Sound of Distant Thunder (The Amish of Weaver's Creek Book #1)

Drexler Jan

Description

Katie Stuckey and Jonas Weaver are both romantics. Seventeen-year-old Katie is starry-eyed, in love with the idea of being in love, and does not want to wait to marry Jonas until she is eighteen, despite her parents' insistence. So much can happen in a year. Twenty-year-old Jonas is taken in by the romance of soldiering, especially in defense of anti-slavery, even though he knows war is at odds with the teachings of the church. When his married brother's name comes up in the draft list, he volunteers to take his brother's place. But can the commitment Katie and Jonas have made to each other survive the separation?From the talented pen of Jan Drexler comes this brand new Amish series set against the backdrop of the Civil War. She puts her characters to the test as they struggle to reconcile their convictions and desires while the national conflict threatens to undermine and engulf their community.

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 18 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493415083
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2018 by Jan Drexler
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1508-3
Scripture used in this book, whether quoted or paraphrased by the characters, is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.The author is represented by WordServe Literary Group.
Endorsements
“Twenty-year-old Jonas Weaver can’t resist fighting the evil of slavery by joining the War Between the States. Off to the army he goes, despite strong objections by his family, his Amish church, and his sweetheart, Katie Stuckey. When Jonas’s letters stop coming, Katie has to face something from her past she has tried to ignore. Jan Drexler’s The Sound of Distant Thunder combines historical research with compelling characters to create a memorable story of love in the time of war.”
Suzanne Woods Fisher, bestselling author of Anna’s Crossing
“In The Sound of Distant Thunder, the sweetness of young love, the conflict and sorrow of the War Between the States, the wisdom of couples long married, and the cost of making a stand for what one believes are blended into a story that kept me turning pages. The way Jan Drexler’s Amish characters spring to life off the page will leave readers wanting to know more about the people in this Amish community. For sure and certain.”
Ann H. Gabhart, bestselling author of These Healing Hills
“Faith, family, and freedom are tested by the crucible of war in this haunting love story of a gentle people whose lives—and hearts—are disrupted by the sound of distant thunder. Historically rich and rare, this is a unique glimpse into a nation divided that both captures the mind and nourishes the soul.”
Julie Lessman, award-winning author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Isle of Hope series
“In a beautifully woven story, Jan Drexler once again gives her readers a true look at the struggles of faith, hope, and love facing families, churches, communities, and a nation during a time of turbulence . . . and love.”
Ruth Logan Herne, award-winning author
Dedication
For John Tomlonson, my dad, whose love of history has done much to shape my life. Soli Deo Gloria
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Dedication
Epigraph
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
An Excerpt of Jan’s Next Book in the Series
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other books by Jan Drexler
Back Ads
Back Cover
Epigraph

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.
Joshua 5:13–14
1
A PRIL 17, 1862 M ILLERSBURG , O HIO
“Jonas! Pay attention! You’re going to drop that sack!”
Jonas Weaver barely heard his brother Samuel’s warning above the tumult of the crowd down the street. As he had come out of the feed store, balancing the fifty-pound bag of seed on his shoulders, the shouts had drawn him. He stared into the crowd gathered in front of the office of the Holmes County Gazette . Among the raised voices, the only clear word was “War!”
Samuel grabbed the sack of seed corn off Jonas’s shoulders and tossed it onto the wagon bed. “What are you doing? I thought you were going to wander off with that seed. You need to keep your mind on your work, not on Katie Stuckey.”
Jonas glanced at his older brother’s stormy face, then back at the crowd that commanded his attention. Katie was never far from his thoughts, but Samuel was wrong this time. Something big must have happened in the war. A big battle, maybe. The Federals needed a big win to end this war and bring peace to the country.
“Don’t you hear what they’re saying?” Jonas followed Samuel as he turned to walk back into the store. He caught up with him at the freight door, next to the rest of their sacks of seed corn. “They’re talking about the war, Samuel.”
His brother ignored him as he hefted the next sack of grain onto his shoulders and headed toward the wagon again. Jonas grabbed a sack off the pile and hurried after him.
“What do you think it means?” Jonas tilted his sack onto the wagon bed.
Samuel pushed the sack into place against the others, then he leaned one hand on the tailgate and frowned at Jonas. “What does it mean? It means more evil, and more fighting. Bloodshed and violence. Homes destroyed, men killed, farms torn in pieces so there’s no possibility of crops. It means terrible things. It’s been going on for a year now with no end in sight, and I’m sick of hearing about it.”
Samuel stalked back to the freight dock. He was right. Jonas glanced across the street again, where the crowd was getting larger. But where there was war, there might also be change. Change that could bring the freedom to the slaves in the South that the abolitionist preachers had been urging.
“Jonas!” Samuel’s impatient voice strode ahead of him as he came back with another load. He heaved the grain onto the wagon. “I need to get some things for Anna at Wilson’s Dry Goods. When you’re done loading the grain, drive down and meet me there.”
“For sure, I will.”
At thirty-four years old, and married with four children, his brother acted as if Jonas was still a young child. But Jonas was twenty years old, old enough to know his own mind. Old enough to make his own way in the world.
As Samuel walked off, Jonas quickly loaded the last two sacks and closed the tailgate.
And war or no war, he was old enough to know who he wanted to marry. After all, Samuel had been nineteen when he married Anna. There was no reason why Jonas couldn’t marry his Katie and start farming his own land. Tonight, after storing the seed and before the hard work of planting began tomorrow, would be the time to talk to Datt .
Years ago, when Samuel and Anna had set up housekeeping on the north section of the farm, Datt had let Jonas choose a quarter section of land for his own, and Jonas had chosen the woods in the east section. If he wanted to marry Katie in the fall, it was time for him to start building a house for the two of them, but he had to convince Datt to give him the time off to do it. He had been rehearsing what he would say ever since the idea had come to him.
Climbing onto the wagon seat, Jonas picked up the reins. As he drove closer to the newspaper office, he was drawn by the excitement of the crowd. He wished he had the money to buy a copy of today’s edition, but he’d have to make do with gleaning what he could from the crowd.
Not that he read the newspaper often. The Amish didn’t involve themselves in politics, as Datt always said. Not just Datt, but all of his family. All of the church community. But Jonas wanted to know what was happening in the world around him, especially during an exciting time like this. Ever since last spring, when the Southern states fired on Fort Sumter, Jonas had found himself held captive by the events.
As he came closer to the newspaper office, the large crowd forced the wagon to the far edge of the street. Everyone was focused on a man standing on a box in front of the Gazette ’s office, reading aloud from the paper that must be fresh off the press. Jonas only caught snatches of what he was reading, but the meaning was clear. A battle had been fought in a place called Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee. He had nearly reached the far edge of the crowd when the speaker came to the end of the reading, listing the number of casualties. Then he read that the Confederates had been defeated, and a roar of dismay went up from the crowd that startled Jonas and spooked the horses.
Jonas stood on the wagon box, leaning back on the reins to hold the horses in as well as he could, speaking to them in a low tone that he hoped would carry to the frightened team. The horses jostled the men at the edge of the crowd, and one of them looked around, annoyed. Jonas met his eyes before turning his attention back to his team. It was Ned Hamlin. Ned and his father weren’t farmers but lived off the land in the wild, swampy area on the other side of Weaver’s Creek, east of the Weavers’ farm.
Ned spat in the dirt next to the wagon wheel, then grinned at Jonas. “One Federal victory ain’t gonna win this war, right?”
Jonas clenched his teeth to keep from entering into an argument with Ned. “I need to move on.”
Ned stepped back. “Sure you do. You and all your cowardly family. Amish don’t fight? I say Amish can’t fight. They’re too busy running scared with their tails between their legs.”
Jonas tightened sweaty fingers around the reins as one of Ned’s companions noticed them. He clapped Ned on the shoulder. “Them Amish are all Lincoln’s lackeys, ain’t they? Doin’ whatever he wants.”
Clucking to the team, Jonas drove away from the boisterous crowd, toward the block past the courthouse where Samuel would be waiting. A different kind of crowd gathered along the boardwalk, keeping their distance from Ned Hamlin and his like. These men were quieter, grouped in twos and threes, reading the paper to themselves. John Cabot, the publisher of the paper, stepped up next to t