“Please forgive me.” Her voice quaked as she spoke. “I had the best intentions.”
Niklas looked at the other men again as if he were getting a silent concurrence. “We are all concerned about your intentions.”
She pushed herself up on her chair. “You have no need to be concerned.”
“We think it best that an older woman take over Cassie’s care.”
“But she is attached to me…and I to her.”
“This is what concerns us.”
“I won’t be so careless next time,” she insisted. “I will ask permission.”
“We believe…”
She interrupted him. “Cassie has gone through so many changes in the past year. Too many changes for a child. She lost her mother and then her home, and now her father has gone away from her too.”
She leaned forward, pleading. “Another change will wound her even more. She needs to feel secure, at least for a while.”
“Only God can give her security.”
“Please…,” she begged.
When Niklas asked her to leave the room, she paused at the doorway, turning back toward the row of Elders. “Jesus loved the children,” she whispered, before stepping into the hallway.
It wasn’t until she was on the other side of the doorway that she realized her hands were trembling. Even though her clothes were drenched, she knew the shivering wasn’t because she was cold. She was scared. Scared that they would take this precious girl away from her care.
Each Amana village was governed by a board of Elders, and it was their job to watch over her and all the men and women in their community. The Elders were godly men, each one of them noble and kind. They wouldn’t turn away a needy child, but they would act swiftly if they thought one of their younger women was losing her heart to an outsider. It was their job to protect the people in the Amanas as well as their way of life, set apart from this world.
She strained her ears, trying to listen to the men’s words, but all she heard were whispers. In the dim hallway, she whispered to herself, lifting up prayers to God.
The Elders thought she was too immature—too much like a child herself—to work in the Kinderschule, but she could care for one child when she wasn’t in the gardens. And then perhaps she would prove to the Elders that she was mature enough, responsible enough, to watch over a group of children.
Minutes passed, and the clock chimed in the hallway.
She didn’t want Cassie to go to another home, not yet. She had no illusions that Cassie would stay with her past October, but for now, her company was yet another gift from God. Was there something else she could say to convince the men that she was the right one to take care of Cassie? That God had placed the desire in her heart to care for children and being with Cassie filled her heart with joy?
They would argue that God should be her only fulfillment, and He did fulfill her, yet He’d given her friendships with women like Sophie and even children like Cassie. Relationships she treasured with all her heart.
Footsteps crossed the sitting room, and Niklas stepped out into the hallway. He waved her in to join them. She sat back in the stiff chair, her hands trembling again. She would have no choice except to comply, no matter what they decided, but she prayed they would say that Cassie could stay with her.
Niklas leaned toward her. “We have talked and sought God’s wisdom.”
She nodded. These men had no selfish motives, of that she was sure, but she hoped they listened well to God’s voice…and she hoped God blessed her with the privilege of being Cassie’s guardian.
Niklas glanced one more time at the other men, who nodded back at him. “We have decided to allow Cassie to remain in your care.”
Her breath rushed out of her in relief. “I will do the job well.”
Niklas nodded. “You have blessed Cassie with your kindness, Liesel. God is pleased.”
She tried to smile, but her lips trembled. “Thank you,” she said, starting to stand.
He motioned for her to take her seat again, so she edged back into the chair and waited for him to continue.
“We have also decided that it is unwise for you to take Cassie to the Mill Race.”
“But the girl needs to see her father.”
He held up his hand. “We all agree that she needs to see him, but my wife or another older woman in our community will escort her.”
His words echoed in her mind, and her heart began to sink. Not take Cassie to the Mill Race? That meant she wouldn’t be able to see Jacob. Perhaps ever again.
Niklas spoke one last time. “Guard your heart, Liesel.”
She stood up slowly, her wet clothes weighing down her shoulders. “There is nothing for me to guard against.”
Learn that Love instills peace and hates all fleshly and spiritual defilement.
Johann Friedrich Rock, 1724
Chapter Twenty
Rain pounded the roof above Jacob’s head, and thunder shook the hull. The crew gathered around a small table, drinking dandelion wine and chattering about their families and the work that awaited each of them when they finished dredging the Mill Race in the fall. Jacob barely heard their words. His ears were honed on the clamor of rain pouring from the skies.
Two hours had passed since he’d said good-bye to Cassie and Liesel. They should be in Homestead by now, out of the rain. He would have to trust that Liesel had hurried back to the village before the downpour, and he would have to trust that God and His mighty force of angels was watching over them along the way.
God had watched over Cassie and him from the moment they’d arrived in Homestead. It was almost as if these Colonies hidden deep in Iowa’s farmlands had been anointed by the Almighty. The people here served God, and He blessed them with His power and protection. And He blessed Jacob by healing his daughter and giving her Liesel as a friend and guardian.
Liesel had sacrificed her own health and well-being by joining him at Cassie’s sickbed. He was certain she would do anything to keep Cassie well.
A smile played on his lips.
Tonight was one of the best nights he’d had in a very long time. Cassie always seemed to be giggling as she found humor in the smallest, strangest ways, but he’d never been able to appreciate her laughter. Not like he had tonight. He’d forgotten what it was like to have fun.
He would treasure the memory of their picnic along the bank. Even when Liesel asked about Katharine, the darkness hadn’t returned. He’d been honest with her, and she respected the memory of his deceased wife.
Michael elbowed him. “You’ve been smiling since you got back on the boat.”
He tried to swallow his smile, but it wouldn’t go away. “It was good to see my daughter.”
Michael took another swig of his ale. “i think you also enjoyed seeing someone else.”
He straightened his shoulders. “What do you mean?”
Michael shook his head. “You’ve obviously lost your heart to Albert’s girl.”
“And he’s lost his mind too,” David said.
The others laughed as they waited for his reaction, but there was nothing for him to say. He admired Liesel for her graciousness to Cassie and him, and he certainly appreciated her beauty—what man wouldn’t appreciate it? But like Liesel said tonight, she’d befriended Cassie and him because God commanded His followers to help people in need. It wasn’t personal.
Michael reached for a sausage, cutting it into two pieces with his knife. “You must be careful around her.”
Jacob took the meat, but he didn’t eat it. “I’ve been nothing but careful.”
“The Elders worry about outsiders stealing our women.”
“I’m not here to steal anyone.”
Michael nodded. “I’m only warning you, Jacob, as a friend. If they think you’re sweet on Liesel, they’ll ask you to leave, and frankly, I need your help.”
Jacob pushed away from the table and walked over to his bunk. He climbed up and lay down on the pillow, staring at the ceili
ng. If they thought he cared for Liesel, they might kick him out of the Amanas. And if the Elders kicked him out…
He wanted to spend time with Liesel, but he couldn’t do anything to jeopardize his work on this boat. Not until the fall, at least. If he worked hard and didn’t give them reason to worry, perhaps the Elders would let Cassie and him stay through the winter.
Cassie breathed softly on the small mattress they’d placed on the floor for her, but Liesel couldn’t sleep. Niklas and the other men almost took Cassie away from her, and she couldn’t say good-bye to this girl, not yet. One day she would have to say good-bye, just as she’d done with Sophie, but if they had taken Cassie away tonight, without any warning to prepare her heart, she didn’t know what she would have done.
She’d seen this child through the grueling nights of her sickness and played with her during the long days of their quarantine. The Elders would be watching her even more closely now, to make sure she cared well for Cassie and to make sure she stayed away from Jacob. She wouldn’t give them a reason to doubt her faithfulness.
She stared at the ceiling, replaying Niklas’s words. God is pleased. That was the deepest desire in her heart, even more than her work in the Kinderschule or being close to her friends or even staying in the Amanas. More than anything, she wanted to please God.
But why wouldn’t God be pleased with a man like Jacob? A man who had loved his wife and loved his daughter. A man who had committed his life to serve Him.
The Elders were elected to keep the colonists accountable and safe, but Jacob wasn’t dangerous. In the past month, he’d become a friend.
Tonight he’d lingered as he held her hand. He’d lingered and smiled. He’d been glad to see her today, so much happier than Emil had been at their picnic. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time when Emil had been that happy to see her. It was almost as if Jacob had welcomed her into his little family with Cassie.
Now Niklas and the other Elders had forbidden her from seeing him again. Any friendship they’d shared was over.
Cassie stirred below her, whispering in her sleep. Rain pattered against the window, and she wondered about Jacob tonight, on the dredge. Was he missing her as much as she missed him?
She couldn’t see Jacob again, not even when he visited Cassie. She wouldn’t give the Elders any reason to doubt her loyalty to God and to her faith.
When Jacob was finished with his work on the Mill Race, Hilga Keller would take Cassie back to him. They’d leave the Amanas, and she wouldn’t even be allowed to say good-bye.
She punched the feathers in her pillow and turned on her side.
Perhaps it was better that she wasn’t permitted to say good-bye to him. It was too hard to watch someone she cared about leave. Even though she’d only known Jacob for three weeks now, they’d walked through the fire together. She’d known him during a dark hour, and she admired his strength through it. His strength and his faith even when it wavered under the thought of losing the daughter he adored.
The months would move on, she would marry Emil, and…
Thunder cracked, and she shot up in her bed.
She couldn’t marry Emil.
The thought flashed through her mind, and she pulled her nightdress close to her chest. Tiptoeing toward the window, she looked down at the village and the darkness that enveloped the town of Homestead, its inhabitants asleep in the storm.
Amana’s Elders had sent her to Homestead as a test to ensure her and Emil’s love was strong. But her love wasn’t strong, nor was it true. She may never see Jacob again, but her heart longed to know him more, to be with him. She’d failed the test.
Not once, in the months and years before Emil asked for her hand in marriage, had her heart leaped at the sight of him. Not once had she longed to be at his side. Her father believed that her and Emil’s shared heritage would ensure a strong marriage, not the fleeting whims of youthful love. And her father knew—because the vows of his marriage had been fleeting.
Emil had never told her that he loved her, but when he proposed, he said their marriage would be strong. Even then, the moment he asked for her hand, she’d wondered at his motives. Marrying the daughter of the town carpenter and an Elder would improve his chances of becoming the next carpenter and an Elder as well.
And she wondered at her motives. She’d said yes to please her father and because no other man in the Amanas intrigued her. One day she wanted children. A houseful of them. Emil Hahn would give her children and lead their family along the path of righteousness.
She didn’t need a husband in the Amanas to be respected, but she longed for a family. She only wished she longed for Emil, as well.
She couldn’t marry Emil to have children, and she couldn’t allow him the heartache of marrying her in order to become the town carpenter. If he wouldn’t end this farce of an engagement, she would do it.
Lightning illuminated the street below her window. She may never see Jacob again, but she would care for his daughter. And when Emil decided to call, she would release him from their engagement.
Consider the matter which causes you the greatest conflict…. Man is always happier when a relentless concern can, through Love’s leniency, be set aside.
Johann Friedrich Rock, 1728
Chapter Twenty-One
Frank bought the Daily News from a newsstand and clutched it in his hands. He didn’t dare open it. Not until he was back in the safety of his office. A trolley clanged by him and sprayed mud on his trousers. Stepping back from the crowded street, he cut through an alleyway of tents to Clark Street.
Last night Marshall Vicker had called him to say the story would run today. Now they needed someone who knew Jacob Hirsch to read it and respond to the three-hundred-dollar reward. It would be worth every penny to find Jacob and get the money back.
Jacob may have spent a chunk of the cash by now, but Frank refused to admit defeat. He would find him, and the police chief would send someone to arrest him. And whatever was left of the bank’s surplus would be returned to the vault.
Orwin wasn’t in the teller cage, but Frank’s office door was open. When he walked inside, he found Orwin waiting by his desk with a copy of the newspaper in his hands.
Orwin waved the paper. “Did you see this?”
Frank threw the paper on his desk. When he sat down in his chair, he opened the front page. “I haven’t read it yet.”
“But you knew about it….”
“Marshall told me yesterday.”
Orwin leaned against the desk. “How much did Jacob take?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Frank opened the paper and found the article on the third page. Marshall reported that Jacob had taken approximately twenty thousand dollars, but with all the fraudulent bookkeeping, he may never know exactly how much the man stole from him.
Orwin scooted even closer, his eyes narrowing. “What if they can’t find him?”
Frank couldn’t say the words, but his nephew understood. Orwin turned and stomped out of the room, the window of his office shaking with his slam. Both of their careers would be ruined if Jacob didn’t return their money.
Frank looked back down at the article.
REWARD OFFERED FOR EMBEZZLER.
Marshall had kept his word. Nowhere in the article did it mention Jacob’s place of employ. Most of his customers didn’t know Jacob’s last name, and he hoped they wouldn’t equate this man with the clerk who used to handle their money at the bank. If someone really wanted to find out the source of this article, it wouldn’t take them long to discover where Jacob had worked. Hopefully by then, Frank also would know where Jacob had gone and manage to recover the money.
He closed the paper and glanced over at the telephone on his desk. Marshall promised to call the moment someone contacted him with information on Jacob’s whereabouts. Now all he had to do was wait…and hope that no one else would want to withdraw a sizeable sum from their bank account before they found the man who’d stolen their money.
Rain fell in the Amanas for well over a week. Sometimes it would mist, dusting the grosse boat with water, and sometimes it would pour. It had been too wet for the men to even journey into Main Amana for evening prayers and much too wet for Jacob to return to Homestead.
Today, however, the sun finally broke through the clouds, and Jacob lifted his face to the light, soaking up the sun as he helped Michael drive the oaken beams into the bank to secure the boat before they operated the dipper for the afternoon.
More than a week had passed since Liesel and Cassie had surprised him with their visit. Every afternoon, when he worked outside, he found himself looking to the east, hoping they would come running down the path again. Yet the rain didn’t cease, and his daughter and Liesel didn’t come.
Michael promised Jacob that he could go home last Sunday, but a torrent of lightning and thunder accompanied the rain clouds last weekend and ruined his opportunity to return to Homestead. The crew spent the entire day of rest playing cards in the hull, a pastime Michael begrudgingly allowed on the dredge boat although it wasn’t permitted in the villages. Jacob kept going up the steps, checking to see if the skies had cleared, but the rain never ceased.
Perhaps today Liesel and Cassie would come. Or tomorrow. He could only hope to see them soon.
Laughter rang out on the canal, and he shaded his eyes to scan its surface. A man paddled a canoe boat toward him, and a woman sat across from the man, her head hidden under her sunbonnet.
Michael grunted behind him. “Stupid Kinder.”
Jacob squinted at the couple. They were seemingly oblivious to the much larger boat blocking their path. “They don’t look like children to me.”
“Only children would get this close to us.” Michael eyed the boat again, but the man hadn’t stopped paddling. “Go tell them not to come any closer.”
Jacob crossed the plank and hopped onto the path. The man stopped paddling and leaned forward to kiss the woman, and she giggled. When Jacob was alongside them he called out a greeting, but instead of returning the greeting, the woman ducked, her face hidden behind her sunbonnet. Emil Hahn looked up, his eyes locking on Jacob, and Jacob flinched.
Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa Page 15
