by Sarah Price
“Yes, Mamm.”
The older women continued to talk while the younger women prepared the table. Priscilla helped to direct their efforts. She tried to listen to what the women were talking about while the younger women worked. She loved listening to their stories and gentle teasing. They would share these stories while their heads were bent over, their fingers making the smallest stitches possible in the patterns, usually seven to eight stitches per inch. The smaller the stitches, the more the women praised each other.
“I heard Amos Hostetler’s getting married again,”one of the women said.
“Again?”Lizzie gasped.“That’s wife number three, ain’t so?”
Someone else clucked her tongue.“With all those young kinner, he needs a wife.”
Mamm sighed.“Poor Amos. Must be hard to have lost two wives.”
Lizzie scoffed, her wrinkled mouth pursed together.“Odds aren’t in number three’s favor, I’d say.”
The other women laughed at her and even Priscilla smiled. This was what she loved. The quilting bee was much more about the making of a quilt. It was about fellowship and community. It was about love and friendship. And it was about peace and God.
“Shall we sing a hymn before we eat?”Mamm asked. That was the signal for the quilting to stop. Priscilla refilled the water pitcher and set it on the table while the older women began to shuffle over to the table. After dinner, most of the older women would have a cup or two of coffee before leaving. Then, for the next hour or two, the younger women would take their turn at the quilt. But the transition was always a hymn.
Priscilla listened as the women began to sing a song from the Ausbund. The words touched her and she glanced around the room. She felt the presence of God among these wonderful women, women who had known her from birth and had watched her grow up. Now, they were helping to celebrate the next transition facing Priscilla: baptism and marriage.
She realized that the thread used to make those tiny stitches held so much more together than just a quilt. It held together the community. No store bought comforter could ever replace the magic that was felt during a quilting bee. A smile in her heart, Priscilla joined the rest of the women as they sang:
It is truly a narrow way,
Who now wants to go this heavenly path,
He must surely keep himself
That he does not stumble on the path,
Through affliction, misery, anxiety, and need,
Love must not wax cold.
He must completely depend
On God, wholly trusting in Him.
The Scriptures show clearly and plainly,
Upon God shall man securely build,
He is the rock, cornerstone, and foundation,
Whoever builds a house on Him,
No wind will blow it down.[5]
Chapter Seven
“She said what?”Priscilla gasped.
It was Saturday afternoon and Anna and Polly had come over to the farm. The sky was overcast and there was a cold breeze in the air. Since the leaves had long fallen from the trees, there was a general gloomy feeling about the day. What was worse was the fact that her friends’displayed the same level of seriousness. When Priscilla saw them standing at the door, she knew something was wrong. It was rare that both of them would just show up together without having arranged such a visit in advance. But Priscilla never could have imagined what they would tell her.
“Susie said you stole the pattern for your wedding quilt from her,”Polly repeated slowly.“She’s been telling everyone that and has threatened to go to the bishop.”
“The bishop?”Just more bad news tossed into the mix.
Anna nodded.“I heard my daed talking about it with my uncle.”Since her uncle was the bishop for their church district, Anna always knew what was going on in the community.“Don’t tell him that I told you so.”
“Quilting patterns are so common! How could anyone steal a pattern?”Priscilla exclaimed.“Besides, I’ve never even seen any of her quilts! This is absurd!”
Gently, Polly laid her hand on Priscilla’s arm.“I know that. You know that.”The look on her face was sympathetic but clearly puzzled.“Unfortunately, the other young women don’t know that
Priscilla’s hand flew to her mouth.“They’re believing her? Again?”
Anna nodded.“She’s quite convincing when she’s spreading falsehoods. After all, everyone knows that Stephen Esh was calling on her,”she said, her voice sarcastic but driving home the point that Susie Byler had set up Priscilla to look like a thief. First she had stolen Susie’s young man, now she had stolen the quilt pattern. This wasn’t going to make Priscilla seem like an upstanding member of the community, that was for sure and certain.
“There’s more,”Polly hesitated. She glanced nervously at Anna before adding,“She claims that she’s being bullied by you.”
Another gasp escaped Priscilla’s lips. Bullied? By me?“I cannot believe you!”
Anna nodded.“That was one of the things that my daedwas talking about. The bullying.”
This time, Priscilla didn’t stop the tears that sprang to her eyes.“But I haven’t even talked to that woman since before the charity dinner! I’ve been doing everything in my power to avoid her.”
“That’s probably feeding her anger against you,”Polly said gently.“You haven’t been paying any mind to her and her attention seeking ways, Priscilla. She’s not as strong as you and this is her way to get your attention.”
A frown crossed Priscilla’s face.“My attention? Whatever for?”
Polly shrugged.“I can’t say, for sure and certain, but you have such a high standing in the community and now, with Stephen Esh calling on you, she might just want to strike back at you because she’s jealous and you have been so successful at avoiding her.”
The entire scenario was surreal. Priscilla had never said one bad word against Susie Byler, not even after the mess she had almost made of the charity dinner. The bishop had supported Priscilla then, publicly talking about the situation at a worship service and demonstrating his support by trying to outbid Stephen Esh for buying her donation to the charity auction. Certainly he would support her again, Priscilla thought.
What was even more disturbing, however, was the fact that Susie Byler seemed to have some sort of hold over other members of their youth group. They listened to her and they believed her, no matter how outlandish her claims were.
“We thought you should know,”Anna said quietly.
Priscilla nodded her head, knowing that her friends were right to tell her. Certainly she would have done the same for any of her friends. But she didn’t know what else to say. The fact that anyone could say such horrible things about her, especially someone she didn’t know, was hurtful.
“Danke,”she said to her two friends.“You are both gutfriends to have told me.”In truth, she was glad that they had found the strength to inform her. If she hadn’t known about Susie’s drama and lies, she’d never have been prepared to address them.
Of course, she realized, she didn’t have the faintest idea of how to approach the situation. Clearly, speaking to the young woman was out of the question. Priscilla wondered if there wasn’t something wrong with Susie Byler that was masking her so determined to ruin other people’s reputations.
Polly took a deep breath and exhaled.“I have been doing what I can to make certain everyone knows the truth,”she said.
“Oh Polly,”Priscilla said.“I’m so thankful for you but you don’t have to do that.”She glanced around nervously.“I don’t want people talking about you as well.”
With a casual wave of her hand, Polly dismissed that comment.“They can talk all they want,”she said.“She can’t do much to me.”
Anna nodded.“She’s just jealous of Stephen’s attention in your direction. I think the quilting sent her over the edge.”
That didn’t make any sense to Priscilla. Clearly Stephen wasn’t interested in Susie so why would she want to deny Stephen happines
s? That was most unusual and unkind. And to try to deliberately hurt his standing in the community by making him look like he left her for Priscilla? She frowned. That couldn’t be what Susie Byler was up to, she realized. In truth, she was trying to damage Priscilla’s reputation so that Stephen wouldn’t be able to marry her. After all, that would not be the first time, Priscilla thought. Didn’t Suzie already try to destroy her reputation, even lying outright to the community and spreading unfounded rumors about her tomato patch?
She felt anxious in the pit of her stomach and she was nauseous. Susie was willing to hurt both Stephen and Priscilla just to satisfy her own loss? How could someone harbor such hatred in her heart?
“Jealousy truly is a sin, isn’t it?”Priscilla said quietly.“If it drives someone to ruin other people’s lives, her jealousy must be awful powerful. I can only imagine how unhappy she must be.”
“Try not to worry too much,”Anna said.“Mayhaps you should speak to the bishop tomorrow after church, ja?”
Priscilla nodded but didn’t respond. She wasn’t one to approach the bishop with her own problems. In fact, she hadn’t done more than share with him simple pleasantries at the greeting line before the sermons on Sundays. Other than that, she hadn’t had much of a need to seek his counsel or engage in conversation with him. She certainly wasn’t relishing the idea of starting now, especially since she wanted to speak to him about a spring baptism. But that thought was mired in apprehension; after all, baptism was the most important commitment a young man or woman undertook in the community. One had to approach it with a clear mind and a pure heart. That commitment could not possibly be shrouded in a veil of malevolence and negative thoughts, whether or not this was the result of another member of the community or stemming from her own reaction to the deeds of the perpetrator.
Chapter Eight
The next day was Church Sunday. Priscilla felt tense and anxious. She remembered that one service during the summer when Susie Byler had been so upset about Priscilla donating her tomatoes to the Mennonite Charity Dinner. Several of the young women had been distant and cold toward her, despite the fact that Priscilla had done nothing wrong. If they had behaved that way over tomatoes, how would they behave now that Susie was accusing her of stealing a quilt pattern?
“What’s ailing you, Dochder?”Daed asked as she slowly picked at her food.“Feeling poorly?”
“Nee,”she said softly.
Jonas scoffed at her.“Bet I know what’s troubling you!”
She snapped her head to glare at her brother.“Nothing is wrong, Jonas.”
He made a face.
Mamm looked from one to the other.“What’s going on, Priscilla? I haven’t seen you so distraught since the summer.”
Jonas raised an eyebrow and nodded.“I wonder if it’s connected.”
“Jonas!”Priscilla whispered harshly.“Don’t.”
Daed set his fork down and whipped his mouth with his thumb.“It’s not that Jacob’s daughter again,”he said by way of a question.
Priscilla didn’t answer.
“She’s been telling everyone that Priscilla stole Stephen Esh from her and then stole her pattern for her wedding quilt from her.”
“Lots of stealing going on, ja?”David chortled.
Mamm pursed her lips and glanced at her husband.“That’s my mamm’spattern. Complicated but not unique.”She shook her head and lowered her eyes.“Stealing quilting patterns! That’s ridiculous. I never heard such nonsense!”
“Mayhaps I should have a talk with Jacob, ja?”Daed said. His eyes narrowed and he frowned.“Enough is enough with this crazy daughter of his.”
Mamm gasped at Daed’s words but Priscilla was quick to interject.
“Nee, Daed,”Priscilla said, shaking her head. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to get involved. She was almost seventeen years old and needed to handle this on her own.“But dankeanyway.”
Yet, the dark shadow on his face didn’t leave.“She keeps this up and she’ll be an old milk maid, helping her daed at the dairy and never getting herself a home of her own. And with a bad reputation, she’ll be nothing more than a burden to her parents!”
“Daed!”Priscilla exclaimed, shocked once again at the vehemence with which he spoke.
He turned back toward his food, picking at it but not eating. It was clear that he was angry.“I’ll not have this unchristian-like behavior against my daughter, ruining her good name!”
“Have you talked to Stephen about this?”David asked, playing with this food on his plate. “Seems he has some pull with her.”He looked at his sister.“It was his attention she was after, anyhow.”
She was amazed at how open everyone was being with her. Such emotions and feelings were usually kept private but the entire family had let loose regarding their feelings about Susie Byler. She was touched by their concern and desire to help her with this situation.
“I…I don’t want to bother Stephen with such silliness,”she said softly. He worked so hard. How could she bother him with such a trivial matter?
“May not be trivial to him,”David said softly.
Her daed glowered.“After all that Stephen did for that family when Jacob was ill! Jacob would be most unhappy to learn what his daughter’s been up to among the community.”
As soon as they had arrived at the Hostetler farm for church service, Priscilla sensed the stares from several of the younger women. She took a deep breath and ignored their hostile looks as she greeted all of the women who stood by the worship room with a handshake and a kiss. Most of the older women smiled at her, apparently not aware of Susie’s horrible lies or, if they were aware, clearly not believing any of her foolishness.
When Priscilla saw Susie standing at the end of the line among a group of young women, she immediately cut short her greetings and moved away to find her mamm. Her heart raced and she lifted her chin, hoping to convey a sense of calm that she didn’t feel. She had noticed Naomi among the women that surrounded Susie Byler. Priscilla felt her pulse quicken. Hadn’t Naomi been at her quilting just a few weeks ago? That would explain how Susie would know which quilt pattern Priscilla had selected since, clearly, Susie wasn’t about to come for any of the quilting bees at the Smucker farm.
It was during the fellowship meal that talk returned to Priscilla’s quilt. Lydia and Lizzie were talking with several of the other elderly women. Priscilla was walking along the table to make certain that everyone had their water cups filled. She was lingering near the women, reaching between Lydia and Lizzie to collect their cups.
“Now this is a sensible young woman,”Lydia said, her hand reaching out to touch Priscilla’s.“Have you heard about Priscilla’s quilt, Katie?”she asked the woman sitting across from her.“It’s the most splendid pattern and such lovely colors.”
“I’ve heard about this quilt,”Katie said.“Heard it was quite special indeed!”
Priscilla flushed.“It was my mamm’s and her mamm’sbefore that. But it’s not uncommon at all,”she added quickly. She glanced at the women, wondering how many of them had heard the accusations against her. But she sensed no animosity among these gentle women. Whether they had heard or not, they were not judging her or believing the slanderous lies from the jealous Susie.
Lydia spoke up.“It’s gutto keep patterns in the family.”
“No one owns patterns,”Priscilla added softly, hoping that enough people heard.
“Well,”Katie said.“I suppose I need to see this amazing quilt. I’ll be certain to stop by for some quilting time next week.”
Several other women nodded their heads in agreement. Priscilla realized that the talk of the quilt had traveled down the table. She noticed Susie’s mother sitting among them. She kept a straight face and did not seem to contribute to the discussion. Clearly, she had her own opinions that were swayed by her daughter’s perspective on the quilting situation.
Taking a deep breath, Priscilla moved away from the table and retreated to the kitchen in order to ref
ill the water pitcher. She was sorry that she had ever decided to make this quilt. It was causing her such a headache, dealing with the public speculation and opinions. Yet, she knew when it was finished, she would have something that she would treasure forever. Unfortunately, it would be tainted by the drama that Susie Byler had created.
“Priscilla,”someone said from behind.
It was the bishop. Priscilla took a deep breath and set the water pitcher down on the counter.“Bishop Zook!”
“I’d like a word in private,”he said, his face expressionless and his eyes dark.
“That’s gut,”she said.“I was hoping to speak to you, too.”
They walked outside of the kitchen in to the yard. There were several people rushing back and forth from the house to the barn where the fellowship tables had been set up. The bishop led Priscilla away from where anyone could overhear their conversation.
“I’ve been hearing some disturbing commentary about your behavior,”he said solemnly.
Priscilla felt the color drain from her face. About her behavior? She wondered if she had heard him properly.“I’m sorry. I...I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“There has been talk of a quilt pattern, that you took the pattern from Susie Byler after her beau started courting you,”the bishop said. He held up his hand to stop Priscilla from speaking, despite the fact that she was speechless.“This is not the first time your name has come to my ears. The first time, I ignored it and even supported you position as I heard that some of the accusations were false.”
“But…”
He silenced her with a steely look.“For a young woman with such an upright reputation in the community, I’m surprised at you, Priscilla Smucker.”
She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.“I had wanted to talk to you, Bishop, about the very same thing. Only I think you have heard a different version of the story.”
“Oh?”he said, raising an eyebrow.
“That quilt pattern is my mamm’s and her mamm’s. I didn’t steal anything, Bishop. And as far as being courted, I never heard that anyone was courting Susie Byler.”Priscilla lifted her eyes to look at the bishop, fighting back the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks.“I’m not certain of the reason for these accusations but they are false, Bishop. I fear it is to make me look poorly in the eyes of the community but I don’t know why.”