Her Forgotten Amish Past. Debby Giusti

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ the buggy to a stop, he hopped to the pavement and slowly approached her. “Ma’am?”

      She glanced over her shoulder as if unaware of his approach. Fear flashed from her eyes.

      “No,” she cried, her voice little more than a whisper.

      Turning as if to flee, her feet tangled, one upon the other. She gasped, splayed her arms and started to fall.

      He caught her, pulled her close and held her tight as she whimpered and fought to free herself from his grasp.

      “I will not harm you,” he said, hoping to ease her concern. “You are safe with me.”

      She struggled, but her feeble attempts were little match for his firm, but gentle hold.

      Staring down at her, his gut tightened, seeing the scrapes and cuts on her arms and cheeks. Brambles nested in her hair. Her kapp hung to one side of her head, held in place by a crisscross of hairpins. Streaks of blood stood out against the starched white fabric.

      What had happened to this woman?

      With a last surge of determination, she tried to pull free, and then her knees buckled and her eyes fluttered closed. She collapsed limp against his chest.

      He lifted her into his arms and continued to hold her as he climbed into his buggy and flicked the reins. He could not leave her on the road, not in this condition. He would take her to Hattie’s farm. His aunt would provide comfort for the woman and provide for her immediate needs. Water and nourishment, along with salve and bandages to cover her wounds.

      Holding her close, Ezekiel was reassured by her breath that played across his neck. Although grateful she was alive, he shook his head in bewilderment. Why would a woman stagger along this desolate stretch of mountain road, far from town or any of the Amish farms that dotted the valley?

      Another thought came to mind, but he shoved it aside. He could not dwell on the past. He had moved beyond the pain of Irene’s death. At least, he thought he had. Yet something about this woman and the fear he had seen in her eyes brought back all that had happened.

      Irene had left him shortly before their wedding, saying she needed time to experience life before she joined the Amish faith and married him. A few weeks later, he had followed after her, hoping to convince her to come back to Amish Mountain. He never suspected Irene had gotten involved with a drug dealer who cooked up methamphetamines in his cabin. Or that she had started using crystal meth.

      He shuddered at the memories that welled up unbidden and glanced again at the battered woman in his arms. He needed to focus on her problems and not his own.

      Hattie’s farm was not far, and the mare covered the distance at a sprightly trot. Zeke barely touched the reins before Sophie turned into the entrance drive, eager for the oats and hay that awaited her.

      Zeke pulled the mare to a stop at the back porch of his aunt’s home. Carefully, he climbed down, still holding the bedraggled woman close.

      The kitchen door opened, and his aunt stepped onto the porch, her gaze drawn with worry.

      “You are late in coming from town, Ezekiel.”

      As he approached the door, her eyes widened. “What have you brought?”

      “A woman, Hattie. I found her wandering on the road.”

      “She has fainted, yah?”

      “I fear her condition is far more serious.”

      Hattie held the door open. “Hurry her into the house and upstairs to the guest room.”

      Grabbing an oil lamp, his aunt followed him to the second floor and into the bedroom. She pulled back the quilt that covered the bed and stepped aside as he placed the injured woman on the fresh sheet that had dried in the sun and smelled of the outdoors.

      Hattie removed the woman’s kapp and pointed to the streaks of blood, then glanced up at Ezekiel who shared her concern.

      “Someone has hurt her,” he whispered.

      His aunt nodded.

      She slipped the black cape from the woman’s shoulders and gasped. Zeke’s gut twisted, seeing the blood that stained the front of her dress. More blood than would have come from her head wound alone.

      “Gott help you, Zeke,” his aunt said with a shake of her head. “Trouble has found you again.”

      Thoughts of the explosion and subsequent fire flooded over him again. He had carried Irene from the drug dealer’s cabin and had tried to resuscitate her. The memory of her limp body brought the pain back anew.

      Giving his heart to an Englisch woman over two years ago had been his first mistake. He had made so many, but he was wiser now and would not be swayed by a new pretty face, even if she was Amish.

      For the last twenty-four months, he had found solace helping his aunt with the upkeep of her farm. Here in this idyllic mountain setting, he had holed up away from the world. He would not let anyone, even a woman in distress, disrupt his status quo and the tranquil existence he had created for himself.

      He sighed at his own foolishness, letting out a lungful of air. The stranger had already thrown his peaceful life into confusion.

       TWO

      The man was behind her. She heard his footfalls and his grunts and groans as he moved through the underbrush. Her heart pounded nearly out of her chest. She needed to run, but her legs were weighted down and wouldn’t move.

      She thrashed, trying to escape whatever held her back.

      A scream tore through the night.

      Hands grabbed her. She fought to free herself.

      “No!” she cried.

      “Wake up, dear. You are all right. No one will hurt you.”

      A woman’s voice. Not the man who ran after her. She thrashed again.

      A soft hand touched her cheek. “You need water. Sit up, dear, and drink.”

      Water?

      She blinked her eyes open to see an older woman with a warm gaze and raised brow.

      An oil lamp sat on a side table, casting the small room in shadow.

      “My name is Hattie. My nephew brought you here earlier this evening.”

      “Nephew?” Had he been the man chasing her?

      “Ezekiel found you wandering on one of the back roads. You collapsed. He was worried about your health and brought you home.”

      “I’m... I’m grateful.”

      “You must tell me your name so we can notify your family tomorrow. I am sure they are worried.”

СКАЧАТЬ