Uncle Plats

by Aqua Allsopp

  Luke was standing now, holding up his hands and directing the children. He looked strong and healthy. He was clean-shaven, the sign of an unmarried man, giving her the opportunity to see how handsome he was. He was obviously interested in spending time with her. She wondered if he would escort her to Sunday services. She wondered how long he planned to visit.

  By the time lunch was called, the children knew all the words and were singing loudly along with Luke. They stopped abruptly when the door opened and the woman from the front office looked in. She stared at Luke for a moment before turning her eyes to Sarah.

  “I was wondering what that singing was. Is this part of your schedule, Sarah?”

  Sarah stood up from her desk chair, shaking her head. “No, Mary. It is a special occasion because my friend Luke is visiting. We will resume our normal schedule after lunch. I assume that is what time it is now, considering my stomach is rumbling. Are your stomachs rumbling, children? Are you hungry?”

  “Yes, Sarah!”

  The children waited until she nodded at them. They went to the door in single file, following Mary down the hallway to the front door. Sarah and Luke walked behind them.

  “It is very nice that you came to visit, Luke. It…it is nice to see you.”

  “After our talk yesterday evening, I felt compelled to visit.”

  The two walked out of the school, following the children to a large shelter in the field about 30 yards away. Luke purposefully walked slowly, allowing distance to grow between them and the children from Sarah’s class. Several of the classes had already assembled in the shelter. Some of the children were rolling in the grass with small dogs licking their faces and making them laugh. Others were kicking a ball back and forth between them. To his left, Luke noticed a circle of girls sitting on a huge blanket, holding faceless dolls in their arms. They were talking, petting a group of kittens that were bundled up in the middle of the blanket.

  “Your community is very relaxed.”

  “Yours is not?”

  Luke shook his head. “I wouldn’t say it is, no. I have not seen children playing before they have eaten like the children are doing here.”

  Sarah looked around her. She had never noticed the atmosphere before. It had been that way since she first arrived. “Do you object?”

  He shook his head. “No. It is just new to me.”

  “I have visited a few communities nearby but I must be honest. I didn’t notice a difference.”

  “Did you have time to stay long? You probably didn’t notice because you were there for a specific reason.”

  “Ya, that would be true.”

  “Sully-Mills is very traditional. They do not allow many of the modern conveniences that other communities do. For instance, I noticed a telephone room in the school.”

  He and Sarah had reached the shelter but did not sit right away. At the end of the building, a long buffet table stretched from one side of the shelter to the other. They walked toward it and both picked up a cup, which they filled with apple juice.

  “Your school does not have a telephone?”

  “No.”

  “Does the community have one?”

  “We have one landline, ya. Two of the men carry cell phones. Some of the teenagers also carry cell phones.”

  “We do not have any cell phones here.” Sarah shook her head. “I’m not sure how I would feel if they were allowed here.”

  “I don’t mind it but I don’t think I will get one for myself.”

  “Lunch is about to begin. The prayer will be soon. We will talk during social time after?” Sarah smiled at him.

  “I would like that very much.” Luke glanced over his shoulder and spotted Bishop Aaron standing with a group of men. They were looking at him. Aaron waved him over when he saw him looking in his direction. Luke nodded his head once and looked back at Sarah.

  “Ya, I will meet with you after.”

  They looked at each other for a moment before parting.

  The silence of the meal was broken quickly. Once the noise from the children started, the sound only grew in volume. After a conversation with Aaron and some of the other men in the community, Luke found his way to Sarah. As he moved through the crowd, avoiding children and animals, he thought about what he wanted to say to her. He didn’t want to appear stupid to her and have nothing to say. He wanted her to be charmed by him. He could see a future with her. He wanted to take care of her and her two daughters. He was hoping she would introduce them to him while he was here at the school.

  He saw her looking at him. He couldn’t help smiling. She was standing with four other women, who all looked at him and then back at Sarah with knowing looks. They said something that made Sarah blush and giggle. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. His heart raced.

  He was about to speak when she did instead.

  “Luke, this is Karen, Delilah and Hezziah. I believe you know Hodiah.”

  “Ya.” He nodded at each of them. “Would you like to go for a walk, Sarah? Do you have time before you must go back to teaching your little ones?”

  “I have time.”

  She and Luke walked away from the shelter. As they passed the same group of girls on the blanket, she stopped. “Becky, this is Luke Fisher. Luke, this is my daughter, Becky.”

  “Hello, Becky.”

  Becky just smiled at him. She and the other girls giggled.

  The two looked at each other and walked away from the blanket.

  “Where is your other daughter?”

  “That’s her over there.” Sarah pointed toward a group of older girls. “The one in the orange dress with the yellow apron.”

  “She looks very nice.”

  “Danki.”

  “Did Hodiah tell you that they are hosting a dinner this evening? We are both invited.”

  “Are they trying to get us to talk more?”

  “I suppose they are.” Luke smiled at her. “Do you…are you all right with that?”

  “Ya. I won’t mind spending a bit more time with you.”

  Luke felt some relief. When he glanced to where Sarah’s daughter Holly was standing with her friends, his feelings changed to apprehension. Holly and her friends were huddled together and the young girl did not have a happy look on her face. He wondered what they were talking about. He contemplated pointing it out to Sarah and asking her what she thought but decided not to.

  *****

  Sarah was unable to get her mind off of Luke and the dinner they would be having together later for the rest of her work day. The children didn’t seem to notice she was distracted. They continued their work, memorizing mathematical equations, practicing their penmanship and taking a spelling test they were all confident they would pass.

  She, Becky and Holly rode home in the buggy at a steady pace. Sarah was anxious to return home. She wanted to bathe and prepare a basket of biscuits to take with her to the dinner. She liked to make biscuits for any meal she was invited to. It was her specialty. She hoped Luke would like them.

  As she bathed, dried herself and brushed her hair, she tried not to be proud. Her hair was long and soft as silk. She didn’t want to feel the burden of vanity. But she also missed the feeling of being married, belonging to a man, caring for someone and being taken care of. When she thought of Luke, her stomach tightened and her heart warmed over. She wanted to feel that way again. She wanted to be part of a couple.

  Luke seemed to be very interested in her. This was something she wanted to explore further.

  She turned when there was a knock on her door.

  “Come in.”

  The door opened and Becky came in. She came over and put her hand on her mother’s head.

  “You look nice, Maemm.”

  “Danki, Bobelli. What are you doing? Have you bathed and changed for the dinner tonight?”

  “Ya, Holly helped me.” The little girl looked away, turning her eyes to stare out the window. She had a very solemn look on her small face.


  “What is it, Becky? You look sad. You aren’t thinking about your Datt again, are you?”

  Becky’s face crumpled and she shook her head. “No, Maemm. I don’t think about Datt very much.”

  “What’s troubling you?”

  Becky was quiet. She moved away from her mother and sat on the bed nearby, wrapping one hand around the bed post. “There’s something wrong with Holly, not me.”

  “What do you mean?” Sarah turned in her chair to face her daughter, setting the bottle of hand lotion she had picked up back on the desk. “Is she feeling okay?” She was ready to stand up and go find her daughter when the look on Becky’s face stopped her. Instead, she moved to the bed and sat next to Becky. “Tell me what this is about.”

  “I think she is upset because you have been talking to that man all day.”

  “Luke?”

  “Ya. You should talk to her, Maemm. I don’t think she wants you to talk to him.”

  Becky shook her head. “I will talk to her, liebchen. I’ll do that right now.”

  “She’s in the kitchen, Maemm, checking on the biscuits.”

  Sarah went down the stairs quickly, finding Holly standing over the stove, staring through the window at the rising biscuits.

  “Holly.”

  The girl turned and looked up at her mother. “They aren’t done yet, Maemm. I think they have a few more minutes.”

  “I set a timer. I won’t forget about them, liebchen, you know that.”

  “I know, Maemm. You never have before.”

  “Come sit at the table and talk with me.”

  Holly gave her a strange look but did as she was told. When Sarah was sitting next to her, she took the girl’s hand and gazed into her eyes, thinking how much Holly looked like Eli. She pulled in a breath and said, “Becky says you are unhappy. Do you want to talk to me about it?”

  “Becky should not have been gossiping.”

  Sarah nodded. “Gossiping is never gut, Holly, that is true. But in this case, it is important that we talk. You don’t need to keep anything from me. I want you to be comfortable talking to me about anything that might be troubling you.”

  “But it has to do with you.” Holly looked on the verge of shutting down and not speaking at all. Sarah spoke gently when she replied.

  “That is precisely why you should speak to me about it. Becky says that you are troubled by my talking to our visiting friend, Luke. Is that true?”

  “I saw the two of you talking, ya. I see how he looks at you. I think he is interested in you.”

  “I think he is, too. But why does that trouble you? Eli has been gone for six months.”

  “Ya. He’s dead.” She said it with a bluntness Sarah recognized. Eli had been the same way. Not only did her daughter resemble her father, she had a lot of his personality, as well.

  “Ya, Holly, he is dead. Our lives on earth are not be wasted. You know that. Our purpose here is to grow, to serve our Gott and work for our salvation. But we are meant to be coupled, to be married and to have and raise children together. I am a young woman and have a great deal of my life to live. Do you want me to live it alone?”

  “I don’t want you to be unhappy, Maemm. But you were not happy when Datt was here either. What will happen if this man…”

  “His name is Luke.”

  Holly pressed her lips together. “Ya. Luke. What will happen if he is…like Datt…and doesn’t make you happy?”

  “There are many hard decisions to make in life, Holly. We must take chances sometimes. It’s not like the old days when spouses were chosen for each other when they were young. Now, we must gauge our interest in one another ourselves. We must take chances.”

  Holly shook her head. “You don’t know him very well, Maemm.”

  “That is true. But a relationship must start at some point, a friendship must grow and two people must learn about each other before they know whether Gott has chosen them to be together as a married couple.”

  “You looked very cozy when you were out walking today.”

  “We are just getting to know each other now. Why, liebchen, I just met him yesterday. You are moving very quickly through something that takes a while to develop. Tonight, we will be eating dinner with the Yoders and he will be there. It would be a gut idea for you to meet him. I will let you talk to him so that you will also get to know him at the same time as me. How does that sound?”

  “All right, Maemm. Danki. That sounds gut.”

  It was a warm evening. The Yoders had set up the meal in their barn because, much to Sarah’s surprise, they had invited several other families, as well, including her two brothers and their families. As she walked through the crowd of people and playing children, she thought it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The Yoders were always holding large family dinners that often included up to ten families in the community.

  She made her way to the long table where the food was displayed and set her biscuits down next to another platter. The girls had already found their friends and were no longer by her side. She turned to scan through the crowd until she caught sight of several men standing in a circle. Luke was one of them. Her heart jumped in her chest and she felt herself blushing at the sight of him.

  She turned her face away and headed toward a group of women standing near the entrance to the barn.

  She stopped when she heard her name and turned to see Luke holding his hand up. She smiled and lifted her hand in return.

  “It is gut to see you,” he said when he was close enough.

  “And you, too.” She hoped she wasn’t blushing too much. Holly’s word had put thoughts in the front of her mind. She was slightly uncomfortable with the thoughts and hoped that she was not putting her salvation in jeopardy by being attracted to a man after the death of her husband. It was not against His law that she re-marry. And it was not His will that she be alone throughout her life. She was sure of it. “I would like you to speak to my daughter, Holly. She is concerned about our friendship.”

  Luke thought about the look the young girl had cast in his direction earlier in the day. “She is concerned? We have just met. She has nothing to worry about. I would not hurt you or your daughters.”

  “This is very new to her. It is not just my life that has been disturbed by Eli’s death.”

  “Ya. This is true. I would be happy to speak to her. I want to get to know your girls and you.”

  “I told her that friendships must develop and relationships take time. I would appreciate it if you would reinforce that.”

  “I would be happy to.”

  She turned and looked through the crowd of people for her daughter. “Holly. Holly.” She looked up at Luke and gestured with her head. “She is over here.”

  Luke followed her to a group of girls, the same ones Holly was surrounded by during social time after lunch. The girls stared at Luke. Holly colored slightly before saying something to her friends, breaking off from them and approaching her mother and Luke.

  “Ya, Maemm.” She was keeping her eyes down. Sarah touched her under her chin and lifted her face up.

  “Come for a walk with us, liebchen.”

  “Ya, Maemm, all right.”

  The three of them walked through the crowd to the entrance and went out into the dimming light. The sun had cast long glorious colors across the sky. It was the first thing Sarah noticed when she stepped out.

  “Oh my! Look at the beautiful sky! Isn’t that amazing?” She smiled at Holly, who looked up with wide eyes.

  “Ya, this is the perfect time of the year for such beauty,” Luke said. He bent down so he could speak to Holly on her level. “Your Maemm says you are having some feelings about her talking to me. I want you to know you don’t have to worry about anything. I will not hurt your Maemm. Do you believe me?”

  Holly didn’t answer. She just stared at Luke. He grinned.

  “I know, you do not know me very well. I have only met your mother yesterday. But she is a gut woman, very kind and intel
ligent and I would like to get to know her more. Would that be all right with you?”

  Sarah was surprised by Luke’s words. His compliments made her feel warm inside. But he knew they did not need Holly’s permission to court. As adults, they didn’t need anyone’s permission. It touched her that he would make it seem that Holly had some control over the situation. Holly still had not said anything. Her eyes were fixed on Luke’s handsome face.

  “Has the cat gotten your tongue?” Luke asked in an amused voice. He had also noticed that Holly was just staring at him. He crossed his eyes and made a face at her, which prompted her to grin wide. “I knew there was a funny girl hidden in there somewhere. Would you like to get to know me better?”

  “Ya.” Holly’s voice was very soft.

  “I’m so glad to hear that.”

  Holly looked at her mother. “May I go back in to Sapphira, Maemm? We want to sit together tonight to eat. I don’t want one of the other girls taking my seat.”

  “Ya, go ahead, liebchen.”

  Luke and Sarah watched her run back through the entrance and disappear among the moving people. They looked at each other. Sarah pulled in a deep breath. He was looking at her with gentle eyes. She wanted to look into those eyes for the rest of her life. It didn’t matter to her that it had only been a day. She was sure their relationship would be one of friendship and compassion.

  “Shall we go in and socialize?”