A Book of Ruth

by Sandy Wakefield

  “Sheriff why don’t you go talk to Joshua and see what is going on over there,” came Don’s voice from outside.

  “Ok Don, but I’ll be back. Roy stay out here and make sure she doesn’t leave. Caleb you take the back. Remember she’s property, Don. You’re responsible.”

  Don came inside and motioned to them to stay in the back room. Mabria made sure the curtains were tucked tight in the tiny window in the back room. Mabria made coffee as Don stoked the stove. Then Mabria brought some bread, butter and jam back for Julia to have some breakfast. A short time later a knock came at the door.

  “Don?” came Joshua’s voice.

  Don opened the door and allowed Joshua to come in, locking it in place behind him. Mabria slipped the backroom door shut quietly. Julia sipped her coffee and ate her bread thinking it may be her last meal for quite a while. No telling what was in store for her today. As she waited for word, she decided to take time to pray. She fell to her knees near the bedside and asked her God to take care of her and these kind folks that ministered to her so often.

  Then Mabria opened the door. She had papers in her hands and a light in her eyes.

  “Julia, you have been sold to Don, by the estate of your master. He had debts to the general store. They have agreed to give Don, you, in lieu of those debts. Joshua has also drawn up your freedom papers. You are free Julia. Your price has been paid.” Mabria could hardly control her voice or her tears.

  “Free? You paid the price? I can never pay you back? Free?” Julia fell at Mabria’s feet weeping. “How shall I pay…” she could not speak.

  Don came in, “I just lost 2 workers,” he was laughing. “There’s a huge opportunity right here for you to work this off. Room, board, a little money, and we’ll work it out.” Don was beaming. “Look what God did today!” He was still laughing, the girls were crying, and hope came streaming into a young life that day.

  Fate

  Naomi and Peter had two children, Jacob and Jonathan.

  Jacob loved the south, and was determined to become a part of the elite. Why shouldn’t he, his father was a land owner. His father had refused to own slaves, but they did well with the servants that had agreed to work the land and become part of their home, by building their own homes on pieces of the land that Peter had given them in return for their labors. So he took a wife, Orpah. They began a life on a piece of land that Peter had given them as well.

  Jonathan, too, took a wife from the south. Ruth was a servant girl, a daughter of one of Peter’s employees. She came from a very poor white family that had lost all they had in some faulty land deals in their young lives. Peter had hired her father when he saw the distress and destitution they were living in. Jonathan and Ruth had grown up together on the land. In life they had found themselves toiling side by side in the fields, through many happy times of course, but many trying times. The drought 2 years ago. How did they survive that, they had wondered many a day. Then came the year of the floods, when most of the crop was destroyed. It seemed to be a lean year. However, Peter was always storing away, for some such year as this, so as to make the impact less traumatic to all. He was a good father and taught Jonathan and Jacob well.

  Peter and Naomi were overjoyed when Jonathan chose Ruth to be his wife. Naomi had always observed the closeness of the two, but Jacob refused to even acknowledge Ruth most of the time. He always thought he was better than the rest. Naomi was concerned over Jacob’s attitudes and also his distance from God. Jonathan loved God and looked to please Him in the way he handled his business and his family.

  When the south fired its first shot, all three men had went off to war, seemingly as confederates, but had made their way north, changed uniforms and fought for the northern army. Their home was physically in the south. But their hearts and their allegiance, was to what they all three agreed on, their great nation. While away they attempted to keep in touch with their wives as much as possible. Their letters home, because of suspicions raised through the years, had been intercepted, at that post office, by the confederates. The women were all questioned for several days by the soldiers. The army had taken all of the horses, Peter’s pride and joy, and left them one work horse. Naomi had said the same thing that day, “God’s grace, we’ll need that horse!”

  Last winter the three men made their way back home, but were dressed in confederate uniforms. With no way for Naomi to get a message back to them, none knew that they had been exposed. The soldiers were waiting for them. All three were hung on the front porch.

  It’s Time To Go Home

  Naomi broke the silence. “I’m going home,” she said softly. “God wants me home.”

  “I’ll go with you,” replied Ruth, with little emotion.

  “No, you’ll stay. It’s too dangerous in the north, never mind the trip home. Your speech will betray you I am sure, both of you.”

  “We have nothing here,” Ruth spoke.

  “I’ll go to my brother in Lexington. I received a letter at the post office the other day from him asking me to come,” Orpah said slowly.

  “Ruth, your mother will help,” Naomi said without looking at her.

  And Ruth responded without hesitation, “Don’t ask me to leave you. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your family will be my family. Your God will be my God. I knew nothing of Christ until you taught me. My family still refuses to allow Jesus in their lives and homes.”

  Orpah began walking without a goodbye, but filled with tears and emotions. She could not look back, or she may be tempted to go with them.

  “I am sure they will not make it, at least my brother slipped in this letter of reference for my safe passage,” she spoke to herself.

  Orpah had never understood the blind faith. Jacob did not take the time to teach her of these Godly things he was raised in. He insisted it was foolishness when she would ask him of Naomi’s attempts to influence her. Orpah understood Naomi was a special woman and could see the differences between herself and Ruth. Many times she viewed the close relationship between Naomi and Ruth as an exclusion of herself. It was of course not true. Naomi and Ruth tried constantly to include Orpah in their lives. Jacob worked hard at keeping Orpah busy with the details of their new mansion, so as to keep her away from what he viewed as their Christian nonsense.

  Ruth and Naomi watched her leave until they could see her no more.

  Ruth saw a gunny sack lying in the dirt, and began to dig. “Look, Naomi, potatoes, potatoes to take with us. We’ll carry as many as we can manage.”

  “Ruth, I don’t think ..” she hesitated.

  Naomi found Ruth amazing. Her learning of the things of God was a delight to Naomi. Questions constantly, many challenges came from this daughter in law of hers, even before she knew they had planned to marry. Ruth would labor over her bible. Naomi knew this by the marks in the tattered bible of Ruth’s, and the notes inside and out. It was evident that this book that Peter had given the young girl many years ago as a gift at a Christmas gathering had been well received. Throughout the years young Ruth would come to the big house with questions before the day began. Ruth had made a practice of praying in the mornings in the barn, before she began her work. She kept her bible on a makeshift shelf and would turn her questions from her readings to Naomi and then begin her day of labor in the fields. Naomi pondered these things as she watched Ruth dig deep within the earth in her search for potatoes. Ruth’s dark hair was much like Naomi’s, filled with curls that were so out of control in this humidity. Naomi smiled as she thought what a fright her own must look like right now. “Some crown,” she thought as she smiled at the sky assuming Peter was teasing her right now from a far better place.

  They worked together and gathered a full sack and worked it into a sack able to be carried. That was all they took with them for the long road ahead. They would walk to Indiana.

  And when they came to Jeffersonville, the townspeople began to stare. Out of the crowd came a friendly, familiar voice to Naomi. It was Ja
clyn, a friend of hers from her school days in Jeffersonville. “Naomi? Is that really you? “

  Naomi fell to the ground in exhaustion in front of Jaclyn and said, “It is, it is, we are on our way to my mother’s home.”

  Jaclyn fell on her friend and they wept as she told her of the death of Naomi’s parents just two months ago.

  Back On the Road

  Naomi had felt such bitterness on that trip north. However, each time she looked at Ruth, she realized what a gift she was from God. The walk would have surely killed her if she did not have her daughter in law with her to ease the burden. They swapped the sack back and forth. Taking turns, Ruth most often, cooking and making camp for the night. As they grew more worn, the sack grew lighter. Grateful it was summer, many days they merely found black berries in the woods and ate as many as they could. One day they happened upon an apple orchard. Most of the apples were picked clean, no doubt by the soldiers that made their way through this area. It took a while, but they were able to glean many and added them to their sack for the road.

  Their clothing had gotten so filthy that they stopped and decided to wash the dresses in a creek. It almost looked like the spot that Peter and Naomi had stopped at on the way south. Naomi smiled as she looked about for snakes. Then she remembered, “There are far worse things to worry about than snakes.” She kept her ears open and they moved quickly washing their things and hoping they would dry in time to rest this evening, so they wouldn’t get all muddy in the makeshift beds they would make in the leaves and grass.

  Naomi knew enough to stay near the stagecoach route; however, she also knew enough to avoid people at all costs. Here in the south, tensions were high. They did not want to be seen as northerners making their way north, but hopefully just as poor peasants with no where to go, as so many were in the south right now. With all the confusion, she hoped they could slip north without much notice.

  Now in their new home, Naomi’s childhood home, Naomi felt a feverish excitement to be home. After several days of rest, she had begun to work constantly, sweeping, dusting, and stripping curtains to be cleaned and re-hung. There was some food hidden in the storm shelter under the home. Thank God no one thought to look for it. Most of the home was still in tact however, this was not the south that had been blown to pieces. The war made the citizens weary, but they knew nothing of the devastation the south had to endure.

  Ruth helped as much as was humanly possible. She gave everything she had, every day, without a complaint. Unfortunately, she did not have the excitement of Naomi, of being home. She was in a strange place, afraid to speak, afraid they would notice she was from the south. Word had already gotten out anyways. Gossip has a way of getting around, before you choose to make known a situation. Her fear was well placed. There was much prejudism in this area. They had lost many of their sons and fathers and husbands to the war with the confederate army. It was Naomi that took care of curious guests that appeared at the door with handouts and such. “God’s grace,” she would always say. And grace it was that carried them day to day.

  Growing Up

  “Don’t let fear immobilize you Ruth,” Ruth was thinking on those parting words of Naomi’s from this morning as she waited for a response.

  Boaz was a God fearing man who saw in Ruth’s worn hands, and slender figure, a hard and determined worker. He had heard some gossip, but gleaned from it that she had remained faithful to her mother in law through out the tremendous trials of the war. Boaz viewed his life as most comfortable. He always assumed God gave to him in order for him to give to others. There was no looking at them as a charity case, but as precious people that needed an opportunity to rebuild their lives. God specifically spoke to him as she walked through the door, “In her I am pleased.” The word from God shook him for a moment. He even felt a little flustered and hoped she wouldn’t notice. Boaz adjusted his glasses on his face, and even stroked his short dark beard in an effort to do something with himself.

  “Well, I could use a seamstress in the back area, if you are willing,” spoke the kind man with dark eyes at the General Store. “I appreciate your offer to help. Its harvest time so I’ve lost my seamstress to the fields for a while.”

  “Yes, sir, I am more than willing. I work very well with sewing. May I begin today?” She spoke carefully hoping she didn’t sound too southernly.

  “Sure, I have an order sitting here for two shirts, with the measurements. Can you try that? You should find everything you need right back here.”

  “Thank you, sir.” So began Ruth’s work as a seamstress. She worked many days and straight into the evening hours. Because it was harvest time the local folks were doing their shopping for the winter, and had the finances to back it up. They sold their harvest through the General Store, so they held accounts which Boaz, the proprietor, allowed them credit to purchase items, such as new clothing for the coming year. Even Boaz’s seamstress, Julia, had planted some crops. The town was abuzz with the harvest of a good year, in spite of the war.

  “Naomi, look at my earnings,” exclaimed Ruth as she flew through the door with her basket filled with bread, butter, honey, eggs, nuts, flour, sugar, salt, milk, and most precious of all, maple syrup. Ruth loved her mother-in-laws hotcakes. Syrup was the icing!

  It was particularly late that night. Naomi had fallen asleep in her rocker by the fire, while mending an old quilt for winter that she had found tucked in the attic.

  “Oh, Ruth,” she exclaimed with much concern. “It’s so late, too late for you to be out walking alone.”

  “It’s ok Naomi, one of the workers lives down the street, and we walked together. Boaz insisted the man make sure I make it home to my door safely. His name is Daryl. It is your friend Jaclyn’s husband. Even with that wound from the war, he is very kind to me. He told me they have family in the south as well.”

  “Look at all this, I had no idea you would be paid so well for seamstress work.”

  “Boaz said it is because you were such a blessing to his mother in life. He wants to give back in your time of need. When I was done selecting what seemed to be fair pay, he added to the basket, and said something like, ‘handfuls on purpose’.”

  A broad smile crossed the elder woman’s weary face. “His mother was my cousin. We were great friends. Her name was Mabria. She was not my age; she was quite a bit older. What a jewel she was. She raised your father in law, just like her own. Peter loved her like a mother. They were my neighbors. I used to love to help out at the General Store with Mabria and her husband Don. Peter and I used to run the deliveries together from the time we were children. Boaz was Peter’s younger step-brother.” Naomi slipped away into memories with a smile on her face.

  Ruth stoked the stove. “Please, Naomi, make me some hotcakes. I want that syrup so awfully bad.” They both laughed and enjoyed the blessings of God that night.

  Stirrings

  As Ruth made her way into town one morning, there came a sound of a shot fired out of the woods. She stopped, startled, and saw a young man making his way out of the woods holding a turkey by its feet. He laughed when he saw the look on her face. She really wasn’t horrified by the turkey, but by the young man that took her by surprise. “Who are you?” he asked as he laughed.

  “I am Ruth, Naomi’s daughter in law. And who are you?”

  “I’m Nathan, just out looking for some meat for my ma for supper. She said I need to start early today. I haven’t been too good a shot lately. My pa is making me practice more. They think I’ll starve to death if I don’t learn how to shoot. I’ll show em though. And look how early it is. I already got dinner for em.”

  “Good for you Nathan, I hope it’s a good one.”

  “Oh it is, just look at em!”

  Nathan ran down the road and Ruth began to ponder at how well she seemed to be feeling about her new home now. It had been a few months. She had worked hard, the harvest was in. Julia was back at work as a seamstress, but the work load had increased, so Boaz asked Ruth to stay on.r />
  “What a blessing this seems to be,” she thought. “And what a nice man he is. I hope I can please him with my work, and these folks as well. I really thought they would be harder on me than this. Of course there were some,” she thought as she headed towards the post office, hoping for a letter from home.

  “Good morning Ruth,” said Mrs. Jackson from behind the post office desk.

  “Good morning ma’am,” Ruth said softly.

  Mrs. Handley from across the road was just finishing up at the window. “Good morning ma’am,” Ruth spoke to the older woman as she turned around. Lucy Handley’s eyes were as blue as her fine dress she wore. She looked Ruth up and down in a most rude sort of way and right out loud said, “I am still sure you are a confederate spy.”

  “I assure you ma’am, I am not,” Ruth said without lowering her eyes. She kept perfect eye contact, confident and no fear. Naomi had taught her much in life.