by Drexler, Jan
The sound of boots stamping off snow signaled the return of Levi and the boys from the barn and a glance at the clock told Ruthy it was time to start thinking about supper. She went into the kitchen just as Levi Zook opened the back door, letting in a stream of cold air.
“The wind is getting even stronger out there.” Levi cradled the cup of coffee Ruthy gave him while the boys huddled around the kitchen stove.
“It must be getting colder, too,” Ruthy said, opening the cookie tin and handing them around.
“Ja,” Elias said, his voice shivering. “I was afraid the milk would freeze in the pails between here and the barn.”
Levi sat at the kitchen table with his coffee while Ruthy took care of the buckets he had carried in. Elias was right—milk clung in frozen droplets around the rim of the pail.
“Will the animals be warm enough in the barn?”
“Ja, for sure. They’ll keep each other warm.” Levi finished his cookie and took another from the tin Ruthy had set on the table. “I hope no one was caught out in this storm, though. It would be dangerous to be out there tonight.”
“Do you think that’s a possibility?” Ruthy warmed up Levi’s cup with fresh coffee. “Wouldn’t everyone have known the storm was coming, like you did, and stayed home?”
“Ja...”
“What is wrong?”
Levi took a swallow of coffee. “I’m just a worrier, I suppose. This isn’t a fit night for anyone to be out.”
“If anyone is caught out in the storm, they would see the lights of a house, for sure, and find their way to shelter.”
“You’re right....” Levi didn’t sound convinced as he sipped his coffee.
The boys joined the rest of the children around the stove in the front room while Ruthy opened jars of canned beef she had brought up from the cellar. She went through the supper menu in her mind. Beef and noodles, mashed potatoes, bread, crackers, pickles and the pies she and Martha had made yesterday would make a good meal.
“Dat,” Nathan said, coming into the kitchen. “Did we leave a light on in the barn?”
“Ne.” Levi rose from his seat and peered out the window next to the table, shielding his eyes against the light behind him.
“I thought I saw a light through the cowshed door.”
“The snow is blowing so much I can’t see...ach, there. You’re right.” Levi shot a worried glance at Ruthy as he hurried out the door. “Nathan, you and Elias be ready to come out. Watch for my signal.”
As the door slammed behind him, Ruthy moved to watch out the window with Nathan. Could a fire have started since the men had come in? Please, God, let it be anything but a fire.
Minutes passed. Elias joined Ruthy and Nathan at the kitchen window. Suddenly the slight glow they were watching went out and the cowshed door opened.
Ruthy’s knees shook with relief. Levi was safe and there was no fire.
“Who is that with Dat?” Elias asked.
Coming toward the house were two figures. Levi was supporting a smaller man as they headed toward the house.
Ruthy turned to the children, who had all come in to see what was happening.
“That man looks cold. Martha, run into the Dawdi Haus and bring the extra quilt from my bed.” She took another quick look out the window. “Waneta, will you start heating the beef for supper? And Nellie, please bring up another jar from the cellar. It looks like we have company.”
“Who is it, Ruthy?” Sam asked. “Who’s with Dat?”
Sam’s question was answered as Levi reached the house. Elias opened the kitchen door and helped Levi guide the man to the chair at the end of the table. The look the Englischer gave Ruthy was shameful and apologetic. His cheeks were sunken and dirt darkened his pale skin.
Ruthy grabbed another cup and poured hot coffee into it. When Martha returned with the quilt, Levi took it and wrapped it around the man’s shoulders while Ruthy ushered the children back into the front room.
“No one wants to be stared at by curious strangers. Let your dat talk to the man. You’ll be able to see him later.”
“But who is he?” Sam asked.
James fixed his eyes on Ruthy, his face hard. “He’s one of those tramps, isn’t he?”
“Tramp?” Nancy said, her eyes round as she watched James.
“Ja, he’s a tramp. They go around and steal things—” he dropped his voice to a whisper “—and murder people in their beds at night.”
Ruthy put her arm around Nellie before she could start crying. “James, where did you hear such a thing?”
“Tom Nelson at school told me. He heard—”
“It doesn’t matter what he heard.” Ruthy interrupted James’s tale firmly. “A tramp is just a man who doesn’t have a home. Some of them may be thieves, but most are only poor men who have lost their jobs, their homes and their families in these hard times. We’ll treat him well, as the Good Book tells us to.”
Ruthy patted James’s shoulder. “You children go back to what you were doing while Waneta and I get supper ready. I’m sure we’ll all hear the stranger’s story if he wants to tell it.” Suddenly remembering, she added, “Be sure to speak Englisch instead of Deitsch while he’s here. We don’t want to shut him out of our conversations.”
* * *
Levi sat on the bench next to the stranger and pushed the cream pitcher and sugar bowl toward him while he reclaimed his own coffee cup and took a swallow. The man’s hand shook so badly when he tried to lift the small pitcher that Levi reached over and poured it in the cup for him.
The man nodded. “Thanks.” His voice was rough and dry. “I don’t mean to be a bother. The barn is warm enough for me, if you’ll let me stay there tonight.” His eyes flickered up to meet Levi’s, then down to his cup again.
“You’re welcome to stay here. A man should be in a warm house in weather like this, not a barn.”
“But your family...”
“My family will enjoy having the company.”
The man lifted his coffee cup in both hands, keeping it steady enough to take a noisy sip.
“Now that’s good coffee.” He blew on the hot liquid and took another sip.
“There’s nothing like hot coffee to warm you up from the inside out.” Levi took another swallow from his own cup. The tramp’s hands caught his gaze. The fingertips that emerged from the dirty wrappings he wore instead of gloves were black with grime, the nails broken. This man had been on the road for a long time.
Ruth came into the kitchen, giving him a reassuring smile as she joined Waneta at the stove. She had been prepared to give the man comfort even before he reached the house with their guest. Not very many women would have thought of a stranger’s needs over their clean floor.
“Would our guest like to wash up before supper?” She glanced at Levi as she asked, and then smiled at the tramp.
Levi saw the shame that passed over the man’s face as Ruth spoke, shame she didn’t see as he ducked his head away from her.
“Elias can show you to the guest room when you’ve finished your coffee,” Levi said, trying to reassure the stranger.
Ruth said something to Waneta and his daughter started to draw hot water from the stove’s reservoir. Ja, Ruth would make sure the extra room in the front of the house had everything the stranger needed.
* * *
Through the long, stormy weekend, the stranger, Jack, made himself useful where he could, going to the barn with Levi in the morning and afternoon and joining the family in the front room as they spent long hours playing games and reading while Ruthy sewed.
The man rarely spoke except to answer a direct question, until Sunday evening, after the storm had died down.
Levi Zook had just finished reading the story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible, translating the German i
nto Englisch as he read. Listening to the familiar story in the unfamiliar language was like hearing it for the first time. Ruthy found herself thinking about the father in the story, rather than the son, like she usually did.
The father hadn’t hesitated to forgive his son for what he had done, even though the son had turned his back on his family and his home.... Had Levi Zook been right when he said that nothing was unforgivable? Even a betrayal as devastating as Elam and Laurette’s?
Ruthy shifted in her seat. This cozy room, filled with golden light and Levi’s gentle voice as he told the story, pried at the icy wall shielding her heart.
Levi finished the story just as the clock chimed the hour for bedtime.
Jack cleared his throat. “The storm is over, so I’ll be going on my way in the morning. But before the children go to bed, I have to tell you something.” He sat forward in his chair, his head bowed as Levi Zook and the children watched him, waiting.
After a long minute, he spoke. His voice was strained, as if his story didn’t want to be told.
“I haven’t always been the way you see me now. My full name is John Davenport, but I’ve always been called Jack. I was born and raised in New York City. My father was an investor like his father had been before him. My grandfather invested in canals and railroads, and my father followed in his footsteps. They were successful. Very successful.
“My mother loved New York society. She was always attending one party or another. My brother and I rarely saw her.”
Jack looked at the faces around him, his eyes wet. “We would have given the world for a family like you have.”
He straightened up, wiping his hand across his eyes.
“When my father died, my brother took over the family business. He lived for it. He made more money in one month than my father had in his lifetime.
“And me?” He smiled. Ruthy had never seen such a sad smile. “I spent the money.” He gestured at the Bible still in Levi Zook’s hands. “I was that son in the story you just read. I spent money like it would never run out. I had friends, power, everything I wanted. I married the most beautiful girl around.” His voice dropped. “We were happy. The gayest couple in town.”
The room fell into silence. Ruthy heard the whisper of a log shifting in the stove.
“What happened?” James asked. “Why didn’t you stay there?”
Jack held the boy’s gaze. “My brother and I put our faith in money, you see? It was our lifeblood. We had never lived without it, never knew you could.”
His gaze moved to the dancing flames in the stove. “When the stock market collapsed in ’29, I heard nothing about it until I went to the office that afternoon. I found my brother there. He had committed suicide when he got the news.”
Ruthy’s stomach clenched.
“We lost everything. It was all gone. Every penny. My brother was dead, my wife left, the house was sold to pay debts, Mother went to live with her sister in Boston....” Jack ran his hands through his hair as if he wanted to tear it out.
Ruthy glanced at Levi—could he do something to help this poor man? But Levi Zook sat with his head down, his eyes closed.
“I wanted you to know my story because you’ve been more than kind to me. You didn’t need to take in a lost soul like me, but you did.”
Levi Zook put the Bible back in its place on the table next to him. “We only did as our Lord commanded.” He looked at the man across from him. “Where will you go tomorrow?”
“I’ll head west. I heard there’s work in California.”
“You won’t go home?”
Jack looked into the fire. “I have no home.”
“For sure your mother would want to see you again.”
Jack shook his head. “No.”
In the silent room, Levi Zook caught Ruthy’s eye and nodded toward the children. Ja, it was bedtime now. She ushered the children up the stairs and they went without a word, subdued by the story they had just heard.
On her way to the Dawdi Haus, Ruthy glanced at the men in the front room. Levi Zook and Jack sat on either side of the stove, both their heads bowed. Levi was praying. Ruthy had often seen his head bowed in just that way. Before either of the men found their own beds, Levi would make sure Jack heard about the heavenly home that would never perish.
* * *
Ruthy made an extra-large breakfast the next morning. It may be many days before Jack was able to find a full meal again.
“There’s one piece of schnitz pie left,” Martha said as she took the platter of ham to the table. “Do you think Jack would like to have it?”
“Let’s wrap it up and send it with him for his lunch,” Ruthy said. “We can make ham sandwiches with some of these biscuits, too.”
“Can I do that?” Nancy dropped the flatware she was holding on the table with a clatter and rushed up to Ruthy. “Can I fix his lunch?”
“After you finish setting the table.” Ruthy sliced extra ham while Martha and Waneta put the rest of the breakfast on the table.
When the men came in from the barn, breakfast was ready. After the silent prayer, Jack gazed at the food on the table and turned to Ruthy.
“Thank you, ma’am, for this fine spread.”
“We didn’t want you to start out on your travels with an empty stomach.”
“Well, there’s no danger of that around here.” Jack took the bowl of fried potatoes from Levi and piled them on his plate.
“Where will you head from here?” Levi asked, filling his own plate.
“I’ll head out to the state highway and try to get a ride from someone going south. I’ve had enough of this cold weather.” Jack grinned. “Somewhere around Nashville or New Orleans, I’ll head west.”
“What kind of work do you think you’ll find in California?” Elias emptied the dish of potatoes and Ruthy rose to take up more from the stove.
“They grow produce out there year-round.” Jack took a bite of his ham. “They always need workers to pick something or weed something or plant something.”
“I read in my schoolbook that they grow oranges there.” David stirred maple syrup into his oatmeal.
“Yep, you’re right, young man. There are groves of orange trees, and oil wells.”
“And the ocean?” David looked up from his oatmeal.
Jack’s smile grew soft. “Yeah. The ocean. That’s one thing I’ve missed about New York. Going to the seaside in the summer.”
Ruthy exchanged glances with Levi. How had their talk last night turned out? She had hoped Jack would decide to go back home instead of to California.
When the meal was finished, Jack stood next to the door as they said goodbye, looking ill-at-ease.
“You don’t have to go,” Levi said. “Like I told you last night, you can stay here and work. I can’t pay you, but you’ll have a place to live and food to eat.”
Jack glanced at the table and rubbed his belly. “It’s a tempting offer, but no.” He flashed a grin at Ruthy, a different man than had taken shelter in their barn three days ago. “I’m a traveling man, and it’s time to be on my way.”
With that he gave a little wave, and walked out the door, slinging a bundle with some extra clothes and Nancy’s lunch over his shoulder.
“Will he ever find a home, Dat?” Jesse slipped his hand into Levi Zook’s.
Levi shook his head, his wet eyes matching Ruthy’s own. “I don’t know, son. All we can do is pray for him. The rest is in the Lord’s hands.”
Ruthy watched Jack, a lone dark figure against the white snow, as he walked down the lane to the road. Would he remember the story of the Prodigal Son? Would he ever come running to his Father’s welcoming arms? All he had to do was to repent and ask for forgiveness, and the Lord would welcome him.
The icy shield of her heart cracked
as she realized the direction of her thoughts. The Lord expected her to forgive as He did.... He wanted her to forgive Elam and Laurette. Ne, Lord, ask me anything but that....
Chapter Nine
Ruthy hurried to get the ham-and-potato casserole in the oven in time for dinner. Ach, what a busy morning Mondays brought! But the morning’s work was nearly done, with Waneta hanging the last of the washing while Ruthy fixed dinner.
As she slid the four loaves of bread into the second oven, Ruthy decided it was time for a short break with a cup of cocoa. By the time it was ready, Waneta would be back inside and ready for a rest, too.
Stirring the milk, sugar and cocoa on the stovetop, Ruthy counted the days she had been in Indiana. She had arrived on Tuesday, the twelfth of January and today was Monday, February eighth. Nearly four weeks. In that time they had weathered three snowstorms, the last one coming just two days after Jack Davenport had walked out of their lives. They had been snowed in for three days. Today was the first time Levi had let the children go to school since last Tuesday, and he had taken them himself in the sleigh, not trusting the Englisch school-bus driver.
So, four full weeks here, and the household routine was beginning to live up to her mam’s standards. Levi appreciated her work, for sure. He often thanked her after the evening meal, or when one of the boys commented on a replaced button or mended trousers, but other than that he didn’t speak to her at all. Was he sorry he had hired her and brought her here? Ne, it didn’t appear so. But did her presence here remind him of the wife he had lost?
Ruthy moved the hot cocoa off the heat as she heard Waneta coming into the back porch. Now she was a different girl! Saturday afternoon Reuben Stoltzfus had come calling, even though many roads were still blocked with snow and no one else was visiting. He had spent the afternoon with them, and then driven Waneta to the young folks’ gathering at the Beacheys that evening. Waneta’s lighthearted humming had filled the house for two days.
“Everything is hung up.” Waneta came into the kitchen with a smile as she saw Ruthy pouring the hot cocoa into waiting mugs. “The clothes will freeze in a hurry out there today.”
