by Debby Giusti
She motioned him forward. “You must have a name.”
“His name is David,” Mary volunteered.
“Joseph would like to play with you, too, David,” Rosie declared.
The boy ran to the corner and grabbed a few wooden blocks. “We can build a tower.” He dumped the scraps of wood on the floor and started to stack them. Joseph grabbed a piece and waved it in the air before he dropped it on top of the other blocks.
As the children laughed, Rosie joined Ezra in the kitchen. “You have a lovely family,” she told him.
“You have yet to meet Aaron and Belinda,” he said. “They will be home soon.”
“I am sure they are as enchanting as the others.”
“Enchanting is not how I think of my family.”
“Perhaps because you are so close to them and do not see the specialness of each of them. You are a fortunate man, Ezra.”
Although he knew that to be true, at times he would not accept the goodness that surrounded him and made him feel even worse for the pain he had caused his family.
“I appreciate your comment, Rosie.”
She rubbed her arm as if feeling ill at ease. Glancing again at the children, she smiled before turning back to him. “I saw you talking to the police officer. Did you call him?”
Ezra heard accusation in her voice. “Why would I do that?” he asked.
“To find out more about me perhaps?”
“I know all I need to know about you, Rosie, and I believe everything you have told me. The policeman stopped here on his own.”
“Was he looking for me?”
Ezra could not hide the truth from her. “He was looking for you, yah.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That you were probably on a bus heading south.”
“Did he believe you?”
“I do not know. The manager of the nursing home told him you broke into patient records and that medication was stolen.”
“He will arrest me if he finds me.”
“The police want to question you, but as I told you before, the Amish do not trust the local police. If we go to Willkommen—”
She shook her head. “I want nothing to do with the police.”
“I am not sure how long it will be before someone sees you, Rosie.”
She bit her lip. “Earlier you assured me of my safety if I came here to stay with your family. Now you realize I am placing all of you in danger.”
“I did not say that. I am worried about you. Would it not be better to involve law enforcement we could trust?”
She nodded. “If we could trust them. I am not willing to put my life and my child’s life in the hands of someone I do not know.”
“The police took you home after you were freed from the root cellar.”
“You know the story?”
“Only the part I read in the papers.”
“My memory is not always good,” she admitted. “So much happened. Yes, an officer took me home, but my father was not happy about my homecoming or what the officer said to him. I do not want any involvement with them again. If this is something you cannot condone, Ezra, then I am ready to go elsewhere.”
He almost laughed at her sincerity, knowing she had nowhere to go except her aunt’s house, where she would be even more vulnerable.
“You can stay here, Rosie, for as long as you need to. As I said earlier, I will do everything I can to keep you safe. I did not call the police, nor will I involve any law enforcement unless you request that I do so.”
He grabbed his hat from the peg by the door. “You may question my integrity, but I will not cause you pain, at least if I can help it. I have made mistakes, yah. But I feel you know about mistakes, Rosie, and carry a similar pain. Nothing will make me disparage you or undermine your trust.”
ELEVEN
The smells of bacon, sizzling in a skillet, and fresh-baked biscuits hot from the oven woke Rosie with a start the next morning.
She rubbed her eyes and pulled herself from bed, realizing she had slept more soundly than she had in months.
Peering into the portable crib Sandra had found in the basement, Rosie smiled, seeing Joseph’s sweet face. His mouth opened and closed as if searching for food. He would wake soon, ready for breakfast.
She dressed and got Joseph ready for the new day before heading downstairs. Susan greeted her with a big smile before her attention turned to Joseph. “How is that big boy who wants to walk?”
He giggled in reply and kicked his feet.
“Let me get him settled in the high chair, Susan. He needs to eat to get energy for his walking exercise today.”
“You are too precious,” Susan said, bending over him, making him laugh even more. “There is a sippy cup in the cabinet, if you want him to use it. I have a pot of oatmeal on the stove.”
Rosie appreciated the offers. “He would love oatmeal. I will cut up a portion of a biscuit into little bites and fill the sippy cup with water.”
“Bananas are in the pantry, if he likes fruit.”
“What does he not like?” Rosie laughed.
“He is a big boy. Does he take after his father?”
Rosie hesitated, then shook off her uneasiness. “He looks like both sides of the family. Speaking of family, where are the children?”
“Tending to their chores. They will come inside soon.”
“Shall I pour milk for David and Mary?”
“Please, I appreciate the help. Belinda is checking the henhouse for more eggs. She should be here soon.”
“I enjoyed talking with her and Aaron over dinner last night. They both seem to know what they want for the future and are committed to staying in town and staying Amish.”
“That is due to Ezra. He has worked hard to make sure they understand everything that is good about the Amish way.”
“It is what Ezra believes?” Rosie asked.
Susan glanced at her for a long moment. “I am not sure for himself, but for them, it is the best path.”
“I know he got involved with the Englisch.”
Susan nodded. “In his rumspringa, only it lasted longer than anyone expected. He stayed away from home and rarely returned to see Mamm and Datt. They did not expect such actions from their firstborn son, but Ezra needed to do what was right for himself.”
“And now?”
“You will have to ask him.”
Something Rosie would not do. “Will you be at home today?”
Susan nodded. “Yah. There is something you need?”
“I need to talk to a nurse with whom I worked. But I do not want to take Joseph. I need someone to watch him. Would you be interested?”
“Of course, I would love to take care of him. He is so sweet. He has his mother’s disposition.”
Rosie smiled, appreciating Susan’s statement.
“Will you ring the dinner bell?” Susan asked. “It will call the family. I do not want the breakfast to get cold.”
Rosie stepped onto the porch and found the metal gong hanging near the large, steel triangle. She hit the gong against the triangle, enjoying the mellow sound of metal on metal. For a fleeting moment, she thought of calling her own family to breakfast.
Ezra hurried from the barn and stopped when he saw her. His face broke into a wide grin. “I feared something was wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong except your breakfast is getting cold.”
“I will gather the children.”
She liked the sound of the comment, thinking of her own children hurrying inside after doing the chores with their father.
But when she stepped inside, Joseph was crying. The sound tore into her heart.
“Something is wrong?” She glanced at Susan.
“He took a drink from the cup and started to cry. I wonder if he h
urt himself.”
Rosie lifted his upper lip and felt his gums. She nodded knowingly. “His gums are swollen and red. I believe he is getting a tooth. He may have clamped down on the sippy cup and hurt his gums.
“Shh,” she soothed.
His crying waned when Mary stepped into the kitchen. In an instant, he was kicking his feet in happiness, tears forgotten.
Rosie wiped his nose with a tissue and then washed her hands before the rest of the children raced inside, bringing in the cool morning air and the freshness of a new day.
Ezra was the last to enter, his eyes twinkling, his cheeks ruddy. Rosie was hard-pressed to keep her eyes averted, and she caught herself turning to stare at him. He patted Joseph’s head, making the baby laugh all the more, and then held a chair away from the table for Rosie.
She did not know what to say and so she said nothing.
David chuckled.
Ezra gave him a stern glare. “Young man, you can help your sister with her chair.”
“What?” David looked aghast.
“First Belinda and then Mary.”
The boy rolled his eyes but dutifully held his older sister’s chair.
“Thank you, David,” Belinda said, her smile proof she appreciated the gesture.
Mary pulled out her own chair. “I can seat myself all by myself.”
Ezra laughed. “Someday, Miss Mary, you will enjoy a man’s help.”
“I would let Joseph help me with my chair,” she said, waving to the baby, who waved back, his hand slapping the air with enthusiasm.
“Why were you crying?” she asked him.
“Joseph is getting a tooth,” Rosie explained. “His gums hurt when he bit down on the cup as he tried to take a drink of water.”
Mary pointed to the cup. “Take small sips, Joseph, and be careful not to spill your water or hurt your mouth.”
“You are a good teacher, Mary.” Rosie appreciated the children, who made her feel so welcome and seemed to enjoy having Joseph with them. In her parents’ house, she had felt like a stranger who was not welcome. Here was just the opposite.
Ezra glanced at her and smiled. Silly of her to have gotten upset with him yesterday. He was a gut man and a loving brother who was putting his family before his own needs.
After Mary and David left for school, Rosie helped Susan with the dishes while Ezra worked on a broken fence. He had cautioned the women to keep watch on the roadway and to ring the dinner bell if they saw a car approaching.
Today, the fear Rosie had felt seemed distant. She had slept well and laughed with the children and everything that had happened seemed as if it was at another time or had happened to another person.
Then she thought of Mr. Calhoun, who had died, and the missing medication.
Ezra returned to the house and smiled as he entered the kitchen, filling her with gratitude for his help. “I know you have much work to do,” she said, “but I wondered if we could talk to Nan today about her visit to the pharmacist and what she learned about Mr. Calhoun’s death.”
“You and I are thinking similar thoughts. Although I do not want you on the road until more time has passed. I will go alone.”
“Susan said she can watch Joseph, and I would like to go with you, although I agree about the main roads. What about the back trails we were on yesterday?”
“This would work although some are narrow that weave toward town, especially around the mountain area where Nan lives.”
“Can you ride?” Susan asked. “Belinda and I ride our horses to town sometimes. The riding paths are shorter than the paved roads, and if we do not have a lot of groceries to carry, we can do our errands and get home in a much shorter time.”
Rosie looked down at her dress. “I ride, but this is all I have to wear.”
Susan laughed. “Which is not a problem. My sister and I wear pants under our skirts. You are more slender than I am, but we can pin the waist. Today is warmer than yesterday. I have a wool sweater you can wear under your cape.”
“Then it is decided,” Rosie said with a nod. “We will ride to Nan’s house and find out what she learned about Mr. Calhoun’s death and the missing medication.”
Ezra saddled the horses—Duke and Duchess—and brought them to the back of the house. Rosie hugged Joseph and thanked Susan again for staying with her baby.
Wearing the pants under her skirt and the heavy sweater along with her cape, Rosie was comfortable. “I used to ride when I was a girl,” she told Ezra as he held the stirrup and helped her into the saddle. She took the reins. “This is like going back in time.”
“To a good place, I hope,” he said.
She nodded. “Yes, a good time and place. When I was young, my father was a caring man who I knew loved me. He changed over time.”
“Perhaps he did not want his daughter to grow up. Can you pinpoint something that happened when he started to change?”
She shook her head. “The only thing I remember is that we went to town when I was thirteen. A man standing on the street corner said I was a pretty girl and asked my father if he could take my photograph.”
“I do not think this would be something your father would want for his young daughter.”
“He did not answer the man, but he grabbed my hand and jerked me into the nearest store. Then he kept watch at the store window until the man left the street and drove away. From that time on, my father acted as if I had done something wrong, as if I had encouraged the man in some way.”
“You are beautiful, Rosie. Your father must have realized his little girl was growing up.”
She shook her head, not willing to accept his statement. She was not beautiful. She was headstrong and self-centered, and she had brought too much pain to her family. She did not deserve their love or attention, and her father was probably correct in realizing what would happen, as if the man’s attention had been a prophetic warning about her wayward future.
She grabbed the reins from Ezra and held the horse back until he had climbed on Duke, then she encouraged Duchess forward and headed for the front gate.
“Rosie, wait. You and Duchess are going in the wrong direction.”
She pulled up on the reins and glanced over her shoulder at Ezra. He pointed to a trail near the one that had brought them to the house yesterday.
“We will ride this way unless you have changed your mind about wanting to take the back trails.”
She had almost left Ezra. She was too focused on herself instead of others, just as her father had told her on more than one occasion.
“I will follow your lead,” she said, feeling a bit ashamed of her impetuousness. Amish women were to be subdued and subordinate. Would she never learn her place in the Amish world?
TWELVE
Ezra was impressed with Rosie’s riding ability and enjoyed the sunshine and crisp morning air. The temperature seemed mild after the recent cold spell. Rosie’s cheeks were pink with exertion, and her laughter floated across the fields, filling him with happiness. If only life could be this freeing. Both Ezra and Rosie needed time away from the worries and cares that had surrounded them since he had followed her out of town just a few days ago.
At the top of a rise, he pulled up on the reins and waited for Rosie to join him.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said as her horse sidled next to his. “I had forgotten how much I enjoy riding. It takes me back to my youth. To a better time.”
He understood. “As a boy, I rode all over the mountain. Often my mother would send me on an errand to town, but other times when my chores were done, I would come up here to dream of what my future would be.”
“You dreamed of what, Ezra?”
He shrugged. “Adventure. Travel. Being famous. Foolish dreams, my father told me when I tried to share my thoughts with him.”
“And your mother?”
/> “She would listen and smile without finding fault.” He smiled at Rosie. “Mothers are like that, yah. They allow their children to dream.”
“Did she worry about you leaving the faith?”
“She said I would find my way.” He stared into the horizon, thinking of the painful journey he had traveled in order to find the way his mother had mentioned. Even now, he was not sure what the future would hold or where he would be years from now.
“My father always admonished me to never stray from being Amish,” Rosie said. “Yet too often, he stayed away from church and refused to visit relatives and friends on the other Sundays.”
“Was he a recluse or just shy?”
“Perhaps an unhappy man who never fit in.”
“You left home because of him.”
She jerked her head to stare at Ezra. “What did you say?”
“He is the reason you fell in love with Will MacIntosh.”
“I fell in love with William because I was foolish, naive and wanted much more than the Amish way would provide. I wanted worldly happiness.”
“You wanted love, the love your father should have given you, Rosie. When you did not find it within the family, you looked for it elsewhere.”
She sighed. “You are passing the responsibility of my actions onto my father. They were my sins.”
“Think what you like, Rosie Glick, but the need to be loved is man’s most important need. Everything hinges around whether we feel loved and lovable. The love we long for most deeply within our hearts, within our beings, is our love for Gott. Yet He is not visible to us so we must find earthly love that teaches us what true love, the love that comes from Gott, is about. The father is the most important person in a girl’s life as far as her feelings of acceptance and self-worth. If a father shirks his responsibility and does not adequately love his daughter, she will always search for that love, but as I mentioned, in the wrong places or with the wrong people.”
“You sound like a philosopher. How did you get so knowledgeable?”
“I went to the library after my parents were murdered. I needed to decide how I could best help my siblings heal. I read over and over about a father’s love. I had taken my father from his daughters so I had a responsibility to bridge that gap and fill in the void I had created.”
