A Simple Winter: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel by Rosalind Lauer Page A

doubted he would ever have children of his own.
    But Simon needed him now.
    Climbing the last rung, his head rose into the loft. Simon sat huddled beside a bale of hay, his hat crooked, his face wet with tears.
    “Ach, Simon.” Adam crouched beside his brother, their faces inches apart. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
    Simon shook his head. His eyes and nose were red, and tears matted the dark hair against his cheeks.
    “You were scared by something,” Adam said. “What? Because you don’t have to be afraid of Sheriff Hallinan.”
    “Not him. It’s the bear,” Simon said, his voice breaking with a sob. “The bear wore those pants. Pants with a stripe.”
    Adam held back a groan of frustration at the mention of bearsonce again. How could he help his brother when he kept reverting to a fairy story? A bear with striped pants.
    “I know you don’t believe me, but the bear killed them.” Simon’s shoulders shook as a new tear spilled down his cheek. “It was the bear.”
    When a pathetic moan escaped Simon’s lips, Adam felt his throat grow thick. His job was to help, not to judge. “Simon …” Sitting beside him, he scooped the boy into his arms and held on tight. “Okay, it was the bear. The bear killed them.”
    As if Adam’s words fueled the fire, a sob burst from Simon. A swell of emotion overcame Adam as he closed his eyes and rocked the boy gently.
    And Mamm’s words came to mind again.
    “
Was ist letz, Liewi?
What’s wrong?” she would coo, her voice deep and rich with the confidence of a grown-up able to lessen the pain of a childhood hurt. It was up to Adam to be the wise one now; the older, wiser voice capable of easing a young one’s mind.
    “I want you to know that you’re safe, Simon,” he whispered. “We will take care of you. You must know how Mary and I work and plan so that you have good food and a good life on this farm.”
    “But Mary wants to leave.” Simon’s voice came out as a tortured squeak. “I heard her talking with Sadie. She wants to go away and marry Five.”
    Anxiety flared at the thought of losing their oldest sister, though it shouldn’t have been news at all. Of course, Mary had to be eager to start a family of her own with John Beiler. Was the idea of losing her adding to Simon’s anxiety?
    “We won’t truly lose Mary when she weds Five. She will always be your sister who loves you. And you can count on your family to take care of you, with God’s blessing. Do you hear me?
Verstehst
?”
    A whimpered breath indicated that Simon understood.
    “And there is no bear out there now, Simon. That’s the truth.”
    “I know.” Simon sniffed. “But it hurts, Adam. It hurts me to talk about it.”
    Adam released his brother so that he could see his face. “Where does it hurt?” he asked, thinking it might help to be more specific.
    Simon pressed the fingertips of one hand to his chest. “In my heart. It hurts in my heart.”
    “Then we’ll pray to God for healing,” Adam said. “We’ll ask Him to make our hearts new again. Can you do that with me?”
    “Ya.” Simon let out the stiff breath he’d been holding. “I pray to God all the time, but I don’t think He’s been listening.”
    “He listens.” Even as Adam said the words, he realized he had better start believing them. Lately he’d been praying out of a sense of duty, a sense that God needed His chunk of Adam’s time, just like everyone else. How foolish he’d been, not to share his burdens with God. Jonah had been right about his desire to sacrifice himself; he’d been trying to shoulder a burden alone, when help had been there all along. If he was going to convince Simon to trust in God’s love, he had better know that truth in his own heart. “God listens, all right,” he told his younger brother. “But if we want help, we need to lay our burdens down.”
    Simon nodded, a new light in his eyes. A light of promise. A glimmer of hope.

NINE
    ear and excitement warred within her heart