Saying Goodbye to Rebekah as Book 1 Ends

Across the hall, Heinrich was organizing his things in case they had to leave in a hurry. Then he blew the light out and got into bed. It’s true, his mind was active but the relief and the joy somehow calmed his nerves and he soon fell asleep.

It was a knock on the door that woke him from a deep sleep. This was the first time in many years that Heinrich found himself waking up in a different place;  as his mind sorted out the details the second knock snapped him to the reality of where he was. Heinrich opened the door to find the Inn-keeper almost jovial as he said, “Good morning. It’s a fine day and just a little after sunrise. Breakfast will be served in the lobby. Shall I waken your other guests?”

The other guests? The other guests! “No, I can do that.” The Inn-keeper then retreated to the hall in search of another room. Heinrich had slept in his clothes, so he pulled himself together and washed his face. As he stepped into the hall, and was about to knock on their door, it opened up to reveal Sarah and Rebekah, still in their night clothes. The face to face encounter surprised all of them until Heinrich said, “Good morning.” 

They smiled and Sarah asked, “How much time do we have?”

“Time enough to get ready, have breakfast, and head to the place of departure. I’m going to finish cleaning up, get my things together and go downstairs to see about breakfast and check on the horse. I’ll see you down there in a few minutes, OK?”

“OK.”

He saw there was a basic breakfast available, but kept going to the stable. As he walked in the door, he said, “I was your last customer last night and maybe your first today. May I have my horse? And then I’ll hook up the wagon.” After paying the fee, Heinrich made sure everything was in place and led the horse around to the front of the Inn, where he tied its reins to a hitching post.

Sarah and Rebekah were seated at a table with some food on their plates when he walked inside. He grabbed some food as well and they ate mostly in silence. As Heinrich looked at a large clock in the hall, he said, “the Inn-keeper said he got that clock from a shop not too far away. Unfortunately it says it’s time to go.”

A few minutes later they were back in the wagon and found the building where the coach was waiting. Its horses were getting their last drink of water and some oats. Heinrich went in with Rebekah to get the ticket. There were other folks waiting for the journey to begin; Heinrich surmised that there would be two other passengers with Rebekah.

There wasn’t much time for a lengthy farewell. Sarah hugged Rebekah and said, “May God be with you and I hope to see you soon.” 

When it was Heinrich’s turn he looked deep into Rebekah’s eyes and brushed away a tear from her face and said, “I miss you already.” He took a tube out of his pocket and pulled out two drawings which he unfurled for Rebekah to see.

As Rebekah beheld a drawing of herself, she was amazed, “So this is the completed drawing?” 

"This one is for me to remember you by, and this one is for you to remember me." He handed her the other drawing; it was a self portrait of Heinrich. 

With a tone of voice that was filled with gratitude she said, “Thank you... I’ll cherish it... But I want the real thing! Promise me you’ll come soon.”

“I promise.”

They hugged again and kissed as the conductor yelled, “All Aboard.”

He watched every movement as the passengers situated themselves and the rig set out. Rebekah had a pensive hint of a smile that was restrained by sadness as she looked out the window; a wistful wave of the hand bid good bye. Sarah and Heinrich did the same until it rolled out of sight.

They looked at each other with expressions that were filled with amazement and wonder. “What a whirlwind time we’ve had! If you told me a week and a half ago that I would be proposing to a woman I’d never met before, I would have said you were crazy.” 

“Do you have buyer’s remorse?”

“No, it seemed like the right thing to do. And I must admit, the more I got to know her the more I was smitten by her.”

Sarah said, “She is an amazing woman. I wonder when I’ll meet the right man?”

Big brother Heinrich hugged Sarah and said, “I don’t know when or who, but we know Someone who does. I’m sure it’ll work out. We better get going.” 

They got in the wagon and after stopping briefly to get some food items, they headed out. With the weight down considerably, and little time spent on detailed conversation, they made it back to Wittenberg in excellent time, pulling into their yard as twilight was taking over.

Their Mother was keeping a vigilant watch and was overjoyed to see them coming down the road. She went out to meet them and there were hugs and smiles at the reunion. She loved being with her children and their absence enforced her resolve to be near them in the future.

The end of Book 1.

And now it's time for editing and, God willing, publishing on Kindle!