A Dream Unfolding by Karen Baney Page A

back into the kitchen as papa’s sobs grew louder.
    “I’m sorry, little one, but your mama has passed away,” the doctor whispered, closing the door to allow her father to grieve in private.
    The next hours and days had faded from Hannah’s memory.   She didn’t remember the funeral.  
    What she did remember was her father working long hours in the field.   He left before sunrise and returned late into the night.   If she hadn’t lain awake each night to be certain he returned, she would have thought he abandoned her entirely.  
    Weeks rolled into a month.   His behavior remained the same.   Until one day, when she came home from school, he sat at the table sipping on a mug of coffee, staring off at nothing in particular.   As she entered the small room, he looked up.
    “Pack your things,” he said coldly before standing and walking out the door.
    Not knowing what else to do, she followed the emotionless order.   Several minutes later, with her bag in his hand, he led her to the waiting wagon.   He lifted her into the seat without a word.   Then he drove her to his sister’s house.
    “Take her,” he said to auntie.   When her aunt started to protest, he cut her off.   “I can’t bear to look at her…she reminds me too much of…” his voice cracked.
    For three years, Hannah lived with her aunt and uncle, without a single word or visit from her father.   Then one day, shortly after her fifteenth birthday, he came as mysteriously as he left.   With minimal conversation, he picked her up and took her back home.
    The next few years ticked by slowly.   Her father barely spoke to her outside of what was necessary to keep up with daily chores and the running of the farm.   He hardly looked at her.   He never hugged her.   He didn’t love her any more.
    Daily, Hannah threw herself into her school work and her chores.   Many afternoons she cried on Emily’s shoulder, not understanding why her father didn’t love her.   She longed to go back to live with her aunt.   At least there she felt like someone cared.
    Then, after Hannah turned eighteen, her father died suddenly.   Bad heart the doctor said.   She was an orphan with a farm—crops still in the field.
    Her uncle came and advised her to sell the farm, suggesting Hannah move to town and take a job at the local mercantile.   She did precisely that.
    The first two years after her father’s death, Hannah spent her days working at Francis’s store and her Sundays begging God to heal her broken heart.   She wanted to understand why her father stopped loving her, why he had abandoned her.   But, she couldn’t.   Friends told her that he must have been to overwrought with grief.   Perhaps his heart broke beyond repair.
    None of that mattered to Hannah.   She once had his love and attention.   Then, it was gone.
    Did the silence from Drew mean that he no longer loved her?
    Hannah sighed, looking across the grass-covered prairie.   Maybe she held some blame for the distance.   She had been less than receptive to the idea of moving to La Paz.   After the dinner with Doc Henderson, she tried to convince Drew that moving so far away was ludicrous.   The heated argument ended in her vowing to keep her opinions to herself.   He would not budge.
    The thing that bothered her the most about Drew’s immovable stance was that he continued to tell her the move was God’s will.   If that was true, then why didn’t she have any peace about it?   She tried.   She prayed and prayed and prayed.   She asked God to help her set aside her feelings and seek Him in this situation.   Yet, she still had no peace.
    Then again, she had not fully set aside her feelings.   She hated leaving Ohio.   She despised Thomas for robbing the bank that started so many difficult circumstances into motion.   She fought against Drew’s decision—at first with words, then later with her silent resistance.
    Another sigh rose to the edge of her breath.   She