Where Shadows Meet(11)

“Hannah, Mrs. Long is here. You need to speak to her, tell her you forgive Cyrus.”

Luca took her forearm in a firm grasp. “We’ll do it now. Both of us.”

“No!” Hannah jerked her arm out of Luca’s grasp, and he let his hand drop. “We have no one left. I don’t want to talk to her.” With a shock, she recognized that the hatred she felt toward Ellen Long was a thin veneer over her own self-hatred. Hannah, not Ellen, was the one who was guilty. God had merely used the Longs to punish her.

“You have to forgive, Hannah. You know it is required.” The bishop took her firmly by the arm and began tugging her toward the woman, who stood with a pleading smile, watching them approach.

Noah flanked Hannah’s other side, his hand on her arm as well. She felt as though she were being dragged to the gallows. Something broke in Hannah. She dug her heels into the soft earth that had received the earthly remains of her family. “No, I won’t,” she said, her voice rising above the shriek of the wind. She tore herself free from their grips.

A flash of light caught her eye, and she saw a sheriff’s car pull to a stop on the soft shoulder of the dirt road. Reece got out of the driver’s side. He saw her and jogged to meet her. “Are you okay?”

Luca moved toward her again as Hannah shrank against Reece. “Come, Hannah. It must be done.”

Reece’s strong arm came around her. “Don’t touch her. She doesn’t want to go with you.”

“Please stay out of this, Deputy. It’s something Hannah must do for her own good.” Luca attempted again to tug her away from Reece.

Reece’s other arm came up, and he tore Luca’s hand away from Hannah’s arm. “She’s free to go if she wants, Mr. Schwartz, but I won’t have her forced. Hannah, do you want to go with him?”

“No!” She burrowed closer against Reece’s barrel chest.

“You heard the lady.” Reece turned away with his arm still around her and moved her away from Luca. Only Hannah saw his smile.

If she had to talk to Ellen, she would babble out her own guilt. She couldn’t forgive the Long family any more easily than she could forgive herself. They were all in this together, if everyone just knew the truth.

Reece moved her away from the rest of the group. “You’re still shaking. What did he want?”

Hannah couldn’t talk about it. She couldn’t face what she’d become. Inhaling the spicy scent of his cologne, she knew he would rescue her. She had to be brave enough to let him. “I’ll marry you,” she gasped. “But we must go now, quickly, before they can stop us.”

Reece’s hands tightened on her shoulders. “Are you sure, honey? There’s no going back.”

“I’m sure.” She’d chosen her course. God had rejected her. She was anathema.





FOUR


“Someday you’ll marry a good man, Hannah. Trust him and submit to him.”

PATRICIA SCHWARTZ

The new clothes Reece had insisted on buying Hannah were alien, strange to her skin. The skirt just touched her knees, and her arms were bare for the first time other then when she bathed. She tugged on the V-neck of the blouse and wished for a shawl in the dimly lit Market Street Grill. Trains chugged around the bar, but she kept her gaze averted. Bars were where the devil and his crowd hung out. Why would her new husband bring her here? Wabash. She’d never been farther than Nyesville.

She stared out the window. The trees hadn’t leafed out yet, and the small downtown looked as barren as she felt with Englisch all around her. The breaded pork tenderloin sandwich in front of her nearly covered her plate, and she had only managed a few bites.

This wasn’t the way she’d pictured her wedding day. It was supposed to be on a Tuesday, with a church service followed by a daylong celebration of food and fellowship. She should be wearing a blue dress and black kapp. Even the food they’d eaten today was alien. There was no chicken and stuffing with lots of celery, no creamed celery. All the extra celery seed Mamm had saved to plant in the garden this year for her wedding would go to waste.

She chewed food she couldn’t taste and sipped chlorinated water. She glanced down at the golden band on her hand. She was a married woman. No, more than that, a married Englisch woman. Even during her rumspringa, her running around time, she’d never been tempted to desert her faith. Yet here she was.

“Pretty ring, isn’t it?” Reece said, reaching over to squeeze her hand.

“Never have I worn jewelry,” she said. Reece beamed proudly until she added, “It feels very strange. And sinful.”

His smile faded. “Finish your dinner, honey.”

He sounded as tired as she felt. She picked up the sandwich and tried to chew another bite. All she really wanted was to flee the place, run back to the comfort of her family. But they were dead, all dead. Her duty was to obey her husband, to love him and be as good a wife as her mother had been.

He smiled at her. “We’ll have a good life, Hannah. I’ve already found a job here in Wabash. Our apartment is across the street. It’s just been renovated, and I think you’ll like it.”

“Downtown? Not in the country?” She’d rarely even been to town, and the constant hubbub of cars disoriented her.

“Do you always mean to question me, Hannah? I know you don’t like to be told what to do, but I’m your husband. We’ll be happier if you follow my leadership. This is a strange world to you, but I know what’s best for us.”