Free Abram's Daughters 05 The Revelation by Unknown Page B

hoped. Now, as he returned from disposing "I the last of the clinic rubbish, he happened to look up and see Ly-
    11.inn walking alone, appearing somewhat agitated.
    Sighing loudly, he strode down the sidewalk toward the house. Whatever was weighing on the Ebersol girl was none of his business.
    For as long as Leah remembered, she had been careful to follow I he rules, doing as she was told by Mamma, by Dat. . . and, once she'd known to, by God. She'd always looked forward to being considered a faithful church member, and now, these many years away from having made her life covenant, she knew she must continually i r.ich for that mark. Even when no one was looking, she was striving i < > be all that she ought to be before God and the church. The one
    I11 i ng she had done to disobey the Ordnung, though not blatantly,
    11.id been to read the Bible more often than she supposed was neces'..iry, and more passages than were ever preached on of a Sunday.
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    But today, this miserable day, she would have given anything not to have told Lydiann the appalling truth. She felt nearly as il she'd sinned, and she wished there might have been some reasonable way for her to remain silent, especially after witnessing the pain she'd inflicted upon her darling girl. Yet the strong possibility that ;i marriage between the two might occur; to the potentially disastrous effect such a thing would have on Jake and Lyddie's babies, should any survive; as well as the shame such devastating knowledge would have eventually brought upon Jake and Lydiann themselves had been enough to push her into speaking so plainly to Lyddie.
    It was distressingly apparent how much Lydiann cared for Jake. Her affection for him was all over her face dwelling in her brooding eyes, pulling down the corners of her mouth even as she was hit with the startling facts.
    Yet this heartbreaking dilemma was not Leah's doing, nor her fault. When all was said and done, it was Dr. Schwartz's deception that had brought them to this troublesome place when God, in His sovereignty, allowed Jake to breathe his first breath and live.
    If the truth had not been revealed to Lydiann, the door would have remained open for more close contact between Sadie and her son. Yet with Jake unaware of his true roots, how satisfying could such a relationship have been for Sadie? Leah could only contemplate such things after the fact.
    In the space of one heart-to-heart talk, the what-ifs had been settled. Today the agonizing truth had been laid open to one more person, and Lydiann's heart was surely breaking.
    Sadie wandered aimlessly around the large plot that had been last summer's charity garden, feet pressing into the tilled-up earth as she talked to herself. "What have we done?" she whispered, still caught up in the sorrowful scene that had taken place a few hours ago. "I'll never know my son now."
    She spoke to the dirt, but she suddenly raised her head. It was dreadfully quiet here past the side yard, not so far from the woodshed and the outhouse so much so that she thought she could hear the beating of her own heart.
    She stared at the rolling lawn that swept up to the front of the
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    Ihiuisc, the location of countless happy family gatherings over these
    11i.my years. Family. . . love. . . unity. Have we ruined that? She
    lunged helplessly. Likely Lydiann was experiencing something
    iniilar to the grief she herself had felt when the stunning news of
    U.uvcy's death arrived at her door. The surge of sadness, even
    mpiiness that had enveloped her had nearly drowned her as each
    inimile ticked by. At times she had yearned for it to do just that
    Mibmerge her into oblivion so she might not have to suffer such
    |UIII.
    Yet with the dawning of harsh reality came a slow but sorrowful .11 rcptance. Harvey was gone from her, never again to knock the mild off his work boots at the stoop, chuckling as he came into the
    I louse at suppertime, eager to wrap her in