by Marta Perry
While they did, Lena had a few free minutes to prepare for the school board meeting to be held that night. Other than the leak in the roof and the broken windowpane, the building itself didn’t need much work. The barn was another story.
The hayloft door had broken free of a hinge and now threatened to fall from the remaining one. It posed a threat to animals and students alike. Several shingles had come loose, too. With the arrival of Ruby, Lena was now short of textbooks. Ruby was sharing with another fourth-grade girl, but it would be better if she had her own books.
None of the children were discipline problems. If it weren’t for the poaching, Lena would consider this to be her easiest year. The school board meeting might not be the best place to discuss the subject of poaching, but the three men on the board were also fathers and grandfathers of the children. Two were church elders. The meetings were always well attended by the children’s parents. The women of the community couldn’t hold positions on the board, but they made their voices heard at home and in such meetings. It might be good to plant the seed of concern, for these men would be the ones to sanction any action.
During the last period of the day, Lena set the students to tidying up the school for the upcoming meeting. The windows were washed inside and out by the eighth-grade girls. The boys cleaned up the grounds and raked the leaves that had piled against the sides of the building. Ruby and several of the other girls washed and dried the blackboard, while the twins took the erasers outside and clapped them together until they were free of chalk dust.
When the school was as clean as they could make it, Lena allowed the students to leave a few minutes early. As they cheerfully headed home, she came to a decision. Tonight, she would mention what she’d seen in the woods, and voice her concern for the children’s welfare.
Outside, she paused on the steps to scan the edge of the forest, as she had done frequently during the past weeks. Nothing moved, nothing seemed out of place. If anyone was watching the school, he remained well hidden.
Walking quickly, she crossed the covered bridge. On the far side, she discovered Ruby sitting on the bank of the creek. The child was bent over her writing board, hard at work on something.
“Ruby, what are you doing here?” Lena said.
She instantly hid her board behind her back and shook her head.
Lena gathered her skirt and sat beside the child. “May I see what you’re working on?”
Ruby slowly brought out her board. On it, she had drawn the outline of a small rabbit sitting among the weeds beside the bridge. The drawing was crude, but Lena saw some underlying skill in its composition.
“This is very nice.”
Ruby shook her head and immediately smeared the picture with her hands.
“Oh, don’t spoil it.” Lena held the board out of the child’s reach. “Let me have your marker.”
Reluctantly, Ruby handed it over. With careful strokes, Lena repaired the missing ears and added a happy expression to the bunny’s face. “There, I’ve fixed him.”
Taking back the board and marker, Ruby wrote under the drawing, “It’s a girl.”
Lena smiled. “Sorry. I didn’t know. Let me have the pen again.” Taking the board and marker, Lena scooted around to hide her effort until she was finished. Then she said, “Now, all can tell it’s a girl.”
She held the picture up. The rabbit wore an Amish bonnet with the ribbons tied in a bow under her neck. Her ears protruded through holes on the top.
Ruby smothered a giggle, with her hand over her mouth. It was the first sound Lena had heard her make.
“Do you like it?” she asked, and Ruby nodded.
Returning to the board, Lena sketched a somber rabbit in a black hat with a pained expression above his bushy beard. “Frau Rabbit must have a husband. The poor fellow suffers from a sour stomach.”
Ruby took the board from Lena and studied it. After a few seconds, she wrote beneath the picture, “How do you do that?”
“How do I give them expressions? It’s easy.” She drew five circles along the bottom of the board. In the first one, she added eyes, nose and a mouth with a small smile. In the second, she placed eyes that were slightly narrowed with a crease between them, and a flat mouth that turned down at the ends.
Handing the board to Ruby, she said, “You make a sad face in the next circle.”
The girl bent over the sketch with fierce concentration. She tried several times to make a sad face, but was unhappy with each attempt and rubbed all of them out. On the board, she wrote, “I can’t do it.”
“It takes practice. No one bakes a perfect pie on their first try. I’ll draw some examples and you can practice copying them.” Soon Lena had filled in the remaining circles with an astonished face and a sad one.
The next hour flew by as the two sat side by side drawing artwork that included flowers, grass and the schoolhouse on the hill. It wasn’t until a buggy turned off the roadway and came toward them that Lena realized how late it was getting.
The buggy came to a stop beside them. Isaac held the lines with a look of intense worry on his face. “Ruby, you should have been home long ago. What are you doing? I cannot waste time looking for you. I have work to do.”
Lena scrambled to her feet. “It’s my fault, Isaac. I was showing her how to draw and the time got away from me. Don’t be harsh with her.”
He wiped a hand across his face. Slowly, his expression relaxed. “Reckon I can’t scold her for listening to her teacher.”
Ruby hopped to her feet and climbed into the buggy. Isaac looked at Lena. “Would you like a lift home? We go right past your father’s farm.”
The lengthening shadows told her she was going to be late if she didn’t accept his offer, but still she hesitated. She didn’t know him that well, but to refuse would make her appear ungrateful and stuck-up.
She had been curious to know more about Isaac Bowman. Wasn’t this her chance? With his daughter in the buggy, this might be the perfect opportunity to find out how he felt about the poaching. If he was involved, he might reveal that, too. Should she risk questioning him?
He held out his hand. “What harm can come from a simple buggy ride?”
CHAPTER FIVE
ISAAC WAITED FOR LENA to make up her mind. Did she realize how expressive her pretty face was? What caused her indecision? Was she leery of accepting a ride from a man outside the circle of her family and friends, even one of her faith? Did she have a special fellow she didn’t want to upset by accepting a ride from an unmarried man?
Isaac normally didn’t think of himself as unmarried. He’d promised to love and care for one woman all the days of his life. Now that Ada Mae was gone, his vow had become meaningless in the eyes of others, but not in his own mind. Yet here he was, hoping Lena would accept a ride from him.
That he liked spending time with her and enjoyed her company was something of a puzzle to him. Over the past week he’d made a point to stop and visit briefly when he brought Ruby to school each morning. Lena was always polite, but never overly friendly. She certainly hadn’t given him the impression that she was interested in him as anything other than her pupil’s parent.
Each day, he found himself wanting to spend more time with her. He’d never expected to feel this way with another woman. It should feel wrong, but it didn’t. Perhaps her refusal was a good thing. He shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself.”
If she wanted to walk, that was her business. Grasping the
reins, he started to turn his horse around. Ruby grasped his arm and shook her head. She beckoned to Lena and patted the seat beside her.
Lena smiled at his daughter. “I would be glad of a ride if it is not too much trouble.”
Pleased at her change of heart, he said, “No trouble at all.”
Lena climbed onto the front seat, sandwiching Ruby tightly between them. “If you go by our farm, you must be renting the old Stoltz place.”
“Only the house and stable. I understand a young Amish couple is renting the fields.”
“That must be Caleb and Betty Beachy. Father mentioned Caleb was expanding his produce farm. With their third baby on the way, he needs more land, and good earth is hard to come by.”
“I don’t know many people in the area yet. Ada Mae, my wife, was the outgoing one. She was always interested in the goings-on of the community. She liked meeting new people.”
Isaac stopped speaking in surprise. He never talked about Ada Mae if he could help it. He glanced at Ruby. She didn’t appear upset at the mention of her mother. She was drawing on her board and showing her creations to Lena.
“That is very good, Ruby. Is that your dog?”
Ruby sucked in her breath and glared at her teacher.
Isaac took a second look at his daughter’s sketch. It was clearly a horse. He glanced at Lena and noticed a distinct twinkle in her eyes. She winked at him, inviting him to play along.
His heart gave an odd little leap. He stifled a grin and said, “It looks just like Grandpa Bowman’s dog, Henry. Only Henry’s tail curls up over his back.”
Ruby wrote, “It’s a horse” in big letters across the top of her board.
Lena studied the sketch, turning her head one way and then the other. “A horse? I kind of see that now.”
Isaac chuckled. Ruby stared at him wide-eyed and then glanced at Lena. On her board, she wrote, “Are you teasing me?”
Lena laughed out loud and patted her head. “Ja, child, your papa and I are teasing you.”
A sheepish grin curved the girl’s lips. She glanced at her papa. He grinned at her and said, “Your papa can play a joke, too. Have you forgotten that?”
Ruby’s smile widened as she happily returned to her work and began a new sketch. Lena offered encouragement and suggestions. As the horse trotted briskly along the blacktop, Isaac forgot about his worries and sadness. It was wonderful to see Ruby enjoying herself, even smiling. It had been ages since he’d seen her happy.
After a few moments, he felt Lena’s gaze on him. He glanced at her and caught a speculative glint in her eye. He wondered what she was thinking. He didn’t have to wonder long.
“The poaching in this area is really getting out of hand. It’s hard to believe no one knows who is doing it.”
“I suppose it is,” he replied.
“It certainly is a shame. I hope the men killing our deer realize how wrong it is and stop.”
“They will stop when the big deer are gone.”
“You seem to know a lot about poachers and their ways.”
Should he tell her about Samuel? Would she understand his Englische brother’s strange job? Isaac found himself wanting to confide in Lena, but he didn’t dare. To reveal Samuel’s presence in the area might put his brother in jeopardy. Instead, he said, “I have read a lot about poaching.”
“Reading is a good thing. Do you like to hunt?” She posed the question with an indifferent tone, but she was watching him intently.
“I reckon I like it as much as the next man. Hunting fills the larder and stretches the money I must spend for food.”
“But you don’t enjoy hunting for the sake of hunting?”
He didn’t understand where her questions were leading. “Are you asking if I enjoy killing animals?”
She shrugged. “I guess I am.”
“Nay, I do not enjoy it.”
An ATV roared out of the woods on Isaac’s side of the buggy and swerved past them. Isaac’s mare threw up her head in panic. The driver, dressed in camouflaged clothing, barely managed to keep from hitting them. The horse scrambled backward and the buggy’s rear wheel dropped into the steep ditch on Lena’s side.
Frightened further by the tipping vehicle, Sophie bucked, lashing out with her back feet. Ruby screamed as Lena tumbled from her seat and fell out the door. Isaac had only a glimpse of her rolling into the ditch before his horse bolted down the highway.
Fear took the breath from his body as he fought to bring the panicked animal under control. He was hampered by Ruby’s death grip on his arm. When he glanced back at last, he couldn’t see Lena. Was she hurt? After a few tense moments, he was finally able to bring a wide-eyed Sophie to a standstill.
“Easy, girl, easy,” he said, hoping to calm the mare and his daughter. “Ruby, liebchen, let go. I need my arm to drive. We must see if Lena is all right.”
She lifted a tearstained face to look at him. He wanted to pull her close and reassure her, but didn’t dare let go of the reins. Ruby released him, jumped out of the buggy and raced back toward her teacher.
Isaac turned the mare around and drove to where Lena sat at the side of the road. Though her kapp was missing and her hair had tumbled down her back, she seemed in one piece. Grass and weeds clung to her coat. Ruby was trying to help her up.
When Isaac was sure his horse was calm, he jumped from the buggy and hurried to Lena’s side. “Don’t move. Are you injured?”
Lena blushed as she stared up at him. “My dignity is sorely bruised, but that’s all.”
He quickly checked her arms and legs for signs of injury. He saw only a scratch on her cheek. “Thanks be to God. Your dignity will mend faster than a broken bone. Are you sure you aren’t hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she insisted.
He helped her to her feet, keeping a firm arm around her lest she fall. “Take it easy. Does anything hurt now?”
Ruby threw her arms around Lena’s waist and buried her face against her. Lena hugged the child. “I’m fine. I jerked away when the horse kicked out, and lost my balance. The thick grass in the ditch padded my fall.”
The memory of his wife’s pale, limp form sent a chill over Isaac’s skin. It could have been so much worse. “It was lucky you didn’t land on the roadway.”
Unwrapping Ruby’s arms, Lena took the child’s face in her hands. “I’m okay. Don’t be scared. It’s all over now. Let’s go home, shall we?”
Ruby nodded. She ran down the road a few feet and came back with Lena’s kapp. Lena stepped away from Isaac and he let his arm fall to his side. At the buggy, he climbed in, then reached out to help her. Her hand trembled in his grasp, and anger at the careless fool who’d caused the accident roared to life in him.
“Did you recognize the man on that insane machine?”
“I did not. It happened too fast.” She settled on the seat beside him.
He fought the urge to gather her into his arms and hold her close. He didn’t have the right to comfort her in such a manner. Ruby had no such qualms. She sat on the other side of Lena and kept one arm around her waist.
Lena repaired her bun with the ease of long practice and secured it. When she’d settled her kapp on her head, she gave a heavy sigh. “I shall think twice about riding with you again, Isaac Bowman. ‘What harm can come of a simple buggy ride?’ you said, and then I land on my…dignity in a ditch.”
Few women could come out of such an experience with their sense of humor intact. His
anger evaporated and a chuckle escaped him.
She rounded on him. “Are you laughing at me?”
“Not at all,” he lied. He turned the buggy around on the narrow road and proceeded toward her home. With each bump and jolt of the wagon he could feel her body pressing against his hip and side. Her nearness made it hard to concentrate on his driving, but the trip was over much too quickly.
When they drew close to Lena’s farm, an Englische woman from the house across the road came out to wave them down. Isaac stopped the buggy beside her. “Lena, can I speak to you for a few minutes?” she asked.
“Certainly.” Lena glanced at him and said, “I will walk from here.”
He shook his head. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Nonsense. Take Ruby home. I’m fine. Are you coming to the school board meeting tonight?”
“I plan on it.”
“I will see you then.” She got out and patted Ruby’s hand. “Keep practicing your art. God has given you a measure of talent. It is up to you to put it to good use.”
Short of hauling her back into his vehicle, Isaac had no choice but to leave Lena with her friend. As he drove away, he missed her warmth and softness beside him, so much that he had to admit he was coming to care a great deal for Ruby’s new teacher.
* * *
LENA GAZED AFTER Isaac and Ruby as they continued down the road. She wished she was still with them. Seated beside Isaac’s large frame, she’d felt safe, secure and oddly happy in spite of her ignoble fall. Surely she couldn’t have such feelings if he was killing the deer she loved simply for money.
None of her probing had answered that question to her satisfaction. If she listened to her head, she would steer clear of Isaac Bowman. If she listened to her heart, she would be thinking about being courted by him.
She shook her head at such silliness. Her fall must have rattled her more than she knew. She turned to her friend. “What’s wrong?”