Miriam and the Stranger by Jerry S. Eicher Page A

enough to ask coherent questions, let alone sniff out corruption.
    Tyler rubbed the stubble on his chin and drove his rental car back onto the road.

Chapter Twelve

    A bout that same hour in Coalgate, Mose Stoll paused in the door of the Greyhound bus to wave goodbye. Miriam and her Aunt Fannie were standing on the sidewalk nearby to see him off on his return trip. Miriam had found a substitute teacher for the school day, even though Mose had insisted this wasn’t necessary. He had shaken hands with both of them moments before and had hoped they would return to the car. Their driver, Mr. Whitehorse, had driven them all into town to catch the bus, but Miriam wouldn’t leave until the bus pulled away. It just seemed to her the right thing to do.
    Mose gave one last wave and climbed up the bus steps. The bus driver gave him a grin. “Did you have a good visit?”
    “ Yah , I did,” Mose answered as he looked back through the bus for a seat, finally settling into a seat across from two middle-aged women and laying his head back on the seat. Out of the corner of his eye, Miriam’s face appeared again on the sidewalk. Shewaved again. Mose lifted his hand in a feeble response. Miriam likely didn’t see him through the tinted bus windows anyway. She smiled though, and wisps of her hair were blowing out from under her kapp and across her face.
    Mose looked away. Miriam was a decent and holy woman, but he hadn’t seen a woman’s long hair unbound for many months now. Miriam’s hair would be beautiful flowing across her shoulders, Mose told himself. He wished now he had asked her last night to wed him. Perhaps his conscience would be more open to these thoughts of Miriam if she was his promised one. But last night he had been too cautious to make such a fast move, much as he wanted to wed Miriam this fall. Mose chided himself. He should have given in to his first impulse, but he couldn’t overcome his scruples. He would have to wait now. Miriam would be his frau in a year or so. He felt confident of that, and he’d feel better if she went ahead and completed her promised year of teaching. Then she’d be free to marry him without inconveniencing anyone. That was how he liked things done. Duty first, followed by pleasure.
    The bus pulled out of Coalgate, and Mose watched the landscape pass by the window. He liked this part of the country, but he wouldn’t want to live here. Thankfully Miriam had voiced her willingness to return to Wayne County with him. He had gotten that far with his proposal of marriage. More could be said in the letters they would exchange, though probably not the proposal itself. A woman wouldn’t want a proposal on paper. When she came for her sister’s wedding, perhaps he could ask her then.
    The Lord was blessing him greatly, Mose told himself. Women of excellent character sometimes lacked in outer beauty, but Miriam did not fit that description. Neither had his former frau , Rachel, who had been both lovely to look on and possessed of a most gracious character. He had been ready to accept Miriam ifshe lacked outward blessings of the Lord, but in this he had been pleasantly surprised. Yah , he had been more than pleasantly surprised. He still couldn’t fully grasp how the Lord had chosen to bless him twice with beautiful women who would honor, obey, and love him like the Scriptures instructed.
    He hoped the Lord would give Miriam and him kinner . They were both young, and he wanted children with the frau he married this time. But that would depend on the Lord’s will, he supposed. One could not dictate such things, but it would be a shame if the bishop’s lot landed on him and he could never have kinner of his own. The community would try to understand, but they would wonder why their bishop wasn’t blessed of the Lord—even with his second frau .
    Mose stared out of the bus window, but he saw only Miriam’s face in front of his eyes. Yah , he would have to trust the Lord. He could be cautious