Chapter 1.
“It’s your turn next,” Silvie whispered to Emma once the bishop pronounced their friends, Angela and Robert, mann and fraa.
“Jah, it’s not far away now.” Emma smiled and looked lovingly over at her husband-to-be, Wil. They’d finally set a date just two months away and now with Angela out of her haus, Emma could concentrate on her own wedding day.
“Where’s Sabrina? I thought she’d be here,” Emma said.
“She hasn’t shown up to anything of late. I’ve a gut mind to send her packing back to Ohio. Now that she’s not under mamm and dat’s eyes, she thinks she can do anything she likes. She hasn’t even been to the last few Sunday meetings. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bishop stopped by to have a talk with her.”
“What’s she doing then? I thought she was looking for a husband, so wouldn’t she attend everything she could, especially a wedding? Look at all the single menner here.”
Silvie looked around. “Jah, that’s true. I wonder what she’s been up to. I’m going to have to take more notice of her comings and goings.”
“Maybe we should spy on her, follow her.” Emma giggled, then leaned close to Silvie and whispered, “From what you said of your mudder she’ll blame you if Sabrina gets into any trouble. She is your younger schweschder after all.”
What Emma said about Sabrina getting into trouble preyed on Silvie’s mind and was the reason she left the wedding celebrations early. Why hadn’t she thought of it herself? It was clear, now that Emma had pointed it out to her that Sabrina was up to something. But what? Sabrina freely admitted to being in Lancaster County solely to look for a husband, so why wasn’t she at Angela’s wedding – a perfect place to find such a mann?
Silvie had been so caught up in her own long wait for Bailey, the mann she loved, to become Amish that she had completely ignored her duty as big schweschder. Whatever would her mudder think of her?
While her horse clip-clopped home in the dark with the mandatory lights of the buggy flashing, Silvie recalled that Sabrina had been out and about nearly every day of the past week.
Silvie had been so pleased to have some time to herself that she never thought to ask Sabrina where she went. The truth was that she hadn’t cared where she was.
That was before she considered that she might be doing things she shouldn’t be doing.
As Silvie drew closer to home, she was surer than ever that her schweschder, Sabrina, was secretly dating an Englischer. Nothing else fit. That had to be it.
Anger rose within Silvie as she recalled that just recently Sabrina told her she was disappointed in her for being in love with Bailey because he was an Englischer.
Calm down. There could be a logical explanation. Maybe she’s sick and that’s why she didn’t go to the wedding. Silvie’s body trembled in anger. Well, she had better be sick, Silvie told herself.
Once Silvie had the horse rubbed down and safely in his stable, she headed into the haus to see what she could find out about what was going on with Sabrina.
Silvie had given Sabrina the downstairs bedroom, which had its own outdoor access. Silvie realized it had been a mistake to give her a room from which she could come and go as she pleased. Silvie would have no idea what time she was coming home or whether she was sneaking out after she’d come home.
Silvie lit one of the gas lanterns, opened Sabrina’s bedroom door and peeped in. There was no sign of her. Sabrina would have known that Silvie would have been home very late that night. Maybe Sabrina thought she could slip home unnoticed at a late hour. She had a good look around Sabrina’s room. Nothing seemed out of place.
Silvie felt sick to her stomach and decided to help herself to a small glass of the fortified wine, which she only kept for medicinal purposes. She walked into the utility room, stretched onto her tiptoes and reached to the back of the highest shelf. Once she poured some of the dark fluid into a small glass she sank into the couch and put the glass to her lips.
Her body flooded with warmth after one sip. Oh Gott, what am I to do? She asked in desperation. She knew that Gott was the only answer. He could help her with her problems with Sabrina. The more she thought about it, the more she realized there was a problem, as things with Sabrina just didn’t add up. She was angry with herself for not realizing before now and angry with herself that it needed Emma to point it out to her.
There was nothing she could do, but wait until Sabrina came home and then she would confront her with her suspicions.
Silvie was drifting off to sleep on the lounge, then jolted awake when her head tipped down suddenly. She looked up at the china clock on the sideboard. It was ten past twelve. The clock reminded her of John, her late husband. She thought of him less and less as the years passed. It wasn’t a bad marriage and Silvie had grown to love John over the years. She did miss being married and having a man to care for. She hoped that Bailey would fill that gap in her life before too long.
The low hum of a car’s engine outside her front door snapped Silvie out of her daydreams. She flung the door open to see Sabrina racing towards her. She collapsed in Silvie’s arms and the taxi sped back up the driveway.
“What’s the matter with you, Sabrina?”
Sabrina pushed Silvie inside, shut the door behind them and then sank to the floor. “He’s dead; he’s dead.”
