Chapter Thirty-Seven

The Homecoming

“Your brother has let himself go, Joshua, and it is sad to see.” Sally Townsend poured another cup of tea for Matthew and Joshua. “When he came here sixteen years ago, he had enough money to purchase a piece of land. He built the small house that you have seen and some outbuildings, but since then, he has not improved the property.”

Joshua set his cup down. “But how does he live, Sally?”

“He rents a portion of his land to a neighbor who farms it on shares, and he hunts. Other than that, he spends most of his time”—she looked at Matthew—“drinking.”

Matthew rose and went to the window. “Does he know I am coming?”

Sally shook her head. “He is very reclusive. I sent my man to tell him, but he refuses to receive anyone. He does not know you are here.”

Matthew looked at his uncle. “We have come all this way. We may as well go out to the farm.”

Joshua took Matthew by the arm. “Do not expect too much, Nephew. He has been a hermit all these years. He believes his wife and son are dead. It may be a shock for him to see you. I know he will not be happy to see me.”

“I must take the risk, Uncle Joshua. If he refuses to see us, I will return to Ohio with you and close this chapter of my life forever. But I must at least try.”

The two men stood and bowed to Sally. Joshua slipped on his coat. “Thank you for all your help, Sally.”

“I will pray that your meeting goes well. It would be a good thing to bring this story to a conclusion. Henry will drive you there.”

Joshua turned to Matthew. “Ready?”

“Yes, uncle. Let us go.”

The carriage pulled to a stop on the road. In the distance the two men could see Jonathan’s house. A man was sitting on the front porch, but Joshua couldn’t make out who it was.

“Shall I wait for you, sir?”

“Yes, Henry. We do not know if he will see us.” Joshua nodded to Matthew, who took a deep breath. “Come, Matthew. Let us see what the Lord has for us.”

The two men walked up the path from the road. They passed some outbuildings and a corral that were decrepit and falling down. As they came closer, the man in the chair rose and started to go into the house. Joshua called to him. “Jonathan, wait!” The man did not stop but kept moving toward the house.

“Papa, wait!”

The man stopped and turned. As Joshua and Matthew approached, he took a few steps forward. “What did you call me?”

The man in front of them was old beyond his years. His hair was completely gray and his features were lined and covered by a scraggly beard. A worn hat with a ragged brim was perched on his head, and his clothing was torn and unwashed. Joshua came closer. “Jonathan?”

The man ignored Joshua and pointed to Matthew. “I said, what did you call me?”

Joshua nodded to Matthew who stepped forward. “I called you Papa.”

“And why do you call me that? My son is dead.”

“No, Papa. I am not dead. I am alive. It’s me, Matthew.”

Jonathan turned to Joshua. “You always wanted to get the better of me, but you never could. Now you bring this imposter to torment me? Can you give me no peace, brother?”

Matthew stepped up on the porch and stood face to face with Jonathan. “I am not an imposter. I am your son.”

“My son is dead. He died with his mother at Gnadenhutten.”

“No, I did not. I was taken away and hidden by Obadiah Holmes. Before he could give me to you, you disappeared into the forest. He could not find you, so he gave me to a foundling home. For the last fifteen years I have been an indentured servant.”

Jonathan stared at Matthew. “But how can this be? No one survived.”

“I did, Papa.” Matthew reached down and pulled up his pant leg. Along the back of his calf ran a scar shaped like a lightning bolt.” Do you remember this?”

Jonathan stared at the scar and then knelt down and took Matthew’s leg in his hands. After a long while he spoke. “You fell…”

“Yes, I fell from the top of a tree.”

“You were only five and yet you managed to get fifty feet up that pine.”

“I was showing off and I slipped.”

“The branches broke your fall or you would have died.”

“But I caught my calf on a sharp snag on the way down and tore it open.”

“Your mother wanted to kill me; she was so angry that I let you do that. Your mother…”

“The wound looked like a lightning bolt coming from the sky. After it healed, you always called me—”

“Son of lightning.” Jonathan stood. He stepped closer until the two were face to face. “Matthew?”

“Yes, Papa. I have found you.”

Jonathan’s arms shook. He started to reach for Matthew, but put his hand to his heart instead and staggered to the chair and collapsed into it.

“Papa? What is wrong?”

Jonathan smiled up at the two men, but there was no joy in the smile. “Too much red likker and too much heartbreak, I reckon. The village doctor says I have a bad heart; that it’s pretty much wore out.”

Matthew knelt by his father’s side. “What can I do for you?”

“You’ve already done it, Son. You came back to your old daed.”

It was the first time Joshua had heard Jonathan speak German since the day they were captured. Jonathan looked up. “Surprised, brother? I guess that you can’t cut yourself off from your roots completely. I see you have a beard now. Are you still Amish then and married?”

“Yes, Jonathan, I have remained in the church. There is a strong community of Amish in Ohio now. My wife and I have a farm near Wooster. I built a mill on a small creek there. It’s called Apple Creek. I grind flour and trade with the villages around us. I met my wife fifteen years ago. She was a young widow who came out from the old Northkill settlement. We have two boys.”

Jonathan smiled. “Always the good brother. Papa would be proud of you. But me, Ich war immer das schwarze Schaf der Familie.”

“No, Jonathan. You were not the black sheep. You were a good son. The trouble between you and Papa that day and after that only happened because you loved us all and wanted to save us. There is nothing wrong with that.”

“But look at what my hatred for the Indians caused. I killed my own wife.”

Matthew took hold of Jonathan’s hand. “You did not kill her, Papa. You did not know she was there. How could you? It was Scar you killed. Mother loved you. She forgave you.”

Jonathan put his face in his hands. “I miss her every day, Matthew. She was a wonderful woman.”

Joshua looked down at the father and son.

I miss her every day also, brother.

Matthew stood up and walked to the edge of the porch. Joshua could see his gaze sweeping the land. Matthew turned to his father. “How much land do you have, Papa?”

Jonathan looked up. “What?”

“I asked how much land you have.”

“It is over three hundred acres. I received a land bounty in Ohio for my service during the war and sold it to a settler out there. I used the money to buy this land.”

“Is there water?”

Jonathan pointed to the pond. “The pond is spring fed. It’s the freshest on the whole island.” He stood up and walked over next to Matthew. He pointed to the fields beyond the pond. “I have never plowed the fields, but the soil is rich. I was never much of a hand at farming, though. Joshua knows that.”

“You were ever the hunter, brother.”

“Do you remember the day we both shot the deer and the master hunter gave the apprentice one more lesson in hunting?”

“I remember, Jonathan.”

“That was the day that…”

The two brothers stood silently. Joshua knew that Jonathan was thinking of that day, as he was. The hunting, the meeting with Scar, and all that followed. “We cannot go back, Jonathan, nor can we undo the past. It is done. The best we can do is live life now to the fullest. With God’s help—”

Jonathan raised his hand. “Do not go on, Joshua. I was done with all that long ago.”

Matthew interjected. “The corrals and the barn need work, but they could be repaired. Miss Townsend said you rent out some of the land to another farmer.”

Jonathan smiled a real smile. “That old busybody, she knows everybody and everything that goes on in this part of the island. Yes, there is a man who plants potatoes over in the back forty. He’s been trying to buy the land from me.”

Matthew turned to his father. “Do not sell the land, Papa.”

“And why should I not sell the land?”

“Because even if you are not a farmer, I am. I learned much on the Andrews farm. I did all the work his lazy sons should have done while they lived a life of ease. I could make this farm prosper, Papa. I am also good with horses and livestock.”

Joshua listened as they talked and even before Matthew spoke, he knew what the young man had decided. Matthew turned to Joshua.

“I will stay here, Uncle Joshua, with my papa. He needs me. You have your own sons, and they will take your farm, but Papa has no one unless I stay.”

Jonathan turned to Matthew. “You would stay with me, even though I…”

Matthew shook his head. “We will speak no more about it. As uncle says, the past is past and cannot be undone. I am your son and I will stay with you, Papa.”

Joshua saw tears start in his brother’s eyes. He had never seen his brother cry. Jonathan’s arm went around his boy. “Matthew, Matthew.”

Matthew’s arms crept around his father’s shoulders. “Papa, I am home.”

Joshua smiled and then he turned, stepped off the porch, and began to walk away.

Jonathan called after him. “Joshua.”

Joshua stopped and turned around. Jonathan came off the porch and walked up to him slowly. “Joshua, I am sorry for all that has passed between us. You have brought me my son, back from the dead. You never gave up and I see now that you have always been my brother, even when I rejected you. I ask you to forgive me.”

Joshua looked at his brother. The years fell away, and he was back in the woods of Ohio. They were crawling silently through the woods. They held their long rifles pointed ahead. Jonathan was in the lead and Joshua came close behind. A moss-stained rugged rock, trickling with water, lay to their left. On the right, a hillside covered with tangled ferns sloped down to a small pond surrounded by lush fronds and dotted by the swift movements of water bugs. The deer ahead of them had been drinking at the pond when she raised her head and moved off into the woods, disturbed by a slight scent on the wind…

“Joshua?”

Joshua stepped forward and took his brother into an embrace. “I forgave you long ago, brother. Now I can rest easy, for I know that you have someone to look after you.”

Jonathan whispered in Joshua’s ear. “You loved her, too, did you not?”

“Yes, brother, I loved her.”

“And she loved you, too—I could tell. When I abandoned her, did you…did you…?”

“No, Jonathan. White Deer was always faithful to you.”

Jonathan sighed and patted his brother’s shoulder. “I know. You were always an honorable man, Joshua.”

Joshua felt Matthew’s hand on his arm.

“Thank you, uncle. I shall send letters and let you know how we are doing.”

Joshua Hershberger walked away from the two men. Henry waited by the gate. As Joshua climbed up into the carriage, he turned to look one last time. The sun was setting. Long shadows crept across the fields. The breeze had died down, and the pond lay like a small diamond in the midst of a green tapestry. As the carriage rolled away, Joshua saw Matthew standing with his arm around Jonathan’s shoulders. Matthew’s hand lifted and he waved. Joshua waved back and then turned away. His task there was finished.