When Ruth awoke the following morning, she was surprised to feel warm air drifting through their bedroom floor vent. She rolled over and discovered that Martin was gone. Apparently he’d gotten up and built a fire. Maybe the wood had been returned.
Ruth scrambled out of bed and hurried to get dressed.
When she stepped into the kitchen a short time later, she was pleased to find a cozy fire crackling in the woodstove. Martin wasn’t in the kitchen. She hurried to put the teakettle on, and a few minutes later, steam began to rise out of the spout. The whistling kettle had a rich, comfortable sound to it, not a shrill sound as it did during the hotter summer months.
When the water was hot enough, she poured some into a cup, plopped a tea bag in, and stepped toward the table. There, she discovered a note.
Dear Ruth,
I’ve gone fishing with Abe and Gideon. I didn’t want to wake you, so I had a piece of leftover apple pie Mom sent home with us last night. Now I’m about to head for Abe’s place. The woodpile wasn’t back when I got up, so I went over to my folks’ and got enough wood to get you by for the day. I shouldn’t be gone too late. Oh, and you might want to have the frying pan ready, because I aim to bring home a mess of fish.
Love,
Martin
Ruth sighed and sank into a chair at the table. She had hoped Martin might decide to stay home today on account of the cold weather. It upset her to know that whoever had taken their wood hadn’t brought it back, but it frustrated her more that Martin thought fishing was more important than helping her unload boxes.
Ruth took a sip of tea and held the warm liquid in her mouth awhile before swallowing. Maybe I won’t unload those boxes, either. I think I’ll go visit Grace and the baby this morning. After that, I’ll stop over at Abe’s place and see how his kinner are doing.
“Can I come, too?” Anna asked when Cleon announced during breakfast that he was going to check on his bee boxes.
Cleon shook his head and reached for his cup of coffee. “I’ll be extracting honey from the hives today, and it’s not safe for you to be around the bees.”
“But I’d like to see where all that honey comes from,” the child persisted.
“You would need to wear protective gear, and I don’t have any your size.”
Anna’s lip jutted out, but Cleon seemed to ignore her. The child looked over at Grace. “Can we do something fun after breakfast, Mama—maybe bake some cookies?”
Grace released a weary sigh. “Not today, Anna. I have to bathe the boppli, and after that I’ve got some sewing to do.”
“I could give the baby a bath while you sew.”
“Absolutely not!” Cleon shouted before Grace could respond.
“How come?”
“You’re not old enough to bathe Daniel. You might drop him or let him slip into the water, and then he could drown.”
Anna’s chin trembled, and tears gathered in her eyes.
Grace frowned. “You don’t have to scare her like that.”
“Well, it’s true,” he said with a grunt. “Anna’s barely old enough to bathe herself, and she’s sure not capable of caring for her baby brother.”
“Many Amish kinner care for their younger siblings,” Grace argued. “That’s part of a child’s training.”
“She can learn on one of her dolls, not my child.” Cleon pushed his chair away from the table and stood. “I’ve got work to do.”
When the door clicked shut behind him, Grace patted Anna’s hand. “We’ll find something for you to do today.”
Anna poked at the last bit of eggs on her plate. “Since you’re so busy with the boppli, and Papa won’t let me help with the bees, can I visit Aunt Martha? Maybe I can help feed the dogs.”
Grace nodded. “As soon as you’ve finished your breakfast.” She figured having Anna out of the house might be better for her, too. Ever since Daniel had been born, Grace had felt irritable and depressed. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Cleon seemed so overprotective of the baby and hadn’t spent much time with Anna. Grace had tried talking to him on several occasions, but he always said there wasn’t a problem, despite the fact that his relationship with Anna seemed to be going downhill.
After Grace had bundled Anna into a warm jacket, she herded her to the door. “I’ll watch you from the porch to be sure you make it to Grandma and Grandpa’s.”
“I’ll be fine, Mama.”
“Just the same, I’ll feel better when I see that you’ve made it there safely.”
Anna shrugged and took off at a run.
Grace couldn’t see the back side of her folks’ place from the first house Cleon had built for them, but from their new house, Grace was able to see all the way down the driveway.
Leaning on the porch rail, she watched until Anna entered her folks’ house, then she stepped back into the warmth of her kitchen. She shouldn’t have to worry about her daughter’s safety right here on their own property. It wasn’t right that everything they did, everywhere they went, she had to be anxious about whether another attack would occur.
Grace tiptoed into the baby’s room and was relieved when she found him asleep. His baby breath smelled sweet, and he looked ever so peaceful, sleeping on his side with his little thumb stuck in his mouth. She leaned over the crib and kissed Daniel’s downy head. Bless my baby, Lord. Bless Anna and Cleon, too.
She left Daniel’s room and curled up on the sofa in the living room, deciding that she needed a nap. She’d only been resting a few minutes when someone called out, “Grace, are you to home?”
Grace sat up just as Ruth stepped into the room. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“Martin went fishing with Abe and Gideon, so I decided to drop by and see how you and the boppli are doing.” Ruth draped her coat over the back of the rocking chair and took a seat.
“Daniel’s doing well; he’s sleeping right now.”
“And you?”
“I’m kind of tired and feeling a bit weepy as of late.”
“Do you think it’s postpartum depression?”
Grace shrugged. “I suppose it could be, but what’s got me feeling down more than anything is the way Cleon’s been acting since the boppli was born.”
Ruth’s forehead wrinkled. “How’s he been acting?”
“Possessive of Daniel. He hardly pays Anna any attention unless it’s to scold her for something.”
“Have you tried talking to him about it?”
“Jah, but he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong.”
Ruth grunted. “Men sure can be stubborn.”
“Surely you can’t mean Martin. You two haven’t been married long enough for you to see his stubborn side.”
Ruth leaned slightly forward. “Last night after we got home from Martin’s folks’, we discovered that the pile of wood Dad had given us was gone.”
“It was?”
Ruth nodded. “Martin said he thought some of his friends might have taken it as a prank and figured it would be back in our yard by morning.”
“Was it?”
“No. By the time I got up, Martin had already gone fishing, but he left me a note saying he’d gotten up early and gone over to his folks’ to get some wood before he left for Abe’s.”
Grace shifted on the sofa. “You don’t suppose whoever took it was the same one who blew up the outhouse at your wedding, do you?”
Ruth shrugged. “That’s what Martin thinks, but I’m not so sure. There were large tire tracks in the dirt near where the woodpile was, and that makes me think whoever took the wood was driving a truck.”
“Do you think it might be another attack—done by whoever has been trying to scare us?”
“Maybe so.”
“Have you spoken to Dad about this?”
“Not yet. I wanted to tell him last night, but Martin said it could wait and that we needed to see if the wood was returned.”
“Are you going to tell him now?”
“I suppose I could, but it would probably be best if I waited until Martin gets home and we can discuss it more.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Where are Anna and Cleon today?” Ruth asked.
“Cleon’s checking his bee boxes, and Anna went down to the folks’ to see Martha.”
“I’m planning to go over to Abe’s place to see how his kinner are doing,” Ruth said. “Do you think Anna would like to join me?”
“Probably so. Anna looks for any excuse to be with Esta.”
“I’d better go now and let you rest awhile before the boppli wakes up.” Ruth left her seat and gave Grace a hug. “If you don’t get over your depression soon, maybe you should speak with the doctor about it.”
Grace nodded. “I will.”
“I’ll have Anna home in plenty of time for lunch,” Ruth called as she retrieved her coat and headed for the door.
“Sure hope we catch some big old trout so Sue can fix ‘em for supper,” Abe said as he rowed his boat to the middle of the pond. “Wouldn’t that be good, son?”
Gideon, who sat near the back of the boat, shrugged.
“I’m hoping to catch enough fish so Ruth can fix some for our supper, too,” Martin put in from his seat at the front of the boat.
“This looks like a good place to fish.” Abe slipped the oars inside the boat and cast out his line. Martin did the same. Gideon just sat with his arms folded.
Abe’s patience was beginning to wane. “Come on, Gideon, you’ve been after me for weeks to take you fishing. Now we’re here—so fish.”
Gideon grunted. “It’s too cold.”
“Then you should have stayed home and sat around the stove all day.” Abe took no pleasure in snapping at his son, but he was irked that he’d taken the day off to spend time with Gideon, only to have the boy gripe about the cold and refuse to fish.
“Maybe he’ll get more enthused when he sees some trout,” Martin said.
“Let’s hope so.”
For the next several minutes, Abe and Martin visited quietly as they kept an eye on their lines. Gideon continued to sit with a scowl on his face.
Suddenly Martin shouted, “I saw a big one jump clean out of the water!”
Abe turned and saw two more fish jump. “I’d better move the boat over that way. Looks like they’re just waiting to be caught.”
Gideon perked up a bit and leaned over the edge of the boat. “I don’t see anything. Where were they jumpin’?”
“Over there.” Martin pointed to the left.
Gideon stood up and shouted, “There’s one! That old fish must have jumped three feet out of the water!”
Abe grunted. “Sit down, boy; you’re rocking the boat.”
Gideon had only taken a few steps when suddenly the boat flipped over, dumping them all into the frigid water.
“I can’t swim!” Abe shouted before taking in a mouthful of murky water. And neither can Gideon.