6. Maverick

6

Maverick

"I sent word to every man, including Michael, that I wanted a meeting. There was a lot of grumbling, but they all showed up two days later, early in the morning. We stood outside. Rebecca was in the house, but I knew she was listening. Every window was open, with clean clothes drying on the clothesline. She must have started working at five this morning."

Michael greeted everyone and introduced us. Not just the elders came; all the married men were present. I walked around, looking at each man before asking my first question.

"Did any of you know about the developers who wanted Jerold Cover's land?"

"Maverick, why would you think they would know this?" Michael asked.

"Did any of you know this?" I shouted.

"Yes, we knew it. Jerold told us men had threatened him, and one night, they roughed him up. We advised him to ignore it, and it would go away."

"But it didn't go away. Rebecca's whole family was murdered—all of them, I snarled. "Why didn't he go to the police?"

"We advised him not to tell anyone. We are not like you, outsiders. We don't fight. We try to talk to the people causing the problem."

"Did Rebecca's father talk to the developers?"

"Yes, the men laughed at him."

"Why didn't I know about this?" Michael shouted. Then he shook his head. "I am the Bishop, and you come to me when there is a problem in the community. Daniel, did you know this?"

"I didn't know anything about this. I would have come to you."

"We advised Jerold not to say anything to Daniel; he has had a hot temper since he left the community those years back. That's why we didn't tell you, bishop; we knew you would run to the police."

"I was eighteen when I left. I was only gone for one year," Daniel said, looking at each man.

"You're damn right. I would go to the police," Michael said. "Rebecca's family was murdered because you advised others to keep their mouths shut. And they died. I'm telling you, Randall: you are no longer sitting in on our meetings," Michael said, turning his head when he heard Rebecca.

"My family is gone because you men never said a word about those men who hurt my Dat. I'm sure it took all he had to face you and tell you what happened. And you did nothing. Shame on you!"

"Get in the house, woman; you should be married and out of other people's business," Randall yelled.

"You can't tell me anything. All of you might as well have held the gun that killed my family," Rebecca said.

Randall stepped forward and slapped her across the face. I pulled her behind me. The noise was so loud that I didn't hesitate. My fist connected with his face, and he went down.

"If you men are smart, you'll not let this man advise you on anything. Because of his advice, this family was murdered. This meeting is over. Rebecca is right—shame on all of you," I said, disgusted with all of them.

I didn't understand men like this.

When I turned around, Rebecca had already gone inside. Kai stood in the doorway, her small boys behind her. We walked inside, and Michael followed us.

"I can't believe they didn't tell me about this," Michael said. "Am I or am I not the Bishop?" he demanded. "We'll have another meeting; if they don't want me as their Bishop, I want to know."

"Rebecca, are you all right?" I asked, walking to her. I took her chin and looked at her face. "Has anyone ever hit you before?"

"No."

"I will kill that bastard if he gets near you again."

"Maverick, you're scaring Rebecca," Michael said.

"He's not scaring me. I'm not sure what I feel, but I'm not scared. Thank you for standing up for me. I don't believe in violence, but I did want to hit him. I'm sorry, Bishop."

"This time, it's okay because I wanted to hit him too. I'm sorry about those idiots. Sorry again," he chuckled. "Maverick is a bad influence on both of us."

"I made us all a cup of tea," Kai said, walking into the room, carrying a tray with tea.

"Thank you, Kai. I'm sorry, but I should have asked everyone what they needed. You have those beautiful boys to take care of. I don't want you waiting on me. I'm going to make some sausage and biscuits. Bishop, please stay for breakfast."

"I would love to stay for breakfast."

I watched Rebecca, knowing she would cry; she had just found out her family could be alive if the men had said something. Her father went to them for help, and they threw him to the sharks.

She turned and looked at me. "My poor family, they died because no one would do anything to help. Those men knew we don't fight, we don't cause trouble; we let others say things and hit us without protecting ourselves. Right now, I'm ashamed of being Amish."

Kai put her arm around Rebecca as I got up to do the same thing. Kai knew that. She knew I was going to hold Rebecca in my arms, which was dangerous for both of us.

"I'm going to help Shane with the barn," I said. Rebecca glanced at me and smiled. "What are you going to do in the barn?"

"I don't know, barn stuff," I said, shrugging my shoulders. She chuckled, and everything was going to be okay.

I saw Shane and Marcus working in the fields when I went outside. I walked out to where they were. "What are you two doing?"

"We are plowing this field for planting. Daniel told me it was time for plowing. If you want to do this, I can finish what I started in the barn."

"Sure, I can do this," I said, walking behind the little plow and the horse. I took the plow in my hands, and the horse took off.

"You have to dig deep so you get all the roots. So, push it in a little deeper," Shane explained as he hurriedly walked away.

An hour later, I had stripped off my shirt, and sweat ran down my chest, back, face, and every other spot on my body. I didn't hear anyone calling my name because I was singing out loud. Then she stood in front of me, smiling.

"You sing very well and look so strong," Rebecca said. I swallowed and thought she looked beautiful with her bonnet on.

I wanted to strip all those clothes off of her and teach her all about making love. I knew that once I touched her, she would be mine forever, but I didn't know if she wanted to leave with me.

I knew I could never live here and let people run over me. I waited for her to tell me what she wanted, but she just stood there looking at me.

"Did I ever tell you I love to paint?"

"No, you never did. What do you paint?"

"Landscapes, but mostly portraits. Would it be okay if I painted you? She seemed to shake herself out of a trance, looked at me, and smiled. "Breakfast is ready."

"You can paint me whenever you want. What do I do with the horse and plow?"

"Unharness him, then walk him over here and put him in the corral. We'll feed him and fill up the water trough so he can eat breakfast. Now, let's eat. You might want to put your shirt on."

"I'm sorry I took my shirt off. It was just so damn hot. Sorry. I seem to say sorry a lot when I'm with you."

She stopped and turned to me. "Maverick, I don't want you to tell me you're sorry. I want you to be yourself without apologizing for being you. I like you just the way you are." After that, she turned and returned to the house as I grabbed my shirt and put it on.

Breakfast was delicious and filling; who could work in the fields after eating that much food? I remember Rebecca saying she and her sister worked in the fields with their father and little brothers.

As I walked outside, I saw a painting of the family and knew Rebecca had painted it. I stopped to look at it hanging on the wall.

"Maverick," I heard her call. I turned to see her standing there. "Thank you for everything."

"You don't have to thank me for anything," I replied. Damn, I had it bad.

I saw her two hours later working in the field behind the house. I almost lost it. She had all those clothes on, picking beans, and it had to be over a hundred in the shade.

I grabbed a bucket, filled it with cold river water, and approached her.

"What's that?"

"Cold river water."

"Can I have some, please?"

"You can have all of it," I said. She pushed her hands into the bucket and poured water on her face.

"This feels so good."

"Take your shoes off and stand in it," I suggested.

She had already taken her shoes off. She stepped into the bucket of water. "This is just what I needed. How did you know I needed this?"

"You looked hot and tired."

"I was," she said, "but now I feel much cooler. Thank you." She took one foot out, and I stood where she could hold onto me so she wouldn't fall. Then she did the same with the other foot.

"You know, Maverick, you have to be the only man who has ever gotten me a bucket of water to stand in; thank you. You are also the only man to see my hair down and the only one who has seen me soaking wet."

"Why don't you go inside, and I'll finish picking these beans," I said, not liking her working so hard. For some reason, I was angry that Rebecca had spent her entire waking hours working.

"Why don't we both pick the beans?" Rebecca suggested. "And you can sing us a song. I don't know any of your songs."

"Rebecca, I really can't sing."

"I thought you had a beautiful voice," she said.

"Rebecca, you do know I'm a dangerous man. I guard kings and queens and dangerous people. I can't get caught singing to a beautiful woman picking beans," I whispered, and she chuckled.

"You aren't supposed to tell me I'm beautiful. That goes along with being vain, and I'm not vain."

"I know you're not vain, but you are beautiful." Before she could argue, I started singing. I sang an old country song and didn't miss the way her hips swayed to the music.

"Thank you. Music is a beautiful thing," she said.

"I just sang a song about getting drunk and smoking dope. How is that beautiful?"

"It's beautiful because I asked you to sing a song for me, and you did. You didn't think about it being embarrassing, and you didn't care because I asked you to sing. I love hearing your songs. Thank you."

I chuckled and kept picking beans before I sang another song. If she wanted music, I would give it to her. We heard the dinner bell ringing and walked back to the house.

"When you plant the other fields that are further away, how do you get the water to the fields?" Shane asked as we were eating dinner.

"We don't use all the land; my father has preserved some for its beauty. I remember when we were younger, we would all get in the buggy and have a picnic by the river, which sits by the mountain."

"How are you going to take care of this land when we leave?" I asked.

"She'll be told to find a husband. That's what they told me to do. When I refused, my husband's family took the land. If Rebecca wants to keep this land, she'll have to find a husband," Kai explained.

"I didn't know they took your land; I'm so sorry," Rebecca said.

I watched Rebecca and knew when she realized Kai was right. "No, I will refuse. They can't force me to marry anyone."

"If you refuse, they will split up your land and give it to the men with the highest bid."

"This land belongs to my family. I'll fight for it; they will not take it away from me. I'll hire people to help me with it."

"What about the developer?" I asked. Rebecca looked at me.

"What should I do?" she asked as a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye.

"You fight for your land. This land belonged to your family, and if they want you to marry someone, tell them to go screw themselves." I don't know why I said that, but I saw the smile Rebecca tried to hide.

"Please stop using that kind of language. You aren't supposed to speak like that in front of women or anyone. Rebecca can tell them no, but the pressure they put on you is horrible. If not for me being an outsider, they would have tried harder, and I refused to remarry. They didn't even blink when they took my property from me."

"That's not allowed in this country," I said, looking at Kai.

"The elders run this community. Not our country."

"I'm starting to see that," I said, taking my plate to the sink and automatically washing it off.