Paradise Valley

261 Pages·2011·1.12 MB·English

by  Dale Cramer

Paradise
VALLEY

DALE
CRAMER
© 2011 by Dale Cramer
Published by Bethany House Publishers
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287.
E-book edition created 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—
without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed
reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1408-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
For my sister,
Fannie Wengerd
THE FAMILY OF CALEB AND MARTHA
BENDER
JANUARY 1922

ADA, 27 Unmarried; mentally challenged

MARY, 24 Husband, Ezra Raber (children: Samuel, 5; Paul, 4)

LIZZIE, 23 Remains behind in Ohio with husband, Andy Shetler (3 children)

AARON, 21

AMOS Aaron’s twin brother; deceased

EMMA, 20

MIRIAM, 18+

HARVEY, 17

RACHEL, 15+

LEAH, 13

BARBARA, 11
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1
In January of 1922 the Salt Creek Township in eastern Ohio was a pastoral
haven of rolling hills and curving country lanes lined with horse fences and
dotted here and there with the spartan farmhouses of the Amish. Perched near
the road in a little bend above a creek valley sat the home of Caleb Bender, a
plain white two-story saltbox with a tin roof. Across the gravel drive to the right
of the house lay a long, low five-bay buggy shed, and rising from the knoll
behind the house a massive T-shaped barn with a tall grain silo attached to one
corner. Though nothing about the farm was ostentatious in any way, the whole
of it – from the sleek, fat livestock to the neatly trimmed front lawn and flower
beds, to the freshly whitewashed board fence around the yard – spoke of order
and loving attention to detail.
By sunrise young Rachel Bender and her older sister Emma had already
milked the cows and fed the chickens. There were no eggs, for they had been
gathered the evening before to keep them from freezing in the night.
The heavy frost turned barbed wire into guitar strings. Rachel’s breath came
out in clouds, and brittle grass crunched underfoot as she followed her sister up
to the silo after breakfast to throw down fresh silage. The patch of cow-churned
mud in the barn lot had frozen solid during the night, and now her toes burned
and threatened to go numb, even in boots.
Normally, this would be a boy’s job, but in the Bender family there weren’t
enough boys to go around, so the girls grabbed pitchforks and bent their backs to
the task. Rachel could handle a pitchfork well enough, though ten minutes of
throwing down silage still made her puff a little. Warmed by the effort, she
paused for a second to unbutton the neck of her heavy coat.
Emma kept working, humming an old tune, not even breathing hard. Strong,
that one was. Neatly parted light brown hair peeked out the front of the black
wool scarf covering her head, tied tightly under her chin.
“Are you and Levi going to be married?” Rachel asked, out of the blue.
Approaching sixteen, she would soon be old enough to date, so lately she had
spent a great deal of time thinking about boys. Levi Mullet had been courting her
older sister for almost two years, but so far there were no wedding rumors. At
twenty, it was getting late for Emma. Amish girls were always secretive about
wedding plans – it was a tradition – so if Levi and Emma were indeed thinking
of getting married, it would not be announced until a month before the wedding.
Rachel wanted in on the secret now – if there was one.
Emma stopped and leaned on her pitchfork, grinning at her younger sister’s
bold intrusion.
She sniffed. “Well, we could be. But don’t you think that would be up to
Levi?”
“Jah, I suppose, but I’d think you’d know his mind by now. Wouldn’t you?”
Emma smiled and averted her eyes, a clear hint. “I do, and it’s a good mind.
He’s a fine man. I’d be proud to be his wife – he already knows that. But he’s
also a practical man, and he wants to be sure he can support a family. Anyway,
there’s plenty of time. It’s only the first week of the new year, child, and
marrying season isn’t until after harvest in the fall.”
Rachel knew her sister well, and the merry glint in Emma’s bright blue eyes
told her all she wanted to know. Obviously, Emma and Levi had already
discussed these things privately, but it was not yet a matter for everyone else’s
ears. The things Emma hadn’t said brought a bold grin to Rachel’s face, her
suspicions confirmed.
Emma wagged a finger at her. “Now, don’t you go spreading rumors to all
your friends, girl. I’ll thank you to control your gossipy tongue.” But she was
smiling as she said it.
That was when they heard the engine.
They froze, listening. Rachel couldn’t see, for there were no windows in the
silo, but she could hear what was happening. The automobile coughed twice as
the high-pitched clattering slowed to a warbling rumble, and she heard the faint
but unmistakable crunch of gravel as rubber tires turned up into the Bender
driveway.
She seldom saw an automobile out here in the heart of Amish country, though
they had become common in town. Only rarely did a car pass by on the road in
front of the house, and none of them had ever turned into their driveway before.
Dat would not like this. To him, these motorcars were the work of the devil –
noisy and smelly and ignorant. Even a stupid horse could be made to see reason,