“You said so yourself, not everyone,” Rachel corrected. “Not Moses or Lemuel . . . or Rosh.”
Mary Rose’s lips tightened and she turned her head away. “Moses is not like other men. You’ve seen him. He’s different. Peculiar, some say. He was born that way.”
Rachel thought about explaining to the young woman that her brother probably should have been diagnosed years ago. Such a diagnosis might even have helped make things easier for him in prison. But what was the point now? Instead, she said, “His boss told me he works hard and that he’s trustworthy.”
Mary Rose scrubbed harder at the wooden tray on the high chair. “I’m not finding fault with Moses. He does work hard, but he doesn’t always understand what needs to be done. It’s better when someone tells him what to do.”
“But not Daniel. He didn’t like it when Daniel gave him orders.”
Mary Rose removed the tray and started on the seat. She dipped her rag in the bucket of soapy water and wrung it out before she wiped the seat down. “Daniel didn’t know anyone like Moses. He didn’t understand that you couldn’t yell at him. It’s best if you explain what you want and then go away and leave Moses to work it out his way. Daniel thought he was slow, but he isn’t. Moses is smart.”
Rachel brushed away a hanging cobweb. “Did you and Moses get along well?”
“Ya.” Mary Rose’s voice grew warmer as she spoke about her brother. “Moses and I were always close. I love him very much and he loves me. He loves all of us, but it’s hard for him to show it. And after Daniel and I were wed, I didn’t have so much time for Moses anymore.” She paused again. “Truth be told, I don’t think he would have liked any man I married. Our family changed, had to. And Moses likes things to stay the same.”
“What about Lemuel? How did he feel about Daniel?”
Mary Rose threw her cleaning rag into the bucket with more force than necessary. “Why are you asking these questions?”
“I’m trying to help Moses,” Rachel said patiently. “Don’t you want to help him?”
“You know I do.” Mary Rose grimaced. “Lemuel has always been the baby of the family. He was ill a lot when he was young, and it was natural that Mam fussed over him. Daniel thought she was spoiling him. Daniel thought it was time my little brother learned to be a man. It was for Lemuel’s good to teach him discipline.”
“You mean he disciplined him?”
Mary Rose sighed and pushed back hair that had fallen from her kapp. “Sometimes I thought Daniel was too hard on him and on Moses.”
“Hard in what way? Physically?”
Another sigh. “Ya, maybe Daniel was quick with his hand.”
A silence stretched between them. Rachel waited.
“But he never had brothers or sisters,” Mary Rose continued. “He couldn’t understand why we were so close. Some of the trouble between Daniel and me was my fault, because I tried to interfere between him and my brothers.”
Mary Rose went back to scrubbing the high chair and Rachel debated how to ask her next question. She wondered if it was wrong to speak of Daniel now that he was gone. But wasn’t it also wrong to leave Moses in jail if he didn’t belong there? She studied an old stool that had one broken leg. In the end, she just came out with it. “Did you know that Daniel was married before?”
“Of course.”
Rachel looked up in surprise. “You knew you weren’t his first wife?” she asked, wondering if the young woman had misunderstood the question.
“There were no secrets between us.” Methodically, Mary Rose lifted the wet cloth and wrung it out before getting down on her knees to wipe the legs of the high chair free of spiderwebs and dust. “His first wife fell from a ladder and injured herself so badly that she died. It was a terrible loss for him.”
“But he married a second time not long after.”
“Ya, but that, too, was a blow to Daniel. His second wife didn’t want to remain Amish. Daniel’s faith meant everything to him. When he refused to leave the church with her, it tore their marriage apart.”
“And nearly took her life,” Rachel said softly. “Daniel beat her badly enough to put her in the hospital. She had broken bones, internal bleeding, a fractured jaw, and—”
“All that I have heard,” Mary Rose said sharply, “was what Daniel told me.” She scrubbed at the oak high chair as if she could rub away the grain of the wood. “He said that she attacked him and he struck back to defend himself. He insisted that the English newspaper people made it seem worse than it was to sell papers. They never said that the woman threw things at him and hit him.”
“Daniel didn’t go to the hospital with injuries. His wife did.”
Mary Rose avoided eye contact, but her voice was surprisingly strong. “True, but Daniel knew he had done wrong. He confessed and asked forgiveness on his knees in front of his church elders. He was truly repentant. And you know that means he was forgiven in God’s eyes.” She dropped the rag and looked up. “Daniel had a bad temper, but he promised to try and control it. I knew his faults, but I married him anyway. We were working things out with Preacher Paul’s help.”
Rachel mulled over that for a moment and moved on. “Why didn’t Rosh like Daniel?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard the gossip. Rosh wanted me to be his wife. He’d been saying it since he was ten years old. And maybe, had the circumstances been different . . . I would have waited for him,” she said softly. She looked up at Rachel. “But I needed a husband. Mam needed me to marry.” She shrugged. “I told Daniel about Rosh because I was his wife
