The Face of Heaven by Murray Pura Page B

any more letters after this one. It is, of course, on account of your enlisting and taking up arms against the South and slavery. They have given you a year to return home and you have not done so. But do not be dismayed, my darling, they still love you, only they want you to come back to being a true Amish man again. I confess that sometimes I’m confused about the whole matter but I know this—what happened to Charlie was wrong, and slavery must be stopped one way or another. I also know I can no longer sit here while this war drags on. Wounded men need care and if other women can nurse the soldiers so can I. Was not Christ a healer?
     
And it’s not only that. I simply can’t let another year go by without seeing you. This past winter was difficult enough but at least we had our letters to one another to sustain us. Now that those are being taken away, another winter, even another summer, would be impossible. So here is my news to cheer you—I am going to come to you, I am going to find you, even if I have to go through all the Union and Confederate armies to do it. Levi is escorting me and he has a newspaper friend following the war, who will also assist us. I intend to nurse the wounded and sick and my objective is to be assigned to the surgeons in your regiment. I’m not sure how I will get permission to do this but I believe God is with me in this enterprise and that He will make a way—I have every reason to believe I will be successful if I only begin the journey and take one step at a time .
     
So place this note under your pillow and dream for the day it will be true and that I will stand before you and let you take me into your arms—oh, yes, I will, even if my father and the whole Amish church and President Lincoln himself are watching .
     
My most earnest desire is to see you again. Godbless you and keep you from harm. Our reunion will take place very soon .
     
With all my heart, I am,
     
Your Lyndel
     

7
     
    L yndel and her brother didn’t leave in June as they had planned but early on a July morning. Levi spent the extra weeks working with his father in the fields, Lyndel with her mother and sisters around the house and the barn.
    When the day finally arrived, their mother stood like stone on the porch as the buggy pulled out of the drive and onto the road in the darkness of the pre-dawn morning. Waves of guilt surged over Lyndel as Dancer trotted toward the depot. Levi gripped her hand as their father drove.
    “I do so worry,” Lyndel whispered to her brother. “I hope they can manage without us.”
    “Remember, I’ll be back for harvest,” he said softly. “They won’t be alone for long. I’ll escort you to Washington and see that you are properly settled. And if I can be of any help to the effort, short of taking up arms, I will do what I can. By September I will have returned.”
    “I feel I am doing the right thing,” she groaned quietly. “But now that we are actually leaving I wonder…”
    “We can ask Papa to turn around.”
    Lyndel considered this for a moment and then said, “The papers are full of the fighting around Mechanicsville and Frayser’s Farm and Malvern Hill. The casualties are pouring into the hospitals. This isn’t simply about finding Nathaniel’s regiment and asking to serve with their surgeons. It’s about keeping as many of the boys and men alive as possible. Even you can help with that.”
    Levi nodded. “I intend to…if I can.”
    “Here we are.” Their father brought the buggy to a halt. “Let me help you with your bag.”
    “It’s light enough, Papa,” said Lyndel as she stepped down. “Don’t trouble yourself.”
    “It’s no trouble.” Taking his daughter’s bag, he walked ahead of them to the station platform, where they stood quietly waiting for the call to board the train.
    Finally, their father spoke. “As your father, I must say what I must say and then I must trust you to our God. Above all things, I want you to remember