Free Butterfly Garden by Annette Blair Page B

didn’t much like the way he and Sara could talk without words, but he liked that she seemed to approve his action; he liked the twinkle in her eyes.
    He shrugged. Pleasing her was a good end to their time together, though the pain the notion brought made him scowl.
    Ultimately, four candidates were chosen for preacher, Roman among them. The candidates rose to pass by a table on which sat a row of four bibles, each man choosing one. Only one man would find a slip of paper in his bible naming him preacher, signaling him as ‘chosen by God.’  That man would serve their Amish community for the rest of his life.
    Adam shifted in his seat. Life was a long time to pay for interference, even if it was the kind could change others’ lives. For a minute Adam wished ... but it was too late, because look who was holding that fateful slip of paper.
    Roman knelt before the Bishop to accept God’s will and be ordained. And when Preacher Roman Byler rose and regarded Adam, if looks were flames, Adam would be cinders.
    Afterward, everyone took a short break for babies to be fed and such, during which time the district women ‘protected’ Sara from his approach. This made him angry. Where were they when she was all but shunned for becoming a midwife, when she’d entered the house of a widower seven weeks before?
    Twenty minutes later, the hearing began with a reading of the accusation. Living in sin. Adam almost laughed. The charge had somehow changed from ‘an occasion for sin’ to ‘living in sin.’  If he’d known it would come to this, he would have made the baths count.
    As if she read him, Sara’s face turned pink, and she put Pris down and took baby Hannah from Lizzie, standing her, almost as a shield, except she kept peeking around her ‘shield’ to look at him. Adam tried to calm Sara with his look, tried not to be captivated by her unconscious game. He also tried not to reveal to the others this odd ability they shared to communicate in silence. But Sara could not be calmed, and it bothered him that it bothered him.
    Adam shifted in his seat and saw that the English doctor was there. What was he doing at service?
    The man’s reassuring nod succeeded in calming Sara and her shoulders relaxed. While Adam was glad Sara had calmed, he did not need such a man to do it. Adam Zuckerman took care of his own. Except that Sara was not his, he had best remember.
    The Bishop spoke first, of sin and the rights of marriage, which were not to be given lightly or outside the union.
    Sara appeared as if she were ... bruised ... by the shame of it, making Adam want to hit their high holy leader.
    The Deacon spoke next and suggested repentance and separation.
    Roman, the new preacher, standing to speak last, looked straight at him. ‘An eye for an eye’ best described his silent promise, and Adam braced himself as the new preacher suggested marriage.
    Adam jumped to his feet, but his shout was drowned by The English . “Roman, are you mad?  This has gone far enough!  We wanted the children back where they belong, but Sara does not belong there.”
    So, it was Roman, and The English too, started this. Well then, served The English right if he lost Sara because of it. Yes, and serve Preacher Byler right too.
    “There’s more at work here than either of us realizes,” Roman replied. “You said so yourself, Doc. Leave it alone.”
    Adam liked the idea of The English losing Sara. He began to feel as if Roman was right. What did he mean, more at work here?
    “Like hell I will,” The English shouted, making his Amish neighbors gasp. Hell was a serious place with his people, and Adam felt a chuckle rising in his throat, which, as always, hurt his chest and soured his mood.
    “It is too late,” the Bishop said. “You have no rights here, Doctor Marks. Much as we appreciate you at our bedsides when we are in pain, Preacher Byler is right.”
    “But I have rights here,” Adam shouted. “Sara does too.”
    The Bishop