Page 13 of Crimson Born

Trembling, I turned back to my mother. “How can this be?”

Rising from the table, my father came to my mother’s side, assuming a stance that was almost protective. Now hedidask about my night away from home.

“Who were you with last night Abigail?” he demanded. “What have you done?”

“What have Idone?” I could hardly believe my ears. Why were they acting so strangely? Dad sounded accusatory and even a little afraid. “I just told you I was in an accident. It was terrible. I think Hannah and Aaron and Josiah might be badly injured. I thought I was, too, but—”

“Hannah and Aaron are dead,” Mamm said. “Josiah is in the hospital in critical condition.”

“We didn’t know you were with them in the buggy. We thought you might have... gone off on your own,” my father explained.

He didn’t ask if I was okay. He didn’t hug me and say how happy he was that I’d somehow made it through the experience unscathed. He just continued to stare at my eyes with growing fear evident in his own.

“They’re dead?” I repeated.

My head spun, making me stagger a little. After a moment I thought to ask which hospital Josiah was in.

“Lancaster General,” my father said. “A police officer came to his parents’ house last night and brought them there to be with him.”

“I want to go see him.”

“You’ve only just gotten here,” Mamm protested. “You must eat something before you go.”

Again my stomach rolled with nausea. “No thank you, Mamm. I just want to go to the hospital.”

My father grabbed his hat from a peg on the wall. “I’ll take you. Noah, hitch up the horses and buggy.” To me, he said, “Let’s go.”

It was a ten-mile trip to the hospital. When we got on the road, I thanked my father for understanding my eagerness to get to Josiah as soon as possible.

“I didn’t agree to this for your sake—I did it for your mother and brothers and sisters.”

My father had always spoken to me gently throughout my life, even when I was younger and just learning discipline and self-control. His harsh tone tonight brought tears to my eyes. I didn’t understand his apparent lack of concern for me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Youknowwhat I mean. Your mother doesn’t understand what those eyes signify—she doesn’t know any English people. But I work with them every day on construction sites. I hear them talk about things in the world.”

I shook my head, the tears spilling over now. “What ‘things?’”

He flicked the reigns, urging the horses to move faster. “I know what lilac-colored eyes mean. You’ve given yourself to one of those unholy creatures. And I can’t risk letting you be around your mother and siblings. I will take you to the hospital, but you are not to come home.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t given myself to anyone, not Josiah or to any English boys.”

That had to be what he meant by “unholy creatures.” Though even if Ihadslept with someone outside of marriage, forbidding me from seeing my family ever again seemed like an overly harsh punishment.

From time to time in our community, a girl became pregnant before marriage, and there would be a quicker than usual wedding ceremony. Shunning wasn’t common.

“I’m not speaking of the English, and you know it,” my father spat out.

His beard quivered with emotion. “I’m speaking of vampires. You’ve been with a vampire.”

5

Final Farewell

You’ve been with a vampire.

The accusation reverberated through my body like a physical blow. Though he was wrong about the nature of our interaction, I knew my father was right.

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