Brides of Ohio (37 page)

Anne lifted up her arms, and Adele immediately picked her up. The little girl let out a sob and buried her face in her neck. Jonah laid his hand on her back and rubbed it. He could just make out her words through her tears. “No Dolly.”

Adele bit her lip and rocked her until she fell asleep. After laying her in her new bed, they walked out to the hall, closing the door behind them. Adele looked at Jonah, close to tears herself.

He took her hand. “She must have had a doll she had to leave behind,” he said soothingly. “When she saw those toys, she must have thought you found it for her.”

Adele nodded, and Jonah pulled her into his arms. After a moment or two, she pulled back and looked at him. “She is ours now.” It was half a question and half a statement.

Jonah gave her a gentle smile and smoothed back a stray strand of her hair. “She is from where she stands. But we should wait a little longer before we do anything official. I hate to say this, but someone may still be looking for her.”

“But Jonah, it has been months. Surely someone would have come by now.”

A wave of tenderness swept over him. He wanted little Anne to be theirs as much as she did, but one of them had to be realistic. “Adele, you shouldn’t get too attached to her. If someone does come, imagine how heartbroken you’ll be.”

She looked him in the eye, and inwardly he groaned. She had that stubborn look in her eye. “I will go to town tomorrow and buy her a doll,” Adele said.

Jonah sighed. He knew better than to argue. “Of course. Fred has one.”

She looked at him for a moment. “How do you know that?” A sly smile crept across her face. “Jonah Michael Kirby! You were going to buy her one before this. You, who just said I should not get too attached.”

He felt his face redden. “I saw it there last week.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “I love you.”

She started to move away, but he held her fast, wanting one moment more with her in private. The fact that she was truly his still felt like a dream.

Her bright blue eyes glowed as she smiled at him. “Why do you look at me like that, Jonah Kirby?”

“I still can’t believe you’re mine,” he replied softly.

She responded with a long, lingering kiss.

N
ext Sunday, Adele invited Reverend Warren and Minnie to dinner to celebrate. For the first time in almost a year, Jonah had gone to church with them that morning. He finally felt reasonably comfortable without his gun, although circumstances demanded it ride with them under the seat.

“We’d like to come,” the reverend said after services. “But we ended up walking this morning. Our mare is a little lame.”

“Ride with us. We have enough room,” Jonah replied. “I’ll take you back later and have a look at her if you want.”

“Oh, I couldn’t have you do that on the Sabbath, Jonah.”

“‘The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath,’” Adele quoted.

Reverend Warren laughed in agreement.

After dinner they settled into the parlor for coffee. Jacob had been excused to go outside, but Anne sat between Minnie and Adele on the sofa.

“It’s good to have you back,” the reverend said.

Jonah was standing next to him at the fireplace mantel, but he only half heard him. He was too busy looking at his wife. She and Minnie were fussing over Anne. Reverend Warren chuckled, and Jonah started. “I’m sorry, Reverend. What did you say?”

“I was saying how glad I am you’ve come back to church,” he said. “But I see your mind was elsewhere. I’m glad you finally saw the sense in what I said a few weeks before.”

Jonah smiled and felt his face redden a bit. “It’s good to be back.” He sobered a little. “I won’t ever go back to the way I was before, will I?”

“I can’t imagine you will.”

Jonah nodded. He suddenly knew how the apostle Paul felt when he spoke of the thorn in his flesh. But unlike Paul, Jonah couldn’t understand its purpose. He sent up a silent prayer, and the Lord reminded him of the correspondence between him and his brother. Daniel’s letters had been a balm to him in a way no one else’s could have been since they had both served in the war. He thought of Charles Franklin and other men he knew who had served. Perhaps he could reach out to them.

“Have you heard anything about Cyrus?” The reverend’s question broke through his thoughts.

Jonah looked at him. “No. The sheriff was here yesterday afternoon. All we found were his missing traps. The sheriff is going to come again tomorrow, and we’re going to go further into the northwest corner.”

“I hope you find something, for Mrs. Porter’s sake.”

Jonah nodded. Henry Porter’s funeral had taken place several days ago. After the service, Jonah and Adele had asked Henry’s widow, Eliza, if there was anything they could do. She thanked them but said she and her boys were doing fine for now. Jonah promised himself to check back with her soon. Henry’s oldest son was just a little younger than he had been when his pa had passed. He knew very well what the young man must be going through.

“Anne, I have something for you.”

Jonah looked and saw Adele hand the little girl a pasteboard box with a scrap of ribbon tied around it. He smiled as he anticipated her reaction to their gift. The china doll they had bought in town yesterday had hand-painted brown hair with a green-print dress and white apron. Mrs. Warren had seen them buy it and had praised their choice. He was glad she would have the opportunity to share this moment with them. Over the course of the last few months, she and the reverend had become more like family again, as they had been while Jonah’s ma and pa were still living.

Anne lifted off the lid and gasped. “Dolly!” she squealed as she took it out of the box. But as she took a closer look, her face fell. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at Adele’s startled face. “Not Dolly.” She handed the doll to Minnie and climbed into Adele’s arms. “I want Dolly.”

“Well, my goodness,” Minnie said softly.

“I thought she would like it,” Adele said. She bit her lip and hugged the crying child closer.

“Give her some time,” Jonah said. He walked over and rubbed his wife’s back. “She might come to like it.”

“I should take her upstairs,” Adele replied. She looked over at Minnie and Reverend Warren. “I am so sorry.”

“Now, don’t you worry yourself,” Minnie said. “We understand perfectly.”

“We should be getting back anyway,” the reverend said. Minnie nodded and gathered her reticule and Bible.

“I shouldn’t be too long,” Jonah told Adele. He patted the little girl on the back. As he drove the Warrens home, her little voice crying, “Not Dolly,” echoed in his ears.

It didn’t take long for Adele to get Anne to go to sleep. Her tears had made her sleepy. As Adele gently shut the door to the child’s room and made her way downstairs, she tried to fathom why the little girl had obviously lost her doll. Had someone taken it from her, or was it, as Jonah had guessed, that she had been forced to leave it behind?

Walking into the parlor, she picked up the doll from where it lay on the sofa and looked at it. She should put it away, but it was so pretty she decided to prop it up on a side table against one of the painted kerosene lamps. She hoped Jonah was right. Perhaps with time Anne would grow to like it.

Minnie had helped her clean up after dinner, so she took a basket and made her way out to the flower garden. It had not frosted yet, but since Jonah said it would soon, Adele started picking any flowers that were still blooming. She could put some of them in that lovely vase that had belonged to Jonah’s mother.

She had been at it for a while when the sound of whistling caused her to look up and see her son sitting in one of the apple trees in the orchard. She set her basket aside and walked over to the tree he was sitting in.

“Hello, mein Liebe.”

“Ma,” Jacob said as he scrambled down the tree and jumped down in front of her. “Can’t you call Anne that now?”

She chuckled as she ruffled his dark brown hair, then sighed as he tried to duck away from her hand. “You are getting too old for that, I suppose.” She saw a thoughtful look on his face. “Is something wrong?”

He cocked an eye at her. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you love Uncle Jonah?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I saw how you were at the fair and how you’ve been looking at each other.”

She took a deep breath and said a quick prayer asking the Lord to give her the answers her son needed. “Yes, Jacob, I do.”

“Like you did Pa?”

“Yes.”

He stopped, and she did, too. “So you don’t love Pa anymore?”

She gently grasped her son by the shoulders. “I will always love your pa, Jacob. Always. But I love Uncle Jonah, too.”

Jacob looked down for a minute. “So you love them both?”

“Yes, it is just one is here, and the other is not. Do you understand?”

“I think so. But I miss Pa.”

“I do, too. So does Uncle Jonah. They were best friends.”

“Do you think Pa would have liked Uncle Jonah taking care of us?”

Adele smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

“Since Uncle Jonah’s better now, do you think it would be okay if I ask him about Pa?”

“I think he would like that now, mein Liebe—Oh, I am sorry.”

“It’s okay this one time, Ma,” he said with a crooked smile and gave Adele a long hug.

Jacob decided to go visit his calf, and Adele went to fetch her basket. She stayed in the garden for a while longer before going in to check on Anne. Glancing at the clock in the parlor, she realized she should probably wake the little girl or she would not sleep later that night.

As she walked up the stairs, she thought back to what Jonah had said about waiting to officially adopt her and sighed. She had been going to press the issue with him, but she knew he was right. They should wait awhile longer. When she reached the top of the stairs, she saw the little girl’s door was open. A frown came over her face when she walked in and saw that Anne was not in her bed.

“Kleine?” she called and rushed over to look under the bed. She wasn’t there. Adele went across the hall and opened the door to both Jacob’s room and her and Jonah’s. Anne was nowhere to be found.

Adele fought to stay calm as she checked the kitchen and the courtyard. Then she saw something white near the gate leading out to the orchard and ran over to it. It was the store-bought china doll. “Anne?” she called, her eyes scouring the orchard.
Oh please, Father, let her be hiding behind one of the trees.
When she didn’t appear, she called out again, louder. “Anne!”

“Ma, what is it?” Jacob called as he ran over from the barn.

“I cannot find Anne. Help me look in the orchard.”

They searched and called, but except for the doll, they could find no sign of her. Adele started for the barn for a horse. She had to get Jonah. Just as she reached the drive, she saw him pulling in. Will was with him. Jonah waved, and Adele went running toward him.

“Will was on his way home from the Williamses,” he said as he came to a stop. “I offered him a ride—” He took one look at her face and jumped down from the wagon. “What’s wrong?”

“We cannot find Anne.” She held the doll out toward him. “I found this near the gate to the orchard. Why would she leave?”

Before Jonah could reply, she heard Jacob’s voice. “Ma! I see her!” The boy had climbed one of the tallest apple trees at the edge of the orchard.

“Are you sure it’s her?” Jonah called up as they ran over.

“Yes. I can see her dress. She’s headed toward the northwest corner.” He scrambled down. “She disappeared just over the crest of the hill.”

J
onah ran over to Will, who handed him his gun from where he had stowed it under the seat. They shared a worried look. It was clear Cyrus had gone missing while laying his traps in the northwest corner. And as they rode home, he and Will had discussed the distinct possibility he was no longer alive. Even if he’d had an accident, he would have made it back by now. “Go for the sheriff,” he told Will.

The young man nodded and climbed up into the wagon.

“You think she is in danger?” Adele asked as he hurried past her.

“Tell Sheriff Wade where I went when he gets here.” He didn’t want to tell her about Cyrus or where Henry had been found. Not until he had brought Anne back safe.

“I will have Jacob tell him.”

“Why Jacob?” he asked.

“I am coming with you.”

“No.” He grabbed her by the arm. “Stay here. I’ll find her. I promise.”

He released her, but she grabbed his hand. “Jonah, be careful. I cannot lose you the way—”

Her blue eyes started to fill, and he wrapped his free arm around her, pulling her close. “We’ll both come back. I promise,” he whispered into her hair. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before taking off up the hill.

When he reached the top, Daniel’s share of the farm spread out before him. The front part was full of young trees, low bushes, and patches of tall grass, but as it continued back, larger trees and more mature plants grew as part of a natural windbreak that ran all along the north part of the Kirby property line. To the far right was a cornfield that Jonah had decided to allow to lie fallow for the season. He looked out across it hopefully. He could see all the way to the property line, but there was no sign of the little girl. He returned his gaze to the left and looked at the wild piece of land.
Guide me, Lord. Where is she?