by Nancy M Bell
“Would you like a glass of water?” Liz held out the drink she must have gone to get without Elsie realizing it.
“Yes, thank you.” She took the glass, pleased to see her hand didn’t tremble, although her heart was still racing. After taking a sip, Elsie got to her feet and moved to place the glass on the counter. “If you’d just be so kind as to ring up my items, please?” She stretched her mouth in a semblance of a smile.
“Of course. Right away.” A bland expression slid over Liz’s features. In a matter of minutes the transaction was completed.
Elsie looped the handles of the bag over her wrist and moved toward the door. She paused on the threshold, peering through the glass in the hope Ike was parked outside. The gravel road in front of the store was distressingly bare. Squaring her shoulders, Elsie stepped outside and took a seat on the bench against the front wall of the store. It took a great effort to put on an outward appearance of normality. It was a stroke of luck that the street wasn’t busy and she wasn’t forced to endure any uncomfortable encounters with friends and acquaintances.
The appearance of Ike’s truck rumbling down Main Street brought her to her feet. She was already waiting at the curb before the vehicle came to a halt. Ike opened the door for her, took the bag of groceries and tucked them behind the seat. She stole a glance at his face when he assisted her up the high step into the cab. He must not know about Ruth yet. His handsome face was relaxed and he whistled on his way around to the driver side door. The springs creaked as he climbed aboard.
“Did they have everything on your list, or do we need to stop in Landmark on the way home?” Ike slid the truck into gear and drove out of New Bothwell toward home.
“Liz had everything I needed.” She hesitated and then pushed on. “How are things at the cheese factory? Still busy as ever? Did you see Ruth? Leina mentioned she’d started working there.”
“Same as always. I didn’t see Ruth, she must have been busy somewhere else.” He took his eyes off the road to glance at her. “Why do you ask?”
“Ike, I have to tell you something.” Elsie stared unseeing out the wind shield.
“Some gossip you heard at the store? You know I don’t hold with gossip.” He frowned.
“About Ruth,” she blurted before courage failed her.
“Ruth? What about her? It’s good she’s working, keeps the girl out of mischief.”
“I only wish that were true.”
Ike stiffened beside her, knuckles whitening where he gripped the steering wheel. “What nonsense is it this time?”
“It started when you dropped me off. I saw Tina and I know she saw me, but she refused to even look at me.”
“Elsie, you’ve been friends for years. She probably didn’t see you.” Ike’s grip relaxed on the wheel a bit.
“No, Ike. She saw me. I thought it was odd, and at the time I thought like you did, maybe she didn’t see me. Then I went into the store, and two old friends I went to school with treated me like a leper. Liz was the one who finally told me.” She stopped and bit her lower lip.
“Told you what?” Her husband’s voice was stern.
“Ruth is still seeing that boy from Altona. They were seen together just last night. Here in town. I can’t imagine that Leina and John have any idea it’s still going on.”
Ike cleared his throat in what sounded to Elsie very much like a growl. “We’ll stop at their place on the way home. Get to the bottom of this once and for all. I won’t stand for our good name to be dragged through the mud. How can she not understand the boy is a murderer? He took up arms and killed his fellow human beings. That’s a choice he made, and now him, and all those like him, have to live with those choices.”
Elsie nodded, too distraught by the seeming betrayal of faith and family loyalty by her granddaughter to think of anything sensible to say in response.
* * *
“She did what!” John slapped the table with the palm of his hand.
Both Leina and Elsie jumped at the staccato sound. Elsie kept herself from cringing at the controlled anger on her son-in-law’s face.
“Liz Rempel told Elsie when she went in to buy some groceries. On top of that, people were rude to your mother.” Ike fixed a glare on Leina.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” she replied.
John glanced at the clock. “Ruth should be home any minute now, she had the early shift this morning. We’ll get to the bottom of this in a hurry once she gets here.”
Leina got up and flitted around the kitchen making fresh coffee and setting out some biscuits on a plate. She brought them to the table and moved quickly to get cream and sugar. Elsie’s eyes followed her daughter’s restless movements, wishing she too had a reason to bustle around. Her nerves were jumping and it was a chore to sit quietly and appear calm.
“Leina, would you please sit down? You’re making me jumpy with all your rushing around,” John exclaimed.
“Oh, yes sorry.” Leina returned to her seat, took up the coffee Elsie had poured for her and stirred sugar into it.
Elsie leaned forward to set her empty cup on the table, almost knocking it over when she jumped as the front door opened and closed. Light footsteps sounded in the hall.
“I’m home, Mome. Do you need help with supper?” Ruth’s voice preceded her into the kitchen. “Hi Oma and Opa.” She greeted her grandparents with a brilliant smile. “It’s nice to see you.” Ruth stooped to kiss Elsie’s cheek. When she straightened up, the tense atmosphere in the room finally seemed to register with her. “Is there something wrong?”
“I believe you should be the one to answer that question,” John addressed his daughter.
“Ruthie! You’re home. Come see the house we made for our dolls.” Maria and Doris, her two younger sisters burst into the kitchen. “We thought we heard you come home.” Maria grabbed Ruth’s hand and tried to drag her toward the hall door.
“Maria. Doris. Go back and play with your dolls. We’re having a grownup conversation. Ruth can come and see your doll house later. Now!” John gave them both a stern look when the little girls hesitated.
They disappeared with a flurry of skirts and giggles. The patter of their running feet echoed overhead.
“Now, Ruth. Why don’t you tell us again why you were late coming home after work yesterday?” John asked quietly.
The colour drained from her cheeks, although Elsie had to give the girl credit for not wilting under her father’s stern regard.
“I told you, Sam asked me to work a bit later than usual.” She clasped her hands behind her back.
“The truth, Ruth. I want the truth. No more lies,” John’s voice thundered in the small room.
The girl opened her mouth to speak.
“Think carefully before you say anything else,” John warned her. “Lying is a sin.”
She shut her mouth and swallowed. Her gaze sought her mother’s across the table. Finding no support from that quarter, she looked at her grossmama. Elsie shook her head and deliberately turned her head.
“You’ve ignored my wishes and you’re still seeing that boy from Altona.” John lost all patience waiting for her to speak. He held up a hand to stop her when she appeared ready to speak. “Don’t deny it. Your grossmama was treated to a rude reception in New Bothwell this afternoon because of your behavior. Do you not realize how your actions affect the rest of the family? And you’re willing to lie about it on top of everything. That alone proves to me this relationship, if you can call it that, is a bad influence on you. I forbid you to have anything to do with him, and you deliberately went against my wishes. Do you care to explain to me how you met the boy in the first place?” John slapped the table with his open hand again. The sharp crack wiped all colour from Ruth’s face and trembled. “Well?”
“I…I met Fred in New Bothwell,” she paused and gave her mother a beseeching look.
“Go on,” John demanded. “Where in New Bothwell, and how did you ever come into contact with someone like tha
t?”
“He’s not someone like that,” she protested. “Fred’s a good person, and he treats me nice—”
“He’s a murderer,” her father roared. “How did you meet him?”
“At the cheese factory,” Ruth’s voice was so low Elsie wasn’t sure she had heard correctly.
“Where?” John was obviously making an effort to modulate his tones.
“At work. At the cheese factory.” She raised her head and met her father’s gaze.
“I can’t believe they’d have someone like him working for them,” he objected.
“He doesn’t work there,” she muttered.
“Then how did you come to be acquainted with him?” John raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“At the factory,” she repeated. “He delivers milk sometimes. He was polite, and we got to talking when he brought the paperwork in to get signed. I didn’t know he was a soldier until later.”
“And once you were aware you should have stopped the relationship immediately.” John glowered at the girl. “Do the teachings of your faith mean nothing to you?”
“Of course they do! But I can’t be rude either,” Ruth defended herself. “I don’t want to lose my job.”
“Not being rude is a far cry from being seen having coffee with him in plain view of everyone in New Bothwell,” her father countered.
Elsie was torn between sympathy for Ruth’s obvious discomfort, and the knowledge that whatever was going on between her granddaughter and the ex-soldier had to be nipped in the bud. There could be no future, and nothing but heartbreak in such a relationship. Surely she couldn’t want a man who had killed other human beings to be the father of her children. Elsie shuddered at the thought.
“Well, nothing to say?” John prompted his silent daughter.
“We aren’t doing anything wrong,” she began.
Leina’s smothered sob was all but drowned out by John’s snort of anger. “I can see there’s no point in trying to talk any sense into you. As long as you live under my roof you will obey me, and if this behaviour continues you will no longer work at the cheese factory. Am I making myself clear?”
Ruth’s head whipped up, eyes flashing with anger and frustration. She opened her mouth, but was forestalled by her grosspape. Elsie turned toward Ike.
“You’re part of this family, Ruth. What you do reflects on all of us. Your grossmama was subjected to nasty comments and ridicule this morning. As head of this family I forbid you too have anything to do with this man. He has forsaken his faith, and I won’t have you foolishly putting your own soul in danger as well. Hear me.” Ike didn’t wait for any response. He nodded at Elsie who got up from the couch and followed him out of the house.
Once they were in the truck, Ike looked over at her before starting the engine. “That should be the end of that,” he said decisively. “Girl that age doesn’t know what is good for her.”
“I certainly hope she listened,” Elsie spoke softly.
“She better have.” Ike put the vehicle in gear and drove out of the yard.
Elsie was silent on the ride home. Something in Ruth’s manner disturbed her. Where did that rebellious streak come from? Their arrival home pushed extraneous thoughts from her mind in favour of the things that needed to be attended to, which included putting the groceries away. Ruth was usually a sensible girl. Elsie was sure the girl would think over what was said and make the right choice.
* * *
The days grew shorter and the nights colder as October slid toward November. The plans for Sadie’s spring wedding were coming together. Another bright spot as far as Elsie was concerned was the production at the cheese factory slowed during the winter months so Ruth was no longer working in New Bothwell. The topic of Fred Klassen from Altona was never mentioned in her hearing since the distressing incident earlier in the fall. Elsie glanced over at Ruth, her golden hair tinted red-gold by the sun slanting in the window behind her. The girl seemed happy enough, certainly not like she was pining away after an unrequited love. The older granddaughters and three of Elsie’s daughters were gathered around a quilting frame holding the makings of a dachbiea. They were stitching the combed and carded sheep’s wool between two cotton sheets to make a warm and long lasting blanket to stave off the winter’s chill.
Sarah was the only one of her daughters who was absent. Her last miscarriage seemed to have broken something in her. Elsie couldn’t recall the last time she’d heard Sarah laugh. When she’d pressed her about her apparent unhappiness, Sarah had only shrugged and remarked a woman could only bear so much sorrow. Shaking her head to dispel the melancholy thoughts, Elsie smiled at Anna, Agnes’ daughter, who at twelve was old enough to join the quilting circle.
“How are you making out?” She bent closer to inspect the stitches. Pushing her own needle into the material for safekeeping she laid her hand over Anna’s. “That’s a good start, but take a look at your mome’s stitches.”
Anna dutifully leaned over to look at Agnes’ handiwork.
“See how her stitches are all evenly spaced? And look how exactly they follow the lines from the pattern template.” Elsie instructed her granddaughter. Agnes grinned at Elsie over her daughter’s bent head, no doubt remembering her grossmama doing the same thing when she was that age.
Anna heaved a deep sigh, contemplated her somewhat uneven handiwork and looked up at Elsie with a rueful expression on her young face. “I suppose I must rip mine out and start over?”
“I think that would be a good idea, don’t you? This quilt is part of Sadie’s wedding present, and we want it look as perfect as possible. Besides, a woman needs to take pride in her needlework.” She patted the young girl’s hand.
“Are we ready for a break?” Leina secured her needle in the partially finished quilt and glanced around the gathering.
“I could use a break,” Nettie agreed. She put down her needle and stood, stretching with a hand to her lower back. Her apron draping over the rounded bulge of her pregnancy. She moved to find a softer chair than the straight back wooden one pulled up to the quilt frame. Susan went to join her, the two talking softly amongst themselves. The younger children playing around their feet. Babies sleeping, wrapped in blankets on the floor, safely barricaded from the more rambunctious toddlers.
“Do you want some help in the kitchen?” Agnes left the quilt too.
“No, I think Leina and I can manage. Would you like some milk, Anna?” Elsie smoothed her hands down her skirts and moved toward the kitchen. “Coming, Leina?”
“Sure, Mome.” Leina followed her into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to glance back at Ruth now giggling with the others in the living room.
“How are things with Ruth?” Elsie poured coffee into a flowered pot.
“She seems settled…but I don’t know…sometimes I think she’s keeping secrets.” Helena set out sugar and cream on a tray and reached up for the biscuit tin.
“Have you spoken to her about it?” A touch of unease twisted in Elsie’s stomach.
“Of course, Mome. She swears everything’s fine and insists she doesn’t have anything to hide, secrets or otherwise.”
“I suppose everything is okay, then. Perhaps you’re just reading more into things than there is,” Elsie suggested, lifting the tray with the coffee and setting it on the kitchen table.
“I certainly hope so,” Leina didn’t sound totally convinced. She placed the china tray of biscuits on the table as well.
“Coffee’s on,” Elsie called. She forgot about the conversation with Leina in the joy of the companionship of her family gathered together.
* * *
The dawn on the fifteenth of November was shrouded by a sheet of driven snow. Wind howled in the eaves and worked its way through every nook and tiny opening it could find, fluttering curtains where the window frames didn’t fit quite snug.
“Looks like no school today.” Elsie pulled the curtain back and rubbed the frost off the window pane to peer out. “It’s a full blo
wn blizzard, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Be a good day to do some paperwork.” Ike tossed back the quilts and put his wool stockinged feet on the cold floor. “Once Walter and I get the stock fed and milk the cows it’ll be an indoors day.”
“I’ll go start the coffee if Agnes hasn’t already. You’ll want something warm in you before going out in this.” Elsie dressed quickly in the chill air, pulling on an extra cardigan.
“I’ll be down in a moment.” Ike pulled on another pair of long johns and reached for a thick flannel shirt.
Agnes had the stove already stoked and the coffee on when Elsie entered the welcome warmth of the kitchen. “I let the children sleep. There’ll be no use trying to go anywhere today. Walter will be down in a few minutes.”
“Your Pape should be too.” She set a pot of water on to boil in preparation to making porridge. “This will stick to their ribs.” Elsie measured the rolled oats into the rolling water. “We can make a proper breakfast once they come back in from chores.”
The shrill of the telephone startled Elsie so she almost dropped the spoon she was stirring the porridge with.
“I’ll get it, Mome.” Agnes crossed the room and picked up the black receiver. “Hello.”
The long silence and the expression on her daughter’s face prompted Elsie to give the pot a final stir and move it off the heat. Setting the spoon on the spoon rest, she moved to stand beside Agnes, wiping her hands on a dish cloth as she did so.
“She did what?” Agnes voice was faint and she sat down suddenly on a kitchen chair as if her legs would no longer hold her.
“Did what?” Elsie hissed at her.
Wordlessly, Agnes handed her the receiver and hurried to save the coffee which was threatening to boil over on the stove.
“Hello?” Elsie held the phone like a hot potato.
“Mome? Oh Mome. She’s gone and done it now,” Leina’s voice broke off in a smothered sob. In the background Elsie heard John’s voice and the stamp of his feet as if he were pacing and shouting at the same time. Maria and Doris were crying loudly, almost drowned out by their father’s hollering.