The Betrayal - Couverture souple

Beverly Lewis

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0764223313 ISBN 13 : 9780764223310

Editeur : Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2003

Synopsis

The powerful family saga of four Amish sisters whose way of life and faith in God are as enduring as Lancaster's signature horse and buggy. Or so it seems... Leah Ebersol and her beloved Jonas Mast are separated by hundreds of miles after he accepts an apprenticeship in Ohio. They are confident their love is strong enough to survive the separation, but more than time and distance are conspiring to keep them apart.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Beverly Lewis, born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, is The New York Times bestselling author of more than ninety books. Her stories have been published in eleven languages worldwide. A keen interest in her mother's Plain heritage has inspired Beverly to write many Amish-related novels, beginning with The Shunning, which has sold more than one million copies and was recently made into an Original Hallmark Channel movie. In 2007 The Brethren was honored with a Christy Award. She has been interviewed by both national and international media, including Time magazine, the Associated Press, and the BBC. Beverly lives with her husband, David, in Colorado.

Extrait. © Reproduit sur autorisation. Tous droits réservés.

The Betrayal

By Beverly Lewis

Bethany House Publishers

Copyright © 2003 Beverly Lewis
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-7642-2331-3

Chapter One

Dog days. The residents of Gobbler's Knob had been complainingall summer about the sweltering, brooding sun. Itsintensity reduced clear and babbling brooks to a muddytrickle, turning broccoli patches into yellow flower gardens.Meadowlarks scowled at the parched earth void of worms,while variegated red-and-white petunias dropped their ruffledpetticoats, waiting for a summertime shower.

Worse still, evening hours gave only temporary pause, asdid the dead of night if a faint breeze found its way throughopen farmhouse windows, bringing momentary relief to restlesssleepers. Afternoons were nearly unbearable and had beennow for weeks, June twelfth having hit the record high atninety-seven degrees.

Abram and Ida Ebersol's farmhouse stood at the edge of agreat woods as a shelter against the withering heat. The grazingand farmland surrounding the house had a warm and genialscent, heightened by the high temperatures. Abram'sseven acres and the neighboring farmland were an enticingsanctuary for a variety of God's smaller creatures-squirrels,birds, chipmunks, and field mice, the latter a good enoughreason to tolerate a dozen barn cats.

Not far from the barnyard, hummocks of coarse, panicledgrass bordered the mule road near the outhouse, and a well-wornpath cut through a high green meadow leading to thelog house of Ida's maidel sister, Lizzie Brenneman.

Ida, midlife mother to nearly three-month-old Lydiann,along with four teenage girls-Sadie, Leah, and twins Hannahand Mary Ruth-found a welcome reprieve this day in thedampness of the cold cellar beneath the large upstairs kitchen,where Sadie and Hannah were busy sweeping the cementfloor, redding up in general. Abram had sent Leah indoorsalong about three-thirty for a break from the beastly heat. Idawas glad to have plenty of help wiping down the woodenshelves, making ready for a year's worth of canned goods-eighthundred quarts of fruits and vegetables-once the growingseason was past. Working together, they lined up dozensof quarts of strawberry preserves and about the same of greenbeans and peas, seventeen quarts of peaches thus far, andthirty-six quarts of pickles, sweet and dill. Some of the recentcanning had been done with Aunt Lizzie's help, as well as thatof their close neighbors-the smithy's wife, Miriam Peachey,and daughters, Adah and Dorcas.

The Ebersol girls took their time organizing the jars, notat all eager to head upstairs before long and make supper inthe sultry kitchen.

"I daresay this is the hottest summer we've had in years,"Mamma remarked.

"And not only here," Leah added. "The heat hasn't let upin Ohio, neither."

Mary Ruth mopped her fair brow. "Your beau must bekeepin' you well informed of the weather in Millersburg, jah?"

To this Hannah grinned. "We could set the clock byJonas's letters. Ain't so, Leah?"

Leah, seventeen in two months, couldn't help but smileand much too broadly at that. Dear, dear Jonas. What a wonderful-goodletter writer he was, sending word nearly threetimes a week or so. This had surprised her, really ... butMamma always said it was most important for the young manto do the wooing, either by letters or in person. So Jonas waswell thought of in Mamma's eyes at least. Not so much Dat's.No, her father held fast to his enduring hope of Leah's marryingthe blacksmith's twenty-year-old son, Gideon Peachey-nicknamedSmithy Gid-next farm over.

Sadie stepped back as if to survey her neat row of quart-sizedtomato soup jars. "Writin' to Cousin Jonas about theweather can't be all that interesting, now, can it?" she said,eyeing Leah.

"We write 'bout lots of things...." Leah tried to explain,sensing one of Sadie's moods.

"Why'd he have to go all the way out to Ohio for hisapprenticeship, anyway?" Sadie asked.

Mamma looked up just then, her earnest blue eyes intenton her eldest. "Aw, Sadie, you know the reason," she said.

Sadie's apologetic smile looked forced, and she turnedback to her work.

The subject of Jonas and his letters was dropped. Mamma'sswift reprimand was followed by silence, and then Leah gavea long, audible sigh.

Yet Leah felt no animosity, what with Sadie seeminglymiserable all the time. Sadie was never-ending blue andseemed as shriveled in her soul as the ground was parched. Ifonly the practice of rumschpringe-the carefree, sometimeswild years before baptism-had been abolished by BishopBontrager years ago. A group of angry parents had wished toforce his hand to call an end to the foolishness, but to noavail. Unchecked, Sadie had allowed a fancy English boy tosteal her virtue. Poor, dear Sadie. If she could, Leah would cradleher sister's splintered soul and hand it over to the Menderof broken hearts, the Lord Jesus.

She offered a silent prayer for her sister and continued towork side by side with Mamma. Soon she found herself daydreamingabout her wedding, thinking ahead to which sistersshe might ask to be in her bridal party and whom she andMamma would ask to be their kitchen helpers. Selecting thehostlers-the young men who would oversee the parking ofbuggies and the care of the horses-was the groom's decision.

Jonas had written that he wanted to talk over plans fortheir wedding day when he returned for baptism; he alsowanted to spend a good part of that weekend with her, andher alone. But on the following Monday he must return toOhio to complete his carpentry apprenticeship, "just tillapple-pickin' time." His father's orchard was too enormousnot to have Jonas's help, come October. And then it wouldn'tbe long after the harvest and they'd be married. Leah knewtheir wedding would fall on either a Tuesday or Thursday inNovember or early December, the official wedding season inLancaster County. She and Mamma would be deciding fairlysoon on the actual date, though since Jonas didn't know preciselywhen he'd be returning home for good, she had to waitto discuss it with him. Secretly she hoped he would agree tochoose an earlier rather than a later date.

As for missing Jonas, the past months had been nearlyunbearable. She drank in his letters and answered themquickly, doing the proper thing and waiting till he wrote toher each time. It was painful for her, knowing she'd rejectedhis idea to spend the summer in close proximity to him outin Holmes County-a way to avoid the dreaded long-distancecourtship. But for Sadie's sake, Leah had stayed put in Gobbler'sKnob, wanting to offer consolation after the birth anddeath of her sister's premature baby. In all truth, she hadbelieved Sadie needed her more than Jonas.

But Jonas had been disappointed, and she knew it by theunmistakable sadness in his usually shining eyes. She had toldhim her mother needed help with the new baby, the mainexcuse she'd given. Dismayed, he pressed her repeatedly toreconsider. The hardest part was not being able to share herreal reason with him. Had Jonas known the truth, he wouldhave been soundly stunned. At least he might have understoodwhy she felt she ought to stay behind, which had nothingto do with being too shy to live and work in a strangetown, as she assumed he might think. Most of all, she hopedhe hadn't mistakenly believed her father had talked her outof going.

Today Leah was most eager to continue writing her letterthe minute she completed chores, hoping to slip away againto her bedroom for a bit of privacy. When she considered howawful hot the upstairs had been these days, she thought shemight take herself off to the coolness of the woods, stationeryand pen in hand. If not today, then tomorrow for sure.

No one knew it, but here lately she'd been writing toJonas in the forest. Before her beau had left town, she wouldnever have thought of venturing into the deepest part, onlygoing as far as Aunt Lizzie's house. But she liked being alonewith the trees, her pen on the paper, the soft breezes whisperingher name ... and Jonas's.

Growing up, she'd heard the tales of folk becoming disorientedin the leafy maze of undergrowth and the dark burrowof trees. Still, she was determined to go, delighting inbeing surrounded by all of nature. There a place of solitudeawaited her away from her sisters' prying eyes, as well as aplace to dream of Jonas. She had sometimes wondered whereSadie and her worldly beau had run off to many times last yearbefore Sadie sadly found herself with child. But when Leahsearched the woods, she encountered only tangled brushwoodand nearly impassable areas where black tree roots and thickshrubbery caused her bare feet to stumble.

Both she and Sadie had not forgotten what it felt like aslittle girls to scamper up to Aunt Lizzie's for a playful picnicin her secluded backyard. Thanks to her, they were showndazzling violets amid sward and stone, demanding attentionby the mere look on their floral faces ... and were given afriendly peep into a robin's comfy nest-"but not too close,"Aunt Lizzie would whisper. All this and more during suchdaytime adventures.

But never had Lizzie recommended the girls explore theexpanse of woods on their own. In fact, she'd turned ashen onat least one occasion when seven-year-old Leah wonderedaloud concerning the things so oft repeated. "Ach, youmustn't think of wandering in there alone," Lizzie had repliedquickly. Sadie, at the innocent age of nine, had trembled abit, Leah recalled, her older sister's blue eyes turning a peculiargrayish green. And later Leah had vowed to Sadie she wascontent never to find out "what awful frightening things arehiding in them there wicked woods!"

Now Leah sometimes wondered if maybe Sadie truly hadbelieved the scary tales and taken them to heart, she mightnot have ended up the ruined young woman she was. At thetender age of nineteen.

* * *

At the evening meal Dat sat at the head of the longkitchen table, with doting Mamma to his left. Fourteen-year-oldHannah noticed his brown hair was beginning to gray,bangs cropped straight across his forehead and rounded in abowl shape around the ears and neck. He wore black workpants, a short-sleeved green shirt, and black suspenders,though his summer straw hat likely hung on a wooden peg inthe screened-in porch.

Before eating they all bowed heads simultaneously as thememorized prayer was silently given by each Ebersol familymember, except baby Lydiann, who was nestled in Mamma'spleasingly ample arms.

O Lord God heavenly Father, bless us and these thy gifts,which we shall accept from thy tender goodness and grace. Give usfood and drink also for our souls unto life eternal, and make uspartakers of thy heavenly table through Jesus Christ, thy Son.Amen.

Following the supper blessing, they silently prayed theLord's Prayer.

Meanwhile, Hannah tried to imagine how the arrangedseating pattern might look once Leah was married. She worriedher twin also might not remain under Dat's roof muchlonger, not if she stayed true to her hope of higher education.How Mary Ruth would pull off such a thing, Hannah didn'tknow, especially now with Elias Stoltzfus making eyes at her.

She gazed at her sisters just now, from youngest to eldest.The table would look mighty bare with only five of them present,counting Dat, Mamma and baby, Sadie, and herself. Itwouldn't be long till Lydiann could sit in a high chair scootedup close. That would help round things out a bit ... that andif Mamma were to have another baby or two. Anything waspossible, she assumed, since Mamma was approaching forty-three.Not too terribly old for childbearing, because on theBrenneman side of the family, there were plenty of women inthe family way clear into their late forties-some even intothe early fifties. So who was to say just how many more Ebersolchildren the Lord God might see fit to send along? Honestly,she wouldn't mind if there were a few more little sistersor brothers, and Mary Ruth would be delighted, too; her twinwas ever so fond of wee ones and all.

This made Hannah wonder how many children young andhandsome Ezra Stoltzfus might want to have with his wifesomeday. She could only hope that, at nearly sixteen, hemight find her as fetching as she thought he was. Here latelyshe was mighty sure he had taken more of a shine to her,which was right fine. Of course, now, he'd have to be the oneto pursue her once she turned courting age. She wouldn't beflirting her way into a boy's heart like some girls. Besides, shewasn't interested in attracting a beau that way. She wanted ahusband who appreciated her femininity, a man who wouldlove her for herself, for who she was, not for attractivenessalone.

* * *

Hours after supper, alone in their bedroom, Leah offeredto brush Sadie's waist-length hair. "I could make loose braidsif you want," she said.

Sadie nodded halfheartedly, seemingly preoccupied. Leahtried not to stare as Sadie settled down on a chair near themirrored dresser. Yet her sister looked strangely different.Sadie's flaxen locks tumbled down over her slender back andshoulders, and the glow from the single oil lamp atop thedresser cast an ivory hue on her normally pale cheeks, makingthem appear even more ashen. A shadow of herself.

Standing behind Sadie, she brushed out the tangles fromthe long workday, then finger combed through the silken hair,watching tenderly all the while in the mirror. Sadie's fragilethroat and chin were silhouetted in the lamp's light, herdowncast eyes giving her countenance an expression of puregrief.

Truly, Leah wanted to spend time with Sadie tonight,though it meant postponing the rest of her letter to Jonas.Tomorrow she would finish writing her long letter to him-headup to the woods to share her heart on paper.

She and Sadie had dressed for bed rather quickly,accompanied by their usual comments, speaking in quiettones of the ordinary events of the day, of having especiallyenjoyed Mamma's supper of barbecued chicken, scallopedpotatoes with cheese sauce, fried cucumbers, lima beans, andlemon bars with homemade ice cream for dessert.

But now this look of open despair on Sadie's face causedLeah to say softly, "I think about him, too."

"Who?" Sadie whispered, turning to look up at her.

"Your baby ... my own little nephew gone to heaven."Leah's throat tightened at the memory.

"You do, sister?"

"Oh, ever so much."

Neither of them spoke for a time, then Leah said, "Whatmust it be like for you, Sadie? Ach, I can't imagine yourgrief."

Sadie was lost in her own world again. She moaned softly,leaning her head back for a moment. "I would've let him sleepright here, ya know, in a little cradle in this very room," shewhispered.

Continues...

Excerpted from The Betrayalby Beverly Lewis Copyright ©2003 by Beverly Lewis. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group
• Date d'édition: 2003
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0764223313
• ISBN 13: 9780764223310
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 368
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible