1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
Sarah reached the Miller familye buggy just as Mr. and Mrs. Miller were about to leave.
“Don’t you want to stay with the youngie for the afternoon?” Mrs. Miller asked, clearly concerned about Sarah’s red, puffy eyes.
Sarah shook her head. “Nee, I just want to get home, and then there is something important I want to ask you.”
“Whatever has happened, child?”
Sarah dabbed at her eyes and said, “Please, can it wait until we are back in the haus?”
Mrs. Miller nodded and the short journey was spent in tense silence. When they arrived at the haus, Mr. Miller promptly made himself scarce, while Mrs. Miller and Sarah went into the haus.
The soft, puffy clouds and the blue sky were being replaced by rolling, threatening clouds, and the sun was already behind billowing, black clouds. Just like my mood, Sarah thought.
Mrs. Miller made herself and Sarah a hot, meadow tea, and then sat at the kitchen table, her face white and drawn. “What is this about, Sarah?” she asked in a kindly tone.
Sarah wondered where to begin, but then thought she might as well blurt it all out. She took a deep breath, and then launched into her explanation. “Nash Grayson told me that Mr. Miller’s bruder was my real vadder.”
At this, Mrs. Miller gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Sarah was concerned that Mrs. Miller might faint, and forgot her own problems for the moment. “Mrs. Miller, are you okay?”
Mrs. Miller clutched at her throat and waved her on. “Tell me what he said,” she said in a hoarse voice.
“Nash said that Mr. Miller’s bruder was my biological father, and that my daed, well that is, Samuel Beachy, the mann I thought was my daed, was from Nash’s community. That’s all. Isn’t that bad enough?” she added defiantly.
The color was returning to Mrs. Miller’s cheeks somewhat although she was wringing her hands restlessly. “You deserve a full explanation,” she said.
Sarah sat in silence, waiting for Mrs. Miller to continue. “My husband Abraham’s bruder, Shem, was your vadder,” she said. “He married your mudder, Mary Lengacher, and they had you. Abraham and Shem were close, but your mudder never really got on with any of us. Shem died when you were still a little boppli. Your mudder was from southern Indiana.”
Sarah knew where her mudder was from, and could contain herself no longer. “Why wasn’t I told?”
“I’m getting to that,” Mrs. Miller said patiently. “Like I said, our familye did not get on well with your mudder, Mary Lengacher. We saw her at Shem’s funeral of course, but then did not see her again until you were six months old. She brought you here and said she was getting remarried. We were surprised, of course, so soon after your vadder had died. It was not our place to judge,” Mrs. Miller added primly, the corners of her mouth turning down.
Sarah waited with baited breath to hear what else Mrs. Miller had to say.
Mrs. Miller cleared her throat, had a sip of meadow tea, and then pressed on. “Your mudder told us that you were too young to remember your vadder, so she was going to raise you as her new husband’s dochder. Abraham and I at first did not realize what she meant, but she made us promise that we would not tell you. When we realized that she had no intention of telling you that your vadder was, in fact, Shem Miller, we had a falling out, and that was the last we ever saw of you. We knew that they had changed your name to your new vadder’s, to Beachy and not Miller, as would be expected, and we heard that they had no children of their own, but that was all.”
A loud clap of thunder made both women jump. Mrs. Miller hurried over to shut the kitchen window before the first drops of rain fell.
Sarah was hard put to process all this information at once. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this when I arrived here?” she asked.
The color drained from Mrs. Miller’s face once again. “It wasn’t our place. Abraham and I discussed it, but we considered that it was your vadder’s place to tell you. As he hadn’t told you, we felt it wasn’t the right thing to do for us to tell you. We felt Gott had blessed us by sending you to us after all these years,” she added with emotion in her voice.
“So, did you ever meet my vadder, err, Samuel Beachy?’
Mrs. Miller shook her head, just as another clap of thunder sounded. “Nee. Your mudder made it clear that we were not invited to the wedding.”
Sarah sipped her tea and thought things over. Her mudder had been a very strict woman. Her vadder was strict, but her mudder more so. Perhaps her vadder had not told her the truth out of respect for his fraa’s wishes. Samuel Beachy may not have been her biological vadder, but he was the only vadder she had ever known.
Sarah was upset that so many people had lied to her, by keeping the information about her birthright from her. Sure, she could see why Mr. and Mrs. Miller had done so, in order to respect her mudder’s wishes, but what was Benjamin’s excuse? She looked up to see Mrs. Miller regarding her carefully.
“Are you all right, Sarah?”
“Jah, but it’s a lot to take in. It’s a terrible shock.” Her voice was quiet.
“Jah, jah.” Mrs. Miller nodded with a sympathetic expression on her face. “I’m so sorry we kept the information from you, but we felt we had no choice, since your vadder himself hadn’t told you.”
Sarah nodded. “But why didn’t Benjamin tell me?”
“Benjamin?” Mrs. Miller’s face went blank.
“Jah, Benjamin Shetler. Nash said that it was Benjamin who told him that my vadder was Mr. Miller’s bruder.”
Mrs. Miller’s face turned as black as the clouds outside. “Phsaw,” she kissed. “That no-gooder! Do not listen to likes of Nash Grayson, child. He would not know the truth if it fell upon him from the skies above. I fancy he said that simply to cause trouble between you and Benjamin, who is a gut mann, by all reports. Unlike that Nash,” she added with annoyance.
Sarah just wanted to crawl into a hollow log and let the world go by. This was all too much for her. She had just found out she was a Miller, which she considered to be a gut thing, but what was not so gut was that her vadder and mudder had kept this from her all her life, and she had found out only by accident. And what was more, she had made a fool of herself with Benjamin and wrongfully accused him of lying. Would he ever forgive her?