“I thought so, too. Daed is still worried, but I’m glad he and Mr. Kaufmann are going to look at the damages together tomorrow.”
“Jah.” Susanna yawned. “So . . . how was Dale?”
She couldn’t resist smiling. “He was good.”
“Do you like him?”
“We just met!”
“I know. But do you like him?”
Looking into her sister’s eyes, Amanda saw interest and humor. And love and acceptance. “Jah,” she whispered.
Susanna smiled as she shifted to her back and closed her eyes. “His sister Esther told me that Dale really likes you. Isn’t that something?”
A little shiver ran through her. “Jah,” she whispered after a bit. “It’s really something, indeed.” After trying to stifle a yawn, she said, “’Night, Sue.”
But her sister was already asleep.
Rolling over, Amanda closed her eyes and, finally sure she was going to have sweet dreams, let slumber find her, too.
CHAPTER 10
Sunday, December 17
The next few days passed uneventfully, and Susanna was thankful for that. Their father had gone out with Mr. Kaufmann, Dale, and his brother Max to the fencing the morning after their visit.
As soon as they’d seen the damage, the other men had wholeheartedly agreed with her father that someone had inflicted that damage on purpose. After some discussion, they’d elected not to go to the authorities about it. There wasn’t anything anyone could do without evidence. The men rebuilt the fence, determined to view the damage as simply a random act of violence.
Now it was Sunday, and they were at another family’s house for church. But this time, instead of sitting by themselves, Susanna and her sisters had sat with the Kaufmann girls. Afterward, the luncheon had gone well, too. Charity and the other women who had been so wary with them a week ago had greeted them pleasantly and had even invited Susanna and Amanda to join them again. After a few minutes of awkward conversation, they’d settled into an animated discussion about Christmas plans, gifts they were each making, and one couple’s recent engagement.
Before long, Susanna and Amanda had been sharing as much as the other women. By the time they’d helped clean up the tables and washed some of the dishes that would go back in the church wagon, they’d even made some tentative plans to attend a gathering at a newly married couple’s home one day before Christmas.
By the time two o’clock arrived, most people were either walking home or loading up their buggies. Their parents had already left an hour before. Susanna was ready to go home, too. She planned to do little but read and relax for the rest of the day. And Amanda? Well, she had plans at the Kaufmann house later that afternoon.
“Where is Traci?” Amanda asked. “I need to get home and work on my sewing before it’s time to go to Dale’s.”
“I don’t know,” Susanna answered as she scanned the thinning crowd. “She was here. Let’s go look in the barns.”
Amanda groaned. “How many times have we done this over the years?”
“A lot.”
Indeed they had. From the time they were about ten or eleven, it had been their job to track down Traci and get her where she needed to be. Traci was by far the most outgoing of the three sisters. She was also the hardest to get places. Susanna and Amanda had learned over the years to stick together when searching for her in gatherings like this. Otherwise, their little sister would beg and plead with each of them separately to stay just ten minutes longer over and over again.
When they found her at last, standing in the center of about six boys and girls, Susanna smiled. “Look at her. She has already made a lot of friends.”
“That’s Traci. She never met a group of people she couldn’t relate to.”
That was true. While Amanda was friendly but sometimes a little tentative, and Susanna was socially awkward, Traci got the best traits of both of their parents. She could talk to anyone, was easy to get along with, and rarely got ruffled.
When they approached, Traci paused midsentence. “Hold on,” she told the boy she was speaking to as she crossed the lawn. “You don’t want to leave now, do you?”
“Mamm and Daed already left. It is time.”
“It’s only two. Can’t I stay here a while longer?”
“I don’t feel right about you getting home by yourself,” Amanda said.
“I can walk her back,” a dark-haired boy about her age said as he approached. “I don’t mind.”
“Please?” Traci asked. “This is Hank. Remember, I told you about him after church? His father is one of the preachers.”
Sharing a look with Amanda, Susanna shrugged. “I don’t see what harm it would be for you to come home later. In an hour or two?”
Traci hugged her. “Danke.”
Sharing a smile, she and Amanda waved good-bye, then started walking.
“That was sweet, wasn’t it?”
“Jah. It reminded me of when we used to beg Mamm and Daed to let us stay late after church.”
“I’m glad we let her stay.”
Susanna nodded. “I wasn’t up for another argument. Plus, she is getting older. When I was her age, Mamm and Daed had me looking after her all the time.”
“I was just thinking that,” Amanda said. “Hey, Sue?”
“Hmm?”
“Things seem better. Don’t you think?”
“Definitely. I think we are finally making friends. It just takes time, I guess.” Smiling at her sister, Susanna said, “Of course, who would have expected you and Dale to hit it off so well?”
Amanda flushed. “We haven’t ‘hit it off.’ We just seem to get along well.”
“I’m glad for you. That’s wonderful.”
“I hope so. I want to continue to feel like this. Like everything is going to be just fine here.”
Three hours later, Susanna and Amanda were wishing they’d done anything but say yes to Traci.
“I don’t understand how you two could have done something so irresponsible,” their mother said as she stood on the front porch and scanned the area. “You didn’t even know the boy’s name.”
Amanda flushed. “She did say he was Hank and that she thought he was the son of one of the preachers.”
“There are three preachers, Amanda. And furthermore, though I’m not saying the preachers aren’t good men, their profession doesn’t mean their children don’t ever make foolish choices from time to time.”
“You’re right, Mamm,” Amanda said. “I’m sorry.”
Mamm folded her arms across her chest. “That don’t mean a whole lot right now.”
Susanna winced but said nothing. How could she? It was the truth. Traci still wasn’t home, and she and Amanda had no information about who she could be with or where she could be.
“We were just trying to be like you, Mamm,” Amanda said. “You always used to let us stay late after church.”
“That was different. Back in Berlin, you knew everyone around. I did, too. We don’t really know the people here.”
Susanna couldn’t argue with that. “Maybe I should go look for her.”
“Where would you look? Your father is already out searching for her. If you go, too, then I’ll have three of you to worry about.”
Wrapping her arms around her waist, Susanna nodded. She agreed, but it was a terrible thing to feel so hopeless and helpless.
“I bet she just lost track of time,” Amanda said hesitantly from behind them. “Traci never thinks about things like that.”
“I hope that’s the case,” Mamm said, her voice thick with worry.
Just then, they saw Traci and their father approaching in the distance. Tears pricked Susanna’s eyes, she was so relieved. “There they are. Oh, thank the good Lord. Daed found her.”
“I bet he’s been lecturing her the whole way home,” Amanda said.
“Nee,” Mamm said slowly. “He’s not lecturing her. Look. He’s trying to help her walk.”
Looking closer
, Susanna saw that her father had an arm braced around Traci. It was obvious that he was close to carrying her.
“She looks to be soaking wet!” Mamm cried.
Susanna and Amanda took off running. The closer they got, the higher their anxiety rose.
Traci’s face was tearstained and her cheeks were bright red. She was also limping. Her dress looked wet and she was holding her hand in an awkward way.
Susanna got there first. “Traci?” she called out in a rush. “What in the world happened to you? Did you fall into the creek?”
“I didn’t fall,” she said.
Amanda rushed to join them. “I don’t understand. If you didn’t fall, how did you get so wet?”
Lips pressed together, Daed shook his head. “That’s enough, girls,” he said, his voice hard. “We’ll talk about this when we get inside. Now, one of you give her your cloak, if you please.”
Amanda pulled off her new black cloak and draped it around Traci’s shoulders. “There you go.”
“Where’s your coat, Daed?” Susanna asked.
“Never mind that. We’ll talk inside, child. Now help me.” Looking over her shoulder, Daed spoke to Amanda. “Hurry back and tell your mother to run a bath and heat up a kettle. We’re going to have to get her warm as fast as possible.”
With a nod, Amanda rushed back toward the house.
While Amanda ran, Susanna quickly moved to Traci’s other side and wrapped an arm around her. She shivered and snuggled closer. “When we get you home, we’ll put you in that warm bathtub,” she said. “I’ll even ask Mamm to let you use some of her special bubble bath.”
But even the promise of their mother’s favorite lavender-scented bubble bath didn’t seem to make a difference in her sister’s demeanor. Traci didn’t speak another word, she just continued to look at the ground and concentrate on walking.
And their father? Well, he looked shell-shocked. When Traci stumbled, he lifted her into his arms.
When they got to the front steps, her mother rushed forward. “Traci! Traci, I’ve been so worried. John, is she okay?”
“Hope so,” he said as he set Traci down. “Susanna?”
“Yes, Daed. I’m on it. Come on, Traci. Mamm, is the tub running?”
“Amanda started it a couple of seconds ago.”
“Gut. I’ll take her there right now.”
“I’ll be right there to help you,” Mamm said.
“Nee, Mamm,” Traci said. “I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
Traci cut her off. “Susanna and Amanda can help me get undressed.”
“Oh. All right, then. Now, John, you are going to catch your death.”
“I’ll be all right. But you shouldn’t have gone outside, Leah.”
Their voices faded as they headed to their bedroom. Practically carrying her little sister now, Susanna brought her into the bathroom and shut the door.
Amanda had already poured some of their mother’s bubble bath into the water. The room was warm and humid and smelled like lavender.
Amanda turned Traci to face her and started unpinning her dress. Needing to do something, Susanna knelt on the ground and unlaced Traci’s boots, then helped her out of them. The whole time, their sister was shivering. Traci, her hands fisted, stood still like a statue, trembling from head to toe.
At last, they had her in the tub.
As she continued to shiver, Amanda helped her lean back in the hot soapy water. Soon, she was covered up by bubbles and had gained some color in her face.
When her eyes didn’t look so glassy, Susanna knelt on the floor. “Traci, what happened?”
“I was walking home from Hank’s. He walked me halfway. All I had to do was go through that patch of woods and over that little bridge over the creek. You know the one we found the first week here, between our house and the Kaufmanns’?”
“I do.”
“When I got about halfway, the wood under me broke and I went straight into the water. It was so cold.”
“I thought it was iced over,” Amanda said.
“I went right through the ice,” Traci said, her voice tremulous. “I didn’t go under or anything, it wasn’t that deep, but I was soaked. When I tried to pull myself out, my skirt got caught. And I injured my hand and foot when I fell, too.” She held out her hand.
Susanna gently folded it in between both of hers. It was already bruised and swollen, but it looked more banged up than seriously injured. “I bet it hurts something awful.”
“I don’t even know anymore. I was so cold and I couldn’t get out, then when I finally did, I could hardly walk. And there was no one around. Then I started calling out for help.”
“And Daed came at last,” said Amanda.
“Jah. At last.”
Amanda smiled at her sweetly. “It’s over now, though. Jah? After you get out, you can put on one of my thick flannel nightgowns. Then we’ll get you some hot tea and soup or something. I bet Daed already has a new fire going.”
Traci nodded but the troubled look in her eyes still remained.
“What is it?” Susanna asked.
“Th . . . There was something wrong with that board.”
“I’m sure it was rotten or something,” Amanda said soothingly.
“Nee. It snapped in half. Mandy, Sue, don’tcha remember when we went exploring? All three of us stood on that bridge at the same time. It was strong. It was really strong.”
Susanna exchanged a worried glance with Amanda. “Traci, what are you saying?” she asked at last.
“I’m saying that this wasn’t an accident. Someone messed with that board. They wanted one of us to fall in.”
A chill ran through her as she stared at her little sister. Traci was crying now.
“Sue, Mandy, you’ve gotta believe me,” she said, sounding frantic. “Someone weakened that board on purpose! I know it. I know it! Someone wanted one of us to get hurt.”
Sitting back on her heels, Susanna met Amanda’s gaze.
In her eyes, Susanna saw a reflection of what she was feeling. Amanda wasn’t afraid that Traci was lying. She feared that she was telling the truth.
CHAPTER 11
Sunday Night, December 17
Once Traci calmed down, finally sinking deeper into the hot water and soothing bubbles, Susanna got to her feet.
“We’re going to get out of here and let you soak in privacy for a little while. Is that okay?”
Traci nodded. “Does that mean that you believe me?”
“I think you’ve given us a lot to think about,” Susanna hedged. Traci needed to be soothed and calmed down, not agitated further.
“Tomorrow, when I’m better, we’ll go over there and I’ll show you,” Traci promised. “Or maybe Daed can take you out there tonight.”
“I have a feeling Daed isn’t going to want to do anything but recover,” Amanda said gently. “We were really worried about you, Traci.”
“But this is important. I wouldn’t lie.”
“I don’t think you’re lying,” Susanna said as she edged to the door.
Looking even more upset, Traci bit her bottom lip. “What about you, Mandy?”
“Of course I believe you,” Amanda said quickly.
Traci stared at Susanna. “What if your buggy accident hadn’t been just an accident? What if someone had been meaning to hurt you?”
She swallowed. “And now someone is sabotaging our bridge? It makes sense . . . except that all we did was buy a farm that was for sale.”
Amanda walked to the door. “Little sister, please. Calm yourself. I don’t want you to get sick. Now, I’m going to go make sure you have something warm for when you get out.”
Traci nodded slowly. “All right.”
After she and Amanda left the bathroom, Susanna sighed. She hated to admit it, but Traci had a point. “Do you think she could be right?” she asked quietly.
Amanda shrugged. “I don’t see how she could be.”
“But what if these t
hings are all connected? Don’t forget, our fence was broken, too.”
“That fence was also the Kaufmanns’.”
“I don’t think they were a target.”
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” Amanda said with more force. “The only reason people are paying any attention is because we’re new here to town. We can’t start letting our imaginations run away with us.”
That did make sense. She wanted it to. “Let’s go talk to Mamm and Daed. Maybe Daed got a better idea of what happened than Traci.”
After Amanda pulled out one of her soft flannel nightgowns for Traci, they walked into the kitchen. Their parents were sitting at the kitchen table. Mamm was drinking hot apple cider while Daed was sipping hot chicken soup. He already had put on fresh clothes, including a thick pair of socks that Amanda had knitted for him last year for Christmas.
Pausing for a moment, Susanna not only gave thanks that they were home safe but that they were now all together every night. She needed to keep focused on what a blessing that was.
While Amanda went right in and hugged their father, Susanna took a moment to appreciate the scene in front of her. They were not only all together, they were sitting at their kitchen table, which in a lot of ways had become the cornerstone of their family.
It almost hadn’t made the move to Kentucky. Daed had been so happy to be finally giving them a lovely new, big home, with a big kitchen, that he wanted to celebrate the move by purchasing a new table, one that would be suitable for their new surroundings. Susanna and her sisters had all thought that was a good idea.
The table was old, had a crack down the center of it, and was really too small for five people. It also brought back a lot of memories of just the four of them sitting around it while Daed was gone for the week, working for Mr. Fowler.
Getting a new table that was big enough for all of them to sit together seemed like a wonderful idea.
But it had been their mother who had resisted. She hadn’t wanted to spend the money . . . or give up the memories that it brought her.
And because their father could never tell their mother no, they’d put it in the moving van.
Now Susanna was so grateful for it. Ever since they’d moved, they’d had a lot of trouble and worry. That table symbolized security for her.
The Gift Page 7
