Paradise Falls (17 page)

He flicked the reins, and Fiona turned to watch as the old man climbed the steps to his porch. When they were out of earshot she said, “That was kind of your mother.”

Gray nodded. “Ma loves Christmas. It’s her time to shine. And Flem’s,” he added. “If Flem had his wish, every day would be Christmas.”

Beside Fiona, Broderick gave a grunt of displeasure. “He eats and drinks as though every day is.”

The three of them were laughing as they stopped at the next farm, where Greta Gunther wiped her hands on her apron and persuaded them to come inside to sample her chicken, wurst, and wonderful dark-bread, all washed down with sips of beer. When Fiona hesitated, Greta offered her strong black tea instead.

By the time they’d visited the sixth farm, Fiona was protesting that she couldn’t eat another bite, while Broderick, after sampling half a dozen lagers, was happily humming a little tune.

“Where to now?” Fiona asked as Gray settled his father on the high, hard seat.

“It’s the VanderSleet farm.” Gray flicked the reins.

Fiona clasped her hands together tightly, steeling herself against the knowledge that she might have to look at fresh bruises on Will’s face.

Oh, Da, I don’t know what I’ll do if the anger is back.

As their wagon rolled to a stop the door opened and Dolph stepped onto the porch.

“Good day.” Gray swung down and walked to the back of the wagon. “Ma has sent
mettwurst
and
roggenmischbrot
.”

He walked up the steps and placed the linen-clad parcels in Dolph’s hands.

“I thank you.” Dolph looked over at Broderick and Fiona. “Will you come in? I have lager.”

Before Gray could refuse Broderick had taken hold of Fiona’s arm. “Of course we’ll come in.”

Gray lifted his father from the wagon and helped him up the steps, while Dolph held the door. Just then Will came around the side of the house. When he saw them he broke into a wide smile.

“Miss Downey. Look what my uncle has given me for Christmas.” He held up a small rusty saw. “It belonged to my grandfather.”

“Oh, Will. How marvelous.” Fiona turned to his uncle. “That was kind of you, Mr. VanderSleet.”

Dolph merely shrugged. “I thought the boy should have it, since he’s more handy with tools than I am.”

Once inside Dolph invited them to gather around the rough wooden table while he proceeded to cut into a wheel of cheese and brown bread before passing around glasses of lager.

Because she didn’t want to insult her host, Fiona took a sip and was surprised at how good it tasted.

Dolph glanced over at his nephew. “Why don’t you entertain our guests by reading something?”

While the others enjoyed their food and drink, the boy opened the Bible and chose a passage at random. As he read, Fiona glanced at his uncle, who sat with eyes closed, and a smile upon his lips.

At length he opened his eyes and nodded to his nephew. “That was good, Will. Almost as good as when my father read it to me. I think,” he added, “this will be the best Christmas in this house since my father left us.”

Fiona was grateful for the beer. It helped her swallow the lump that had somehow become lodged in her throat.

They stayed as long as they dared, before announcing that they still had to go to the Rudd farm to deliver food before going home to supper. As they made their way to the wagon, Will disappeared inside the barn, returning moments later with something wrapped in a length of faded blanket.

“Would you mind giving this to Edmer?”

Gray nodded as he assisted his father. “Put it in the back of the wagon with the food, Will.”

They left with shouts of happy Christmas ringing in their ears. When they were once more on the road, Fiona turned to Gray. “I can’t quite believe the change I’m seeing in Dolph VanderSleet.”

Gray nodded. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it either.” He gave her a nudge. “You might want to hold on to Papa. All that lager will soon have him nodding off.”

“Not a chance.” The old man laughed, though he seemed perfectly content to allow Fiona to loop her arm through his. “I’m having too much fun.”

They were still laughing as they rolled up to the Rudd’s big, sturdy farmhouse. Up close Fiona could see that it was the most prosperous in Paradise Falls.

Once again she braced herself for whatever was to come. She had neither seen nor spoken to Edmer’s parents since that horrible scene outside the church.

After bringing the team to a halt Gray touched a hand to Fiona’s arm. “I know you’re concerned, but whatever Christian may be thinking, he’ll be civil. After all, it’s Christmas Eve, and we’ve come bearing gifts.”

She managed a trembling smile. “I hope you’re right, Gray.”

“Trust me.” He lifted her down, then did the same for his father, keeping an arm around the older man’s shoulders when he felt him stagger just a bit.

Both Christian Rudd and his wife Lida were standing in the doorway as Fiona followed Gray and his father up the steps.

“Welcome to our home.” Lida Rudd held the door and Christian took Broderick’s arm, helping him inside, while Gray returned to the wagon to retrieve the food.

Lida Rudd tentatively offered her hand to Fiona. “Welcome to our home, Miss Downey.”

“Thank you.” Without hesitation Fiona returned the handshake.

Gray sprinted up the steps and handed the linen-wrapped parcels to his hostess. “Ma baked you something special.”

“We’ve been looking forward to Rose’s linzer torte. Please, give your coats to Christian and come to the parlor.” Lida led the way into a big room where a cozy fire blazed on the hearth.

In no time they were being served yet more cheese and brown bread and tall glasses of dark beer.

“Would you prefer lager or tea, Miss Downey?”

Fiona laughed. “I think I’d better have some tea now. Though I confess to liking the taste of lager.”

“You’ve never tasted it before?” Lida poured tea and handed her guest a cup.

“Today was my first.” Fiona sipped and looked up as Edmer stepped into the room. “Happy Christmas, Edmer.”

The boy avoided her eyes. “Happy Christmas, Miss Downey.”

“I almost forgot. I have something for you, Edmer.” Gray set down his glass and stepped out of the room. When he returned he explained, “We just came from the VanderSleet farm. Will asked us to give you this.”

“This is from Will?” The boy looked puzzled. “Are you sure it’s for me?”

“That’s what he said.”

As Edmer stared at the parcel his mother said gently, “Go on, Edmer. Open it.”

While the others looked on the boy knelt on the rug in front of the fire and unrolled the length of faded blanket. “What is it, Edmer?”

“It’s...” He stood and held out a piece of wood that had been perfectly sanded, the ends painstakingly scrolled like delicate seashells. “It’s for you, Mama. I heard you say that you wanted a shelf for your mother’s figurines. I tried to make you one, but I ruined it. I didn’t think I had anything to give you, but now...” He fell silent when he saw the look on his mother’s face.

“Oh, my.” Lida Rudd ran her hand over the smooth finish and turned to her husband with shiny eyes. “Christian, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

Christian touched a hand to the smooth wood before glancing sharply at his son. “I didn’t realize Will VanderSleet was such a good friend of yours.”

“I didn’t realize it, either.” Edmer’s cheeks were suffused with color, his eyes blinking rapidly, as though fighting tears.

To the astonishment of everyone, he rushed from the room and fled up the stairs.

In the silence that followed Christian turned to his wife with a scowl. “Order our son down here at once, or I’ll go up there and teach him some manners.”

Lida Rudd turned as pale as the shelf she was holding. “Please, Christian. It’s Christmas time.” She turned to Fiona with a pleading look. “Miss Downey, can you tell us what has happened?”

Fiona set down her tea and got to her feet. “Would you mind if I spoke with Edmer?”

When Christian started to refuse Lida put a hand on his arm, then just as quickly lifted it, astonished by her own boldness. “If you think you might help.”

“I’ll try.” Fiona left the room and climbed the stairs, following along a narrow hallway until she paused in the doorway of the boy’s room.

Edmer looked up from the bed, then away, furiously rubbing at his eyes. “You have no right to be here.”

“Your parents are concerned, Edmer.”

“I’m fine.” He swallowed. “Tell them I’ll be down in a while.”

“Very well.”

As Fiona turned away the boy said gruffly, “Why would Will do something nice, after what I did to him?”

She paused, then turned, choosing her words carefully. “Maybe it’s because he wants to be a ripple in a pond.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Fiona met his troubled look with a smile. “It took me many years to understand. If you’d like, we’ll talk a while, and see if we can make some sense of it.”

It seemed hours later, though it had been only a few minutes, when Fiona and Edmer descended the stairs and walked into the parlor, where the others were eating in silence. Everyone looked up as they entered the room.

Edmer glanced first at his father, whose eyes were fixed on him with fury, and then at his mother, eyes downcast, hands trembling.

While Fiona took a seat beside Gray, the boy squared his shoulders. “You probably heard that Mr. VanderSleet punished Will for going against his wishes and attending school.”

Christian Rudd nodded. “In his place I’d have done the same.”

Edmer swallowed before saying, “I’m the one who got Will into trouble with his uncle.”

“What do you mean?” Christian’s hands were already curling into fists at his sides.

“I told Mr. VanderSleet that Will was sneaking off to school early in the morning.”

“Why would you do that, Edmer?” Lida glanced uneasily at her husband.

The boy shrugged. “I was angry with Pa. He’d made fun of my attempt to make you a shelf. And maybe I was jealous of Will.”

His mother touched a hand to her mouth to stifle her little cry. “When you have so much, how could you possibly be jealous of a poor boy with no family?”

Edmer shook his head. “You don’t understand. Will can do so many things. There isn’t anything he can’t do with his tools. And I heard him reading to Miss Downey. He never even stumbled over the words.”

“Was that reason enough to cause him trouble?”

Edmer shook his head. “I thought so at the time. Now I’m sorry for what I did. But don’t you see? Even after all I did to Will, he didn’t try to get even. Instead, he made you that shelf.”

“Why would he do such a kind thing?” Lida twisted her hands.

After a quick look at Fiona for reassurance, Edmer took a deep breath. “Miss Downey has been telling us that we can change what we don’t like by... becoming tiny stones in a pond.”

“More nonsense?” Christian turned to Fiona with a scowl. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She merely smiled. “Your son will explain.”

“Miss Downey told us that instead of getting back at someone who has been unkind to us, we can change their hearts by doing a kindness in return. And that’s what Will did.”

Broderick set down his lager and belched. “In my day it was called turning the other cheek.”

In the awkward silence that followed, Lida crossed the room to touch a hand to her son’s arm. “I love my gift, Edmer.”

“Will made it.”

“But you were the one to think of it. For that reason, I’ll always treasure it.”

Gray helped his father to stand and noted that he was listing slightly. “We have to get home now. Ma will have our hides if we’re late for supper. She’s cooking a goose.”

They were all aware that Christian Rudd hadn’t moved. Even when they walked to the front door, he remained in the middle of the parlor, watching as they slipped into their coats and scarves.

It was left to his wife to see them out.

“You’ll thank Rose for me, Broderick.”

He leaned heavily on his son’s arm. “I will.”

“And thank you, Gray. Miss Downey.” Her voice trembled slightly. “I wish you all a happy Christmas.”

“Happy Christmas, Mrs. Rudd. Edmer.” Fiona looked beyond them to Christian, whose eyes were narrowed on her like twin beams of ice. “Happy Christmas, Mr. Rudd.”

She turned away, expecting no reply and hearing none. And found herself wondering if these two would, when their house was once more empty of company, answer to a bully’s fists.

“I
win, Ma.” As Gray and his father stepped into the kitchen, Flem held out his hand and was rewarded with a cookie. With a laugh he took a bite before explaining. “Ma was worried that you’d be late. I told her that no matter how many lagers you shared with the neighbors, there was no way you’d be late for Christmas Eve supper.”

“I raised a smart son.” Face flushed, Broderick lowered himself to his chair and waited for Gray to remove his boots and coat.

“So.” Rose turned from the stove. “How many beers did you have?”

“Too many.” Broderick grinned. “But how could I refuse, when our neighbors kept asking me to raise a toast to my talented and very generous wife?”

Rose couldn’t keep her smile from blooming. “They liked my gifts?”

“They loved them, Ma.” Gray hung their coats on a hook by the, door and was careful to wash his hands and roll his sleeves.

“I’ve set the table in the parlor.” Rose led the way, and Fiona caught her breath at the dazzling display of silver and crystal, winking in the glow of dozens of candles.

“Oh, Mrs. Haydn. This is...” She looked around. “Words fail.”

Pleased, Rose indicated the sofa and chairs that had been moved close to the fire. “Supper will be ready soon. But for now, we’ll have some elderberry wine to warm you from your travels. Fleming, you pour.”

Flem poured burgundy liquid from a crystal decanter into small fluted glasses and passed them around on a silver tray.

Broderick lifted his glass. “As always, we drink first to those who have left us.”

As the others sipped, Fiona felt a quick, hard tug on her heart and had to dip her head to hide the grief that she knew would be in her eyes.