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Daylight drew shorter and shorter as the fall season became colder. Miriam dreaded the long nights. It felt so claustrophobic as if the world was closing in on her. She still did all the same things, but everything took longer.
The flag on the mailbox was up, indicating the mail had arrived. Also, Levi had not brought it in yet. Instead of taking the shorter way to the house, she trudged to the mailbox. Pulling out envelopes which looked like ads, she found a folded piece of yellow, lined paper, and she unfolded it and read.
Wayne
Keep your mouth shut!
We are watching your every move.
If not, your wife and kids will regret it!
A chill ran through Miriam’s body, and she reached for her healing bag. What in the world was this about?
Something about Levi’s brother made her uneasy. She was not sure what caused her to feel this way, but in any case, that was the way she felt.
Miriam nearly ran into the house, but only Anna was there. She heard her singing to the babies as she took the steps to the second floor in a hurry. She had to find out where Levi was, and the quickest way was to speak to Anna. Miriam stuffed the note in her coat pocket. No way would she show her new sister-in-law.
Standing in the doorway to the boppli’s room, Miriam took in the beautiful scene with the younger woman rocking both little ones in her arms. “Anna,” she whispered just loud enough to get the girl’s attention. “Can you tell me where to find Levi? I need to speak to him right away.”
“I’m not sure. I heard Levi and Wayne leave with our buckboard about an hour ago.”
Miriam nodded and raised her finger to her lips, indicating she would be quiet and turned away from the room. Rushing back down the stairs, she put her coat on a hook in the mudroom then went into the kitchen. There was kaffe on the stove, and she poured herself a cup then took it to the table. She had to calm down. Her heart was beating at an unhealthy pace.
Why was someone threatening Wayne and his family? What was it about? Miriam was not familiar with these people so she could not come up with any thoughts about it. Her husband didn’t even know his brother after so many years apart. Did she want these people sharing her home? Did it place she and Levi in danger as well?
Ach, she wished Levi were here to talk to. She realized her thoughts were growing larger and larger, and her fear swamped her. Taking a calming breath, she looked around the kitchen. A pleasant aroma of something cooking came from the oven.
It was past five o’clock.
Anna walked into the room. “I think the little ones will sleep for a while. What a fuss they put up all day. Nothing I tried pleased them.”
“Jah, they are a month old now. They are probably getting bored.”
“Bored? At that age?” Anna was aghast.
Miriam nodded. “Have you been playing with them?”
Anna’s eyes grew wide in surprise. She shook her head. “Nee, just taking care of them.”
“Tomorrow I will be here. Ruby works the busy weekend day. I think she’s bored as well.” Miriam laughed. “Now her son Matthew and his wife Hannah are running the farm stay, Ruby has little to do.” Changing thoughts from the note calmed her. “We can play with Abby and Emma to see if it will help them. If not, I have a calming elixir I made. It is on my shelves in the basement.”
Anna’s eyes grew wide. “What are you talking about? I understand you are a midwife but are you a doctor as well?”
Miriam shook her head. “No, I’m the local healer. I use herbs I grow in my garden in the summer, blend them into a potion that helps people. I’m sorry to frighten you.”
“You scared me to death, Miriam. I thought you were a witch or something.”
Miriam smiled at the young woman. “No. I was trained by my grandmother to heal and help people.”
Anna opened the oven and took out a roaster. Meatloaf, surrounded by baking potatoes and carrots filled it. “I did not have much time today, so I just threw this together.”
Miriam sniffed the air. “It smells great. What a fantastic way to cook. Do it all at once.”
“Jah, my mamm showed me several tricks for busy days. I guess you could say I was trained in the art of frugal cooking.” She laughed at her comparison between her and Miriam.
“Where do your parents live?” Miriam asked. She didn’t want to pry, but she wanted to know the girl better.
“Ohio.”
“This is a ways from here. How in the world did you meet Wayne?”
Anna pushed the roaster pan back into the oven, tossed the potholders onto the counter then went to sit across from Miriam. “Wayne came to Lindville, which is not far from Pennsylvania, with my brother James. Our surname is Hooley. They both had jobs at a factory in Pittsburg which closed. Wayne came with James to our home, but I had seen him at the cafe where I worked a few times.”
“I had no idea. Well, really, I do not know your husband at all. I hope to remedy this.”
Anna smiled at her. “I am sure you will hit it off with him. He is quite a bit like Levi.”
“So he arrived, and you fell in love just like a fairytale.”
Anna shook her head, and the corners of her mouth drooped down. “Not really. Jah, we fell in love, but it was not a pretty story. You see my father is a bad drunk, I think I told you before, but my brother does not fall far from the tree.”
“Ach, I am so sorry, Anna. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Nee, do not feel this way. I want you to know how good a man Wayne is. When my father and James were arrested for thefts of farm implements, Wayne got me out of there. We got married in a civil ceremony on the same day.”
“What a story,” Miriam cried. “And you came back here?”
Anna nodded. “We actually came to this district, and Wayne spoke to Bishop Yoder. We wanted to return to my husband’s home, but the leader would not let us. Our only recourse was to find somewhere cheap to live. Wayne found odd jobs to keep us afloat.”
Miriam shook her head. Had Bishop Yoder hurt everyone in the district? “You know, we found out that the shunning was not an authorized action. Wayne is free to live in the district with no recourse.”
“Jah, we know and want to spend our lives here. I am so glad to be out of my life in Ohio. I miss my maem and two older sisters. But they are both married and have children. The last I heard, maem, lived with my oldest sister and helped take care of her children and home.”
“So what happened with your daed and brother?”
“Daed was sentenced to five years in prison and my brother only one year. He just helped once, and the authorities did not have as much information to sentence him longer. I heard he was out of prison and trying to get money from maem.”
“I hope she has not given him any!” Miriam slapped her hand across her mouth. “I’m sorry! I should not have said that.”
Anna laughed loudly, then forced herself to be quite so not to wake up the boppli. “It is ok, Miriam. I feel the same way. Oh, Miriam, I nearly forgot to tell you! A man stopped by a while ago. He was looking for you. His wife is having pains, but he said she still had a month to go.”
Miriam shook her head in wonder. “Was the man short and round with bright red hair?”
“Jah, He was.”
Laughing Miriam told her sister-in-law, “Probably Homer Hansen. He and his wife are young and terrified of everything to do with this baby, their first.” She poured a cup of kaffe then sat at the table. “I’m sure Letty is having early pains, her body’s way of preparing for the birth.”
“I remember those. I thought having pains were so bad at the time. How silly I was. When the real pain came, I could easily tell the difference.” The girl smiled, remembering the birth of her daughters. “Why not lay down and take a nap before supper? What if she is right? You need your rest. You work too hard, Miriam.”
“I hate to leave you with the boppli and all the meal preparation. Are you sure there is nothing I can help you with?”
Anna shook her head. “Nothing. You just go rest.”
Miriam walked from her kitchen and went to the bedroom. The note in her pocket seemed to burn a hole into her leg. She would tell Levi about it later. She so wanted all this to work out, but the tone of the note frightened her.
Miriam jerked her head to the side and swiped her hand across her lips. She didn’t want to wake up. Her body relaxed back into sleep when the sensation against her lips happened again. Her eyes popped open. Levi sat beside her moving the ends of her hair against her lips.
“Hi,” she said softly. Pulling herself into a sitting position, she leaned forward and kissed her husband softly on his lips. “I am sorry to be so tired, but with Anna handling the kitchen, I took advantage of her.”
Levi kissed her back. “I am happy you did. With the family arriving, and you delivering all these boppli, you have overworked yourself.”
“Jah, I have, but it makes good news. There are only two boppli left to birth on my calendar. We might get a break.” Miriam smiled brightly. She felt better and more rested than she had for a long time. “I wanted to ask you something. What would you think if I quit working at the store?”
He reached out for her hand and pulled her up to stand in front of him. He smiled at her.
“I have no problem with it at all, the person you should be asking is your sister, Ruby.”
Miriam nodded, deep in thought at his decision. She’d been afraid to bring it up with Ruby, but recently, Ruby had been at loose ends. She even told Miriam how lost she felt now Matthew and Hannah had taken over the farm stay. The only time Ruby worked was when the house was full, and Hannah needed her assistance with the cooking for a large group.
“Ruby does not have anything to do. This would benefit her, as well as me.” Miriam brushed through her hip length hair and quickly swirled it into a bun at the back of her head. In a couple of movements, she had the bobby pins in, and she was attaching her Kapp with them as well. “I may talk to her tomorrow. That is why I wanted your feelings on this before I brought it up to her.”
“We don’t need the percentage of the money you get from your sales at the store. It would help your sister more if she did not have to share with you.” Levi squeezed her shoulders, then spoke, “I’ll let you get straightened out and meet you in the kitchen?”
Miriam shook her head. “Nee, I have something serious to talk to you about. I found this in the mail today. I do not understand what to think of it, and it frightens me.” She reached in her dress pocket and pulled out the note and handed it to Levi.
Levi looked at her quizzically then began to read it. Miriam watched his face pale then turn red in anger. “I will speak to my brother. Now! We cannot have him involved in something which would surely get us all under the bann. I will not hear of it. I will have him out of here tonight if he does not tell me what is going on.”
“Ach, Levi!” Miriam cried. “You cannot do this. What about the boppli and Anna? They would not have anywhere to go.”
“I will let the girl and babies stay, but my brother will be out in the cold.”
He tossed open the door and stomped out, closing the bedroom door with more force than Miriam had ever seen. She knew her husband had a temper, but the short bursts she had seen were nothing like this. She was afraid for Wayne.
Please Gott, let the two brothers come to some sort of understanding. She whispered her prayer aloud. She took all her problems to Gott, and each morning she thanked him for giving her another day of life. Miriam opened the bedroom door and heard Levi holler, “Wayne! Put down the boppli and meet me in the barn!”
Miriam cringed. She knew she had to go out to the kitchen and see Anna, but what would she say to her? Taking a deep breath, she hurried to her new sister-in-law.
***
Levi sat down on a hay bale and pointed at the one in front of him for Wayne. He shook his head. What was Wayne involved with? The way the family was living, it did not show he was making money at anything illegal. But what?
“Brother! What is the matter?” Wayne rushed to ask and stood in front of Levi. He finally sat when Levi pointed to the bale of hay again.
Levi pulled the note from his coat and handed it to Wayne. “You tell me what the problem is.”
Wayne read the note. He raised his eyes and looked directly into Levi’s. “I cannot tell you.”
“Are you prepared to leave my farm? This is what will happen if you do not tell me what this is all about.”
Wayne shook his head.
Levi felt a bit sorry for his brother, but he could not have him keeping secrets from him. It was not safe for his family nor Wayne’s. “Is it serious? Dangerous?”
Wayne finally nodded but did not utter a word.
“You had better speak up. I am serious.” Levi crossed his arms over his chest, not backing down on his demand.
Finally, Wayne caved and faced his brother. “About a month ago, I was out hunting and came across a meeting of five men at an old run-down barn.” Levi nodded in encouragement for Wayne to continue.
“They were talking about rustling horses. Expensive horses and selling them.”
“You did not tell the authorities I suspect.”
“Nee. I could not do so. They would have arrested me.”
Levi shook his head, not understanding. “Why?”
“Because!” Wayne hollered. “Because it was at night. I was poaching deer for us to eat. I could not go to jail and leave Anna alone with the boppli.” Wayne stood and in agitation paced back and forth on the packed dirt floor. “Besides, I do not know the names of those men. They might think I do, but I do not!”
His brother’s words sounded like he was a ten-year-old caught shoplifting. “Why are you so afraid?”
“Because those men know where I am apparently, and they must think I was near enough to hear them during their conversation. If they see the police here, they will do something. I have to get out of here.”
Levi shook his head. “Nee brother. You cannot run. You acted this way when you were younger when bishop Yoder shunned you. You were not even baptized. You see how well that worked out.”
“What am I going to do?”
“We will figure this out together and resolve the danger.”