Miriam and the Stranger (29 page)

Perhaps tonight those questions would be answered as this morning Uncle William had announced, “Tyler wants a meeting with Deacon Phillips and me here at our place tonight.”

Aunt Fannie had brightened a little and responded, “So we will be seeing him again. I have the women’s sewing this afternoon, but I’ll be home in plenty of time to get ready.”

Miriam was as anxious for answers as everyone else. But was Tyler about to expose their relationship tonight? Why would he? Did Tyler hope to get her to leave with him now that he planned
to leave the community? Surely not. She would just have to wait and see. With the meeting held at her aunt and uncle’s house, she would at least learn something. Aunt Fannie would tell her both the
gut
and the bad.

“Mostly bad,” Miriam told herself as she parked by the greenhouse and climbed out of the buggy. Her mind spun as she wondered why it seemed the Lord’s face had turned from her. She had trusted Him to heal her heart of its wrong desires, but it had seemed only to fall even lower. She had kissed Tyler, not once but twice. Hot streaks of shame ran along Miriam’s face.

Miriam forced herself to unhitch Star and lead him into the temporary shelter the men had erected behind the greenhouse. She left him there in the makeshift stall where he began to munch happily on the strands of hay still left in the manger. Miriam retreated again. A wisp of a breeze stirred the ash pile in the barn foundation and made the fallen timbers creak against each other. The sound was soft and muted, unlike the noise healthy wood made when moved by the wind. But everything was troubled right now. The burned-out barn was really the least of her worries.

Even Aunt Fannie, whose faith rarely wavered, was disturbed. Her aunt made little exclamations to herself while she worked in the house. “Why, Lord? What have we done? Protect us, please.” Or the oft repeated, “Let not our will be done, but Yours, Lord.”

Miriam pulled her gaze away from the burned hull of the barn to enter the house. Jonathon came at a run and flew into her arms. She held him for a long time. He had rebounded well from his trauma last week and would have played in the soot if his
mamm
had let him. No red tape stopped Jonathon like his
mamm
’s commands. Miriam had yet to see him venture anywhere near the ashes.

Miriam set Jonathon on the floor when Aunt Fannie bustled out of the bedroom in a clean dress and apron, announcing, “The
meeting with Tyler is right after supper. I figured I wouldn’t have time to change later.”

Miriam nodded. “I’ll stay out of sight. It’s not like I’m involved.”

“
Yah
, but you can listen in from the kitchen while you wash dishes,” Aunt Fannie said. “It’s got to be something serious after what we’ve been through the past few days.”

“Did you learn any news at the sewing today?” Miriam asked, changing the subject.

“No, but I think maybe I’ve come to accept the Lord’s will better. The women spoke words of encouragement I needed to hear. They also said that Tyler had left Deacon Phillips’s place because he feels that he’s to blame somehow. Did you know that?”

Miriam hid her face before she answered. “I learned that Tyler had left from the schoolchildren on Monday morning.”

“And you didn’t tell me,” Aunt Fannie scolded. “You know how much Tyler means to me. He’s such a comforting presence in the community. I always felt he was a sign of the Lord’s good pleasure on us, but now he’s moved out of Deacon Phillips’s basement. Maybe that’s what Tyler wishes to speak of tonight. How he can come back.”

Miriam looked away. What if her aunt found out all that had gone on? The thought was almost too terrible to contemplate. Her aunt’s faith would be shattered in both Tyler and herself.

The two women entered the kitchen to work in silence on the supper preparation. Aunt Fannie had kept the menu simple—broccoli soup and toasted cheese sandwiches. Jonathon stuck his head in at regular intervals to peer about hungrily.

“It’ll be ready before long,” Aunt Fannie finally assured him. “Just run and play, but stay away from you know what.”

Jonathon vanished again and didn’t return until Uncle William’s footsteps came in with his. The two seated themselves at their regular places.

Uncle William looked up with a smile on his face. “At least we still have the greenhouse and a temporary shelter so our animals have a place to live.”

“
Yah
, we have much to be thankful for,” Aunt Fannie answered his smile. “And we have each other. How are things going over at Deacon Phillips’s place? I assume that’s where you came from this afternoon.”

“About the same,” Uncle William said. “He can’t clean up yet either. But I was talking to him about the meeting tonight. Tyler’s acting awful strange—that’s all I can say. We both wonder if this had anything to do with all those questions Tyler kept asking of us.” Uncle William hung his head for a moment. “If it does, I’m ashamed I helped Tyler answer them.”

“But how could that be?” Disbelief showed in Aunt Fannie’s face.

Uncle William didn’t look up. “I had best keep silent until I know what I speak of, but I may have sinned greatly in what has come upon us.”

“You? Sinned?” Aunt Fannie couldn’t have appeared more surprised.

“Our faith has strong guidance on these matters.” Uncle William fell silent for a moment. “But let us pray so we can eat.”

They bowed their heads in silent prayer. When he had finished, Uncle William dished soup into Jonathon’s bowl and then filled his own. After the first bite, he continued, “From how the law enforcement people are acting, both of us think there is a connection.”

Miriam’s head spun. Uncle William thought this was about something else entirely. But what? Now she would have to listen by the kitchen doorway for sure.

“There’s also other news in the midst of our troubles,” Uncle
William said with a smile. “Deacon Phillips said Mose is coming this weekend again. On Saturday.”

Cold chills ran up and down Miriam’s back.

“Bishop Mose!” Aunt Fannie exclaimed.

Uncle William had a twinkle in his eye. “That’s what I’ve heard. So I guess he’ll come preach for us. Did you know anything about this, Miriam?”

She had to say something. But what?

“Did you know this, Miriam?” Aunt Fannie asked.

“No.” Miriam kept her head bowed over her empty bowl. “Mose hasn’t written since I’ve been back from Shirley’s wedding.”

Aunt Fannie stared at the wall. “That’s true, now that I think about it, and that’s been a while. There has been plenty of time for a letter to arrive. Didn’t you send him one?”

“I was waiting for him to write,” Miriam replied. This was partially true, but guilt over her kiss with Tyler on her first Sunday back completed the story. “Wise woman,” Uncle William chuckled. “The strategy must have worked. The man’s on his way out here.”

Aunt Fannie was worried, though. Miriam could tell.

“There’s no use writing him now,” Miriam tried to tease, but from the look on Aunt Fannie’s face, she had only made things worse.

“There may be much repentance necessary before this is over,” Uncle William muttered.

Miriam glanced up sharply. Was Uncle William speaking of her?

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Aunt Fannie asked with a glance at Miriam’s still-empty bowl.

“I’m not that hungry,” Miriam managed, but she ladled out a small dipper of broccoli soup and added a few crackers. Jonathon
grinned at her as she ate, and Miriam tried to smile back. The effort hurt, but Jonathon didn’t seem to notice. Thankfully, Aunt Fannie seemed taken up with Uncle William at the moment.

Once the silent prayer of thanksgiving was offered to end the meal, Jonathon was up like a shot.

“Poor boy,” Aunt Fannie muttered as he disappeared out the washroom door. “I imagine the barn animals are more cheerful than this house right now.”

Uncle William gave his
frau
an awkward pat on the arm. “The Lord will see us through this dark valley. That’s His promise.”

Miriam caught a glimpse of a car pulling into the driveway, followed by Deacon Phillips’s buggy.

Aunt Fannie also noticed. She stood up and walked to the kitchen doorway. “Looks like everyone timed it just right.”

Uncle William had a weary look on his face. “May the Lord help us—that’s all I can say.”

“Amen,” Aunt Fannie echoed.

Miriam ducked out of sight as an officer climbed out of the car with Tyler. Aunt Fannie noticed the same thing and gasped.

“Maybe he’s here to investigate some more,” Miriam suggested.

“Well, he’s coming in, so we’ll know pretty soon,” Aunt Fannie said.

What a valley of sorrows, Miriam thought. And to top it off, Mose would come this weekend. She would have to confess her sin to him, and it would not be easy. Mose might call off the engagement. Not that he had asked her to marry him to begin with, but all the same, their plans could come to an early end—and just as well. Miriam deserved all of this and more. Likely the shame of this transgression would follow her for the rest of her days, and she’d never live the report down once Mose spilled her secret.

“We’ll make it through this,” Aunt Fannie said in Miriam’s ear.
“Even with an
Englisha
officer in the house. Take courage, Miriam. You’re white as a sheet.”

“What do you think he wants?” Miriam whispered. Tyler had obviously brought him. The same Tyler she had kissed. The Tyler that was from another world so foreign it boggled her mind. How could she have opened her heart to this man? Miriam grasped the back of a chair with both hands and sat down. The whole kitchen spun in circles around her, but she managed somehow not to faint.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

T
he late Saturday sunlight filtered in through the drapes on Miriam’s bedroom window. She shouldn’t hide out here, Miriam told herself, but she had to catch her breath for a moment. Mose had been due to arrive this morning at Deacon Phillips’s place, and she had waited all day for his buggy wheels to roll into the driveway. But he hadn’t come. Maybe the Greyhound bus had been late into Coalgate, but that was doubtful. Miriam still didn’t know why Mose was making the trip, but she was sure he wasn’t coming for a friendly visit. Mose must have found out about Tyler. What else could explain this trip? Mose hadn’t bothered to notify her of his arrival. And it wasn’t like him to leave that to others. Mose was here to bring correction to her life—if he settled for that after she confessed the whole story. Nothing would surprise her at the moment.

A crew of community men had shown up early in the morning
to clean up Uncle William’s barn, now that the police had removed their yellow tape. The crew was almost finished and would leave soon. Likely Mose knew of this and would time his visit so he could speak with her alone.

She had helped Aunt Fannie serve the men lunch. That’s when her aunt had finally noticed her nervousness, but there hadn’t been time for a private discussion with the other women around. Several of them had arrived to help fix dinner and clean up afterward. A few of the women were still in the yard waiting for their husbands to complete the barn cleanup.

In the stillness of the house, she had fled upstairs to escape Aunt Fannie’s questions, but her attempt was in vain. She could hear Aunt Fannie’s footsteps coming up the stairs at this very moment. At least they would have their conversation in her bedroom without fear of interruption. She might as well tell Aunt Fannie everything. Her transgressions would eventually be made public once Mose arrived.

“Please help me, dear Lord,” Miriam prayed as Aunt Fannie entered the bedroom without a knock.

“Miriam, what’s going on?” Aunt Fannie stood before her with both hands on her hips. “You are all
fahuddled
. I know Mose is coming, but you don’t seem the least bit happy about it. And now that I think twice about the matter, why haven’t you received any letters from him since you’ve been back? And why didn’t you write any? Start talking, Miriam.”

Miriam tried to steady her voice. “I told you why I didn’t write. Why Mose didn’t…”

Aunt Fannie stopped Miriam. “There’s more to this, Miriam. I want you to tell me what’s been bothering you.”

“Oh, Aunt Fannie, it’s just so awful!” Miriam started to cry. “I don’t know why I did what I did. I tried not to, but I couldn’t help
myself. I’ve searched my heart, and I can’t believe what I find there. Oh, Aunt Fannie, it’s the most horrible, terrible thing to ever happen to me. And I think Mose knows about it!”