Katie tilted her head as if trying to make sense of the situation. “Why don’t you just come out and ask?”
“I couldn’t do that,” Abigail said, shocked. “I’d be too shy.”
“You like this man, don’t you?” Katie asked, looking intently at her sister. “I know you well enough to know you like him.”
Abigail started to shake her head no, but knew her sister would not believe her. “I sort of do like him, but it makes no difference if he is married or not. He’s too old for me.”
“Do you know how old he is?”
“Nee, but he is married with four kinner. He would have to be in his late twenties, and I’m only eighteen. I don’t know if I want a man that is that old,” Abigail said, turning and limping towards the house. “Let’s get your sugar.”
“Well, let me ask around if anyone knows anything about him and I’ll find out if he’s married,” Katie said, getting out the sugar from the pantry. “If he is a widower, Abby, age doesn’t matter when it comes to affairs of the heart. Gott will let you know if he’s the one.”
“If he is a widower, why would he be interested in me?” Abigail said, filling a cup up with sugar. “How would I ever take care of his kinner? I mean look at me. I can’t run; I have a hard enough time walking let alone chasing kinner. Why would a man like him be interested in someone like me?”
“Abby, you’re too hard on yourself. Jah, you have a limp, but you have a kind heart and would make any man a wonderful wife.” Katie went to hug her sister. “Let’s take it one step at a time. I’ll let you know if I find anything out,” Katie said, going out the door.
Abigail sighed and went over to the kitchen chair. Sitting down, she rubbed her leg, trying to ease the dull ache she felt. I definitely spent too much time on my feet this morning, she thought to herself. What do I do if he is a widower and is coming here because he likes me? He knows I have a limp; he’s seen it. Why would he be interested in me?
She sat for a while deep in thought before realizing it was time to go out to the barn and give some of the animals their medicine. Grabbing the pail of potato peels she had saved for the pig, she slowly made her way to the barn. Gott, what do you have planned? Is there a reason Isaiah keeps coming here? I hope he isn’t looking for someone just to take care of his kinner. I can’t think of any other reason he would be interested in me.
* * *
Chapter 7
“Abigail, how much room do you have in your barn?” Gary asked when he saw her walk into the Animal Center a few days later.
“I have a few empty pens. Why?”
“We have an emergency. I just received notification of an abandoned farm, and some animals are in desperate need of some tender loving care.” Gary looked up from his paperwork. “I was wondering if I could bring some of them to you.”
“Jah, I can make room. I can move the cat cages out of the stalls, and I’m sure I can find other places for a few more,” she said, concerned. “How can someone just abandon their animals?”
“I don’t know,” Gary said, shaking his head. “From what I’ve seen, some of them are in pretty poor condition. I’ll probably be by with the truck sometime tomorrow to bring them to you, as well as the necessary medicine. I really appreciate you doing this for them.”
“Well, they are God’s creatures too and deserve good care. I’m not sure my father will be very thrilled, but I’ll talk to him about it.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to get you in any trouble with your father.”
“No, it will be fine.” Abigail smiled, hoping she could convince her father. He had already complained about the barn being too full as it was.
* * *
Abigail went out to the barn early the next morning to see what she could do to make more room. She had cleared out some space the night before, but was hoping she could think of another way to make even more room.
“Abby! Abby!” she heard her sister call.
“I’m in the barn,” Abigail called out, a bit annoyed that she was being interrupted. She had no idea when Gary was bringing the animals, and she wanted to make sure everything was ready.
“Abby, you’ll never guess what! Isaiah is widowed. I heard it from Phyllis Becker. She told me he moved here a few months ago. His wife is buried here because her family was originally from this area. He moved here with his kinner so they could be closer to their mamm,” Katie said out of breath. “Isn’t that great news?”
Abigail stared at her sister trying to take in everything she just said. “So he’s looking for a wife then?”
“So what if he is, he likes you,” Katie said, disappointed with the reaction she received from her sister.
“He’s too old for me.” Abigail turned to move some hay out of one of the stalls.
“Nee, he isn’t. There was almost six years difference between Mamm and Daed; and look at Abraham— he said his parents had a ten-year difference in their marriage,” Katie said. “Age doesn’t matter. It’s the love you both have for each other.”
Abigail sighed and looked over her sister's shoulder, noticing that Gary was coming up the drive.
“Sorry, Katie, but I have work to do. We have some rescue animals coming in,” Abigail said, hoping her sister would leave. She didn’t want to think or talk about this right now.
“Alright, but think about what I said. Abby, you are a wonderful, kind person. Isaiah would be lucky if you agreed to be his wife.”
* * *
After Gary had delivered the animals and given Abigail instructions for the medicine, she went back to the barn to tend to her new patients. Her heart broke for these poor animals. There was a sad looking donkey called Fred, who spend most of his life alone; two chickens and a rooster who had lost most of their feathers from malnutrition, a fragile looking horse and two small kittens and a dog that were in such poor condition that Gary said he almost had them put down, but thought he would give them a chance.
Abigail grabbed a few extra blankets to wrap around the dog to make sure he was warm enough when she heard Josiah and Jeremy call out for her.
“I’m in the barn,” Abigail called, wondering what they were doing there. The sound of running feet made her look up as Josiah, Jeremy, David and Ruth-Ann all came running into the barn. Abigail quickly put her finger to her lips making a shushing noise.
“You have to be quiet. These animals are very, very sick and need lots of rest.”
“Make sure you listen to Abigail,” Isaiah said, coming in behind the children. “Did you get new animals?”
“Jah, from an abandoned farm. They are all very sick, and there are more at the Center. I only took a few of them,” she said, petting the dog’s head.
“I’m really sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor?” Isaiah asked, squatting down beside Abigail to take a look at the dog.
“Sure, what is it?”
“I was wondering if I could leave the kinner here with you for a little while? The person who usually watches them has gone away for the weekend, and I have to go into town for a meeting. I’d only be gone an hour or so.”
“Jah, sure; they can help me feed the animals and get them settled.”
“Gott bless you, Abigail. Danke. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“That’s fine; I’ll take good care of the kinner. There are lots of jobs I can give them to keep them busy.”
“I really appreciate this.” Isaiah shook her hand and climbed into his buggy. Watching him drive away, she thought about the warmth and strength of his hand. Her heart was pounding, and her hands felt shaky. What on earth is the matter with me? she asked herself. It was just a regular handshake.
“Abby, can we feed the animals?” Jeremy asked, bringing Abigail out of her fog.
Nodding her head, she looked at the four pairs of eyes all looking up at her, and she smiled. “Jah, but we need to be extra careful. These animals aren’t used to being handled and we need to take really good
care of them.”
Heading into the barn, she gave each of the boys a chore to do. “Ruth-Ann, you can stay and help me,” she said, taking the small girl’s hand.
Ruth-Ann, looked up at Abigail. “Can you be my new mamm?”
Abigail looked at Ruth-Ann not knowing what to say. “Ach, Ruth-Ann, we need to tend to the animals right now. We can talk about that later,” she answered, hoping that would be the end of questions like that.
Ruth-Ann smiled at her and followed her into the barn. Quickly, Abigail involved her with tending to the two kittens that needed to be bottle-fed. Getting a bottle ready, Abigail sat Ruth-Ann on the floor of the stall and showed her how to hold the little kitten and feed it.
I know Katie found out about their mamm, but I must talk to Isaiah about this. I can’t have Ruth-Ann ask me any more questions like that, Abigail thought to herself as she prepared a food bowl for the dog.
Before too long, all the animals had been fed and were made comfortable in their temporary home, including Fred who loved the attention he was getting from Josiah.
“Why would people not take care of their animals?” Josiah asked, rubbing Fred behind the ear.
“I don’t know. Perhaps the people became sick and couldn’t care for them anymore,” Abigail said, smiling at Josiah. “I think Fred likes you.”
“Can we come back again tomorrow and help?” David asked, kneeling down beside the dog. “Does he have a name?”
“Nee, he doesn’t. Why don’t you give him one?” Abigail went over and kneeled down to pet the dog’s head. “His tail is wagging, so he’s happy, which is a good sign.”
David thought for a moment then smiled. “I’m going to call him Happy.”
Abigail laughed. “I think that’s an excellent name.” The dog lifted its head and gave David a big wet kiss on the side of his face.
* * *
Chapter 8
“I’m sorry, my meeting took longer than expected,” Isaiah said, running into the barn.
Abigail looked up and smiled. “That’s okay. We’ve had a wonderful time.”
“Daed, Abigail let me name the dog. I named him Happy ‘cause he likes me, and when I pet him, his tail wags and she said that is a good sign,” David rambled.
“And we got to feed Fred and Mabel,” Jeremy added.
“I helped feed the kitties,” Ruth-Ann chimed in.
“Whose Mabel?” Abigail asked the boys, looking a bit puzzled.
“That’s what I named the horse. Is that a good name?” Jeremy asked.
“I think Mabel is a befitting name.” Abigail laughed and turned back to Isaiah. “We had a lot of fun. They were all a really big help.”
“Well, danke again, Abigail.”
“Abby said we can come back tomorrow,” David interrupted. “To release the deer.”
“Jah, I told them if it was okay with you,” Abigail added. “I’ve done all I can with her so it’s time for her to go live with her own kind.”
“Sure, we can come over in the afternoon, if that’s alright,” Isaiah said, lifting the children up into the buggy.
“See you then.” Abigail smiled and waved as the buggy disappeared down the road. She sighed as she walked into the house. Gott, I know I have prayed for a husband, but why does this man with four kinner keep coming by? Is this your plan? I don’t know if I am ready to be a wife, let alone a mamm.
She hated to admit it to herself, but she had begun to develop strong feelings for Isaiah, and she felt herself bonding with his children. She still had an image in her mind of Ruth-Ann looking at her with her big blue eyes asking her to be her new mother. Abigail closed her eyes; she felt so confused, because she knew in her heart she could never marry Isaiah because of their age difference. She had convinced herself that he was too old for her. He’s probably just looking for someone to watch his kinner anyway. There’s no way a man like him would ever fall in love with someone like me.
* * *
The next day, Isaiah and the children came by after lunch to watch the deer return to the forest. Everyone gathered on the far side of the forest, and watched as Abigail led the deer out of the barn by a rope. Although the deer had become accustomed to being around humans, Gary had told her its wild instincts were starting to take over and it was time to set it free.
Abigail gave the deer one last pat on the head and eased the rope off of its neck. The deer stood there for the longest time looking around and then slowly began walking into the woods.
“Good-bye, Bess,” the children all said together.
The deer turned and looked back at them all as if to say good-bye, then turned and sprinted into the forest.
“There, that’s done. Now I can move the animals around to give them more room,” Abigail said, rolling up the rope.
“Can we help?” the children called out.
“Jah, you can start cleaning out the old straw so we can put in some fresh straw for the horse, if you’d like.”
Watching the children run ahead towards the barn, Abigail winced a bit as she walked.
“Are you alright?” Isaiah asked, reaching out and grabbing her by the elbow.
“Jah, jah, I’m fine. I’ve probably been on my feet a bit too long. I’ve been up since very early working in the barn.”
“Did you have an accident when you were a child?” Isaiah asked, guiding her over to a small bench for her to sit down.
“Nee, I was born with a hip defect. The doctors had told my parents I might never walk, but they were wrong. I just have to be careful not to overwork myself,” Abigail said, sitting down.
“My wife was born with a heart defect and the doctors told her she shouldn’t have any children because the strain would not be good for her heart. She ignored them and each one of those kinner I consider a blessing from Gott,” Isaiah said, closing his eyes as if recalling a pleasant memory. “After David was born, our doctor told her if she was found with child again, it would be dangerous because her heart had grown weaker. She wanted a little girl so badly and ignored him. She was ordered to stay in bed for nine months, which she did, but I could tell the pregnancy was very hard on her and that Gott would soon be calling her home.”
“Ach, Isaiah, that must have been such a difficult time for you.”
“Jah, it was. After Ruth-Ann was born, I thought things were getting better. Claire seemed to get stronger. We thought her health problems were behind us and that maybe Gott was just testing us. One morning, I got up, and Claire looked exhausted; so when I questioned her, she said she just hadn’t slept well. I told her I would take care of supper and the kinner when I got home from work so she could rest. When I arrived home that night, Josiah met me at the door and said that his mother was asleep on the couch and he couldn’t wake her.”
Abigail gasped. “Isaiah, I’m so sorry! Had the children been alone all day?”
“Nee. Josiah told me that it was just before I came home that she told the children to play quietly on the floor and that she was just going to lay down on the couch. Ruth-Ann was playing contentedly in her playpen so no harm had come to them. Claire must have gone to Gott shortly after she lay down.”
“Danke for sharing that with me. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for you to raise your kinner on your own,” Abigail said, quietly.
“Well, it was almost five years ago that Claire left us and jah, it has been very hard. Her family was from this area, so she had told me that should she die she wanted to be buried with her family. The children kept asking me to visit their mamm so I finally decided to move closer so the drive wouldn’t be so long.”
“So who watches them while you work?”
“I was fortunate to find an older Englisch woman who was looking for something to do to keep herself busy, and she loves my kinner. She’s a blessing from Gott,” Isaiah said, taking a deep breath and looking up towards the sky.
“You sometimes wonder why Gott does what he does. I always questioned why he would take Claire away from the k
inner and me, but in a strange way it has made me a better person.”
“We better go see what the kinner are up to in the barn,” Abigail said, changing the subject. She was glad that Isaiah had opened up to her, but it didn’t change the way she felt about their age difference.
When they came into the barn, the children were laying in the straw with Happy who was in his glory with the tummy rubs he was getting.
“Come, children; it’s time to go home,” Isaiah said.
“Aww, do we have to?” Jeremy protested. “I wanted to help feed the animals again.
“Nee, we’ve taken enough of Abigail’s time today.” Isaiah held out his hand for Ruth-Ann to take.
Before Abigail could stop the words from pouring out of her mouth, she found herself saying, “my daed has gone to visit with a friend and won’t be back until tomorrow. If you would like to stay for supper, I’ve got a chicken casserole I could put in the oven. That way the children could stay and help me,” Abigail said, suddenly hoping she wouldn’t regret the invitation.
* * *
Chapter 9
“Pleeeeaase daed?” the children all sang out at once.
Isaiah looked at them and then at Abigail. “If you are sure it isn’t any bother, we’d love to. I’m quite certain they are tired of my terrible cooking.”
In the kitchen, everyone shared in preparing the meal. After Ruth-Ann and the boys finished setting the table they went into the other room to play some of the board games that were stacked in a corner.
“What can I do?” Isaiah asked, looking around the kitchen.
Abigail brought some carrots and stalks of celery to the table. “Here you can chop these up while I mix the other ingredients together.”
They chatted non-stop while preparing the meal and Abigail was astonished at how at ease she was with him. It was as if time had stood still and there was no age difference. He told her all about his growing up in Greenville and how hard it was for him to move here and start new. Abigail in turn, told him all about how her mother had passed and the difficulty she and her sisters had growing up without a mother.
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