The Rescued Read online

  PRAISE FOR

  The Forgiven

  Keepers of the Promise, Book One

  “A tender novel of second chances, endearing characters, and a can’t-put-it-down story.”

  —Suzanne Woods Fisher, author of Anna’s Crossing

  “A gently drawn portrait of two lives renewed by the power of love. In this story of second chances, readers will come to care deeply about Rebecca and Matthew, as I did, and will look forward to the next book in this series.”

  —Robin Lee Hatcher, bestselling author of A Promise Kept and Whenever You Come Around

  “With exquisite grace and unflinching honesty, Marta Perry once again takes us into the Amish world . . . The Forgiven brings together young widow Rebecca Lapp Fisher and tormented furniture maker Matthew Byler, but the book also has a story within the story—from the diary of Anna Esch, one of Rebecca’s ancestors. This diary tells of how the Amish had to deal with World War II and the stigma of being conscientious objectors. But the big question is, how do peaceful people confront and deal with anger? The slow, sweet realization of Rebecca and Matthew’s growing love takes us on a journey of healing and victory over difficult circumstances. This story touched my heart and held me captive until the last page. The Forgiven is a wonderful read that will bring a perfect peace to your heart.”

  —Lenora Worth, New York Times bestselling author of Bayou Sweetheart

  “A born storyteller, Marta Perry skillfully weaves the past and present in a heart-stirring tale of love and forgiveness.”

  —Susan Meissner, author of A Fall of Marigolds and Secrets of a Charmed Life

  “I just finished The Forgiven and loved it! As usual, Ms. Perry’s storytelling is tender, touching, and full of gentle wisdom as she explores the flaws and struggles of her Amish characters . . . I especially liked the weaving of past with the present as Grandmother Lapp passes her legacy of memories to three special granddaughters. I can hardly wait to see what happens with Barbie and Judith! This is going to be a terrific new series, and I’m confident readers of Amish fiction will love it.”

  —Linda Goodnight, New York Times bestselling author of The Memory House

  “Five stars! Marta Perry’s tender family saga of love and faith will touch your heart.”

  —Emma Miller, author of A Match for Addy

  PRAISE FOR THE PLEASANT VALLEY NOVELS

  Susanna’s Dream

  “[Perry] has the ability to make the reader feel what the characters are feeling and thinking. That is truly a gift.”

  —I’m Hooked on Books

  Lydia’s Hope

  “[Lydia’s Hope] has long-held family secrets, romance, and the chance at discovering family one never knew about. Characters are sweet, charming, and very realistic.”

  —RT Book Reviews (4 stars)

  Naomi’s Christmas

  “[Perry] never disappoints.”

  —The Mary Reader

  Hannah’s Joy

  “Amish book lovers . . . you are ferhoodled if you don’t go out and pick up a copy of Hannah’s Joy RIGHT NOW!”

  —The Mary Reader

  Katie’s Way

  “Superb . . . Magnificent Marta Perry provides another engaging Pleasant Valley tale.”

  —Genre Go Round Reviews

  Sarah’s Gift

  “Perry’s narrative keeps a nice pace as things develop credibly . . . between Aaron and Sarah; the legal challenge makes for more than merely romantic tension. Minor characters are also clearly sketched and differentiated.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  Anna’s Return

  “Those who enjoyed the first two series titles will eagerly await this third entry, which does not disappoint. It will also appeal to fans of Amy Clipston and Shelley Shepard Gray.”

  —Library Journal

  Rachel’s Garden

  “A large part of the pleasure of this book is in watching Rachel be Amish, as she sells snapdragons and pansies to both Amish and ‘English’ at an outdoor market, taking in snatches of Pennsylvania Dutch.”

  —The Philadelphia Inquirer

  Leah’s Choice

  “What a joy it is to read Marta Perry’s novels! Leah’s Choice has everything a reader could want—strong, well-defined characters; beautiful, realistic settings; and a thought-provoking plot. Readers of Amish fiction will surely be waiting anxiously for her next book.”

  —Shelley Shepard Gray, New York Times bestselling author of the Amish Brides of Pinecraft series

  Pleasant Valley Novels

  LEAH’S CHOICE

  RACHEL’S GARDEN

  ANNA’S RETURN

  SARAH’S GIFT

  KATIE’S WAY

  HANNAH’S JOY

  NAOMI’S CHRISTMAS

  The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley Novels

  LYDIA’S HOPE

  SUSANNA’S DREAM

  Keepers of the Promise Novels

  THE FORGIVEN

  THE RESCUED

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

  This book is an original publication of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Copyright © 2015 by Martha Johnson.

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  BERKLEY® and the “B” design are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  For more information, visit penguin.com.

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-13933-6

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Perry, Marta.

  The rescued / Marta Perry. — Berkley trade paperback edition.

  pages ; cm. — (Keepers of the promise ; book 2)

  ISBN 978-0-425-27142-1 (paperback)

  I. Title.

  PS3616.E7933R47 2015

  813'.6—dc23

  2015000853

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Berkley trade paperback edition / June 2015

  Cover illustration by Shane Rebenshield.

  Cover design by Sarah Oberrender.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.

  Version_1

  This story is dedicated to my grandson, Tyler.

  And, as always, to Brian.

  CONTENTS

  Praise for Marta Perry

  Books by Marta Perry

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  List of Characters

  Glossary of Pennsylvania Dutch Words and Phrases

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT


  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  EPILOGUE

  Recipes

  Letter to the Reader

  About the Author

  LIST OF CHARACTERS

  PRESENT DAY:

  Judith Wegler, wife of Isaac Wegler; their children: Levi, 8, Paul, 6, and Noah, 3

  Joseph Wegler, Isaac’s brother, 14

  Simon Wegler, Isaac’s uncle; Emma, his deceased wife

  Rebecca Lapp Fisher, Judith’s cousin; her children: Katie, 7, and Joshua, 5

  Matthew Byler, engaged to Rebecca

  Elizabeth Lapp, Judith’s grandmother

  Barbara “Barbie” Lapp, Judith’s cousin

  LANCASTER COUNTY, 1953:

  Mattie Lapp, widow of Benjamin Lapp; their children: Rachel, 14, Nathaniel, 9, Toby, 7, and Anna, 5

  Adam Lapp, cousin of Benjamin, widower

  Becky Lapp, Mattie’s mother-in-law

  Jonah Lapp, Mattie’s father-in-law

  Bishop Thomas Beiler, bishop of the church district

  GLOSSARY OF PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH WORDS AND PHRASES

  ach. oh; used as an exclamation

  agasinish. stubborn; self-willed

  ain’t so. A phrase commonly used at the end of a sentence to invite agreement.

  alter. old man

  anymore. Used as a substitute for “nowadays.”

  Ausbund. Amish hymnal. Used in the worship services, it contains traditional hymns, words only, to be sung without accompaniment. Many of the hymns date from the sixteenth century.

  befuddled. mixed up

  blabbermaul. talkative one

  blaid. bashful

  boppli. baby

  bruder. brother

  bu. boy

  buwe. boys

  daadi. daddy

  Da Herr sei mit du. The Lord be with you.

  denke. thanks (or danki)

  Englischer. one who is not Plain

  ferhoodled. upset; distracted

  ferleicht. perhaps

  frau. wife

  fress. eat

  gross. big

  grossdaadi. grandfather

  grossdaadi haus. An addition to the farmhouse, built for the grandparents to live in once they’ve “retired” from actively running the farm.

  grossmutter. grandmother

  gut. good

  hatt. hard; difficult

  haus. house

  hinnersich. backward

  ich. I

  ja. yes

  kapp. Prayer covering, worn in obedience to the Biblical injunction that women should pray with their heads covered. Kapps are made of Swiss organdy and are white. (In some Amish communities, unmarried girls thirteen and older wear black kapps during worship service.)

  kinder. kids (or kinner)

  komm. come

  komm schnell. come quick

  Leit. the people; the Amish

  lippy. sassy

  maidal. old maid; spinster

  mamm. mother

  middaagesse. lunch

  mind. remember

  onkel. uncle

  Ordnung. The agreed-upon rules by which the Amish community lives. When new practices become an issue, they are discussed at length among the leadership. The decision for or against innovation is generally made on the basis of maintaining the home and family as separate from the world. For instance, a telephone might be necessary in a shop in order to conduct business but would be banned from the home because it would intrude on family time.

  Pennsylvania Dutch. The language is actually German in origin and is primarily a spoken language. Most Amish write in English, which results in many variations in spelling when the dialect is put into writing! The language probably originated in the south of Germany but is common also among the Swiss Mennonite and French Huguenot immigrants to Pennsylvania. The language was brought to America prior to the Revolution and is still in use today. High German is used for Scripture and church documents, while English is the language of commerce.

  rumspringa. Running-around time. The late teen years when Amish youth taste some aspects of the outside world before deciding to be baptized into the church.

  schnickelfritz. mischievous child

  ser gut. very good (or sehr gut)

  tastes like more. delicious

  Was ist letz? What’s the matter?

  Wie bist du heit. How are you; said in greeting

  wilkom. welcome

  Wo bist du? Where are you?

  CHAPTER ONE

  Judith Wegler suspected that, once again, she’d be acting as a buffer between her husband and his young brother. From the back porch of the farmhouse, where she was polishing the oak study table that was her gift from Grossmammi Lapp, she could hear Isaac calling Joseph’s name. Since there was no answer, almost-fourteen-year-old Joseph must have slipped away again.

  Isaac appeared around the corner of the corncrib, and Judith rose when he strode toward her. At thirty, Isaac was as sturdy and strong as he’d been when she’d tumbled into love with him so many years ago. His corn-silk hair had darkened to a deep honey color, and the beard he’d grown when they married made him look mature, but his eyes were as bright a blue as ever under the brim of his summer straw hat.

  She ought to enjoy the sight of him, instead of feeling the familiar tightening of the stomach she always experienced at the prospect of intervening on behalf of the boy she’d raised as her own since she and Isaac married when his little brother was only five. The sixteen years between the two brothers sometimes seemed an insurmountable barrier.

  Not that it was unusual for an Amish family to be spread out over that many years. It was unusual, though, for only the youngest and oldest to have survived. The siblings who’d come in between them had perished with Isaac’s parents in the tragic fire Isaac never mentioned.

  “Have you seen Joseph?” Isaac’s voice was tart with the irritation that was too often there lately when he spoke of his brother.

  “Not since after lunch. He went out to the barn to fix that broken board in Rosie’s stall.” The buggy horse had a talent for finding a loose rail and leaning against it until it broke. “Did you check there?”

  “It wouldn’t take him this long to fix a board.”

  Frowning, Isaac stepped up to the porch, using it as a vantage point to survey the pastures and cornfields of the dairy farm, still lush and green in the August sunshine thanks to a recent rain. The fields stretched along the valley, and the ground rose gently to encompass the orchard and, beyond it, the wooded ridge.

  “Ach, the boy’s becoming less responsible the older he gets. What’s the matter with him these days?”

  Isaac clearly didn’t expect an answer, but she gave him one anyway. “Joseph is growing up. My brothers all went through a ferhoodled spell when they were his age.” She didn’t bother to compare Joseph to Isaac, since everyone knew Isaac seemed to have been born responsible.

  “It’ll be time for milking before long. If he’s not back by then—”

  “He’ll show up soon.” She spoke quickly and prayed she was right. When Isaac and Joseph butted heads, as they did too often lately, everyone in the family became upset. “See how nice this study table is looking. You were right. All it needed was a good cleaning and a few coats of furniture wax.”

  That distracted him, as she’d hoped it might. Isaac ran his hand around the smooth edges of the rectangular
table, large enough for four or even six young scholars to sit and do homework on a winter’s evening.

  “It’s a good, sturdy oak piece, that’s certain-sure. Did your grossmammi say who it came from?”

  “She didn’t seem to remember, but she said she’d look it up for me. It was thoughtful of her to give it to us.”

  Thoughtful and a bit more, Judith thought. She and two of her cousins had helped to clear out their grandmother’s house this spring when she’d moved in with her son. Long recognized as the historian of the Lapp family, Grossmammi had been eager to pass on the family stories to them, and part of that passing on had included choosing a piece of furniture for each of them to cherish.

  Grossmammi believed that the piece of family heritage each one received had something to give them in return. That had certainly been true for Judith’s cousin Rebecca. The dower chest given to Rebecca had contained a diary from a young Amish girl who’d lived during the Second World War, and Rebecca often said how much she’d learned from that story. It had given her the strength and courage she’d needed for a new future, and that had been a wonderful fine gift.

  “The person who crafted this piece made it to last.” Isaac pulled on the shallow drawers under the tabletop. Two of them slid out easily, but the third wouldn’t open.

  “I wanted to ask you about that drawer,” Judith said. “I can’t tell if it’s locked or stuck.”

  A glance over Isaac’s shoulder told her that the cows had started toward the gate, crossing the field in a long, straggly line, their udders full and swaying. They knew when it was time to be milked, even if Joseph had forgotten. There was still no sign of him.

  Isaac stooped to look underneath the table, giving it the same careful attention he granted to everything he did. “Locked, I’d say. Better ask your grossmammi about a key. I wouldn’t want to damage it by forcing it open.” He rose as he spoke, and she could almost feel his attention shifting back to the job at hand.

  But at last she spied Joseph, flying down the lane on the scooter he used the way she’d seen Englisch boys use their skateboards, with what seemed a reckless disregard for anything that might send them head over heels. Sometimes she wished their community allowed bicycles, the way some Amish out in Ohio did. But probably, boys being boys, Joseph would still find a way to court danger on it.