by Sarah Price
“Fancy, indeed,” Drusilla retorted with more than a touch of sarcasm.
Miriam looked over his shoulder. “No Jane, then?” The answer was obvious so he didn't reply before she sighed. “Such a shame. I like her so.”
“Nee, not tonight, Miriam,” Caleb said, taking a deep breath and hooking his fingers around his suspenders. “Can’t fit two in my buggy.”
When he winked at Drusilla, she knew that her cheeks and neck must have flushed red. Why did he have to do that? she wondered. He seemed to delight in teasing her in public. Yet, two weeks ago, during the remainder of the buggy ride home from Bird-in-Hand, his reserve and serious nature struck her as a sharp contrast, leaving her with one more thing to ponder.
For the next hour, Caleb lingered with a group of young men who looked to be in their twenties, only a few years older than him. From time to time, Drusilla would sneak a peek at him, curious to know how he was getting along with everyone since he was outside of his own g’may. Not once did she see him standing alone or anything less than fully engaged in a conversation with someone. Despite not knowing the members of her youth group, clearly Caleb Lapp had no problem fitting right in.
During the times when they sang the hymns, Drusilla tried to focus on the words in the hymnals that she held. But her mind wandered to Caleb. She wondered what his voice sounded like. She imagined that he sang with a deep baritone and kept a perfect pitch as he chanted. Every so often, at worship service, Drusilla would hear one of the younger men sing out of pitch. She had to try to focus on the hymns and not his voice, that’s how distracting the singers with limited range could be. She certainly hoped that this was not the case with Caleb.
But every time she peeked at him, he exuded confidence and no one around him seemed to display any sense of discomfort. For the moment, Drusilla felt satisfied that his singing would not be an issue in their budding relationship.
By eight-thirty, Drusilla noticed that some members of the gathering began to leave. Discreetly, of course. A young man would slip through the door, probably to prepare the buggy for his “girl”. A few minutes later, a young woman would disappear into the darkness. Drusilla kept her eyes on Caleb, wondering what his signal would be that she should meet him outside and find his buggy.
It didn’t take long for her to find out.
Unlike the other young men, Caleb walked right up to Drusilla and gently touched her arm. “Are you ready, Dru?”
There it was again. He used her nickname. Even worse, he made no effort whatsoever to mask his courtship.
“Vell,” Naomi said with a straight-face. “That wasn’t obvious now, was it?”
Miriam tried not to laugh and Drusilla took a deep breath, knowing that her eyes gave away her true feelings. Before she could think of something tactful to reply, Caleb merely touched her elbow and started to guide her away from the gathering. Several heads turned and she heard the soft sss’ing sound of whispers.
When they were comfortably away from others, Drusilla stopped walking and turned toward him, forcing herself to remain calm. “There is a thing called privacy, Caleb.”
He didn’t stop walking but slowed down his pace. “I know that.”
“Would it be too much to ask if you honored that?”
“Oh ja, no problem. You can ask, Drusilla,” he said, stopping before his buggy. He untied the horse and looked up at her, a mischievous smile on his face. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to do it though.”
Frowning, she hurried to the left side of the buggy and, without any further invitation from him, not waiting for him to offer a hand, she climbed up and plopped down on the seat. “That’s just not how this is supposed to go, Caleb.”
“Oh?” The question in his voice irritated her.
“Ja!”
“But you told me that you haven’t courted anyone before, ain’t so?” He didn’t wait for a response. “So how do you know how this is supposed to go?”
Stunned by the way he had turned around her words, she hesitated as she composed a response. Gesturing to the other buggies around her, she finally said, “The other courting couples use discretion, Caleb. So I can see how it is supposed to work.”
With the reins in hand, he tugged gently at them and clicked his tongue so that the buggy lurched backward as the horse slowly backed out of the parking slot. “They only do that when they aren’t sure,” he said in a casual sort of way, looking over his shoulder to make certain he was steering the horse properly.
“When they aren’t sure?” What on earth was he talking about? she wondered.
Righting the horse on the road, Caleb nodded and faced forward again. “Ja, when they aren’t sure. That way, when they break things off, neither one need feel embarrassed.”
She laughed. “Well how do you think I will feel?”
He frowned. “About what?”
“About how publicly you are taking me home and how humiliated I’ll feel when things break off!”
This time, he laughed, glancing at her from the corner of her eye, and shook his head. “Things won’t break off, Dru.”
Stunned, Drusilla’s mouth fell open.
“You’re going to catch flies, Dru,” he teased, returning his attention to the road.
“I don’t even know you, Caleb,” she said.
He held up the reins. “That’s what we’re doing now, ain’t so? Getting to know each other.”
“Well,” she sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “What if you don’t like me when you get to know me.”
“Not a chance.”
She tried not to smile and wound up pursing her lips instead. “Is that so? Well, what if I don’t find you particularly to my liking?”
“Won’t happen either.”
His quirky, overly confident replies made her laugh again. “You seem to know an awful lot Caleb Lapp!”
He glanced at her, those blue eyes sparkling at her. “I sure do.”
Once again, he took a long way to travel the short distance from the youth gathering to her parents’ farm. Now that crops were planted and flowers blooming, everything looked different, even under the cloak of darkness. The moon wasn’t quite full, but, with no clouds in the sky, it shone down on the growing fields and cast pretty shadows across the road.
By the time Caleb pulled up to her parents’ farm, she was sorry that their time together had come to an end. While he wasn’t the most talkative person, when he did speak, she found that he was profoundly intelligent and interesting. More importantly, he was an attentive listener. If she talked about chores or gardening, he not only listened but asked questions about what she said. His interest in her comments was something new for Drusilla. Usually such conversations were reserved for her parents during the dinner or supper meals with an occasional question asked of the children.
“Oh dear,” Drusilla said, placing her hand on the edge of the dashboard. “Somethings wrong at home!”
He looked up.
Drusilla didn’t wait for him to ask. Instead she pointed. “Every light is on! And look, another buggy.”
When he pulled the buggy up to the house, she jumped down and ran across the yard toward the house. For the moment, Caleb was forgotten. Drusilla knew something was terribly wrong in the house and she prayed that nothing had happened to her mother.
Inside the house, her father paced the floor while his parents sat on the sofa. Drusilla was surprised to see her grandmother there, not just because she had been unwell, but also because it was so late.
“Daed?”
The single word asked every question that raced through her head.
“The boppli’s on its way,” he said, his face pale as he stared at her.
Drusilla straightened her shoulders. “And Maem?”
He shook his head. “It hasn’t been easy on her, Drusilla.” His eyes flickered over her shoulders and, without looking, she knew that Caleb stood behind her. Amos nodded his head in acknowledgement, obviously recognizing him from the barn rais
ing. “The midwife’s in there with your maem now.”
“And the other kinner?”
“Sent them over to your cousins. Best they aren’t here for this.”
As if on cue, noises of pain and suffering came through the door, filling the already tense atmosphere in the kitchen with more uncertainty. Drusilla took a deep breath and looked at her father. “Mayhaps I could help, ja?” She barely waited for his nod of approval before she crossed the room, opened the bedroom door, and slipped through the doorway into the master bedroom.
The stuffiness hit her at the same time as she smelled sweat and fear. Quickly, she hurried to a window and opened it. Then, she turned to the bed and saw her mother, struggling to bear down and push out the baby. The midwife focused on what she was doing, not even glancing up to acknowledge the fact that Drusilla had entered the room.
Without being asked, Drusilla went to her mother’s side and reached for one of her hands. “I’m here, Maem,” she said. “Let me help you through this.”
The midwife, an older woman from the neighboring church district, looked at Drusilla. “She’s going to be fine,” she said. “Just tired for a while. This baby is struggling to stay where it is, that’s for sure and certain.”
“Oh my!” Drusilla looked down at her mother. “Sounds like we have another Hannah on the way.”
Her mother tried to laugh, but another contraction came. Esther squeezed Drusilla’s hand and leaned up, using her daughter’s weight to help her. Drusilla waited until the contraction passed before she left her mother’s side to get a cloth and wipe the sweat from her brow. “Oh Lord,” Esther whispered. “Please take care of this boppli.”
“He will, Maem,” Drusilla reassured her. “Just remember that God protected Sarah when she gave birth to Isaac.”
Another small attempt at a laugh.
“Won’t be long now, I suppose,” the midwife said.
Drusilla didn’t care if it was five minutes or five hours. She wouldn’t leave her mother’s side. She had been by Esther’s side when Elsie was born, the first time that she had witness the miracle of birth. Nothing that happened today would upset Drusilla. In fact, she felt as if she held her breath in anticipation of the moment when the baby would enter this world, a new life for everyone to love. Whether it was a girl or a boy, Drusilla knew that this baby would walk with God, honoring His word and living a life worthy of a good Christian.
“Oh Esther!” The midwife said. “I see the crowning. You’re almost there.”
Unabashedly, Drusilla helped her mother sit up, leaning her arm against her mother’s back as she held her, encouraging her to push. Time passed quickly for Drusilla was lost in the glorious moment of childbirth. She felt her mother tremble, trying her hardest to not cry out as she pushed with each contraction.
“Oh ja! Keep pushing, Esther! Just a few more.”
“Come on, Maem,” Drusilla murmured into her ear. “You can do this.”
Her mother squeezed her hand and, somehow, found the strength to push again. Within minutes, the head emerged, quickly followed by the shoulders. After that, Esther relaxed, the hardest part over.
“You’re not finished yet,” the midwife scolded. “Don’t think you can relax now, Esther Riehl.”
Drusilla glanced down, eager to see what gender the baby was. The midwife, however, had the baby already wrapped in a towel so that Drusilla couldn’t determine its sex.
“Stand here and hold this baby now,” the midwife commanded, thrusting the small little bundle into Drusilla’s arms. “Let me finish up and attend to the cord. Then you can let your maem hold her new dochder.”
A girl! Another baby girl! Drusilla stared down into the pink and wrinkly face of the baby that she held. She wondered which set of creases were the baby’s eyes. “Oh Maem! Just think! Another little girl!”
“She’s all right then?”
“She’s perfect, Maem.” Drusilla glanced up and smiled at her mother. “Absolutely perfect. A gift from the Lord, indeed!”
Over an hour passed before Drusilla left her mother’s side. The baby was washed, the sheets changed, and her mother resting comfortably. Drusilla opened the door, trying her hardest to be quiet, and quickly slipped through the opening. Daniel stood with the rest of the small gathering and Drusilla was more than surprised to see Caleb still standing there.
With a soft smile, Drusilla looked at her father. “A girl, Daed. And she’s perfect in every way.”
“Your maem?” he asked, the worried look in his eyes indicating his concern. “She’s…”
“Maem’s going to be fine,” Drusilla said. “You best go to her now before she falls off to sleep, ja?”
Amos didn’t need a second invitation to enter the room.
“Another grossdochder,” Jacob said aloud to his wife. “Did you hear me, Ana? Esther had a boppli. It’s a girl!”
Ana flickered her eyes in his direction and nodded her head. “I heard you, Jacob,” she managed to say. “A grossdochder. That’s gut. Right gut. I like little girls.”
Jacob frowned. “You like little boys, too! You had enough of them!”
She tried to dismiss him with her hand, but she lacked the strength. “Bah!”
Clearing his throat, Caleb took a step toward her. He had been standing with her father, probably praying with him that Esther would be all right during this difficult birth. Now, however, he gestured toward the door, indicating that he wanted to leave and say good-bye to her.
“That was awful nice of you to stay behind,” she said. “You’ve a long drive home and it’s late now!”
He leaned against the doorframe, fiddling with his straw hat. “No matters. I was glad to be here, Dru. Your daed’s a right gut man.”
“I’m sure he appreciated your company as well,” she replied, genuinely appreciative that someone had been there to support her father, at least until Daniel had returned home.
“Vell, I best be going then, Dru.” He reached out and touched her hand, just a gentle touch, his skin brushing against hers. “I’ll see you in two weeks, ja? Saturday night again?”
She nodded her head, her skin still warm from where he had touched her.
“And, Dru?”
He hesitated until she looked up, meeting his eyes in the soft glow from the lantern hanging outside the door. “Ja?”
“You just remember one thing,” he said as he smiled and took a step backward. “There won’t be any breaking off.”
She watched as he turned and headed toward his horse and buggy. Her heart pounded and her chest felt full. “I know,” she whispered to herself as she watched the shadows move in the driveway and listened to the sound of the horse and buggy drive away into the night.
Shutting the door, she leaned against it for a long moment, a soft smile on her lips. Perhaps it was true that spring was the season of both birth and love. From the renewal of nature to the birth of a new baby sister, Drusilla felt a happiness unlike any that she had ever experienced. And, of course, now there was Caleb Lapp who seemed confident on his intent to court her, a confidence that she found surprisingly appealing. She looked forward to more open-topped buggy rides and learning the answers to all the questions about Caleb that perplexed her. Like the walls going up at a barn raising, their relationship would build beautifully and carefully into the summer, and perhaps surprise them both in its grace.
An Amish Summer
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
Song of Solomon 2:11-12 KJV
Chapter One
“When is that boppli going to stop crying?” Hannah screeched.
Elsie covered her ears with her hands and made a face, her nose scrunched and her mouth pursed. The noise from the baby seemed to pierce the air in the kitchen. Even Henry and Elam scattered from the room, hurrying outside to find work to do, chores being prefera
ble to listening to baby Anna’s continuous and never-ending cries.
As Drusilla carefully held the baby against her shoulder and rocked her back and forth in the hopes of calming the upset infant, she whispered softly, “Shh, it’s all right.” Gently, she rubbed baby Anna’s back and kept moving, back and forth in the kitchen, hoping the motion might calm the infant. Despite the clear irritation displayed by her siblings, Drusilla couldn’t fault the baby even though she had been crying for over an hour, an ear-piercing high pitched cry.
“I think I hate that boppli!”
“Hannah!”
“I do! She doesn’t stop screaming!”
“You best not let Maem or Daed hear you say such a thing or you’ll be sorry, for certain!” Drusilla chastised when Hannah grumbled some more. “Besides, you know it’s not little Anna’s fault that she’s got the colic.”
“Ugh! I don’t care what she has! She’s driving me crazy!”
It was true that the newest member of the Riehl family hadn’t seemed to stop crying, especially in the past week. “She needs to get it out of her system, Hannah. If it’s bothering you so much, go on outside, then,” Drusilla instructed in a stern voice as she shifted the baby in her arms. Hannah’s foul mood didn’t help anyone feel better, especially Drusilla. “Go help with the garden. Those weeds are as big as the tomato plants! You, too, Elsie.”
Elsie scrambled to her feet and ran toward the door. Clearly she was happy enough to escape the house for a while.
Hannah, however, scowled as she stomped across the kitchen floor. “I hate weeding.”
“Ja, but you like eating,” Drusilla called after her. “Especially plump red tomatoes! And speaking of which, I noticed some of the plum tomatoes looking just about ripe the other day. Bring them on it before the bugs get ‘em.”
“Bah!”
The door slammed shut behind Hannah and Drusilla returned her attention to the baby.
Three weeks old, and already the infant had made her presence known. Within days, she refused to accept Maem’s breast milk and cried for hours on end. On several occasions, Barbara had visited several times, twice with Naomi and Miriam who stared wide-eyed at the screaming baby. Barbara had seemed as perplex as the rest, merely recommending warm cow’s milk. Baby Anna refused that as well. When Jacob and Ana came over from the grossdaadihaus to visit their newest grandchild, Jacob eventually waved his hand dismissively, unable to stand the noise any longer and leaving as quick as possible.