First Down

by Paula Mabbel

  He nodded toward them, and Miriam told her sister to behave.

  “Oh, please! He looked right at us, what was I supposed to do?” Hannah straightened her head covering and smoothed her skirts down around her legs.

  “Ignore him! He isn’t looking for us. He is just looking at the crowd.”

  “You know just as well as I do that he can see us, otherwise you wouldn’t give him that smile you give when you are feeling awkward.”

  Miriam’s face turned bright red, and she looked as though she wanted to slap her sister. She opened her mouth to retort, but one of the older judges stood up to announce the winner of the bread contest.

  All of the room applauded as an older woman rose to walk up to the front and take her blue ribbon from the judge. Miriam gave her sister a look, but said nothing, and both were hushed when the judge announced that the pies were up next.

  It was a long half hour, as each pie was taken up out of the display case and sliced. All three judges were given small slices of each pie, and they each took their time in tasting each one.

  When they finally came to Miriam’s pie, both girls were on the edge of their seats. This was the moment that Miriam had been waiting all day for, and she watched Isaac like and eagle as he pressed his fork into the pie and lifted the golden brown bite to his lips.

  They couldn’t determine what he was thinking from the look on his face, he looked the exact same as he did when he tasted all of the other pies. Isaac didn’t look at either one of them as he took another bite, then slid the plate away and sampled Hannah’s pie next.

  “He loved it. I know he did,” Miriam said to her sister as they continued to watch the pies being judged. Hannah had a hard time knowing what to say, but she smiled at her sister, putting her hand on Miriam’s knee.

  “I’m sure you are going to get the ribbon, Miriam. If anyone deserves it, it’s got to be you.”

  “I know, but I hope the judges feel the same way.” Miriam bit her bottom lip and sat on the edge of her seat.

  Finally, the last of the pies was sampled, and the judges took a moment to discuss together which one they were going to award.

  Isaac walked over to the ribbon display, and picked up the blue ribbon, and walked over to the edge of the stage.

  “Ladies and gentleman, I am pleased to announce that we have a winner. The blue ribbon for the best pie in the county, awarded for a perfect crust and succulent taste goes to…Hannah Miller!”

  *****

  The crowd cheered, but Hannah couldn’t hear a thing. As soon as her name was called, she felt this pounding in her head and heard a ringing in her ears that drowned out everything else.

  She heard Miriam exclaim something, but she couldn’t make out what it was, and she saw her face turn bright red.

  “Miriam! Miriam, I’m sorry!” she tried to say to her sister. There were tears in Miriam’s eyes as she turned away from her sister, and although Hannah wanted to give the ribbon to her sister instead, and tell them that Miriam was the one who deserved it, she was being pushed to the front of the room to get her ribbon.

  “Come on up here, Miss Miller! You have earned it.” Isaac smiled at her, using one of his most charming smiles, and Hannah couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was.

  “Is there anything you want to say, young lady?” an older judge asked her as she took the ribbon from Isaac.

  Hannah could feel the words gather up in her throat, and she grappled with what to say. She so desperately wanted her sister to be happy for her, and part of her wanted to hand this ribbon down to her sister then and there.

  It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Miriam was the one who was good at everything, and Miriam was the one who deserved the ribbon. She was the one who wanted it, and she was the one who had spent so much time daydreaming about it.

  Hannah had never dreamed that she would ever get a ribbon of any kind. The best that she had hoped for was a ribbon that said that she had entered a pie in the contest, but she certainly didn’t think that she was going to place.

  She turned to face the room, but nothing came out of her mouth. Finally, she mustered up the courage to speak.

  “I…I really don’t deserve this,” she stammered.

  “Nonsense! Your pie was the best tasting pie in this entire contest, and I must say that your crust was perfect. If anyone deserves the blue ribbon, my dear, it is you.”

  Hannah’s face flushed as the judge spoke, and she could see in Isaac’s eyes that he agreed with everything that the judge said. Miriam got up and headed for the door, but she was stopped by their father at the opening of the tent.

  Hannah couldn’t see what was said, and there was too much noise to hear, but Miriam turned and applauded her sister while everyone else did. As soon as she was able, she ducked out of the tent and disappeared from sight.

  Hannah thanked the judges for the ribbon, and she hurried down to meet her father.

  “I’m so proud of you!” he said as he scooped her up in his arms. Hannah hadn’t known that he was there to see it, and she beamed when he complimented her on her success.

  “Thank you, Father! I never thought that it would be me! My crust never likes to cooperate, and to think that it would be the best pie in the county! But…Miriam…”

  “Oh, don’t you worry about your sister. She is going to be okay. I know that she had her heart set on winning, but she is an excellent cook, and she is going to have her chance later on in the future. Now, I am going to bring up the buggy if you want to ride home with me.”

  He roughed up her hair, just as he had done since she was nothing more than a little girl, and she smiled.

  “I’d love to.”

  Hannah had hoped that her winning the ribbon would help things between her and her sister. She told Miriam as soon as she had her alone that she thought she was the one who ought to have won the ribbon, but Miriam refused to talk about it.

  Maybe now she will at least ease up on telling me what to do all the time. I know that I don’t always do things like she would do them, but I am pretty good at what I do.

  She was wrong, though. Very wrong.

  Things didn’t get better with Miriam, they got a lot worse.

  Now it didn’t matter what they were doing, Miriam was telling her what to do constantly. At first, Hannah ignored her sister’s nagging and tried to go about her life as usual, but the worse it got, the harder it was to ignore.

  “You know, I did do pretty well at the fair when I did my pie this way the last time…” Hannah said to her sister as they were making crust in the kitchen. Miriam was trying to tell her that she was doing the pie crust wrong, and Hannah had finally reached her breaking point.

  “Oh, so now that you won a ribbon at the fair you think you know everything there is to know about pies?” Miriam snapped, and Hannah’s eyes widened.

  “I didn’t say that. I am just saying that I don’t think I am going to ruin the pie if I add in a little more of the butter. It does make the crust a little less likely to break when you put it in the pan that way.” Hannah tried to make it sound logical, but her sister ripped off her apron and dropped it on the counter in front of Hannah.

  “If you are so good at making pies, then why don’t you just go ahead and do it all yourself?!”

  “Miriam, wait!” Hannah tried to get her sister to stop and come back, but Miriam had stormed out of the kitchen and into the back yard.

  Hannah took off her apron as well, and was heading for the door, but she stopped short when she saw her sister talking to Isaac in the yard.

  Hannah ducked behind the wall in the kitchen. She knew that it was wrong to listen in on what they were saying, but she couldn’t help it.

  “… That is indeed a shame. I thought for sure that he had said he was going to be home today,” Isaac was saying. “Would you do me a favor and tell him that I called, and that I should very much like to speak with him as soon as he is able?”

  “Of course, and I am sorry agai
n that you missed him. He is very busy this time of year, with the harvest coming and such things. Good day, Isaac!” Miriam sounded her happy and flirty self again, and Hannah felt a knot form in her stomach.

  “And one more thing. Is your sister here? I was wondering if I might ask her a question,” Isaac said before Miriam could turn away.

  Hannah couldn’t see either one of them, but she could tell by the sound of her sister breathing that Miriam was having a hard time keeping control of herself.

  “I am afraid that Hannah has gone with Father on his errand. But, as I said, I am sure you are going to be able to catch them soon. Now, I must tend to the animals before it gets late. Good day, Isaac.”

  “Thank you for your time, Miriam. Good day!”

  Hannah could hear Isaac’s voice fading as he spoke, and she knew that he must be walking away from the house. She heard Miriam burst into tears, followed by the sound of her running to the barn.

  Why would Isaac want to speak with Father? Or with me? Hannah wondered. It was a rare thing for either of the girls to have visitors, especially one who was a young man.

  But more than that, why would Miriam lie to him?

  *****

  The days passed and the tension between Hannah and Miriam grew. Hannah hated to see her sister upset, but she was also angry with Miriam. She didn’t know what Isaac wanted, but she knew that it was wrong to lie to him, no matter what the reason was.

  To make matters worse, Miriam never said a word about the interaction, and she even took it so far as to avoid the question when her father asked if there had been any callers for him that day.

  “I was busy in the kitchen all day, Father, and no one came to the door.” Miriam had said it so smoothly that Hannah had to catch herself to not say anything. Her sister didn’t know that she had seen Isaac, and she wasn’t about to tell her what she had done, so she quietly ate the dinner that was in front of her and didn’t say anything about it.

  “That is odd. I was expecting a bit of company, but no matter. I am sure I will catch up again soon.” Their father didn’t seem too troubled by it, so Hannah decided not to say anything to him about what had happened.

  It all seems very strange to me, but it is a lot easier to just let it go and work itself out than to try to figure out what Miriam is up to. I just wish I knew what Isaac wanted with me.

  A few weeks later, Hannah was interrupted by her father as she was working on her patchwork in the kitchen. Miriam had gone to the neighbors’ to help with the baby twins who had just been born, and Hannah had taken the opportunity to have a few minutes to herself.

  “Hannah, I wanted to speak with you. Alone. Is your sister around here?”

  Hannah looked up in surprise and shook her head.

  “Miriam isn’t going to be back for some time now, Father. What can I do for you?”

  Her father walked into the room, sat down beside her, and smiled. Hannah felt nervous. It wasn’t like her father to seek her out to tell her anything. He always told Miriam, and if it was important, Miriam would then tell her, but now he was asking for her alone.

  Hannah looked at her father in surprise, and she thought that she could detect tears in his kind eyes.

  “Well, I don’t know how I should go about saying this. I thought that it was going to be a lot easier to do than it is now that I am here doing it, so I am just going to say it. Isaac Troyer has asked me for your hand in marriage.”

  Hannah felt sick. It was that same feeling that she had when she had won the blue ribbon all over again, only this time it was a lot worse. She was glad that her father was there, but at the same time she wanted to be alone. To digest what he had said to her.

  How could he want her? How could he see her past her sister? Miriam was always the one who was in front. She was the one who was always trying to get his attention, and she was the one who handled everything.

  Ever since their mother had passed away, it had fallen to Miriam to handle the things that went on in the family, and Hannah had always felt like she fell in her sister’s shadow. If anyone wanted to come and ask for anyone, they ought to be here asking for Miriam.

  Finally, Hannah found her voice.

  “What did you tell him, Father?”

  “I told him that I was very protective over my daughters, and that you and your sister are my world. I told him that he had a lot of guts coming here to ask me for your hand, and I told him that I had been watching him carefully the past few months to see what he was all about these days.”

  Hannah’s father stroked his beard as he spoke to her, and Hannah could see in his eyes a mix of love, happiness, and sorrow. She could also see that twinkle in his eyes that came when she knew he was planning some mischief.

  “I also told him that my little girl had grown up, and that you had grown into a fine young woman. I told him that a fine young woman such as yourself deserved to be with the best of young men, and that as far as I could tell, he is one of the best. I told him that he has my blessing, if that is what you also want, and that I expected him to not make me regret my decision.”

  Hannah laughed when her father had finished speaking. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. She couldn’t believe what was happening, and the thought that she was to be married was beyond her wildest dreams.

  “Thank you, Father, thank you! To think! I am going to be Mrs. Troyer!”

  *****

  The news of Hannah’s wedding had come as a blow to Miriam, and it caused a lot of change to their relationship. Hannah had dreaded telling her sister at first. She loved her sister, and above all, she didn’t want to see her get hurt, but more than anything Hannah was tired of living in the shadow of her sister.

  It was always what Miriam wanted first and foremost, and Hannah was ready to take the spotlight now. She wanted to be excited for her wedding, and she wanted Miriam to be happy for her, too.

  “Just give her some time, and she is going to come around,” Isaac told her one day when he came to visit. Miriam did what she could to avoid them both now, and it was rare for her to say anything to either one of them when they were together.

  “I just don’t want to see her hurt. She is such a good young woman, and I want her to be happy more than anything.”

  “I know, and she will be. I can’t imagine a young woman such as Miriam is going to be single much longer, and you both are going to be the married sisters who are racing to see who has the most children.” Isaac kissed her on the forehead, and Hannah laughed.

  “I can’t see me winning that one. Miriam is a natural when it comes to children.”

  “You never thought that you were going to win that pie contest, either, and now look where you are.” With that, Isaac excused himself and left.

  Hannah smiled when she was alone. She didn’t know what Isaac saw in her, but she was glad that he liked it, whatever it was. He always knew just what to say to make her feel better, and more often than not, he was right about what he was saying.

  Miriam didn’t always stay so distant, and Isaac was right. It wasn’t long before she, too, was wearing a pledge ring. Hannah was a lot happier for her sister than her sister had been for her, but now she was okay with that. Hannah didn’t need her sister to approve of her any longer, and she was happy that Miriam was finally going to get what she wanted.

  “You know, I was thinking…it would probably save Father a lot of time and money if we both got married at the same time. You know, we could do one of those double weddings. What do you think?”

  Hannah surprised her sister one day with this idea. She had been planning her wedding for months now, and when her sister had become engaged, it didn’t look like she was going to be able to have the same kind of wedding that Hannah was having.

  Their father hadn’t expected both of his girls to be engaged at the same time and he had put most of his money into Hannah’s wedding. Miriam surprisingly hadn’t said anything about this, but Hannah knew that it would bother her si
ster.

  Miriam put her needlework down and looked at her sister. She had felt so jealous of Hannah ever since that day when she won the blue ribbon out from under her, and their relationship hadn’t been the same since. Part of her missed her sister, and the old relationship that they had, but she had to admit, this was a complete surprise to her.

  “You don’t think that Isaac would mind?” she asked. Hannah could tell that Miriam was trying to sound as disinterested as possible, but that there was a lot of excitement hidden in her voice.

  “Not at all. Isaac still loves you as one of his closest friends, you know, and we both miss you and the way that things were. Besides, I think Ben is going to appreciate the opportunity to meet more of the people in this side of the community.”

  Miriam burst into tears. Her fiancé was new to this community, having moved here from a colony down south, and he hadn’t been around much to meet the people. As much as Miriam loved him, she feared that their marriage was going to cut her off from the people she loved so much.

  “Oh, Hannah! I love you so much! I am so sorry for how I have been acting. It’s been so hard with everything, and I miss you.” Miriam had burst into tears when her sister had finished speaking, and now they were both hugging each other in the living room.

  “It’s okay, Miriam. I understand. I miss you, too. Just promise me one thing…”

  “What’s that?” Miriam asked, pulling back and looking her sister in the face.

  “That you won’t be mad when I have the most kids!” Hannah laughed and playfully pushed her sister away.

  “Oh, you think you will, but just wait, I am going to have a dozen!”

  The weddings were a huge success, and the girls were proud to be announced into their new families. Their father was teary eyed to walk his girls down the aisle, but he was proud of them and the men who stood at the other end waiting for them.

  Hannah and Miriam still had their skirmishes from time to time, but there was peace in the family. They may have had their differences, and Miriam was going to have to get used to that, but they found that family was enough to get them through anything.