Chapter Twenty-Three
The next day, Frederick returned, this time with a sack of dry goods. It was slung over his shoulder in such a way as to make it easier to carry, since he could not bring his horse and buggy into the woods to the brothers’ house.
Stevie met him at the door. “Please tell me you have my allergy medicine,” he sniffled.
Frederick laughed and swung the bag onto the floor. “Indeed I do.”
Sadie watched as the seven Grimm brothers surrounded the burlap bag. For a moment, there was nothing but joy in the small house as they unpacked all the items that Frederick had purchased for them: flour, coffee, sugar, salt, yeast, and other things that could not be replaced by items found in the woods.
“We thought we might see you again yesterday evening,” Sadie said as the brothers set the items onto the table.
Frederick nodded. “Ja, I usually return the same day when I fetch their supplies,” he explained. “But I stayed over at Anna Rose’s haus.” He leveled his gaze at her. “I had much visiting to do in town.”
She didn’t need to inquire further as to what he meant. Surely he had been talking with people and trying to find out what he could regarding what folks knew of Sadie’s disappearance. She was eager to hear what he had learned, but knew that patience was a virtue.
Oblivious to their exchange, the Grimm brothers began to clamor around her like small children on Christmas morning.
“Oh, Sadie,” Ben asked, his eyes averted to the floor as he shuffled his feet nervously. “Might you make us some more fresh bread?”
“Of course I will,” she promised.
Stevie sniffled as he tried to open the allergy medicine. “And those cookies? The chewy oatmeal ones?”
“How about a pie?” Hank asked hopefully. “I love pumpkin pie!”
Gideon rolled his eyes. “You and your pumpkins!”
Samuel yawned. “I don’t see you complaining when you’re eating her food.”
Gideon nudged him with his arm.
“Now, now,” Sadie scolded in a teasing tone. “I’m happy to make bread and cookies and pumpkin pie.” She gave Samuel a kind smile. “Even if Gideon pretends not to want me to.”
Several of the Grimm brothers snickered, and Gideon crossed his arms across his chest, scowling.
“Now, mayhaps you might put those things onto the counter,” she said, “instead of the table?”
Eager to please her, Hank and Ben quickly complied with her request.
“Might we go for a walk, Sadie?” Frederick whispered into her ear. “I have some things to discuss with you.”
Sadie wiped her hands on her apron and followed Frederick outside. He led her down the path, away from the noise of the seven brothers, who were arguing about what meal they’d like Sadie to make them for supper.
“Seems you’ve made quite an impact on my cousins,” he said.
She laughed. “I’m not certain whether or not they are serious or pretending to argue. Seems they enjoy teasing each other.”
“Ja, that’s true. But I can assure you that no closer bruders ever lived. And I’ve never seen them so happy.” He paused before adding, “Or their haus so clean!”
She laughed. “I imagine living alone, without much company—”
“Any company,” he interrupted.
“Ja, any company, is sure to make them not care that the haus is so dirty.” She stepped over a fallen branch. “I wonder that it’s not lonely for them out here, alone in the woods in their little cottage.”
“Mayhaps it would be, for you or me. But they live the way they want, free from the scrutiny of those who might mock their small stature.”
Sadie knew only too well how some people tended to view those who were different. She had only to look at Belle and her husband, Adam. It was a shame that people judged others on their appearances and not on their substance.
“Such a shame,” she mused. “And to think that those very people claim to be Christians.”
Frederick raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. “Aren’t we all sinners?”
“Some more so than others, it appears.”
He laughed at her observation, but Sadie didn’t join him. While she had enjoyed the peace and tranquility of living in the woods during her short stay, she was still bothered by the idea that such kindhearted, righteous men were not part of a proper community.
“But no family comes to visit them, then?”
Frederick pressed his hand on his chest. “I do.”
“Ja, well, of course. But what of other siblings or extended family?”
Frederick shook his head. “Nee, just me and sometimes my family. They’ve no one else living nearby. They had two older sisters who are normal-sized. They married a few years ago and moved to Shipshewana.”
Sadie hadn’t known that. “That’s far from here, no?”
“Ja, and their parents passed away many years ago. They were both older in years, you see.”
“And you are related, how?”
“Ah, that.” He smiled. “My maem and their daed were siblings. Half siblings, anyway. There’s almost a thirty-year age difference between my maem and the bruders’ daed. My grossdawdi took a second wife after his first had passed. He was over fifty when my maem was born. Several of my cousins are older than my maem.”
She frowned, trying to visualize the extended family tree.
“Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about my recent trip to Echo Creek.”
“Oh,” she breathed at the sudden change of subject. “What news have you learned?”
He took a deep breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. His brow furrowed, and he gave her a regretful look. “In town, I heard an earful, Sadie. It seems Echo Creek is ripe with gossipers. Why, that Linda Troyer could speak of little else.”
That didn’t surprise Sadie at all. Linda knew everything that went on and enjoyed sharing it with anyone who might listen. Oftentimes, much of the town’s gossip could be traced back to Linda.
“But one thing that I learned warmed my heart and, I trust, will warm yours, too.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
Frederick sighed. “Apparently your daed is frightfully worried, Sadie.”
It took her a minute to digest what he had just told her. While it made her happy to learn that her father cared enough to worry, she couldn’t help but wonder at the underlying reasons. Was it possible that her father had realized the mistake he had made? Or was he merely concerned for her welfare? “How so, Frederick?”
“I don’t want to give you reason to fret, but he’s been unwell since your disappearance.”
She took a short intake of air. Her father? Ill? “He’s . . . he’s going to be okay, ja?”
Frederick nodded. “It’s nothing serious. According to Linda,” he said, a scowl crossing his brow, “he’s merely depressed. And apparently Rachel has been into the store, too.”
“And how is she?”
He gave a little shrug. “Linda didn’t say much more than that Rachel’s told people how worried she is for your safety.”
Sadie wasn’t quite certain whether she believed that to be true.
And then Frederick’s frown deepened. “But that John Rabor. He’s been spreading stories, Sadie.”
When she heard that last bit, she felt her stomach tighten. She was almost too afraid to ask. “Stories? What kind of stories?”
Solemnly, Frederick nodded. “Ja, stories, Sadie. Stories that he’s to marry you. I learned that from my cousin, Anna Rose, who heard it from Elizabeth.”
Sadie gasped. “How would Elizabeth come to know such a thing?”
“She’s a teacher, ja? On Saturdays, she meets with the older students who are no longer studying at school but at home or in jobs during their final two years. Sometimes, apparently, the teacher from our school comes to Echo Creek with her older students so that they can combine the effort for the school board.”
Sadie hadn’t known that. When she had been fourteen and stopped attending school proper, her teacher had met with the older students on Saturdays to review their journals in order to meet the state’s guidelines, but they had never also met with students from the remote community where Frederick lived.
“What does that have to do with John Rabor?”
“Apparently the eldest Rabor boy—”
“Owen?”
“Ja, him.”
Why wasn’t Sadie surprised that Owen had something to do with this?
Frederick continued. “He told the other students that his daed was angry that his new fraa ran off. And the teacher spoke to John about Owen’s story. She told Elizabeth that he was outright furious because you refused to marry him after Jacob and Rachel promised him you would. Several other people have spread the same story in Echo Creek.”
Sadie gasped. “I don’t believe it!” That was an outrageous thing for him to say. And it was almost more outrageous that anyone would choose to repeat it. “My daed would never promise such a thing.”
“I don’t doubt you, but apparently John believes otherwise.”
And that made Sadie feel sad. Regardless of what she thought of John Rabor, he was still a person, and people needed each other. It was more than apparent that John needed a wife to help raise his kinner and, because he was older, had thought that an arranged marriage would be the answer to his problems. Surely Rachel had intentionally misled him into believing that Sadie had agreed.
Still, whatever Rachel had told John, Sadie knew what she had told him.
She pressed her lips together defiantly. “I would never agree to marry him, or anyone else for that matter, for the sake of convenience!”
Frederick stopped walking and faced her. There was a worried air about him. “So you say.”
Sadie’s mouth opened. What was that supposed to mean? “I haven’t, Frederick. You must believe me.”
“Nee, that’s not what I meant, Sadie.” He shuffled his feet as if he were nervous. “What I meant is that you say you wouldn’t marry for convenience. But what would it take for you to agree to marry someone?”
Dumbfounded, Sadie gave him a blank look. Why would he ask such a question? “Well, I wouldn’t marry someone just to get married, that’s for sure and certain.”
He swallowed, waiting expectantly for her to continue.
“It would be for one and only one reason.”
“And,” he said slowly, “what might that be?”
“Because God led me to that man.”
“I see.”
Sadie wondered why he was behaving so evasively. “Why are you asking me this, Frederick?”
He took a few steps away from her, stopped, and then turned around. His cheeks were pale and his eyes wide. “I ask you this, Sadie, because I have every intention of making you my fraa.”
She caught her breath.
“But I am fearful you will think that I ask because of the situation you are in and not for other reasons.”
“What other reasons, Frederick?” she prodded him in a gentle tone.
“Oh, Sadie, surely you must know that I love you.” Quickly, he closed the gap between them and reached for her hands. “And you must know that I have felt God’s presence in bringing us together. Why, if I hadn’t seen you at the stream and heard you singing to the little birds that morning, I might never have known you at all!”
Under his steady gaze, she began to feel dizzy.
“Surely you feel the same way? That God brought us together?”
Slowly, she nodded. “I . . . I do, Frederick. I have felt so from the very beginning. I just didn’t want to presume that you felt the same.”
He clutched her hands tight and pulled her toward his chest. “Oh, Sadie, your words are like music to my ears.”
“Were you so uncertain?” It was an improbable thought that he hadn’t known how she felt. Yet she, too, had doubted how deep were his affections for her.
“What matters, Sadie, is that now we each know how the other feels. And that you know I want you to marry me.” He bent down just enough so that they were at eye level with each other. “You will marry me, ja?”
She felt giddy and her head spun. She savored the realization that everything she had been through had led to this moment with Frederick proposing to her in the middle of the forest. “Of course I will marry you,” she whispered, feeling as if she might cry with joy.
Embracing her, Frederick kissed the side of her head. For a long moment, he held her, his arms wrapped protectively around her as they stood together in the quiet of the forest.
Finally, he loosened his hold on her. “Sadie, I want you to know that we will get through this together. I’ll speak to your daed just as soon as I can. I have no doubt that our marriage will heal your relationship with your parents.”
While her heart sang with joy that Frederick had made his intentions known, she still feared her parents’ reaction. After everything that had happened, was healing really possible between them? Frederick had heard that her father was distraught, true, but was Rachel? Or was she merely pretending to worry about Sadie in order to protect her own reputation?
“Please be careful, Frederick.”
He smiled. “Now Sadie, you must trust that people can change. Surely both your father and Rachel have seen the error of their ways. And God tells us to forgive, ja?”
Despite her apprehension, she nodded. “He does, ja.”
“And that is what we both shall do!” He let his hand slip down to take hers. Holding it, he started to walk again, this time back toward the cottage. “Now, let’s enjoy the rest of the day together. I must return home this evening and prepare to speak to your daed on my next trip to Echo Creek.”
“When will that be, Frederick?”
From inside the cottage, Stevie sneezed, and one of the brothers, most likely Gideon, snapped at him to take his medicine.
“I did already!” Stevie replied, his voice nasally and hoarse.
“Then take more!”
Laughing, Frederick gestured toward the open door. “From the sounds of it, the sooner the better, for surely Stevie will need more allergy medicine within the next few days.”
Together, they walked inside the house, Frederick joining his cousins near the fire while Sadie went about fulfilling her promise to make bread and cookies and pumpkin pie. While she worked, she realized that, for the first time, she would be cooking for Frederick. Her future husband. Reality struck her. He had truly asked her to marry him, for he loved her, just as she loved him. No matter what her current situation, her future looked bright, with the promise of a marriage based on tenderness and warmth, friendship and affection. Joy overcame her and she began to sing while she worked, unaware that the brothers and Frederick grew silent, listening to her song as they stared at her, complete adoration in their eyes.