The Storekeeper's Daughter

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  “Who ya talkin’ to, Papa, and what’s it too late for?”

  Abraham turned in his chair. Samuel stood inside the kitchen door, a lock of blond hair in his eyes, his cheeks still rosy from sleep.

  “Where are your sisters?” Abraham asked. “Are they up yet?”

  Samuel shrugged. “Don’t rightly know. I woke up and didn’t smell anything cookin’, so I thought I’d come down here and have a look-see.”

  Abraham pushed his chair away from the table. “You’d better wake ’em. Nancy and Mary Ann are gonna have to fix breakfast.”

  Samuel’s blue eyes reflected his obvious confusion. “What about Naomi? Why ain’t she in here cookin’?”

  Abraham grabbed the pail of goat’s milk he’d set on the table earlier and lumbered across the room. He jerked open the refrigerator door, placed it inside, and withdrew a bottle of cold milk. “Naomi’s gone.”

  “Gone? What do you mean, Papa? Where’d she go?”

  Abraham opened his mouth to respond, but Nancy’s shrill voice cut him off. “Papa, when I woke up, I looked in Naomi’s room ’cause she didn’t wake us like she usually does. The door was open, and most of her clothes were lyin’ on the bed.” She wrinkled her forehead. “Zach’s crib wasn’t there no more, and I’m thinkin’ it’s all kind of strange.”

  Mary Ann, who stood beside her older sister, nodded. “Where is Naomi, Papa? How come she don’t have breakfast started yet?”

  Abraham set the bottle of milk on the table and pulled out a chair. He motioned his children to do the same. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news concerning your older sister.”

  “What’s wrong? Is Naomi sick?” The question came from Mary Ann, and she looked mighty worried.

  Abraham drew in a deep breath as he prayed for the right words. He bent down and retrieved Naomi’s note, which had fallen to the floor after he’d read it. “Naomi left me this,” he said, waving it in the air. “Says here she’s leavin’ home because she feels guilty about Zach being taken.” Truth was, there was a lot more to it than that, but Abraham didn’t have the courage to admit to his children that he was the primary cause of Naomi going.

  “She’s run away? Is that what you’re sayin’, Papa?” Nancy’s eyes were wide, and her mouth hung slightly open.

  He nodded as a lump formed in his throat.

  “Why would she do such a thing? Don’t Naomi love us no more?” Samuel’s chin quivered as he spoke.

  “I’m sure she loves us,” Abraham said, “but she blames herself for Zach’s kidnapping, and she thinks we’d be better off without her.”

  “That ain’t true!” Nancy hollered. “I love my sister, and since Zach left, we’ve needed her more’n ever.”

  It was a fact. They did need Naomi, but no one in the family had shown her that—least of all Abraham. He placed the note facedown on the table. “We’re gonna have to find a way to deal with this, ya know.”

  “Let’s go after her!” Samuel yelled. He jumped up from the table and grabbed his straw hat from the wall peg where he’d hung it last night.

  Abraham shook his head. “Slow down once, Son. We can’t go runnin’ all over the place hunting for Naomi when we don’t have a clue where she’s gone.”

  “But she must’ve said somethin’ in that note,” Samuel argued. “Sure as anything, she’d want us to know where she was goin’.”

  “All she said was that she was taking off with Virginia Meyers, the flighty English gal who hangs around the store always askin’ for rubber stamps.”

  “Ginny?” Nancy’s eyebrows lifted.

  He nodded. “Jah. Said the two of ’em were headin’ into the English world and didn’t know where they were goin’.”

  Mary Ann dropped her head to the table and sobbed. Nancy whimpered and patted her sister’s shoulder. Samuel stood at the door with his arms folded.

  “All we can do is pray for Naomi, same as we’ve been doin’ for Zach,” Abraham said with a catch in his voice. He hated to see how miserable the children were. More than that, he couldn’t understand how he had let such a shocking thing happen.

  CHAPTER 21

  “I’m glad we’re about the same size and you could wear some of my clothes,” Ginny said, reaching over to tap Naomi’s jeans-clad knees. “It would have looked like you’d hired me as your driver and were going on vacation if you’d kept wearing your plain, long dresses and head covering.” She glanced over at Naomi and smiled.

  Naomi sat in the passenger’s seat of Ginny’s fancy red sports car, uncomfortable with the speed they were going and unaccustomed to the cold air blasting her in the face from the air-conditioning. She stared down at the faded blue jeans and pink T-shirt Ginny had loaned her. The items of clothes were one more thing that felt foreign. “I’m not so sure about this. It feels odd wearin’ men’s trousers and havin’ my hair hanging down my back with no kapp.”

  “You’ll soon get used to it.”

  Naomi wasn’t sure she would ever become accustomed to the English world. She and Ginny had only been on the road a few hours, and already she felt out of place and missed home.

  “Anytime you’re ready to stop for lunch, just say the word.” Ginny tapped the steering wheel with her long fingernails. “Since we left in such a hurry this morning, I didn’t get breakfast.”

  “Me neither.” Truth be told, Naomi had no appetite for food. Things were so mixed up, and her brain felt muddled. She doubted she could eat a bite of food, much less keep it down.

  “Do you know where we’re heading?” Naomi asked.

  Ginny nodded. “West.”

  “How far west?”

  “All the way.”

  “You mean clear to the Pacific Ocean?”

  “Yep. I’ve always wanted to stick my feet in the frigid waters along the Washington or Oregon coast. I’ve got a friend living in Portland, and we can probably stay with her awhile.”

  Naomi shivered. Just thinking about being that far from home and staying with strangers gave her the chills. Had she done the right thing by leaving? Would she be able to adjust to life in the modern world? Going English seemed like the best thing to do, since she had no other place to go. Ginny was her only friend right now, and Naomi knew she couldn’t make it on her own.

  “You’ll be fine once we get out of Pennsylvania. This will be such an adventure that soon you’ll forget about your unappreciative family and the nasty way they’ve treated you.”

  Naomi stared at the passing scenery, forcing her tears back. She’d left home feeling it was the thing to do, but she would never forget her family. How had Papa and the rest of them taken the news of her leaving? Did they feel sad, or were they glad she wouldn’t be around to tell them what to do?

  “You think you’ll miss your folks?” she asked her friend.

  Ginny wrinkled her nose. “I think they’ll miss me more than I do them. After all, they won’t have my help at the restaurant anymore. To tell you the truth, I believe that’s all they think I’m good for.”

  Naomi could relate to that feeling. Ever since Mama died, she’d felt unappreciated.

  “I’ve got enough money to take us to Oregon, but we’ll have to get jobs after we get there,” Ginny said. “My friend Carla used to live in Pennsylvania, but she works at a fitness center in Portland now. I’m hoping she can get me a position there.”

  “But what can I do? I only know how to work at the store and around home.”

  “Guess you could get a job at a restaurant, waiting tables or doing dishes in the kitchen.”

  Naomi grimaced. The last thing she wanted to do was wash dishes.

  ***

  “Mom, the mail’s here, and there’s a letter addressed to you from your cousin Edna in Pennsylvania.” Abby waved the stack of letters and placed them on the kitchen table. Fannie rinsed the last dish in the sink full of clean water, grabbed a towel, and quickly dried her hands. “Guess I’d better take a peek. I haven’t heard from Edna in several weeks.”

  Abb
y pulled out a chair for her mother. “Have a seat, and I’ll pour you a cup of mint tea.”

  Fannie smiled appreciatively. “That’d be nice.” She ripped open her cousin’s letter and withdrew a note card with a hand-drawn picture of a chocolate cake on the front. Inside was written: “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your blessings, not your tears. Hope you’ll help me celebrate my fiftieth birthday on Saturday, September sixth, with a picnic by the pond.”

  Fannie smiled. “Leave it to Cousin Edna to plan her own party. She always was one to do things a bit differently than others.”

  Abby chuckled and handed her mother a cup of hot tea. “You thinkin’ about going?”

  Fannie took a sip, enjoying the unique flavor of her homegrown lemon mint tea. “Sure would be nice, but who would mind the store while we were gone?”

  “Not we, Mom,” Abby corrected. “Edna invited you, and I can look after the store for the few days you’d be gone.”

  “Hmm...” Fannie pursed her lips. “What if things got really busy? Sometimes it’s hard for both of us to wait on customers when the tourists come by.”

  Abby shrugged. “I could always call on Lena to help. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind bringing her quilting to the store to work on. That way, she’d be available to help whenever I might need her.”

  Fannie stared into her cup, watching the steam curl, lift, and disappear into the air. It would be nice to see Edna again, and since she’d be in the area, she might even be so bold as to drop by Abraham Fisher’s store and see how he was doing. Ever since his visit to the quilt shop, she’d been praying for him and his kidnapped boy. She’d never admit it to anyone, but truth was, she’d thought of Abraham quite often. She could tell he was hurting bad. Even though he’d seemed kind of terse when they first started talking, underneath it all, she sensed he was a man with a tender heart.

  “Mom, what do you think?” Abby’s sweet voice broke into Fannie’s thoughts.

  “Think about what?”

  “Me mindin’ the quilt shop while you go to Pennsylvania?”

  Fannie drank the rest of her tea and set the cup aside. “I’ll pray about it. How’s that sound?”

  Abby smiled. “I’ll be prayin’, too. Prayin’ you’ll realize how badly you need to get away.” She patted her mother’s hand. “You work too hard, ya know that?”

  Fannie pushed her chair away from the table. “I like to work. Keeps my hands busy and my mind off things I’d rather not be thinkin’ about.”

  “Like Dad? Are ya still missin’ him, Mom?”

  Fannie stood. “I’ll always miss your daed, but as time goes by, the pain gets less, and only the pleasant memories of the past remain. Besides, as my mamm used to say, ‘There’s no sense advertising your troubles, ’cause there’s no market for ’em anywhere.’”

  “Guess that’s true enough.” Abby sobered. “I miss Dad, too. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you, Mom. Losin’ the man you’d loved so much must have felt like someone put a hole in your heart.”

  Fannie nodded. “That’s the way it was at first. I couldn’t understand why God would allow your daed to die of a heart attack. After searching the scriptures, I came to realize God could use my grief for good if I let Him.”

  Abby placed the cups and saucers in the sink and quickly washed them. “Guess we’d better hurry if we’re gonna get to the store on time.”

  Fannie glanced at the clock on the far wall. “Yep. We’ve spent more time blabberin’ than we usually do in the morning, but it’s been good, don’t ya think?”

  Abby dried her hands and grabbed her head covering from the back of the chair. “I always enjoy our time together.” She leaned over and kissed her mother’s cheek. “And I thank the Lord every day that He gave me a special mamm like you.”

  Tears welled up in Fannie’s eyes, but she blinked them away. “Go on with you now. Let’s get the buggy hitched.”

  ***

  Caleb climbed out of the open carriage and headed for the Fishers’ store. Mary Ann and Nancy sat on the front porch, eating their lunches. “Got anything good in those pails?” he called.

  “Just a sandwich and a few cookies,” Nancy answered. “Everything was so confusing at our place this mornin’, we didn’t have a chance to put much together.”

  “Jah, Papa seemed pretty upset, and so was we.”

  Caleb leaned against the porch railing. “What’s the problem? No one’s sick, I hope.”

  “Naomi left.”

  He squinted at Nancy. “Left?”

  “She’s run off with that English girl, Ginny.”

  Caleb could hardly believe his ears. “Would you repeat that?”

  “She’s run off with Ginny Meyers. Left a note on the kitchen table this mornin’.” Nancy shook her head. “I still can’t believe she’d do something like that. I think it’s a sin and a shame the way she ran out on us.”

  Caleb was sure there was more to the story. Naomi wouldn’t just run off and leave her responsibilities for no good reason. Her obligation to care for the family was why she couldn’t go to young people’s functions or court. She’d told him so several times. “What exactly did her note say?”

  “Said she feels guilty about Zach bein’ kidnapped and that she was takin’ off with Ginny Meyers out into the English world.”

  Caleb thought this was the worst possible news. Naomi didn’t know how to function in the fancy, English world. She was in for a rude awakening, and leaving her family didn’t make a lick of sense. If Naomi didn’t come home, all his plans and dreams for them getting married would vanish like vapor from a boiling pot.

  Caleb had come to the Fishers’ store in hopes of trying to talk Naomi into seeing him in secret again. That wasn’t going to happen. Not today and maybe not ever.

  I’d go after her if I knew where she was goin’, but I don’t. He turned and clomped down the steps, his boots echoing against the wooden planks.

  “Where ya headed, Caleb?” Mary Ann called. “I thought you was goin’ into the store.”

  He shook his head but kept on walking toward his buggy. “No need to now.”

  ***

  Abraham sank onto the wooden stool behind the counter in his store. He didn’t know how he had made it through the morning. As soon as he’d come to town, he had gone to Meyers’ Family Restaurant, hoping Virginia’s parents knew where the girls had run off to. Their daughter had left them a note, same as Naomi had, but it said nothing about where they planned to go, how long they would be gone, or how they would survive. Abraham knew the words Naomi had heard him speaking to God had been the cause of her outlandish decision.

  He glanced at the clock on the opposite wall and tried to concentrate on the invoices in front of him. It was a little past noon, and the girls had taken their lunches outside to eat on the front porch. Normally, he’d be ravenous by now, but not today. Abraham had no interest in food. All he wanted to do was find his missing children. If he could have Zach and Naomi back home, he’d be happy and would change. No more pushing Naomi to get things done. No comparing her to his wife. No expecting his oldest daughter to take charge of the kinner without any outside help.

  Abraham leaned over and massaged his aching head. I’d love on my boy lots, too. Should have spent more time with him when he was here. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the work he needed to do today. It was no use. All he could think about was how badly he’d messed up.

  “You don’t look like you’re gettin’ much work done. What’s the matter; have you got a headache?”

  Abraham looked up. Jacob Weaver stood on the other side of the counter, holding his straw hat in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. “Jacob, I didn’t hear ya come in.”

  “No, I guess not. Been standing here for several seconds. I’m taking the day off, and I was hoping the two of us could go fishin’.”

  “Sorry, but I can’t.”

  “Isn’t it time to put aside your memories of the day Sarah was killed and q
uit blaming yourself because you went fishing? I thought you were giving things over to God.”

  Abraham shook his head. “This isn’t about that. Things are really bad for me and the family right now.”

  Jacob leaned the pole against the counter and hung his hat on the nearest wall peg. “What’s the trouble, my friend? Have you heard something about Zach that’s not good news?”

  Abraham shook his head. “Haven’t heard a word about the boppli, but now Naomi’s gone, too.”

  Jacob’s dark eyebrows lifted. “What do you mean? Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. She left a note on the kitchen table sayin’ she was leaving—running off with that English friend of hers, Virginia Meyers.”

  “Did she say why?” Jacob’s question pierced Abraham clean to his soul.

  He hung his head, unable to look his friend in the eye. “It’s because of me. She overheard me talkin’ to God this morning out in the barn.”

  “Mind if I ask what you were saying?”

  “I told the Lord I haven’t been able to forgive the man who took my boppli or Naomi, either, for leavin’ Zach out in the yard with that English man. Said I thought she might have done it on purpose and that she wanted to be free of us in order to marry the buggy maker.”

  Jacob’s sharp intake of breath was enough to let Abraham know what his good friend thought about that kind of prayer. More than likely, the man thought he was not only a bad father but also a wayward Christian, talking to God that way.

  “I didn’t mean all those things,” Abraham was quick to say. “Just got confused about the way I was feelin’ and all.” He drew in a shaky breath. “I thought maybe if I had a little heart-to-heart talk with my Maker, I’d feel better.”

  “Naomi heard your prayers, left a note on the table, and has run away?”

  “That’s about the size of it, and I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach.”

  “I imagine you do.”

  “Isn’t it bad enough that God took my little boy? Does He have to punish me further by taking my oldest daughter?” Abraham felt a burning at the back of his eyes, and he squeezed them shut as he fought for control.