Sarah's Orphans (13 page)

“I can keep you busy two days a week,” Paul said. “Let me close on the place, and then I'll see what I can afford to pay.”

“Sounds
gut
to me. I won't turn in my apron at the Dutch Pantry until I hear from you.” Henry grinned and moseyed off to the living room.

Sarah heard him collapse on the couch where Mateo and Mia were sitting. Leaning back in her chair, she could just see the three of them. Henry had his eyes closed. Mia was talking to the doll she'd found in Sarah's room, and Mateo was drawing on a sheet of paper.

“Our farm simply isn't that big,” Andy added, returning to the subject of hiring Henry out. “I'd rather have Henry at home than in town, and it will be
gut
for him to earn a little extra money. I predict a
wunderbaar
partnership between the two of us.”

Paul appeared satisfied with the arrangement.

Great. Her brother and the man who set her teeth on edge were best buddies now.

Sarah shook her head to clear it. “I can't believe we're talking about farming and tractors while I have two abandoned children in my living room. Paul, what did you learn when you spoke to them?”

“Apparently they arrived in town a little over a week ago. They'd hitched a ride from someone because they had no money for a bus ticket.”

“Where were they going?” Andy asked.

“He didn't know. He only knew that they were dropped off here. The mother's name is Elisa Lopez.”

Sarah dropped her hands to her lap. She could feel a tremor start in one of her hands and creep all the way up her arm. Why was she upset? It would be a good thing if they found the children's mother. But what kind of mother abandoned her children?

A mother like her own.

She bit back the thought and continued to question Paul.

“Why did she leave them? When is she coming back? Did she know that Mia was sick, that Mia could have died of pneumonia in that barn?”

Paul held up both hands in a surrender gesture. “I'm not a translator, Sarah.”

Had he ever used her name before? She closed her eyes and ignored the shiver dancing down her spine. She was tired. The last few days had been stressful.

“But you're sure…about their mother?”

“
Ya
. The boy was told to wait with his sister.”

Sarah was stunned. She was feeling a hundred things at once and tears pricked her eyes, which was embarrassing. Why would she be crying? This was good news! The children's mother was alive and well, or had been a week ago.

“How old are they?” Andy asked.

“The boy is eight. The girl just turned three.” Paul drained his mug of milk and added, “He couldn't tell me anything about his father.”

“That's all we need to know.” Andy pushed back from the table. “Henry will go into town and fetch the sheriff. This is officially not our problem.”

“How can you say that?”

Andy had stood and was walking toward the back door. Now he turned to face her, and Sarah could see the puzzlement on his face. Things were that simple for him.

“These children were in an abandoned building, Andy. At least when our mother left, we were in a home.”

“The authorities will take care of them.”

“Will they? So they'll shuffle Mateo and Mia to another home? Or to several other homes because no one wants to keep them for very long? Or even to separate homes because no one wants two children?” She fought to lower her voice, afraid they would hear, afraid she would hurt them more than they already had been. “This is what we're supposed to do, as Christians, as
gut
neighbors. Didn't you listen at all to the sermon yesterday?”

“That does not mean that we're to jump in the middle of every problem we see!” Andy shook his head and glanced at Paul, who was obviously trying to stay out of this family argument. “We don't know anything about keeping orphans. You find someone who can advise us, and I will listen. But they need to be here by this afternoon. I can stall a few hours, but that's all. Before the afternoon is over I have to send Henry to town to alert the authorities.”

Sarah tried to still her emotions, to make her expression a blank slate. She failed miserably. Turning away, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and hurried into the sitting room.

“Time to go back to work, Henry. But…where is Mia?”

Henry had apparently fallen asleep.

Mateo was sitting beside him on the couch, thumbing through a primer reading book.

And Mia?

Mia was nowhere to be seen.

CHAPTER 25

Y
our
schweschder
becomes attached quickly.”

“
Ya
. She has a big heart. Maybe too big.”

“Cute kids.”

“They are, but in case you haven't noticed, I already have a houseful of those.”

Paul laughed, at ease with Andy in the same way he had been with his own brothers. Women? They were a different matter entirely. Why would Sarah cry because two children she'd known less than twenty-four hours still had a mother?

“I wish I could help you today,” Andy said. “But I need to get my own tractor running.”

“Not a problem. Technically, I don't own the tractor or the place yet.”

They had reached the door to the barn, and Andy had stopped to study him. “It's a big thing you're taking on. Fisher's place was never in what you'd call good shape.”

“And it's been empty since he died.
Ya
, I know.”

“Will you be staying in the house?”

“I doubt it. The place is likely to fall down around me as I sleep.”

They stepped into the barn. Paul had ducked his head in earlier, but now he took a moment to study the work area, storage bins, clean tables, and supplies for their horse.

“You only have the one gelding?”

“
Ya
, and he's getting on up there in age. Don't mention that to Sarah…you'd think the horse is another child.”

“Easy to grow attached to a buggy horse.”

“It is. We also have a donkey to keep the gelding company. We once tried goats on the place, but…” Andy hesitated, and then he apparently decided to be honest. “My
dat
had a gambling problem, among other things. The goats were doing well, but he lost them in a wager.”

Paul let out a long, low whistle. Compared to Andy and Sarah's family, his family of seven brothers was calm and predictable. “You've had a lot to deal with.”

“Yes, we have, but maybe things will turn around now.” Instead of elaborating, he walked over to his tractor, which had recently been disassembled.

“How did you ever get used to driving tractors?”

Andy's laugh was full and unrestrained. “I was raised with tractors. It's the Amish who move into Cody's Creek from somewhere else who have to get used to the mechanical beasts.”

They spent the next half hour talking tractors, crops, and Oklahoma weather. At some point Henry appeared and slipped under the tractor, asking Andy for various tools and generally making a lot of noise.

“Does he know what he's doing?”

“He does, and it's my
bruder
you'll want working on your antique. I'm the farmer in the family. He's the mechanic.”

Paul was surprised to find himself whistling as he walked back toward his place, or at least it would be his place soon. He only whistled when he felt no pressure, had no worries. He definitely would feel the stress as soon as he had a barn to renovate, a tractor to fix, and a crop to plant. But he wasn't worried. Maybe that was because he was outside again, doing what he'd been born to do.

The sun crept behind a cloud and a cold wind swept across the fields, causing him to fasten his jacket. It was good to be outside, even when he would prefer a warmer spring day. Those days would come soon enough.

He puttered around in the barn for two more hours. Then he hitched his brother's mare to the buggy and turned toward the dry goods store. He'd opted to take the buggy, in case Rebecca or Joseph needed the tractor. As he drove back toward town, he admitted to himself that he was more comfortable with a horse and buggy. The clip-clop of the mare's hooves, the gentle rocking of the buggy, the feel of the leather seat and even the small battery heater—it all made for a pleasant and soothing experience. He waved a hand to a tractor that passed him, a teenage Amish boy driving. The kid looked happy as a clam. Paul tried to imagine himself contentedly wrestling the rusty machine in his barn down the two-lane, but failed.

The store was empty of customers, which was pretty common at that time of day. Things picked up again around three and stayed that way until close. Paul had suggested that Rebecca close the shop during the middle of the day. She'd laughed and asked, “What would I do? Take a nap?”

Which didn't sound like such a bad idea to Paul. He'd soon be working from before daylight until past sunset. With that thought in mind, he headed toward the upstairs apartment, but Rebecca caught him before he made it through the storeroom.

“I'm putting labels on our new shipment. Come and help me and tell me all about your morning.”

“Where's Joseph?”

“Placing an order for more books. Anything you want?”

“Not unless there's something on how to restore a homestead in three easy steps.”

“Haven't heard of that title, but I'll keep my eyes open.”

It was while he was applying stickers to gardening tools that he told her about Andy and Henry. “They both agreed to help with the tractor and repairs around the place.”

“Did you see Sarah?”

“
Ya
, she was there too.” Paul stopped and scratched at the nape of his neck, remembering the scene he'd walked in on. “Her and two orphans.”

“Orphans?”

“Mateo and Mia.”

Rebecca put down her labeler and placed both of her hands on her hips. “Are you telling me that Sarah Yoder has two orphaned children at her house? And you didn't think to tell me this first?”

“I suppose I could have led with that.”

“Indeed you could have.” Rebecca was taking off her apron and pulling on a shawl she kept near the register.

“There's no use going out there.”

“Of course there is. She might need help.”

“
Nein
. Andy told her that he was sending Henry to town to alert the police. They're probably gone by now.”

Rebecca dropped her purse on the counter and sank back onto the work stool. “Tell me everything, Paul. From the beginning.”

Ten minutes later she was gone, mumbling that if she hurried she just might get there in time. Paul was looking out the front window as she pulled the tractor out onto the street, and the funny thing was…she turned in the opposite direction of the Yoder place.

CHAPTER 26

M
ateo didn't know what to think about the group of people staring at him. There was a sheriff, whose name was Bynum. Mateo could remember that because the man wore a name tag. There was also a social worker. In his experience, that was never a good thing. When he was younger, a social worker had taken him away from his mother. He didn't want to be taken away from Sarah or Mia.

Sarah sat on the couch, between him and Mia. They were squeezed together tightly because Andy was also in the room, as was someone Sarah had called Bishop Levi. He wasn't sure what a bishop was, but the old guy seemed nice enough. Plus, he chewed bubble gum.

Mateo was pretty sure that bad guys didn't chew gum. Mateo would have felt better if Isaac was in the room with him, but the three youngest boys had been sent to the barn to finish their chores. Probably Sarah didn't want everyone in the room. Things were confusing enough.

“The Department of Human Services has a specific protocol for this,” the social worker said.

Mateo suddenly remembered that his name was Tommy. Though his skin was white like Sarah's, he dressed differently. He dressed normal, but in the last twenty-four hours Mateo had sort of become used to long dresses, dark pants, and suspenders.

“We have a very good foster care system here in Oklahoma. We will relocate Mateo and Mia with a Bridge family.”

“But why can't they stay here?” Sarah asked. “They're already settled.”

“After less than twenty-four hours?” Tommy's eyebrow arched up over his thick black glasses. “I appreciate that you've bonded with the children quickly, Miss Yoder, but this is the very situation we have Bridge families for—to provide a safe passage from less than optimal conditions to reunification with their birth parents.”

Mateo only understood about half those words. He wanted to answer, but his English wasn't very good. What if he made things worse?