A Promise for Miriam Read Online Free PDF Page A

in the stove.
    He’d taken care of the animals for the day.
    Gracie wore her best clothes and waited patiently by the front door, studying him curiously.
    Gracie.
    He’d meant to talk to her before they set off for the service. Walking across the sitting room, he stopped in front of her and crouched down so that they were eye to eye. As usual, when he looked at her like this, when he stopped to slow down and consider how quickly she was growing before his very eyes, she reminded him of her mother. Gracie had Hope’s warm brown eyes and beautiful features—a petite nose, small chin, and even the same smattering of freckles across her cheeks.
    The single difference was the color of her hair. Hope’s brown hair had been quite light, almost blonde, where Gracie’s was dark-brown like his. The morning she was born, when the midwife had placed their new infant in Hope’s arms, his wife had gazed up at him and whispered, “Isn’t she a little angel, Gabe? Her hair is like the chestnut pony’s, and like yours.”
    Looking into his daughter’s expectant eyes now, it seemed as though Gabe could feel his wife’s hand on his arm and hear her voice in his ear.
    He drew in a deep breath and focused on what needed to be said.
    “You know we’re going to church this morning?”
    Gracie nodded.
    “And you remember the way church services are done from our time in Indiana?”
    This time Gracie smiled and held up the Bible she carried. It had been a parting gift from his mother.
    “ Ya , that’s gut , but what I mean to say is that you’ll be sitting with the women and children, and I’ll be sitting with the men.” When concern wiped the smile off her face, he hurried on. “Today’s service is at Mr. King’s place. He is your teacher’s dat , so maybe you’ll be able to sit with her or with some of her family.”
    Gracie stood completely still now, almost as if she were playing frozen angels out in the snow, except Gabe couldn’t remember a time he’d actually seen her playing outdoors with other kinner. He pushed the thought aside and concentrated on preparing her for the morning.
    “The bishop will introduce us. When he does, I want you to come down and stand with me. I’ve asked him…” Gabe stared out the window, out at the farm that was to hold such promise. “I’ve asked him to tell no more than he feels he has to about…about your mamm , but I didn’t want you to be surprised when you heard him speak her name. I know it’s not something we mention often.” This last part he added in almost a whisper.
    Quiet enveloped them.
    He thought for a moment Gracie might speak—a hope that was always in his heart—but she didn’t. They stood there, watching each other, mirroring each other’s loss. Gabe slowly became aware of the soft crackling of the fire he’d banked inside the iron stove, a light breeze stirring a branch against the roof of the house, one of the horses neighing in the barn.
    Gracie surprised him when she set her Bible on the floor, placed both of her hands against his cheeks and pressed her forehead against his. They remained that way for another moment, until they both seemed to sense that it was time to go.
    She combed her fingers through his beard once, the way she often had as a small child, and then she retrieved her Bible and walked ahead of him out into the bright winter morning.
    Gabe wished with all that was within him that he knew what was going on within the child’s mind.
    As he drove the buggy toward the Kings’ home, his mind went back over his conversation with Miriam on Friday evening. Was he wrong? Would it be better to take the child to an Englisch doctor? But his heart told him there was nothing physically wrong with Gracie. And as for the emotional things—well, they were both wounded, and wounds took time to heal.
    Pulling into the lane that led up to the Kings’ house, he resolved to hold his stance against the schoolteacher. No doubt she meant well, but he’d