The Promise of an Angel (A Heaven On Earth 1) (12 page)

A
ndrew arrived at the Fischer house before daybreak to do the barn chores. When he saw no sign of lamplight coming from the kitchen window and no smoke from the stovepipe extending over the house roof, he went straight to the barn. It seemed improbable that the entire household would go to the hospital this early. Perhaps they had overslept.

Inside the barn he added the correct amount of powdered milk and warmed water into the feed pail, then rolled his shirtsleeve and hand-stirred the mixture, making sure there wasn’t any sediment of powder caked on the bottom of the bucket before he fed the calf.

From the hayloft above him, the floor creaked. Footsteps caused a fine dust of hay to spill between the boards. Andrew set the bucket of calf feed down and walked around the stall area to peer up the wooden ladder attached to the wall.

“Levi, did you hear something?” a female voice asked.

“Don’t worry. Ready yourself,” his cousin replied.

Andrew’s throat tightened as the air in his lungs drained. He leaned against the wall, unable to comprehend what he had overheard. Hearing boots thump directly above, he dashed around the corner.

Levi whistled as he climbed down the ladder. He rounded the corner, pulling his suspenders over his shoulders. “How long have you been here?”

Andrew picked up the calf feed. “I should ask you that.”

Levi cleared his throat. “I thought I’d get an early start.” His eyes widened as a haze of dust sifted through the floor cracks directly above him.

“What did you get an early start doing?” Andrew didn’t want his suspicions confirmed. He sucked in his breath, hearing Levi’s companion tromping down the ladder.

Martha rounded the corner. Her unbound hair hung over her shoulders, her prayer
kapp
bunched in her hand. She flipped her hair to one side, exposing her long neck.

Levi took a step toward her, and Andrew moved into his path to block him. He pressed his hand against Levi’s chest as he looked over his shoulder at Martha. “Go to the
haus
and make yourself presentable.”

“Levi?” Her voice dragged into a helpless-sounding plea.

Levi groaned. “Run along. Andrew and I need to talk.”

“Where were you all night?” Judith trailed the swing of Martha’s butter-colored waist-length hair as her sister sashayed down the hall.

“I went out.” She entered the room and tossed her
kapp
on the bed.

“Why is your prayer
kapp
off?”

“I didn’t go out to pray.” Martha fingered her tangled hair and removed several pieces of hay.

Judith pointed to the head covering. “Put it on. You’ll follow the
Ordnung
while you’re living in our parents’ house.”

Martha laughed. “Like you do?” She picked up the
kapp
and twirled it by the strings. “Did you keep your head covering on when you met with the
Englischer
?”

Judith left the room without another word. David would have to deal with Martha’s disobedience. Her sister never listened to anything Judith had to say.

Why did Martha choose now to make a point of proving her difference? The family needed to stand strong together for Samuel. Judith entered the kitchen as the kettle began to hiss. She blew out a breath, wishing she could be like the kettle and blow off everything pent up inside of her.

The back door slammed, and Judith looked out the window to see Martha walking toward the chicken coop. Relieved to see that her sister had put her hair up and that her
kapp
was in place, she returned to preparing the morning meal.

The heated bacon lard snapped in the cast-iron fry pan. Martha hadn’t returned from gathering the eggs. Judith peered out the window but didn’t see her sister. Now that the weather had turned cooler, the chickens were not laying as many eggs. It never took this long to collect them.

Judith removed the skillet from the stove as Martha entered the kitchen and placed the basket of eggs on the counter.

Judith selected a few eggs and rinsed them in a bowl of vinegar water. “I see you’ve made yourself presentable.”

“Not because you told me to.”

Judith dried the eggs with a clean dish towel and took them over to the stove. “I would hope you make yourself presentable to the Lord.”

Martha clasped both hands behind her back and sighed as she always did when she wanted attention.

Judith wrapped the pot holder over the pan’s handle and placed the skillet back on the stove. “I suppose you want me to ask what you did while you were out all night.” She cracked the eggs into the pan, then looked at Martha when she didn’t reply.

Martha smirked. “I don’t think you want to ask.” She sauntered toward the door.

Judith followed.

Her sister stepped outside onto the porch, then looked back through the screen door at Judith. “I was with Levi.”

Judith froze. A knot formed in her throat as she watched Martha skip down the porch steps and head toward the barn. Judith tightened her grip on the door handle to steady herself. Martha must be lying. It couldn’t be true. Judith leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes until the scent of burned eggs consumed the room. She opened her eyes to see a haze of smoke drifting out from the kitchen.

She ran into the kitchen. Grabbing a pot holder, she removed the fry pan from the stove while leaning far away from the bacon lard as it spat. She placed the hot pan next to the sink and opened the window to let out the smoke.

Judith wiped her hands on the front of her apron. She needed fresh air. Now was as good a time as any, she decided, to find Martha and learn the truth.

“Back off.” Levi pushed Andrew aside.

“Only a woman’s husband should see her hair down.”

Levi’s face contorted. “What does that matter to you, Bishop Junior?”

Andrew’s jaw twitched. He pinned Levi against the barn wall. “What about Judith? You said you planned to marry her.”

“Back off!” Levi shoved Andrew’s hand away. He thumbed his chest. “I want a
fraa
who is submissive to me.”

Andrew stepped away from him. “You should want a
fraa
who is obedient to God.”

Levi chuckled. “Judith is rebellious.” He peered at Andrew. “Isn’t that what the bishop said, Junior?” He shook his head, making a patronizing
tsk-tsk
. “If you keep defending her, you’ll fall out of favor with your father.”

Andrew loved and respected his father, but something deep within him believed Judith. He’d spent most of the night praying for her—and praying it wasn’t guilt that led her to believe Samuel would walk again.

Levi walked to the barn door and paused. “I’m sure we’ll still get married.” He swung the door open, then looked over his shoulder at Andrew. “But she needs to straighten out first.”

Levi’s smug grin provoked Andrew, and the veins in his neck burned as he grabbed his cousin by his suspenders. “Stay away from Judith.”

Levi sneered. “What are you going to do, fight me for her?”

His fist balled, Andrew had to restrain himself from striking his cousin. How dare Levi say Judith needed to straighten out, yet lure Martha into sin? Levi’s breath reeked with alcohol, and no doubt Martha’s did too. With a slight shove, Andrew released his hold. “Forgive me.” He ground out the words between clenched teeth. “I lost my temper.”

Levi shook his shoulders to adjust his suspenders back in the right place. “It’s nice to see you’re human.”

Andrew clamped his jaw shut. Since childhood, Levi had loved to provoke him in ways unpleasing to the Lord. Andrew had disregarded the behavior in the past, understanding that Levi was two years younger and hadn’t matured. But now there was a good chance that Levi’s actions would involve hurting Judith, and Andrew wasn’t about to stand back and watch.

His devious gloat worried Andrew. Would Levi continue to court Judith just to spite him? He watched Levi leave the barn, shoulders straight with an obvious agenda.

Andrew closed his eyes. “God, protect Judith from him. Allow her eyes to open to his ways.” He swallowed hard. “I don’t know why, but she loves him . . .” A tinge of guilt rose up in him. Once her eyes were opened, she’d be hurt beyond repair.

Curious to see if Levi went to his buggy or the house, Andrew stood at the door and searched the grounds. He spotted Levi leaning against the chicken coop. Martha rounded the corner and stumbled, falling against him. Levi’s arms wrapped around her waist, and she leaned into his embrace.

The door to the house slammed. Andrew caught a glimpse of Judith standing on the porch with her hand shielding her eyes as she scanned the yard. He scratched the back of his neck as Judith stepped off the porch. Had the Lord answered his prayer so quickly?

Chapter Ten

J
udith halted at the sight of Martha and Levi’s compromising embrace. Her sister’s body fit snug against Levi’s chest, and both appeared deeply involved in kissing.

“You know public kissing is not permitted.” Judith narrowed her eyes at Martha. “You’re not even of age.”

Levi’s hands fell from around Martha. “Judith—we just—”

Judith held up hands to silence him. “Spare me the shameful details.” No amount of talking would explain what she had seen.

She fled toward the back of the barn. Once she reached the orchard, she veered off the main path, not caring that the low-lying branches scraped her face. Her only thought was to run as far away from Levi and Martha as she could.

At the river she collapsed to her knees, sobbing. “Why, God? How much more can I take?” Her sister knew that Judith had waited two years to court Levi. Several times she had shared with Martha her dreams of marrying him. Martha knew how many hours Judith had spent working on her wedding quilt, planning a large garden for a wedding feast. All for what—for Martha? She wasn’t sure how, but somehow Judith must have failed her family, failed her church . . . failed God.

When a deep sound of someone clearing his throat caught her attention, she looked up through tear-stained eyes and squinted into the light. His face masked by the backlight of sun, Judith recognized him by his enormous size.

“What troubles your soul, Judith?”

She drew in a deep breath, released it, and inhaled again to gain control over her voice. “My life has been . . . torn apart.” Choking on her words, she couldn’t continue. She couldn’t explain how Levi and her sister had wronged her.

“Things are not always what they seem.” He walked to where she knelt on the ground. “God sees beyond today.” He knelt beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Child, only He knows the beginning from the end.”

Judith nodded. She understood from reading her Bible that God was the Alpha and the Omega. “I know,” she whispered.

“But do you believe?”

She shrugged, unable to talk with a constricted throat.

He cupped her face in his hand, and peace washed over her as he passed his thumb over her eyelids and cleared the cloudiness from her sight. “God loves you.”

She sniffled. “Do you have a name?” The reflective shades of blue in his eyes sparkled like a transparent sheet of glass spread over Lake Michigan.