Called to Order (43 page)

“So do you.”

Cain smiled. He was tiring of all of this emotional talk. “I am, in my own way. Hey, you want to see what I learned through all this?”

“What?”

Cain pointed over to the far end of the field. “Look over there.” A large bolt of lightning pierced through the clouds and struck the ground.

Adam jumped. Amazed, he said in awe, “
Unfershtendich.”

Cain laughed. “I know! Pretty neat, huh?”

“Very. By the way, did you steal my truck?”

He turned toward his brother. “Your truck? Why would I steal it? The elders probably got rid of it.”

Adam shook his head. “I don’t think so. I told Father we would deal with it after the wedding.”

“You know,” Cain said, “Larissa is missing.” They shared a meaningful look. “Silus is running around mad. He has not seen her since the start of supper.”

“Do you think she ran away?”

“Would you blame her? Perhaps I should disappear for a few days, let you and Annalise mend your fences. You could tell everyone I took the vehicle. That way if Larissa has it no one will go chasing it down.”

“And what if Larissa is in trouble?”

“She is almost fifty, Adam. I am sure she can manage a little vacation from her life on the farm.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“Why are you stalling? Go see your mate. Her heart is broken. Fix it for her, Adam.”

“You’re right. I need to go. It’s just…the way she looked at me…what if I cannot fix this?”

“You can.” Cain stood. “I have yet to see any challenge you cannot conquer.”

Adam stood as well. “Thank you, Cain. You are a male of worth, and I am proud to call you Brother.” He reached for his hand, and Cain pulled him into a firm hug.

He tapped his back heartily. “As am I proud to have you, Adam.”

Chapter 30

The closer Adam came to his home, the fiercer he felt his mate’s emotions. His mate. A turbulent swarm of anger, desolation, and sadness pressed into his chest, and he feared Annalise would not even wish to see him.

When he entered his home, Gracie and his mother sat at a forgotten bench in the den. “Adam,” his mother said, standing and releasing Gracie’s hands. “Where is Cain?”

“Cain is gone.” At his mother’s fearful expression, he quickly reassured her, “He is fine. We discussed the future. He is taking his
Rumspringa.”
Adam had to force the lie, but he had given his brother his word he would cover for his sister. “He has taken the truck.”

“He has left the farm?”

“Yes. He told me to tell you he loves you and he will be back after a few weeks. He needed this time to let the dust settle.”

“You two have made amends.”

“Yes.”

“And Annalise?”

“She is my mate. If she will have me, I will never leave her again.”

Abilene smiled. “Go to her now then.” She turned to his sister. “Come, Gracie. Let us return home.”

After they left, Adam traveled up the stairs and paused at the door to his bedroom. He could hear Anna’s soft whimpering cries through the walls. He took a deep breath and turned the knob.

Anna lay with her face pressed into the pillows. Her hair was a crimped tumble of madness still damp from the rain. Her bare shoulders shook as she sleepily heaved sobs into the bedding. The coarse blanket from the safe house covered her hips.

“Anna.”

Her cries quieted, and her breathing stilled, but she did not pull her face from the pillows. Unable to bear her pain any longer, he crossed the distance between them and sat gingerly on the bed. When his palm touched the cold flesh of her back, she flinched.

“Please look at me,
ainsicht.”
She shook her head, and he sighed. “Very well. Anna, I was so wrong to leave you. I have been so wrong about so many things I do not know how to mend the pieces.”

“Are you leaving again?” she asked, still without turning.

“Not if you allow me to stay. I should have never turned from you in the first place. I was wrong to question what we have. How could I ever believe what we shared was not right. I love you. It does not matter how many Gods I must go against, I will never leave you again.” She lifted her face and turned to him. “Oh,
ainsicht.
”
Her face was flushed and wrinkled in soft places from the bedding. Her hair was matted to the sides of her swollen eyes and wet lashes. Her nose was red and patches of hives spread across her cheeks. “Oh, my love, please do not cry. Not for me.”

“You just walked away.” A tear fell from the sharp spike of her lashes.

He could not bear any more. He pulled her into his arms. She came easily as if she had no energy left to fight him. “I was wrong.”

“You were an asshole.”

He shut his eyes and kissed the top of her messy head. “Yes, I believe that is the correct term in this case.” He would welcome any number of vulgar names for himself at the moment. His lips went to her temple and traveled down to the curve of her cheek. “I will never leave you again, Anna. You are my mate.” His hand went to her soft belly. “This is our child. No man and no God will ever convince me I do not belong in this house with you. You are my family.”

She began to cry again, but this time a bit of life seeped back into her as her arms slowly squeezed around him. “I would not have gone to Cain. I would have left.”

“I know. And I would have followed you. Wherever you go, Annalise, I will be by your side, always.
Eawichkeit.
”

“
Eawichkeit,
Adam.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“No, but there is time for that. When the pain fades I’m sure I will, but for now I am still angry.”

It hurt, to know his words could not rectify what he had broken between them. Still, he admired her honesty. He would show her in action, rather than word, that he was an irrevocable part of her soul she could trust and depend on. It would just take time. Time was what he had most of. “Be angry with me,
ainsicht.
Be angry with me for as long as it takes. I will rebuild your trust in me. I promise you that. And I will show you I am a man who will never break his promises to you again.”

* * * *

Eleazar went to the door just as dawn’s light broke over the amethyst-tinted fields, bathing the earth in livelier shades of russet greens. Whoever was knocking must have quite urgent business. He pulled the door open and barely escaped being knocked in the face by the pounding fist.

“Silus.”

“Bishop King. I am sorry to bother you at this hour, but it is an emergency. My wife has gone missing.”

Eleazar knew Silus well enough from dealing with the older males in his family. He was no expert on the particulars of the man, but he knew he was an obedient member of The Order who attended service regularly and kept his land well maintained.

He welcomed the man into his home and waved him to a seat at the table. “When was the last time you have seen your wife?”

“At the wedding yesterday, just before supper. I have knocked on every door I could reach, and I am beginning to suspect she has left the farm. Other than chaperoned trips to town, my wife has no experience in the English world. She will be afraid and alone. I have come to ask the council’s permission to leave the farm so that I may search for her.”

“What makes you so certain she has left the farm? Did you quarrel before she left?”

“No. I believe she was displeased with me after I addressed her discourteous behavior before the ceremony, but I could not allow her to speak so disrespectfully to you, sir.”

“To me?” Eleazar did not know what Silus was speaking of.

“Yes. You and Larissa shared a clash of words just before you had Cain removed.”

“Larissa? Larissa Hartzler?”

“Larissa Hostetler,” the man corrected. “But yes, she is a Hartzler. She is my wife.”

Eleazar had forgotten the woman was married. He had not performed the ceremony, so he knew she was not bonded. “My mistake. I had forgotten your union with the Hartzler female.”

“Yes, well, we have only been married a year,” Silus shook his head as if to get back on track. “Do you think the council will approve my going after her? I would like to search for her before too much time passes. She had my blood yesterday. So long as she does not get too far too fast, I should be able to track her.”

Eleazar steepled his fingers and looked at the man for a moment. Typically in such a situation he would give the permission to retrieve one’s wife without even consulting the council, yet something had him hesitating. Some instinct had him wavering to allow this man to chase his wife, but Eleazar could not for the life of him understand why.

He focused on the other man’s thoughts and read intense frustration. The man was furious with his wife’s disobedience and had already decided she would be kept in the house for an undetermined length of time once she was returned to him. Eleazar knew she would suffer other punishment as well, but it was The Order’s policy not to get too involved with the private politics between husband and wife. It was of their beliefs that the males ruled the households, and the women were intended to honor and obey.

Eleazar held no respect for males who used force with females. He believed in the privacy of marriage, but he held more belief that over the course of evolution, the need for violence had faded. Any male of worth should be capable of taking his female in hand without actually laying a hand on her. Females were fragile and meant to be protected. For some reason, he felt sending Larissa’s husband after her would be a mistake.

“No, I do not believe you leaving the farm is necessary.”

“But—”

“I am planning on traveling out of the area in the next few days. I will keep my eyes peeled for signs of your wife. You should remain here in case she returns.”

He could sense the other man’s displeasure with his decision. “I was not aware you were leaving. There was no announcement at the last meeting.”

That was because Eleazar had just made the decision while sitting there contemplating the young, unruly female. “It is confidential council business. I should not have even mentioned it to you. You, of course, will not say a word.”

“Of course not, sir.”

“Very good. Now, I suggest you visit the homes you have not inspected. Inform the others to contact you if they see your wife. At that point the most you can do is return home and wait.”

“I cannot help but think there is something more effective I could do. If we both searched for her—”

“No. If she is gone, I will find her.” He did not understand why he needed to be the one to locate the female, only that his instincts were shouting at him to find her before this man did.

Eleazar stood, intending to walk Silus out. His hand quickly reached for the other man as his body wavered, and he almost fell back into his seat. He cleared his head and focused on his footing. His head felt off,
dormlich,
dizzy.

“Bishop King, are you okay?” Silus asked as he steadied him.

“Yes. I’m sorry. My foot…it seemed to have caught on a nail in the floor.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I’m sure my clumsiness is more a result of being woken up last night by your in-laws than anything else. Come, I will walk you out.”

* * * *

Had his carriage crashed? Where was he? He looked around for the wreckage of his buggy, but found nothing. No signs of his horse or even broken pieces of wood. How did he get to this place?

A breeze picked up the hair across his neck, and the wind seemed to sing. He turned and saw swirling instruments that moved and tinkled in the breeze. Clever mechanical sculptures of recycled metals twirled as the breeze passed through spokes and wheels suspended in trees and hanging from Shepherd’s hooks.
Wind chimes
he believed these sculptures were called.

He walked past the various dancing metals and came upon a tree covered in glass bottles of every magnificent color he could imagine. They were strung from every branch of the willow tree, catching rays of light and sending crystalline prisms and rainbows through the open air. Lovely.

He walked further, climbing up a slight hill of waving grass and saw a house. It was a busy place, pots and clay bowls stacked in piles and grouped by the hundreds. Colorful glass balls sat upon cement pillars. He looked into one plum-colored globe and saw his reflection shining back at him.

The swing of a door opening sounded in the distance. It sprung closed with a snap. He stilled as a woman with hair as white as snow stepped out onto the porch. She was speaking to someone he could not see. He watched her, keeping his form camouflaged in the clutter of shiny balls and glazed pots.

Despite her white hair, she appeared youthful. Her skin seemed a contradiction of tanned and weathered flesh that still somehow maintained its smoothness. He found her pleasant to look at. Clothed in serviceable, men’s denim pants and a cotton shirt, her slender form boasted of confidence and pride Jonas did not often see in the women on the farm. Several strands of white hair had slipped loose from the loose tail she had tied. They waved in the breeze. She tucked a quill-like strand of hair behind her ear and that was when he noticed the telephone pressed to her cheek.

As she spoke, she moved around the porch. She busily sorted through clay pots. There was paint on her narrow thumb and under her nails. Her cracking voice carried to his ears, and he focused on her words. “Sweetheart, I’ll be fine. You just worry about my grandbabies. The doctor said it’s probably nothing.”