by Jan Drexler
Chapter Seventeen
When Guy went to ask about membership the next morning, the old bishop was wary of his intentions. He invited Guy into the Dawdi Haus where the elderly man lived alone, and asked him to sit at the table.
As Guy took his seat, Bishop leaned his elbows on the table. “It isn’t a usual thing, for someone not born into the Amish church to become a member.” The old man’s eyes closed as he spoke, just as they did when he preached, as if the world around him was a distraction to his thoughts.
“I might not have been born here, but I belong here,” Guy said. He leaned forward on the table, anxious for the bishop to understand. “The Lord God brought me here to be part of David and Verna’s family. Now that I belong to God, I want to be part of the church.”
Bishop’s eyes opened at that, his bushy eyebrows raised. He steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair. “Tell me how you know you belong to God.”
As Guy related his conversation with David, and the conviction he’d felt as he realized the depth of his sin, the old man nodded. A smile passed over his lined features as Guy concluded.
“All is well and good, and I will be happy to help you take the steps toward membership. But one problem remains.”
“Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.”
“Luke Kaufman.”
Guy felt heat rush to his face. As far as he was concerned, his fight with Luke was old news and in the past. Did he really have to face this again?
“When you take your membership vows, you are promising your life to the church. This isn’t a social club that you can join one day and leave the next. The church is a body. A community of believers. We are to be holy and without blemish. If there are ill feelings between members of the community, the entire congregation suffers. Before we can admit you into membership, and even before you begin instruction for baptism, you must reconcile with Luke. There must be no division among brothers.”
Before Guy left, promising to talk to Luke, Bishop set a week to begin the instruction. The classes would be held before the church services on Sunday mornings, during the first hour.
“There may be several who want to join the class, once I announce its formation.”
“I know Judith Lapp would like to be part of it.”
Bishop gave him a wink as he nodded. “I thought she would.”
Instead of going straight home, Guy drove the buggy to the Kaufman farm. He had been there once before, last summer when the Kaufmans took their turn at holding the church meeting in their home, but he felt a new twinge of...jealousy. Or envy. The Kaufmans had three barns rising from well-tended fields and meadows. Brown-and-white cows grazed on lush grass, while a half-dozen Belgian mares drowsed in the midday sun, their foals lying at their feet with gangly legs sprawling. The house had been placed on a slight rise, surrounded by gardens and orchards. Everywhere he looked, Guy saw wealth. Compared to the Kaufman home, David’s farm looked small.
His jaw clenched, and he worked it loose. It didn’t matter how well-off the Kaufmans were, he needed to mend this rift between Luke and himself. As he turned into the farm lane, he breathed a prayer that Luke wouldn’t take a swing at him again.
Tying Billy to the hitching rail outside the largest barn, Guy walked through the open door into the big bay. The roof soared above him, with high lofts waiting to receive this summer’s hay. The walls were lined with stalls and the harnesses on racks in the tack room glowed with polish.
“Hallo!” Guy called. “Is anyone here?”
A noise came from one of the stalls, and Luke’s head popped up.
“Guy Hoover?” Luke walked toward him, brushing straw off his clothes. “You’re the last person I thought I’d see walking into my barn.”
“Ja, well, I never thought I’d do this, either.” Guy rubbed his chin. “I came to apologize.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“We shouldn’t have had that fight during the work day, and I want to apologize for my part in it.”
“What do you get out of it?”
Guy shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just that I’m going to be taking baptism instruction, and I want to start with a clean slate.” He glanced at Luke’s face, but couldn’t read his expression. “So, no hard feelings?”
Luke ignored the hand Guy stuck out to seal the deal and only stared at him.
“Baptism instruction? You’re joining church?”
Guy nodded.
“Why?”
“Because I want to. I have to.”
Luke barked out a laugh. “You want to marry that Judith Lapp, don’t you? That’s why you want to join church. You can’t marry her unless you do.”
Marry Judith? Down deep inside him, Guy felt a puzzle piece fall into place with a satisfying ease of pressure. Of course, he wanted to marry Judith. It had been a vague idea in the back of his mind, but now that Luke had put words to it, the idea became reality. He was going to marry Judith.
“Ne, that’s not the reason.” He took a step toward Luke, but halted when the other man backed away. “I’ve done a lot of thinking lately, and I’ve come to realize that I belong here.”
“I heard about your daed. He was arrested by the police, wasn’t he?” Luke’s swagger was back. “Bishop will never let you join church, not with a daed like that. You’re just like him, you know that. Bishop knows it, too. He won’t risk letting an outcast like you into the church.”
Guy’s fists clenched, but he released the tension with a sigh. Pray. A man of faith lives by prayer and the Word of God. He must pray for himself. For Luke. He closed his eyes, all his thoughts focused on Luke and the destructive path he was following.
He opened his eyes. “Let me tell you a story, Luke.” He motioned to a couple of stools near the doorway, where someone else had sat and talked in the shade of the barn, enjoying the breeze on a warm day.
Luke sat, but his movements were stiff, as if he expected Guy to strike out at him. But Guy leaned his arms on his knees and started his story from the beginning. He told Luke about his mother, about Frank Hoover and about the events of last Monday evening. He told Luke about his hatred of Frank, and how David convinced him that he needed to forgive the man he had once called Pa.
At the end of it, Luke stared at the barn floor. “I had no idea. I was a fool, riding on you and calling you names when you were going through all that.”
“How could you have known? I didn’t tell anyone about it.”
“And here you are, asking me to forgive you, when it really should be the other way around.”
Guy waited as Luke left his seat and paced back and forth across the open bay.
Luke stopped in front of him, pointing a belligerent finger. “If you think you’re going to get me to go to baptism instruction with you, you’re more of a fool than I am.”
“That’s not why I came here. I just thought maybe...well, maybe we could be friends.”
Luke paced again, coming to a stop in front of Guy, his hands on his hips. “You know the other fellows would tease me, since I’ve always run you down in front of them.”
Guy shrugged and Luke resumed his pacing.
The next time he stopped, his eyes glistened. “And I’m supposed to believe that you’re going to forgive me after the way I’ve treated you?”
Guy shrugged again. “I have to. I’ve been forgiven, so I must forgive others.”
Luke sat on his stool. “Why did you come here today?”
“To reconcile with you. To make things right.”
“That’s all?”
Guy nodded.
“Then you’ve got it. Things are right between us. No more fights. No more teasing.”
Guy stuck out his hand and Luke shook it, then let go of him just as quickly. “I’m not going to promise I won’t ask Judith out again, though.”
/> Guy grinned. “I don’t think you’re going to have a chance.”
* * *
Judith followed Eli along the lane leading to the Masts’ house. Carrying a hot casserole dish wasn’t easy when the little boy stopped every time he saw another dandelion.
“Eli, keep walking. We’ll pick dandelions on the way home.”
He held up his latest prize to her. “Flower. Pretty flower.”
“Ja, very pretty.” She balanced on one foot, nudging him toward the house with the other one. “But we need to give this casserole to Verna. She’s waiting for it.”
Eli headed toward the house again, this time at a run, and Judith hurried to keep up with him. Before they reached the side porch, Verna was there with the door open.
“Ach, what a pleasure to see you on such a nice spring day!” Verna leaned down to help Eli up the steps. “What brings you here?”
“I made a meal for you, and I thought I’d visit for a few minutes.” She followed Verna into the kitchen and set the dish on the stove.
Verna lifted the lid as Judith put the dish towels she had been using to protect her hands on the counter and lifted Eli in her arms before he could do any damage in the clean kitchen.
“Potatoes and ham.” Verna took a deep breath, then slid the casserole into the oven. “I haven’t fixed anything for dinner yet, so this will be perfect. Come into the front room. David will want to see you and Eli.”
David reclined in his bed, not quite in a sitting position. He smiled when he saw her.
“It’s so good of you to come.” He reached out and patted Eli’s knee. “You too, young man. I saw you picking dandelions.”
Eli opened his clenched fist and let a crushed dandelion flower fall onto David’s lap. “Flower.”
Picking up the wad of yellow and green, David inspected it. “Ja, for sure. That’s what it is.”
Judith sat down while David and Eli chatted about the flower. She hadn’t seen any sign that Guy was at home, even though she thought he must have returned from his visit to the bishop by now.
“I think David is Eli’s favorite person,” Judith said. “He is always ready to come over here for a visit.”
“He’s my favorite boy,” David said, smiling as Eli pulled the flower apart and gave him the pieces one by one. “How are folks at your place?”
Judith told about Matthew’s farm work and the twins, who were already almost three months old. While she talked, she watched Eli, but also glanced out the window, wondering if Guy would be home soon. She would be able to see the buggy turn from the road into the lane from her vantage point.
“Guy went out early this morning,” Verna said. “We expect him back any time.”
Judith laughed. “I came over to see you.”
Verna and David exchanged glances.
“For sure, you did.” David gave Eli a small piece of licorice and grinned as Eli tasted it and made a face. “And we appreciate the company. But I’ve also seen how you are watching the lane for his return.”
Judith’s face exploded with heat and she knew she must be beet red.
“Don’t let him tease you so,” Verna said, patting Judith’s hand. “It just shows that he’s feeling better.”
When Guy’s buggy turned into the lane, Judith pretended not to notice. The conversation shifted to the weather, the sprouting buckwheat and when Matthew expected to plant his corn until Judith heard Guy come in the back door.
When he entered the front room, his grin widened when his eyes met Judith’s, then he bent to give Verna a kiss on the cheek.
“Well, everything is set.” Guy perched on the end of David’s bed. “Bishop said he would announce the baptism class on Sunday, and we will start the next meeting day.”
Verna and David looked at each other. Verna folded her hands in her lap and gave a nod in her husband’s direction.
“Ach, what is it now?” Guy looked from one to the other. “I hoped to take a walk with Judith.”
“Before you do,” David began, “we want to talk to you about something.”
“I should go.” Judith stood, taking Eli in her arms.
“Stay, please. I think you’ll want to hear this, too.” David shifted his position, grimacing as he did. “Guy, I hope you know that we’ve always considered you to be our son.”
Guy nodded. “I know that now, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me over the years.”
“I’ll never be able to work like I did before the accident. That’s something I’ve had to face over the past couple weeks.” David reached for Verna’s hand. “So, it’s time to do something we planned years ago. As I retire, I want you to take over the farm.”
Guy looked from David to Verna. “But I thought you would sell it, or give it to one of your nephews.”
“Not when we have you to carry on after us.”
“Why haven’t you said anything before?”
David and Verna exchanged glances again. “We wanted to be sure you were committed to the farm and to our way of life.”
Guy nodded. “I had always planned to go with... Frank Hoover, if he ever came for me.”
“But now, I think you have a goal for your life. A future to plan for. The farm will do well for you and give you a living for you and your family.”
Judith tightened her hold on Eli to keep him in her lap. Her eyes grew moist as she thought of what this meant for Guy. He would have a home and a family.
Guy cleared his throat, his own eyes glistening. “One more thing. I don’t want to carry Frank Hoover’s name.” He met David’s frown. “I’ve forgiven him, I think. At least, I’ve begun to forgive him. But I don’t respect him, and he’ll never be my father. Not the way you have been. If it’s all right with you, I want to change my last name to Mast. You might not have been able to adopt me legally, but you did in all the ways that mattered.”
Verna hiccupped as tears streamed down her cheeks. As she reached out to take Guy in her arms, Judith slipped out the door with Eli. This was a time for the family to be alone.
* * *
During dinner, David and Verna helped Guy make his plans for the farm.
“We’ll need to build a Dawdi Haus,” David said. “Verna is ready to care for a smaller place, and I need to have a house I can get around in. I won’t be able to run up and down stairs like I used to.”
“But this is your home.” Guy looked from one to the other. “And I can’t live here alone.”
Verna smiled. “I don’t think you’ll be alone very long.” She gathered the empty plates to take back to the kitchen. “Judith will make a wonderful-gut wife for you.”
As Verna left the room, David’s grin made Guy laugh. “Is it that obvious?”
“I think I knew you two would be getting married when you first started going over there to learn Deitsch.”
Guy glanced out the front window. All was quiet at the Beacheys’ farm.
“I might head over to see if Judith can go for that walk, now.”
David took a book from the table next to his bed and opened it. “She’s probably waiting for you.” He winked at Guy.
Guy left the house, whistling. The tune was one of the songs he had learned at the Youth Singings. He and Judith wouldn’t be attending many more of those, if he had his way.
She must have seen him coming, because when he walked up the farm lane, she was waiting for him. Standing on the bottom step by the back door, one bare foot swinging through the long grass at the edge, she looked like a young girl. Guy drank in the sight with the sweet knowledge that she was his. His girl.
“Have you come to take that walk with me?” Judith smiled, the dimple in one cheek drawing him close.
“Are you free?”
“Everyone is napping in the house, and Matthew has gone to work the upper field.”
&nbs
p; Guy took her slim hand in his and led her around the back of the house. Passing the clothesline and the hedge of blueberry bushes, they reached the orchard. Matthew and Annie had a dozen fruit trees, and the spring blossoms filled the air with fragrance.
Stopping by an apple tree, Guy tried to keep his knees from shaking. Judith didn’t seem to notice. Holding on to a sturdy branch with one hand, she swung around it, finally facing him with a smile.
“I think I’ll always remember this day.”
Guy ran his finger along the branch until he reached her hand. “Why this day, in particular?”
“Because of how your life has changed. Did you have any idea that David and Verna were going to give you their farm?”
He turned to look across the road at the white barn and house with the freshly plowed fields surrounding them.
“I never thought I could hope to find my home here.”
“But it’s true. I’m so glad for you.”
Guy’s shaking knees stilled. Now was the time. Now or never. He swallowed and stepped closer to Judith.
“You should be glad for yourself, too.”
“Why?”
“If you want to, it can be your home.”
Her smile disappeared and she ducked under the branch so that nothing was between them.
“What are you trying to say?”
Guy stroked the spot where her dimple had faded. Her expression was serious, waiting, anticipating.
“I don’t want to live there unless you’ll join me. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
The dimple was back. “I love you, too.”
Guy’s knees were shaking again, but he grinned. “Say that again. You were on the side of my bad ear.”
She leaned close to his left shoulder, laying her hands on his chest. “I love you.”
“So, what is your answer?”
“You haven’t asked me a question yet.”
He took her in his arms, holding her close, breathing in her fragrance. “You know the question,” he said into her ear.