by Sarah Price
Many people among the Amish questioned her unethical behavior, but Leah was always one to give the benefit of the doubt. Laverne never gave Leah any reason to suspect that she was anything less than a good person and true friend. Until now. From what Mattie was telling her, Laverne was trying to sabotage Whoopie Pie Place as well as steal those orders for the convention and wedding. Indeed, the Englische woman’s attempts to blackmail the Amish women shocked Leah. No true Christian would do something so heartless and cruel, Leah told herself, trying to keep calm in front of Mattie. After all, Leah had never been anything but a good friend to Laverne. She even promoted the Englische woman’s tour company when customers from out of state asked Leah for recommendations. In the world of the Amish, one hand washed the other. They took care of each other, sharing in friendship and success.
Apparently that was not a philosophy that Laverne understood.
“Ja vell,” Leah finally said, searching deep within herself to find the strength to hold back the bitterness that bubbled inside of her. Her disappointment and anger served no one, if misdirected. She’d deal with Laverne later. Forcing a smile, Leah straightened her shoulders and looked Mattie in the eyes. “I do thank you for letting me know, Mattie. Not certain what I’ll be able to do about this, but I do know one thing…Whoopie Pie Place will reopen and be just as strong as it was before in the Amish community!”
“No doubt, Leah.” But Mattie’s eyes showed the concern that she was feeling.
Leah watched as Mattie Petersheim turned around and got into her buggy. Not once did Mattie look back, the shame too much to grant her that one friendly gesture that might calm Leah. Instead, the fact that Mattie drove away reinforced the anger that welled inside of Leah’s chest.
“Stronger shoulders, Lord,” she whispered as she turned to walk back toward the house. “Give me stronger shoulders, by all means!”
Leah
“And that’s what Mattie told me,” Leah said to Susie. She stood by her kitchen counter, her hands kneading the dough on the floured board. Roughly, she squished it between her fingers and pounded on it with a fist. Pretending to see Laverne’s face in the rounded ball made it all the more easy to punch it.
Susie reached out and placed her hand on Leah. “Easy there, Schwester! You’ll knock that dough and send it to Berlin!”
She exhaled sharply and shoved the dough away from her. Ever since Mattie had stopped by earlier that day, Leah thought of nothing else but Laverne. It hadn’t helped when Martha Schrock stopped by an hour afterward, to drop off a basket of apples and, like Mattie, whispered that Laverne needn’t know about her gift.
“I’d like to send that Laverne all the way to Berlin!” Leah snapped. “And I’m not talking Berlin, Ohio!”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Susie found herself trying to suppress a giggle.
“It’s not funny!” Leah said, glaring at her sister. “She’s trying to destroy our business! No good Christian does that. At least no good Christian that I know!”
“Nee,” Susie admitted somberly. “This is true.”
“And what is that Sadie doing?” Marching to the bottom of the stairs, she leaned on the banister and yelled, “Sadie Miller! You get down here! I need some help and your dawdling isn’t helping one bit!”
Within seconds, Sadie ran down the stairs, trying to adjust her prayer kapp on her head. Her bare feet pounded on the wooden steps and she greeted Susie with a sheepish smile. “Overslept.”
“A blind person could see that!”
Susie rolled her eyes behind Leah’s back, giving her head a soft shake to warn Sadie that a tiger lurked beneath the surface of their older sister’s skin.
“I saw that, Susie!” She turned her attention to Sadie. Sleeping late. Again. They hadn’t talked yet. It was high time for that discussion, Leah told herself. Except life kept getting in the way. For a long moment, Leah studied Sadie’s face as if looking for some indication of guilt or sadness. There was none. “Make yourself useful, then! Pull those whoopie pies out of the oven,” Leah snapped at her. “And put the other pans in.”
“Oh help,” Sadie whispered to Susie who responded with an ‘I told you so’ expression that didn’t escape Leah’s eye.
Hurrying to the oven, Sadie opened the door and pulled out two pans with fluffy whoopie pie cakes. The smell wafted through the room, comforting and familiar. Leah worked furiously, shaping the bread dough into small loaves. She could feel Sadie’s eyes on her back, watching her. Ignoring both of her sisters, Leah plopped the shaped dough into the bread pans and shoved them down the countertop toward Sadie.
“Something bothering you, Leah?”
Whirling around, Leah glared at Sadie. “If you had awoken on time, Sadie, you'd have been here and heard what that nasty Laverne is doing to our business!”
A confused look crossed Sadie’s face. “Laverne?” she asked, her eyes darting from Leah to Susie and back to Leah again. “I don’t understand.”
It was Susie who tried to explain. “Mattie Petersheim stopped by. Told Leah that Laverne is making her rounds to buy everyone’s products to sell. Telling them that, if they do not sell to her exclusively, she won’t bring her tours there. Martha stopped by, too. She dropped off some apples for us but mentioned that Laverne dare not know she was here.”
Predictably, Sadie gasped. “What on earth…?”
Leah nodded her head, fury still etched in her expression. “She has them all running scared. And, even worse, she’s trying to steal our big orders. While you were sleeping,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “But don’t fret none, Sadie. I used the neighbor’s phone and left a voice message with the convention people, reassuring them that we’d have their whoopie pies and bread. And I sent Thomas over to Mary Glick’s, to let the family know that we’d come through for them, too.”
Susie sighed. “I just don’t know how we can do it, Leah. I think we sure did bite off more than we can chew this time.”
But Leah would hear none of that. She spun around and wagged her finger in Susie’s face. “We did not bite off more than we can chew!” she shouted. “And we would have been fine had it not been for the storm. Nee, everything will be fine.” She pounded her closed fist onto the counter. “I will not let that woman steal our business! We have to find a way. God sent us those two orders so He will find a way for us to make good on them.” She took a deep breath. It wasn’t easy to calm herself. Too much had happened in such a short period of time. Laverne’s antics had pushed her over the edge. “I just hope those convention people call back with good news.”
There was a moment of silence in the room. Sadie put the two other whoopie pie pans in the oven and shut the door, careful to set the timer before she turned back to her sisters.
“I think I know how we can do it,” she said softly.
Leah stared at her, eyeing her younger sister with a skeptical look. She had yet to confront Sadie, something that weighed heavily on her mind. Too much had happened in the past few days and dealing with Sadie’s issue…alleged issue, she reminded herself…just wasn’t on the priority list at the current moment. If it was true, Leah reasoned with herself, it wasn’t going away anytime soon. Plenty of time to deal with Sadie.
“Let’s call a meeting of the women at the schoolhouse,” Sadie offered. “We get everyone to help with the order and share the profit. With so much damage in the community, I bet everyone could use a little extra money, don’t you think?”
The expression softened on Leah’s face. Of course, she thought. The simplicity of the solution almost made her laugh. They had already arranged to use kitchens at two Mennonite churches. If the women of the g’may offered to help, it would be no hardship at all to fulfill the orders as promised. It was better to lose some of the profit than to let Laverne steal their business.
“Hmmph,” Leah snorted, trying to hide her pleasure at Sadie’s suggestion. “Mayhaps you better sleep late more often, I think!”
Sadie lau
ghed and Susie joined her. Even Leah could not prevent a smile to sneak onto her face. The joy of sisterhood, she thought, reaching out to hug the two women. Joy indeed, as she let out a deep sigh of relief.
Susie
“I called you all together today to ask for your help.”
She stood in the schoolhouse, standing before the rows of small desks that were occupied by the women of the g’may. Eighteen pairs of eyes stared back at her, curious and eager to hear why they were sitting there. Susie recognized many of the women in attendance. Half of them were, indeed, from her own g’may, but she also noticed just as many women that were from outside of the Miller’s church district. Several women hadn’t been able to attend, sending their regrets via Thomas and Leah’s son, Aaron, when they visited each of the families in the g’may to inform them about the meeting. Those who accepted the invitation to attend the meeting must have spread the word to their own extended family who felt compelled to join as well.
Despite feeling uncomfortable speaking to such a large group, Susie knew only too well that it was now up to her to help Leah save their Whoopie Pie Place.
“You all know that our bakery was destroyed in the tornado. Even worse, Sister Lydia was injured and our bruder, Tobias, is in the hospital.” She paused and stared out at the eyes watching her every move.
Leah had volunteered to stay home with the kinner. It was unusual for her not to be the take-charge person; but, as her nerves still rattled from what she learned earlier that day about Laverne, she expressed concern that she wouldn’t be able to maintain her calm and composure at the schoolhouse meeting. That would certainly not bode well with the women and possibly trigger the opposite results the sisters were hoping for. Sadie offered to go with Susie to talk to the women, but it was Susie who volunteered to do the talking. She didn’t know why but she felt the need to take a leadership role in recruiting the other women.
“Yet, we promised to help with Mary Glick’s wedding as well as that convention coming up. We need your help to make our commitment which happens to be the only way we will be able to afford rebuilding Whoopie Pie Place.” Susie paused and glanced at Sadie who stood by her side. “With our building in shambles, and most of our baking equipment, shelving and display cases destroyed, we just can’t fulfill the order between the three of us.”
There was a long moment of silence and then a soft mumbling accompanied by a nodding of some heads amongst the women.
“And I’m sure most of you know the other part of the story,” Susie went on slowly, taking her time for more effect on the captive audience. She paced her words in a measured tone. “Someone is trying to steal our business so that we cannot open Whoopie Pie Place again. Money is more important to this person than friendship. I won’t name anyone in particular but I’m sure it’s no secret to many of you.”
This time, the mumbling became an animated roar. Those who hadn’t heard the news about Laverne’s attempt to steal the Miller sisters’ business leaned over to their neighbors, asking for details. Deliberately, Susie let the women talk amongst themselves, even if only for a few drawn out moments. If nothing else, Laverne deserved that much.
Finally, when the noise became too loud and the focus of the meeting had shifted away from the real dilemma, Susie silenced the women by lifting her hand. When the chatter died down and all eyes faced the front of the room once again, she continued.
“What we’d like to do is share the profits with anyone who can help us. Supplies come in tomorrow and we will separate them into boxes. Thomas and Merv agreed to drop them off at your houses. All we ask is that anyone who can help volunteers to bake the whoopie pies for Mary’s wedding next week and then, two weeks later, help with the larger order of whoopie pies and bread for the convention. We’ll split the profits with everyone who helps.”
The plan was simple. Every woman seated in the schoolhouse knew how to make bread and most had whoopie pie pans. Those who didn’t could bake them on cookie sheets. The hardest part was finding the time to make so many of them in one day. Also, Susie knew that some women preferred other chores to baking.
It was Jenny Yoder who finally stood up to speak. She looked directly at Susie and nodded her head. “I can only offer my own help, Susie. I can’t speak on behalf of others. But my kinner and I will do whatever it takes to help you fulfill these two orders.”
Slowly, other women stood up and offered the same service, each one commenting on how the community needed to support Whoopie Pie Place and how they would not want to see the business go to an Englischer, especially one who had so blatantly stolen the business from the Miller sisters.
“And furthermore,” Jenny said, raising her voice so that she could be heard over the noise of the other women. “I want to donate my percentage to help you rebuild the store, even larger and better than before.”
“Me, too!” another woman called out.
The room erupted into a general consensus: no profit needed to be split among the participants. Without Whoopie Pie Place, the neighborhood would feel empty. Whoopie Pie Place was an anchor store of sorts for the community. Besides, one of the women rationalized, tourists came from all over to visit the famous store, bringing business to food stands and other small shops and outlets throughout the entire community. Heads nodded in enthusiastic agreement.
“We cannot thank you enough,” Susie managed to say, red in the face and fighting her own tears. While she should not have been surprised at their generosity, the overwhelming sense of relief that washed over her had a strong emotional affect that made it hard to keep her composure.
As the meeting adjourned, several women walked up to Susie and shook her hand, commending her on the initiative and expressing their joy at learning about Tobias’ mystery donor. At first, she didn’t notice that no one seemed to talk to Sadie. By the time Jenny Yoder approached her, however, she realized that something was amiss.
“Jenny,” Sadie said as she stood beside Susie. She looked worried as she greeted Manny’s mamm and her voice trembled. The desperation in her eyes pained Susie. “I…I haven’t seen Manny since the storm. Is…is everything all right at home, then?”
The first thing Susie noticed was the cold look in Jenny’s eyes. The older woman who had been so cheerful and pleasant during the meeting transformed before Susie’s eyes. Jenny’s body tensed and she refused to meet Sadie’s eyes. “Right as rain,” she said, her voice forced and emotionless. Without another word, Jenny turned and walked away, leaving Sadie staring after her and Susie staring at the floor.
Lydia’s words. Elmer and Manny had overheard what Lydia said before the ambulance took her away. While Susie had chosen to believe that Lydia spoke out of delirium, clearly Manny and Elmer had not. They chose to believe Lydia’s words and, from the looks of it, the Amish grapevine proved powerful once again.
Looking at Sadie, she wondered if her schwester had recognized the snub. As the color drained from Sadie’s cheeks, Susie realized that she did. Now, the question remained whether or not she knew why Jenny avoided eye contact and that, apparently, the other women had learned of Lydia’s words regarding Sadie’s unfortunate predicament.
“You want to talk?” Susie asked softly.
“Nee,” Sadie responded, shaking her head. “Nothing to talk about.”
Without another word, Sadie turned away and began collecting her things. Susie watched her, just for a minute, before she decided that she’d confide in Leah in the morning. Leah would know what to do, she reasoned. Leah always knew what to do when trouble fell upon the family. From the looks of it, Susie knew her younger sister was clearly in trouble.
Lydia
The cup of tea burned her hands and she quickly set it on the night table. “Ouch!” she muttered and looked up at Abe. “Did you have to make it so hot?”
He took a deep breath and exhaled, pacing himself before responding. “You asked for tea. I bought you tea. Tea is best served hot, ain’t so?”
She tried to smile as she
sat up in the bed, shoving a pillow behind her back so that it would support her properly. “I’m sorry, Abe. I didn’t mean to criticize.”
Two days ago, Abe had brought her home. She remembered all too well their fight and, during those two days, she tried with all of her might to behave better. The amnesia from the accident helped, especially when she pretended to not remember their argument and his threats to run to the bishop. Now, with a little help from a tornado and a lot of help from a big tree, she had slipped into a new persona, smiling at Abe and doing whatever she could to avoid that threatened confrontation with the bishop.
If he thought she didn’t remember, she told herself at night while she listened to his gentle snoring in the darkness, he couldn’t go to the bishop. No need to confess to what one does not remember, she rationalized.
“Now, tell me again,” she began, sitting up straighter. “What happened to Whoopie Pie Place?”
He rolled his eyes and turned away from the bed. “I told you five times already, Lydia. The building’s destroyed. Not much else to add.”
Destroyed. Rubble. Needed to be rebuilt. She had loved hearing the story the first time and wished that he would tell it to her again. Finally she could stay home! No more working at the store. No more listening to Leah bossing her around. No more arguing with Susie. And Sadie…She clenched her jaw tightly. She wouldn’t have to see Sadie as her belly grew large and round, carrying an unwanted baby that had been conceived in sin. A constant reminder of the one thing that she was unable to do: conceive a boppli.