Someone to Trust
Autore
Patricia Davids
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HarlequinChapter One
“I’m happy to tell you that your mother’s cousin Waneta is coming for a visit.”
Gabe Fisher looked up from the glowing metal wheel rim he was heating in the forge as something in his father’s voice caught his attention. Ezekiel Fisher, or Zeke as everyone called him, wasn’t overly fond of Waneta, so why was he trying so hard to sound cheerful?
Gabe glanced around the workshop. None of his three brothers seemed to have noticed anything unusual.
Seth continued setting up the lathe to drill out a wheel hub. “That will be nice for Mamm. She has been missing her friends back home. I know she and Waneta are close.”
Seth was Gabe’s younger brother by fifteen minutes. They might look identical, but Seth was the most tenderhearted of the brothers. He was twenty minutes older than no-nonsense Asher, the last Fisher triplet, who was readying wooden spokes to be inserted into the finished wheel hub. Asher bore only a passing resemblance to his two older brothers. Where Gabe and Seth were both blond with blue eyes, Asher was dark-haired with their mother’s brown eyes. All three men shared the same tall, muscular frame as their father.
“Is she bringing her new husband to meet the rest of us?” Moses asked, greasing the axle of the buggy they were repairing. At twenty he was the baby brother by four years and the one that looked the most like their mother, with his soft brown curls and engaging grin. He was the only one who hadn’t yet joined their Amish church. He was still enjoying his rumspringa, the “running around” years most Amish youths were allowed before making their decision to be baptized.
“This isn’t the best time for a visit,” Asher said, expressing exactly what Gabe had been thinking.
“Apparently your mother and Waneta have been planning this for ages, but she only told me last night. She wanted it to be a surprise for you boys.”
Asher’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“You know Waneta. She likes to surprise folks. They should be here later today.”
Gabe continued turning the rim in the fire. Both his parents had gone to the wedding, but he and his brothers had been busy keeping the new business running. A business that didn’t look like it would support the entire family through another winter. If things didn’t improve by the end of the summer, the family would have some hard choices to make.
“They? Her new husband is coming with her, then?” Seth said.
Gabe glanced at his father and saw him draw a deep breath. “He isn’t, but his children are.”
Seth finally seemed to notice their father’s unease and stopped working. “How many children?”
“Five.”
“The house will be lively with that many kinder underfoot,” Moses said. “How old are they?”
“The youngest is ten. The others are closer to your ages,” Daed said, keeping his eyes averted.
Seth, Asher and Gabe exchanged knowing looks. They shared a close connection that didn’t always require words.
Asher’s lips thinned as he pinned his gaze on his father. “Would they happen to be maydels close to our age?”
Their father didn’t answer.
“Daed?” the triplets said together. Moses stopped what he was doing and gave them a puzzled look.
Their father cleared his throat. “I believe your mother said they are between twenty and twenty-five. Modest, dutiful daughters, as Waneta described them.”
“Courting age,” Moses said with a grin.
“Marriageable age.” Seth shook his head. “I don’t have any interest in courting until we are sure our business will survive.”
Gabe crossed his arms over his chest. “Has Mamm taken to importing possible brides for us now?”
There was a lack of unmarried Amish women in their new community in northern Maine, but that didn’t bother Gabe. Like Seth, his focus was on improving the family’s buggy-making and wheel-repair business while expanding the harness-making and leather goods shop he ran next door.
“Tell Mamm we can find our own wives,” Asher said.
“When we are ready,” Seth added.
Daed scowled at all the brothers. “That kind of talk is exactly why your mother was worried about sharing this news. She wants you boys to be polite to Waneta’s new stepdaughters and nothing more. Show them a nice time while they are here. No one is talking about marriage.”
“Marriage is the point of this trip, girls. Do not make me tell your father he wasted his money paying for it. We should be there within the hour.”
Esther Burkholder kept her eyes glued to her brother Jonah’s hands as the ten-year-old rapidly signed their stepmother’s conversation. Seated with Jonah in the back of the van their father had hired to drive them to Maine, Esther couldn’t lip-read what Waneta was saying or what her sisters were answering because all she could see was the back of their white Amish kapps. Waneta didn’t know sign language and showed little interest in learning. Julia, Pamela and Nancy could sign, but they often preferred to talk among themselves, leaving Esther out of the discussion.
Unlike her Deaf friends, who found it isolating to be left out of conversations with hearing family members, Esther normally didn’t mind. Even before she lost her hearing, she had preferred to spend time alone. She enjoyed her silent world. All she had to do was close her eyes and nothing intruded on her solitude unless someone touched her. Today was different. She needed to know what Waneta had planned so she could avoid getting caught in the web her stepmother was weaving. Did the poor Fisher brothers know what was about to descend on them?
“I’ve known these boys since they were babies. The three oldest sons are triplets. They are twenty-four, so a good age to be looking for a wife. Seth is the tenderhearted one who loves children. Pamela, I think you and he could make a match. You have a very caring nature. Asher is the practical one. Julia, I think he might be best suited for you. Your no-nonsense attitude should appeal to him. Nancy, you and Moses, the youngest son, are the same age and not yet baptized. I think the two of you will find you have a lot in common.”
“How are we going to tell them apart if they all look alike?”
Jonah rolled his eyes and signed, “Pamela has a good point for once.”
“What did Waneta answer?” Esther signed, wishing Jonah would keep his thoughts out of the conversation.
“She said only Gabriel and Seth look alike. Gabriel has a small scar in his right eyebrow. Seth looks like him but no scar. She says Asher and the younger brother are both dark.”
He leaned forward over the seat to speak to his stepmother, frustrating Esther. She tugged on his suspender strap. “What are you saying?”
Because she hadn’t completely lost her hearing until the age of ten, she spoke almost normally, although she had been told that ability might gradually leave her. She worked hard at practicing her speech so that she wouldn’t lose what she had.
Jonah turned back to her. “I asked which brother Waneta thought would make a good match for you.”
Waneta turned in her seat and gave Esther a knowing, sympathetic smile. “I believe the oldest son, Gabriel, would suit you. Sadly, he was jilted when he was twenty and of course was heartbroken. According to my cousin Talitha, he has been put off by the idea of marriage ever since, so I don’t hold out much hope for a match. Now I don’t want the rest of you to take an interest in only one son. Keep open minds.”
Esther knew what Waneta was really saying. None of her cousin’s sons would be interested in a deaf woman for a wife. After a moment of self-pity, Esther sat up straight. She wasn’t shopping for a husband and certainly not a hearing one. She had a wonderful job working in their community’s school for children with disabilities. She and her three close friends who were also Deaf taught twenty hearing-impaired and deaf children in special classes along with assisting the other teachers when needed. She dearly missed her friends and the children already. This trip needed to end quickly.
Jonah touched her shoulder to gain her attention before signing again. “Waneta talks too much. My hands are getting tired. Can I stop?”
Esther smiled and nodded. It had been a long two-day trip from Millersburg, Ohio, and he was growing bored. “Watch out the window. I have read there are many moose and bears in this part of Maine. Perhaps you’ll catch a glimpse of one of them,” she said.
He eagerly turned his attention outside, leaving Esther alone with her thoughts. This trip was such a waste of time. She sighed and opened the quilted satchel on the floor by her feet. The sketchbook or the sewing projects she’d brought along to occupy her time? She was making new kapps for her sisters. Because she enjoyed sewing, she made the clothes for everyone in the family, including her father. She withdrew her sewing kit as fond memories of learning to sew with her mother filled her mind.
She glanced once more at the back of Waneta’s head. The woman wasn’t a replacement for her mother, but she was good for Esther’s father. He smiled more and seemed to enjoy life with her. Because of her father, Esther had tried hard to please Waneta, but she’d failed more often than not. Waneta was impatient with Esther’s lack of ability to understand her. So Esther simply stayed out of her way.
Had it been up to her, she wouldn’t be on this trip at all. Her father had insisted Esther come along. He told the family he wanted them to see some new country and meet Waneta’s favorite cousin and her family. Privately he told Esther he hoped that the trip would bring her and her stepmother closer. He knew there was friction between them. Because she loved her father, Esther had agreed, but two days in a van had certainly not strengthened the bond between her and Waneta.
At least she had gotten to see the ocean that morning. It had been a stunning sight she would never forget. The highway they had traveled along skirted the beautiful rugged Maine coast from Portsmouth to Brunswick before turning inland. The views of the sparkling waves stretching to the horizon took her breath away. She could never reproduce such beauty with her limited talent for drawing, but she couldn’t wait to tell her friends back home about it. She would write as soon as she had the chance.
They had been traveling for almost an hour when Esther felt a change in the vibration of the van and looked up from her sewing. Bessie, their van driver, was pulling off to the side of the road. Jonah began to sign. “I think something is wrong with the engine. Bessie says we should get out and stretch our legs while she takes a look. We are only about a mile from the Fisher farm.”
Esther was happy to leave the confines of the van for even a little bit. Outside the afternoon air was fresh with a cool breeze that fluttered the ribbons of her kapp. She admired the farmland interspersed with wooded areas that lined either side of a broad valley. She could see a river sparkling in the distance, and closer to the road, a small pond reflected perfectly the clear summer sky and the trees that surrounded it.
Her sister Nancy came to her side. “It’s pretty country,” she signed.
Esther nodded. “It is. Has Bessie discovered what is wrong?”
“It’s nothing she can fix.”
Esther glanced up the road. “If it’s less than a mile, we can walk.”
“Waneta has already sent Jonah ahead to tell the Fishers where we are and what has happened. They will send a buggy or wagon to fetch us and our things.”
A car zipped past on the highway, startling Esther. Cars always frightened her if she didn’t see them coming first. She looked both ways. There wasn’t any other traffic in sight, but she stepped farther back from the roadway. She faced her sister. “Are you as eager to find a husband as Waneta is to find one for you?”
Nancy shrugged. “I’m not eager to find a spouse—I just turned twenty—but I’m open to the possibility. Julia and Pamela are more hopeful than I am that the trip will be the answer for them, or maybe they are feeling a tad desperate. Julia will be twenty-six soon, and some folks have started calling her an old maid since she rejected Ogden Martin’s proposal in such a public way. Of course she was right to do so. He wasn’t a good man.
“Pamela is only a year behind Julia in age. Very few men in our area have shown an interest in us, and Father has discouraged those fellows. He would rather we marry outside our community.” Nancy blushed and stopped signing.
“Because our incidence of inherited deafness is so high,” Esther finished for her. She was aware of her father’s feelings, but it still hurt to be reminded that he saw her deafness as an affliction to be avoided rather than embraced. Thankfully his views were not shared by all, but they were shared by the one person who had mattered the most to Esther—Barnabas King, the young man she had fallen in love with and had hoped to marry. Until he’d made his true feelings about her deafness known last Christmas.
She pushed that unhappy memory to the back of her mind. If she ever thought of marrying, she wasn’t going to seek a spouse in the hearing world. Only a man who was Deaf could understand the struggles and rewards of existing in a silent world. God would provide such a man for her if that was His plan. If not, she had her job and the children she loved.
Nancy smiled sadly and signed, “All of us want to find someone to love who loves us in return. I won’t settle for less, no matter what Father and Waneta have in mind.”
“She can be persuasive,” Esther said, looking to where her stepmother was talking to Julia and Pamela.
“I know the two of you don’t get along, but she isn’t a bad sort.”
“She’s so different from our mother. I know it’s wrong to resent her. I’ll work on being a better daughter.”
“She’s calling me. I’m glad to be out of the van, aren’t you?” Nancy walked away without waiting for Esther’s answer. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence.
Esther’s gaze was drawn to the pretty picture of the little pond across the way. She couldn’t believe her eyes when a moose with enormous antlers stepped out of the forest and waded into the water. She thought he was going to drink, but he plunged his entire head beneath the surface and came up with a mouthful of pond weeds that he munched on contentedly.
Oh, she wished Jonah was here to see this. A real live moose a mere hundred yards away. She had to get a closer look.
Gabe had hitched up the wagon as soon as the boy called Jonah arrived at the farm and explained his family’s ride had broken down about a mile away. Now they were both on their way to the van. “Are you excited about spending a few weeks in Maine?” Gabe asked.
“I would rather spend the summer at home playing ball with my friends, but Daed said I needed to come along to look after my sisters.”
“Do your sisters take a lot of looking after?” Maybe he could learn something useful about his mother’s imported bridal prospects.
“Esther needs my help sometimes, but the others don’t. They’re all going to be too busy trying to find husbands to need me.” The kid rolled his eyes.
Gabe grinned. Jonah was exactly the person he needed to pump for information. “All of your sisters are looking for husbands?”
“My stepmother claims she is a goot matchmaker and will have them engaged before the end of this trip. She even said we aren’t going home until at least two of the girls are promised. I think the whole thing is silly.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.”
“I’d like to get back to my friends before the ball season is over. I’m the pitcher on our team. Are you looking for a wife?” the boy asked hopefully.
“Nee, I’m content being a single fellow.”
“So am I. Girls are nothing but trouble. Just ask me. With four sisters, I know what I’m talking about,” Jonah said with long-suffering conviction.
Gabe tried hard not to laugh. “How does your stepmother hope to get all your sisters engaged so quickly?”
“I don’t know her whole plan. I got tired of listening, but each one is going to concentrate on one brother.”
“Who plans to set her sights on me?”
“I don’t remember. I was getting pretty tired by then.”
A white van with the hood up came into view along with a group of Amish women standing beside it. Gabe pulled the horse and wagon to a stop beside them. Which one was going to concentrate her attention on him? He wished Jonah knew the answer. That way he’d know which sister to avoid. His mother’s cousin Waneta came rushing toward him with a cheerful smile.
“Gabriel, it’s goot to see you again.”
He got down from the wagon, determined not to give any of the women undue encouragement. “Nice to see you, too, Waneta. If your stepdaughters will get in the wagon, I’ll collect your things.”
“Our driver, Bessie, will help. Let me introduce you to my family.”
“There will be time for that when everyone is settled at the house,” he said and walked to the back of the van where Bessie, a gray-haired Englisch woman, was pulling out the luggage. He heard the rumble of a truck approaching and then a horn blaring. He glanced in that direction and saw a woman walking into the roadway. Her gaze was fixed on something in the distance. Didn’t she hear the truck? She looked at the ground. The trucker would never be able to stop in time. Gabe dropped the suitcases and dashed toward her.
The truck’s brakes squealed. Over the noise Gabe heard screaming behind him. He yelled at her to get off the road. She didn’t move a step. He closed his eyes and launched himself toward the woman, knowing they were both going to die.
He hit her and locked his arms around her as they landed on the hard pavement. His momentum sent them rolling to the grassy verge on the opposite side of the road. The wind from the truck tore his hat off. When the vehicle flew past, he kept his eyes closed for several seconds until he realized he was alive.
Thanks be for Your mercy, Lord.
He opened his eyes and gazed at the woman beneath him. She stared at him with wide, frightened, amber-colored eyes. She pressed her hands against his chest. “You saved my life.”
“Are you hurt?” His arm was starting to sting where he had landed on it.
“I don’t know. My head hurts.” Her words were slightly slurred.
The rush of adrenaline drained away, leaving Gabe weak and shaken. “Don’t move until you’re sure. What were you thinking? Didn’t you hear the truck? We could’ve both been killed.”
She was staring at his mouth. “I saw a moose. I’ve never seen one before. I wanted a closer look. Something scared it away. Please let me up.”
He rolled off and sat beside her. “It was almost the last thing you saw.”
Her family surrounded them and helped her to her feet. They were chattering and motioning with their hands as they hugged her and checked her for injures. It dawned on Gabe that they were using sign language. At least that’s what he thought it was. Was the woman deaf? Was that why she hadn’t heard the trucker’s horn or his shouts?
The big rig’s driver had managed to stop the truck a hundred yards down the road. He came running up to Gabe. “Are you okay? Is she all right? I couldn’t stop in time. She just walked out in front of me. Man, what you did was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Or the most foolish.”
“I’ve always heard there’s very little difference between the two.” The man patted his chest. “That took ten years off my life. If you had been a second slower—”
Visibly upset, the man sat down in the grass beside Gabe. “Are you folks Amish? I’ve heard some of you have moved here.”
“We are.”
“After today, I might trade my truck in for a horse and buggy.”
“You won’t haul near as much lumber that way.”
The man chuckled. “You’re right. Maybe I’ll just slow down and keep an eye out for folks like you.”
“We would appreciate that.”
Jonah, pale and shaken, left his sister and came to sit beside Gabe. “You saved Esther’s life. Danki, but it should have been me. I’m the one Daed sent to look after her. I reckon I didn’t do such a goot job.”
Gabe draped his arm over the boy’s shoulders. “You brought me here. Looks like that was Gott’s plan for both of us.”
“I just remembered something.”
“What?” Gabe asked.
The child looked up with his eyes full of wonder. “Esther is the one Mamm picked for you.”
