Promise Lodge

by Charlotte Hubbard

“Oh, my,” Frances murmured. “That’s a very serious offense.”

  “So they believe Isaac and his buddies set the barn afire on purpose? Just for the fun of it?” Christine demanded.

  Deborah suspected Christine wasn’t asking about the Bender barn alone, but about hers, as well. What a mess Isaac had made for these sisters, carousing with his friends and believing he’d get away with it.

  “I still have to wonder why a preacher’s daughter would be involved with such dubious activities,” Floyd remarked as he eyed Deborah. “Why didn’t you run the other way and notify the men—”

  “Isaac and Kerry both claimed the fire was an accident—said they’d drunk too much beer and didn’t see the flames until Deborah and the sirens alerted them,” Amos interrupted. Then he smiled kindly at Deborah. “But this wasn’t about you, dear. The boys—and Bishop Obadiah—are being held responsible. Which is why—”

  “No, wait. This is about me,” Deborah said in a low voice. Her insides quivered at the thought of setting the record straight—of facing up to Bishop Floyd right here and now. But if she didn’t state her case, she would feel forever intimidated by his barbed questions and stares. Please, Jesus, help me say this right. Floyd won’t give me a second chance.

  Deborah inhaled deeply to fortify herself. “All of our men were on the far side of the district, too far away to hear the fire bell,” she began, “so when I saw my neighbors’ barn burning I called the police. I did the right thing—but the bishop’s son shoved me into a buggy and then shoved me out into a ditch. And then his English friend took over.

  “They were getting even because I’d called the cops,” she went on in a steadier voice, daring to hold Floyd Lehman’s gaze. “When each of them intended to—to use me, I prayed to Jesus and fought them off. When I stumbled home at dawn, my dat took one look and he judged me. Just like you’re doing,” she added in a whisper. “And he sent me away because he was ashamed of me and the way I had sinned.”

  Deborah swallowed hard. The Lehmans were both watching her closely. The kitchen was absolutely quiet and no one was eating. “So here I am at Promise Lodge, safe among these lifelong friends,” she continued softly. “I’ve thanked God every day since the fire that He delivered me from evil—not once but twice, because those boys came here last week intending to hurt me again. I sincerely hope that when you or your daughters find yourselves in peril, God will do the same for you. He didn’t fail me.”

  Frances blinked rapidly. Bishop Floyd glanced at his breakfast.

  “Amen, Deborah,” Rosetta whispered.

  “Tell it like it is, girl,” Noah murmured as he gazed at her steadfastly. “We’re all with you on this. Your faith got you through the fire.”

  Preacher Amos watched the Lehmans’ reactions for a moment and then nodded at Deborah. “You told that better than I would have, and you’ve cleared the air now. When your dat asked if I would come back to Coldstream to be the foreman for the Presleys’ barn raising, your welfare—the safety of all you women—was my first concern.”

  “I can see why you’d hesitate to do that, Amos,” Mattie murmured as she forked up a bite of her breakfast. “I’m glad my boys have gut reasons not to go back, however. I suppose that sounds hard-hearted and not very Christ-like.”

  “Actually, Eli called me because he knew Obadiah wouldn’t ask for my help,” Amos clarified. “He doesn’t think the other men will be as cooperative if they don’t have an experienced crew leader. He says everyone’s getting mighty fed up with the Chupps.”

  Amos smiled at Noah then. “He also asked me to pass along his best wishes for your new job, son. Then Eli said that if I went back to help with that barn, he suspected several of our friends might want a firsthand account of the prospects at Promise Lodge.”

  “Too bad it had to come to this, though,” Mattie said with a sigh. “Even if Obadiah’s acting contrite now, owning up to Isaac’s activities, he’s lost his credibility. It’s a sad situation when folks can’t believe in their bishop.”

  Frances’s cheeks turned pink and she looked away from her husband. “It is, indeed,” she murmured. Floyd focused on eating his breakfast, remained silent.

  “Jah, it is,” Amos agreed. “I suppose I could spare them a day or two, to show I’m still their friend—and to see how serious any of them might be about joining us here. And I’d like the new barn to be done right, so Keith Presley will have a better opinion of his new Amish neighbors.”

  “A commendable attitude,” Floyd murmured. “And it speaks well of your leadership despite the way you left the district that God chose you to lead. A preacher has to have a very gut reason for doing that.”

  “I believe I did,” Amos replied. “We all did.”

  But Dat didn’t ask about me? As the folks around her dug into their food again, Deborah kept her question to herself. Her father was obviously caught up in the news about Isaac—and eager for Preacher Amos to take charge of the barn raising—so he hadn’t given her a thought. Of course, verifying Isaac’s guilt didn’t mean she was innocent. She had still defied the Ordnung by calling 9-1-1 and by getting into Kerry’s car that night....

  But your plan for happiness is in place, isn’t it? she realized as she glanced across the table. If you’d stayed in Coldstream you couldn’t have reconciled with Noah—and you wouldn’t be enjoying the company of these friends who love you.

  As he took his final bite of breakfast, Noah stretched his legs beneath the table to catch her feet between his. “I should head out to the road to meet Truman,” he said. “Maybe he’ll look at the designs I’ve drawn up and suggest which are the best ones to show the managers at the senior living center. Or maybe they’ll take one look and won’t think I’m the right fellow for this welding job.”

  “I doubt that,” Deborah said. He looked so eager and excited that she found a smile for him. “Truman wouldn’t have mentioned the job if he didn’t want you working for him.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Amos agreed as he spooned up more hash browns to start a second haystack. “Have a great day, Noah. We’ll want to hear all about it when you get home tonight.”

  “I’ll walk out with you,” Roman said as he rose from his chair. “I spotted a couple of loose boards in the shed where the goats are. Can’t have Rosetta’s babies escaping—or have the coyotes finding a way inside.”

  As the Schwartz boys left the table, Deborah made an effort to eat more of her food so the others wouldn’t suspect her feelings had been hurt. It was silly to bemoan her father’s attitude, however. She’d known all her life that once Eli Peterscheim formed an opinion or made a decision, he didn’t change it. And hadn’t she made Bishop Floyd stop asking his pesky questions? Indeed, he and his wife had both remained surprisingly quiet since she’d spoken up.

  “I’m glad Isaac’s being held accountable now, and pleased to see that Obadiah’s stopped ignoring his son’s wrongdoing,” Amos remarked. “And who knows? Maybe Preacher Eli will open his home to his daughter again—although we’re glad you’re here with us, dear.”

  “Maybe he will,” Deborah murmured. As she gazed at the dear friends around the table, it again occurred to her that if God had led her to Promise in her time of need, He’d had a good reason. “Noah’s asked me to wait for him, though—to be patient while he works toward building a home for us. And I’ve said I would.”

  “Yay!” Laura cried as she grabbed Deborah’s shoulders.

  “That’s what we’ve been wanting to hear!” Phoebe agreed. “Oh, but I’m glad you’re together for the long haul again!”

  Preacher Amos winked slyly at Mattie and then focused on Deborah again. “Happy to hear that,” he said with a mysterious smile. “Gut things come to those who wait, Deborah. Trust me on this.”

  * * *

  After breakfast, Bishop Floyd called for a taxi to take him and his wife to the Kirksville bus station. Then he and Amos went for another walk around the grounds. Rosetta ran dishwater while the other women sta
cked the dirty dishes and the girls put the leftovers in containers. When Frances cleared her throat rather loudly, all of them looked at her.

  “Deborah, I’m glad you told your story,” she said as she clutched her tea towel. “And I’m grateful to God that you escaped those boys and your situation in Coldstream because—well, Mary Kate, our youngest, wasn’t so lucky. She’s the real reason we’re looking to leave our church district.”

  Rosetta’s eyebrows rose and she turned off the faucet. “I hope you don’t mean that Mary Kate ran afoul of some boys—”

  “Just one. An English fellow who saw her walking home one evening from helping at a neighbor’s house,” Frances said in an urgent voice. “He got out of his car and grabbed her. Forced himself upon her in the woods and drove away. If she’d been brave like you, Deborah—if Mary Kate had screamed and put up a fight, we might’ve heard her, but . . . well, we’re devastated. She’s only eighteen.”

  “Oh, Frances, I’m so sorry,” Rosetta murmured. As she put her arm around Frances’s shoulders, Mattie and Christine and the girls gathered around to express their sympathy, as well. “What’s the world coming to when our girls aren’t safe in their own neighborhoods?”

  Frances blotted her tears with her towel. “I prayed that we could put the incident behind us and be more watchful, but Mary Kate is carrying the baby of a man we know nothing about. You understand, of course, that her being the bishop’s daughter adds another layer of . . . complication to our family’s problem.”

  “Jah, a bishop’s family is expected to toe a higher mark,” Mattie murmured. “But you’re human, like the rest of us. So this is why you and Floyd are leaving Ohio?”

  “Before her condition becomes apparent, and before anyone suspects why he felt called to leave his district,” Frances confirmed with a nod. “I refused to send Mary Kate away to distant kin, to have her baby in a strange place—knowing folks would only speculate about the reason she’d left all of a sudden.”

  “Jah, that’s how people think, unfortunately.” Christine squeezed Frances’s shoulder. “If you believe Promise Lodge is a gut place to start fresh, we want you to come. Every one of us is here because we chose to leave trouble behind.”

  “You have no idea how relieved I was to meet you ladies—to know right off that we’d be bringing Mary Kate to a place of caring and compassion.” A wry smile lit Frances’s face. “Please don’t let on to Floyd that I’ve told you about this. He’s used to having his say, as bishop, and when situations spin out of his control, he doesn’t deal with it very well. The truth will become more obvious as the months go by, of course.”

  Rosetta chuckled softly. “I figured that about him, jah. But it’s the same for the rest of us, too,” she pointed out. “We do our best to follow God’s will, so when life takes a turn for the worse, it slaps us in the face pretty hard.”

  Wiping her eyes a final time, Frances smiled bravely at all of them. “We still have our family. We still have our Lord Jesus,” she said in a determined tone. “I believe we’ll be returning here very soon to get settled with Mary Kate and Gloria—and to prepare for a baby in December. It just has to seem like Floyd’s decision that we’re coming here.”

  Mattie smiled. “Oh, some of us know a little about how the man has to be the head of the family.”

  “But we women are the necks that turn the heads,” Christine added.

  As they returned to redding up the kitchen, Rosetta turned the conversation to lighter topics by asking about what sort of house Frances was hoping for and where she might want it built. Within an hour, the Lehmans were packed and waiting for the taxi when it pulled up to the lodge for them.

  “We’ll keep in touch,” Bishop Floyd said as he loaded their luggage into the trunk. “We appreciate your showing us around the place, and holding the cabin for us.”

  “We’ll look forward to hearing from you,” Preacher Amos replied.

  Rosetta and the rest of them waved as the taxi headed for the road. Just goes to show how we have no idea what crosses other folks have to bear, Lord. Keep reminding us not to judge others—and please grant Your special grace and peace to young Mary Kate.

  “I suspect we’ll be seeing the Lehmans again soon,” Amos remarked as he handed a check to Mattie. “When I suggested a deposit of five hundred dollars, he gave us a thousand.”

  “An investment in his family’s future,” Mattie said. “Something tells me he won’t walk away from his money—or his commitments.”

  Rosetta shared a quick smile with her sisters as they headed back to the lodge. A few moments alone with Frances had shed a whole new light on Floyd’s motivations. She sensed that when the bishop returned to Promise Lodge with Mary Kate, he might act a bit more tolerant of their ways here—and show a lot more humility.

  Or not, she thought wryly. With some men, there’s no figuring them out.

  * * *

  Noah strode quickly up the lane that evening, his heart overflowing. When Queenie rushed up to greet him, barking her welcome, he set his rolled-up papers on the ground so he could rub her head between his hands.

  “I think we’re gonna make it, Queenie-girl,” he said gleefully. “It’s all gonna fall into place now.”

  Queenie licked his face, and together they hurried toward the lodge. As he climbed the wooden steps, aromas of grilled beef, gravy, and fresh bread made his stomach rumble.

  Smells like home, he thought. When Noah passed through the dining room, where the table was set for supper, the sight of Deborah at the stove made him stop to gaze at her. She was attacking a pan of boiled potatoes with the masher, steam rising around her precious face as her kapp strings fluttered with her energetic efforts. It was such an ordinary sight, yet so dear to him, now that it seemed entirely possible that she’d be standing in their kitchen cooking his meals someday.

  Deborah reached for the milk jug and then noticed he was watching her. Her grin lit up the kitchen. “Noah! How was your day?” she called out. “We got steaks out of the freezer to celebrate your new job!”

  His heart fluttered. He realized then that his mamm, his aunts, and his cousins were all busy in the kitchen, as well, and that they had planned a wonderful supper before they even knew if his drawings had been approved—because they loved him, and they believed in him. With that sort of acceptance, how could he fail?

  Amos carried a large platter of T-bone steaks in from the backyard. The girls placed bowls of creamed peas, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy on the table, along with a basket of bread.

  Roman brought along two pies piled high with meringue. “Lemon and butterscotch,” he said as he placed them on one of the unset tables. “No matter what they told you about your drawings today, we’re eating high on the hog.”

  “Jah, we killed the fatted calf,” Amos quipped. “So what did those managers say about your ideas, son?”

  Noah set his rolled-up drawings on the unset table alongside the pies. “They said yes!” he crowed. “They liked my sunflower and hummingbird designs for the outside trellises so much, they want matching insets for the patio doors and for some of the interior glass doors, too!”

  “So you’ll be doing more projects than you first thought?” his mamm asked.

  “Jah, they seemed mighty glad I’d come along,” Noah replied. “Even Truman was surprised about the extra projects. He’d told me not to be disappointed if they scaled back on some of my ideas, yet it seems they dug deeper into their budget to pay for more rather than less.”

  “And for that, and our many blessings, we give thanks!” Amos said.

  They all took their seats at the table. As they prayed, Noah bowed his head, grinning when he felt Deborah’s toes tapping his ankles. He hugged her feet between his. Lord God, for this wonderful day and my new job, I thank You. Forgive my earlier bad moods when I didn’t believe anything positive would come of our move to Promise Lodge.

  Did anything taste better than steaks cooked on the grill? Or mashed potatoe
s hollowed into a crater to hold Deborah’s thick brown gravy? Noah described the facility where he’d be working, and answered a lot of questions while they ate. His steak was juicy and seasoned to perfection, and he enjoyed every bite of the side dishes that had long been his favorites. While the girls cleared the table, he unrolled his sketches of gates with insets that included the sunflowers, hummingbirds, and swirls of ivy that had earned him such high praise—and good pay—from the managers at the senior living complex.

  “Oh, would you look at that sweet little hummer?” Deborah said as she ran a finger over one of the sketches. “Every one of those little birds is a miracle, don’t you think?”

  Noah held Deborah’s hand as she stood beside him, admiring his drawings. Truman had agreed to order enough extra supplies so he could make the trellis she wanted for their new home, and now he knew exactly what sort of design he’d add into it.

  “What a blessing, that you can put your talents to use at a place where they’re sure to bring the residents joy,” Amos remarked as he studied Noah’s sketches. “It’s God’s providence that brought you here so you could do such special welding work, son.”

  The preacher stroked his silver-shot beard, smiling as he gazed into Noah’s eyes. “The root word of providence is provide,” he went on matter-of-factly. “And just as the Lord has given us all so much since we moved here, your mamm has decided to provide you a plot of ground, and I will build you and Deborah a home on it. We think it’s fitting that yours should be one of the first houses to go up in our Promise Lodge colony—whenever you’re ready to marry.”

  Noah’s mouth dropped open. Beside him, Deborah gasped while Laura and Phoebe squealed with delight.

  His mother stepped up behind them to place her hands on their shoulders. “I was planning to do this for both you and Roman when the time was right, to make up for moving you from the land you’d figured on sharing someday,” she explained.

  “And I’ll see that you girls have places to build homes, as well,” Christine said as she joined Phoebe and Laura beside the table. “It’s important to us to keep our children nearby, and to build this colony as a place for your families to grow. While this doesn’t mean you must stay, if the men you marry want you to move elsewhere, it’s my way of providing what your dat would’ve wanted you to have.”