“If that shocks you, that is nothing compared to what happened next.” Joseph no longer seemed nervous. “I wish you had been there with me to experience it.”
Tingles of exhilaration flitted about in her stomach. “What happened?”
His eyes were bright and wide in the darkness. “Well, I heard a squeak, and then Thomas spotted it.” He stared at her for her reaction.
“Spotted what, Joseph?”
“The cub!” His voice rose with excitement. “And you will not believe it. But its leg…it was caught in a snare.”
Rebekah turned her hand over inside Joseph’s and, with a squeeze, and snuggled up against him.
“Thomas walked right over and freed that squeaking bopplin.”
Rebekah shifted, uneasy. She was not at all sure how she felt about Thomas approaching a trapped cub with the mother nearby. Before she could voice her fears, Joseph continued.
“And the mater bear? She stood right beside me the whole time. Not looking at Thomas. Not looking at me. Just…waiting.”
Tears pricked Rebekah’s eyes and her lower lip quivered.
“When the cub was free, the mater bear whuffed at Thomas before they disappeared into the woods. And I am no expert and I certainly do not speak bear, but there was no mistaking it, Rebekah. That mamm bear told him danki.”
Joseph sounded so excited that Rebekah loved him even more. All her misplaced anger faded at once. Elnora had mentioned on more than one occasion something called bopplin brain. She had said before how some maters-to-be become angrier or more upset, weepy or irritable during their pregnancies.
Perhaps that is the case with me.
Before she had the chance to apologize, or even explain, Joseph broke the quiet. “Do you remember, when we were kids, our folks telling us to watch out for a black bear if we played in the woods?”
Rebekah shrugged. “It sounds vaguely familiar. I always thought it was just a story to keep us from going into the woods alone.”
“Do you remember the rest of the story?”
She shook her head. “I do not think so.”
He stroked her hand with a loving caress. “Well, there was an Englischer man who settled around this area when we were young. He supposedly spoke to our fathers on one occasion. His name was Buck Samson, and he called himself a mountain man.”
“This does sound a bit familiar,” Rebekah said. “I asked what a mountain man was since we have no mountains here. They said he had come from mountains to the east, and a mountain man is an Englischer who lives apart from the world, kind of like us Amish.”
“That is it.” Joseph nodded. “It was the Appalachian Mountains where he had come from if I remember correctly.”
Rebekah sat up. “And he brought with him an orphaned bear cub. That is right!”
Joseph’s voice rose in excitement to match hers. “The mother had been killed by hunters and the cub was kept in chains at the hunter’s camp. Samson saw this, and he took the bopplin cub to raise. And raised it he did—”
“Just like a farm dog.” Rebekah finished. “But how do you think he got the cub away from the hunters?”
“I do not recall that anyone ever told us but seeing as how Old Man Samson fled the mountains and came all the way out to Indiana Territory and lived out his life near an Amish village, it probably involved more than just a please and thank you.”
“Do you think the mater bear was the cub, all grown up with a cub of her own?”
“That is what I figure,” Joseph said. “Old Man Samson was old when we were young. He has probably long since passed on. Which is why the bear came to us for help. And was without fear.”
“She knew that some people were kind and was desperate for help.” Rebekah smiled to herself. “I hope Old Man Marley showed her enough love and kindness that she forgot about her early life and how mean some people were to her. And her mater.” She turned to her mann. “I am proud of you Joseph.”
“I owe everything to you.” He snuggled down in their bed and made room for her, too. “I would have never thought it was possible or even remembered the story of Old Man Samson, my lieb, had you not said something about the look in the mater bear’s eyes and on her face.” He paused. “I suppose it took a mater to recognize distress in another mater.”
Sheepish heat warmed her neck.
His voice was throaty. “Thank you, my darling, for reminding me.”
“Reminding you of what?”
Joseph continued in hushed tones. “That we are all Gotte’s creatures. And that we all need help from time to time.” He stroked her shoulder. “And sometimes, that help comes from the unlikeliest of places.”
Tears of joy breached their lashy dam and rolled down Rebekah’s face as she nestled back into Joseph’s shoulder. As she drifted off to sleep, she felt at peace for the first time in a long time.
Chapter Five
Each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. – 1 Corinthians 3:13
Five months later
Joseph’s voice was a murmur in her ear as he brushed her hair from over her shoulder. His breath tickled the bare skin of her neck and made her shiver in the coolness of the early morning. “Gute morning, Fraa. Do you know what today is?”
“Early.” She didn’t open her eyes but smiled. “Too early is what today is, Mann.” She snuggled back against him and welcomed his strong arm that tightened around her.
“It may be early, but today is a special day because our little bopplin is five months old.” His hand searched until it found her belly then cupped the slight swell there. “Guder mariye, Lil’ Bit. Your dat will soon be waking you up early for all the wonderful experiences he cannot wait to share with you.”
Rebekah giggled and placed her hand over his. Their fingers intertwined.
Joseph continued. “I will show you how to milk Buttermilk, and I will always remind you to warm your hands first. Take it from me, I learned the hard way.”
Rebekah giggled again and tightened her fingers around his.
“You will also have to learn how to avoid Buttercup, your mamm’s favorite rooster.”
“My favorite rooster, is that so?”
Joseph nodded. She could hear the joshing smile in his voice. “And so many other things, Lil’ Bit.”
Thank you, Gotte. Rebekah’s eyelids fluttered with the easy, melodious sound of her mann’s voice. Has there ever been a more perfect day than this right here?
“You wait here, Lil’ Bit, and take care of your mamm. I am going to creep down to the kitchen and make you two some breakfast. Shh now, and don’t wake your mamm.” He gave her fingers a teasing squeeze.
The bed creaked a minuscule creak as Joseph eased himself out of it. Rebekah smiled at his faterly display, but exhaustion ensured her eyelids stayed closed.
The smile never left her lips as she lay there, lost in that blissful state of slumber, not fully awake, but asleep enough to feel relaxed on this perfect day.
She must have fallen back asleep because the smell of the breakfast Joseph left for her on the nightstand added to the feeling of leisure when she woke. The wunderbaar relaxed feeling continued until an odd smell met her nose.
