A Baby for Hannah (Hannah's Heart 3)

by Jerry S. Eicher

  “That’s gut,” Mose said. “But we also must tell you that Bishop John is planning on taking a vote this Sunday on excommunicating Ben and Sylvia Stoll. He feels that Ben has made a point of coming into the community to cause trouble and needs to be dealt with.”

  “Oh!” Rebecca gasped, her hands covering her face. “What then does this mean for us? We can’t be excommunicated, Will, we absolutely can’t.”

  “That’s what I needed to warn you about,” Mose said. “Anyone who attends the meetings after that will also be in danger of church discipline.”

  Will wrapped his arms around Rebecca’s shoulder, pulling her close to him. “Don’t cry, dear,” he whispered. Then turning to Mose he said, “Then we won’t be attending any more meetings. That should solve the problem, shouldn’t it? But it won’t solve the problem of us leaving the church. We can still find a Mennonite church to join. That surely won’t bring us the threat of excommunication. Perhaps my parents’ church if nothing else, but I must say I am very troubled over this threat. I’m surprised, Jake, that you would give your word to such an outrageous move.”

  Mose jumped to his feet, “I’m so sorry to hear that you’re leaving the community, but there is nothing we can do about that now. We do need to stop this problem of the revival meetings, and that is what the vote is about on Sunday.”

  “Can’t you wait another week?” Rebecca asked, her voice a plea. “There’s only one more week of meetings, and no one else is attending that we know of.”

  “But there could be more who wish to attend,” Mose said. “So we can’t take the chance, and Bishop John desires it. So, again, we are sorry that you are leaving the church.”

  “Perhaps it is time for you to go,” Will said, leading the way to the front door. He held it open and Mose and Jake walked out into the gathering dusk.

  Thirty

  Jake drove out of Will and Rebecca’s driveway, turning north on the main road. The horse held back, shaking its head till Jake hollered, “Come on, now, Joel.”

  Silence settled over the buggy as they rode in the falling twilight.

  “You could have helped out more back there,” Mose said. “I didn’t have to do all the talking.”

  “You did okay. I didn’t know what to say anyway.”

  “Church work is hard,” Mose said. “But it needs to be done. The vineyard of the Lord grows weeds just like any other garden and needs tending.”

  “I wish Will and Rebecca weren’t leaving, but I also wish Bishop John wouldn’t take the vote on Sunday. It’s just going to make things worse.”

  “Like any of us can change all that. Some things weren’t meant to be changed.”

  “What do you think is going to happen when the vote passes on Sunday?”

  Mose shifted on the buggy seat, “I suppose things will get better. I certainly don’t think they will get any worse. People usually stay away from what they fear.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Jake said, turning in at Mary Keim’s lane. “But I still wish we didn’t have to use fear to keep people away from the meetings.”

  “You’re young,” Mose said, chuckling. “You’ll get wiser on these subjects as you age. Especially once you have children. Fear is a necessary part of life.”

  “That’s strange,” Jake said as they drove down the dark lane. “I think that’s Mr. Brunson’s truck parked beside Mary’s house.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Mose said.

  Jake pulled up to the barn and climbed down from the buggy.

  “It is Mr. Brunson’s truck,” Jake said. “He buys eggs from Mary, but why would he be buying eggs at this time of the evening?”

  “I wouldn’t worry about your Mr. Brunson,” Mose said. “The Mennonites are the ones who worry me. If they’re not here, maybe we still have a chance with Mary. We can’t go back to Bishop John with two failures.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Jake said, finishing the knot on the tie rope and following Mose toward the house. A dim light shone out of the front window, with a brighter light beaming from an upstairs window.

  “I can’t imagine Mary already being in bed,” Mose said. “Not with this truck parked in the yard.”

  “I don’t think you can see the living room from the front of the house,” Jake said. “If Mary has visitors, they would be back there.”

  Mose knocked, waited, ready to knock again when quick footsteps came from inside. Mary opened the front door, a wide smile on her face.

  “Mose and Jake. What a surprise. I certainly wasn’t expecting you tonight. Mr. Brunson was getting ready to leave anyway.”

  “Mr. Brunson is visiting?” Mose asked. “Why would an Englisha man be visiting in your house, Mary? And at this hour of the night?”

  Mary showed a slight smile and then said, “I suppose the explaining might as well start sooner than later. Da Hah is doing wonderful things in our lives, and I will be glad to tell you about them.”

  “But Mr. Brunson is here,” Mose said, still standing at the front door.

  “Oh, he’s leaving,” Mary said. “I told him to wait until I had said hello and explained a little.”

  “Explained?” Mose said. “How can it be explained?”

  “She said Mr. Brunson was visiting,” Jake whispered, but Mose still didn’t move.

  “Mr. Brunson is here to see me—like the young people see each other on Sunday night,” Mary said. “I don’t know what better way to say it, Mose.”

  “But you knew we were coming,” Mose said. “Clara said she sent word both to you and Will and Rebecca.”

  “Yes, I did know. And that’s why I’m home tonight and not at the meeting. But it’s still not a reason to hide what’s happening. We are doing nothing to be ashamed of, Mose. Now do you want to talk about it out here, or can we sit down in the living room?”

  Mose nodded, moving slowly toward the back of the house with Mary leading the way.

  “This is Mr. Brunson,” Mary said, motioning with her hand. “And these are two of our ministers, Mose and Jake. They have come to talk with me about the church.”

  “Glad to met you,” Mr. Brunson said, getting to his feet and offering his hand to Mose. “Of course I know Jake quite well, but I’ve never seen him in ministerial action.”

  No one laughed, and Jake cleared his throat.

  “Well,” Mary said, smiling nervously, “please take a seat. Mr. Brunson was just going.”

  “Perhaps I should stay, Mary,” Mr. Brunson said. “Don’t you think so?”

  “Thanks,” Mary said, smiling gently at him, “but I think it’s best if I have this conversation with Mose and Jake by myself.”

  “I would be glad to stay,” Mr. Brunson said, still hesitating.

  “I’ll be okay. I’ll speak with you later.”

  “Okay. Whatever you wish. I’ll see you tomorrow night then at the regular time.

  Mary nodded as she followed Mr. Brunson to the front door.

  Mose glanced at Jake. “Did you know about any of this?”

  “No,” Jake whispered back. “The last thing I heard was Mr. Brunson’s meeting with Bishop John.”

  “You two don’t have to whisper,” Mary said, stepping back into the living room. “Like I said, I have nothing to hide. It’s just that things have been happening so fast, and when Clara sent word that you would be coming tonight I figured things could be explained then.”

  Mose cleared his throat. “So why is this Mr. Brunson, an Englisha man, in your house? Thankfully your son Henry is upstairs—or so I assume.”

  “He is,” Mary said, taking her seat again. “But I would have had Mr. Brunson over anyway. He’s a Christian man and wouldn’t act unseemly in any way. Didn’t he have enough decency to speak with Bishop John about his feelings before he ever spoke with me?”

  “I’m not disagreeing with that,” Mose said. “But it’s about how things look, and this looks very out of order. You’re a member of the church, and you have an Englisha man in the house.”
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  Mary folded her hands. “I guess I am getting a little carried away, Mose. So perhaps you can tell me how I can best handle this situation with Mr. Brunson.”

  “You should at least wait until he has joined an Amish group like Bishop John advised before you invite him into your house,” Mose said.

  “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen,” Mary said. “Mr. Brunson is planning to join the Mennonite church, and I have also decided to join. So what could we do, Mose, that would make things easier for everyone concerned?”

  “Just like that?” Mose asked, not hiding his shock. “You’d just up and leave the faith you were raised in. How can you do that, Mary?”

  “It wasn’t an easy decision,” Mary said. “But I do love the man, and Da Hah seems to be in this.”

  “How do you know that?” Mose asked.

  “I asked Da Hah for a sign,” Mary said. “Maybe it doesn’t seem like much to you, but to me it seemed like it would take a lot to accomplish it. I decided that if I attended the first night of the tent meetings, and Mr. Brunson also attended, then I would be open to meeting him halfway—that is if he agrees to join the Mennonites. I had already heard that Norman was willing to join our Amish community if Bishop John had allowed it.”

  “But that so-called sign is such a flimsy thing to base such an important decision on,” Mose said, throwing his hands into the air. “It’s very possible that Mr. Brunson had already planned to attend the meetings and you just fell into his plans.”

  “Perhaps Jake would know whether Mr. Brunson had planned to attend,” Mary said. “Did he speak to you about it, Jake?”

  Jake shook his head. “Mr. Brunson never talked about the Mennonites or the meetings, although he did seem to be considering Bishop John’s suggestion that he move East and join the Amish there.”

  “There you have it, Mose,” Mary said. “Does that satisfy you?”

  “No,” Mose said. “I still think it’s all a big mistake, and one that you will live to regret. You know that marriage is a serious thing before Da Hah, and that it’s for life. Mr. Brunson comes from a faith that divorces freely when things get rough.”

  “I have thought of that,” Mary said. “And that would be an awful thing to have happen, but I can’t think that Mr. Brunson would be divorcing me. He’s not that young anymore, and he’s joining the Mennonites.”

  Mose cleared his throat, “I think I should tell you this, Mary. We are taking a vote on excommunicating Ben and Sylvia Stoll because of what they are doing to this community. If that vote passes—as I surely think it will—then anyone who attends the meetings will also be in danger of church discipline.”

  Mary considered this for a moment and then asked, “You agreed to this, Jake?”

  “It’s Bishop John’s wish,” Jake said, looking down. “And I have consented to support him.”

  “But excommunication is an awful thing,” Mary said. “I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”

  “This is how seriously Bishop John takes this matter,” Mose said. “And my advice would be that you reconsider your plans to join the Mennonites.”

  “But Mr. Brunson and I already have plans to attend all of the meetings next week. It’s quite important that we do, and we have a scheduled meeting with the evangelist on Wednesday night. He’s going to introduce us to the pastor of the church in Kalispell.”

  “I’m very sorry to hear that,” Mose said, getting to his feet. “I guess your plans will have to change because I’m quite sure you don’t want to be excommunicated, do you, Mary?”

  “Of course I don’t,” Mary said, following them to the door. “But I also can’t break my plans with Mr. Brunson. It’s an important part of what Da Hah is doing for us. Can’t Bishop John understand that? Perhaps he would if you tell him.”

  “Look, Mary,” Mose said, pausing on the front porch. Jake waited at the bottom of the steps. “It’s not that we’re trying to be hard or cruel. Surely you know that, Mary. It’s the church we’re thinking of. We have feelings too, Mary, and they hurt when church members just up and throw away so much of their lives for something that won’t satisfy anyway.”

  “I can’t turn back from Mr. Brunson now,” Mary said, her hand on the doorknob. “I do love him.”

  “But, Mary,” Mose said, stepping closer to her. “Think about what you are doing. And now there’s the excommunication to think of. I’ve known you most of my life. And Bert, we grew up together as boys living on farms next to each other. What do you think he would say about this? What would he think about his widow marrying an Englisha man?

  What’s happened to you, Mary? You’re acting like some starry-eyed young girl who has lost her senses.”

  Mary was silent. And then she said, “I will agree to think about this. I can’t be excommunicated. That would be too awful.”

  “There, that’s more like the Mary I know,” Mose said, putting out his hand to touch her arm. “I’m sure you will come to the right decision. All you have to do is come to church tomorrow instead of going to those meetings, and I will take it as a sign you’re willing to make things right with the church. I’m sure Bishop John will be more than understanding”

  “I can’t promise anything,” Mary said.

  “Good night then,” Mose said. “We will be praying for you.”

  “Good night,” Mary said, her voice cracking with sadness as the men walked across the grass to Jake’s buggy.

  Thirty-One

  Jake turned sharply at the main road, bouncing through the ditch as he let the reins out. Joel dashed forward. Mose was hanging on tightly to the side of the buggy door.

  “You don’t have to take out your frustrations on me,” Mose said. “I know it was hard talking with Mary—although again, you didn’t help out much. You could have said more.”

  “It’s probably a gut thing I didn’t speak more,” Jake said. “Or I would have said some things I shouldn’t have.”

  “I thought you were on our side,” Mose said. “Remember you told Bishop John he had your support.”

  “Don’t you have a little feeling for Mary? What is she supposed to do now?”

  “I think maybe you’ve gotten a little too close to this situation, Jake. I know that you and Hannah care a lot for Mary, and Mr. Brunson is your employer, isn’t he?”

  “I work for him, but what has that got to do with it?”

  “Perhaps more than you think. I think we should go speak with Bishop John now.”

  “But it’s past nine already, and we have a meeting tomorrow morning at church.”

  “That may not be enough time to untangle this mess, and I don’t think Bishop John should stay in the dark about what we’ve found out.”

  “Then you can go after I drop you off. I really need to get back to Hannah. I’m sure she’s worried enough already.”

  “She’s an Amish woman. She’ll understand what ministers have to do. If we don’t get back by midnight, I’m sure Bishop John will send Elizabeth over with news of what’s holding you up.”

  “I don’t like any of this,” Jake said, but he turned left at the crossroads in the direction of Bishop John’s. “And it won’t do any gut to talk about things. I’m not changing my mind. Excommunication is wrong in this case.”

  “You are awful stubborn for a young man,” Mose said. “Was your father like this?”

  “Leave my father out of this,” Jake said. “I think we all come from a stubborn people, if I remember correctly.”

  Mose laughed, “You read too much, Jake, but I suppose it’s true. Our forefathers were Swiss farmers, willing to stand up to the religious people of their day. That took some natural stubbornness.”

  “Their issues were much clearer than this situation,” Jake said, pulling into Bishop John’s lane. “That would be easier than excommunicating widows who fall in love.”

  “The world and the flesh haven’t changed, Jake,” Mose said, climbing down the buggy step. “They have just taken different forms to te
mpt us. Falling in love doesn’t change that.”

  Jake tied his horse and followed Mose up the walk to the front door. Bishop John opened the door before they arrived, his head framed in the lantern light, his face and beard hidden in the dark.

  “You must have bad news,” Bishop John said, his voice soft in the late night air.

  “Jah,” Mose said. “Will and Rebecca are leaving for sure, and Mary is already well along in her relationship with Mr. Brunson. She had him visiting tonight before we got there, and they both plan to join the Mennonites.”

  “Did Mr. Brunson come to this solution at Mary’s invitation?” Bishop John asked.

  “She’s claims he didn’t,” Mose said. “Rather Mary said it was Da Hah who led them both to attend the meetings on the first night. She took it as some sort of a sign.”

  “Then things are worse than we thought,” Bishop John said. “And, Jake, where do you stand after your visits? Surely you see what must be done.”

  Jake cleared his throat, “Nothing I heard tonight has caused me to change my mind.”

  “I think we need to talk about where we go from here,” Mose said.

  “Perhaps,” Bishop John said. “But the night is late already and the mind of man can only handle so much bad news. My heart is stirred deeply, and I don’t wish my emotions to cloud my spirit. Da Hah says in His Scriptures that the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. Let us sleep and pray on this. We can speak of it tomorrow morning at church.”

  “Good night then,” Mose said, stepping back down the porch steps. Jake followed him back to the buggy and they climbed in.

  “It was gut that we told him,” Jake said, as he let the lines out. “And I’m glad Bishop John didn’t want to discuss it tonight. I really need to get back to Hannah. She will be worried enough the way it is.”

  Mose laughed. “It’s funny that you’re agreeing with the Bishop for once. I hope you feel the same way tomorrow. You know that John could really use your support for the vote.”

  “Bishop John is a wise man, but I haven’t changed my mind.”