Anna was stunned. Yet even if Mamm and Dat won’t stand in my way, I still have to decide for myself, Anna thought, stepping down from the stool.
She headed to her room and carefully removed her dress, ready to stitch up the hem, and went to get her pincushion and needle and thread. She felt an invisible yet very real burden lift from her shoulders.
All the same, Anna struggled with the idea of living a traditionally Plain life, if it should come to that. For now, it was enough that thoughtful and caring Sadie had paved the way for her to be courted by Gabe.
Chapter 49
Anna spent the following Saturday thinking about Mammi Eliza and all that she had meant to her and to their family. The afternoon was clear and mild, a good day for walking and praying.
She drove back over to the stone wall where she’d gone after Mammi’s funeral last weekend, and after a time, found herself searching, yet again, for a large discolored stone.
Scanning the stones in the wall once more, Anna shook her head, realizing it was a long shot. How could she ever find the spot where Mammi Eliza and her beloved had met?
Even so, she sat in the grass and leaned back, resting her hands on the ground, surprised she’d come here again.
What is compelling me?
Below her palms, she felt a smooth surface, and she turned to see a large smoothed-off tree stump, sunken into the ground so far that it was nearly concealed.
Anna recalled Mammi’s writing about a lone, tall pin oak tree near the stone wall. “Could this be the place?” she whispered with a shiver of excitement. If this was the tree.
Surely not. And yet, there was something about it, something she could only describe as a feeling, as if she had been led there.
She looked toward the stone wall a few yards away and wondered where Mammi’s Amish beau might have hidden his letters to her—if this was, indeed, the spot. She remembered the description in Mammi’s diary.
Search for the crevice under the large stone. . . .
Her heart sped up as she rose to walk to the stone wall, where she examined the structure of white and gray rocks. She eyed it for an especially large, dark gray stone, assuming that the years of exposure might have discolored many of the stones there.
She walked toward the north, then turned back to the south, wondering what Mammi would think if she were still alive and knew where Anna was—and what she was doing.
At last, she noticed a very large gray stone, one she’d somehow missed, and she leaned down to scrutinize it. She cupped her face in her hands, dazed, and for the longest time she simply stared at the spot.
Finally, she found the courage to inch forward, trying to walk in Mammi’s shoes, so to speak. Placing her fingers into the slight hole, Anna felt around and was astonished when she bumped something thick and folded up. She pulled whatever it was out of the sunken gap and laid eyes on a very weathered gray doubled-up envelope.
Brushing off the dust, she read the words To Eliza Hertzler.
“What on earth?” she whispered, stunned to see Mammi’s maiden name.
Anna hurried back to the Flauds’ and rushed into the house, finding Sadie in the front room reading the newspaper.
Anna placed the letter next to Sadie on the settee. “You’re not going to believe this.”
Sadie picked up the brittle envelope and looked at Anna with wonderment.
“It’s a letter to Mammi Eliza!”
Sadie’s mouth dropped open as she examined the old envelope.
Their eyes met and held.
“Aren’t ya gonna read it?” asked Sadie, her voice soft.
“Looks like it might fall apart,” Anna said as Sadie handed her the envelope.
“Do you think your Mammi knew it was there?”
“I don’t know.” Anna shook her head and exhaled. “Either way . . . it’s been there for seventy years.” She held the letter gingerly. “Honestly, I wish Mammi had lived long enough to know I found it.”
“What’s it matter?” Sadie replied, patting the spot on the settee for Anna to sit. “Eliza moved on with her life and met and married your Dawdi John, a fine and godly man.”
Anna nodded. “You’re absolutely right.”
“You oughta read it, dear,” Sadie encouraged. “You might have more to tell your family, ya know.”
Anna excused herself and headed to the woods, choosing the medium-hard trail and glancing above at the glints of sunlight filtering down through the dense trees still leafed out here and there with brilliance. Like Joseph’s coat of many colors.
At the tree house, she climbed the custom-made staircase all the way to the highest level and sat there looking out at nature’s awning all around her. The old envelope was safely tucked into her pocket, and after a time, Anna carefully opened it and began to read the faded words:
My dearest Eliza,
Even though I haven’t known you long, I’m certain that God brought us together as friends for a special reason. Jah, I realize we’ve talked about our different church backgrounds, and you’ve never wavered about your Beachy home church in Mifflinburg. I understand that.
But I love you, Eliza, and I don’t want to say good-bye. So, what if I left my Old Order community and joined yours so we can be together?
Since I haven’t joined church yet, I wouldn’t be shunned. Will you please think about this?
With all my love,
Eb Lapp
“Goodness. He must’ve loved her a lot to suggest such a thing,” Anna murmured, staring at the faded words. And Mammi must’ve left Strasburg before she found this. . . .
As she tried to absorb what she’d read, Anna was touched by Eb’s willingness to give up his Old Order life to be with Mammi Eliza. And surprisingly, she found a sense of direction in the realization.
She held the letter and reread it, realizing that if her grandmother had received it back so many years ago, these words might have changed the course of her life. “And I never would have been born,” she murmured, sobered at the thought.
The letter spoke to her from the past, in a way Eb never could have anticipated. The young man couldn’t possibly have known what kind of struggles Eliza’s own granddaughter would be facing all these many years later . . . or that his words, though penned for his beloved, would have the power to touch a stranger so deeply!
That evening, Anna wasted no time in writing a letter to her parents. She addressed the issue of how startling it had been to find the old letter from Mammi’s long-ago beau. I believe it’s a confirmation of what I’ve decided to do about Gabe’s invitation to court, she wrote, promising to bring the letter home the next time she visited.
The following evening, after a brilliant Lord’s Day morning and afternoon, Anna decided to call Gabe at the number on the business card he’d given her that first day they’d met.
“Hullo?” Gabe answered on the first ring.
“Gabe, it’s Anna Beachy.”
“Well, how nice to hear from you! Emmie and I are sitting here in the phone shanty while I check my voice messages. What can I do for ya?”
She apologized for giving him such short notice. “If it suits, could I drop by to see you in a little while? I wouldn’t stay long.”
“That’s just fine. Drive carefully, Anna.” It was as if he was saying dear Anna, he sounded so pleased.
When Anna arrived, little Emmie was wearing her nightclothes and a pale blue bathrobe, sitting in the kitchen with her father.
“I let her stay up to see ya and said maybe you would tuck her in, too.” Gabe’s eyes shone with affection.
“Did ya visit your Aendi Barbara today?” Anna asked Emmie.
She smiled and went to get her doll from upstairs.
Anna wondered if now was a good time to talk to Gabe. “I honestly don’t know how to tell you this,” she said. “But I must say that our Lord sometimes works in the strangest ways.” Her voice broke, and she could not speak for a moment.
“Anna? What is it?”
She paused and searched his face. “What are you hoping I’ll say?”
“That you belong here . . . with my People,” he said. “With me.”
She placed her hand on her chest and breathed several times. “Well then, I’m ready to accept your invitation to court.”
Gabe’s face broke into a smile, and as she rose from her chair, he got up from his seat and came over to her. “Thank the dear Lord! This is a wunnerbaar answer to my prayers,” he said, reaching for her hands. The only sound in the kitchen was the tick-tock-tick of the wall clock and Bootsie’s rumbling purr beneath the table. “I couldn’t be happier, Anna,” he whispered.
The sound of Emmie’s muffled footsteps was on the stairs, and Gabe and Anna stepped apart, still beaming at each other.
Anna turned to sit down, an all-encompassing peace flowing over her. I’ve never felt more certain about anything, she thought.
Emmie made a beeline to Anna and placed her dolly on her lap, standing next to Anna’s knee.
Gabe crouched near, on the other side of Anna’s chair. “We’re going to be seein’ Anna more often now, honey,” he told Emmie, whose eyes sparkled with delight.
Anna nodded. “That’s right.” She reached to stroke the top of Emmie’s head, her golden hair in long braids. “And I’m looking forward to that.”
After some ice cream, Anna tucked Emmie into bed and prayed the Lord’s Prayer aloud, wondering what bedtime rituals her mother may have had.
“Sweet dreams, Emmie,” she said, standing in the doorway.
Emmie grinned up at her, looking adorable with her pretty quilt tucked under her chin, her doll’s little head sticking out of the covers next to her.
“Gut Nacht, sweetie,” Anna whispered, leaving the door open just more than a crack, her heart filled with plentiful joy.
Downstairs, Anna was surprised to see Gabe making coffee. “I really shouldn’t be out too late,” she said, eyeing the mug he’d placed on the table for her. “And coffee keeps me awake at night if I drink it after noon . . . very sorry.”
“Well, I have decaf, too, and tea and hot cocoa,” he said, opening a cupboard and showing her the options. “At least you’ll have something to sip on while we talk.” It did her heart good to see how happy he was as he puttered around the kitchen.
“Decaf coffee’s perfect. Denki.” She sat down at the table as he insisted on serving her, bringing the teakettle over and pouring the hot water into her cup, making instant decaf coffee. “I’m afraid you’re spoiling me,” she said, scooting her chair closer.
“I’ve become very familiar with this kitchen these past couple of years,” he said. “But I’m not a very gut cook, which is why Barbara has us over for meals. I do know how to make oatmeal and pour cold milk over cereal, though.” He chuckled.
She smiled as he sat down with his own cup at the head of the table.
Gabe began to mention all the places he wanted to take her during their time together, including, should the Lord lead, to meet his parents and siblings in Indiana, too, which opened the door for Anna to say she wanted him to meet her parents at some point, as well.
Gabe also brought up that he’d already talked with his bishop to discuss what would be expected from Anna before they could court properly, within the ordinance of the church.
She listened intently, watching his face, the way his eyes shone . . . his beautiful blond hair. What a handsome man God handpicked for me, she thought.
“Imagine my surprise when Bishop said that, since you have an Anabaptist upbringing, he would give us the go-ahead to court before you join my church.”
Pleased, she told him how much she looked forward to all that was ahead, even though she knew it held its own set of challenges. “What about my car?” she asked, fairly certain what he would say.
“Before ya start baptismal classes next spring, you’ll want to sell it.”
He didn’t say need to, she thought with a smile. “It might happen before then,” she said, wanting him to know she was fully on board with everything that would be expected of her.
“That can all be worked out in time, along with other things you’ll learn.” He revealed that one of their preachers let it be known that the hardest thing he ever gave up to join church was his wheels.
They laughed about that, and she asked Gabe if he had ever driven a car.
A mischievous smile skittered across his face. “I really shouldn’t have, not havin’ any training. But one of my cousins went a little wild durin’ his Rumschpringe and bought a car, and he let me drive it out on the backroads a couple times.”
“Why was that?” she asked, fairly amused.
“Oh, he wanted me to experience what I would miss out on when I was baptized, and I went along with it for a while.” Gabe glanced toward the ceiling. “But ya know, it made me realize how settled I was . . . content to be Amish.”
“I understand what contentment feels like now,” she said, thinking she could sit for hours like this, enjoying Gabe’s company.
Then, noticing the time on the wall clock, she thanked him for the ice cream and the decaf coffee, as well as the “best evening ever.”
The strong smell of a neighbor’s bonfire of leaves filled the air as Gabe walked with Anna outside, where he reached quickly for her hand. His large flashlight lit the way to her car. “Why don’t ya join Emmie and me at Barbara’s for supper Saturday night—a little celebration,” he suggested.
“Okay, if it’s not a surprise to Barbara.”
“Puh! One more person at her table won’t matter, but jah, I’ll let her know.”
On the drive to Flauds’, Anna caught herself singing one of the hymns from her Beachy Amish church, knowing that soon she would be learning the German hymns at Gabe’s. And also to hitch up a horse to a carriage.
Staying with Glen and Sadie has been good preparation for dating a traditional Amishman and possibly becoming his bride, Lord willing.
She thought just then of Heidi and Eleanor and the other youth at her present church, knowing she would miss them, but she remembered Heidi’s promise of enduring friendship. I may need someone to talk to along the journey, Anna thought, thinking ahead to the process of embracing the Old Ways.
Chapter 50
At work on Monday, Anna’s first clients were three young women from Philly having a friends’ day out. Anna took them to some of her favorite spots, including Riehl’s Quilts and Crafts in Leola, where all three purchased quilted potholders, oven mitts, and spiced hot mats. One of them even ordered a queen-sized Mariners Star quilt to be shipped to her home. Anna couldn’t help but grin at how much fun they were having.
Between the first and second tours, there was time for her to sit down for coffee with Mart in the break room. He was full of stories about his recent travels and mentioned wanting to talk to her, hinting that he enjoyed their relationship as good friends. Anna felt this was her moment to tell him about her decision about Gabe.
Surprisingly, Mart didn’t react at all the way she thought he might. But he did indicate that he had been trusting God for guidance and said he’d guessed for some time now that she was quite taken with Gabe and his daughter.
Thankfully, they seemed to be in mutual agreement, and the conversation wasn’t difficult for either of them. Mart suggested they continue to pray for the Lord to lead them each individually, and Anna agreed wholeheartedly.
After Tuesday breakfast, Sadie donned her warmest sweater and walked with Glen out to the tree house, enjoying the unseasonably warm autumn weather. Many squirrels skittered about, gathering acorns for the winter, and a little red fox could be seen near a tree, seemingly oblivious to them.
“The woodland creatures know winter’s a-comin’,” Glen said, smiling at Sadie.
“And before we know it, next fall will roll around again,” she said, sharing a little about Anna’s recent conversation with her.
“So ya think there might be a wedding come a year from now?” he asked.
/>
“Well, young folk don’t wait long once they know they’ve found the one. And being Gabe’s a widower, I expect they’ll marry as soon as she’s baptized.”
“Then we’ve got us a year with Anna, if that.” Glen coughed a little, and Sadie looked at him, asking if he was all right. “Jah, just choked up, I guess.”
“Aw . . . that’s sweet,” she said, leaning her head against him as they stopped to embrace beneath the colorful remnants of God’s leafy shelter overhead. “I just hope Anna’s parents are truly okay with her choice.”
He looked down at Sadie quizzically. “At least I know for certain that I made a wunnerbaar-gut choice in you, Sadie, dear.”
She smiled and snuggled in for another hug.
During the Saturday supper at Masts’, Anna learned even more about Barbara and Aden, as well as their sons, Jesse and Chris. She felt especially relaxed this time and once again appreciated Gabe’s good humor and his patience when seven-year-old Chris spilled his milk all over right next to Gabe. Barbara also seemed unfazed by this, despite the fact that Chris’s older brother burst out with a snicker.
Although Gabe didn’t announce it, Anna sensed that Aden and Barbara were aware of her and Gabe’s romantic interest in each other. For one thing, they offered to babysit for Emmie. “Any time ya need us,” Barbara said, that gleam in her eye. It was almost as if she had been not-so-secretly wanting this to happen.
Later, Anna returned on foot with Gabe and Emmie back to their house, and Emmie headed upstairs to dress for bed. Once she was tucked in by both Gabe and Anna, Gabe suggested they say the Lord’s Prayer together. Emmie closed her eyes and folded her hands as they prayed. It was a tender time with the dear little girl who would most likely become her stepdaughter someday. Lord willing, thought Anna.
Downstairs, as they were alone in the front room, Gabe asked Anna what had made up her mind to allow him to court her.
“Honestly, I prayed for a definite sign,” she said as they sat together on his couch. She told about her Mammi’s confused remarks about a stone wall somewhere in Strasburg. “At first I found it frustrating, because I wasn’t sure how much was reality rather than maybe a faulty memory. But then I found an old diary of hers that convinced me it was real, so I spent some of my time searchin’ for the wall.” She gave him a little smile. “That probably sounds a little silly, but I really wanted to see with my own eyes the place that used to be so important to my Mammi Eliza. And apparently, it was a hiding place for love letters from her Old Order beau.”
The Stone Wall Page 26