Lily George
Page 24
“Oh,” he said, his face lifting. “Not look gift horse…to see if healthy.”
“Exactly,” she said. She hadn’t thought about the phrase as being an idiom. How difficult it must be to live away from home, where you don’t even know the everyday expressions. Homesickness stabbed her suddenly. Her heart clenched. Perhaps they did have something in common. “It must have been hard to leave home and travel so far.”
He seemed to close in on himself. Then he shrugged slightly. “War will come soon to Germany. I need to keep safe, to raise Johann.”
“You might have been drafted?” she asked more sharply than she’d planned. During the Civil War, many men had bought their way out of the draft. Not something she approved of.
“Ja—yes—but war in Germany is to win land for princes, not for people. No democracy in Germany.”
“That’s unfortunate.” No doubt not having any say in what the government did would make being drafted feel different. Ellen fell silent, exhausted from the effort of making conversation with this man who reminded her so much of Holton. She knotted her hands together in her lap, as if that would contain her composure. Would this ride never end?
“We—the men—we build the school…more on Saturday,” he said haltingly.
This pleased her. She wanted to get her life here started, get busy so she could put the past in the past. “How much longer do you think it will take?”
“Depends. Some men harvest corn. If rain comes…” He shrugged again, seeming unable to express the uncertainty.
“I see. Well, I’ll just have faith that it will all come together in the next few weeks. Besides, the delay gives me more time to prepare lessons.”
At that moment, Mr. Lang turned the wagon down a track and ahead lay the Steward cabin. Ellen’s heart leaped when she saw her cousin, carrying her baby, hurry out to greet her.
“Ophelia!” she called.
Mr. Lang drew up his team. “Wait,” he insisted. “Please, I help.” He secured the brake.
But Ellen couldn’t wait. She jumped down and ran to Ophelia, the emotions she’d been working so hard to keep at bay finally overtaking her. She buried her face in Ophelia’s shoulder and burst into tears. Her feelings strangled her voice.
ISBN: 9781460317365
HEALING THE SOLDIER’S HEART
Copyright © 2013 by Sarah Baker
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