by Jan Drexler
“Is that what you ministers were discussing yesterday when Amos and Wilhelm stopped by?”
Gideon nodded. “They have driven to every home in the area, talking with folks and assuring them that we will recover from this.”
Ruby held Daniel close. “I never thought we would be fighting the war here in Weaver’s Creek.”
“You heard Thaddeus, and he isn’t the only one who feels that way. The country is divided with wounds on both sides that may never heal. And hatred has no borders. It spills into every community like a plague. We were foolish to think we were immune to its effects.”
“What will happen now?”
Gideon smiled. “We’ll have a barn raising. There isn’t anything we can do that would heal our church better than working together. Amos is going to announce it tomorrow at next week’s Sunday meeting, and we’ll plan on having it next Saturday.”
“A barn raising! That will be so much fun.” She leaned against Gideon’s shoulder as he put his arm around her. “I can’t remember the last time we had a frolic.”
“I thought I might ask Amos to make another announcement.” Gideon cleared his throat.
“What would that be?”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think and pray during the last week as I’ve been recovering from the fire.” He pulled her closer. “I want to keep my promise to Lovinia.”
Ruby tried to keep from smiling. “I should probably keep my promise too.”
“I knew Lovinia wouldn’t want me to marry someone I didn’t get along with. Someone I didn’t love. But she knew you would be the one for me and for the children.”
Daniel’s eyes were closed, and Ruby shifted him so that he was lying in her arms.
Gideon brushed the baby’s hair off his forehead. “My love for you has grown every day. You are not only beautiful, loving, and wise, but you know me. You understand the grief I still wrestle with and you understand what I have lost. I never thought I would find another woman who I would want to share my life with—every part of my life—but then you came along.”
Ruby pulled away from him to gaze into his face. “You don’t want someone better? Someone more like my mother?”
He smiled. “You are more like your mother than you think, Ruby Weaver. And I couldn’t find a better wife than you if I spent the rest of my life searching. Will you marry me?”
Daniel stretched, screwed his face up as if he was going to cry, then opened his eyes. He grinned, then reached up with one hand and touched Ruby’s cheek.
“Mamma, Mamma.”
Ruby’s eyes filled. “It looks like Daniel has made my decision for me.” She looked at Gideon. “How could I refuse him when he asks so sweetly?” She took the baby’s hand and kissed it. “I will marry you, Gideon.”
“As soon as possible?” His eyebrows peaked as he asked the question, waiting for her answer.
She covered her mouth, trying not to laugh with the joy that coursed through her. “As soon as possible.”
With the threat of the raiders gone, the Weaver’s Creek community settled back into a peaceful routine. Gideon moved back to his house with the children, and he and Ruby began their practice of having coffee together each morning. And every morning, he felt that their wedding couldn’t come soon enough.
The fall harvest was just beginning, and Gideon felt his strength returning as he worked with Samuel and his sons in the fields. The oats were ripe and ready to be shocked, but first, Abraham needed a new barn.
Amos had made the announcement about the barn raising at Sunday’s meeting, the day Thaddeus left, and the next Saturday the entire community met at the Weavers’ to share in the work. Abraham had contacted Mr. Stevenson, the owner of the nearby sawmill, and traded standing trees from the west end of his land in exchange for lumber. The loads of sawn boards were delivered on Friday.
Saturday morning dawned clear and warm, holding the promise of a hot day ahead. After Gideon did his chores, he carried the pail of milk into the kitchen. Ruby had arrived while he was in the barn and had started a pot of coffee. The tantalizing fragrance drew him in. He looked forward to these quiet moments with her each morning.
“When will you go down to your mamm’s?”
Ruby had already poured the coffee and was sitting at the table, waiting for him. Ham sizzled in a pan on the stove.
“Right after breakfast.” She smiled at him, ignoring her coffee. “We did the baking and prepared as much as we could yesterday, but we still need to get the chickens ready to roast.”
“Other women will bring food too?” Gideon sipped his hot coffee.
“For sure. There will be plenty to feed you hungry men.” She sat back in her chair, smiling at him.
“What is it?”
“I was just thinking that in less than two weeks, we’ll be doing the same thing, but for a completely different reason.”
Gideon settled back in his own chair. Sunlight coming through the kitchen window shone in her hair, and her face was animated with excitement. Her joy in life was contagious.
“Not such a different reason,” he said. “Today we’re building a barn, set on a solid foundation. On our wedding day, we’ll be starting to build our lives together.”
“You don’t think our marriage will be like a barn, do you?”
He laughed. “Not exactly like a barn, but we’ll use loving care in our marriage just as we will with the barn today. And both will be built on an existing foundation. The barn on the packed earth and stone walls that Samuel and I have been repairing this week, and our marriage on the solid foundation of our faith.”
Ruby sat up and took his hand in hers. “And remembering those who have given us an example to live by.”
He looked into her eyes. “You aren’t sorry you agreed to marry me, are you? It isn’t too late to back out.”
She squeezed his hand. “Oh, I think it is much too late to change my mind.” She grinned at him as she went to the stove to turn the ham in the frying pan. “After all, we’ve already told the children. We can’t turn back now, and I certainly don’t want to.”
She came back to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, and he pulled her down to sit on his lap.
Gideon wrapped his arms around her. “Sometimes I think even the short time we need to wait is too long.”
He held her close until they both smelled the ham burning.
Breakfast was a quick meal of ham, eggs, and biscuits, then Ruby filled her little cart with the food and other things she was taking. Gideon carried Daniel down the road to the Weavers’ farm while the other children walked ahead of them, pulling the cart. A few wagons had arrived already, and Elizabeth caught up with them just as they crossed the stone bridge.
“Bishop Amos said I can do it,” she said, taking Daniel from Gideon.
“I thought he would,” Gideon said. He and Wilhelm had put no barriers between Elizabeth and joining the church, but Wilhelm hadn’t been sure about Amos’s thoughts. The older man had been elected bishop, and he took his now official role seriously. Elizabeth had planned to meet with him on Friday evening.
“I’m glad he did. He said you or Wilhelm can give me instruction for baptism, and then I can join at the fall council meeting in November.”
While Ruby and Elizabeth took the children to the house, Gideon walked over to the building site.
“It’s a fine morning, isn’t it?” Abraham said, shaking his hand.
Samuel and Bram were putting sawhorses together while Peter Lehman walked among the stacks of lumber, jotting notes on a paper in his hand.
“Is Peter the foreman?”
Abraham nodded. “He has a knack for knowing which boards should be used and in which places. He spent last Tuesday at the sawmill, ordering the right length and widths of the lumber, and then he was here before dawn this morning, checking them off his list.”
Gideon walked over to the big ridgepoles, lying on the ground next to the smaller poles that would form the frame of the barn
. Beyond them were stacks of boards, all sorted by lengths and widths. They would be building a large barn today, a duplicate of the one that had burned nearly two weeks ago.
The rest of the families arrived, and the work started. Gideon strapped his leather tool belt around his waist and joined the team that was framing one of the end walls. Abraham, still recovering from his gunshot wound and loss of blood, pitched in where he could, but left most of the heavy work to the other men.
Halfway through the morning, Gideon straightened from his work and looked around. After all that this community had been through, he was glad to see Amos and Abraham working together to build a window frame, and Levi working next to Samuel. Wilmer Keck worked alongside Caleb Lehman. The young man from Wayne County had told Gideon of his intention to buy a farm in the Weaver’s Creek area. His goal was to marry Millie Beiler, and Gideon wished him well.
By the side of the house, the children played together. Roseanna seemed to be in charge of the game of Blind Man’s Bluff, but William was helping her with the younger boys. Shrieks of happy laughter drifted on the summer air in between the constant pop of hammers on wood.
Mercy and grace. The Good Lord had extended both to the community in abundance. And with them, peace.
By noon, the walls were all up. Peter laid the ridgepoles himself, fastening the heavy oak beams to the rafters with mortise joints and wooden pins. Supports ran the width of the barn at the roofline, and the frame was done.
The women had been cooking in the Weavers’ big kitchen all morning, and now the tables in the yard were laden with roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, sliced tomatoes, and loaves of fresh-baked bread. Another table was filled with pies.
Gideon sat with Levi and Samuel in the shade of the trees that sheltered the house from the summer sun on the south side.
Samuel nudged Gideon’s foot with his toe. “Are you ready for the next event in the church?”
Levi leaned toward him. “Your wedding day will be here soon.” He grinned at Samuel. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
Gideon looked across the grassy space to the tables filled with food. Ruby was in line with Elizabeth and Lydia, filling plates for the children and herself. Sophia tagged along behind her, holding on to her skirt with one hand, while Roseanna kept Ezra busy away from the table. Daniel was content in Elizabeth’s arms. As he watched, Ruby bent down to say something to Sophia, putting her free arm around his daughter’s shoulders.
He could see Sophia’s face, pink from the summer sun and heat of the day, her fine blonde hair plastered to her damp forehead where it had escaped her kapp. She smiled up at Ruby, her eyes shining with happiness and love, and Ruby gave her a quick kiss before turning back to the table. His heart filled.
“Don’t worry, Levi.” His voice caught, and he cleared his throat. “I have no second thoughts. I’m looking forward to spending the rest of my days here in Weaver’s Creek with Ruby by my side.”
JUNE 1865
WEAVER’S CREEK, OHIO
Elizabeth Kaufman closed her eyes, leaning her head against the back of the rocking chair on the shaded front porch. A bird sang somewhere above the roof, its fluid call carrying through the quiet afternoon air like an autumn leaf falling. It rose, then paused. Rose again, then swooped down only to end on a high trilling note.
She sighed. Contentment.
A shriek from inside the house brought an abrupt end to the birdsong. Katie’s pounding feet on the stairway and more shrieks brought Elizabeth to her feet, her knitting falling to the porch floor.
“He’s coming!” Katie Stuckey slammed the wooden screen door open and grabbed Elizabeth’s arms, spinning her in a circle. “I saw him from the window! On the road!”
Katie jumped off the porch and headed down the lane toward the road, leaving Elizabeth breathless and alone on the porch.
“Who?” Elizabeth called after her, then laughed to herself. Who else could it be? The long-awaited day had finally arrived. Jonas was home.
It was a happy day, for sure. Elizabeth picked up her knitting and went into the house. Katie’s reunion with Jonas should be private, but they wouldn’t be alone for long. The family and members of their Amish community would be gathering together at her parents’ house to welcome him home. Elizabeth’s brother had been away for three long years with only brief, occasional visits to Katie and the family. Even those had ended after the first year as the war had dragged on.
Much had changed while Jonas had been gone. Katie’s father had passed on, then in the autumn of 1863, her mother had also died. Since the news had come of Elizabeth’s husband’s death at Vicksburg, both friends were single and alone. And with her sister Ruby’s marriage to Gideon Fischer, Elizabeth had left her husband’s old, dark cabin and had come to live with Katie. The two enjoyed each other’s company in the pleasant little house in the Stuckeys’ woods.
With Jonas’s return, Elizabeth’s life would be changing again. She felt sorry for Katie and how long she had suffered during this separation from Jonas, but whenever she considered the full and vibrant future Katie looked forward to with Jonas’s return, self-pity closed in.
How she hated feeling sorry for herself! For sure, her marriage had been a mistake, but now she was free of Reuben. She shuddered a little, remembering her life before Reuben went off to join the Confederate army. The dingy cabin, the horrible odor of stale alcohol, the fear . . .
Elizabeth blinked her eyes, forcing the threatening tears away. Reuben wasn’t part of her life any longer. That time was in the past. The war was over, Jonas was home, and life could get back to the way it was before.
She was free and content, and she meant to stay that way.
Elizabeth added more ham and broth to the pot of beans cooking for their dinner. Then she mixed up a big batch of cornbread, knowing Mamm would have many mouths to feed today. As soon as Jonas’s letter had come telling them when to expect his return, Mamm had started planning the celebration. They hadn’t been sure which day to expect him, but they knew it would be sometime this week. The whole family waited in expectation.
When the cornbread was finished baking, she wrapped the dishes in towels and put them in the pony cart. As she hitched up Rascal, a sudden longing to see Jonas swept over her. She hadn’t been close to him since she married Reuben, but her life was different now. Jonas was her little brother, and he was home. Had the war changed him?
Elizabeth hurried Rascal along as fast as she dared with the pot of soup in the back. As she crossed the stone bridge into the farmyard, Jonas stepped out of the door to meet her. She jumped out of the cart, not even bothering to tie the pony, and ran to her brother. He lifted her in strong arms.
“Welcome home, Jonas,” she said into his ear.
He set her down and looked into her eyes. “How are you?”
“As good as can be, now that you’re home.” She pulled back slightly. “You are home, aren’t you? You don’t have to go back?”
Jonas grinned, looking more like the boy she remembered. “Mamm asked me the same thing. Ja, for sure I’m home. I’ve been mustered out. The army doesn’t want me anymore.”
Katie appeared behind him. “Come in, Elizabeth. Jonas brought a friend home with him.”
Jonas propelled her toward the door. “Katie is right. I left Aaron in Mamm’s hands, the poor fellow.”
A lean man sat at the kitchen table, a spoon halfway to his mouth. Jonas had been right. Mamm had dished up a plate full of food for the stranger, and he had already finished most of it. He put his spoon down when he saw Elizabeth and rose to his feet.
Or his foot. Elizabeth forced herself not to stare as the man grabbed a pair of crutches and hobbled toward her, one trouser leg pinned up at the knee.
“Aaron Zook,” he said, thrusting a hand toward her. “Jonas told me about his family. I’m guessing you must be Elizabeth.”
Without thinking, Elizabeth shook hands with him. Aaron spoke in Englisch. He wasn’t Amish.
�
��Ja . . . Yes,” she stammered. “I’m Elizabeth.”
He wore a beard with a mustache, but underneath she could see hollow cheeks. His welcoming smile stopped at his mouth, not reaching his shadowed eyes. He reminded her of the man she had been trying so hard to forget.
“Aaron and I met in the hospital in Washington,” Jonas said, grasping his friend’s shoulder.
“Were you a medic too?” Mamm asked.
Aaron’s smile disappeared as he turned away from Elizabeth. “No, ma’am. I was a wounded prisoner. A Confederate soldier.”
Elizabeth’s head swam. A Confederate soldier, just like Reuben. She took a step back as Aaron went on.
“Jonas saved my life in more ways than one, and I owe him a great debt. With my family and property gone, I had no reason to return to Georgia. Jonas suggested I come here to Ohio with him.”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” Daed said.
Elizabeth took another step back. What was Daed thinking, inviting this man to stay?
“I’d like that,” Aaron said. “I’ll work for my keep. Don’t worry about that.” He patted his right leg. “This doesn’t slow me down too much.”
“We’ll talk about that later,” Daed said. “Samuel’s family will be here soon, and his oldest boy has gone to tell Jonas’s other sisters that he’s come home. Today is a day to celebrate.”
Elizabeth slipped out to the porch, then leaned against the wall. Somehow, she would have to join with the rest of the family in welcoming Aaron to the community. Swallowing hard, she closed her eyes. Dread seeped into the place that had held such joy only moments ago.
She shook her head, trying to clear it away.
He isn’t Reuben. He might not be anything like Reuben.
She wiped the dampness off her upper lip and rubbed her palms on her clean apron. If Aaron Zook stayed in Weaver’s Creek, nothing could be right again.
Acknowledgments
As each book travels the road from my imagination to the copy you hold in your hands, I must point the way to the true geniuses behind the finished product.
