Christmas at Harmony Hill by Ann H. Gabhart

Author:Ann H. Gabhart [Gabhart, Ann H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042000, Pregnant women—Fiction, Pregnant women—Family relationships—Fiction, Abandoned children—Fiction, Shakers—Fiction
ISBN: 9781611738766
Publisher: Center Point Pub
Published: 2013-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

15

Heather was glad of the hand sewing to keep her busy as she sat in front of the fire with Aunt Sophrena. That’s how she thought of her, even though when she spoke her name aloud she said Sister Sophrena. In her mind she was aunt. Family. Heather needed family.

Sometimes an hour would go by without a word passing between them, but it was a comfortable silence. A necessary silence. The Shakers valued silence. While at first such silence had felt odd to Heather, as the days passed she began to be glad of the silent time that allowed her the privacy of thought. Sophrena didn’t push Heather for words simply for the sake of dispelling the silence. Nor did she offer her own words. Often as she sat beside Heather and worked her needle through the cloth of whatever garment she held in her lap, she looked to be occupied with thoughts that were troubling, but she never spoke them aloud. Heather had no idea what could be burdening her aunt’s heart, but she knew very well why her own heart was weighted down.

News of happenings out in the world did find its way to the Shaker village. Not particular news of Gideon, but general news of the war. General Sherman was marching on through the Southern states of Georgia and South Carolina toward the sea, but instead of pursuing him, the Confederate General Hood was moving his army to the northwest to challenge the Union forces in Nashville. Even though there was no news of fighting as yet, a battle was clearly in the offing.

The Shaker doctor carried that report to her. He was not like the other Shaker men who often hurried past the cabin with their eyes averted, as though worried they might catch a glimpse of her through a window or open door. The doctor, on the other hand, had a ready smile and no reluctance to take measure of the growth of the baby within her.

Brother Kenton, as he told her to call him, came by the cabin every day. Sometimes he came alone, which seemed to cause Sophrena great unease as if it was wrong for him to be there. After all, the Shakers did take great care to keep the men and women apart.

Sophrena had explained that was the reason for the two stairways in the Trustees’ House. “As there are in every house where both brothers and sisters might have need to climb to an upper story.”

Heather remembered Sister Muriel’s quick removal of Heather’s hand from the railing in that house. “But what could it hurt for the men and women to use the same stairs? Wouldn’t that be simpler?” Sophrena had told her of the Shakers’ desire for a simple life.

“Oh, nay, the simpler way is to keep away temptations of the flesh,” Sophrena said. “The Ministry has determined such temptations can best be avoided by keeping the brothers and sisters from sharing the same space where there might be the chance of touching.

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