Free Abram's Daughters 04 The Prodigal by Unknown Page B

carrying The /liii/iyr over and offering a section of the newspaper to the i ill lei~ man. "Got any relatives out in Ohio?" he asked, hoping |n niiike small talk.
    "Two cousins." :
    "Ever go V visit?"
    "Nope."
    Not so keen on conversing with a brick wall, Gid wanil. n-d to the kitchen, poured himself a tall glass of water, and .i"oil af the back door, staring out at the open woods, deprived now of leaves. The sky had opened up some, and he
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    was grateful for the light, conscious as he was at this moment of the seasonal rhythms of his own life.
    This waiting was difficult, a good test of his patience, and he contemplated the Old Ways: the father-to-be hiding behind a newspaper, uninvolved, or pacing the floor somewhere in the house. Hannah had once told him there were some women who simply slipped behind a bush of a summer and had their wee babes unattended. He flinched at the thought of darling Hannah having to birth her babies that way. Not as long as he could ride for a midwife and, in this case, the hex doctor, too would his wife give birth alone. Leah had planned on being on hand, as well, but hearing of Hannah's insistence on having the hex doctor come, Leah had hastily changed her mind, to Hannah's disappointment.
    When the cries of a newborn pierced the air, he felt strangely relieved that the midwife had managed to deliver his son or daughter without the help of the man in the sitting room.
    Hurrying to the bedroom door, Gid waited for word to come from the midwife. When it did, he was told he and Hannah had a third daughter. "She's a rosy one," the midwife said, motioning for him to enter the room.
    He made a beeline for his wife, leaning down to kiss Hannah's brow, then cupping her chin in his hand. "Ich lieb dich, Hannah." He pushed back a wispy strand of her strawberryblond hair.
    "Oh, Gid, I love you." She held up his new daughter, now wrapped in a thin blanket. "Awful perty, she is."
    "Have ya thought of a name?"
    Hannah smiled up at him sweetly from the bed. "I think it's your turn."
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    iM85J r c, d L    He had been pondering this and asked what Hannah I liought of Miriam, after his mother. "We could call her Mimi lor short."
    Nodding, Hannah said it was a wonderful-good name. "I like it."
    So it was settled, and although he'd hoped for a son this I ime around with the name Mathias all picked out to honor Oawdi Byler Gid was most grateful Hannah and the baby were all right. Truth be told, he was altogether ready to thank I lie hex doctor for his time and send him on his way.
    Leah was overjoyed at the news, heralded by Gid himself, of the birth of little Mimi Peachey, and by Saturday morning Leah had held Hannah's darling baby several times already. Now she sat in the kitchen near the wood stove with Aunt Lizzie while Dat, Abe, and a group of men headed over to Blackbird Pond for a morning of ice fishing. She had cautioned Dat, privately, to keep his eye on adventuresome Abe, this being the Boy's first such wintertime experience.
    "Oh, he'll be just fine," Aunt Lizzie had said when Leah told her of her concern.
    "I s'pose I worry too much."
    "Jah, but then all mothers do," Lizzie replied with a knowing smile.
    She had noticed for some time now that Aunt Lizzie no longer called her "honey-girl," as she had all her growing-up years and beyond. Did she think Leah too old for the nickname? She didn't know and dismissed the thought as they settled into their study of Scripture, reading aloud the entire
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    fifty-fourth chapter of the book of Isaiah. When Leah came to the final verse, the one she'd found underlined in Mamma's old Bible, she asked Aunt Lizzie about it. "Do you have any idea why Mamma would have marked this one?"
    Lizzie looked down for a time, then, raising her face, she said slowly, "My sister Ida your dear mamma was rebuked harshly by Preacher Yoder, a good many years back." She paused and sighed, her hand at her throat, and then continued. "Your mamma went to