When Strawberries Bloom

by Linda Byler

  Jason’s eating never failed to amaze Lizzie. He took bites twice the size of an ordinary person and swallowed promptly. You could hardly ever see him chewing; well, not very much, anyway. He ate so fast, Lizzie could never understand how he didn’t upset his stomach when he swallowed his food without chewing properly.

  “Pickles!” Jason said loudly.

  “Your sandwich is too dry, isn’t it?” Lizzie grinned at him.

  “No, ’course not. I’m just hungry for a pickle.”

  “How did it feel to have Lizzie for a teacher?” Mam asked.

  Jason’s mouth was stuffed with pickles, so he nodded his head before bending it to eat the other half of his sandwich in one bite.

  Dat shook his head, watching Jason eat.

  “As soon as you have time, you can answer Mam,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

  Jason swallowed and nodded his head again. “Good. I think she’s going to be all right. She’s a good teacher!”

  He started slurping soup, so Lizzie knew that was as much as he would say. She looked at Mam, beaming, and Mam smiled back.

  “Good for you, Lizzie. I knew you could do it. Do you think you’ll like it? This is only the first day, you know.”

  “I love it, Mam. I really do. I can’t imagine getting the blues from teaching school. It’s so much more challenging than standing at that egg-grading machine or working as a maud.”

  “There’ll be times when you wish life was as simple as grading eggs, though. You can’t teach school without occasional troubles along the way,” Dat said wisely.

  “How do you know?” Lizzie asked.

  “Because I taught school one year,” Dat said.

  “Did you really? I never knew that.”

  So Dat launched into an account of his one year of teaching school when he and Mam were first married and living in Ohio. It was fascinating to listen to him tell the story of serious discipline problems, among other troubles he had encountered. But Dat’s stories didn’t worry Lizzie. She was quite sure that teaching school was the single most wonderful thing in the entire world, and there wasn’t too much that could happen to change her mind. It was a whole lot easier than finding a husband.

  Chapter 5

  LIZZIE NARROWED HER EYES as she looked over her shoulder, pinning her white cape neatly into place.

  “That’s crooked,” Mandy said, around a pin in her mouth. Lizzie sighed with exasperation before saying loudly, “Take that pin out of your mouth this second. I hate when you put a straight pin in there. Mam used to do that when we were little girls.”

  “I won’t swallow it.”

  “Take it out!”

  “Grouch.”

  Lizzie looked over her opposite shoulder, trying to get the pleats in her white organdy cape straight. Of all the clothes they wore, white organdy for church was the hardest to handle.

  “Mandy, fix this!” Lizzie said, unable to get the whole thing straight. Mandy helped, adjusting a few pins, before saying, “Lizzie, aren’t you thrilled about our new friends we’ll get to meet today?”

  More new families were moving to Cameron County that fall, including the Marks family with four girls near in age to Lizzie and her sisters. A young man had also recently moved there to help his brother, a bachelor, with the farming.

  “Of course! Maybe if we have a few more teenagers we’ll start to run around here in Cameron County and not bother going to Allen County at all anymore. Marvin was talking about it last weekend.”

  “Really?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “Goody, Lizzie! I’ll soon be 16, and I don’t really want to go to Allen County. It’s too far away.”

  “Hurry up, girls. Time to leave,” Mam called up the stairway.

  Hurriedly, they pinned their black coverings to their heads, grabbed their black woolen shawls and bonnets and skipped down the steps. Emma ran lightly down the stairs behind them, a bottle of lotion clasped in one hand. In the kitchen, KatieAnn and Susan put on their coats and shawls, followed by their navy blue bonnets, while Mam hurried to get everyone out the door to the waiting carriage.

  Lizzie scooped up Susan and planted a kiss on her little cheek. “You look so cute in your shawl and bonnet,” she said.

  “Let me down!” Susan said, wiping her cheek as she glared at Lizzie. Everyone laughed as they hurried out the door, while Dat stood wiping the mirror on the buggy with his clean, white, Sunday handkerchief.

  At church, Lizzie sat next to Mandy on the long, backless bench on the women’s side of the room. As the boys filed into the room, they bent slightly to shake hands with the ministers before going to the men’s side of the room to sit. A tall boy whom Lizzie didn’t recognize joined the group. That must be the new boy who’s moving in with his bachelor brother, Lizzie thought. She dug her elbow into Mandy’s side.

  “Is that him?” she whispered.

  “Probably,” Mandy whispered back.

  He was taller than Uncle Marvin, with long, jet-black hair which hung in loose waves. His eyes were almost as dark as his hair, and he had an almost perfect nose and mouth. His face was expressionless and polite, but Lizzie was fascinated by his dark, good looks. Mandy must be, too, she thought, watching her. Oh, well, no use planning about this one as a husband. He’d probably go the way of Amos and of Joe and John, the twins who had caught Lizzie’s eye in vocational school. Or he’d act like Stephen. He’d tell her that he thought she was pretty once and then never mention it again.

  Stephen, Joe, and John filed into the room. The twins, once small for their age when they were in Lizzie’s vocational class, had grown to almost normal size. They were still as blond and blue-eyed as ever. Stephen stood tall and dark beside them, his blue eyes flashing around the room until they landed on her. He smiled. Irritated, Lizzie turned away.

  During services, Lizzie considered the possibility of staying here in Cameron County on weekends. Allen County had lost much of its charm since Amos and Ruthie were dating, she had to admit. Now there were enough young people in church to have their own supper crowd somewhere nearby and have a singing in the evening each weekend. That would be exciting, something new, and she bet they would have lots of fun once everyone became acquainted.

  Doddy Glick stood up to give the main sermon, and, as usual, he preached with fervor. He always became quite loud, waving his arms for emphasis as he exhorted the congregation, adding Old Testament stories as examples for their everyday lives. Lizzie never tired of listening to Doddy preach, enjoying his stories of Gideon, David, and other Old Testament heroes.

  After services, Lizzie asked Uncle Marvin if he was planning to stay here for the rest of the weekend. He raised his eyebrows and nodded toward the Marks sisters and said he guessed he’d have to since they had more young people now. Lizzie laughed and hit his arm playfully.

  “Oh, you! I know exactly why you aren’t going to Allen County!”

  “Should we try and have a singing here? Do you want me to ask if Aaron Fishers want to hold one? Or what? What could we do this afternoon?” he asked.

  Stephen and the new young man, John, walked up to Marvin.

  “Hello,” they said, nodding to Lizzie.

  “Hi!”

  “So … do we want to go boating?” Marvin asked.

  “The water’s too low,” Stephen said. “We need more rain.”

  “Volleyball?” Marvin asked.

  “We can go down to my brother’s place,” John offered.

  Lizzie watched him speak, quite impressed with this tall guy. Of course, she wanted to go to his brother’s place, and now she had several girlfriends and Mandy to go with her, all of whom had recently turned 16.

  “I have to do evening chores because Leroy is in Allen County,” John said.

  “Good! We’ll help you!” Marvin volunteered. “Do we want the girls to go along? There are only three of them.”

  “They can make supper,” John said, smiling shyly.

  Lizzie was ecstatic! She walked as calml
y as she possibly could to the washhouse and almost shrieked as she grabbed Rebecca’s hand.

  “Rebecca, I’m so glad you’re 16. And Mandy and Mary Ann just turned 16! We’re going to have so much fun together. First of all, the boys are doing chores at Leroy Zook’s place. You know, that old guy that’s dating Emma’s friend. They want us to go along and make supper!”

  “Does that mean we’re going to start having suppers and singings here now?” Rebecca asked.

  “I guess that’s up to the parents, but I think everyone would be glad to have singings, even if the group is small. Should we ask Aaron’s wife if they want a hymn-singing this evening after the boys have finished the chores at Leroy’s farm?”

  And so plans were made, with the small group of youth being “officially” started in Cameron County. The girls had great fun cooking supper through trial and error at Leroy Zook’s house as the boys did the evening chores. Mary Ann was easy to talk to and, after a few hours together, Lizzie felt as if they had known each other for a long time. Rebecca was also talkative and good-natured with an easy laugh, and her antics never failed to send Lizzie into rounds of helpless laughter.

  The boys came in for supper, filling their plates before sitting in the living room to eat. The girls ate around the kitchen table, laughing about the lumpy gravy on the mashed potatoes.

  “This is a nice farm,” Mary Ann said.

  Lizzie agreed. The house wasn’t new, but it had four good-sized rooms with a porch running along the front of the house. The view was nice, overlooking rolling pastures and neighboring farms. Leroy had recently built a new cow stable, and a new silo jutted up against the looming mountain, giving the whole farm a prosperous look.

  What would it be like to marry John and live here in this farmhouse, milking cows every morning? Lizzie thought she could marry a farmer if he looked like John. It wouldn’t be so bad to stumble out to a cow stable at five o’clock in the morning if a husband that good-looking was beside you, helping you milk cows.

  Was John a farmer, or was he only helping out his brother for a little bit before returning to Lamton with its big community of Amish folks? Did he have a girlfriend? She wondered how he was going to the singing that evening, and if she might be riding in the same buggy.

  But when it was time to go to the singing, Marvin, of course, offered to take all three girls in his buggy. So Lizzie knew there would be no riding to the singing with John because it wasn’t fair to make the other girls go alone with the boys. Mary Ann was still new, and she couldn’t do that to her. So she told Marvin, all right, they would all go with him.

  How unexciting, she thought, as she sat in the back seat of Marvin’s buggy, slouched down and pouting just a tiny bit. Maybe if Marvin wouldn’t have been quite so eager to ask us, John would have gone with me and Mary Ann. Oh well, she decided, that made no sense either, so there was no use being upset.

  When they arrived at the singing, the kitchen table was already spread out long enough so everyone could sit around it, boys on one side and girls on the other. Some parents had come to help sing as well. Aaron Fisher’s wife set pitchers of water and some paper cups on the table so no one would get thirsty. Since Lizzie was a schoolteacher, the girls said she could start the first song, an old German hymn she knew well from school and from singing it in Allen County with the youth there.

  Glancing nervously at John, she cleared her throat and started the song. Marvin was a good singer, and he joined in heartily. The parents helped along immediately, realizing that there were only a few youth to keep the singing going smoothly. They sang one hymn after another, old German songs that had been sung by Amish youth for years and years. Lizzie especially enjoyed these old hymns, and she loved to sing. The evening sped by.

  Mrs. Fisher served a snack of pretzels and cheese, leftover snitz pie, and grape juice after the singing was over. Lizzie and her friends laughed and talked with the parents easily. In this small budding community, the two generations had a close relationship. Some of the parents asked Lizzie how teaching was going and if the children were causing any trouble.

  Marvin said he could take Lizzie home after the singing, which puzzled her. Stephen and Rebecca lived closer to her than Marvin, and she was sure they wouldn’t mind dropping her off. She told Marvin so, but he insisted, telling her he really wanted to. It was time they had a good old chat to catch up again, he said.

  That warmed Lizzie’s heart, and she was glad he wanted to take her home, even if it meant many extra miles for Marvin. They hadn’t gone very far before Marvin blurted out, “Lizzie, it’s no wonder you don’t have a boyfriend.”

  Lizzie’s heart thudded and sank to her shoes. A heart couldn’t sink to your shoes, she always thought, but sometimes when something shocked her, she had that kind of sensation, a sinking, downward feeling.

  “Whatever makes you say that?” she breathed.

  “Well, you know you are my dear ‘niecely,’ but you need to sit up and take notice. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, Lizzie, but I can hardly stand to see something that you are so blind about.”

  “What on earth are you talking about, Marvin?”

  “Well, hey, fix that rearview mirror. When a car comes up behind me, the headlights are blinding.”

  Typical proper Marvin, Lizzie thought as she opened the door of the buggy and adjusted the mirror.

  “Right. Turn it a little to the right. There.”

  Lizzie closed the door, and Marvin continued.

  “Just like now. This John guy coming out from Lamton, I can just see how he thrills you, and you bat your eyelashes, and you’re all nervous and giggly when he’s around.”

  “Every one of us girls was!” Lizzie burst out.

  “I know. I know. I can see why. I mean, it’s only normal, but that really bugs me, and since John is here, I have to say something. Lizzie, don’t you even notice Stephen?”

  Lizzie was dumbfounded.

  “What do you mean, notice him?”

  “Well, it’s as plain as day, Lizzie. He adores the ground you walk on, he would do anything for you, and you notice him as much as … as an insect!” Marvin said.

  “Marvin! I don’t!”

  “You do!”

  “I don’t. I mean it. I like Stephen. We talk a lot. All the time, actually. He’s one of my friends. I mean … I do not treat him like an insect.”

  “See, Lizzie. Maybe that’s why Amos started dating Ruthie—because he wasn’t meant for you. It seems as if you always want someone else, and it’s so plain what’s happening right under your nose, but you’re too busy always chasing after someone else.”

  “I don’t chase after boys!” Lizzie shouted.

  “Not so loud. You know what I mean.”

  Lizzie said nothing, just leaned back against the seat and crossed her arms tightly. Of all the nerve! This was the worst! How was she supposed to know how Stephen felt? All he ever said was that she was pretty once. But what did that really mean?

  “I’m sorry, niecely.”

  Lizzie didn’t answer. She was too angry.

  “But please, Lizzie. Stephen is a great guy, a really nice, genuine kind of person. He doesn’t think highly of himself, and maybe that’s why he acts kind of different sometimes. But, ach well, I guess I can hardly stand to see him like you as much as he does, and you’re off on Cloud Nine somewhere.”

  “I like Stephen, Marvin.”

  “But not in that way, right?”

  “Well … not really. I mean, I guess if I knew he liked me, but …” Lizzie was at a loss for words.

  “All right. I won’t push some big burden on you, Lizzie. But, seriously, try and pray about it and regard him in a different light. You know, maybe he has all the feelings for you because it’s meant to be, and you’re just not listening to God’s voice.”

  There was silence in the buggy except for the wheels rattling over the gravel and the horses’ hooves spitting it against the bottom of the buggy. When they rolled to a stop b
y the sidewalk, Lizzie couldn’t believe they were at home.

  “There you go, Lizzie. Sorry if I offended you.” Marvin slid his arm around her shoulders and squeezed affectionately. “Just think about it. Okay?”

  There was already a dangerous lump forming in Lizzie’s throat, the kind that quickly dissolves into embarrassing tears. She hopped out of the buggy, choking on her “Thanks, Marvin!” as she ran up the sidewalk.

  Dear, caring Marvin. Who can stay angry at him? He’s so genuinely honest.

  When she hurried through the kitchen without speaking to Joshua and Emma, who were having a snack at the kitchen table, they looked at each other and shrugged. It was hard to tell what had happened now.

  Chapter 6

  EVER SINCE MANDY HAD turned 16 years old, Lizzie was very happy. She was enjoying running around even more now that Mandy was allowed to go away with her on weekends. To celebrate, they had a great time painting and redecorating a room for Mandy and moving Lizzie’s old bedroom suite into her room.

  One snowy afternoon, shortly after Mandy’s birthday, Lizzie sat at the sewing machine, a frown creasing her brow as she used the seam ripper to open the seam of a sleeve she had accidentally sewed on with the inside out. Finally, she stuck a few stray hairs under her covering, pushed back her chair in exasperation, threw down the offending garment, and marched out to the kitchen.

  “I hate that fabric!” she said, much louder than necessary.

  Mam looked up from watering the geraniums in the window. “Now what?” she asked.

  “Why don’t they produce fabric that looks the same on both sides?” Lizzie said, reaching for a warm chocolate chip cookie.

  “I don’t know,” Mam said absentmindedly, her attention on a vine that needed inspection. “Hmm. This thing has mealybugs, that’s what,” she muttered.

  Lizzie watched her mother with narrowed eyes. “You’re not listening to me,” Lizzie whined.

  “Hmm?”

  The door opened and Dat came into the kitchen, closing the door firmly behind him as he shivered, pulling off his coat and hat.