“I won’t leave you until you are safely back with your family. I promise.” This one he would keep.
CHAPTER FOUR
A DOG’S DEEP-THROATED barking roused Ruth from a restless sleep. She sat up in bed, not sure if she was dreaming. The dog barked again. It sounded like Meeka was right outside the house. Ruth swung her legs out of bed, grimacing as her knee protested the move. She hobbled to the window and looked out. A huddled figure was crossing her lawn with a large bundle clasped to his shoulder. Meeka bounded around him.
Ruth lit her lamp and limped to her bedroom door. In the hallway she knocked on Faron’s door. Zack poked his head out from across the hall. “What’s going on?”
“There’s someone outside.”
“Who is it?” Ella asked from beneath her husband’s arm.
“I don’t know. That’s why I want Faron to go see who it is.”
“I’ll go,” Zack said.
She waited until Zack appeared fully dressed a few minutes later. She heard a voice downstairs as Zack stepped into the hall. It sounded like Owen. She made her way to the stairwell. Zack stood beside Owen at the bottom of the steps. Owen held something in his arms. Ernest’s massive dog stood beside him.
“Owen, what is going on?” she asked.
“Ruth, you shouldn’t be up with your injury. We can handle this. Zack, tell Ella I need her help.”
Ruth started down the stairs. “No one’s going to send me to bed in my own house until I know what you are doing here. Granny Weaver said that I could walk if it didn’t hurt.” It did hurt, but not so badly that she couldn’t negotiate the stairs by leaning heavily on the railing.
Owen carried his burden to her sofa and laid it down. He pulled back the corner of the brown-and-cream quilt and she saw a little girl’s face. Confused, she looked to Owen for an explanation. “Who is she?”
“I was hoping you knew. She was huddled on the porch behind Meeka when I got to Ernest’s place. I have no idea how long she’d been there or where she came from. Meeka probably saved her life by keeping her warm.”
Ruth pressed a hand to her heart. “Her family must be frantic.”
“That’s what I thought, but I don’t know who they might be. Do you?”
Ruth was sure she had never seen the child before. “She must be visiting someone in the area. She can’t have gotten far in this weather. We should check with the closest families.”
Ella came down the stairs, followed by Faron, who was yawning and rubbing his head.
They all gathered around the sleeping child. Ella gently pulled back the quilt. The girl was wearing a kapp, a long winter coat and snow boots that were too big for her. “I don’t know her.” She looked up at Faron. “Did you see her today at the skating party?”
“I didn’t pay any attention to the kinder. She could have been there.”
The child’s eyes fluttered open. She took one look at Faron and started screaming at the top of her lungs. The dog stepped forward, barking fiercely. Faron hopped backward.
“Meeka! You know Faron,” Ruth said and ignored the dog. Meeka’s head and tail drooped. Ruth sat down by the child, who had scrambled up and was huddled in the corner of the sofa.
Owen held out both hands palm first. “It’s okay, Grace. No one is going to hurt you. These are all my friends. We’re going to help you find your family.”
Grace’s eyes darted from face to face. Meeka crawled onto the sofa and lay in front of the child in a gesture of protection.
“Can you tell us where your mamm is?” Ella asked.
“Mommy’s sleeping” came her faint reply.
Ruth leaned closer. “Sleeping where?”
Grace shook her head and buried her face in Meeka’s ruff.
“That’s all she would tell me,” Owen said. “That and her father is gone. I couldn’t get a name out of her.”
“I’ll hitch up the buggy,” Zack said. “Ella and I will go to the farms west of here. Faron, you can take the tractor. Check the farms east of here. Owen, do you think she could’ve come cross-country?”
“It’s possible. No one would walk into the wind and snow if they didn’t need to. A child certainly wouldn’t. I’ll go get Ernest’s buggy and check the farms north of here.” He turned to go.
Grace scrambled over Meeka, jumped off the sofa and threw her arms around his leg. “Owen, don’t go. You promised.”
He detached her and knelt beside her, holding on to her shoulders. “I have to find your mamm and daed. They will be worried about you.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her face. She flung her arms around his neck, nearly choking him. “Stay. You promised.”
Zack wagged his eyebrows. “I guess we will check the farms north, east and west of here.”
“I’ll make coffee.” Ruth limped toward the kitchen but paused in the doorway to look back.
Ella sighed. “Try to get the child back to sleep, Owen. She looks exhausted.”
He nodded and sat down in a chair with the child still clinging to his neck. Ruth’s family went upstairs to get dressed. She went to the kitchen and soon heard them head out the door.
Ruth set the coffee on to perk and came in to sit across from Owen. Grace’s eyelids were drooping lower, but she continued to fight sleep.
“I said I didn’t want more excitement. Did you forget that?” Ruth asked softly.
“I didn’t know who else to bring her to.” He looked at her with worried eyes.
She halfway expected him to leave the child with her and bolt out the door. “You did the right thing bringing her here. My feelings about the dog aren’t as generous.”
“You try to drag Meeka outside. This is her stray lamb, and she’s guarding it with her life.”
“A stray, frightened lamb.”
He gazed at his charge. “Yeah. I can’t blame her. I know how scary it is to be left alone.”
Was he thinking back to the deaths of his parents and how he felt when he was a child separated from his only family? She didn’t want to feel pity for him. He wasn’t a child anymore and he had turned his back on the family that took him in. And on her.
He looked at Ruth. “Is that coffee ready? I think she’s asleep.”
He laid Grace on the sofa, and she didn’t stir. Meeka stretched out on the floor in front of her with her head on her paws.
Ruth poured them both some coffee and filled a kettle with cider to warm for her children when they returned. She settled at the kitchen table, took a sip of coffee and considered who Grace might belong to. “Bishop Weaver’s oldest son, John, is home for a visit. He has four children if I remember right.”
“How about the other church district? Could she belong to them?”
“Maybe, but that district is more than ten miles from here. I don’t see how she could have walked that far.”
He rose and went to look out the door. It seemed he was learning bad habits from her son. “Don’t let all the warm air out.”
He sent her a sheepish look. “Sorry. I keep thinking of her poor parents looking for her in this storm. I pray their faith sustains them. Meeka, come here. Time to go home.” The dog raised her head but stayed put.
“Owen?” They heard Grace’s sobbing call from the other room. They both walked in. Ruth went to Grace and tried to pick her up, but Grace wanted nothing to do with Ruth. She pushed her away and held out her arms to Owen.
Owen lifted her into his arms. “Don’t be rude to Ruth. She’s okay.”
“I want you.” She laid her head on his shoulder and circled his neck with her arms.
“Okay, I’ve got you.” He proceeded to walk about the room, soothing her.
Ruth grudgingly admitted to herself that he was good with the child. Patient and caring, he allayed Grace’s fears and held her until she fell asleep again. After laying he
r down, he returned to the table to sit opposite Ruth.
The silence stretched between them. He finished his coffee and put the empty mug down.
“Care to tell me how much trouble the farm is in?”
“I am doing well enough.”
“Honest answer?”
“Ernest made it sound worse than it is. A good lamb crop will let me pay off my debt this year. The land will be free and clear for Faron to take over when he’s ready.” She bit her lip. Why had she mentioned her debt? That wasn’t like her. Perhaps the accident had shaken her up more than she’d realized.
Owen frowned slightly. “I thought Nathan inherited a clear title to the land.”
“He did.” She folded her arms across her chest. “He took a loan against the farm in order to expand our flock shortly before his death. I wasn’t experienced enough with sheep to manage them. Our losses were high the first two years after his passing.” It went against the grain to admit she had failed in the beginning, but she had learned from her mistakes.
He hung his head for a moment and then looked her in the eye. “I should’ve stayed to help you after the funeral. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
It was something of an apology even if it was years late in coming. She tried to brush it off as unimportant instead of painful. “I didn’t expect you would stay. Fortunately, Ernest stepped in to give me a hand. He purchased half the sheep so I wouldn’t default on the loan payment that first year. Half the sheep still belong to him. He was the one who said we needed a guard dog. Meeka has cut our losses from predators substantially since she arrived last spring.”
“I’m here now, and I will help in any way I can.”
He sounded sincere but she knew him too well. She shook her head sadly. “We both know you’ll be moving on when the mood strikes. Maybe not right away, but I need someone I can depend on. Not a fellow who has a record of disappearing at the drop of a hat.”
Especially when things got tough. She didn’t want to depend on him and have him take off before Ernest returned.
He didn’t reply, and she was glad. There was nothing he could say that would convince her he had changed. Two weeks was the usual length of his visits before moving on. Maybe he would stay for the whole month, but she would be shocked if he did.
The outside door opened and Faron walked in. His eyebrows and eyelashes were crusted with snow. Ruth turned in her chair to face him. “Did you learn anything?”
“Nothing useful. None of the farms I stopped at knew anything about a missing child. Perhaps Zack and Ella are having more success.”
“Sit down. I’ve made some coffee, or would you rather have some hot spiced cider?”
He sank onto a kitchen chair. “Don’t go to any trouble, Mamm.”
“No trouble. I put some cider in the kettle a while ago. I know Ella prefers it to coffee.”
“So do I. You don’t need to wait on me. I can get it.”
Owen put a hand on Faron’s shoulder. “Both of you sit still. I’ll get it.”
Faron looked toward the living room. “How is she?”
Ruth followed his gaze. “Fine as far as I can tell but she gets upset if Owen is out of her sight.”
“I have that effect on a lot of women.” Owen winked at Faron as he set a mug of steaming cider on the table in front of the boy.
Faron chuckled. Ruth didn’t.
It was another thirty minutes before Ella and Zack returned with the same story. No one they spoke to at the neighboring farms was missing a child.
“What do we do now?” Faron asked Owen.
That her son looked to Owen for the answer surprised and annoyed Ruth. She was surprised again when Owen turned to her. “What do you think we should do?”
“Nothing until morning. Then we will take her to Bishop Weaver. He may know what family she belongs to.”
“If he doesn’t?” Ella asked.
“Then we will continue to check with neighbors both Amish and Englisch. There are a few former Amish in the area who have Amish nieces and nephews.” Ruth spoke to everyone. “Take off your coats. No one is going out again tonight.”
Ella pulled off her coat. “I’ll make us some hot cider. I don’t know about anyone else, but I am chilled to the bone.”
“It’s already warming on the stove,” Ruth said.
“Bless you.” Ella fixed a mug for herself and Zack.
“We should notify the sheriff,” Zack said. “Remember the story of the two Amish children kidnapped from their roadside produce stand? The Englisch law was able to find them.”
Ruth’s eyes widened. “You think she may have been kidnapped?”
Owen held up one hand. “We are getting ahead of ourselves. There’s no point in jumping to conclusions. We will seek more answers tomorrow and hopefully reunite Grace with her family.”
“The two of you should stay here tonight,” Ella said. “You don’t want to take her out into the cold again. I’ll make up cots for the two of you. Owen, try to convince the dog to go home.”
“I have tried. She won’t budge more than a few feet away from Grace.”
Ruth wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t like the idea of having Owen stay in her home, but she had to agree with Ella. It would be cruel to send them back out into the storm. She wouldn’t do that to Owen, let alone a frightened lost child. “Zack and Faron, bring down the cots from the attic. Owen, you and Grace can sleep in the living room. Ella, the spare linens are in the closet in the upstairs hallway.”
Ella smiled at her mother and crossed her arms. “I know where everything is, but nothing will get done until you are sitting down with your leg propped up. I can see it is swelling again.”
Ruth had little choice but to do as she was told. Once she was seated on the sofa with a pillow under her knee, Ella, Zack and Faron trooped upstairs.
“I hate to put you out like this,” Owen said.
“You aren’t putting me out,” she said quickly.
“You would rather I went back to Ernest’s house.”
“What I prefer doesn’t matter. It’s Grace I must think about. She seems to need you close by to feel secure. Besides no one should be out in this kind of weather.”
* * *
OWEN KNEW WHAT Ruth was thinking even though she didn’t say it. The child might need him nearby to feel secure, but his presence had the opposite effect on Ruth. He waited until the men brought down the cots and then transferred Grace to one of them.
Ella tucked her in. “Poor baby. What a terrible time she has had.”
“We’ve all had a hard day,” Ruth said. “I’m going to bed. Ella, can you help me up the stairs?”
“Of course.” She handed the rest of the linens to Owen and took her mother’s arm. Zack and Faron followed behind the women as they went upstairs.
Owen made up his own cot and lay down. As tired as he was, sleep was a long time coming. His mind kept replaying his conversation with Ruth and he wondered if she was right. Would he feel the need to move on and disappoint her again? He wanted to prove her wrong, but he honestly wasn’t sure he could. Staying where he wasn’t wanted might prove to be a bigger challenge than he could overcome. Ruth didn’t believe he could do it. She didn’t want him around, and she clearly didn’t trust him.
Sometime later someone nudged his arm. He opened one eye. Meeka stood beside him, her tongue hanging out as she panted in his face. He tried to push her aside, but it was like trying to move a furry boulder. She whined once and glanced toward the front door.
“I’m going to guess this means you want to go out.” She padded to the door, where she waited for him.
He glanced at the clock on the mantel. It was nearly five in the morning. He rubbed his face with both hands, then glanced toward the other cot. Grace slept quietly with her fingers curled beneath her chin. Meeka whined again. He was af
raid she would start barking and rouse the house. “Okay, I’m coming.”
He crossed the room and opened the door to let the dog out. The storm had blown itself out. The fresh snow glistened as the moon slipped in and out of the clouds passing overhead. The yip of a coyote broke the absolute stillness of the night. Meeka bolted away, growling ferociously as she bounded across the snow. He listened for the sound of an ensuing fight but didn’t hear anything. Apparently her size and fearless charge were enough to discourage the would-be predator. He closed the door. At least he and Ruth’s family wouldn’t have to worry about Meeka blocking their attempts to take care of Grace.
Wide-awake, Owen considered going back to his cot but decided he might as well get started on the chores waiting for him at Ernest’s place. There were cattle and horses to be fed along with the poultry and pigs. The temperature drop would have frozen the stock’s watering tanks. They would have to be chopped open and he’d need to gather the eggs before they froze in the nests. He quietly folded up the bedding and left it at the foot of his cot. Grace was still sleeping peacefully.
He pulled on his boots, coat and hat before he realized he should leave a note telling Ruth where he’d gone. In the kitchen he found a piece of paper and a pen. He scrawled his message and placed it beside the coffeepot, knowing Ruth or Ella would be up early to start breakfast. Once he was finished with the chores, he would take Grace to Bishop Weaver’s farm and find out where the child belonged. He was hopeful he could fulfill his promise to Grace today and reunite her with her family.
Stepping into the living room, he checked to make sure Grace was still sleeping. Then he went out into the cold dark morning.
CHAPTER FIVE
RUTH ROSE AND got dressed while it was barely light outside. It had been a short night, but she was in the habit of getting up early. She ventured down the stairs slowly. Her sore knee felt worse than it had yesterday, but she wasn’t going to stay in bed. She readied herself to have an argument on the subject with Owen or Ella, but the only one she found up was Grace. The child sat on the floor in front of the outside door with a look of utter dejection on her tearstained face. She clutched the quilt Owen had wrapped her in when he brought her to the house.
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