Sarah by Mary Christner Borntrager

Author:Mary Christner Borntrager [Borntrager, Mary Christner]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8361-9019-9
Publisher: MennoMedia
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

14

Please Say Yes!

What in the world comes here?” Mrs. Byler exclaimed as she spotted Sarah.

“Why, it’s Sarah Troyer and her sisters,” Regina informed her mom.

“Why would they be coming here so early in the day? And even bringing the baby! Something must be wrong.”

“Well, let’s find out.” Regina dropped her hoe and ran to the lane. Even though garden things were fairly well finished for the summer, Dena Byler would not let the weeds take over. Regina and her mother liked to do their weeding early in the morning before the sun rose to its fullest. Now both hurried to greet the Troyer girls.

“What brings you here so early? Is anything wrong?” Dena asked.

“We want to know—may we stay with you till Mom and Dad come back?” Sarah asked.

“Why?” Mrs. Byler asked. “Why would you want to stay with us? Isn’t your Maut helping out anymore?”

“Yah,” Sarah answered, “but she isn’t good to me and sometimes not to the baby or Edna. I don’t want to go home. May we just stay with you?”

“Let me take the baby, and come along to the house,” Regina suggested. “You must be tired after carrying Lisabet. She is getting to be heavy.”

Sarah gladly let Regina take the baby. “Ach, she isn’t too heavy,” she told her friend. “Anyway, Edna and I took turns.” Nevertheless, her arms ached, and she was happy for Regina’s help.

Dena Byler was shocked to have the neighbor children show up, complaining of ill-treatment from their Maut. She offered the girls chairs and cool drinks of water. After they were settled, she said gently, “Tell me all about it.”

Sarah told them of many incidents when Sadie was unkind and impatient. She finished with the episode of the broken bowl.

“I certainly never thought Sadie Zook would be so unfeeling,” Dena responded. “Does she know you came here?”

“Oh no,” Sarah whimpered in a frightened tone of voice. “She would give me a spanking if I would have told her.”

“Did your parents know how she mistreated you?”

“They knew some stuff, but not all of it. I didn’t like to tattle and worry Mom. She was so sick. Dad talked to the Maut, and she said she would try to do better. But this morning, the first since Dad and Mom were gone, she started scolding again until our hired man came in the door. Then she was real nice.”

“Regina,” Dena told her daughter, “go hitch up Queen. We’ll go have a talk with Sadie Zook.”

“That won’t do any good,” Sarah objected. “She’ll punish me for running away and telling on her.”

“We can’t let this go on any longer. Maybe we can work out something else.”

Sarah doubted that, but what could she do?

Regina quickly hitched the family driving horse to the buggy and drove to the gate, where Dena and the children stood waiting.

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