Yes the next chapter is up. This is one of my favorite parts of the book.

Aryll and Ruto left the schoolhouse still talking. They had hardly noticed each other before lunch, but once they had returned to class both realized that they sat just two seats away from each other. When Miss Impa Bardley told the class they could pair up for a reading exercise, Ruto immediately looked to Aryll who slid over on her bench so they younger girl could join her. Zelda had ended up sitting with Agitha, and both girls looked miserable.

But now the day was over, and many of the students hit the door running. Miss Bardley had been strict but fair, and in her fairness she had warned them that she was and unyielding disciplinarian. She did not believe God had created stupid children, which meant if they were not learning, then they were not trying, and that meant the strap if you were a boy or the ruler if you were a girl. Punishment would be meted out at the front of the room, but that would be the end of it. No staying after class or writing sentences for the better part of the day. Miss Bradley had no doubt that a session with the strap or ruler would be more than enough impetus to alter you lesson or alter your behavior.

"Here's Link," Aryll said as the girls gained the warm afternoon sun. "He told me he'd come for me. Hey, Link," Aryll as she approached, "can we give Ruto and her sisters a ride home?"

"Sure," the young man responded readily enough. "Hop in."

Ruto, Sari, and Romani scrambled aboard with Aryll, but Zelda, who had just come upon the scene, stopped short. Link's amused gaze swept over her affronted features.

"Are you going to join us, Miss Rontaine?"

That chin went into the air.

"Come on Zelda," Romani urged her. "Get in."

"No, thanks you," she said with a regale air. "I'd rather walk."

With that she turned, her skirts swirling around her, and started home.

Link grinned and raised the reins to slap the team, but Kafei hailed him from the schoolhouse steps and he stopped. The younger man had a question and a message from his father that he'd forgotten to tell Aryll. The two talked together for a few minutes. The girls took no notice but spoke of the day and made plans for the week.

By the time Link moved his team down the road, Zelda was far ahead of them. He slowed the team ever so slightly as them came abreast of her. And Link smiled to himself when he felt the wagon bounce slightly. The unapproachable Zelda Fontaine had climbed aboard. Link pulled up in front of the Fontaine home less than ten minutes later, and the three younger girls scrambled out with calls of thanks and goodbye. Zelda remained silent. Link deliberately turned his handsome blond head and watched her. Zelda caught his look and tossed her blond waves.

"Not going to thank me?" he murmured softly and watched as she flounced into the house. She shut the front door a little too hard and said to the entryway at large, "I hate the Link Taggart. I tell you, I do."

No one in her family commented, and Zelda stormed up the stairs telling herself that when her sisters saw what a colossal conceit he had, they would feel the same way.

In the meantime, Aryll had come up beside her brother on the wagon seat, and as they pulled away, she commented, "I don't thinks she spoke to anyone all day."

"Zelda?"

"Yes."

"Maybe she was afraid."

Aryll shook her head. "I don't think so. She thinks she's better than the rest of us."

"Her sisters aren't like that."

Aryll thought about that. Fontaine sisters were all so lovely in looks, but like night and day in temperament. Romani and Ruto were both warm and friendly, but not quiet as loves as Saria and Zelda. They were the beauties of the family, their eyes rimmed by dark lashes and framed with perfect brows—a perfect foil for the burnished rich color hair that varied in the family. Their attitudes, however, were much more guarded, marking them seem standoffish and conceited.

"No, they're not all like that," Aryll finally agreed. "This is something of a miracle, since they're all pretty."

They fell silent, busy with their own thoughts, and ride was quiet for the last hundred years home—quiet, that is, until they spotted their father's horse. Rusl Taggart had finally come home.

(&)

Aryll was in bed, and Link and his father sat together at the kitchen table. They had talked about the mine he'd been surveying and now they discussed the next jobs.

"I've got a letter out to Nohansen about his newest mine, but Kafei O'Brien told me today that his father is laid up with a leg injury. I didn't have time to go see him, but that means the Moonbeam #3 is going to be open for a surveyor."

"The Moonbeam is set in horrible terrain," Rusl commented.

"That's probably why Lenzo O'Brien is laid up."

"At leas tit's close," Rusl put in. "I'm weary of the trail."

Tell me about it," Link said softly, and his father laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Still hove that dream?"

"I sure do. I think that's why I'm so eager to pick Aryll up from school. Every once in a while her dress will smell like chalk and all the other classroom smells combined I can just see myself there, at the front of the class, chalk in hand."

Uli had poured them all cups of coffee in heavy, dark mugs and had taken a place at the table. She looked across and smiled at her son.

"God will show you the way, Link. You believe that, don't you?"

"I do, Mom, but I must admit that at times I chafe at God's timing. I want this now, while I'm still young."

"You are getting old," his father said, and it was clear where Link gained his sense of humor. "We'll fink a way, Link." He turned serious just that fast. "Trust and keep on here. We'll find a way."

Link nodded, and Rusl's gaze swung to his wife. His eyes caressed her face and dark blond hair before he reached for her hand. Link slipped away from the kitchen with a very soft good-night to his parents, but they barely noticed.

"Welcome home," Uli said lovingly.

"Thank you." He continued to study her. "Tired?"

"Not a bit," she told him.

Rusl's gray eyes warmed perceptibly, and as their fingers locked they leaned simultaneously, their lips meeting, warm and familiar. I was lovely to be home.

(&)

The week moved on with a strong pattern. Rusl took Aryll to school, but Link picked her up. Each day the Fontaine sisters rode with him. Zelda never thanked him or even spoke to him, but he could get a rise out of her with just one look. And that was the confusing part. If she hated him, why did she look at him? If she had simply ignored him and gone her way, she'd have never seen the amused glance that set her blood to boiling. Link mentally shook his head in wonder because she did it every time. He had started to say "You're welcome" even though she hadn't uttered a word, and instead of snubbing him, she looked into his eyes every time. One time Link even winked at her and then watched her turn red with fury, her eyes flashed ominous fire before she flounced away to the house.

In the midst of this was Aryll. Aryll loved her brother, and she loved her new friend Ruto, but Zelda was more than she could handle. Zelda didn't speak to the kids at school or show a drop of kindness offered to her by various classmates, and in Aryll's opinion she just wasn't worth bothering with. Aryll was not comfortable with her own attitude, but she didn't know what to do. One day she even discussed it with Ruto, who simply said, "I'm sorry it's so strained between the two of you, Aryll, but anything I would say would only sound like I'm making excuses for Zelda."

"Does she get along with anyone?"
"Oh, yes, but she doesn't like school and doesn't make friends easily."

"I couldn't stand not to have friends."
"But she does have friends," Ruto told her gently. "She has her sisters, especially Malon. They're very close, and Zelda loves Malon more than anyone."

Aryll looked at the younger girl with new respect. If she had a sister that Link loved more, Aryll knew she would be absolutely crushed, but Ruto was accepting and even seemed glad for Zelda. Ruto had gone on to say that her father and Sari could be just as prickly, and that sometimes a person could be aware of a problem but not be able to do anything about it except pray.

Had Ruto only know what was taking place at the store; she would have been amazed at how closely her words echoed those of her mother. Blossom was talking with Error while Bipin was busy with the books.

"I can talk to Malon and Ruto—even Romani—but not Zelda or Sari. They're just as prickly as Bipin."

"Has he shown any signs of interest, Blossom?"

Blossom smiled gently as her brother-in-law. "That's just it, Error. He thinks he is a believer in God, he cares for his family, so of cores he's going to heaven."
"But, Blossom, what does he do with verses that say without God's plan we are lost?"

"He would say he has God's plan, and that he does believe in Jesus Christ."

The two fell silent for a moment. It had come as a grate surprise to both of them to discover they both had come to saving knowledge of Christ, but it had been a tremendous letdown for Error when he realized he brother had never made that step.

"I keep praying, Error, but I also must thank God. I know Bipin loves me, and when I think of how it could be, I praise God for His grace and provision."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Only that he is a wonderful father and husband. He adores the girls, and even though he can be very dictatorial, he always acts in our best interest. So you see, I have much for which to give thanks."

Error nodded and also expressed his own heartfelt thanks. His brother had married a wonderful woman who honored him and was making a strong attempt to raise her girls to understand God's greatest gift. A sudden pang stabbed though Error's heart as he thought of his own Marin. Error himself had not realized his need for Christ until after her death. He had no idea where she was spending eternity, and all he could do was rest in God's sovereignty.

(&)

Hyrule, castle city

Ralph Langley rocked his chair back onto two legs and smiled at the letter in his hand. Malon wanted him to come for a visit. Ralph's eyes closed as he pictured her in his mind, again he smiled. He had told her that he'd been looking for her for a very long time, and this was quiet true. She was everything he could possibly hope for in a wife. She shared his faith in Christ; she was gentle, kindhearted, and lovely. He had spent only three hours with her, but it felt like they had always known each other. And when they parted, he touched her hand oh-so-briefly, but even now his heart thundered in his chest at the thought of holding her in his arms. How soon could he leave…

A knock sounded on his office door, and Ralph was forced back to the world of banking.

"Come in," he called and stood up with a smile when his friend, Richard Buchanan, came in.

"Richard," the men shook hands, "what brings you into town?"

"Just a little business. We're starting a cattle drive soon and I needed a newspaper."

"Well, since you're here, I'll buy you lunch at the hotel."

"With an offer like that, I wonder why I don't come into town more often."

Ralph reached for his suit jacket, and the men made their way through the bank and out onto the street. The contrast in their mode of dress was fascinating, and they caught many eyes, but some of this probably could have been attributed to their height. Ralph Langley was no midget at 6'2", but Richard was the main attraction at 6'4". He was a rancher by trade, and with his dark jeans, plaid shirt, broad shoulders, and worn cowboy boots, he appeared even larger. Ralph was also a large man, but his dress was very much that of the banker, with black serge pants and jacket, know in town, so seating in the dining room at the hotel was immediate and comfortable.

"What day do you expect the cattle to go?" Ralph asked. They had placed their orders and been served large much of strong, black coffee.

"It looks like tow weeks from Thursday, but I'll need to be back in town the day before." A sudden smile split Richard's face, and he said, "Shall I buy the lunch that day?"

Ralph smiled as well, his expression rather wishful. "As a matter of fact, I don't think I'll be around."

"Business?" Richard felt free to ask.

"No," Ralph told him with quiet contentment. "I'm going to Kakariko Village."

Again Richard smiled. "Tell Malon that I look forward to meeting her."

Ralph only nodded, but he looked pleased. A moment later the waitress arrived with their food.

(&)

It did not go unnoticed by Zelda that Link Taggart sat directly behind her in church the next Sunday. It was not planned, but suddenly there he was. Her father liked to be very punctual when attending church—he told her one time that it impressed God—so they were often early and in a pew fare to the front. Zelda would have preferred to sit a little farther back, but she was not given this option.

Now today she wished she could think of some reason to leave. The Fontaine girls were expected to take care of their needs before church began, so that excuse would never work, but Zelda thought if she could look sick enough…

Her thoughts were cut off by a sudden itch on the bottom of her foot. Zelda wiggled her foot out of one shoe in order to scratch it with the toe of the other, but she never put the shoe back on because her mind was distracted by a woman moving toward the front to sing.

Zelda steeled herself for an awful screech and clamor and was not disappointed. "All about God's Love" was a song her mother liked to hum while she worked, but this woman was spoiling it. And the woman's hat looked like a windblown bird's nest! Zelda rolled her eyes in disgust but looked over to catch her father's stern gaze. His serous eyes were enough to make her alter her expression and sit up straight. At the same time, she remembered her shoe. With her stocking-clad foot she felt around on the floor but couldn't locate it. She began to move a little more, searching as far as she could reach, but Malon suddenly leaned close.

"Father said if you know what's good for you you'll sit still."
Again Zelda did as she was directed, but her mind was not on the sermon that was just beginning. Indeed, the next half hour was torturous. Where in the world had her shoe gone?

"I would like to close with this verse," Zelda was relieved to hear Pastor Sahasrahla finally say. "Joshua 1:8 says, 'This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.'"

"I read this, dear friends, because I want you to understand that Sundays are not enough. You must be reading and studying you Bibles all though the week and my prayer for you this day always is that you will understand this truth and act upon it. Let us pray."
Zelda had never been so glad to hear the end of a sermon in her life. Her toes were sore form all the bumping around, and her still had not found her shoe. She was nearly bent double now. Searching the area but finding nothing. She was bounced into by two of her sisters who moved past her to leave, but the shoe was nowhere to be found. The church was emptying fast when Zelda finally stood and turned around.

Seated on the pew behind her, the shoe dangling from one finger was Link.

"Lose something?" he asked solicitously.

Incensed, Zelda leaned to snatch it away. All Link did was grin.

"You are insufferable," she told him between clenched teeth, her shoe finally in place. Link only stood, his movement lazy, and tried to look hurt by her words.

"I take it you won't be heartsick when I leave town this next week."

"Not in the least," the young beauty told him with flashing eyes. "I hope you never return."

Again Link was not offended. He gave Zelda a lazy smile and nod before moving on his way, his hat held loosely in one hand, Zelda was angry that he could go out ahead of a lady, but she was though talking to him. Indeed, she believed the man was impossible and vowed at that moment never to speak to him again. However, she watched as he walked all the way to the double church doors, put his hat firmly in place, and stepped out into the morning sunshine.