“Jah.”
Nanna folded her arms and pinned Ben with a stern look. “Were you supposed to be going snowshoeing with Linda?”
“Jah.”
Nanna seemed extremely annoyed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ben shook his head. “You need me to drive worse than I need to go snowshoeing.”
“Stuff and nonsense,” Nanna said. “I’m not an invalid. I’m not even that old. Who am I to keep you from a fun outing with a pretty girl?”
“It’s not really an outing . . .”
Nanna did not pause her indignation. “You should have told me. I feel so selfish, not to mention that Linda has made all these plans.”
Linda jumped in. “You didn’t know. And I think it’s sweet that Ben is such a devoted grandson.” Ben grinned at her. She felt the warmth of it clear to her toes.
Nanna shed every ounce of irritation in an instant and reached up and put her arm around his shoulder. “He is a wonderful gute grandson. He drives me wherever I want to go and doesn’t complain about eating my chicken pot pie.”
“I love your chicken pot pie, Mammi.”
“Ach, vell, nobody else does. But I’m over it.”
“I can just go snowshoeing with Elmer Lee,” Linda said. “He’s funny-looking and smelly, but we’ll have a gute time.” She looked at Ben out of the corner of her eye. It might have been fun, but it didn’t matter anymore.
Nanna shook her head. “No sirree, Bob. This old lady isn’t going to get in the way of your snowshoeing trip.”
“I don’t mind taking you to town, Mammi.”
Nanna patted Ben on the cheek. “I know you don’t. But I’m not going to ruin your fun. My errands can wait. I’m coming with you.”
Linda was struck speechless. By the look on Ben’s face, he was thinking the same thing. “You’re . . . you’re coming with us?” Ben stuttered.
“I don’t want to miss out on the fun. I’ve never been snowshoeing.”
“But, Mammi, it’s kind of hard for someone . . .”
“For someone my age?” Nanna seemed only slightly offended. “Stuff and nonsense. It’s snowshoeing. How hard can it be?”
“That’s just what Linda said,” Ben murmured, looking at Linda as if this was all her fault.
Linda didn’t know what to say except to go along with it. “Do you have snow pants?”
Nanna pursed her lips. “I’ll wear my long underwear.”
“Mammi!” Ben said, as if the thought of his mammi’s underwear shocked him to the core.
Linda giggled. Nanna was blunt and unembarrassed. It was exactly how a cancer survivor in her sixties with improperly short hair should behave. “I don’t know if you can snowshoe in a dress.”
Nanna nodded decisively. “I can. I play pickleball in a dress. I can certainly snowshoe.”
Linda didn’t even hide her surprise. “You play pickleball?”
“Jah. Esther, Hannah, me, and some Englisch friends. Cathy plays with us.”
“Cathy? But she’s almost eighty years old.”
Nanna’s eyes danced with amusement. “Eighty-three.”
“I don’t think we have enough snowshoes,” Ben said. He actually seemed disappointed instead of just pretending to be disappointed.
Linda’s heart sank. If Nanna didn’t go, it was unlikely she could convince Ben to go. “I only have three pair.”
Nanna tapped her finger to her lips. “I think Ben’s dat has a pair of snowshoes, the old-fashioned kind made out of wicker or some other such thing. They’re hanging in the barn.”
Ben jumped into action. “I’ll go get them and meet you at the car.”
Nanna winked at Linda when Ben walked down the hall. “I’ll get into my long underwear. Cathy has been waiting a long time, and she’s not a patient person. You’d better get out there and make sure she isn’t having some sort of attack.”
* * *
They crammed into the car, Cathy driving and Nanna in the front passenger seat. Linda sat between Ben and Elmer Lee in the back. Ben was a nice solid presence, and Linda found herself leaning toward his side of the car to take in his nice scent. “You smell like wintergreen gum and fresh cut wood.”
He gave her a half-confused, half-amused look. “Denki. The gum is to keep my mind off smoking. And the wood is because I helped my dat cut floor joists this morning.”
“Much better than stinking like an ashtray.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I’m glad I meet with your approval.”
She gave him a teasing smile. “I wouldn’t go that far.” Cathy pulled onto the road, and Linda leaned even closer to Ben. The confusion on his face deepened. “I don’t think we should go to Rock Creek,” she whispered. “You’re mammi doesn’t think she’s old, but I think the trail will be too hard for her.”
Ben seemed to be holding his breath and purposefully avoiding her gaze. “It is a hard trail, but what can we do? She wants to go snowshoeing.”
How to change plans without Nanna getting suspicious? “Cathy,” Linda said, “since we got a late start, I think we should snowshoe at the golf course instead of up the canyon. The snow is still pretty good down here.”
“Wherever you want to go. I’ve never been to the golf course. Golfing is the most boring sport in the entire world, except for maybe football. I mean, what’s the point?” Cathy turned north instead of south, and Nanna didn’t seem to notice the plans had changed because of her. Gute. She could still enjoy snowshoeing without having a heart attack or breaking a hip, Lord willing. And on the flatland, Ben might think he had more of a chance to beat Linda to the end of the trail. He wouldn’t, but she didn’t want to crush his hopes right at the beginning.
There were a few other cars parked at the golf course. Not many, because the good snow was mostly gone. But it would be good enough for Linda, Ben, Elmer Lee, and an elderly woman who insisted on being included. They climbed out of the car, and Cathy popped her trunk. Nanna’s ancient snowshoes came out first, then the three pair Linda had borrowed from Ashley. Ashley and Dylan had gone skiing this weekend, but Ashley had been happy to lend Linda her snowshoes. Cathy reached under a blanket in her trunk and pulled out another pair of snowshoes and some walking poles. “Alrighty then. Which trail do we take?”
Linda couldn’t keep the sheer panic from her voice. “Um. What do you mean?”
Cathy set the snowshoes on the ground and pulled out a hot pink, sparkly parka from under the same blanket. “You don’t think I’m going to sit in the car and wait for you.”
Actually, Linda had thought Cathy was going to drop them off and come back later. Apparently not.
Ben glanced at Linda, the alarm on his face probably matching the alarm on hers. Nanna Kiem joining them was one thing. Eighty-three-year-old Cathy Larsen was quite another.
Eighty-three-year-old Cathy in a hot pink parka with fake fur on the hood and rhinestone buttons down the front.
Cathy reached under the blanket and pulled out a bright yellow beanie that could have blinded someone in full sunlight. “I found this on Amazon. It’s good for if you’re out on the road in the middle of the night.”
Ben’s lips twitched upward. Linda turned away from him so she wouldn’t burst into laughter. Okay. The snowshoe adventure had just become a lot more interesting. She hoped Ben could hold his own this time, because Linda was going to have to give her complete attention to the two senior citizens.
“Mammi,” Ben said. “Let me wear the old snowshoes. You wear these new ones. They’ll be easier.”
Nanna looked at both pair. “Are you sure? I invited myself. I don’t mind wearing the old ones.”
Ben nodded vigorously. “I’m sure.”
Linda peered at the old snowshoes. The frames were made of some kind of pliable wood, stained a pretty reddish brown and tapering to a point at the back. Leather weaving crisscrossed the wood, and a piece of rope hung where the bindings should be. The wood frames were cracked in three or four places, and the leather was o
ld and dry. Lord willing they would be just fine, and if they disintegrated into a thousand pieces, this was the golf course, not a wilderness trail. Ben could hike back to the car in his boots without encountering snow much past his ankles.
Golf course or not, Ben was going to have a hard time in those snowshoes. Linda picked them up and pulled Ben aside. “I’ll wear them. They don’t look very easy to walk in.”
Ben gave her a dazzling smile. What was it about him today? He’d smiled more in the last hour than she’d seen him smile in the last ten years. “That’s wonderful nice of you, but I don’t mind. I quit smoking for just such a time as this.”
Linda giggled. “I don’t wonder but this is your Queen Esther moment.”
He nodded in mock seriousness. “I don’t wonder either.”
Ben and Elmer Lee helped Nanna on with her snowshoes while Linda directed Cathy to sit in her car with her feet on the ground. It was better to put on snowshoes while you were actually in the snow so you didn’t bend the metal crampons on the pavement, but it was definitely safer for Cathy to sit while Linda helped her. Linda strapped Cathy’s snowshoes to her boots and adjusted the bindings. “These are nice snowshoes, Cathy.”
Cathy studied her feet as if she was reconsidering all her life choices. “I bought them yesterday. They were the most expensive ones in the store. I could have bought a pony for what I paid for these.”
With both hands, Linda pulled Cathy to her feet. Cathy wobbled slightly as if her feet were stuck to the ground. “Move your feet. Walk just like normal.”
Cathy scrunched her lips together. “I’ve never walked normal. I’ve had shin splints for fifty years.” Linda moved back, and Cathy took a step forward. Her hand shot out and clamped onto Linda’s shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
“As long as my vertigo doesn’t get too bad, I’ll be fine.”
Ach. The way things were going, they’d end up at the hospital by noon. They’d have to call an ambulance because Cathy was the only one who knew how to drive. Linda glanced at Ben who was holding tightly to his mammi’s arm. Did he know how to drive? It seemed like that would be something a boy like Ben would have learned how to do. Maybe some wild Englisch friend had taught him. It would come in handy if they needed to take Nanna or Cathy to the emergency room.
Gripping her poles, Cathy made a wide arc around the snow at the edge of the parking lot. It was all Linda could do not to run to her, grab her around the waist, and pull her back to the car for her own safekeeping.
Cathy glanced up at Linda before looking back down at her feet. “I look ridiculous, but I can do it, even with my lumbago.” Linda offered her arm to Cathy to lead her to the trail, but Cathy wouldn’t take it. “Don’t bother with me. I’ll be just fine. I didn’t pay three hundred dollars for these snowshoes for nothing.”
Three hundred dollars? She really could have bought a pony for that much.
Linda wasn’t a worrier, and she certainly wasn’t going to fuss over Cathy if Cathy didn’t want to be fussed over. Cathy played pickleball. She drove too fast. She complained about a lot of health maladies, but she moved well on those snowshoes. Linda shouldn’t underestimate her just because she was eighty-three. Linda certainly didn’t want to be underestimated simply because she was nineteen.
Linda hadn’t coddled Ben on his first snowshoe outing. She didn’t need to baby Cathy either. Probably.
Ben held tightly to his mammi as she made her way to the trail, but as soon as she got onto the snow, she nudged him away from her. “Denki. You are so gute to me. Now go get your own snowshoes on.”
Ben set the old snowshoes on the ground and peered at them as if he didn’t even know what they were. He swiped his hand down the side of his face and glanced at Linda. “Don’t laugh, but I have no idea how to put these on.”
Linda let her jaw drop in mock indignation. “What makes you think I would ever laugh?”
“Just a guess,” he said dryly.
She sat on the ground next to Ben’s snowshoes. “I’m not sure either. Give me your foot.”
Ben chuckled. “Will you give it back?” He stepped into the left snowshoe, and Linda tried to figure out how to secure his foot with the rope. She looped the rope around the center pole of the snowshoe, secured it around his toe then his ankle, and tied her best knot to secure the whole thing into place.
“This should hold it,” she said. “Give me your other foot.”
Ben stepped into the other snowshoe. “How did you do that so fast?”
“Years of milking cows,” Linda said.
“Cows don’t wear snowshoes.”
Linda laughed as she secured Ben’s other foot. “Very funny. I have strong fingers from milking cows.”
“How many cows do you have?”
“Two. I’ve milked one every day since I was six. My older bruder, Yost, used to milk the other. Now Elmer Lee helps me.” Linda finished the last knot and stood up. “Okay. I don’t know how well it will work, but I guess we’ll see.”
“I guess we will. I plan on beating you to the top.”
Linda smiled at the determined look on his face. “There is no top. It’s pretty flat clear to the end of the trail.”
“It’s just an expression. It means I’m going to win the race and be king of the hill.”
“It’s not a race.”
Ben flashed a playful grin. “Don’t chicken out on me.”
Linda rolled her eyes. “We both know I can run circles around you.”
“I don’t think so. I haven’t had a cigarette for a week, and my legs are longer. You’re scared.”
Linda laughed at the teasing expression on his face. “We can’t race.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “If you haven’t noticed, the other three have never been snowshoeing before, Cathy is eighty-three, and your snowshoes will fall apart if you step on them too hard. When I win, I don’t want you blaming it on your antique snowshoes.”
“When you win? It wonders me if you’re a little overconfident.”
“Nae. Just realistic.”
He grunted. “I can’t let that boast go unanswered. I challenge you to a race next Saturday, up Rock Creek without my mammi.”
Linda got breathless all of a sudden. He wanted to do this again? “Okay, but don’t get your hopes up. I’m still going to beat you.”
“I don’t think so.”
Cathy started walking in the wrong direction. “Cathy,” Linda called. “That way is a dead end. Let’s go this way.”
Linda grabbed her snowshoes, took them to the trail, and quickly put them on. She’d given Elmer Lee her poles because she only had one set, and he didn’t know what he was doing, but nobody really needed poles snowshoeing on the golf course. It was hard to fall.
Ben shuffled awkwardly to the trail, but he seemed to grow accustomed to his snowshoes the more steps he took. Nanna and Cathy took off with Ben between them, and Linda walked behind with Elmer Lee.
“He’s not bad,” Elmer Lee said, motioning at Ben, who was making sure Nanna’s gloves were secure.
Linda watched as Ben helped Cathy loop her poles around her wrists, his broad shoulders easily visible from behind. “He can be contrary and he likes to argue, but he’s very gute to his mammi. And he’s got a pretty tough skin. You should have seen that cut he got from skiing behind our buggy.”
“Was it deep?”
“Esther gave him forty-five stitches. He wouldn’t go to the hospital so she just used a quilting needle, and he sat there and watched while she poked him.”
Elmer Lee’s eyes widened with surprise. “They didn’t even numb it first?”
“Nae.”
His expression turned to one of awe. “I’d like to see that scar.”
“It’s pretty bad. But I wouldn’t admire him too much. That scar came from doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. There’s no honor in that.”
“LaWayne Nelson says Ben got shot trying to stop a robbery.”
Linda d
rew her brows together. “Don’t make a hero out of him. He and Wally were being stupid, and Wally accidentally shot him.” That had been almost five years ago. Everybody knew about it, and everybody said Ben had gotten what he deserved for playing with his dat’s rifle. Linda had agreed with the general opinion, but now she wasn’t so sure. Ben was reckless and dumm, but he wasn’t a bad person. He could have been killed, and maybe the world would have been worse off without him. Maybe he would have missed out on the chance to make his life right with Gotte. Her heart beat a little bit faster. How glad she was Ben hadn’t died.
Nanna stumbled over her own feet, and Ben grabbed her arm before she could fall. “You’re doing gute, Mammi. Walk as normal as you can but lift your feet higher. That will help you get a more secure step.”
Nanna glanced behind her. “Elmer Lee, come up here and tell us what you’re learning in school. This is your last year, isn’t it?” She inclined her head in Ben’s direction. “I’ll be fine. You go walk by Linda so we can talk to Elmer Lee.”
Elmer Lee caught up with Nanna and Cathy, which wasn’t too hard. Elmer Lee’s legs were longer than Nanna’s, Nanna was wearing a dress, and she and Cathy were taking it nice and slow. They were doing well, but they weren’t going to win any races, even against other old people.
Ben turned around and waited for Linda. The grin on his face made her heart smile. “Did you hear me giving Mammi instructions? I bet you never thought I’d be one of the experienced ones on the trail.”
“Today, you’re the best I’ve got.”
“Well, nobody has died yet or fallen into a snowbank.”
“Not even you,” she said, in mock surprise.
He poked her with his elbow. She squeaked in protest. “Considering I’m wearing these ancient snowshoes, you should be impressed.”
“You’re doing well for a beginner.” He growled and shoved her harder this time. Laughing, she veered off the trail but got right back on it without missing a step. “I see you got a new hat.”
He reached up and ran his finger along the brim of his straw hat. “Thirty dollars.”
“Considering your history with hats, this one should last you another half hour.”
The Amish Quiltmaker's Unruly In-Law Page 8