Hester Takes Charge by Byler Linda;

Author:Byler, Linda;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Good Books
Published: 2016-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

HIS WORDS WERE ASTOUNDING.

Oh, she wanted to go. As the crow flies, her spirit had soared countless times, far above the trees, the patches of corn, the barns and roads and gardens. Over the mountains that lay between them, the rivers and creeks and puddles of water, over every tiny thing and every large thing that kept her from seeing her home one more time.

But to go with Noah?

To retrace her footsteps by herself, her memories wrapped around her head like a turban, would be effortless compared to sitting beside him on a wagon, to be in his company every day. It was too hard work to keep the barrier up, protecting herself from the dizzying encounters with the blueness of his eyes. She always started out firm, serious, steadfast, but after a few hours she would fall away, forgetting to guard the feeling of severity, of distance, and there she’d be, as helpless as a newborn lamb.

No, she could not go. She told him so.

He did not say anything for a long while. When he spoke, his words were raw and devoid of kindness. “Listen, Hester. Why don’t you try, just this once, to forget about your foolish pride? You know you want to see your home.”

She nodded. “I do.”

“Well, then.”

“What would people say?”

“We’re brother and sister.”

“Like Abraham lied about Sarah, entering that town, huh?”

Noah looked at her and was met only by the tops of her lowered lids. He turned away, sighing. “I’d like to leave in a week or so. It will be a bit warm for the horses, but I figure it will be better to spend the night, in case we need to camp somewhere.”

“Camp?” Hester breathed, the thought alarming.

“There are inns along the way, but they’re not always a place for an Amish woman who’s been sheltered from many things.”

When Hester had nothing to say to this, he got to his feet and stood over her. He took in her black hair, darker than the surrounding twilight, the part in the middle the divide between a raven’s two wings. She looked small and childlike. But underneath he knew there lurked a will of iron, a stubborn mind of honed steel. Neither made him change his mind. They only presented a challenge, an obstacle he would enjoy, given enough time.

“I look forward to seeing the Berks County mountains,” he said. “Hopefully, you’ll be willing to accompany me.”

With that, he was off, his long strides covering the backyard in a few seconds, leaving Hester with one hand extended, her mouth open, the call for him to come back balanced on the brink of her voice, then pushed back and swallowed by the force of her pride.

So great was her turmoil, she slept only a few hours that night, flipping from side to side, punching and rearranging her pillow, angry, sometimes mellow, and crying, praying into the blackness of the night, unsure if God heard her or not, wondering why he withheld answers when she so desperately needed them.

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