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“Your brother’s behavior reflects badly on you, Bethany, and on our community. Something must be done.”
Bethany Martin sat across from Bishop Elmer Schultz at her kitchen table with her head bowed and her hands clasped tightly together in her lap. Her dear friend Gemma Lapp sat beside her. Bethany was grateful for Gemma’s moral support.
“We Amish are newcomers here,” he continued. “We can’t afford to stir ill will among our Englisch neighbors. Don’t you agree?”
Bethany glanced up and met his intense gaze. She nodded slightly. An imposing man in his midfifties, the bishop had a shaggy gray-and-black beard that reached to the middle of his chest. A potato farmer and owner of a shed building business, he was known for his long and often rambling sermons, but he was a fair man and well liked in their small Amish community. Bethany didn’t take his visit lightly. She prepared to defend her brother.
“Ivan isn’t a bad boy. It’s just that he misses his grandfather. He’s angry that God took Elijah from us and he feels guilty. The two of them were very close.” Her heart ached for her troubled brother.
“Time will heal this,” Gemma added.
The bishop sighed. “Your grandfather Elijah was a fine man, Bethany. I have no doubt that he kept the boy’s high spirits in check, but Ivan has quickly put one foot on the slippery slope that leads to serious trouble. He needs a firm hand to guide him and mold him into an upstanding and righteous man.”
“I can do that,” Bethany assured him. “I’ve raised Ivan from the time he was five and our sister, Jenny, wasn’t much more than a newborn babe.” She might be their sister, but she was also the only mother they had ever known. Both mother and father to them after the man who bore that title left his family for the fourth and final time. Bethany’s anger surged to the surface but she quickly brought it under control. At least her mother had been spared knowing about his final betrayal. She had been positive he would return to care for his children after she was gone. He hadn’t. Bethany brought her attention back to the matter at hand.
Gemma waved one hand. “Ivan is almost fourteen. Boys that age get into mischief.”
It was a weak argument and Bethany knew it. Her brother’s recent behavior was more than mischief, but she didn’t know what to do about it. He seemed to be done listening to her.
The bishop’s expression softened. “Bethany, your grandfather was concerned that you have sacrificed your chance to have a family of your own in order to care for your siblings.”
She drew herself up straight. “I don’t feel that way. Ivan and Jenny are my family.”
The bishop laced his fingers together on the table. “I am the spiritual leader of this community and as such I have a duty to oversee the welfare of all my flock. Normally I would leave the discipline of children to their parents. In this case I feel duty bound to step in. Elijah was my dear friend. It was his vision that founded our new community here. It was his desire to see it grow. For that we need the goodwill of our Englisch neighbors.”
“I’m aware of that. I spent many months helping him search for the best place to settle. New Covenant is as much my dream as it was his.” She didn’t like the direction the bishop seemed to be going.
“Then you agree that we can’t let the reckless actions of one boy ruin what has been created.”
“He isn’t trying to spoil anything.” Bethany was compelled to defend Ivan, but the truth was she didn’t know what was wrong with him. Was he acting out because of his grief or was something else going on?
His schoolwork had suffered in the past weeks. His teacher had complained of behavior issues in class. He had been in several scuffles with non-Amish boys earlier in the year but they weren’t anything serious. It was his recent secrecy and withdrawal that bothered Bethany the most. How could she help him if she didn’t understand what was amiss?
She lifted her chin. “There is no proof that he damaged Greg Janson’s tractor or that he is responsible for letting Robert Morris’s cattle loose.”
Bishop Schultz