A Candle in the Window

Chapter One The Promise December 1943 The winter Daniel Mercer left Willow Creek, the snow came early. It gathered along the fence rails outside the Bennett farmhouse and softened the bare branches of the apple tree. Beneath that tree, Clara Bennett stood with her hands tucked into the sleeves of her coat, watching Daniel struggle with a strip of red ribbon. “You can mend a tractor,” she said, “but you cannot tie a bow?” “Tractors stand still when I ask them.” “So does ribbon.” “Not this ribbon.” Clara laughed and took it from him. Inside the small parcel was a wooden bird he had carved from a scrap of apple wood. Its wings were folded, its head tilted slightly, as though it were listening. “A robin,” she said