A mute, foundling girl hides from her pursuers with the help of a reluctant recluse. The two of them have nothing in common except deep emotional scars. Who is she? How did she end up unconscious and scantily clothed on Evan's isolated property? Why...
The next morning after displaying me in front of the video camera, Mister Sheaffer made me climb aboard his windowless delivery van. I had nothing to wear except the white bathrobe they had given me and a blanket he threw into the back.
Mister Sheaffer and his helper, Luke, took turns driving. They stopped every once in a while to fill up the tank and use the bathroom. They wouldn't let me out and supplied me a bucket to use as a toilet. They stopped to eat, but Mister Sheaffer gave me only bottled water. No food.
They drove all day and into the night. I had no idea where they were taking me except it was far. Early the next morning they stopped, opened the door, and led me out. We were on a farm, isolated, with nothing but fields and woods all around us. A tall, old windmill above a water well squeaked as it turned. I remember being cold and hugging myself.
The man who bought me introduced himself as Titus Weiss. He was dressed in Amish garb and from the lack of power lines I could tell we were on an Amish farm. He was old, fat, and disgusting. The way he undressed me with his eyes made my skin crawl. Two sons joined him who looked to be in their late twenties.
Mister Sheaffer and Luke didn't want to stick around. Titus handed over a briefcase which Sheaffer opened to inspect.
Evan, I never saw so much cash in my life! Anyone giving up that much wealth to own me will not let me go easily. That's why I've been so scared. I know I'm being hunted.
Titus waved to Mister Sheaffer and Luke as they drove away. Then he spit a wad of chewing tobacco near my feet and said to his sons, "Take her inside and get her ready."
One of them tried taking my arm, but I pulled away. I didn't want any of them to touch me, so I walked into the farmhouse without their help. They led me upstairs to a bedroom where two women waited, barefoot and dressed in simple dresses and wearing hair bonnets. The men left me with the two women.
"I'm Agnes," one of them said. She looked to be thirty and pregnant.
"And I'm Miriam," the other one said. She was younger maybe just a few years older than me.
"We're married to Titus's sons," Agnes said. "You're to be their father's new wife. We're going to prepare you for your wedding this afternoon."
What they told me made me wonder what happened to the disgusting man's former wives. My knees wobbled. I began to cry. The ladies helped me to sit.
Agnes sat beside me and took my hand. "Dearie, I know he isn't the man of your dreams, but the quicker you accept your fate, the happier you'll be. You do not want to cross Titus or his boys. We know firsthand how mean they can be and how hard they hit. It's best you learn right away to be obedient and compliant."
Miriam sat in front of me holding a tray filled with makeup. "I'm going to make you look so pretty, and we have a beautiful wedding dress for you to wear."
"No shoes though," Agnes added. "Titus likes us barefoot, says it keeps us humble."
Evan, at that point I was totally spent, completely bereft. I just sat there and let them prepare me for whatever. They swapped out the bathrobe I wore for the wedding dress you found me in. Also, I hadn't eaten in almost two days and felt weak. I was so hungry that first night when you served me the stew. Hungry and exhausted.
The women led me outside where a buggy awaited. Titus wore a suit, his fat gut hanging over the hem of his waist, the suspenders straining to hold up his trousers.
It repulsed me when he took my hand. I tried pulling away, but his grip was too strong.
He showed me a wedding band. "This is yours. I'm gonna go ahead and slip it on your finger now." My ring finger was too slender, so he forced it over the knuckle of my middle finger. He leered at me. "After we're properly wed in the eyes of the Lord, I'm going to teach you the pleasures of being with a man."
Turning to this two sons, he pressed his hat to his head and said, "Well, boys, I'm off to get hitched again."
It was all I could take, Evan. Something inside me snapped and rage filled me. I stiffened my hands into claws and jumped on him, trying to rake his face and gouge his eyes.
His sons laughed. One of them said, "Looks like you got yourself a real wildcat this time, Pa!"
For a fat man, Titus was quick. He slapped my hands away and wrapped me in a bear hug. Lifting me off the ground, he tossed me into the back of the buggy and slammed the rear door.
This enclosed Amish buggy was the kind where the driver sits on a bench in the front. The rear is separated by a wall with a small window for the driver to look through. Usually, kids sit in the compartment in the back and wave to people in cars who approach from behind.
My husband-to-be climbed onto the buggy and slapped the reins across the backs of the two-horse team. We were on our way, to where I didn't know. I had no idea what part of the world I was in until you told me Pennsylvania.
I was at my lowest point. Although I knew suicide was an unforgivable sin, I prayed and begged God to understand. It turned my stomach to imagine that pig of a man lying on top of me, grunting, and filling me. I had lost everything, my family, my home, my identity, and my dignity. With only a life of misery facing me, I made my decision. I was going to kill myself.
I had no idea where this man was taking me. I couldn't imagine any Amish deacon willing to marry me against my will, but I remembered all the money Titus had given to Mister Sheaffer. I figured enough money could cause even a holy man to look the other way.
Titus turned the horses onto a potholed, dirt road leading up the side of a mountain. Maybe he thought it would be a shortcut to our destination, but it gave me my opportunity. Titus never looked back at me while he struggled to steer the team of horses up the bumpy grade. I guess he figured I'd be too afraid to jump and didn't pay me no mind.
I looked out the back studying the ground passing from beneath the buggy. Plenty of big rocks lined the berm. I figured if I launched myself headfirst so as to smash my face against one of those big rocks, I might be lucky enough to snap my neck. A quick, painless death.
Taking a deep breath, I said a final prayer for forgiveness and tumbled forward and out of the buggy. With so many bounces and bumps from the potholes and rocks, Titus never noticed.
It gives me a perverse pleasure to picture in my mind the moment that monster realized he had lost me. It also terrifies me.
He will come looking, and a deranged man like him will not give up.
Some part of me that governs self-preservation must have taken control when I jumped because I missed the rocks I was aiming for and landed on smooth ground. It's the last thing I remember before waking up and looking into your handsome face.
Evan, I know this will sound crazy. The moment I saw you bending over me, a strange sense of calm possessed me. Relief washed over me, and I felt at peace. I knew you would rescue me from immediate danger and somehow understood I could put my complete trust in you.
The only fear remaining in me was how you might turn me over to the authorities because of my age. I'm sorry I tried to lie to you about that, but I was scared. If Titus reported me missing, that's how he could find me.
Since then, I've done all I could to convince you to allow me stay with you. I'll do your housekeeping. I'll cook and do chores.
Now that you know my whole story, please consider letting me be your pesky little sister who will keep bothering you for a puppy 😊.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
