by Sarah Price
Another bolt of lightning flashed through the window, illuminating the room.
“Oh, help!” Belle whispered. “I can’t concentrate.”
“Me neither! I hate thunderstorms,” Susie said, pushing her Scrabble tiles into the center of the table. “I think I’ll just go to bed. All that rain is making me blue, anyway.”
Verna sighed. “And just when I was winning!” But she, too, began cleaning up the table.
Belle waited until both of her sisters disappeared upstairs. Only then did she turn off the kerosene lantern that hung over the table. Cloaked in darkness, she made her way to the staircase, feeling the railing beneath her hands before she took that first stair. In the distance, she heard the low roar of thunder and, within seconds, more lightning lit up the sky outside the windows.
“Please, dear Lord,” she whispered. “Take care of Daed.”
Only then did she ascend the stairs and disappear into her dark bedroom for the night.
Chapter Four
The next morning, the sound of a horse and buggy pulling into their driveway distracted Belle. Getting up from the table where she had been folding laundry, she hurried to the kitchen sink to peer out the window. It was still raining, and she could barely see the buggy as sheets of water poured down the window. The buggy stopped by the porch and Belle squinted, trying to make out whose buggy it was. But she couldn’t tell anything except that it wasn’t her father’s.
Concerned, she ran to the door, opening it and stepping outside onto the small porch. Rain cascaded down the broken gutter, and she was almost instantly drenched. But from the porch, she immediately recognized the buggy.
Adam Hershberger.
The left door slid open, and, to her surprise, her father emerged. He reached behind the front seat for his bag and leaned inside as if saying something to whoever was driving the buggy—most likely Adam!—before he shut the door and ran through the puddles and into the house.
“Daed!” Belle let him inside. “You’re soaked clean through!”
He mumbled something as he passed her. But Belle did not immediately follow him. She stood there as the driver turned the horse and buggy around, heading back down their driveway toward the main road. For a split second, the driver paused the buggy as it passed the house and Belle saw that, indeed, it was Adam Hershberger driving it. While she couldn’t make out the details of his face, she saw him stare in her direction, dark curls sticking out from beneath his hat and covered his eyes, before slapping the reins onto the horse’s back, urging it to move faster—whether to escape the rain or her scrutiny, she did not know.
Shutting the door, Belle hurried over to her father. He stood shivering, still holding his bag, in the middle of the kitchen. “What on earth!” She ran to the cabinet near the bathroom door and retrieved a large towel. Wrapping it around her father, she helped dry him. “What’s happened? Where’s your buggy? The horse?”
Abruptly, Melvin stepped away from her, clutching the towel closed at his throat. He didn’t meet her concerned gaze. Instead, he slid into a chair at the head of the kitchen table and stared at the floor. He wore an expression of sorrow, one that Belle had never seen before. Even when his inventions fell apart or he had to start over from scratch, Melvin always remained upbeat and hopeful. His faith that God had a plan for him kept him in good humor, even during the worst of times.
So what, now, could have brought her father so low?
“Talk to me, Daed. What’s wrong?”
He lifted his gaze to stare at her, his eyes swollen red as if he had been crying. “Oh, Belle! What a disaster!”
“We’ve been worried sick about you, Daed. What happened?”
He shut his eyes and nodded his head. “And rightfully so. I never thought to check the weather, Dochder.”
“Please tell me, Daed. What has you looking so forlorn?” She took the edge of the towel and rubbed his wet hair. “Surely it cannot be that bad.” Even without him talking, she knew that something downright awful had transpired on his journey. “Did you make it to Liberty Village?”
“I did not.”
Belle gasped. “Where’ve you been for the past two days, then?”
For the first time since entering the room, he raised his eyes and looked at her. But the moment their eyes met, he lowered them. “Adam Hershberger’s farm.”
A gasp escaped her lips. She could hardly believe her ears. Besides the preachers, she knew of no one who went to the Hershberger farm. It was as mysterious a place as the man himself. “Where is the horse, Daed?”
“Dead, I’m afraid.”
Oh, help! Belle shut her eyes and said a quick prayer. Please, God, make Daed be mistaken. Without a horse, her father couldn’t travel to town to get supplies. Without a horse, they wouldn’t be able to go to church. Without a horse, they’d be hard-pressed to survive. And she knew that they could not afford to replace it. “Oh, Daed . . .” she offered with teary eyes.
But he held up his hand. She could see the pained expression on his face and immediately stopped herself from saying any more.
“I’m afraid, Dochder, that you haven’t yet heard the worst of the story.” He shook his head, his dark eyes still downcast.
Sliding onto the bench next to where he sat, Belle touched his arm. “Tell me, Daed. Tell me what could possibly be worse.”
Their conversation was interrupted as Susie and Verna ran down the stairs, happily calling for their father’s attention. When they joined Melvin and Belle in the kitchen, the two young women practically pranced around the room.
“Oh, Daed!” Verna smiled with delight. “You’re home! What did you bring us?”
“Did you get any new fabric for our dresses?” Susie asked cheerfully, clearly unaware of the somber mood in the room.
“How many of your grills will the store in Liberty Village purchase?” Verna asked, spinning on the floor as if she were already wearing a new dress, not her faded green one with the torn hemline. “I can’t wait to make my new dress for the singing this weekend!” She turned to look at Susie. “Mayhaps Jacob Glick will finally ask me to ride home in his buggy!”
Susie glared at her. “Jacob Glick? Is that who you’ve set your sights on? Oh, help, Verna! His family’s almost as poor as we are!”
“Nee!” Verna snapped defensively. “He’s a gut man! Set to inherit his daed’s farm!”
“And will continue spending all his income supporting those cousins that live outside of town!” Susie made a face to show her displeasure. “Seven brothers and not one of them married! Can you imagine?”
Melvin slammed his hand down on the table. “Enough!”
Immediately, the room became silent. Belle stared at her father in surprise. He had never been one to raise his voice. Both Susie and Verna stood in the middle of the kitchen, their mouths hanging agape, clearly startled by their father’s reaction. Slowly, he pressed his hands against the tabletop and rose to his full height. For the first time, Belle realized that his shoulders were stooped over and he appeared fatigued. Raising his three daughters alone, without the benefit of a mother to help him, had clearly drained him of energy, and the enthusiasm of his two older daughters was taxing his last nerve.
“The horse died,” Belle explained in a soft voice. She noticed the shocked expressions on her sisters’ faces. “And Daed never made it to Liberty Village.”
“Ach!” Susie rushed to the table and sat down. “You never made it there?”
Melvin shook his head and walked over to the sink. He leaned against the edge of the counter and stared outside at the rain that pelted the window. “I never made it there, nee. I missed the turn. I don’t know how, but I did.” Once again, he hung his head, his wet hair matted against the back of his neck. “Then the road became rough, and there was a pothole. I didn’t see it, and the buggy wheel dented. The horse spooked and started to run. I couldn’t stop it, and the next thing I knew, I awoke in a strange house.”
Belle caught her breath. “Adam
Hershberger’s?”
Susie gave her a confused look. “Why on earth would you mention that crazy old beast of a man?”
Belle was about to chastise her for such an uncharitable comment when she realized that her father’s shoulders were shaking, just enough to indicate that he was sobbing. Quickly, she arose from the bench and hurried to wrap her arms around him. “It’s going to be fine, Daed. Everything will be fine. We’ll find a way. Mayhaps I can work in town . . . or I could make more cheese. We will be all right.”
But he shook his head. “No horse. A damaged buggy.” A sob escaped his throat, and he covered his face with his hands. “I’ve no way to provide for you girls.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Belle saw Verna grimace and reach for Susie’s hand as if for comfort. Frowning at them, Belle tightened her hold on her father. “God always has a way of providing for us,” Belle whispered as she leaned her cheek against her father’s shoulder. “You’ll see.”
“He already has.” Melvin’s whispered words were barely audible. Susie and Verna had not heard him, but Belle did.
“Well, that’s right gut news!” She forced a smile. “See? Good things often follow the bad.”
But her father merely shook his head. “I’m not so certain of that, dear Annabelle. You see, I’ve sold the farm.”
Stunned, Belle loosened her arms from around her father. “You did what?” Belle pulled away and stared into her father’s face. “You didn’t just say that you sold the farm, did you, Daed?”
To her further dismay, he nodded his head slowly. “Ja. I had no choice.” He pulled away from Belle and raised his hands to his face, rubbing at his pale flesh. “Last night, Adam Hershberger brought me a plate of food. He sat with me in his kitchen and asked me what had happened. I told him. Told him everything.”
“What do you mean, ‘everything’?” Belle asked cautiously. “What haven’t you told us?”
Melvin avoided looking at any of his daughters. “That grill . . . I invested the last of my savings in it. And I haven’t paid the mortgage on this place in months.” He shuddered as if trying to ward off another sob. “Now, without credit, I can’t buy a new horse or fix the buggy. We’ll have to slaughter another cow, and even that won’t see us through another winter. And the bank . . . why, they’ll be banging at the door any month now to foreclose on this place.”
“You mortgaged the farm?” Belle made her way to the bench, too dazed to stand anymore. “When, Daed?”
In a defeated whisper, he answered her. “Last year.”
“Why?”
He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Oh, Belle, I had no choice. We had no money!”
Despite the devastating revelation that her father had mortgaged the house, Belle felt even more disappointed that her father had not shared this information with her.
“Adam offered to buy the farm. Pay off the mortgage and give me some money which, thankfully, will help us find a new place to live, perhaps in another town. Maybe near your bruders, until we get back on our feet.”
Verna gasped. “Another town? But all of our friends live here!”
Susie shot her a dark look. “You mean Jacob Glick lives here.”
Ignoring Susie, Verna’s eyes flashed angrily, and she turned to face Belle. “You! If you’d only accepted Gabriel’s attention, why! We’d be fine. You know he would live here and work the farm. He wants to be a farmer. And he’d never let us starve! His family has money, too. They’d see that Daed wouldn’t have to struggle. Such a selfish girl! Putting Daed in this position!”
“Verna!”
Despite her father’s quick reprimand, Verna did not stop there. “Always thinking of yourself instead of the rest of us.”
Belle’s eyes widened as she listened to her sister’s tirade. “That’s not true, and you know it.”
“Nee ! You could marry him and we could keep the farm.” Verna turned toward her father. “Tell her, Daed. Tell her to marry Gabriel.”
A pale-faced Susie sank into a chair at the other end of the table. “Oh, why didn’t Gabriel want to court me?” she lamented. “Mayhaps he’ll still help us. I’ll accept him!”
Verna rolled her eyes. “You’d accept anyone! Even one of those short Grimm brothers who live together!”
Susie gasped and started to argue back.
But her father held up his hand, interrupting them. “Girls, that doesn’t help me any. Besides, I’m afraid that the farm is sold. Whether or not Belle would accept Gabriel now, it’s too late. Adam offered me a decent sum of money. I can pay off my creditors and hopefully find a place to rent in Trinity Falls and mayhaps I can rebuild my grill prototype.” He sighed and tried to force a soft smile at his three stunned daughters. “This is God’s will, I suppose. He wants us to go somewhere else. I should have seen the signs long ago.”
“Why would Adam want this farm?” Belle asked. “Isn’t his own farm one of the largest in the district? Doesn’t he have enough to do there?”
Melvin shrugged. “I don’t know the man’s reasons, but at least you won’t have to marry a man you don’t love just so that we can stay here . . . on a farm that has been nothing more than a hardship to me ever since your maem and I moved here.”
“The fields have horrible soil. Why, that back field is nothing more than a mess of weeds, brambles, and rocks!” Belle couldn’t understand what interest Adam Hershberger would have in their farm. He lived such a solitary life that she couldn’t imagine he wanted to live closer to town. In fact, from what little she knew about him, he preferred being as far away from town—and people!—as possible. “This just makes no sense, Daed.”
“What’s done is done.” He reached out for her hand and gave it a tender squeeze.
There was a deeply sorrowful look upon her father’s face. Seeing it broke Belle’s heart. After all of his hard work to create and sell something that could support his family! How could such a terrible thing have happened? And the result was not just the destruction of her father’s dreams, but the realization that the family would have to, once again, relocate to a smaller, more manageable place, most likely far away from Echo Creek.
Belle stared at her father, wishing she knew what to say. She so wanted to comfort him, but the thought of leaving Echo Creek, her friends, and the only memories she had of her mother—however few remained!—created a tightness in her chest. She simply could not imagine packing up and shutting down the house. And to turn the keys over to Adam Hershberger, a man who already had more than enough, especially considering he was the last of his family line?
“Surely Adam would reconsider, Daed. Perhaps if the bishop were to talk to him?”
But her father shook his head. “Nee, Dochder. I gave Adam my word, and I won’t be going back on it.” He gave a long, mournful sigh and stood up. Slowly, he straightened his suspenders and looked around the room as if drinking in his own memories. “Going back on my pledge, why, that’s akin to lying, and we all know what God thinks of liars.”
“Oh, Daed . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she found herself at a loss for any further words.
“It’ll be all right, Belle,” Melvin said, although she was certain he didn’t truly believe that. “We’ll make a fresh start of it somewhere else. Mayhaps in Liberty Village.” That, too, didn’t seem believable. Property was too dear in the area. That was one of the main reasons hanging on to their Echo Creek farm had been so important.
“Mayhaps,” she whispered softly, not convinced but wanting herself to wish for the best.
“Now, I’m terribly tired.” He shuffled toward the door that led to his bedroom. “I reckon a good long nap will do my body and mind some good.” As he opened the door, the hinges squeaking from lack of maintenance, he turned to look at Belle. His lips twisted into a forced smile that was meant to reassure her that everything would be fine, but failed. “You’ll see, Belle. We’ll bounce back from this and things will be better than ever. God has a plan for us. Never forget that.
”
And with those words, he slipped through the open door and shut it behind himself.
Ja, Belle thought. God does have a plan. If only she knew what it was.
Chapter Five
“He did what?” Ella’s blue eyes widened as she stared at Belle, the disbelief more than evident in her expression and mirrored in her friend’s.
With a feeling of defeat, Belle shook her head, letting her fingers play with the edge of the saucer on which her cup of coffee was resting, still untouched. She noticed that her hands were trembling. Even after three days, she hadn’t been able to come to terms with it herself. Just the thought of having lost the farm made her ill at ease. So she understood Ella’s surprise; she felt the same way as her friend. “That’s right. Daed sold the farm to Adam.”
“Sold it?”
Belle sighed as she nodded her head in affirmation. “Sold it.”
“To . . . Adam Hershberger?” Ella asked, as if making certain she had heard her friend correctly.
“Ja.”
“The man who lives in that isolated place north of town?”
Somehow Belle managed to smile. “I know of no other Hershbergers in the area, Ella.”