The Covenant

by Beverly Lewis

  The first few days, Ida chose Sadie the most to help her with Lydiann, especially during the morning and afternoon. She felt sure things might improve a bit for Sadie once she held her cuddly baby sister in her arms. Jah, there was something real comforting about holding a wee one. So the firstborn helped change and dress the baby of the family, walking the floor with her when she was a bit colicky of an afternoon.

  After a full week of this, Sadie did seem to be settling down some. But not so much that she wanted to share with Ida. Not at all. In due time, she will, Ida decided.

  Abram got a kick out of watching his new daughter make funny little face crinkles while she slept. He told Ida this was the pertiest baby he’d ever seen, which, if she remembered far enough back, he’d said the same of their other daughters when they were each brand-new.

  Well, now they had five girls living under their roof, at least for now. Both Sadie and Leah would probably be wed here within the year, she guessed. Leah, for sure—to Jonas Mast. Lizzie had given her the word about the need for celery, thank goodness, so they’d best be planting some this summer, in mid-July.

  Lo and behold, if Abram didn’t have to worry over working the land after all, waiting so many years to hand over the farm to a son coming along behind. No, the Good Lord had taken care of that, seen fit to give them a daughter instead of a son. A right healthy girl at that.

  So just whenever Dawdi John grew older and it was his time to go on home to heaven, she and Abram could simply move into the little Dawdi Haus with Lydiann—build on a bit, maybe—raise her over there, and let one of their sons-in-law tend to farming duties. Of course, by then both Hannah and Mary Ruth would be baptized church members and married, too, more than likely.

  Thankfully, all things were working out wonderful-gut for those who love the Lord here on Gobbler’s Knob. Seemed to be, anyways.

  Ida put a kettle on to boil, hankering for a cup of raspberry tea with a spoonful of honey. Never mind the late hour. All day she had been so busy with her little one, she hadn’t had a chance to sit down and read her cousin Fannie’s long letter, which had come in the afternoon mail.

  Wanting something in hand while she read, she waited for the water to boil, then let the tea leaves steep five minutes. Once she poured the simmering tea into her cup, she settled down in Abram’s favorite hickory rocker. Glad for the stillness of the house, she knew all too well that Lydiann would be crying for nourishment here perty soon.

  So with her ear attuned to the upstairs bedroom, where Abram slept soundly and their infant daughter was tucked into a handmade wooden cradle in the corner of the room, she began to read.

  My dear cousin Ida,

  Greetings from Grasshopper Level, where Peter and I are the happy parents of twins . . . a girl and a boy. No doubt you’ve heard through the grapevine of our double blessing. They arrived full-term, though the boy is somewhat smaller and not nearly as hearty as the girl. We named them Jacob and Amanda—Jake and Mandie for short. And such a joyous sight the two of them are! Jake has Peter’s dark hair and jawline, and Mandie has light brown hair and blue eyes like our Jonas and some of the girls.

  We’re ever so thankful to the Good Lord and continue to trust Him to see us through the first months of little or no sleep, as you must surely know by now yourself. I’m so happy to hear that you’ve had a healthy baby girl. Just whenever you have a free minute, I’d like to know how it is for you and Abram having a new baby after all this time.

  Then one of these days, maybe come late summer, our families can visit again and enjoy seeing all three of our young ones lined up in a row. Such a perty sight that’ll be.

  Well, I hear little Mandie fussing for the next feeding. She cries and then both she and Jake get fed. Now, how about that?

  Give my best to Abram and all the girls. (Lizzie, too.)

  My love to you,

  Cousin Fannie

  Ida sighed, folding the letter. It was awful nice to sit and soak up the quiet, sipping tea late at night, almost old enough to be a Grossmudder, and here she was starting all over as a new mamma, yet. What was the Lord God thinking, anyways?

  Of course, she knew she’d just be on her knees that much more, raising Lydiann clear at the tail end of the family, asking for divine wisdom and help along the way. God would continue to be their joy and their strength. Each and every day. Jah, she could count on that and never take such gifts for granted.

  Jonas had the use of one of his father’s driving horses for the special occasion, this day Leah had dreaded to see arrive, yet she wouldn’t have missed spending the afternoon hours with her beau. Not for the world. They’d taken to the road in Jonas’s open buggy, diverting off from the main highway and heading toward White Oak Road, where the route curved round like a dusty ribbon under the hot sun.

  One of the less-traveled paths, which they ended up following, shrank to a couple of furrows with a thin row of yellow dandelions running between, leading to a wide and open meadow. Thick green bushes, some thorny, others berry-laden, bedecked the roadside as they went. All the while Leah memorized the lush green acres and pungent farm smells around them, as well as the way the sunlight played on Jonas’s light brown hair, listening intently as her dearest love shared his plans for their future.

  “I’ll return in late September or early October. For sure in time for apple picking.” Jonas reached for her hand. “And I pray the time will pass quickly.”

  “Though I can’t see how. . . .” Then she nodded, attempting to be brave. “But we’ll both be ever so busy . . . so, jah, it oughta go fast.”

  “You should go ahead with your baptismal instruction, just as we’d planned. I’ll do the same in Ohio.”

  “Ach, how will that all work out?” Leah had never heard of such a thing.

  “I’ve already talked with my bishop. He’s given me the okay, if I can find a conservative order in the Millersburg area.”

  Jonas slowed the horse as the buggy wheels click-clacked over a bridge made from old railroad ties, the creek rising and falling over giant stones beneath the old boards, some of them gaping too far apart for Leah’s liking.

  “I’ll be countin’ the days till I see you again,” Jonas said, his voice husky now.

  Oh no . . . don’t say such things, she thought, having promised herself she wouldn’t spoil the afternoon by shedding a tear. “We have all the rest of our lives, Lord willin’, to enjoy our time together as husband and wife,” she said.

  He smiled at her then, his blue eyes alight with love. Leaning his head against hers briefly, he stopped the horse just as the road leveled out, past a slight incline. “Here’s a good place to pick some wild flowers. Want to?”

  Standing up quickly, she nodded. Jonas helped her out of the buggy to the grassy paddock, where flowing hills beckoned in every direction. “I’m planning a nice surprise for you,” he said.

  “Oh? What is it?”

  “Well, now, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?”

  She was ever so inquisitive. “Just when will I know?”

  He stood there, grinning at her to beat the band. “My dear girl, how will I get along without you by my side . . . even for such a few months?” Gently he pulled her near and brushed her cheek with a tender kiss. “You make it awful hard to keep a secret. Those big hazel eyes of yours.”

  She laughed softly as they strolled through the tall grass. “So . . . will you tell me, Jonas? Just what is it you have up your sleeve?”

  “I’m going to try my hand at makin’ you a big oak sideboard. What do you think of that?”

  “Oh, such a wonderful-gut surprise! When will you have it finished, do you think?”

  “When I return.” He touched her face. “It’ll be my wedding gift to you.”

  “I’ll look forward to that day.” She felt her throat close up and knew she couldn’t have spoken more even if she’d wanted to.

  “I love you, Leah.” And with that, they spun round and round together. The whirli
ng made her dizzy with delight, but she savored most the spot where she landed—in his strong arms. “Remember the day I hurt my ankle?” she said softly. “You picked me right up and carried me into your mamma’s kitchen almost before I knew what you were doing!”

  “Well, someone had to carry you, right?”

  Aware of just how near she was to his heart, she laid her head against his white shirt and whispered back, “I love you, too, Jonas.” And then she blushed. “Now, I have a secret. But I best not tell.”

  He reached over and cupped her face in his hands.

  “Tell me or . . . well, I’ll have to kiss you on the lips.”

  “If you do that, we’ll spoil things.”

  Still, he held her face tenderly, moving closer. “What’s your secret, Leah Ebersol?”

  “Ach, must you be so impatient?”

  “This minute . . . I must know, my dear one.”

  She breathed deeply, letting him cradle her in his arms once again. “I always loved you, Jonas. Even back when I was only ten. That’s what.”

  He smiled down at her. “We both felt this way, didn’t we? From the first time we met?”

  “Jah—” she fought back tears—“and that we’d mean much more to each other . . . go far beyond our childhood promises.”

  “And here we are, Leah.”

  “Did you ever think we’d be engaged, for sure and for certain?”

  “I never doubted it,” he said.

  Then and there, she vowed their love must never become run-of-the-mill like other married couples. Theirs would be the strong and lasting kind, one that flourished well into old age, despite the strain of separation facing them now.

  They walked hand in hand up to the crest of the hill, where they looked over grazing and cropland far below, watching butterflies drift up from the grasses. A single bluebird flew overhead, and Leah reached up happily.

  “You’re my bluebird . . . and always will be,” her darling beau had said, back on their first night as a courting couple.

  With Jonas by her side, she was right where she belonged—for always—certain no harm could befall two people so in love.