Read Online The Face of Heaven by Murray Pura - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Murray Pura
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beauty and manliness and strong spirit. But just as finding Moses and Charlie in the barn that day had changedeverything, as had his words of affection to her in the hay field one rainy afternoon, something new burst into their lives once again and stood everything on its head.
Corinth had returned to Elizabethtown in the company of his father and brother the Saturday after he had run off to Harrisburg to enlist. For months, as the North and the South had proceeded steadily on divergent paths with little armed conflict, the young man had been content to remain at his family farm and help with the crops. But when a huge battle occurred at a place called Manassas Junction in Virginia in July, and the North was defeated, the King family woke to find that Corinth had disappeared from their midst yet again. This time a search of Harrisburg’s military depots turned up nothing. It wasn’t until a letter arrived from Indiana that the Kings learned Corinth had made his way to an Amish community there and was refusing to return home. The man who wrote the letter, kin to the Yoders, explained that Corinth had made it clear he would only talk with his older brother Nathaniel. So Lyndel went out to milk her cows at four o’clock one August morning to find a perfect red rose from someone’s garden lying across the top of her milking bucket.
She felt wonderful and sad at the same time. Although there was no note attached, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the rose was from Nathaniel. It had to do with his affection for her, of course, but she felt it was also about beginnings and endings and this stirred up the mix of emotions within her. Not knowing what else to do, she upended her milking bucket, sat on it, cried for a few minutes, then tucked the rose in her kapp while she went about her chores. She decided that once she had finished milking she would go to her room and carefully press the rose between the pages of her Bible at Psalm 91.
A loud creaking of wheels made her raise her head from her work.
“Hello, the Keim farm!” a man called. “Is anyone about?”
Lyndel stood up and went to the barn door. She recognized the voice. The visitor was Nathaniel’s father, Adam King.
“Mr. King.” She greeted him with a smile. “ Guten Morgen. ”
He nodded from the seat of his buggy. “ Guten Morgen. I have come to bring you news. You and your father.”
“What news is that?”
“Nathaniel has left on the train. He boarded late last night.”
Lyndel bit her lip. “He has gone to Indiana to bring back Corinth?” Mr. King stared at her. His brown eyes were soft. “He left for Indiana, yes. But not to bring back Corinth. He went to enlist.”
Lyndel felt ice move through her body. “What?”
“There is a telegram from Pittsburgh they brought to the house an hour ago.” Mr. King extended a slip of paper. “He talks to you.”
She reached up and took the telegram from his hand.
Father, I have not gone to fetch Corinth. I have gone to join him. I will enlist in the Union Army and request to be enrolled in the same regiment. Lyndel, I did not know how to tell you. I still don’t. I take up arms because I see Charlie Preston’s eyes when your father and I cut him down from the tree. No matter what else has gone on since that day his eyes and face are with me. I must put my body between the slave driver and the slave. I realize I may never see you again. But my God knows how much I love you. Goodbye.
6
L yndel’s shock at reading Nathaniel’s message soon turned to anger at his unwillingness to face her in person…to at least say goodbye. What if it were true that they would never see each other again? How could he leave like this? Had he been merely teasing when he spoke of courtship?
But as the days turned to weeks, so too the anger turned to forgiveness, worry, and prayers for Nathaniel’s safety. The latter, of course, was her main concern. No one had heard a word from him. Where was he now? Was
Corinth had returned to Elizabethtown in the company of his father and brother the Saturday after he had run off to Harrisburg to enlist. For months, as the North and the South had proceeded steadily on divergent paths with little armed conflict, the young man had been content to remain at his family farm and help with the crops. But when a huge battle occurred at a place called Manassas Junction in Virginia in July, and the North was defeated, the King family woke to find that Corinth had disappeared from their midst yet again. This time a search of Harrisburg’s military depots turned up nothing. It wasn’t until a letter arrived from Indiana that the Kings learned Corinth had made his way to an Amish community there and was refusing to return home. The man who wrote the letter, kin to the Yoders, explained that Corinth had made it clear he would only talk with his older brother Nathaniel. So Lyndel went out to milk her cows at four o’clock one August morning to find a perfect red rose from someone’s garden lying across the top of her milking bucket.
She felt wonderful and sad at the same time. Although there was no note attached, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the rose was from Nathaniel. It had to do with his affection for her, of course, but she felt it was also about beginnings and endings and this stirred up the mix of emotions within her. Not knowing what else to do, she upended her milking bucket, sat on it, cried for a few minutes, then tucked the rose in her kapp while she went about her chores. She decided that once she had finished milking she would go to her room and carefully press the rose between the pages of her Bible at Psalm 91.
A loud creaking of wheels made her raise her head from her work.
“Hello, the Keim farm!” a man called. “Is anyone about?”
Lyndel stood up and went to the barn door. She recognized the voice. The visitor was Nathaniel’s father, Adam King.
“Mr. King.” She greeted him with a smile. “ Guten Morgen. ”
He nodded from the seat of his buggy. “ Guten Morgen. I have come to bring you news. You and your father.”
“What news is that?”
“Nathaniel has left on the train. He boarded late last night.”
Lyndel bit her lip. “He has gone to Indiana to bring back Corinth?” Mr. King stared at her. His brown eyes were soft. “He left for Indiana, yes. But not to bring back Corinth. He went to enlist.”
Lyndel felt ice move through her body. “What?”
“There is a telegram from Pittsburgh they brought to the house an hour ago.” Mr. King extended a slip of paper. “He talks to you.”
She reached up and took the telegram from his hand.
Father, I have not gone to fetch Corinth. I have gone to join him. I will enlist in the Union Army and request to be enrolled in the same regiment. Lyndel, I did not know how to tell you. I still don’t. I take up arms because I see Charlie Preston’s eyes when your father and I cut him down from the tree. No matter what else has gone on since that day his eyes and face are with me. I must put my body between the slave driver and the slave. I realize I may never see you again. But my God knows how much I love you. Goodbye.
6
L yndel’s shock at reading Nathaniel’s message soon turned to anger at his unwillingness to face her in person…to at least say goodbye. What if it were true that they would never see each other again? How could he leave like this? Had he been merely teasing when he spoke of courtship?
But as the days turned to weeks, so too the anger turned to forgiveness, worry, and prayers for Nathaniel’s safety. The latter, of course, was her main concern. No one had heard a word from him. Where was he now? Was
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