“That’s not the way to play the game,” Lily explained.
Ethan gave her a stern look. “Exactly what game were you playing? Give Onkel Ethan gray hair?”
Lily shook her head. “I don’t know that game.”
Ethan drew a hand down his face to wipe away his grin. He struggled to keep a firm tone. “Were you playing hide-and-seek?”
She smiled brightly. “Ja, and we won.”
Amos grinned, too. “You never found us.”
“The next time you decide to play hide-and-seek you must make sure that I know you’re playing.”
The smile vanished from Lily’s face and she sighed heavily. “That’s what our friend said.”
Amos elbowed her in the side. “That’s a secret.”
Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand to her mouth. “I forgot,” she mumbled.
Ethan glanced around for another child but didn’t see one. “Was there someone else playing with you? Who was it?”
Amos pressed his lips into a thin line and folded his arms tightly. Lily glanced at him and did the same.
Baffled by their refusal to answer him, he stared at their set faces. Should he demand they tell him who else was playing with them? Did it matter? It did if a child was hiding somewhere and his or her parents didn’t know where. He would have to try a different tactic.
He glanced at the position of the sun in the sky. “It’s almost lunchtime. Are you two hungry?”
“I sure am.” Amos jumped to his feet.
“Me, too. Can we have macaroni and cheese?” Lily asked.
“I reckon that’ll be as good a meal as any.” It was something he could fix without much fuss. Thankfully, the children hadn’t tired of it.
“Yum!” Lily’s big grin sent warmth shooting through his chest. She was an adorable child. She looked so much like her mother. It was up to him to see that she grew into a modest and devout woman, too. The thought filled him with dread. He had no idea how to accomplish that feat.
“Will your friend want some, too?” he asked, casually glancing around again for another child.
“She’s gone home,” Lily said, heading toward the door.
Micah ambled across the yard and stopped beside Ethan. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “I see you found them. Are you going to give them a spanking?”
Lily spun around looking horrified. She held her hands over her backside. “I don’t want a spanking.”
Ethan shook his head. “No one is getting spanked. But Micah is going to his room to think about what he did wrong today. After lunch, you little ones can go play on the swings, but I don’t want you to leave the backyard without telling me. Is that understood?”
They both nodded solemnly, but he had to wonder as he held open the door for them just how long they would remember his instructions.
* * *
Clara sat in Faith’s workroom on Saturday morning and spun the final carding of fleece into fine strands of yarn. She glanced out the window, but the branches of the tree overhanging the alpacas’ pen were empty. The animals grazed peacefully beneath it.
She hadn’t mentioned her meeting with Ethan or her return visit to his farm to her family. She preferred to forget about her foolish behavior and put it behind her, but she constantly found herself wondering how Ethan was doing. Not that it was any of her business. Still, even knowing that didn’t keep thoughts of him at bay. He needed help with those children. She hoped he wasn’t too proud to ask for it.
Faith came in from the kitchen. “Are you finished already?”
“That is the last of it.” Clara stopped the wheel and handed a spindle full of white alpaca yarn to Faith.
Faith took it and added it to an overflowing basket. “I’m glad to be done, but I am truly going to miss your company, Clara. I never would have finished in time without you. These orders can go out tomorrow.”
Faith’s husband, Adrian, came in holding their three-month-old daughter, Ruby. “Micah Gingerich is here. He says that you have chores you want him to do?”
“Indeed I have.” Faith sprang to her feet and marched out of the room.
Adrian laughed. “Never mess with that woman’s child or her alpacas.”
Clara held out her arms. “May I hold Ruby for a while? I will miss the time I’ve spent with you and with Faith, but it is this little one that I shall miss the most of all.”
He handed the sleeping baby to her. “I had better go see what jobs Faith is assigning to Micah. It’s always best when the grown-ups present a unified front.”
Clara held the baby close as Adrian left the room. She would miss being here more than she cared to admit. She loved babies. The Lord had found a beautiful way to begin people. Children were a constant reminder of God’s love and grace in the world.
Clara’s one great sadness was that she would never hold a babe of her own. The idea of marriage was utterly repugnant after her treatment at the hands of her would-be fiancé. No, she would remain single. She took a seat in the rocker and cuddled the baby until Faith returned.
Smiling, Faith crossed the room. “I’ll take her now.”
“Are you sure I can’t take her home with me?”
Faith propped her hands on her hips. “I could let you, but you’ll bring her back about three o’clock in the morning.”
“My sisters and I have raised a dozen bottle lambs on our grandfather’s farm this spring. I think we could manage this little lamb, too.”
Faith lifted the babe from her arms. “I’m sure you could. You will have babes of your own someday. Is there any young man in our community who has caught your fancy?” Faith asked with a quick peek in Clara’s direction and a knowing smile.
“Nee, marriage isn’t for me.” Clara looked down and didn’t elaborate. Oddly, Ethan’s face popped into her head. He needed a wife to look after his children.
Why should she think of him now?
Faith took a seat in the chair beside her. “I know some of your story, Clara. I know you escaped marriage to a brutal man by running away on your wedding day.”
Clara looked up, startled. “How did you find out?”
“Your sister Lizzie told me about it.”
“It was by the grace of God and by my sister Lizzie’s determination to save me that I was spared a life of hopelessness and pain.” Clara laid a hand to her cheek as she remembered the painful slap of Rufus’s heavy hand striking her.
Faith
