Amish Lily

by Samantha Price

  Lily nodded, amazed that Nerida had already heard. Then her cousins came running out of the house with their skates.

  “Bye, Dat,” the cousins both called out as they ran past their father to the buggy.

  “Looks like we’re off,” Lily said, backing away from her uncle. “Say hello to Nerida for me and I’ll come and visit when I can.” She was pleased to get away before he could correct her to saying ‘Aunt Nerida.’ She had the last word and that’s how she liked it.

  “Did you see your mudder?” Lily asked the cousins when they were back on the road.

  “She was sleeping.”

  “It sounds like she broke her leg really badly.”

  “Jah, we know. That’s why we’re staying with you.”

  “I didn’t realize how bad.”

  “That’s because you don’t listen to anyone, Lily. You’re too—” Willow gasped and it sounded to Lily as though Violet had dug her in the ribs.

  “What am I too? Too what?” Lily pulled the buggy over to the side of the road and stopped. She stared at the cousins who appeared frightened. On seeing their fearful looks, she clicked the horse onward, not wanting to become someone who the cousins feared. “You two are too young to know anything much, so I’ll ignore whatever you say or think.”

  “It was very kind of you to drive us tonight, Lily,” Violet said in a small voice.

  Willow added, “Jah, very kind, Lily.”

  Chapter 5

  Lily remained silent for the rest of the drive. Tonight they were skating at the huge frozen-over pond on the Millers’ farm. When Lily pulled alongside the other buggies, Violet and Willow jumped out before she stopped.

  They ran off, yelling a thank you to her over their shoulders.

  It reminded Lily of how she and Daisy had always jumped out of the buggy when they were eager to get to a place, but possibly the cousins only did that to get away from her.

  When the horse was secured, Lily pulled her shawl further around her shoulders to shield her from the cold night air. The cousins had wasted no time pulling on their skates. They were off skating on the ice as though that was where they belonged. Lily and her sisters hadn’t skated often and as much fun as it looked, Lily knew she’d only spend most of the time on her bottom. She was too old to be embarrassed in that way.

  There were five wooden benches arranged so people could either watch or rest from skating. Lily sat by herself, still not in the mood to talk with anyone, unless it was Elijah. She looked around and couldn’t see him anywhere and told herself she might have been early and he’d arrive later. If he hadn’t said he’d be there, she doubted she would’ve come at all, unless the cousins had persuaded her. Now she thought about it more, she could’ve traded some chores to drive the twins here. She was chuckling in her head when she sensed someone walking up beside her. It was Nathanial Schumacher.

  “Mind if I sit?” he asked.

  “It’s not my seat.” She looked down at the space next to her.

  He sat down and placed a pair of skates at his feet. “It was a good wedding yesterday.”

  “I guess.”

  “I heard your schweschder is moving to Ohio.”

  “Nee, she’s not. Where did you hear that?”

  His eyes widened. “I don’t remember.”

  “She’s not moving there. She’s simply going there to meet all her new relations.”

  “Maybe she won’t come back,” he said, leaning closer.

  “Are you trying to upset me?”

  “Nee, I wouldn’t be brave enough to do that. I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was such a sore subject.”

  Lily scowled at him. “Are you a twin?”

  He chuckled. “Not unless my mudder kept a secret from me. She could’ve given my twin away.” He laughed as though he’d said something funny. “Nee, I’ve never had a twin.”

  “It’s not something to joke about. Unless you’ve been a twin you wouldn’t understand.”

  “I’ve never asked you, but I’ve always wondered. What is it like being a twin?”

  “Being a twin is like being a twin.” She stared at his confused face, and explained, “How would I know? I’ve never been anything else.”

  “Well, what do you think the best thing is about being a twin?”

  “Being a twin.”

  He rubbed his forehead. “Can you explain it?”

  “I’ll try. It’s always having her there. We never had to talk about things. There were things we just knew. And we thought the same about everything.”

  “I’ll miss her too. I liked her.”

  “Jah, well, she didn’t like you enough, did she?”

  “Ouch! You’ve got quite a sting in your words tonight.”

  Lily turned away from him and stared at the skaters as they glided freely on the ice. If only she could skate like that, she’d feel free. It was too late to learn now.

  He leaned closer. “What you need is some cheering up.”

  “And you’re the person to help me do that?”

  “Exactly.”

  “What did you have in mind? Are we going to try drugs, perhaps knock over a supermarket? Maybe we’ll steal a car.”

  “Oh, so sarcastic, and now you leave me with no original suggestions.”

  She looked around, hoping Elijah might save her from Nathanial, but he was still nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he’d changed his mind about coming.

  “Well, what did you have in mind?” she asked him.

  “Nothing quite as daredevil as you mentioned.”

  “That’s just as well because we might have landed in jail. The bishop wouldn’t be impressed either.”

  “Neither would your parents.”

  They both laughed. It had been a while since she’d laughed and it felt good.

  Nathanial said, “Why don’t I take you out for dinner somewhere next week?”

  “I don’t—”

  “I’ll take you anywhere you want. It doesn’t have to be dinner. Come on, Lily, I’m going crazy here away from my friends. I don’t know many people here, you know that.”

  “If you want friends, all you have to do is be more friendly.”

  “Jah, well, your schweschder kind of ruined my chances of people around here ever trusting me.”

  Lily nodded, thinking back to a long time ago when Daisy had said that Nathanial attacked her. They’d both had different sides to their stories and as much as Lily loved Daisy, she knew she was prone to exaggeration and craved attention. “Daisy only cares about herself sometimes.”

  “Forget about her. Come on, what do you say? Will you save me from one night of boredom next week?”

  Weakening and wanting to feel better, she asked, “What night?”

  She took another look around and saw Elijah’s buggy. He had just pulled up next to her buggy.

  “How about Tuesday?” he asked.

  “Nee, I’m sorry. I can’t.”

  “What night, then?”

  “No night would be suitable.”

  “Come on, Lily. You’re the only girl around here who understands me.”

  She shook her head. “Like I said, try being friendly with people and then you’ll have more friends.”

  He swept his eyes over the skaters and the people watching. “It’s not that. No one is suitable.”

  She laughed at him feeling sorry for himself and then swiveled in her seat. When she looked up, she noticed Elijah walking toward her and she waved to him.

  “I won’t give up,” Nathanial said when he saw Elijah.

  Elijah greeted both of them and then sat on the other side of Lily. Soon after Elijah sat down, Nathanial grabbed his skates.

  “I’ll see you both later. I’m going to watch the skaters.”

  “Okay.” Lily noticed Nathanial had his skates with him whereas Elijah had nothing in his hands, which most likely meant that he’d only come to speak with her.

  “How are things?” Elijah asked when they were alone.

  “Ab
out the same as they’ve been for the past few days.”

  “Missing Daisy?”

  “I’m trying not to think about her, but it’s a hard thing to do. Everything reminds me of her. Every place I go and everything I do reminds me of her.”

  “Sorry, I won’t mention her again.”

  Lily gave a laugh. “It’s okay.”

  “Was Nathanial bothering you? He took off pretty quickly when I sat down.”

  “Nee, he’s all right.” Lily assumed he must’ve heard some of the talk and rumors that surrounded Nathanial. It seemed no one trusted him and she often wondered what the truth of the matter had been. Maybe she’d never know. Her father said there were two sides to every story.

  “I hope so,” Elijah said.

  “Denke again for the flowers. They’re on the kitchen table at home and they look beautiful.”

  “I’m glad you like them. I wasn’t sure you would after being around flowers all day.”

  “I do, I love them.”

  “I’ll remember that. Lily, I wanted you to come here tonight because I want to—”

  An ear-splitting squeal carved through the night air. Lily whipped her head around toward the ice to see that three people had collided and one of those people was Willow.

  “Willow!”

  Chapter 6

  Lily jumped up and ran toward her, while slipping and sliding across the ice with Elijah right behind her. Nathanial had reached Willow first and was helping her to her feet.

  “Are you okay?” Nathanial asked her.

  When Lily got there, she elbowed Nathanial out of her way.

  “I’m okay,” Willow said while trying not to cry.

  Now Violet had skated to them and was also by her side. “Are you all right, Willow?”

  Willow rubbed her arm and cringed. “Jah, I think so, but my shoulder hurts.”

  Lily looked around at the other two people who didn’t appear to have suffered any injuries and had picked themselves up.

  “Maybe we should take her to the hospital to get checked out,” Elijah suggested.

  “Nee, I’m fine. Please don’t make a fuss. I don’t like hospitals. I just want to go home. I’m okay.”

  She hung her head after she’d taken a look around at everyone gathered around her. Lily guessed she was embarrassed. “Of course, we’ll go home. Come on, Violet, let’s go.”

  Violet put her arm around Willow’s waist as they made their way to the bench so they could take off their skates.

  Lily turned to look at Nathanial and Elijah. “Denke for being there, both of you.”

  “As long as she’s okay,” Nathanial said.

  “She seems to be. She might be sore for a couple of days, but that’s it. That’s what I’m guessing,” Lily said.

  Lily left Nathanial to skate some more while she and Elijah walked over to the girls. The girls put their boots on while Elijah collected their skates.

  “I’ll help you to the buggy,” Elijah said.

  * * *

  Nancy was drifting off to sleep when she heard the buggy arrive home. Hearing them finally home gave her a sense of peace and she drifted off to sleep. She was jolted awake when she heard Lily yelling from downstairs.

  “Mamm, come quick.”

  Something about the tone in Lily’s voice jagged at the pit of Nancy’s stomach.

  Hezekiah raised his head. “What is it? What—”

  “Go back to sleep. You know how Lily can be. It’s probably nothing.”

  Hezekiah put his head back on the pillow while Nancy whipped a robe on and rushed downstairs. As soon as she was at the foot of the stairs, she looked up to see that the other two girls had their arms around Willow. She rushed toward them. “Willow, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing. I just fell over and my shoulder’s a bit sore.”

  “She collided with two other people and fell heavily on the ice,” Lily explained.

  “Let me see.” Nancy pressed around Willow’s shoulder to see what parts were tender. “It doesn’t appear that you’ve broken anything, but I think you’ll be very sore in the morning. What you need is a good hot bath with lots of salts.”

  “That sounds good,” Willow said with a small smile.

  “Lily, you go fill the bath while I find another hot water bottle for her for tonight. I know I’ve got a spare one somewhere.”

  The two girls walked with Willow to the bathroom.

  “It’s one thing after another,” Nancy mumbled to herself before she yelled out to the girls again. “I’ll fix you all some hot chocolate.” She didn’t hear any reply, but she knew the girls would like hot chocolate with marshmallows. After she had lit the stove, she placed the pot on to boil. To warm herself, she stood as close as she could to the stove without getting burned.

  She’d thought nothing of getting out of the warm bed when she’d heard Lily. In spite of what she told her husband, she’d known that something was wrong. Even though Nerida and she hadn’t been close in the past few years, Nerida’s children were still like her own. The bond of family was a strong one.

  Nancy wondered whether it was Lily’s fault that Willow had fallen. There was always drama whenever Lily was around, but perhaps this time it was just a genuine accident. Half convinced that all Willow needed was a hot bath tonight and to keep her shoulder warm until morning, she realized a trip to the doctor might be necessary if it wasn’t better the following day.

  * * *

  “That’s the phone.” Lily ran outside to the barn and grabbed the phone before the person hung up. It took so long to get to the barn that they often missed calls altogether.

  “Who have I got?” the person on the other end asked.

  “It’s Lily. Is this Mark?”

  “It is. Can you tell your mudder it’s time?”

  “Time for what?”

  “We’re having a boppli.”

  “Nee!”

  “Jah, we are. Tell your mudder we need her.”

  “Right now?” Lily asked, worried about Willow.

  “Rose needs your mudder now.”

  “I’ll get her. Do you want to speak with her?”

  “Nee, just tell her Rose is having contractions.”

  Lily shivered at the thought of all the pain her sister was about to go through. “She’ll be there soon.” Lily hung up without saying goodbye and ran into the house yelling. “Mamm, Mamm!” She found her mother in the kitchen looking quite annoyed with her.

  “Why are you screaming for me? What’s wrong now?”

  “Rose is having the boppli now. Mark said she’s having contractions.”

  Her mother gasped. “Has Mark called the midwife yet?”

  “I don’t know. Should I have asked that?”

  A look of fear covered her mother’s face. “Nee, nee, it’s okay. I’ll get ready.” She turned around and switched the stove off.

  “I’ll call him back and ask him about the midwife.”

  “Nee, don’t. It’s all right. I’ll have to gather some things and go right now. I don’t know how far along she is or how long I’ll be gone.” She pressed her lips together and rubbed her forehead. “Can you look after Willow?”

  “Of course I can. I’ll get her a hot water bottle and see to it she’s okay. I’ll rub her shoulder with wintergreen oil.”

  “Jah, gut idea.” Shaking her head, Mamm said, “It never rains but it pours. Things always seem to happen all at the same time.”

  “Just go, Mamm. He said Rose needs you and he said she was contracting and that sounds painful.”

  “Having contractions,” her mother corrected.

  “Either way, I’m glad it’s not me going through it.”

  Violet walked into the kitchen. “What’s happened?”

  “Rose is in labor,” Lily said.

  “Oh.”

  “You’d better go, Mamm,” Lily told her mother.

  “Jah, I’m going.” Nancy strode out of the kitchen.

  Violet hurried af
ter Nancy and then Hezekiah appeared at the foot of the stairs.

  “It’s Rose’s time. Not only that, Willow came home with a bad shoulder from falling heavily on the ice,” Nancy informed him.

  “Do you want me to help you hitch the buggy, Aunt Nancy?” Violet asked.

  Hezekiah said, “I can do that, Violet. You stay here and look after your schweschder.”

  Chapter 7

  Hezekiah and Nancy went out to the barn and got the horse and buggy ready.

  “I’ll call as soon as the boppli’s born.”

  “I won’t hear the phone, not if I’m asleep,” Hezekiah said.

  “Lily will. If you’re asleep, I’ll have her wake you.”

  “Okay. How long do you think the boppli will take to be born?”

  “I’m not sure. Mark gave absolutely no indication of how far along she is. Lily spoke to him on the phone.”

  “Are you sure you got the correct message, then?”

  “I think so, from what she said. It sounds like Rose might be in the very early stages. I told him to call me at the first sign. It might take a whole day, or longer.”

  “I’ll stop by their haus before work tomorrow if you’re not home by then,” he said.

  “Very good.”

  “I hope all goes safely. I’ll pray that the boppli is healthy and Rose comes through it and both will be well.”

  “Me too. I don’t care whether it’s a boy or a girl as long as the boppli is in good health. Gott willing.”

  “That’s the main thing.”

  Once the horse was hitched to the buggy, Hezekiah held out his arms and Nancy stepped in for one of Hezekiah’s large hugs. She was always comforted in his arms.

  “Look after the girls, won’t you?” she said.

  “I’ll do my best, but I think Lily’s got everything under control.”

  Nancy laughed. “That would be a first, and that was something I never thought I’d ever hear you say.”

  Hezekiah chuckled. “Sometimes we don’t know what people can do until they are faced with responsibility.”

  “I guess you’re right. She is the youngest, and she’s never had anybody else to look after. Now she has her two younger cousins.”