by Sarah Price
“Ja, Daed, I’m ready,” Drusilla answered her father.
“Now don’t go off the path at all,” Amos teased her. “Bound to get yourself lost! And while I fancy a hike in the woods, I reckon that isn’t the way I’d like to go about it!”
Drusilla gave him a half-smile. “I doubt anyone would like that,” she said. The truth was that she was nervous, but not about getting lost.
Hannah dropped the last dish into the sink. The sharp clatter caused the baby to jump and she began to cry. Amos glanced at Elsie who held the baby. When Anna did not quiet down, he frowned in Hannah’s direction. But before she could be reprimanded for her carelessness—and the resulting noise from Baby Anna—the sound of tires against gravel interrupted the moment.
Eager to leave, especially now that Hannah had awoken, Drusilla hurried to the door. “See you tomorrow afternoon!” she called out as she picked up her small bag and dashed outside to the awaiting van.
There were several carloads of people that were attending the overnight hiking and camping trip. She knew that several people were coming from Caleb’s church district, but apparently not his sister, Jane. While she knew she wouldn’t see him until everyone arrived at the drop off point, Drusilla was excited anyway. Just knowing that she would be with her friends for the next 36 hours made her feel as if she truly was an adult at last. It was, after all, her first year that her parents had permitted her to attend.
Naomi and Miriam were already in the van, as were several of the young men from neighboring farms. One of the men appeared disappointed that Daniel wasn’t attending, but, especially since they, too, worked on farms, they knew how work always took a priority over social activities.
With a broad smile, Naomi patted the seat next to her. “Kum, Dru! Sit beside us.” She reached for Drusilla’s small bag and shoved it under the seat. “We haven’t seen you since you disappeared after the singing a few weeks back!”
Miriam moved over further so that she pressed against the window and there was more room for Drusilla. She reached up and took a hold of Drusilla’s arm, helping her squeeze in the middle seat. “It has been a long time, hasn’t it? What have you been up to?”
Drusilla settled into the seat and buckled her seat belt. Had it really been that long since she saw her cousins? “Just helping with the boppli and Mammi Ana.”
“Our maem said Mammi Ana’s not remembering things so well,” Miriam said, a serious look on her face. “I meant to stop by but I’ve been at that Jersey market on Thursdays and Fridays now!”
Naomi sighed. “And we had two hay cuttings! Even Maem helped in the fields.”
Drusilla understood how busy life could get on a farm. Just recently, several of the beef cattle had gone to auction, along with the veal calves the following week. On both occasions, her father asked her to help with the chores since he had to be away from the farm. Henry and Elam had begged to go with him and, of course, Daniel needed to attend. While she didn’t mind taking over the main chores, Drusilla had no choice but to enlist Hannah for assistance. That alone had been more work than Drusilla anticipated! Hannah knew better how to complain than anyone else Drusilla had ever met. But, with patience that Drusilla sometimes had to fake, eventually Hannah would comply.
“I reckon it’s like Scripture says,” Drusilla said. “There’s a time and season for everything in life.”
For a long moment, they rode in silence, no one quite knowing what to say. It had been several years since Drusilla’s family felt the sting of death. Of course, there had been the two stillborn babies that had been cause for sorrow in the house. Drusilla felt worse for her mother, however, than for the lost babies. Her mother certainly suffered when those babies were born without the breath of life in them.
Before that, the last family member to pass from this world into God’s kingdom had been Drusilla’s other grandmother who had been living with family in a neighboring town. Drusilla’s great-aunt used to come visiting the Riehls’ farm. Esther had enjoyed those visits tremendously, but once her mother died, the visits slowly stopped.
Glancing at the other passengers, one who was looking out the window and the other who was playing on his cell phone, Naomi leaned over and, with a low voice, whispered into Drusilla’s ear, “Any word from…?” She didn’t say his name, most likely since she didn’t want the other two Amish men to overhear.
“Nee!” Drusilla said far too quickly. The color rising to her cheeks didn’t seem to help her cause. “Maybe.”
“Tell me, tell me!”
But Drusilla shook her head.
With a sigh, Naomi turned her attention to the front of the vehicle. Her eyes fell upon the one young man with the cell phone. “Elias Wood! I thought you were taking your instructional for the kneeling vow this October! You shouldn’t be having that thing!”
He glanced over his shoulder at Naomi and grinned. With his brown hair, haphazardly cut in a straight line across his forehead, and his small glasses perched on the edge of his nose, he looked younger than his twenty years. But Drusilla knew that he was two years older than she was.
“Aw, Naomi! You know you kept your cell phone until just before your baptism last year!”
Miriam gasped and Drusilla’s mouth opened in surprise.
“Tattle-tale!”
“You had a cell phone?” Miriam asked. “How come I didn’t know that?”
Naomi reached behind Drusilla and pushed at her sister’s shoulder. “‘Cause you didn’t have one for me to call or text you!”
At that comment, everyone laughed.
“Seriously, Naomi,” Drusilla said in a soft voice when the laughter faded. “Why’d you have a cell phone and who did you talk to?”
She shrugged her shoulders and glanced down at the floor of the van. She seemed to inspect her black sneakers and, when she saw some dirt on the heel, she bent down to brush it away. “Mostly surfing the Internet. I was curious, I reckon.”
“About?”
Another shrug. For the first time, Naomi appeared embarrassed by her brazen personality and that surprised Drusilla as much as learning that her cousin had been tempted to test the world of the Englische during her rumschpringe! While Naomi had always been the most out-going of the three of them, Drusilla would never have suspected her of being worldly.
“Photography,” Naomi said at last. “I liked to take photographs and post them on the Internet.”
Even Miriam seemed completely taken aback by this confession. “Photographs?”
“Of what?” Drusilla asked.
“Is it really important?” Naomi squirmed in her seat. “I don’t think it is. Let’s change the subject.”
But neither Drusilla nor Miriam could be persuade to drop the matter. “Of what, Naomi? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“Just things around the farm,” Naomi admitted reluctantly. “I like the changing seasons so I would take photos of the crops growing and newborn animals. It’s really not a big deal.” She looked up and, upon seeing the baffled expressions of her sister and cousin, Naomi sighed. “Isn’t that what rumschpringe is about? Exploring the world before committing ourselves to the church? I happen to like photography and I was curious. Just wanted to try it a little.”
There was a moment’s silence in the van as the driver turned down a dirt lane toward another farm where the last of the three passengers were waiting outside. As the van slowed down, Drusilla and Miriam looked at each other, still stunned by Naomi’s secret. And then, just as the driver stopped the vehicle, they both started laughing.
“Who would have thought,” Miriam said as she wiped the tears away from her eyes and tried to catch her breath, “that you would be the most sentimental of the three of us?”
The door opened and, just before the other three Amish youths climbed into the van, Miriam scowled and shot her sister a stern look. “Don’t get used to it,” she warned. But even she began to laugh with them.
As the van drove away and headed on the two hour jour
ney, Drusilla settled in and leaned her head back, still smiling at the idea of a tender-hearted Naomi who felt so curious about photography that she had kept such a secret from her two best friends. If the beginning of the drive was any indication of what was to come, Drusilla knew the trip would be full of lots of surprises.
Chapter Five
The shade of the trees that hovered over the trail kept the air cooler than when they walked through open fields. Drusilla walked with Naomi and Miriam, lingering behind the group of young men who forged the path. Caleb walked even further ahead, having partnered off with two of the older men who had accompanied the hiking group.
“I am so glad to be away from the farm,” Naomi said as they walked.
Drusilla made a face. “Why’s that?” Her cousin’s statement surprised her. While Drusilla was happy to attend the hiking trip, she never felt like she needed to get away from her parents’ farm.
“I don’t know,” Naomi said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’ve just been feeling…” She paused as if looking for the right word. “Antsy, I guess.”
Miriam kicked at a stone and watched it disappear into the underbrush. “Can’t see why, Naomi. There sure is enough work to do at home. You shouldn’t have time for feeling such a way.”
But Drusilla understood what her cousin meant. There was a hollow feeling inside of her, a feeling that left her wondering about the future. She felt as if she straddled a river, one foot on each bank. The lower side of the stream was her childhood and it was a safe place to be. Yet, her other foot rested upon a much steeper incline and, while she didn’t know what was on the other side of the water, she did know that she could not continue straddling it. Sooner or later, she would have to take a leap of faith and climb over to the side of the new and unknown.
Of course, Miriam had a good point, too. When Drusilla was at home, she was often so busy that she could not think of much beyond what chores she had to do next. It was when she was not busy, usually after the younger kinner went to bed, that she had a few moments of silence to let her mind wander.
And, as of late, it wandered in the direction of Caleb.
“I reckon that’s the problem, Miriam. Always so much work to do and not enough time to enjoy life.” She leaned down and picked up a stick. “Summer is almost over and I feel like something needs to happen. Something…different.” As they walked, Naomi began to peel the bark from the stick, letting it flutter to the ground behind them.
“Sure does sound like you’re complaining,” Miriam said in a soft tone. “Nothing wrong with work. After all, an idle person will suffer hunger. Says so in the Bible.”
Naomi sighed and didn’t respond. When it came to arguing with Miriam about Scripture, no one would win.
“If you really feel that way, mayhaps we should trade for a while. You can experience something different at market, that’s for sure and certain,” Miriam added.
“Nee, Schwester! That’s surely not for me!” Naomi tossed a piece of bark at her sister. “You’ve much more patience than I do when it comes to dealing with nosy Englischers!”
The three of them laughed, Naomi’s disposition returning to a more light mood.
Still, as they continued walking, Drusilla thought about what Naomi had said. When they were younger, there had been more time to play and have fun, even when working. Drusilla had always enjoyed playing with the kittens or feeding the newborn calves. While chores always came first, there was always an abundance of free time to run through the fields or skip rocks in a pond.
Perhaps that was why all of the young women looked forward to the summer hike and camping trip. It was a time when they did not have to work and everyone pitched in at supper time. Otherwise, throughout the year, most of their social events were limited to the youth gatherings organized by the church district with an occasional quilting bee or canning party held at a neighbor’s farm.
“All the more reason to enjoy this trip,” Drusilla said, hoping to cheer up her cousin.
They hiked up the trail for the next hour, some of the young women in the back of the line singing hymns that, as the rest of the group joined them, made the time pass much quicker. Drusilla smiled when they picked her favorite hymn from the Ausbund:
To be like Christ we love one another, through everything, here on this earth.
We love one another, not just with words but in deeds.
If we have of this world's goods (no matter how much or how little)
And see that our brother has a need,
But do not share with him what we have freely received,
How can we say that we would be ready to give our lives for him if necessary?
The one who is not faithful in the smallest thing,
And who still seeks his own good which his heart's desires,
How can he be trusted with a charge over heavenly things?
Let us keep our eyes on love! 1
Naomi nudged Drusilla and nodded her head in the direction of the men that were walking up ahead. “Seems that someone over there is sure keeping his eyes on love,” she whispered.
When Drusilla followed Naomi’s gaze, she caught her breath. Caleb was doubling back and headed in their direction. He smiled when he saw Drusilla watching him, his eyes sparkling and his face glowing. If she had doubted him before, she knew better now. Unlike many of the other Amish youths who followed the more traditional practice of courting in privacy, Caleb took a much more pronounced approach and, while Drusilla wasn’t certain that she liked everyone noticing his attention, she knew that she sure liked Caleb.
“How are you girls faring back here?”
“Us girls are faring right fine!” Naomi sassed back playfully.
Caleb looked at Drusilla. “John Miller told me that there’s a real pretty waterfall near where we are camping. I was hoping you might want to walk to see it with me, Dru.”
“Oh…I…” The heat rose to her cheeks as she realized that Naomi was enjoying every minute of her discomfort. Miriam elbowed her sister and tried to walk toward the side of the path, taking Naomi with her so that Caleb could have a moment’s privacy with Drusilla.
“I’ll take that for a yes then,” Caleb said. Instead of returning to walk with the men, he fell into stride beside her, slowing his pace so that there was more distance between her cousins and them. “You have some good people in your g’may, Dru. That John Miller is an interesting character. Knows an awful lot about these trails. Says he’s been coming here for over twenty years!”
“Twenty years?” She hadn't thought John to be that old. While he was married with two kinner, he seemed much younger. “I know he likes to go hunting in the early winter with his daed. And he’s a hard worker for sure and certain.”
“He was telling me about how he raises cattle and sells the beef at a Maryland market each week.” Caleb whistled and shook his head. “That’s a great opportunity for making some money, don’t you think?”
She didn’t know how to respond. Personally, she didn’t think she would like working so far from Lancaster County. She knew several women who worked at market. They would leave the house at four in the morning in order to arrive on time and set up their stands to sell vegetables, breads, or even homemade cheese. After the market closed, they would clean up and return to Lancaster, sometimes not returning until after nine o’clock in the evening. A quick dinner and short sleep would find them back in the same car, traveling the same roads back to Maryland.
No, that was not a life that Drusilla would fancy at all.
“Sometimes making money isn’t the most important thing,” she finally said. “It’s better to do something that you have a passion about. And working at a Maryland market is not something I have any passion about.”
He seemed to contemplate this statement, mulling over it for a few, long, drawn out minutes. She waited expectantly for his reply to her statement. “And what do you have a passion about, Dru?”
“Farming,” she said. “I really have a pa
ssion for farming.”
He nodded his head, but she sensed a hesitation as if he were trying to formulate a response. “Farming is good. Not a lot of land around to farm, least not in this area.”
“Your daed has a farm,” she pointed out.
“Ja, he does.”
She stumbled over the half buried root of a tree and he reached out his hand to grab her arm, steadying her without saying anything. She was glad that he didn’t make a fuss like some young men might have done. “Danke,” she mumbled softly.
“So, tell me about this passion for farming, Dru?” He released his hold on her arm and fell into step beside her again, although she suspected that he was watching the path now as he pointed to another tree root so that she could step over it. “Planting? Cows? If you had your heart desire, what type of farming would you do?”
“Oh help!” She laughed, feeling a bit uncomfortable with his question. “I reckon that’s not something I would decide now, is it?”
“Why not?”
“Vell…” She didn’t want to say what was on her mind. After all, it was the husband that decided the occupation of the family. To mention that, however, might seem terribly forward. She didn’t want him thinking that she was hinting. “God will lead me to where I need to be in life,” she said at last. “So I reckon it’s best not to even think about it.”
“Hmm, I see.”
She wondered if he did see or if he was just saying that.
“I…I do like to have the animals around,” she admitted, figuring that was a cautious response. “I’d like to have some chickens, I suppose. They sure do keep the bugs at bay. And maybe some sheep. It would be nice to make wool for other women to use.”
“Pigs?”
She wrinkled her nose at that suggestion. “Nee, no pigs.”
He laughed and gently bumped his shoulder against hers. “I feel the same way.”