered his eyes. “We have been under great duress in Vicksburg and have only lately been overrun by the Yankees. It was a terrible thing.”
Elizabeth turned to Ruby. “I . . . I need to sit down.”
Ruby helped her to the bench in front of the cabin as the man urged his reluctant mule to follow them, still holding the paper.
“The baby was born in the spring, miss, and it was a fine boy. Captain Kaufman was quite proud, as was Mrs. Kaufman.”
Elizabeth’s face paled.
“But the bad news, Miss Kaufman, is that your brother was killed in the battle.” He peered at Elizabeth. “I assume he was your brother?” She didn’t respond, so he continued. “When Mrs. Kaufman went through her husband’s things, she found your name and where to find you. He had mentioned a family, she said, but never anyone by name. Since I was coming north to escape . . . Well, I mean, to leave the deplorable conditions around Vicksburg, she asked me to find you and give you this letter from her.”
Elizabeth didn’t move, so Ruby took the paper from the man’s extended hand.
“Thank you,” she said. The envelope was worn and smudged with dirt, but Elizabeth’s name was written on the front.
“I’ll be on my way, then.” He nodded to Elizabeth and to Ruby, then turned the mule and headed back to the road.
Ruby sank down to the bench next to Elizabeth and set Daniel on her lap. She held the letter where her sister could see it. “Do you want to read it?”
“He betrayed me.” Elizabeth turned toward her. “And now he’s dead.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ruby said, taking her sister’s hand. Elizabeth was trembling. “At least now you know.”
Elizabeth wiped a tear from her cheek, then hiccupped. She made a strangled sound that was almost a laugh. “It’s over. It’s finally over.”
Ruby wasn’t sure she heard her right. “What did you say?”
Elizabeth turned to her, eyes brimming with tears. “I was afraid to ask for this, but God still answered my prayers. He’s never coming back. It’s over. Even if he hadn’t died, he would never have come back, not after . . . He would never leave his son.”
“You aren’t angry?”
“I’m only thankful.” Elizabeth pressed a fist to her mouth as a sob escaped. “I’m so very thankful.”
A thunderstorm came on Monday afternoon, but not until after Gideon and the Weavers had shocked the last of the wheat. They had seen the clouds building in the distance, so had hurried to finish before they lost any of the crop. The first drops fell as Gideon ran for his house, and he reached the porch just as the hail started.
Ruby had left both doors open to catch the breeze that came ahead of the storm, and the house was cooling quickly as he stepped in. The children sat at the table eating bread with butter. Ezra grinned at him and waved his bread. Gideon hung his hat on the hook just as the gloom was lit by a flash of lightning. When a crack of thunder crashed directly over the roof, Ezra jumped, startled, then dropped his bread as he reached for Gideon, his face twisted in a frightened cry. Both girls hunched their shoulders and covered their ears.
“It’s just thunder,” Gideon said, raising his voice above the noise of the rain and hail hitting the roof.
He picked up Ezra, then reached for the back door. The wind had risen, and rain was blowing in. Just as he closed the door, he saw a figure running through the trees toward the barn. He opened it and looked again. Nothing. He closed the door again.
“Where is Ruby?”
Roseanna uncovered one ear long enough to point to the loft, then cringed as another boom of thunder rolled over them. Ezra buried his face in Gideon’s shirt. Ruby came down the stairs, holding a crying Daniel.
Ruby smiled when she saw Gideon and said something, but Gideon couldn’t make it out over the noise of the storm. He just shrugged an answer and pointed up, indicating that he couldn’t hear her. She nodded her answer and sat at the table between the girls. Gideon joined them, Ezra still clinging to him.
As the thunder moved farther away, Ezra and Daniel both calmed down, but the rain still drove into the roof, making conversation impossible. Gideon settled in to wait for the driving rain to end. Roseanna picked up her slice of bread and took a bite, then grinned at Sophia. His younger daughter slowly removed her hands from her ears, then grinned back at Roseanna when she heard the thunder in the distance.
Ruby sat across the table from him, holding Daniel close. He had laid his head on her shoulder and his eyes drifted shut. Ruby leaned her cheek against the top of his head, then kissed his silky hair, damp with sweat and plastered to his head.
That simple gesture squeezed Gideon’s heart. His children were content and cared for. More than that, Ruby gave them the love that Lovinia would have given them. She had stepped into the place in their lives that would have gaped like an empty hole without their mother, but Ruby had filled it with light, love, and common sense. He couldn’t imagine what their lives would be like without her presence. Lovinia knew him better than he knew himself.
After Roseanna and Sophia finished eating, they went into the front room where Ruby kept their toys. Ezra slid off Gideon’s lap and ran to join them. The rain still pounded on the roof, but it seemed to be lessening. Ruby took the sleeping Daniel back upstairs, and by the time she came back, the rain had let up enough to make conversation possible again.
“That was some storm,” she said, clearing the table of crumbs and empty milk cups. “Did you get all the wheat in?”
Gideon stretched his legs out, crossing his ankles under the table. “All in shocks, safe and sound. We worked quickly for the last hour, though. We could see the storm coming, and it was moving fast.”
“We were at Elizabeth’s when we saw it coming.” Ruby set a glass of water in front of him and sat down in Roseanna’s chair with one for herself. “We were able to get the clothes off the line and come home before the wind picked up.” She gestured toward the cart, filled with clothes and sitting just inside the door. “The cart made the task so much easier than it could have been. I’m glad you made it.”
“I had made one for Lovinia a few years ago, and she talked about how useful it was. She wasn’t able to carry the heavy baskets of wet clothes from the house to the clothesline . . .” His voice dropped as a sudden thought struck him. The cart was a convenience for Ruby, but it had been a necessity for Lovinia. She had been ill, even then, and he hadn’t realized it.
“I put both boys in it with the clean clothes on the way home, and they enjoye
d the ride.” She smiled at the memory.
Gideon hadn’t noticed how her freckles had grown numerous over the past few weeks. He remembered seeing a sprinkle of them on her nose, but as the summer progressed, they had spread across her cheeks. Today in the rich sunlight filtering into the kitchen after the storm, they glowed brownish red against her pale skin, nearly the same color as her hair. He grinned when he saw that the curls were even more unruly today, circling her face with a reddish halo.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked. “Did something funny happen out in the wheat field?”
He cleared his throat and sat straight. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Samuel’s boys are good workers. He has taught them well.”
“I enjoy spending time with all of Samuel and Anna’s children.” She leaned her elbows on the table and sipped her water as a frown appeared. “We had a visitor at Elizabeth’s today.”
“What kind of visitor?” Was that who he had seen during the storm? Or had he seen anything at all?
“A minister, he said. A stranger. He said he was from Vicksburg, in Mississippi.”
“That’s a long way to travel. Why was he here?”
“He had a letter for Elizabeth.”
Abraham had told him about Elizabeth and her marriage to a man outside the church.
“He also brought the news that Reuben had been killed at Vicksburg.” She bit her lower lip, not looking at him.
“How did Elizabeth receive the news?”
“Of all things, she was relieved, sad, and angry at the same time. The minister also told her that Reuben had married another woman in the South and had a child with her. He had betrayed her.”
Gideon’s first thought was that Elizabeth was well rid of a man like that, but then he remembered. Another soul had died, most likely an unrepentant soul, according to Ruby’s description.
“I wish she had never married him.”
Ruby’s voice was quiet, almost as if she was talking to herself as she rubbed her thumb over the condensation beads on the side of her glass. But then she looked up, meeting his gaze. “It’s my fault that she had such an unhappy marriage.”