For once, she was powerless to raise her voice above a whisper. “Yes, Peter Wagler. Yes, I will marry you.” A true smile raised Katie’s lips into a bright smile, one borne from sadness, heartache, repentance, and forgiveness. And of course, true love.
Chapter Twenty
February 10, 1890, Gasthof Village, Indiana Territory
Rebekah sat outside, barefoot, while Thomas tended the passel of real kittens that Tommy the tomcat managed to bring home. Thirteen little fluff balls were being wrangled into a makeshift pen of rocks and sticks. To the tiny kittens, it was a game. To little Thomas, it was an endless source of frustration.
“Come back, Lemon, and meet my stuffed kitten Ling.”
Joseph stepped over and put his hands on Rebekah’s shoulders. “Here comes Mr. Williams’s wagon.” He waved his arm high. “Welcome, Mr. Williams!”
A little over two months of marriage and living at home with Elnora and Samuel, and of course, Thomas, had been good for Rebekah and Joseph. Soon, they would raise their own barn and Joseph was already working with Peter to build them a home, not too terribly far from her childhood home.
His beard was coming in, as married men’s do, and Rebekah felt incredibly grown up.
“How do Joseph,” Mr. Williams called over the clattering of horses hooves. “How do, Mrs. Graber.”
Rebekah blushed. She loved her new name and for the world to know that she was Joseph’s wife.
“I came to check in to check on Samuel.” He swung one leg out of the wagon, then the other. “How’s he been?”
Rebekah cocked her head, but resisted the urge to stick one of the flouncing covering strands from her black bonnet—now that she was married, she would always wear her black bonnet—into her mouth. She’d promised herself to try and break that habit and was doing well in succeeding. Mostly.
“He gets tired easy,” she said, standing up. A wiggly kitten dashed under her skirt and over her bare feet, making her giggle.
“I see.” He glanced at Joseph. “Using those leeches?”
“Regularly. Twice a day.”
He nodded and looked down. Rebekah’s heart panged. “Keep praying,” he instructed. “Just keep praying.”
“We will, for Pa and Mr. Nightwalker,” Rebekah whispered. “Ouch!” She bent and unhinged tiny kitten claws from her leg. “Who is the orange one, Thomas?”
“Orange. Come on, Sissy.” He sighed and came to retrieve his mischievous kitten. He cuddled him close when Rebekah handed him to him. “Orange,” he scolded gently, “shame on you for whipping up mischief with an empty bowl and broken spoon.”
Rebekah, Joseph, and Mr. Williams shared a quiet laugh. “Oh, I almost forgot. You received a letter, Rebekah. From New York City.”
“I hope it’s from Mrs. Cheng. She said she would send word when she was on her way to visit. She can’t wait to meet Thomas’s real kittens.”
He handed her a large envelope. She opened it and pulled out a letter.
“It’s from Father Plant!” Joseph read over her shoulder as she read aloud.
“‘Greetings,’” she read, “‘and my blessing of God’s good will upon you in your new roles of husband and wife! I picked up a newspaper and couldn’t wait to share it with you, as I’m sure you’re as happy with all of the news contained herein, not just that on the front page.’”
“Hello, Mr. Williams,” Samuel said as he joined them.
Rebekah and Joseph shared a quizzical look as she pulled out the newspaper. She handed it to Joseph. “Would you look at that! Says on the front page here that Nellie Bly succeeded in her trip, finishing her adventure January 25, 1890. Took her seventy-two days and six hours.”
“Seems Katie said she set a deadline for herself of seventy-five days, and she even beat that!” Rebekah grinned. “I can’t wait to show this to Katie.”
“He said there was more.” Joseph thumbed through the pages.
Sure enough, a few pages back, another familiar face stared back at them. Molly, from the tar-paper shack, the same woman who’d saved Katie’s life by thumping Jack the Ripper on the head with a frying pan, stood next to Father Plant on the steps of the church. She was dressed neatly and was smiling wide.
Joseph skimmed the paragraph. “She was hired as a homeless outreach liaison, and it says here that Molly Sue is considering joining a nunnery to do God’s work.”
“Here, Thomas,” Peter called as he strode up to the knot of them. “One of your little puff balls is attacking my boot!” He handed him a black ball of fur. “What’s his name?”
“Blackie, Uncle Peter,” Thomas said, exasperated.
“I have some good news from Montgomery,” Peter shared, oblivious to the good news that had just been shared before he arrived. “Would you believe Noah is learning to read, already?”
“Doesn’t surprise me, he’s a bright young man,” Samuel said. It was no question that Samuel doted on the young quiet boy.
“Patty is doing wonderful as a nurse to the cranky old doctor, who isn’t quite so cranky anymore. She is even thinking of taking him up on his offer to put her through medical school.”
“That’s quite the turn of events,” Rebekah observed.
“It is.” Peter continued. “Turns out he was cranky because he was still grieving over a lost patient, the anniversary of which passed not long before we all arrived with Samuel in tow, when he took sick.”
Everyone paused in quiet reverence. Elnora stood beside her husband, and she’d walked up so quietly, that Rebekah didn’t even realize she’d come.
Peter sighed a big sigh. “It was the doc’s daughter that he lost. And he lost her in childbirth—both she and the child were lost. A little boy who was to be named Noah Abraham.”
Silence befell the lot of them.
“So when Patty and Noah arrived, both the same ages as his late daughter and grandson, he felt it was an answer to his prayer. Took them in as his family.”
