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Miriam woke up the morning after Lance Newman’s arrest, feeling oddly . . . free, like his passing into the hands of the law had opened the door to her prison. And in a way it had. No longer did she have to look over her shoulder or live with that persistent, itchy certainty that he might at any moment come back and attempt to do horrid things to her in the name of his own twisted sense of love.
Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.
The psalm came to Miriam’s mind and she glanced upwards, the sense of peace and happiness that she’d felt upon awakening seeming to fill her even more. Yes, today was a new, wondrous gift, and Miriam was going to seize it.
With that thought firmly in mind, Miriam dressed and combed her hair, twisting the gentle waves of light brown hair into a bun and pinning it beneath her prayer kapp. When she was ready for her day, she walked with light feet and a light heart down the stairs to the kitchen where her mamm had started making breakfast.
“Guder mariye, mamm!” Miriam said, grinning at the smell of fresh bread. On the skillet, thick strips of bacon sizzled.
Her mamm, Sarah Bieler, returned Miriam’s smile before waving the spatula towards a metal bowl on the counter beside the sink. “Whisk these eggs for breakfast, if you would, please?”
“Ya,” Miriam said, crossing the room in easy strides and taking up the whisk to start at beating the eggs with quick, practiced motions. “I just—it’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it?”
Outside the window, the skies were a charcoal grey, clouds hanging heavy the wheat field. By the barn, the horse stood idly, nibbling at the grass once before taking a couple of slow, heavy steps and bowing his head again.
“Some days, it’s like we carry the weather inside us,” Sarah said, her eyes sparkling.
Miriam laughed. “That is true. I feel like I’ve been slogging through a storm for so long. As long as he stays in jail, I can live again.”
“You live no matter what, in God’s hands,” her mamm said cryptically, “Now add some onions and peppers to those eggs.
“It’s just good that daed called the Englisch police. I didn’t want him to at first, but I also worried that Mr. Newman wasn’t getting the message – that he didn’t want to get the message.”
“Nee, he didn’t. Did you add the milk already?”
“Ya, it’s in there. Miriam sniffed the fragrant smell of bacon sizzling in the pan as she scraped the diced vegetables into the egg mixture. “Mmmm. I love making omelets.”
“Gutt, now put some hustle to it. All of this worrying has the whole family hungry.”
Ten minutes later, Joseph Beiler walked in, sniffing appreciatively. Miriam and Sarah were dishing up the hot breakfast and placing it at the long kitchen table.
“Denki, Sarah!” Mirian’s daed said, giving her mamm a warm smile. “You must have known I was extra-hungry after yesterday,” he said.
Sarah smiled back. “We are all hungry now that we don’t have to worry for Miriam’s safety. Dig in! We all have busy days ahead of us.”
“Miriam, I don’t know the particulars, but you will have to testify in court hearings. Everything you can tell the judge that will keep that Lance character away from you, you’ll have to remember,” Joseph said.
Was—did that mean she had to face him again? Miriam looked out the window into the fields. The clouds hung as charcoal heavy as before, but now she felt the weight of them. “Why? I mean, didn’t I already— “
“He has the right to face his accuser. That’s Englischer law.”
“So Lance Newman has rights and I have—“
“If you want him to stay in prison, it’s what you have to do.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Stop whining, Miriam. You’re becoming a woman, not a child. And we will be with you. Your mamm and me.”
Miriam wanted to cry. She knew she wasn’t a child, but she’d done nothing to provoke this man, and just when she thought she was finally free of him, the law that was supposed to protect her was dragging her back into his clutches. Miriam pressed her lips together and took a deep breath through her nose. When she could speak without her voice cracking, she said, “If this is what I have to do to keep him in jail, then I will do it.”
“Gutt,” her father said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know you are strong. Stronger than this and stronger than him. You’re our daughter and God’s child. We’ll be with you and so will God. What does this criminal Lance have to match that?”
Miriam nodded, and her dead squeezed her shoulder, the strength of his grip comforting. “You will do yourself and us credit, Miriam,” her daed said.
Miriam desperately wanted to believe her daed, but she feared that when the time came for her to step into that courtroom and tell her story again under Mr. Newman’s cold gaze, she might freeze up, the truth turning to ashes in her throat.
***
Indeed, a day later, Joseph came in from the carpentry shop, saying that he needed to go to a hearing.
Miriam’s stomach twisted. “Do I have to—“
“Nee, not at this time. A driver is coming by to pick me up,” he said as he raced past Miriam.
“OK, I’ll let you know when he is here,” she said, watching him run upstairs.
Ten minutes later, Joseph came down, wearing his Sunday clothes and a straw hat. He put on his black meeting jacket before stepping out the door.
Late that afternoon, he returned.
“Miriam, Sarah, here’s what happened,” he announced. “Mr. Newman will not get out on bail. It’s not a matter of not having the money. The judge was going to make him pay bail, but when the district attorney told him that you were nearly kidnapped, Miriam, he changed his mind and said ‘no bail.’ Mr. Newman was not happy.
“You didn’t need to be at this hearing, but you will have to be at what they call a ‘preliminary hearing.’ At other hearings, you will also have to be present. Your memories and truths will be important to keep him away from you so you can be safe here at home,” pointed out Joseph.
At hearing that Lance was still behind bars, Miriam let out a huge sigh she hadn’t been aware she was holding.
“Good! That means I can go where I need to go without having to take you away from your work.”
“Ya, but this incident has taught us to be more careful. Miriam, if you see any strange Englischer cars, please avoid them,” pleaded Joseph.
“He asked me for directions. How was I supposed to know—“
“Just, be careful, Miriam.”
It hurt Miriam to know that her parents were blaming her, but she understood their worry. The thought of Lance getting free or of some other man like him following her, making her a prisoner in her own life, was terrifying. “I will be careful, daed, I promise.” She took a breath and squared her shoulders. “But, I also have to buy some new supplies. I’m just about finished with the green-on-green quilt and I need the thread to finish it. Then, I can start the second child’s quilt.” And she wasn’t going to let Lance’s ghost hold her back from her dreams.
“When will you go to town?” asked Sarah.
“Tomorrow. I would like to go with Anna – I still feel safer having someone with me,” Miriam said as she moved the large salad bowl to the table. Moving back to the refrigerator and stove, she loaded her arms with food and set it on the table.
“Ya, that is fine, but don’t be too long,” Sarah said with entreaty in her voice. “I still worry for your safety. I know, Joseph, I need to leave that up to the Lord, but it’s not too easy!”
“Ya, I know, wife, but He will protect her.” Joseph reminded her. “And so will we.”