by Sarah Price
“Ach vell,” Drusilla sighed. “I reckon I best get going, then. Two more stops now and I’d like to be home before too long. Maem’s been awful tired of late. Don’t want the kinner being too noisy and disturbing her.”
After parting from her aunt, Drusilla hurried through the aisles, collecting the items written on her mother’s list. At the rate she was going, Drusilla worried that she wouldn’t get home until two o’clock and that was just about the time the four younger children would arrive home from school. With only a week left in their school year, they were all impatient for their upcoming break. The boys were looking forward to working alongside their father and Daniel in the fields, while Elsie couldn’t wait for the new baby to arrive. Finally, she would no longer be the baby of the family, she had told everyone, a gleam of relief in her eyes that made her parents laugh.
Less than thirty minutes later, Drusilla was on her way to the center of town, the box of dry goods tucked carefully in the back of the buggy. The horse trotted along the road, its haunches moving in rhythm with its hooves and an occasional horse hair pulling free of its mane or tail and catching her in the face. She wiped them away with her hand and, after the third time, she reached up to unhinge the front window and shut it. With the horse still losing its winter coat, she wanted to avoid more hair floating inside the buggy.
As expected, the fruits and vegetables market was busy. Fortunately, her mother’s list for fresh vegetables was short. Besides having run out of potatoes and onions, they needed fresh fruit. It would be at least four more months before the local farmers would have fresh peaches, apples, and berries. Until then, store bought fruits would offset the family’s dwindling inventory of canned goods.
When she took her basket to the cashier to pay, she recognized the cashier from her days at school. “Edna Glick? Why, I didn’t know you worked here,” Drusilla said as she greeted her friend.
“It’s gut to see you, too!” She glanced behind Drusilla to make certain no one else was waiting in line. “I don’t think I’ve seen you since we moved to Bird-in-Hand…oh, what was it now?…almost two years ago!”
Her father was a carpenter and they lived in a converted Englische home, the electric wires having been removed years before the Glicks moved in. But with six children, they had outgrown the house. Zoning laws were stricter with non-farm houses which limited the Glicks from adding more rooms to their home and left them with only one choice: relocation. It was unfortunate for everyone: the parents, the children, and their friends. But, without any alternate option, the Glicks had put their house on the market and moved to Bird-in-Hand. Drusilla hadn’t seen her friend since.
“How are your parents, then?”
Edna began scanning the items from Drusilla’s basket, ringing them up on the register. “They’re just fine. Doing great. I know Maem misses Gordonville; there’s an awful lot more traffic in Bird-in-Hand. But other than that, everything is just right as rain.” The basket emptied, Edna set it under the counter. “And yours? Everyone is well?”
“Oh ja, doing wunderbarr gut.”
“Even Hannah?”
Drusilla laughed and Edna joined her. “Even Hannah,” Drusilla managed to say.
“Well you be sure to tell them all I said hello.” Edna hit a few more buttons on the register and squinted at the numbers. “Fifteen twenty-six is your total.” While Drusilla reached into her handbag for her wallet, Edna continued talking. “You should come to one of our youth gatherings, Drusilla. You and your cousins. Why, weekend next we have a volleyball game on Saturday night at our house. It would be so nice to visit for longer.”
“Mayhaps we’ll do just that,” Drusilla replied. Without even asking, she knew that Naomi would be game to go. And wherever Naomi went, Miriam usually followed behind. “What’s your new house address?”
After writing down the information on a slip of paper, Edna handed it to Drusilla. A customer stood in line waiting for check-out, thus ending their time for visiting. Drusilla smiled and took her two bags. “Hope to see you next weekend, then.” Edna said and turned her attention to the next customer.
Pleasantly surprised at the lack of uncomfortable encounters with curious Englischers in the store, Drusilla walked through the doors, smiling to herself. Just one last stop, she thought, and then a nice long ride home. The warmth of the sun on her skin made her equally happy. Had it only been four weeks since the season changed? The hint of green buds on the trees, some further along than others, spoke of nature’s rebirth after a season of short, cold, gray days. And soon, there would be another baby in the family along with the blooming flowers and growing crops. Birth and rebirth, she thought as she placed the two bags in the buggy before untying the lead rope from the hitching post. The horse stood still, knowing the routine after years of servicing the Riehl family. When she finally climbed inside the buggy, took up the reins, and released the brake, the horse automatically responded by backing up then pulling out until she guided it to their next destination.
The parking lot of the hardware store was empty except for two buggies and one truck. Drusilla stopped her horse at the hitching post. One thing. That was all she needed. With a quick step on the brake, she opened the door and hurried to secure the horse before entering the store.
A little bell rang over her head and she paused, letting her eyes adapt to the darkened room. The floorboards were wide-planked pine, worn smooth at the entrance from the traffic of customers over the years. Drusilla couldn't remember the last time she was at this store; at least a decade. Still, she could tell where the garden equipment was kept: along the back wall of the store. The floorboards creaked as she walked straight down the first aisle and toward the far end of the store.
“Need some help?”
Drusilla startled at the sound of the man’s voice. She hadn’t seen anyone nearby, although she had heard two men talk in Pennsylvania Dutch down one of the first aisles. Turning around, she started to answer, but upon seeing the man standing in the shadows, she froze. If it wasn’t the curly brown hair that she recognized, it was certainly his blue eyes: Caleb Lapp. What on earth was he doing here, so far from Monterey? she wondered.
“Drusilla, isn’t it?” he said, a slight smile on his face. He didn’t make a move to step toward her. Instead, he remained leaning against the back wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “I remember you from yesterday.”
Somehow that did not surprise her.
After the lemonade episode, Drusilla had spent most of the afternoon avoiding both him and his sister, the former being easier to accomplish than the latter. However, as the work for the women ended and they sat outside in the late afternoon sun, most of them seated in plastic garden chairs as they crocheted, knitted, or embroidered something, Drusilla began to relax in Jane’s presence, finding interaction with her unavoidable in such close quarters. But as Jane made no further comments about her older brother Caleb, and for that Drusilla was grateful, all four of the young women quickly found themselves enjoying themselves. By the time that Amos signaled his daughter and two nieces to collect their things, for the hired driver’s van had arrived to return the Riehls and Old Man Wilmer to Gordonville, there had been no sign of Caleb.
Until today, when she turned the corner at the hardware store.
“Cat got your tongue, then?” He was teasing her now, those blue eyes sparkling.
“I…I’m sorry,” she said, hating the warmth that slowly covered her cheeks. She could actually feel her face flush and, once again, she wished that the earth would simply swallow her whole.
He held out his hand to shake hers. “Caleb Lapp,” he said. “Just in case you didn’t remember.”
The touch of his skin against hers sent tingles up her arm. And when he didn’t immediately release his grip, she realized that she was holding her breath. What is it, she wondered, about Caleb Lapp that catches me so off-guard?
“You work here?” she managed to ask as she extracted her hand from his. “It’s awfully
far from your parents’ farm.”
Caleb resumed his position, leaning against the wall. “Nee. I’m just helping out for my cousin who’s gone to auction.” As he talked to her, he kept his eyes on her face, not once looking away. “Nice, for a change and all,” he said before lowering his voice. “But I’d rather be farming, if you ask me.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she remained silent.
“So, you didn’t answer my first question.” He tilted his head, still studying her, which only made Drusilla feel even more uncomfortable. “You need some help, Drusilla?”
“Oh, ja.” She fumbled into her pocket for the envelope that her aunt had pressed into her hand at the natural food store. When she finally felt paper, she pulled it out. “A hoe. But only the handle.”
“Ah,” he said, motioning for her to follow him as he turned and then walked along the back wall. “Someone broke the hoe handle, did they?” He chuckled. “Let’s see. I reckon it was one of your younger bruders or schwesters?”
“How did you know?”
With a playful glance over his shoulder, he shrugged. “Lucky guess,” he replied. “Although I have quite a few younger bruders myself. Seen our fair share of broken handles in our household.”
She smiled. “It was my schwester. Hannah,” she admitted. “She’s not much of a gardener, at least not when I’m around.”
He nodded his head as if he understood what she meant. Drusilla wondered if Caleb’s younger brothers looked up to him in the same manner than Hannah looked up to her.
“Here you go,” he said, reaching up for a long wooden pole with an indented end. He showed it to her. “Reckon this will suit. Won’t get any splinters, I’m sure. Pressurized wood.”
Drusilla reached to take the pole from him, but he held it as he started to walk back toward the cash register. He slipped behind the counter and, without even looking at the pole, he said, “Twelve dollars plus tax.”
“You know an awful lot about the store for only having worked here one day,” she quipped.
At this comment, Caleb laughed. His face lit up and his eyes sparkled once again. “It must seem that way, ja? I just spent a lot of time here during the winter. My cousin was ill and his daed needed some help.”
“He’s better now?” She glanced down at her hand, expecting to see the envelope that her aunt gave her. Instead, she only saw the piece of paper that Edna had handed to her. She reached back into her pocket and, when she felt nothing, she tried the other side. Nothing. “Oh help!” She looked up, biting her lower lip. “I must have dropped the envelope from my maem.”
He raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.
“I…” She didn’t know how to explain. Certainly he must think she was irresponsible. “My aendi ran into me at the store. I thought I put it in my apron pocket.” She set down Edna’s paper and, with both hands free, she thrust her hands once again into her pockets. “Perhaps I set the envelope into the boxes at the store,” she thought out loud.
But when she went out to the buggy and looked for the envelope, there was no sign of it in the boxes or the bags.
Feeling sheepish, she went back inside. Maem had given her a check for the natural food store and a twenty dollar bill for the vegetable store in town. She had no money to pay for the replacement handle. “I’m terribly sorry for wasting your time, Caleb,” she started. “It must have fallen from my pocket. I don’t have the money to pay for it.”
The corner of his mouth lifted and he tapped his fingers against the counter. He seemed to be thinking. “Vell…” he said, a smile on his face and drawing out the word. “You look honest enough to me, Drusilla. I’m sure you’ll make good on taking the handle and paying later.”
Just the thought made her inhale sharply. Her parents would not be happy with that. After all, they had always taught her to work hard, earn money, and pay for what she bought so that she didn’t accumulate debt. If she wanted something, cash in hand was the only way to pay for it. “I couldn’t do that, Caleb,” she replied, her voice soft. “That’s borrowing and I don’t borrow what I can’t pay for on the spot.”
He made a face and shook his head. “Don’t be silly, Drusilla. You came all this way from…” He hesitated, as if waiting for her to fill in the blank.
“Gordonville.”
He gestured with his hand as if she had just proven his point. “All the way from Gordonville. Tell you what. I’ll put the money in the register,” he said, reaching into his own pocket and withdrawing his wallet. “That way, you don’t owe the store. You just owe me.”
That was even worse!
“Caleb, I can’t owe anyone money.” How would she explain this to her parents? And then to tell them she owed the money to a stranger? Her mother and father would be extremely disappointed.
But he insisted.
“Best case scenario, you pay me back. Worse case? I’m out twelve dollars,” he said. “Plus tax.” He tried to repress another smile. “But I’ll know your sister Hannah is back to hoeing that garden and this time with a hoe handle that I guarantee you won’t break. Knowing that, Drusilla, will help me sleep at night.”
Without waiting for a response from her, Caleb put his money into the till: a ten, two singles, and three quarters.
If she had thought she would have a relaxing drive home, lost in her thoughts and feeling the peace of spring, she was wrong. Instead, she spent the forty minute drive feeling a mixture of emotions. Amish knew the unspoken rule of monetary fairness. People paid their own way, neither borrowing nor lending. It kept relationships strong and avoided unnecessary conflict. Still, his eagerness to help touched her, for random acts of kindness seemed far and few between these days. And, with so much work to be done to prepare for her uncle’s family on Sunday, she couldn’t have returned for another handle until the following week and that would mean no gardening until then.
But she didn’t like the feeling of having to explain what happened. Losing money was irresponsible, indeed. She’d have to pay for the handle out of her own money. Otherwise, she’d feel guilty for having lost the envelope. And she also had that extra burden of needing to repay Caleb Lapp. Traveling all the way to Monterey would cost more than what he had lent her. She would just have to mail him the money. Certainly her parents would forgive her and once she sent that envelope, Drusilla would be able to forget about Caleb Lapp with his curly brown hair, big blue eyes, and kind heart that had saved her an unnecessary trip back into town.
Somehow, though, she knew that might not be quite the possibility.
Chapter Four
The sun dipped beyond the tree line, creating brilliant colors in the sky. With every day increasing in length, Drusilla found herself busier than ever. During the cold winter months, she would often visit with her grandparents after helping her mother clean the supper dishes. Now, however, she found herself visiting with her cousins or taking the smaller kinner for ice cream in town. There was something about spring that felt different this year. More special. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.
“You ready then?” Drusilla asked as she greeted Naomi and Miriam. She sat next to her brother in the buggy, waiting for her cousins to climb into the back seat. “Got a long drive ahead of us.”
“Oh, not that long, I suppose,” Naomi said as she settled into the seat. “Just four miles or so. Right, Daniel?”
He grunted a response and Naomi leaned forward to tap him on the shoulder for being so antisocial.
Straightening her black apron that covered the front of her green dress, Miriam ignored her sister and smiled at Drusilla. “The weather! It’s just a blessing from God, ja?”
Drusilla knew exactly what she meant. Over the past week, there had been enough rain balanced by strong sunlight to make the daffodils begin to bloom, bursts of yellow and white scattered against fences along every backroad and randomly throughout fields. The trees finally popped and the color green was appearing everywhere. While the Riehls had been fortunate
for an early spring hay cutting, in the two weeks since then, the field already showed new growth.
And the birds!
“I found my first nest of baby robins,” Drusilla said.
“You found? Or Hannah?” Naomi laughed. “I don’t much see you climbing trees, Dru!”
She smiled back at her cousin. “Ja, true. It was Hannah indeed. We were out walking in the back field along the fence line. You know, where the woods back up to the neighbor’s property?”
“Old man Wilmer?” Miriam asked. “I was surprised he went to that barn raising the other week. He’s getting up there in age.”
Daniel clicked his tongue and backed up the horse so that he could guide it down the driveway and off to the main road. The buggy jiggled and the wheels made a light rumbling sound against the pavement.
“How’s Mammi Ana doing?” Miriam asked. The previous Sunday, when their uncle Eli and his family had visited, Naomi and Miriam had walked over to join them. At one point, when Naomi and Miriam’s parents and siblings had arrived, Drusilla had counted over twenty-eight people seated outside in the waning afternoon sun. Unfortunately, their grandmother hadn’t been well enough to join them.
“She’s a bit better,” Drusilla replied. “She sat up and joined us for supper two nights ago. But I know she’s not going to worship tomorrow.”
Sitting through a three-hour worship service would be impossible for Mammi Ana. The family had long ago discussed taking turns with who would stay behind to watch her. Tomorrow was Drusilla’s turn. While she would miss listening to the hymns and hearing the two sermons, Drusilla was just as happy to stay with her grandmother and read to her from the Bible. Seeing her grandmother smile, especially when Drusilla read to her from the Book of Psalms, was reward enough for missing worship and fellowship with the g’may.
For the rest of the ride to Edna Glick’s house, the three young women talked about the youth singing that would follow worship tomorrow and also about the summer camping trip. Each year, several of the Amish couples would accompany the youth on a retreat. It was always a fun weekend, several church districts coming together so that the young people could meet new friends, hike in the woods, and worship God.