“London, I think,” Peter answered.
“Yeah, London,” Joseph added.
“Good. He’s wanted for murder there,” Katie said. “Maybe he will learn that you can’t run from your sins.” Katie quit talking and studied the ground.
“Well,” Peter said, breaking the all too awkward silence. “Who is ready to head for Indiana?”
“Me!” Rebekah and Joseph cried. If Katie’s voice joined in, it was much too soft to hear.
Chapter Sixteen
Leaving New York City
Joseph bent his long frame to situate his shoulder under Rebekah’s arm. “Here, lean on me.”
Rebekah did as she was told. “My bag, Joseph, my wedding dress is there.”
“I have your bag, my love.” Rebekah was taken aback by his words. He never spoke romantically to her, using such terms of endearment. “That’s how I found you.”
Rebekah stammered over her own words. “I have to go back and say goodbye to Mrs. Cheng. She asked specifically that I come back.”
“We.”
“Do what?”
“From now on, you and I. We are we.” She was acutely aware of his arm, warm, around her, holding her close to his side. As though they were divinely crafted for one another. Or from one another.
Woman was made from man’s rib.
“Here we are, just a few steps more.”
Everything in Rebekah’s body ached. Her ankle throbbed something terrible and her head pounded. “Maybe Mrs. Cheng will have something to make me feel a bit better for the trip home.”
Mrs. Cheng was waiting outside when Joseph and Rebekah hobbled up to her shop. “Again?” She gave Joseph a long hard stare. “You must keep your woman safe. Or what good is having husband?” She caught her mistake. “Or husband to be?”
Peter and Katie, not walking together but at least walking on the same road at the same time, followed them into the shop.
“Mrs. Cheng,” Rebekah managed, “you know Joseph, my fiancé. And this is…”
Suddenly, Rebekah felt faint. She sank into the chair she didn’t realize Mrs. Cheng had pulled up for her. Her head sank into her hands. “Joseph, you tell her, please,” she whispered. “Introduce them properly.”
Joseph did as he was instructed. “Mrs. Cheng,” Joseph extended his arm. “This is Peter, Rebekah’s brother and my future brother-in-law. And, the woman of the hour, Katie Knepp.”
“Ah, yes. The woman Peter loves.” Mrs. Cheng nodded.
Katie and Peter both flushed a fierce shade of crimson. “Hello, Mrs. Cheng.” Peter extended his hand. She looked at it, and shook it carefully.
“You.” She pointed to Katie. “Come.”
Katie balked. “Me, Mrs. Cheng?”
“Yes. Come now.” She turned and hobbled off toward the back of her shop.
Katie dared a glance at Rebekah, who shrugged. Slowly she followed Mrs. Cheng, and disappeared behind a partition.
A moment later, Mrs. Cheng returned and stood at Rebekah’s side. From her apron pouch, she produced the little tin of salve and a cup.
“Thank you, Mrs. Cheng,” Rebekah whispered. “I hoped you’d have some of that salve. Seems I can’t seem to take a correct step in the English world.”
“I saw. Whole thing.” Mrs. Cheng’s frown was severe as she hobbled over and sat the steaming cup in Rebekah’s hand. “You drink tea. Will make you rest well.”
Rebekah grasped the steaming cup in her hands as Mrs. Cheng dabbed and rubbed the salve on Rebekah’s cuts and scrapes, both old and new. “Mrs. Cheng not fast enough to help you. Old, little feet.” She paused a moment. “But Joseph was.”
Rebekah was quiet and reverent in her blessings, despite the hard times she’d found herself thrust in the midst of. She took a long sip of the Chinese tea and closed her eyes.
Thank you, God. For this trip. For who it’s molding me into.
The words “forged by fire” popped into her mind. She wasn’t certain where she’d heard the phrase, but for some reason, they made sense. The fires of tribulation certainly were forming her into a person she never imagined she would be.
“It fits, Mrs. Cheng.” Katie’s voice came from the back of the shop. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Peter gasped. “Katie, it looks like it was made just for you.”
In the back of the shop, Katie stood in the dress Mrs. Cheng crafted for her. “Newehockers,” Mrs. Cheng said, still frowning at Rebekah’s injuries.
“Mrs. Cheng!” Rebekah was powerless to keep the shock from her voice. “You didn’t!”
The old woman shrugged. “Knew they’d find you, Katie Knepp. And that you’d go back to be newehockers to Rebekah and Joseph.”
