by Sarah Price
“All is vell today, ja?” Emma replied as she tugged gently at the reins for the horse to back up so that she could pull out of the horseshoe-shaped driveway.
“Right as rain, ja!”
There was something jovial about Hannah which confirmed Emma’s initial opinion of the young woman. Despite the four-year age difference between them and Hannah’s particular mannerisms, she would certainly do well as a replacement companion for Anna. Furthermore, Emma knew that her idea for arranging a match between Hannah and Paul would certainly cement her unofficial role as matchmaker in the g’may. The image of Gideon’s face when she, once again, could boast her success brought her much inner delight.
“I understand that you grew up in Ohio,” Emma began probing cautiously. “You must be missing your parents, ja?”
“Oh.” The simple word came out as a gasp and Hannah glanced away. She seemed to hesitate and clear her throat, reluctant to discuss the matter.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ja vell,” Hannah began to reply, squirming ever so slightly in the buggy beside Emma. “I was raised by my aendi. Or, at least, I call her my aendi.” When she paused from speaking, Hannah glanced at Emma and saw that her new friend was frowning. “I never knew my parents,” she offered as an explanation.
Emma fought the urge to gasp at this news. How could anyone not know his or her parents? Despite the fact that her own maem had passed away to join Jesus in heaven while Emma was still a small girl, she at least had the memories of her maem from the first part of her youth. With her daed being so much older than her maem, she prayed her thanks to the Lord every morning and every evening for having permitted him to stay with her for as long as he already had.
“I see,” she finally managed to say, wondering whether they had died from disease or accident. The thought of any other possibility never crossed her mind. “Most unusual circumstances, I imagine.”
Hannah shrugged her shoulders, obviously not as uncomfortable as Emma about her family background. Of course, having grown up under such a situation, it would not make her uncomfortable, at least not uncomfortable enough to provide further explanation to Emma.
“And your aendi?”
“Oh, she was a lovely woman.” A smile spread across Hannah’s face and she seemed to come to life. “I helped her serve dinner to guests and worked at market. We always met the most interesting people at her dinners. Englische women, mostly.” She laughed. “They so loved to have a true Amish meal. Isn’t that something? What we take for granted they seem to covet so!”
Emma laughed with her new friend. “We see the same curiosity among the tourists here too. I see there is not much difference between Holmes County and Lancaster County after all!”
“Oh, it’s different,” Hannah admitted. “I feel it is much more . . . ” She sought for the right word. “Proper.”
“Here?” The word squeaked out and Emma could barely contain herself. “Proper? In what way?”
Hannah shrugged. “It’s hard to say exactly.” Then, as if fearing she may have offended her new friend, she quickly added, “But I don’t mean it in a negative way.”
“Of course not.” Emma slowed the horse down at a stop sign, looking both ways before she crossed the intersection. Another buggy passed, going the opposite direction, and the driver, an older man, lifted his hand in greeting to the two young women.
“My aendi fell ill last spring. Now she’s in a nursing home where she can be better cared for. That was why I came to Gladys’s. They were right gut friends, Gladys is almost like another aendi to me. So when she offered for me to stay here, I thought a change might be nice.”
“But you like Lancaster, then?”
Hannah smiled as she nodded her head. “Oh, ja! Very much. However . . . ” Her voice trailed off and the smile faded just a touch. “Besides you and Gladys, the only other people I know here are the Martins. Do you know them? They live on the south side of Route Thirty, you know. Near Strasburg.”
Strasburg? To Emma, that seemed so far away from where she lived in Lititz. “Nee, I don’t seem to know the family name.”
“They were originally from Ohio, you see. But moved here a few years back. When Elizabeth Martin heard that I was to come here, she invited me to stay at their farm for a few weeks. To visit, you know.”
Emma turned the buggy into the parking lot of the fabric store, located next to the Kitchen Kettle in the town of Intercourse. While the tourists tended to visit the cluttered stores of the shopping village, few ventured to the hidden treasure of the dry goods store next door. It was hidden by the hardware store and a well-kept secret among the Amish. “I’m sure that was nice to visit with an old friend. A great way to start your new life in Lancaster County.”
For the next hour they browsed through the rows of bolts of fabric, discussing the different colors and patterns while rubbing the cloth through their fingers to check the quality of the material. They ignored the few Englische tourists who walked past them, staring at the two Amish women while they shopped. To further isolate themselves, Emma began speaking Pennsylvania Dutch so that the outsiders could not eavesdrop on their conversation. Hannah suppressed a giggle when Emma did that, and both of them had a laugh about it when they finally left the dry goods store, their arms laden with wrapped cloth.
“Do you mind if I run to the hardware store, Hannah?” Emma was putting the packages into the back of the buggy as she spoke to her friend. “My daed needs a new hinge for the stall door. I promised I’d pick it up today as Paul Esh volunteered to stop by later and fix it for us. The old one is barely hanging on!”
“Of course!”
Emma smiled at her friend. “He’s such a gut man, Paul Esh,” she started. “That was thoughtful of him to offer to fix the hinge. My daed’s hands don’t work so well anymore, you see.”
Hannah nodded her head in agreement. “He seemed most pleasant the other day at your haus.”
Together they crossed through the parking lot and entered the hardware store’s back door, avoiding the foot traffic along the main street of the town. “And a godly man, at that,” Emma was quick to add. “Why, I was visiting a sick elderly woman just a few weeks back, and just as I was about to leave, he showed up with a box full of canned peaches! Very thoughtful of him, ain’t so?”
“Ja, ja!” This time Hannah seemed a bit more enthusiastic as she responded.
No sooner had they started walking down the center aisle than a young man almost bumped into them. He was a tall Amish man who wore dirty black pants and a white shirt that was missing one button. Emma had never seen him before so she was quite surprised when Hannah greeted him with a smile.
“Ralph Martin! Whatever are you doing here?”
“Why, Hannah Souder!” He grinned in response to her greeting. “I thought you were staying in Lititz with Gladys! A pleasant surprise bumping into you, I must say.”
A hint of a giggle escaped Hannah’s lips and she blushed. “We only just came to town for quilting supplies.”
Emma frowned, looking first at her friend before turning her gaze to the man standing before them. He looked to be not much older than she was, but there was a weathered look to his face. Certainly he was a man who worked outdoors, and that most likely meant that he was a farmer. Yet she could not understand his disheveled appearance. To come to town in such a filthy outfit, she thought!
His eyes flickered toward Emma.
“Forgive me,” Hannah gushed. “Ralph, this is my friend Emma.”
He nodded his head in acknowledgment but paid no further attention to Emma. His eyes were large and wide, seeing only Hannah.
“Elizabeth will most certainly tell me to send her regards,” he said. “She has missed your company.”
“Danke,” Hannah replied, her cheeks flushing under his constant stare, the change in color not going unnoticed by Emma.
“You are staying in the area then?”
The question was directed to Hannah, and Emma wa
s beginning to realize that she was not a part of this conversation. Indeed, she felt like a voyeur, watching a scene unfold before her and, with it, the image vanished of Gideon’s smiling face approving Emma’s match between Hannah and Paul.
She listened to the banter between Hannah and Ralph, a frown on her face as she saw the telltale signs on Hannah’s. Indeed, there was a connection between her friend and this young man, a connection that was not one sided but reciprocated by each. Politely Emma excused herself to hurry down the aisle, searching for the hinge that her daed needed. Her mind reeled as she realized that her plans for helping Hannah find favorable appeal in the eyes of Paul Esh might be compromised by this one chance meeting in the hardware store.
Only after she had paid for the hinge and returned to Hannah’s side did she realize the extent of her friend’s interest in Ralph Martin. They were discussing an article in the latest Blackboard Bulletin and laughing about the writer’s interpretation of a particular Scripture. Emma cleared her throat and forced a smile.
“We really must get going,” she whispered to Hannah, eager to leave the store. “We need to stop over at Anna’s for help with the pattern, and I need to be certain to return home by dinnertime.”
“I’ve kept you long enough, then,” Ralph said, obviously overhearing what Emma had whispered, just as she had intended. “It was right gut to see you again, Hannah.” He lifted his hand to wave at Emma before turning around and heading down the next aisle.
Emma’s eyes trailed after him, and she noticed that he looked up not once but twice to watch as Hannah left the store. Emma quickly decided that she needed to know more about this Ralph Martin and to understand what, exactly, was the extent of the relationship between him and Hannah.
“How well do you know Ralph Martin?” she asked as they walked down the sidewalk toward the horse and buggy tied to the hitching post.
Hannah giggled and blushed for the second time. “When I first came out here, I stayed a week at their house. I met his sister, Elizabeth, in Ohio when she came out last year for a cousin’s wedding.”
Emma’s red flag went up even further. “And what does Ralph do for a living?”
“He raises pigs,” Hannah replied.
Immediately Emma’s feet stopped walking and she turned to stare at her friend. “You mean he’s a pig farmer?” Despite her best intentions, Emma couldn’t hide the tone in her voice, a tone that bespoke her displeasure at this occupation. After all, everyone knew that being a pig farmer was one of the most distasteful careers for an Amish man. It was, indeed, a dirty business, with a smell that lingered on the skin no matter how often one showered. “And you stayed at their farm for . . . an entire week?”
Hannah nodded, too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice Emma’s tone. “They rent it, you know. From your friend Gideon, I believe.”
This was news indeed. Emma frowned. She had never inquired too much about Gideon’s private business. Most of the times when he visited, his attention was directed at her daed. Of course, as the years had passed and the acquaintance become more familiar, she knew that he owned a large property where storage sheds were built for the Englische. He had upwards of twelve Amish men who worked for him, building the structures, a fact that freed up quite a bit of his time to permit, among other things, his weekly visits to her daed.
“Why, I had no idea! Gideon never mentioned that he rented out a farm. And all the way in Strasburg?” She made a mental note to inquire about this tidbit of news from her daed. “With all the time that he spends visiting, I should think I would know him better than most!”
“It’s a small farm,” Hannah said. “I believe he inherited it.” She was quiet as she searched her memory. “Nee, that’s not it. He bought it when he was younger and intended to farm. However, he’s been letting it out to the Martins for almost twelve years. That’s what Ralph told me.”
This news surprised Emma. She didn’t like being caught off guard. “Regardless, I’m quite certain that I have never met your friend before today!”
“What did you think of him?” Hannah asked, a soft smile on her lips—one that Emma didn’t care for at all. She could read the message behind that smile. It was a smile that spoke of buggy rides home from singings and whispered promises in the dark. “He’s a rather kind-looking man, ja?”
Emma hesitated before responding, trying to carefully figure out her words before speaking. She certainly did not want to insult this man. Still, she was perplexed as to how she could point out the obvious flaw to her friend. “I think most people are, ain’t so?” she finally stammered. “There is certainly nothing unkind in his face.”
The hesitant manner of Emma’s speech caused Hannah to pause and ponder her words. “Is there something wrong with Ralph, Emma?”
“Nee, nee,” she responded quickly . . . too quickly . . . as she resumed walking toward the buggy. She lifted her hand and waved to an older woman who walked down the sidewalk toward the store they had just left. “I’ve always admired farmers for their gentle mannerisms and simple ways.”
“He is gentle,” Hannah admitted.
“I suppose he doesn’t leave the farm very often,” Emma added. “It must be a lonely life, living on a farm. Most girls today work at market or clean unless they were raised on a farm. I’m rather thankful that my daed wasn’t a farmer.”
“It is hard work,” Hannah agreed.
“Ja vell,” Emma smiled. “I’m sure he’ll be a right gut man for some woman who doesn’t mind the occupation that comes with him.”
“You mean because he raises pigs?”
Emma glanced at Hannah. “I had an onkel who raised a pig once and I could scarce stand the stench. I wonder how many pigs Ralph keeps?”
A forlorn look of understanding crossed Hannah’s face. “He gets them on contract. There weren’t any there when I stayed with Elizabeth, but she told me he gets over a hundred at a time.”
“A hundred!” Emma gasped at the number. “Why! You must thank the good Lord that you were there in between contracts! The smell of a hundred hogs would never have left your clothing!”
Hannah wrinkled her nose. “I suppose there was a mild odor to the farm, I do reckon.”
“Certainly nothing like a dairy farm or a home with a man of trade,” Emma added casually. “I’m more familiar with men like Gideon King and Paul Esh! Why, I’m sure that Paul Esh’s house never smells like pig!” She laughed lightly and was pleased that Hannah joined her. “And I can scarce imagine a pig farmer ever being nominated to lead the church! That’s such a great honor, you know,” she whispered before she opened the buggy door and placed her foot on the metal step. “A true godly man leads the church, nominated by the people and chosen by God.”
Hannah didn’t respond.
“Consider how different your Ralph is when compared to Gideon or . . . ” She glanced at Hannah. “Paul.” She smiled. “Why, Paul was most delightful company the other night, and he’s a godly man, don’t you think?”
“Paul did seem rather righteous the other evening,” Hannah said slowly. “In a good way, of course.”
“Of course.” Emma pulled herself into the buggy and moved over, giving Hannah room to join her on the cloth-covered seat. “After all, Paul is the son of the bishop. I would expect nothing less than for him to be a role model of righteousness for the rest of us to emulate. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was nominated to lead the church one day too!” She smiled at Hannah, who was now sitting beside her. “After he’s married, that is.”
Without another word Emma released the brake to the buggy and urged the horse to back up a few steps before pulling lightly on the right rein in order to leave the parking lot of the general store. There was no further discussion about Paul Esh or Ralph Martin as they drove the back roads toward the Wagler home. Instead, the two young women began to talk about the quilt that they intended to make and how exciting it would be to have it finished in time for the October auction.
The Wagl
er home was small and quaint. As farm land fell prey to development, the Amish community continued to expand, forcing more and more families to live in contemporary homes. It was easy to convert them to accommodate the Amish lifestyle, simply by removing the electric lines and modern conveniences. The Wagler home was one of them. However, it sat on a nice-size lot, and most would consider it a farmette despite the fact that most of the property seemed to be simple pasture.
As Emma pulled the buggy into the driveway, she looked around at her friend’s new home with a sense of comfort. Samuel Wagler may have been alone for many years, but it was clear that he had a fine sense of care when it came to his property. Not a weed grew among the landscaping, and the bushes were all properly trimmed. It spoke well of his character, and once again Emma was pleased for her cousin in marrying such a fine man.
“Wilkum, girls!” Anna Wagler stood at the front door and smiled at the two young women as they made their way to the house, their arms laden with cloth for the quilt they were going to make. “I was wondering when you might arrive! Come in, come in!”
Despite being older, Anna still had the physique of a young woman, tall and willowy instead of the typical stoutness found in Amish women her age. Her brown hair, pulled back under the white heart-shaped prayer kapp, lacked any gray, and her dark eyes sparkled at her two visitors. Clearly Anna was happy in her new home and eager to entertain her former ward and her friend.
The kitchen was smaller than the one at Emma’s home, and it took her a moment to get oriented to the differences between the two. There was a small, plain pine table with a pretty green-and-white checkered tablecloth covering it. Anna had already set out a pitcher of meadow tea and a basket of freshly baked cookies. After the proper greetings were exchanged, Anna encouraged the girls to partake of the refreshments. While Emma merely took one cookie to nibble at, Hannah was more than happy to have two.