Rebecca stood there in shock. That was her plan. I can’t let her ruin Caleb and his family. I need to do something. Tiptoeing back into the kitchen she added a bit more hot water to Beverly’s tea to heat it up and brought it out to her. She had to act as if she had not heard anything.
“Here, Miss Smith, I’m sorry it took me so long,” she said, trying not to make eye contact. “I brought you in some cookies too. Did you want anything else?”
“It’s about time. No, that’s fine. I’ll wait for Caleb to come in from work. If he asks, you make sure you tell him I helped you all afternoon and that I’m learning quite well. Understand?”
“Yes, Miss Smith. I’ll tell him. Will you be staying for dinner tonight?”
Putting down her magazine, Beverly stood up front the porch swing. “I’m glad you brought that up,” she said as she walked back into the house. “There’s something I wanted to mention to you. I would prefer it if you did not have your meal with us when we sit down for supper. It isn’t proper for the help to dine at the same table as their employer. Please remove your setting from the table. You can eat after you clean the children and put them to bed.”
Rebecca stood at the stove, not sure how to respond to this comment. Just then Caleb walked into the kitchen.
“Rebecca, aren’t you planning on eating supper tonight?” he asked.
“Ach, Beverly has just informed me that I am no longer welcome to have my supper with you and the children, and that I must wait to eat until after the children have been put to bed.”
Caleb looked at Rebecca then at Beverly. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that. Beverly is that what you said to Rebecca?”
Smiling, Beverly went over to Caleb and placed her hand on his arm. “I certainly didn’t say it like that but I want to form a bond with the children and it is very hard to do while Rebecca is sitting at the same table. I know the children adore her, but I just thought it would help me,” she said looking up at Caleb. “I figured you would understand.”
Caleb thought for a moment then looked at Rebecca. “That makes perfect sense.” I’m sure that Rebecca wouldn’t mind eating afterwards, for awhile. Isn’t that right Rebecca?”
Rebecca looked at Caleb stunned, but knew better than to argue. “Yes Caleb, whatever you think is best.”
“Tonight, you can just serve the meal and then leave afterwards,” Beverly added. “I think it will be good for me to spend time with the kids. I can put them to bed.”
“Yes, Miss Smith,” Rebecca answered. She didn’t know how she was going to do it but Caleb was going to need to find out what Beverly’s plan was. Gott, please give me wisdom.
* * *
Later on that evening, Rebecca was sitting outside on her porch. She worried that the children were okay. She prayed silently to God, hoping that Elizabeth went to bed with her favorite blanket and that Timothy was able to sing his favorite little hymn he sang every night, and that the twins were tucked in the way they liked and that Kathryn was rocked and cuddled before she was put in her crib.
“There you are, Rebecca. We were looking for you,” Emma said, coming out to the porch followed by Beth.
“I was just sitting out here thinking,” Rebecca smiled at her sisters. “I’m just trying to figure out how Gott works.”
“Ach, why are you thinking about that?” Emma asked, sitting down beside her sister.
Rebecca looked at her sisters. “I am going to tell you something and you must promise to Gott that you will not tell anyone, not even mamm.”
Emma and Beth both nodded their heads. Rebecca went on to tell them all about the plan that Beverly had in place to get a hold of Caleb’s money.
“I don’t know what to do. Caleb is so in love with this woman, he is not thinking straight. And she threatened that if I say anything, our family would experience some ‘unpleasant’ things.”
Emma sighed. “There is a lot of talk about her in town. She worked at the bank and was apparently fired because of some missing money. They had no proof that it was her but they fired her anyway. I didn’t realize she was involved with your Caleb. She’s bad news but I wouldn’t worry about her threatening you. I don’t think she could do much.”
Rebecca thought for a moment. “Is she involved in some sort of...what the Englischers call a gang or something like that?”
“Nee,” Emma laughed. “She seems to have one friend in town and that woman is known as being the town floozy.”
Rebecca gave her sister a questioning look. “What is a floozy?”
Smiling, Emma said, “I forget you don’t have many Englisch friends. A floozy is someone who will give herself to any man who pays attention to her.”
“So do you think I should tell Caleb what Beverly has planned?” Rebecca asked.
“Nee, at least not right now. If Caleb is smitten with this woman, he won’t listen. You need to come up with a plan so that Caleb can see for himself.”
That and lots of prayers to Gott,” Beth added.
Rebecca hugged her sisters. “I don’t know what I would do without you two.”
Tonight she would ask God for help to expose Beverly’s scheme. This woman was not going to ruin Caleb and his family.
* * *
Chapter 7
The next day, as Rebecca arrived at Caleb’s house, the children ran to greet her. After hugging them, she walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks. The dishes from the night before were still sitting on the table, as well as the food sitting on the stove that had never been put away. Rebecca released a deep sigh. This must change.
She had planned to treat the children to a picnic today, and maybe even some fishing or swimming in the nearby stream. After cleaning up the kitchen, she brought the children upstairs to get them changed out of their pajamas. Pulling off Timothy’s shirt, she noticed a large bruise on his upper arm.
“Timothy, how did you get this bruise!?”
Keeping his eyes to the floor, he started to cry. She called Elizabeth over. “Do you know how Timothy got this bruise on his arm?”
“Jah, it was Beverly. He wasn’t listening to her and she grabbed him and pulled him upstairs to bed.”
“Where was your daed?” Rebecca asked, fighting back her anger.
“He was out in the barn. A customer came so he left us with Beverly. We don’t like her, Rebecca. She’s mean.”
Rebecca held Timothy and cried. How could a woman hurt a child? These children were not safe as long as Beverly was in their lives. Rebecca needed to do something and she needed to do it soon.
* * *
After a fun morning of swimming and fishing, Rebecca brought the exhausted children home and put them up to bed for a nap. Even Elizabeth wanted to lay down for a nap. Rebecca decided now would be a good time to try to speak with Caleb. She went out to the barn and waited until Caleb had finished sawing the piece of wood for the cabinet he was working on.
“Caleb, I need to speak with you on a very urgent matter.”
“Sure, Rebecca, what is it?”
“I noticed that Timothy has a large bruise on his arm. Do you know anything about that?”
Looking over at her, Caleb thought for a moment. “Nee, I am sure it is just Timothy being a normal boy.”
“Were the children left alone at all yesterday that Timothy could have hurt himself?” She didn’t want to tell him what the children had told her. Rebecca knew she needed to handle this very carefully.
“The only time was when I left them alone with Beverly when a customer showed up,” he answered. “Are you saying you think Beverly hurt Timothy?”
“Nee, nee, I was just wondering. It doesn’t look like he fell or anything, it looks more like he’d been grabbed. Anyway, I’m sorry to bother you. I just thought you should know about the bruise.” Walking away from the barn, Rebecca hoped she had planted the seed in his head. She hoped he’d ask Timothy more about the bruise.
Rebecca had seated the children at the table for lunch wh
en Caleb came in. She looked at him in surprise. “Is anything wrong?”
“Nee, I just thought I would come in and have lunch with the kinner for a change,” he said as he walked over the them. Picking up Timothy, he held him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Can Daed look at your arm, Timothy?”
Nodding his head yes, Timothy held out his little arm. Caleb rolled up Timothy’s sleeve and gasped when he saw the bruise. “Timothy what happened to you?”
“‘Eberly’ hurt me.” Caleb hugged his son and looked over at Rebecca. Tears formed in his eyes at the thought of his children being in danger.
“I’ll speak to her about this. I am sure there’s an explanation. I can’t think she would hurt him on purpose.”
Right at that moment, they heard the front door open. “Caleb are you here?” Beverly’s voice rang out from the entrance.
“I’m in the kitchen,” he called.
“I had some spare time today so thought I would drop by to spend more time with Rebecca,” Beverly said as she walked into the kitchen. Stopping at the doorway, she wondered why everyone was staring at her. “What is it? Has something happened?”
Caleb got up from the chair. “Timothy has a large bruise on his arm and told me that you hurt him. Beverly can you explain?”
Looking at Caleb in absolute shock, Beverly said, “Caleb NO, I would never hurt Timothy. I did grab him but I thought he was going to fall down the stairs. I didn’t think I had grabbed him that hard.”She went over to Timothy and knelt down beside him. “Timothy, I am so sorry if I hurt you, my precious little boy.” She looked up at Caleb. “You have to believe me.” She started to weep. “Caleb, I can’t believe you would think I intentionally hurt him.”
Rebecca stood at the counter trying not to show any emotion. It was obvious that Beverly was lying but she was sure that Caleb was starting to doubt her.
“Caleb, you believe me, don’t you?” Beverly asked, looking at him with great concern.
“I believe you didn’t hurt him intentionally Beverly, but you did give him a quite a nasty bruise. I know you aren’t used to children, but...”
Beverly stood there looking stunned, then went over to pick up her purse.
“I can’t stay here and look at that little boy knowing that I hurt him. I hope you don’t think of me as a horrible person now,” she cried as she headed for the door. “I’ll see you later tonight, Caleb.”
Before Caleb could respond, she was out the door and drove away. He turned and looked at Rebecca. “I believe it was an accident—you must too, Rebecca. Gott frowns on liars and I know Beverly would never lie about such a thing.”
Rebecca had her own opinion, but knew that now was not the time to voice it. She just nodded and smiled while she wiped the table. Caleb looked like he was just about to say something when a knock on the back door interrupted them.
“Joshua! What a welcome surprise. What brings you here? Caleb asked. Joshua was Caleb’s neighbor, who would occasionally ask Caleb for a helping hand.
“Afternoon, Caleb. I was wondering if you could spare an hour tomorrow after church and give me a hand moving some furniture. Martha wants to turn our storage room into a spare bedroom for our new kins-kind, so when my dochtah comes for a visit we have a room for them.”
“Jah, tomorrow afternoon would be fine, Joshua.”
“Danke, may Gott smile down on you, Caleb. You are a gut neighbor.”
After Joshua had left, Rebecca asked Caleb, “even though tomorrow is Sunday, if you’d like I could come over in the afternoon to watch the kinner while you go help Joshua.”
“Nee, I will get Beverly to come and watch them. It will do her good,” Caleb said. “I should only be gone for about an hour or so. I think everything will be fine.”
Rebecca nodded and smiled but deep down she thought, Caleb PLEASE don’t leave them alone with her!”
* * *
By Sunday after church, Rebecca couldn’t stand it any longer. All she had been thinking about was the children. She had this terrible feeling in her stomach and finally went and harnessed the buggy and headed over to Caleb’s house with the excuse that she may have left her pocketbook there.
She knocked on the door and Beverly opened it. Rebecca noticed how untidy the house was.
“What are you doing here?” Beverly asked.
“I think I forgot my pocketbook,” Rebecca said, looking around. “Where are the children?”
“Upstairs. They wouldn’t listen to me so I put them all up in their rooms.”
“I’m just going to go up and check if I left my pocketbook in one of their bedrooms,” Rebecca said as she walked towards the stairs.
“Yeah, go ahead,” Beverly said.
Going upstairs, she tiptoed into the children’s rooms. The twins had actually fallen asleep but Elizabeth was sitting up in her bed, her cheeks wet with tears.
“Rebecca! You’re here! Can I come downstairs? Beverly told me I was a bad little girl. And she said we all had to be punished because we were bugging her.” she cried.
“Shhhh,” Rebecca said. “You are NOT a bad girl. You’re one of the sweetest little girls I know. Where is Timothy?”
“I don’t know. When Beverly started yelling at us, he ran out of the house. I don’t know where he is.”
Rebecca went into Timothy’s room to check. He wasn’t there. She ran downstairs and yelled to Beverly, “where is Timothy?”
Beverly was sitting in a chair reading a book. Looking up, she said, “I don’t know, up in his room I guess.”
“No, he isn’t,” she yelled as she ran out the back door. Standing in the yard, she called his name over and over. Beverly came out and ran up to her. “He was in his room the last time I looked.”
Rebecca glared at Beverly. “You better hope Timothy is found unharmed.”
Just then, she saw Caleb driving in from Joshua’s house. Getting out of his buggy, he asked, “Rebecca, what are you doing here?”
Before she could answer, Beverly ran over to him. “Oh Caleb, I am so glad you are home! I put the kids down for their naps, and Timothy seems to have wandered off without my knowing it.”
Ignoring Beverly, Rebecca continued to call Timothy’s name when suddenly she saw that the door to the barn was slightly open. Caleb always made sure that the doors were shut whenever he left the workshop.
“The barn!” Rebecca yelled as she ran towards the door.
* * *
Chapter 8
Rebecca ran into the barn and called out for Timothy. Hearing him whimper, she found him lying on the floor under a large piece of wood that had fallen on him. He was conscious but he was crying. Pushing the wood off of him, she checked him over to make sure nothing was broken. Other than having a very large bruise on his chest where the wood had fallen, he was fine; just very scared.
Beverly ran over to Timothy and knelt down beside him. “Oh Timothy, darling, you had us all worried. Are you okay?”
Rebecca glared at Beverly. “Stop with the lies.” Turning to Caleb, she said, “ I came here because I was worried. I knew the children would be left alone with her this afternoon. When I went up to check on the kinner, Elizabeth was crying and said that Beverly yelled at them and put them up in their room because she was tired of them bugging her. She also told Elizabeth that she was a bad child. And she had no idea where Timothy was.”
Caleb looked over at Beverly. “Please explain, Beverly. Did you do these things?”
“No, no, Caleb, you have to believe me. I would never do anything to harm your children.”
Rebecca felt the anger rise up within her and could not stop herself from blurting out the truth. “Caleb, I found out that Beverly is only after you for your money. She plans on marrying you just so she can divorce you and get half your money and your farm. Her whole plan to convert was just so to make you agree to marry her.” She glared at Beverly. Before you can deny any of this, I heard you talking on your phone to someone about this the other day.”
&
nbsp; Caleb looked at Beverly in shock. “Is this true?”
Beverly stammered, “Caleb—no. She is making this all up. I love you. Besides, what was wrong with Timothy being in the barn? Rebecca told me it was okay to let the children into the barn. I thought they were allowed to play in there.”
Caleb at that point, glared at Beverly. “Rebecca would never say such a thing. She knows the dangers of the barn and that the children are NEVER allowed in there.”
Elizabeth came out of the house crying. Rebecca ran to her and picked her up. “I’m scared.” She cried, rubbing her eyes to stop the tears.
Caleb went over to his daughter. “Elizabeth, I’m right here. Tell me, why are you scared?”
Elizabeth pointed at Beverly. “She told me I was a bad girl and that we were not nice kids. She put Mary and Irene in the closet and they were crying...loud. She didn’t take them out for a long time.”
Caleb took his daughter from Rebecca’s arms, and cuddled her. “My dear, sweet, child, you are not bad.” Caleb glared at Beverly, who stood looking defeated. “I would advise you to get in your car right now and leave and never come back. I was a fool to fall for your lies and may God forgive me for my sins.”
Beverly glared at Rebecca then turned and walked towards her car. Before she got in, Rebecca called out to her, “your threats of hurting my family, Beverly, are nothing but lies too. I would suggest you pack up and leave town completely. You are no benefit to this community.”
Inside the house after Beverly left, Caleb said, “You must think I am the biggest fool for falling for her lies.”
“It’s not up to me to criticize what you felt in your heart, Caleb. My main concern was the children. That was why I came back today.”
“Well, I can thank Gott for guiding you here. If you hadn’t come when you did, I hate to think what might have happened to Timothy.” Caleb sighed. “Rebecca, I know it’s your day off, but would you mind having lunch with me and the children? I would love the company right now.”
“I would love to have lunch.” Looking at Elizabeth and Timothy, she said, “why don’t we go and get the kitchen back in order while your daed goes up and gets the twins.” She cleaned the dirty plates off the kitchen table and filled the sink up with hot water to let them soak while she prepared lunch. She put together some sandwiches and set out some vegetables and dip. After lunch, Caleb had started washing the dishes that were in the sink, so she picked up a towel and started drying them.
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