The Timepiece

by Beverly Lewis

  Without thinking, Sylvia replied, “Oh, ya just go to Route 30 and head west. You’ll see the stores on the left.”

  Adeline looked surprised . . . and a little disappointed.

  Over at the sink, Mamma spoke up. “Sylvie, you can go with Adeline, dear.”

  Feeling she was being treated like a child, Sylvia wanted to point out that her baking responsibilities were not finished, and she had promised to help Mamma pick blueberries out back, as well.

  But Adeline looked so crestfallen that Sylvia nodded. “All right, I’ll go.”

  “When is the best time for you?”

  “You can head out now, if ya like,” Mamma answered. “I’ll gladly tend to your pie baking and everything else, Sylvie. You girls go an’ have a nice time together.”

  Adeline brightened. “Let’s do this!”

  A sense of unease nibbled at the edges of her mind, but Sylvia was determined to be pleasant. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in a fast car,” she said.

  “Well, trust me, you’ll love mine,” Adeline promised. She grinned at Rhoda, who smiled back.

  Oh goodness, Sylvia thought. Mamma’s all for it!

  From Sylvia’s perspective in the passenger seat, it almost seemed like Adeline was starved for company. As they zipped through Bird-in-Hand and then traveled south to Route 30, Adeline was all talk, talk, talk, and then some. Sylvia learned not only that she needed extra clothing for the next few days but that she also craved a blast of air conditioning. “I almost wish I could sleep with my car running, just to get cooled off.”

  Sylvia hardly knew how to reply without smiling.

  “Don’t you ever need a break from the heat?” Adeline asked. “How can you be comfortable in those heavy clothes?”

  “It depends on what I’m doin’. But really, I’m used to it.”

  Her hands on the steering wheel, Adeline shook her head back and forth, as if she could not begin to comprehend living this way.

  “Summer doesn’t last all year, ya know,” Sylvia reminded her with a grin.

  Adeline glanced at her. “You must be ready to party when fall comes.”

  Party? Sylvia wasn’t sure what Adeline meant. “We rejoice over the harvest, jah.”

  “Not for the cooler weather?”

  “We’re thankful for whatever weather the Lord brings our way,” Sylvia said. “We don’t complain that it’s too hot or too cold.”

  Adeline nodded her head. “So you never wish you could put on a pair of shorts or a swimsuit and go swimming somewhere?”

  “Oh, there’s a swimmin’ hole, all right.”

  “Really?” Adeline perked up. “Close by?”

  “Just out behind Mamma’s parents’ barn, not too far from us. We ice-skate there, too, in the wintertime.”

  “Maybe I should also buy a swimsuit while I’m here,” Adeline said.

  Sylvia tried not to smile too much. “Sure.”

  Adeline looked happier than Sylvia had seen her. “No bikinis allowed, I assume.”

  Sylvia was quick to shake her head. “We strive to be modest.”

  “May I ask what your swimsuit looks like? Where do you shop?”

  “Actually, I made it. Lots of the womenfolk do. It looks like a modest one-piece, but there’s a skirt around the bottom edge.”

  Adeline was quiet for a moment. “Do the boys and your dad swim, too?”

  “Of course. They wear old cutoff trousers.”

  Adeline laughed. “Well, I wasn’t going to ask, but okay.”

  They slowed at the coming stoplight, and Adeline gasped. “Oh perfect! There’s a convenience store. I left my phone charger at home, so I need to stop and get a new one. People might start worrying if they don’t hear from me soon.”

  “You could use the phone shanty out in my uncle’s cornfield.”

  “To call them?” Adeline shook her head. “It’s much quicker to text. And to be honest, I’m not even sure I know their numbers, not off the top of my head.”

  Sylvia frowned a little, not sure why having a phone was so important if you couldn’t actually talk to someone on it.

  Adeline made the turn into the parking lot and stopped the car. She asked Sylvia if she wanted a cold soda or anything.

  “Denki, I’m fine. I can wait out here.”

  “Are you sure? I could get you an iced tea or lemonade, if you’d prefer.”

  Sylvia smiled and declined again.

  “Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll leave the car running so you don’t die of heat.” Adeline got out of the car and hurried up the walkway and into the store, her useless phone in hand.

  Earnest caught himself whistling as he walked toward the house to tell Rhoda he’d sold two clocks. “And I didn’t even have to go to market,” he said, waiting for her to pour some ice-cold lemonade.

  “God’s kindness is shinin’ down on us,” Rhoda said. “He knows how we need to get your inventory moving again.”

  Stepping closer, Earnest smiled at her. “I don’t want you worrying about that, love.” He reached for her, and she let him embrace her. It was the first time they’d done so since he’d shared about his former marriage. But fearful he’d spoil the moment, he didn’t say more.

  “You were so nice to Adeline,” Rhoda said, “takin’ an interest in her stitching an’ all. Usually such things bore you silly.” She reached for his lemonade and gave it to him.

  He chuckled and drank some of the cold drink before saying, “The more I get to know her, the more curious I am about her.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Rhoda put the pitcher of lemonade back into the fridge. “And she’s curious ’bout you, too.”

  He gave her a look. “How so?”

  “Oh, several times I’ve caught her starin’ at you when you’re talking to me or to one of the children.” She paused and frowned. “But I can’t help noticin’ the sorrow in her eyes, too.”

  Earnest had noticed, as well. “It’s been only five months since the loss of her mother—a short time to grieve such a deep loss. No matter how sickly or old they are, you never get over the loss of a parent.”

  “Jah, you know that, too,” Rhoda said kindly. And for a moment, it looked like she had more to say.

  “How are you doing, dear? I mean, with Adeline here?” He had to ask, now that Adeline appeared to be staying for a while longer.

  “Well, she’s your flesh and blood, Earnest. How are you doin’?”

  Earnest scratched his head and glanced toward the window. “I guess we’re both just finding our way.”

  “With the Lord’s help.”

  He assumed something like that would be her response. “It’s rather interesting that Sylvia wanted to go shopping with Adeline.”

  Rhoda grimaced. “That was the last thing Sylvia wanted to do.”

  “Why’d she go, then?”

  Rhoda raised her eyebrows. “Because I nudged her—thought it might help them break the ice.”

  “Does it need to be broken?” Earnest asked, surprised Rhoda was so eager to encourage a relationship.

  “It’s inches thick,” Rhoda said with a smile. “And smack-dab in the middle of Antarctica.”

  Earnest chuckled. “But they’re kin . . . sisters—”

  “And light-years apart,” she murmured.

  Earnest sighed.

  “But give it time. Sylvia tends to be slow in warmin’ up to new people,” Rhoda said, turning to go to the pantry, where he could see her surveying the many jars of canned goods.

  “Looks like you’re busy, dear,” he said. “I’ll head back to work. There’s plenty to do.” He made his way out the back door, still relishing the tender embrace.

  On the short walk over to his shop, he could only imagine the conversation Sylvia and Adeline were having right now. He had no concern that Adeline would try to influence Sylvia toward the world, but it made him uneasy knowing that Rhoda was so dead set on throwing the two of them together.

  Sylvia was actually glad to se
e Adeline finally exit the convenience store. And when Adeline got into the car, she was all abuzz about finding a six-pack of sparkling Perrier. “My favorite,” she said, placing it on the floor behind the driver’s seat. “I also got to talking to the clerk inside about the Amish crafts they sell. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.” She went on to say that she wanted to take a minute now to text her family and fiancé, if it was all right with Sylvia.

  “I’ll give ya some time alone,” Sylvia said while Adeline unwrapped a skinny white cord and plugged it into a socket in the car, then connected it to her phone.

  “Why not go inside the store and get even cooler?” Adeline suggested.

  “Okay,” Sylvia said, opening her door, glad to give Adeline time to connect with her loved ones.

  ———

  After fifteen minutes or so, Sylvia looked out the door from inside the convenience shop and could see that Adeline was now talking on her phone. And here I thought she didn’t use it to actually talk. . . .

  Looking around the store again, she spotted some magazines and picked up one that featured waterfront properties all over the world. What would it be like to live near the ocean? she wondered, staring at a picture of a location in faraway Tahiti, wherever that was. She didn’t have any clue, although back when she was in school, she had learned most of the countries of the world. But Tahiti sure had a nice look to it.

  She stared at the picture but didn’t want to purchase the magazine, appealing as it was, and felt guilty looking at any more pages. So Sylvia returned it to the rack.

  Then, spying some salted nuts in small bags, she decided to buy those to share with Adeline, who surely was finished with her call by now. I’ll purchase this and head out, she thought, aware of the frigid temperature in the store. I’m not used to air conditioning, she thought with a little shiver.

  When Sylvia left the store, she noticed Adeline getting out of the car, laughing as she spotted Sylvia. “I was coming to get you,” she said. “I’m all caught up with my family . . . and Brendon, too.”

  They went back to the car, and Adeline started the ignition again with her magical little remote key. “Brendon surprised me,” Adeline said. “I thought he would think I was crazy to stay in an Amish community, but he was really very interested.”

  “I wonder why,” Sylvia said, opening the bag of salted nuts and offering some to Adeline.

  “He didn’t say, but I’m sure we’ll talk more about it later.” She reached into the bag, took two almonds, and popped them into her mouth. “Thanks . . . I love salty things.”

  “So you’re engaged to be married,” Sylvia said, making small talk.

  “I am. We’re planning a late May wedding, after my graduation.”

  Sylvia nodded. “I’m engaged, too,” she said, letting it slip. “In fact, we were at my fiancé’s parents’ farm when ya bought the raw honey and treats for Mamma.”

  “Well, congratulations!” Adeline looked delighted. “But where’s your engagement ring?”

  “Oh . . . we don’t wear jewelry.”

  “None at all?” Adeline looked shocked and glanced at the large diamond on her own left hand. Then she seemed to catch herself. “I mean . . .”

  “It’s all right . . . ya didn’t know.” Sylvia explained that engaged Amish couples made verbal promises to wed. “Our word is the only promise we need.”

  Adeline immediately fell silent, and if Sylvia wasn’t mistaken, it looked like she was trying to conceal the sparkling ring on her hand.

  “The longer you’re in Hickory Hollow, the sooner you’ll understand that our life is different from what’s on the outside,” Sylvia added, wishing she hadn’t let Mamma push her out the door with Adeline. What was she doing riding to the outlet with a fancy young woman, anyway? We may have a father in common, but almost nothing else. . . .

  CHAPTER

  nine

  After supper, Sylvia went with Ernie and her younger brothers to pick the remaining sweet corn. Because of Ernie’s scare earlier, Dat had suggested they work now, as the sun slipped lower in the sky.

  Sylvia was eager to help, weary of sitting on the porch with Adeline, where Mamma kept asking one question after another, trying to include Sylvia, too, but she was too preoccupied with Titus’s letter and impending visit to participate. Meanwhile, Dat had gone to help Mamma’s parents with some repairs, though Sylvia suspected he’d mostly gone to tell them about Adeline.

  “I heard ya went shoppin’ with Adeline,” Ernie said as they picked the ears from the stalks.

  “She shopped. I just tagged along.” Sylvia really didn’t want to talk about it. She had merely been a sounding board in the dressing room for Adeline, who had tried on more than a dozen outfits before deciding on two pairs of cropped pants, three new tops, and a skirt and short-sleeved blouse. The young woman had been “terribly challenged,” as she’d put it, to find a one-piece bathing suit. The way she’d said it led Sylvia to believe she thought of a one-piece as dull or unstylish.

  “I thought you’d be with Mamma, enjoying the breeze on the porch,” Adam said, working so hard the sweat rolled off him.

  “She’s busy with Adeline.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re out here, helpin’ us,” Tommy piped up. “We’ll get done quicker. Then I can go in an’ practice memorizin’ Das Loblied with Ernie.”

  “Gut. Then once ya turn nine, you can walk into church by yourself with the rest of us boys,” Calvin reminded him.

  Sylvia remembered memorizing, with Dat’s help, the twenty-eight-line hymn from the old Ausbund hymnal. While the choice of the first hymn they sang at Preaching varied, the second one was always the same and had remained so for generations. “The Praise Song” was something of an anthem for the People, and learning it was an important milestone for every child. “How far are ya on it?” she asked Tommy.

  “I know five lines so far,” Tommy replied, reaching high for an ear of corn.

  “So just twenty-three to go,” Calvin said from where he stood in the row of corn behind Tommy and Sylvia.

  “That’s nothin’ to sneeze at,” Sylvia said, hoping to encourage her little brother. “Gut for you!”

  “How long did it take Dat to learn it?” Tommy asked with a glance at her.

  Calvin chuckled. “A mighty long time, Dat said when he was helpin’ me memorize it.”

  “Then I don’t feel so bad,” Tommy replied, smiling.

  Sylvia agreed. “You’ll have it memorized soon enough. And once ya do, you’ll never forget it.” She paused. “Just think, when we’re singing that hymn here in Hickory Hollow, many, many other Amish are singin’ it in their Houses of Worship, too.”

  Twilight had come, and the blazing heat was replaced by cooling air and the distant rumble of thunder. Adeline could only hope that rain was in the forecast, and she checked her weather app to look at the radar. Yay!—an eighty percent chance of precipitation within the next half hour.

  After her hours of practice, she felt a little more encouraged about her sewing efforts. Even Earnest had noticed her stitches were straighter than this morning’s. My fingers are sorer, too, she thought, unaccustomed to such fine handwork.

  Sitting in the guestroom, Adeline laid out her new outfits, still wishing she could have invested in normal summer clothes like shorts instead of the cropped pants she’d felt obliged to buy, as well as a flowing skirt that fell to her knees. The latter was in case she stayed around for what Sylvia called Preaching service, a week from tomorrow. Rhoda had shared that the Amish community gathered for house church every other week, which meant tomorrow’s “Lord’s Day” was not a churchgoing day, but a day set aside for visiting relatives and reflection.

  So many unusual customs, she thought.

  Earlier, Adeline had made a gaffe, though she hadn’t known it at the time. She had mentioned to Rhoda that she was looking forward to doing more sewing tomorrow, but Rhoda told her that sewing was not permitted on Sundays, church or not. The Millers plan
ned to read the Bible, write letters, take walks, pray, and go for a ride to visit relatives . . . the only acceptable options for activities.

  It was too early to get ready for bed, so Adeline texted her brother for a few minutes. Liam had been out surfing all day and said his tan could beat up hers, adding, as he often did, a string of silly emojis.

  We’ll see about that, she responded.

  You’re nowhere near the beach. Liam inserted a winking emoji. A serious disadvantage!

  True. And what I wouldn’t give to be there to get cooled off. Try to imagine sleeping in a house without AC!

  No way! he wrote. Just skip out.

  Her brother had a point, but she wasn’t ready to leave . . . not just yet, assuming the Millers’ invitation to stay was good.

  Later, while texting Brendon, she heard what sounded like a carriage rattle into the driveway and stop. The windmill was moaning and creaking in the wind now, and the summery scent of the fragrant pastureland drifted in through her open window. She wouldn’t have bothered to look out at that precise moment, but she heard a clicking sound outside above her and crept over to peek beneath the green shade, rolled only partway down so as not to block the breeze.

  Surprised, she saw someone in black pants not far from her window, tossing a pebble up. “Won’t ya come down, Sylvie?” a man’s voice called up to Sylvia’s window.

  Sylvia’s small voice floated down. “I thought you were comin’ earlier, Titus.”

  “I got tied up—came as soon as I could,” the young man answered, sounding apologetic.

  “Okay then . . . I’ll meet ya in the barn in a jiffy,” Sylvia told him, and Adeline heard the upstairs window slide closed.

  How odd, Adeline thought, wondering why Sylvia’s fiancé hadn’t just gone to the back door and knocked like a typical visitor.

  ———

  Sylvia quickly smoothed her hair and put her Kapp back on, anxious to see Titus, still troubled by his apparent urgency. What can be so important?