guide me, and I know that I am changed in a way I cannot put into words. Be assured that I am comforted by the words you have taught me all of my life and believe those words and God will help me find the answers I need.
Your loving daughter,
Karola Breit
Chapter Eight
I akob wore a bandanna over his nose and mouth as he attacked the thick layer of dust that covered everything inside the two-room cabin. Even so, he tasted the dirt on his tongue and felt it stinging his eyes. He could have used Lance Bishop’s help, but his young farmhand was occupied with the children, making sure they didn’t get into mischief while their dad was up on the mountainside.
Jakob paused a moment and cast an eye at the roof. He wondered if it leaked in a rainstorm. He didn’t see any blue sky peeking through, but that didn’t mean water couldn’t find a way.
The log cabin had been the first home of Matthew Lewis when he came to this valley to farm in the 1880s. Lewis had done well for himself, and after he married he’d built the main house down below for his bride. Then this cabin had become home to small varmints and spiders. It had remained so after Jakob purchased the farm from Lewis’s widow.
Is it a suitable for Karola?
He glanced around the room, then shook off the bothersome thought. Setting his jaw, he went back to work. Suitable or not, it would have to do. Short of having Karola sleep in the barn loft, this was the only place available for her.
Frustration welled inside of him.
Just once! Just once couldn’t life deal him a fair and easy hand? Why did it always have to be difficult? He’d watched his father get beaten down by hardship and poverty. That was one reason Jakob had left Germany. He’d wanted to escape the day in, day out adversity of existence in the old country. He’d thought things would be different here.
Things had been different, of course. By many standards, he was a successful man. But things had also been painfully similar. Like his father before him, Jakob had lost his wife too young and been left to raise his children alone.
He paused again, cupping his hands over the top of the broom handle and leaning on it. This time his thoughts centered on Siobhan. Oh, what a tumultuous marriage they’d had! Jakob was more reserved by nature; he liked a quiet and peaceful atmosphere in order to reflect and consider the matters of life. But Siobhan? There’d been nothing reserved about her. She’d been like a Roman candle, bursting brightly in the sky, shining light all around. She’d loved nothing more than a good Donnybrook, as she’d called their fights.
But Jakob had hated their frequent disagreements, no matter the cause. Until after Siobhan was gone. Then he’d missed them. Strange. He hadn’t known he would miss them as a part of missing her.
I wonder if Karola likes to argue.
No, he answered himself immediately. Karola would never like to argue. She was more gentle in spirit, more eager to please.
“You know nothing of me or my life since you went away, Jakob.”
She was right, he thought, gripping the broom and returning to work. He didn’t know. Maybe she loved nothing more than a good Donnybrook. Maybe she would have made his life miserable if they’d married. He didn’t know, and he didn’t need to know. As long as she took good care of his children so he could take care of the business of farming, that’s all that mattered to him now.
Ida Noonan smiled as she dropped Karola’s letter into a leather bag behind the counter at the back of the grocery store. “I’m sure your folks’ll be glad to get word from you, Miss Breit. It’s good of you to write to them. Gotta be worrisome for them, having you go so far away.”
Karola nodded. “Ja.”
“I was tellin’ Henry—that’s my husband, you know—that I’d sure hate it if one of our young’ns took it into their heads to go to a whole other country once they’re all growed up. Hard enough when they leave Shadow
Your loving daughter,
Karola Breit
Chapter Eight
I akob wore a bandanna over his nose and mouth as he attacked the thick layer of dust that covered everything inside the two-room cabin. Even so, he tasted the dirt on his tongue and felt it stinging his eyes. He could have used Lance Bishop’s help, but his young farmhand was occupied with the children, making sure they didn’t get into mischief while their dad was up on the mountainside.
Jakob paused a moment and cast an eye at the roof. He wondered if it leaked in a rainstorm. He didn’t see any blue sky peeking through, but that didn’t mean water couldn’t find a way.
The log cabin had been the first home of Matthew Lewis when he came to this valley to farm in the 1880s. Lewis had done well for himself, and after he married he’d built the main house down below for his bride. Then this cabin had become home to small varmints and spiders. It had remained so after Jakob purchased the farm from Lewis’s widow.
Is it a suitable for Karola?
He glanced around the room, then shook off the bothersome thought. Setting his jaw, he went back to work. Suitable or not, it would have to do. Short of having Karola sleep in the barn loft, this was the only place available for her.
Frustration welled inside of him.
Just once! Just once couldn’t life deal him a fair and easy hand? Why did it always have to be difficult? He’d watched his father get beaten down by hardship and poverty. That was one reason Jakob had left Germany. He’d wanted to escape the day in, day out adversity of existence in the old country. He’d thought things would be different here.
Things had been different, of course. By many standards, he was a successful man. But things had also been painfully similar. Like his father before him, Jakob had lost his wife too young and been left to raise his children alone.
He paused again, cupping his hands over the top of the broom handle and leaning on it. This time his thoughts centered on Siobhan. Oh, what a tumultuous marriage they’d had! Jakob was more reserved by nature; he liked a quiet and peaceful atmosphere in order to reflect and consider the matters of life. But Siobhan? There’d been nothing reserved about her. She’d been like a Roman candle, bursting brightly in the sky, shining light all around. She’d loved nothing more than a good Donnybrook, as she’d called their fights.
But Jakob had hated their frequent disagreements, no matter the cause. Until after Siobhan was gone. Then he’d missed them. Strange. He hadn’t known he would miss them as a part of missing her.
I wonder if Karola likes to argue.
No, he answered himself immediately. Karola would never like to argue. She was more gentle in spirit, more eager to please.
“You know nothing of me or my life since you went away, Jakob.”
She was right, he thought, gripping the broom and returning to work. He didn’t know. Maybe she loved nothing more than a good Donnybrook. Maybe she would have made his life miserable if they’d married. He didn’t know, and he didn’t need to know. As long as she took good care of his children so he could take care of the business of farming, that’s all that mattered to him now.
Ida Noonan smiled as she dropped Karola’s letter into a leather bag behind the counter at the back of the grocery store. “I’m sure your folks’ll be glad to get word from you, Miss Breit. It’s good of you to write to them. Gotta be worrisome for them, having you go so far away.”
Karola nodded. “Ja.”
“I was tellin’ Henry—that’s my husband, you know—that I’d sure hate it if one of our young’ns took it into their heads to go to a whole other country once they’re all growed up. Hard enough when they leave Shadow
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