Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa

by Melanie Dobson

  Isn’t that what Christ called them to do—love thy neighbor as thyself? It seemed like the Amana colonists loved other people better than they loved themselves.

  Jacob lifted two children from the canoe and into the buggy and wiped the water from his eyes before they started back again into the village. For the next hour, Emil and he worked side by side as they made their way from the west of town going east, stopping at each house to rescue those who couldn’t get to higher ground on their own.

  They were only three houses away from the Strauss house, and if Liesel and her father hadn’t gone to East Amana yet, she would be there. Even as he pushed the canoe through the water, his heart raced at the thought of seeing her again.

  Emil jogged into another house and Jacob squinted his eyes, peering through the rain as a petite woman crossed the street in front of him with a basket looped over her arm. With her skirt hiked above her knees, she waded through the water—and Jacob smiled as he watched her open the door to Albert Strauss’s home.

  An orange light flickered suddenly in the window at the side of the house, and Jacob stared at the light for a moment.

  “Liesel!” he shouted, running toward the house—but she didn’t hear him.

  If you draw near to the Lord, He will shield, shelter, guard, and keep you always.

  Barbara Heinemann Landmann, 1880

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Water soaked over her boots and chilled her ankles, but Liesel didn’t care. Even though she’d trembled the entire way, she’d braved the murky water to the kitchen house and hadn’t drowned in it. The women were gone from the kitchen house, but they’d set out baskets of salted pork and hand cheese for anyone who stopped by to eat, so she retrieved food for her and her father.

  The bells, she’d been told, were ringing for help to get water out of the flooded basements, but even with hundreds of men bailing the water, there was no stopping this storm. Her father was too weak to travel up to East Amana, so she would stay here and care for him for the duration of the storm.

  Pulling off her drenched bonnet, Liesel opened the door and stepped into the entryway. As she walked up the steps, smoke wafted across her face and she coughed, waving her hands to clear it.

  Had someone lit a fire? Perhaps someone was smoking a cob pipe or one of the women was attempting to cook on the woodstove that heated their room. But as she climbed the steps the smoke grew thicker, and she rushed toward her father’s room, swinging open the door.

  Fiery trails of kerosene snaked around the nightstand, and her father was on his knees, collecting accounting books and testimonies in his arms. She dropped her basket and picked up a rug, trying to beat back the flames, but she couldn’t stop the fire.

  Dropping the rug, she grabbed her father’s sleeve and tugged on it. “We must leave.”

  He looked up at her, holding out the stack of books. “Take these first.”

  Her arm recoiled. “There’s no time.”

  The fire ignited the hem of the bed comforter and slowly devoured the material. She must get her father out of this house.

  Reaching for her arm, he clenched it. His plea was urgent. “We can’t let them perish.”

  “Oh, Vater. I can’t let you perish.”

  “These are the Almighty’s words for our people.”

  “There are other copies.”

  “But they might get burned in the fire.”

  She tried to lift him to his feet, but he wouldn’t help her. With no time to argue, she swiped the stack of books from his hands and raced for the door. If it would help him cooperate, she’d get the books out of the house and go right back in again for him.

  Jacob slammed into Liesel as he rushed through the door toward the flames. Books scattered across the floor, but Liesel didn’t reach for them. Emil rushed in behind him, but she didn’t look at her intended. Instead, her eyes were on him, and they were filled with tears.

  “Jacob,” she whispered.

  He wanted to envelop her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her, but that would have to wait. “I told you I’d come back.”

  “My father’s upstairs.” Her voice shook. “I can’t get him out.”

  He ran past her, following Emil up the steps to the smoke pouring out of Albert’s room. Jacob covered his mouth with his cap, rushing through the doorway, and he saw Liesels’s father unconscious on the floor, clinging to a book.

  Heat singed Jacob’s skin and the ceiling groaned above them, the fire popping and sparking as it ravaged the wood. In seconds the attic would cave in on them.

  Emil knelt down, lifting Albert by his shoulders, and Jacob recognized the aloof carpenter who’d taken down the bridge with him. No wonder the man didn’t like him.

  Jacob leaned over, heaving to pick up the man’s heavy legs, but when he lifted him, the book in Albert’s arms fell to the ground. Albert awoke with a start, his arms flailing as he searched for the book.

  Then Liesel was there beside him, picking the book off the ground before her father lost consciousness again. “I’ve got it!” she shouted.

  “Get out of here!” Emil hollered at her—but she didn’t move. Instead she turned, meeting Jacob’s eyes.

  “We’ve got him,” Jacob said, and she hurried toward the door, Emil after her, lugging Albert Strauss into the hallway.

  The moment Jacob stepped out the guest room door, the ceiling crashed down behind him and the floor rocked underneath his feet. Heat blistering his back, he hurried down the stairs after Emil, carrying Liesel’s father into the cool rain.

  A crowd of men gathered on the flooded lawn, debating how to stop the fire. It would be too difficult for the men to haul the hand pump through the waterlogged streets, and it was far too late for a bucket brigade. A ball of fire darted around the roof, and Jacob prayed the rain would continue to fall on them. Once the roof caved in, the storm could extinguish the flames.

  Jacob and Emil laid Albert in the canoe, tilting his face to the side.

  “It will be too hard to take him to East Amana,” Jacob said.

  Liesel glanced over at him, her face filled with worry. “We need to get him out of this rain.”

  Emil looked back over his shoulder. “I know exactly where we can take him.”

  Liesel held the books close to her chest, trying to protect them from the rain by hiding them under her cloak. Emil was wading in front of her, Jacob beside her, and her father was floating down the street. Thank God these men had showed up at the house when they did. She never would have been able to get her father out of the house before the fiery ceiling collapsed.

  Her arms trembled as she held the door open to Schmidt’s Kitchen. If Jacob and Emil hadn’t come to the house, her father would be gone.

  Emil and Jacob carried her father into the flooded kitchen house and up the stairs. The hallway and most of the rooms were crowded with barrels of food brought up from the kitchen and cellar. Liesel moved a crate off a bed, and the men laid her father on it.

  Her father woke again as she stretched a warm blanket over his shivering body. “The lantern…I knocked it over.”

  “It was an accident, Vater.”

  “I was trying to get one of the journals.”

  “I know.”

  Alarm rose in his face again. “Did you get the books?”

  “I got all of them.”

  Hi sighed. “I can rest now.”

  Her father closed his eyes again, and then Jacob was beside her, his arm around her waist. “I almost lost you,” he whispered in her ear.

  She collapsed into his chest, his strong arms pulling her close to him. This was what she wanted. To be with Jacob Hirsch and no one else.

  Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Emil watching her from across the room, and she backed away from Jacob.

  “I’m sorry,” she muttered. What was wrong with her? Her brain felt fuzzy and confused. So much had happened in the past hour alone. The fire…and then her father. And now Jacob was here. Emil knew their
relationship was over, but they hadn’t yet ended their engagement. And here she was, already rushing into the arms of another man.

  She stepped forward, tucking the blanket under her father’s arms again. Her hands needed to stay busy, as did her mind.

  Then she heard a woman shout Emil’s name from the doorway, and Emil raced across the room—to Margrit.

  “I was so worried,” she said, clinging to Emil’s neck—but the moment Margrit’s eyes met hers, she released Emil and stepped back. “Liesel…I didn’t know you were back.”

  “It’s all right, Margrit.” she glanced over at Emil, who looked a bit like a toddler who’d been caught stealing candy. “You will make Emil a much better wife than I.”

  Margrit stuttered her response, but Emil stepped forward.

  “I wanted to tell you,” he said. “Margrit and I both wanted you to know, but we didn’t know exactly what to say.”

  “Do the Elders know you’ve been courting?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  She looked over her shoulder at Jacob filling a basin of water for her. “Alles ist gut, Emil…and for you too, Margrit.”

  Emil Hahn reached for Margrit’s hand, and the two of them hurried out the door together. Had they started caring for each other when she left for Homestead, or had it been even longer? It didn’t matter, she supposed. Emil and she weren’t meant to be together, and she was glad she didn’t have to try to convince him otherwise. He was clearly not lamenting the end of their engagement.

  Jacob was by her side again. “Will you be all right?”

  She glanced over at her father, who was sleeping soundly on the bed. “We will.”

  “There are others who need to get to East Amana tonight.”

  She pushed him toward the door. “You must go help them.”

  Instead of leaving, Jacob gathered her in his arms again, the heat from his body warming the dampness on her skin. She lifted her face to him, her lips longing to feel his.

  “I’ll be back, Liesel.”

  She nodded, trying to suppress the disappointment that rose inside her when he let go of her. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Why do we never look up to the Star which has appeared for us and which would very gladly shine in our hearts, like the morning star?

  Johann Friedrich Rock, 1732

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Someone kissed Jacob’s forehead, and he woke to the warmth and beauty of Liesel’s face and the aroma of bacon escaping from the basket in her hands. The warm sun shone through the windows of the barn, and he rubbed his eyes before he pushed himself up from the hay barrel.

  “What happened to the rain?” he asked.

  “It stopped this morning.”

  He reached up, touching the soft blond hair that cascaded out of her braided knot onto her shoulders. “You are beautiful.”

  “The sun is blinding your eyes.”

  “My eyes are just fine.”

  She brushed dust off her apron, but the smile on her face was radiant.

  “How did you get up here?”

  “Emil brought me in his canoe an hour ago.” She held up the basket. “I walked up to the East Amana kitchen to get breakfast for you and Vater.”

  Jacob glanced over the heads of the twenty or so sleeping men for the one man who’d worked alongside him through the night. He’d thought Emil a cad, but the man was actually a hero. Jacob had been jealous because of Emil’s relationship with Liesel; he could admit that now. His jealousy had skewed the reality of Emil’s strength and honor. Emil should have told Liesel that he’d fallen for someone else, but Jacob couldn’t fault him for that. He probably hadn’t wanted to hurt Liesel’s feelings.

  “Where did Emil go?”

  “He and Niklas left early this morning for Homestead,” she said. “They are going to let Cassie and the others know that we’re safe.”

  “How is your father?”

  “He’s tired, but he doesn’t have any severe burns.”

  “Thank God.”

  “If it weren’t for you and Emil…” She reached out and took his hand, and he weaved his fingers through hers. “If it weren’t for you and the others, we would have lost much more than one house to the fire.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m so glad you came home.”

  Home. The word sounded sweet on her lips, welcoming him back. He sniffed the air, and he smelled coffee beans along with the bacon. He pointed at her basket. “What do you have with you?”

  She flipped back the lid and held up a tin of coffee. “Do you think you might want some?”

  “The whole pot, please.” He stood up, taking her hand. “But let’s get out of this barn first.”

  They walked across the soggy field and found a large rock overlooking the flooded streets of Amana. Liesel spread out a cloth and placed on it an assortment of bread, blackberry jam, bacon, and cheese. “The kitchen crews in East Amana were up early making breakfast for the Amana villagers as well.”

  He picked up a slice of crispy bacon and ate it before he took a sip of the coffee. “Food tastes so much better here than in Chicago.”

  “Did you…” She cleared her throat. “Was it a good trip?”

  He searched her face and saw the worry in her eyes. Niklas hadn’t told her yet. “We found the person who stole the bank’s money.”

  A smile played on her lips. “You’ve been cleared?”

  “I never have to go back to Chicago again.”

  “But the Elders…they aren’t going to let you stay in Amana.”

  “I will try to change their minds.”

  “They won’t listen.”

  “Cassie and I won’t have to leave Iowa. I can find work in Iowa City, maybe, or in Marengo.”

  She shook her head. “That’s too far away.”

  Jacob paddled Liesel down Main Street in the rowboat, toward Schmidt’s Kitchen. Branches and crates and leaves cluttered the watery streets. It would take days, maybe even weeks to clean up the debris. But even with all the damage, no one had lost his or her life to the water or the fire. The floods had come, but God had protected and provided for the Amana people once again. He had no doubt they would recover together and their community would grow even stronger as a result.

  Jacob helped Liesel climb out of the boat, and she lifted out the breakfast basket she’d brought for her father. Albert was awake in his new room, reading from one of the testimonies they’d rescued from the fire. With some rest, her father would recover as well and be even stronger than he was before the flood.

  “Good morning.” Liesel kissed her father. “I thought you might be hungry.”

  “It is a good morning indeed. Do I smell bacon?”

  “The East Amana women packed extra slices just for you.”

  “Perhaps I will move up to East Amana.” Albert looked over at Jacob. “I’m told you carried me out of the fire.”

  “Emil and Liesel and I helped you out together.”

  “I owe you my life.”

  “You don’t owe me anything, sir.”

  Liesel spread the food on a tray and placed it on her father’s lap. He reached for the bacon and engulfed two slices before he continued talking. “Niklas says your name was cleared in Chicago.”

  “It was.”

  “He also said he asked you to leave the Amana Colonies.”

  Jacob glanced over at Liesel, sitting on a chair near the bed, before he spoke to her father again. “Niklas and the other Elders didn’t ask me, sir. They told me to leave right away.”

  “Ja, as they must. Where do you plan on going now?”

  “I’m hoping I don’t have to go far.” His gaze traveled back to Liesel, and she smiled at him.

  Albert cleared his throat, and Jacob stopped staring at his daughter. “Don’t the men need help with the cleanup this morning?”

  Liesel stood up. “Vater. Jacob worked most of the night, taking people to East Amana.”

  “It’s all right,” he told her. “I was plann
ing to work with them this morning.”

  Even as he left the room, Liesel wanted to run after him. Now that she and Emil were no longer engaged, why couldn’t she be with Jacob? He’d proven himself over and over again. In his work. In his commitment to God. And even in his commitment to their community.

  “You’ve fallen for him, ja?”

  She turned around and faced her father. “He wants to join our Society.”

  “We can’t let everyone who wants to join become an Amana, Liesel. Only the faithful.”

  “Jacob has been faithful.”

  Albert shook his head, pushing the tray away from him. “But he will leave one day, go back to the world.”

  “Or he might stay, Vater. None of us know.”

  “Your mother…”

  “My mother didn’t join the Society on her own. Her parents joined for her. When it was time for her to choose, she decided to go back to the world.”

  Her father rested against the headboard. “I wanted her to stay.”

  “Not even those who grew up in the Amanas always stay.” Liesel sat down beside him, holding his arm. “I want to stay here for the rest of my life.”

  Pain filled his eyes. “But what if he asks you to go away with him?”

  Liesel trembled, knowing her answer yet not wanting to say it. It would tear her apart to leave her father, her community—yet she couldn’t imagine staying here without Jacob.

  “He hasn’t asked.”

  “But what if he does?”

  “Oh, Vater. How can I refuse him when the Elders won’t let him join?”

  Her father’s voice was resigned. “You love him that much?”

  “I love him and his daughter.”

  Albert reached for her hand and clung to it. “It will break my heart.”

  She kissed his forehead, her stomach in knots at the thought of leaving the man who had loved her for so many years. “I don’t want to break anyone’s heart.”

  Jacob gathered an armful of branches with his gloves and threw them onto a growing mound on the muddy lawn. Seven other men worked around him, collecting debris from the subsiding water and piling it up so they could burn it later. The clouds had blown away overnight, and the bright sky was a welcome change from the pouring rain.