Sarah pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “We’ve decided to have a Bible study here this Wednesday. Your Ma and I decided everyone could bring a dish and we could make an evening of it. Will you make one of your delicious cinnamon cakes?”
She nodded. “I would be honored, thank you.”
“Good.” With a hearty pat on the arm, Sarah retreated to her seat. “Now, Elnora, we have lots of planning to do.”
The old friends huddled together, their companionship easy and natural, as Beanie squeaked from the cradle.
Too antsy to sit still or be cooped in the house, Rebekah climbed the stairs.
What to do? What to do?
Her room was tidy, her quilt was finished, and she wasn’t keen to start another yet. Worried thoughts of Joseph flitted about in her mind like moths around a lantern, but she forced them back.
He’s fine. Maybe he needed to go off alone like I did.
Rebekah spied the glinting tub of dirty laundry at the end of the hall and skipped to retrieve it. The large bar of lye soap lay on its special shelf, right above the bucket. She plucked it up and dropped it onto the clothes.
“I’m running to the river to get this laundry done, Ma!” Rebekah called as she skipped out the back door.
Sarah’s excited voice met her ears instead. “Oh, Elnora, this is going to be the most delicious Bible study of the year. 1888 is a wonderful year for food.”
***
“I should have grabbed a shawl,” Rebekah muttered. The wind, unseasonable for March, had grown colder in the few minutes she’d been inside. Something in the breeze smelled frosty, like the winds that blew around Christmastime.
Rebekah quickened her pace to the river. “I’ll make short work of this.”
She eyed the blackening eastern horizon. Ominous clouds, puffy on the bottom and spiky on the top, hung overhead in a low and threatening manner. She shivered. “At least I have long sleeves.”
It had grown so cold so quickly that bits of ice clung to the river bank before being washed downstream by the rushing current.
Ma was right about the weather taking a turn.
Rebekah dumped the clothes in a heap on the bank.
With the lye soap in one hand and her dirty dress in the other, she plunged both into the water. Pricks from the cold stabbed her hands as the current splashed further up her arms than she’d intended. The lower half of her sleeves dripped with river water.
In a hurry, she scrubbed the dirt from her dress before she rinsed it quickly and wrung it out. Satisfied, she laid it out on a flat rock and ignored the bright red hue her hands and arms had taken on. She plucked Abram’s dirty socks up and dipped them beneath the water’s surface. Skimping on quality, Rebekah wrung them out and placed them on the rock as shivers wracked her frame.
“That will have to be good enough for now,” she muttered as her teeth chattered. “I’m going back to the house.”
The sound of footsteps on river pebbles caught her attention over the whistling wind.
Joseph!
With the cold momentarily ignored, she turned to embrace the man she loved.
She froze, mid-step, for the curve of the hat wasn’t right. It wasn’t right at all.
“Hello, Rebekah.” If Peter was affected by the impending norther, his voice didn’t show it. “Have you had a chance to think about what I told you?”
Her smile softened into a different form as she stepped toward him. “How happy am I to learn that you are a relation.” She extended her arms and hugged him tightly. “Thank you for enduring so much to bring me the news.” She patted his back and started to release from their embrace.
Peter didn’t.
Rebekah squirmed in his grasp. Her heart quickened to a gallop before he finally released her. She stepped back. Her hands were numb and the strings on her covering whipped her face.
His mouth turned downward in a severe frown and tears dripped down his face. He swiped at them with the back of one hand. “Will you return with me to the east?” he called over the howling wind.
“I’m staying here.”
Peter cupped a hand around his ear and stepped nearer to her. “What?”
“I’m staying here!”
His frown settled into a hard line. “Sister, you’ve been brainwashed by the plain folk. Once you get to Philadelphia, you’ll see how much better off you are. I’m the only family you got.” He stepped toward her. “As your older brother, it’s my duty to see to your well-being. Now, are you coming with me?”
Despite the wind, Rebekah heard every word. She shook her head. “No, Peter, I’m not.”
A note of uncertainty gave her words a scared twang.
“You’ll thank me for this someday.” Peter pushed up his sleeves. “But if you won’t come with me, I’ll have to bring you.”
He took a step toward her.
Rebekah glanced around for somewhere to hide. Or somewhere to run. “No, Peter, it shouldn’t be like this.”
Fat snowflakes swirled around them and covered the ground in a white sheet.
