[2016] The Precious Amish Baby

by Faith Crawford

  Michael let out the breath he’d been holding and rushed into the other room, skidding to a halt on his knees next to Martha. Her eyes flew open. As soon as she saw him, she started crying.

  He untied the gag around her mouth and pulled a knife from a sheath attached to his belt to cut the fabric bindings from her wrists and ankles. She threw her arms around him and he held her to his chest as tightly as he could manage without crushing her.

  “Michael, Michael, Michael…” was all she could manage.

  “My sweet woman, sweet girl…” he was saying in a soft, tender voice. He rocked her back and forth. “I will never let anything happen to you again, sweet girl. I will always be here to protect you. I love you, my darling. I love you.”

  Martha continued to sob, trying to choke out a response, but tears clogged her voice. He pulled back a little and pushed the damp hair from her forehead, examining the matted blood from her wound. “Sshh. It’s going to be okay, my love. You’re going to be all right. We’re going to be together forever, sweet girl. Forever.”

  Martha found her voice just as he pressed a loving kiss against her lips. “Michael,” she whispered against his lips. “I love you. You saved me. You found me.”

  He held her close again. “I will never let you go, sweet girl. You are mine forever now.”

  *****

  THE END

  Bonus Book 6: My Wounded Hero

  By: Faith Crawford

  Description

  A young nurse and a wounded, reluctant American soldier – Will they find each other in the midst of the Second World War?

  Adrianna is a beautiful, curvy seventeen-year-old girl, living a carefree life with her parents and her brothers. Until the worst happens, her parents die.

  Her world comes crashing down as she is the only person her young brothers can look up to. The war, which had seemed so distant, edges closer as Naples gets bombed over and over again. There’s heavy fighting in nearby Naples and Adrianna knows that she must take care of her brothers and flee the village they know as their home.

  Father Stefano in the monastery welcomes them and Adrianna slowly adapts to a life amongst nuns, so much so that she decides that her calling is to be a nun.

  That is, until Major Sidney, a wounded American soldier arrives for treatment. She immediately falls in love with him, having feelings that are in contrast with her desire to become a novice nun. The Major does not reciprocate her feelings and Adrianna is at a loss over what her future holds.

  This is a story about love during the war and obstacles that must be overcome for two people to love each other.

  Chapter One

  It was their last breakfast together, though at the time, Adrianna did not know it. Her attention was on ensuring that her thirteen-year-old twin brothers, Benito and Dante ate their breakfast. Just then, her Mamma strolled into the spacious kitchen, wearing a black turtleneck, which made her pale face even paler.

  “Good morning my dears, did you have a good night?” she said in her soft, soothing voice.

  Her mother was English, and despite living in Naples for over twenty years, she did not speak Italian. Adrianna thought her mother was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, with her foreign good looks and blonde hair tied with a loose hair band at the back of her head. Adrianna had taken her looks from her Papa’s side of the family.

  She was tall and big-boned, though her Mamma called her curvaceous. Her hair was brown like her Papa and brothers. She often longed for blonde hair like her Mamma as well as her petite frame.

  “Morning Mamma,” Adrianna and the boys said to her.

  Her father walked in next, called out cheerful greetings in Italian and proceeded to plant a kiss on all their foreheads. Adrianna flinched when he kissed her. At seventeen, she thought she was too old for kisses from her parents, but her father never paid attention to her protests. Her mother was at the sink, rinsing the dishes that Adrianna had used to prepare breakfast.

  Her Papa, as though drawn by a magnet, moved to stand behind his wife. Adrianna made a face at her parent's antics over the kitchen sink. Her Papa was a tall, broad-shouldered Italian man, who was now standing behind her Mamma, nuzzling her neck. Her parents embarrassed her with their romantic goings on, not caring who was watching. Her brothers, seated opposite Adrianna in the kitchen breakfast table, tried unsuccessfully to stifle their giggles. At ages thirteen, they thought it hilarious for their parents to be touching and kissing.

  Adrianna finished off her breakfast of pancakes and milk and pushed her chair back.

  “Come on boys hurry up, I don’t want to be late for class,” she said.

  She was doing a short typing course at Averno College for young women and she loved every moment of it.

  “Mamma?” Adrianna said. “We’re off, have a good day.”

  Her Mamma came to her and kissed her cheek and for a moment, Adrianna lost herself in her mother’s jasmine perfume.

  “Papa and I are off to the mountains for the day, but we’ll be back by the time you come home,” she said.

  Adrianna shuddered. Any mention of the mountains or outdoors reminded her of the bite. They had been out camping and she and the boys had been sitting under a tree, shading themselves from the glare of the sun. Further down, on the banks of a stream, her parents had sat together whispering to themselves as they always did.

  Adrianna remembered seeing the orange and white thing with long legs crawling up her leg and she had sat mesmerized unable to scream or move. She had felt a light prick on her skin and afterward, an intense pain that got her screaming. Her leg had immediately swollen and throbbed with unbearable pain. At the hospital, she had made her parents swear to never take her and her brothers out there again.

  It had saddened them because both her Papa and Mamma loved being outdoors, but they had kept their promise. On papa’s day off, they usually planned an outing for just the two of them.

  Adrianna hugged her Papa, his strong arms wrapping her to him. Even though they embarrassed her sometimes, she truly adored her parents. Her Papa and her Mamma had met when Adrianna’s mother had come to Italy on holiday with her family. Her Papa had worked at the local pizzeria as a chef. One look was all it took, as her Papa told the story and the rest was history.

  It had been love at first sight and her Mamma did not return to England despite her parents’ desperate pleas. Adrianna thought it was a most romantic story. She took her satchel from the bookshelf in the living room and grabbed her winter coat. Her brothers caught up with her outside the front door and together they walked down the street. The wind was biting cold and she hugged her coat tighter to her body.

  “Ciao!” Signora Cremona called out to Adrianna and her brothers.

  “Ciao,” they chorused back.

  Adrianna smiled at the bread under Signora’s Cremona’s arm. You could keep time by observing the older woman. Each morning at the same time, she walked down to the local bakery and bought the same sized bread for breakfast, whether it was Monday or Sunday. They passed by the cafeteria, where wisps of conversations reached Adrianna.

  “It’s only a matter of time before the Americans finish off Germany.”

  “Our Corpo Truppe Volontarie boys will back home soon—”

  Adrianna knew the men seated at a table under an umbrella were speaking of the war but in her family’s world, the war was a distant happening, something that did not really affect them. There was rationing of food of course, but as a chef, her father had access to a lot of black market foodstuff and really, their lives were just as they had known them to be.

  “Bye, see you later,” Adrianna called to Benito and Dante as they turned and headed to their school, a little way up the mountain.

  Adrianna took a bus to Naples, which took just under twenty minutes. Adrianna enjoyed the bus ride as it passed near the harbor where there were always boats launched there and others boats looked like dots on the blue Mediterranean Sea. She never wanted to leave her home. As far as
Adrianna was concerned, it was the most wonderful place she could think of to live. Perhaps if Frank Sinatra invited her to London to watch him sing, she would go, Adrianna thought, stifling a giggle, but only then would she leave her hometown.

  The day passed by fast for Adrianna. She enjoyed chatting with her friends most of whom she had gone to school with and knew their families. On the walk from the bus stop, her mind was occupied with a stylish dress she had seen on the display of a window in Naples. Her savings were not enough to buy the dress, but she wanted it so much she could imagine the feel of the soft light blue fabric against her skin. She intended to cajole her father into topping up her savings so that she could buy it.

  Adrianna was so deep into her thoughts, she did not notice the group of people gathered in front of her house, including two policemen, until she was a few steps away. She stopped short and blood raced to her skin. Her first thought was of her brothers.

  “Adrianna!” Benito shouted from somewhere in the crowd and ran to her.

  Dante followed closely and the combination of both their bodies hurled against her almost made Adrianna lose her balance.

  “What is it? What’s going on?”

  Before either of the boys could answer, the two policemen had come to her side and one of them spoke.

  “Are you Adrianna Capello?”

  “Yes,” Adrianna croaked out.

  “We’re very sorry to inform you of the death of your parents. They were crushed by an avalanche on the mountains…”

  Adrianna did not hear the rest. Her brain shut off all activity and she stared mutely ahead. She felt removed from everything as though she was enclosed in a circular glass and could see but not hear people. She felt the crowd of neighbors gather around her, touching her and urging her to be strong. Papa and Mamma are dead! The thought screamed out in her brain and her feet begun to tremble. Her lower lip shook and her legs turned to water.

  Not her beloved Papa and Mamma?

  “Are you sure?” Adrianna finally managed to ask the policemen who looked at her with sympathy.

  “Yes, their bodies were recovered two hours ago and we had two neighbors identify them. I’m very sorry.”

  Somebody shepherded Adrianna into the house and she kept her hands on her brothers. The world, which had felt so safe that very morning, now seemed dangerous and she pulled the boys closer to her on the living room chair. Her mind kept going over the images of her parents that morning. They had seemed so alive and happy. How could they just be gone?

  A buzz in the room pierced through Adrianna’s grief as an urgent whisper went round. She cocked her ear to the whispered conversations.

  “Naples has been bombed…it came on the wire.”

  “Thousands dead...”

  “Oh Mary, mother of God...”

  Adrianna shook her head in confusion. People started to disperse and she and the boys sat holding each other tight.

  Chapter Two

  Adrianna hurried down the empty streets of Positano, the cafes sitting empty, most of them shut down as were the shops. People had left the village and only a few who had nowhere to go remained, such as herself and her brothers. Only two months ago, they had buried their parents although it seemed almost a decade as so many things had happened. Their once peaceful town had lost its tranquility with the ground shaking from bombs dropped in nearby Naples.

  She and her brothers had spent entire nights huddled under their beds, their ears ringing with the loud sounds of explosions. Rumor had it that their village could be bombed anytime and she was terrified. But a more pressing problem worried Adrianna. They had nothing to eat. She had scoured the marketplace, the grocery shops and there was nothing. Dante and Benito waited for her hungrily at home and she had nothing to offer them.

  Tears coursed down her face as she walked down their deserted street. What was she to do? They had no relatives as her Papa had been an only child and his parents had long passed on. Her Mamma and her family had drifted apart after her marriage to Papa. They had absolutely no one to turn to. Adrianna forced herself to slow down her pace and think.

  She and the boys had to leave, but where would they go? Adrianna said a silent prayer to God. She had read somewhere in her Bible that the Lord cared for orphans more than anyone else, and she now beseeched Him to come to her aid. A flash of memory hit her just then. She remembered a visit to a monastery when she was seven years old.

  She had walked between both of her parents until the path to the mountain had gotten thinner and they had to walk in a single file. Her little legs had grown weary and her Papa had hoisted her on his shoulders. Adrianna remembered taking a long time to reach the monastery where Father Stefano, the very same who had officiated at the funeral, had greeted them. He had a kind thin face and Adrianna knew where to take her and her brothers for refuge. There, they would get shelter and a safe place to sleep, which was all she needed.

  Her mind made up, Adrianna hurried the rest of the way home. As soon as she pushed open the front door, Dante and Benito came running to her.

  “Did you buy food, Adrianna?” Benito asked.

  She shook her head and almost wept at their crestfallen faces.

  “But don’t worry, I know where we’ll go,” Adrianna said. “We’ll carry just a few of our clothes and head up the mountain to the monastery. Father Stefano will not turn us away.”

  Adrianna hoped that she was right, but there was no time to worry over that. They would cross that bridge when they came to it. She would beg on her knees if she had to. She dispatched each of the boys with instructions on what to pack. For herself, she packed three dresses and sets of underclothes, but with one final look around her room, her eyes fell on the yellow covered Bible from her Mamma and she stashed it in into her small satchel.

  She tore off the poster of Frank Sinatra from the wall and carefully folded it, and placed in the satchel. Dante and Benito shared the bedroom opposite hers. Mamma and Papa had shared the bedroom at the end of the hallway and as she left her room, Adrianna kept her eyes averted, because every time she looked at the door, her eyes flooded with tears.

  To her dismay, each of the boys had packed a big leather bag, brimming with clothes. She sighed.

  “We can only carry a few clothes each,” Adrianna said, reaching into the bags and tossing out clothes. “It’s a very long walk there and the fewer things we carry, the faster we’ll get there.”

  “I need that T-shirt, it’s my favorite, Mamma bought it for me last summer,” Dante protested.

  At the mention of their Mamma, a silence fell upon them and Adrianna wanted to curl herself into a ball and weep. Instead, she nodded briskly and returned the impractical sleeveless T-shirt to the bag. Ten minutes later, they were ready to leave the home they had known most of their lives. There was nobody to say goodbye to, not even the neighbors who had moved away.

  ***

  Adrianna forced herself to move in the darkened forest. She did not remember it being this dark. The sky had all but disappeared and all she could see was a canopy of towering trees above them. The only thing that told her that they were on the right path was the well-worn ground that told of people going the same way. Something touched her neck and she jumped and screamed in fright.

  “What is it, Adrianna?” Dante, who was behind her, asked.

  “Nothing,” Adrianna said, breathing fast. “It’s just a branch.”

  They continued trudging uphill, with Adrianna carrying the boys’ bags as they had grown weary. After twenty minutes or so of walking, she stopped hearing the boys’ steps behind her. They stood a few meters away and she could see the exhaustion written on their face.

  “We’re tired Adrianna,” Benito said and dropped to the ground.

  “Are we almost there? I’m thirsty and hungry,” Dante said and joined his brother on the ground.

  Adrianna could have hit herself. In her rush to leave, she had not thought to carry bottles of water. Her own throat ached with thirst.

&nb
sp; “We’re almost there and we’ll get food and water,” Adrianna lied smoothly.

  Now, she did not feel sure of her plan. What if the monks only allowed men into the monastery? She felt terrified at the thought of being turned away. She could not imagine summoning the strength to walk this way back again and with nowhere to go. She pushed the frightening thoughts from her mind. She let the bags drop and sat down herself, taking care to sit in the middle of the path, away from any crawling creatures.

  An hour later, they were still walking and Adrianna feared that they were lost. But then they stumbled upon an opening and in front of her, she saw a stone wall, most of it overgrown with climbing plants.

  “We’re here!” Adrianna cried out.

  The boys did not respond and she walked towards a small rusted gate. It was locked with a padlock and she grabbed it and banged it hard against the metal. It rang out, breaking the silence. Adrianna cocked her ear but could hear no sound or sign that people were living there. Desperately, she took hold of the padlock again and shook it hard.

  “Anybody here? Help!

  Tears were now running down her cheeks. She called out until her voice went hoarse. Oh Lord, what was she to do?

  “Adrianna, what do we do now?” Benito asked.

  Adrianna had no answer for him and she shook her head. Just then, she heard the soft noises of someone walking softly beyond the gate. Her heart stopped and sure enough, a voice spoke from the other side.

  “Yes?”

  “Hello,” Adrianna said, scrambling to her feet. “My name is Adrianna and I’m with my two brothers. Could you kindly let us in? We wish to speak to Father Stefano…please.”

  “Wait there,” the soft voice said and she heard his steps recede.

  Adrianna waited breathlessly, hoping that the man who had spoken would return. It took ten more excruciating minutes before she heard footsteps again. The person on the other end fiddled with the padlock and pulled the gate open. Adrianna was so relieved to see Father Stefano that she had to fight the urge to embrace him.