Read DC03 - Though Mountains Fall for Free Online Page B

added, “It is a vexatious path you have chosen, my child.”
    ———
    Riding arm in arm with Domingo in the back of Paco’s cart, Miriam began to relax and sink into her new world. Basking in the warmth and acceptance she felt from his family, for a time she was almost able to forget her impending departure from all she had ever known and loved.
    Domingo leaned close and whispered, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
    She studied his eyes—steady and confident. There was no fear in him, no regret, only compassion. He knew what she was going through.
    “Sí,” she said. “I am certain.”
    Over the next few weeks she spent every spare moment in San Rafael with Kyra and Maria, fretting over a thousandwedding details and giggling over a thousand family secrets. Already they had made her a member of the family, and it was a joyous time. But at the end of the day she returned to her father’s house in Paradise Valley, where a gray mood lay heavily on the Bender home. Mealtimes remained silent and grim, as if her family were already mourning, as if she were already banned. For the time being she could still eat at the table with the rest of them, but the future loomed over them like a dark cloud.
    ———
    One night, when she and Rachel lay awake after the others had dozed off, Miriam rose up on an elbow and spoke softly to her sister.
    “Rachel, I wish we could talk. I know this is hard on you, but—”
    “It’s hard for us all, Miriam.” Rachel turned to her in the dark. “Not just me, but Mamm, Ada, Barbara, Leah—even Harvey can’t stand the thought of losing you. We’re your family , Mir. Think of all you will lose!”
    “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think,” Miriam whispered. “And think of all I will gain . I wish you could have been there, at Los Pericos. For two weeks I walked and talked with Domingo in a place as lovely as the Garden of Eden, and it was wonderful. No matter what tomorrow brings, I will always remember those days as the best and brightest of my life. Rachel, I love this land. I love these people. I love teaching the Mexican children—another thing Micah wouldn’t have me do, by the way. I love Domingo, and I love his family. I could live here forever.”
    “You could live here forever,” Rachel countered, denting the mattress with a forefinger. “Without breaking all our hearts! Mir, when I wanted to go back to Ohio for Jake, you were the one who made me stay. You remember what you said? Family! You said family is everything, and now you’re going to run off with Domingo and abandon your family?”
    “There’s more to it than that, Rachel. Gott has led me here. He led me to teach the children and gave me the gift. He led me to Domingo through a dream, and Domingo to me the same way. I have found the life I was born to lead—a pearl of great price—and if Gott led me to it shall I not follow, even if it costs me everything?”
    Rachel was silent for a moment, and when she spoke her voice was choked with tears. “Miriam, I am part of the everything you will lose,” she said.
    Miriam slid an arm around her sister, laid her head gently on Rachel’s shoulder and whispered, “I want you to promise me something.”
    “What.”
    “When I am gone—after I’m married and gone from here—I want you to promise me that you will always be my sister.” She rose up to kiss Rachel lightly on the cheek. “No matter what. Always.”
    Rachel didn’t answer. Full of hurt, she turned away and burrowed into her pillow.

    They were the longest days of Caleb’s life, full of dread and waiting. He kept himself busy with work, and thanked Gott there was plenty of planting to do. Every morning he watched in silence as one of the young men climbed the ridge behind the house and another left on horseback for the western heights to keep a lookout for bandits. The men had worked out a schedule for the sentries, and so far the women didn’t even know about the looming threat. If