by Sarah Price
The color raced to her cheeks. She lowered her eyes, embarrassed by his candor. But she was also pleased to know that he was not upset about the sermon today. It dawned on her that was the very reason for his visit. Since there was no singing that night, he had come calling at her parents’farm to reassure her that he wasn’t worried about having a soiled reputation or what people had been saying about her. She was still Stephen’s Priscilla.
“I hope so, too,”she replied and lifted her eyes to look at him.
She saw him glance over his shoulder at the door. Her mamm was still at the counter, preparing the food for supper and Daed’s back was to them. Stephen squeezed Priscilla’s hand and leaned over, gently brushing his lips against her cheek. When he pulled back, his eyes returned to the quilt, taking one last look at it.“It will,”he said firmly.“Of that I’m sure and certain.”
They returned to the kitchen. The meal was almost prepared and Priscilla hurried to help her mamm finish dishing the salads and applesauce into serving bowls. She hoped that the color had faded from her cheeks so that her mammdidn’t ask her any questions later. But she still felt tingling on her skin where Stephen had kissed her.
“Where are David and Jonas?”she asked.
Daed looked up.“I believe I heard two buggies leave while I was finishing the milking,”he said.“Must have been important. Jonas was sure driving awfully fast.”
“Must be a lot of courting going on,”Stephen said lightly.“I saw lots of fast moving buggies on the road tonight despite the snow.”
“Was yours one of them?”Daed teased back.
“Daed!”Priscilla reprimanded, the color rising to her cheeks.
Daed laughed. He gestured toward the table.“Come sit. Glad you were able to make it over tonight,”he said. Priscilla raised an eyebrow, realizing that the visit by Stephen at her home might not have been entirely unplanned. Had her parents invited Stephen for supper? She was still wondering this as she heard her daed say,“I’m reading the Budget. Did you read about that farmer in Lititz? Found a skunk hibernating in his barn!”
Stephen laughed and sat down.“Nee. Can’t say that I read that story.”They began to discuss the skunk situation and then began talking about crops for the upcoming spring.
For a moment, Priscilla stood between the doorway and the table. She watched as her daed and Stephen talked so naturally. They bantered back and forth like old friends. It warmed her heart to see that everything was back to normal. There was no discussion about the quilt, no discussion about the Susie Byler situation. Despite the cold, snowy weather outdoors, she felt a glow inside.
In that moment, she saw her future and she was happy. Following God and being a good Christian was more important than anything to her. But being surrounded by the love of her family was just as important. She counted the women of the community as part of that family. She had learned a lot from them during the past few weeks at the quilting bee and she suspected that she would learn a lot more in the upcoming weeks. But, for now, she was at peace with her life. God was blessing her with every gift that He gave her, as if her own life was a quilt with tiny stitches that represented His love.
She realized that the wedding quilt represented so much more than just a pretty pattern and fancy fabric. It represented the love of the community and the love of God. A married couple that slept beneath such a quilt was destined to be a happy one. And, as Priscilla stared at the young man who had made his intentions clear, she knew that her marriage would, indeed, be one of happiness and joy as long as Stephen was beside her.
Part Three: The Hope Chest
Chapter One
Priscilla sat in the attic, the battery-operated lantern on the floor casting a soft glow about the room. There was a large window that faced the east, which brought in bright sunlight in the mornings but deep shadows in the late afternoons. It was late March and the sun was setting on the western side of the farmhouse.
As the days had begun to warm up in March, she often snuck upstairs to the attic. The door always squeaked as she opened it, causing Priscilla to glance over her shoulder and make certain her mamm didn’t spot her. Only after she knew that she hadn’t been spotted, she would quietly steal up the creaky wooden stairs. Holding a battery-operated lantern in her hand, she would set it on the floor before the chest and, with shaking hands, she would reach down to open the lid.
Her daed had said that he would bring it downstairs in the springtime after the crops were planted. Then she could stare at the beautiful items that were held within the hope chest without worrying about her mamm seeing or her brudersteasing her. She didn’t want to appear vain or proud. But her curiosity seemed to get the best of her, no matter how hard she tried to control it.
It was a beautiful hope chest, made of cedar wood and adorned with a carved heart on its front panel. Two birds flew toward either side of the heart, ribbons in their beaks. The hope chest was the symbol of every young Amish woman’s dreams: two lives coming together for the very happiest future possible while living under the love and protection of the Lord. The carvings were not an expression of pride or vanity from the part of the maker or the recipient but rather a testimony to the sanctity of a girl’s future wedding; a union that would perpetrate the traditional values engrained within the Amish community since centuries past.
Priscilla shut her eyes for a brief moment and breathed deeply. This summer, it would be two years since she had started courting Stephen Esh. That time seemed to have flown by quickly. During the first year, she had seen him without fail every other weekend. He made a point of stopping by the house to take her to the singings in the evenings following church service. Just this past autumn, Stephen had also begun to come visit on Saturday evenings when they didn’t have church the next day. It had taken her a while to get used to him showing up at the house. Yet, her family accepted him into their hearts and home as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
For Priscilla, it was more than natural.
While he hadn’t asked her yet, she knew that Stephen Esh was the man for her. He was the man with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life, to father her kinner and work the farm, to grow old together and share in life’s little joys. Stephen Esh was a good God-loving man and she knew that their future would be long and bright.
Peering into the chest, Priscilla smiled as she saw the pretty embroidered tablecloth and handkerchiefs that she had added just the other week. Simple and white, the tablecloth would look lovely on her table for special occasions such as First Christmas and Easter supper. She had embroidered tiny flowers on the corners. It hadn’t taken very long, especially since it had snowed so much that week. With the skies so gray and the air so cold, Priscilla was thankful for an excuse to remain inside where it was warm and work on her embroidering next to the family’s old cast iron wood stove.
As to the handkerchiefs, she would take those in her pocket when she went to Sunday worship or singings. She had also made a few extra ones to give as gifts to her friends, Polly and Sarah. For those gifts, she had embroidered small sparrows, her favorite birds, along the edges. She would give those gifts to her friends when it was her wedding day, a special thank you for all of their support during the past year. It was a token of their friendship that had continued to grow, despite the best efforts of Susie Byler to make Priscilla look bad in the eyes of the community.
No, Priscilla thought. Even Susie Byler with her horrible falsehoods and accusations hadn’t been able to drive a wedge between Stephen and her that first summer. Just as important, her friends had stood by her when some members of the community had wondered if there was any truth to Susie’s mean and crazy attempts to discredit Priscilla as the good Amish woman that she strove to be.
For a moment, she shut her eyes and thought about the last time she had been with Stephen. Whenever he was near her, she felt light-headed with joy. The way he moved and the way he looked at her, even the way his eyes sparkled when he snuck a peek in her direction, ma
de her pulse quicken. Oh, she thought, to be happily married to him at last and to begin their life together!
“Pricilla? You upstairs again?”
Startled out of her daydream, she quickly shut the lid of the hope chest.“Ja, Mamm.”Resting her hand atop the chest, she stood up and hurried down the stairs. Her cheeks were flushed, embarrassed that her mamm had caught her, once again, in the attic gazing at the contents of the chest.
“Honestly, dochder,”her mamm said when Priscilla walked into the kitchen.“A little less daydreaming would be right gut, ain’t so?”
“Sorry, Mamm,”Priscilla admitted as she set the table for the noon meal. She hadn’t realized that it was so close to dinnertime and immediately regretted that she had left her mamm working alone for so long.
No sooner had Priscilla placed the last plate on the table than the door opened and her two brothers walked in ahead of their daed. Their cheeks were bright pink from the cold weather and their eyes bright from having been outside.
“Starting to warm up a bit, I think,”Daed said as he washed his hands at the kitchen sink.“Fields are all plowed and ready for planting. Had a late start this year from all that snow.”
Priscilla looked up, surprised by her daed’s comment.“It’s not too late, is it? Being almost April and all.”
He shrugged.“Ja, a bit. The boys and I will get started early morning, seeing that the forecast is good for a few days.”
Mamm looked at the calendar that hung on the kitchen wall by the refrigerator.“You plant now, you are only a week or so late, I reckon,”she pointed out.“Not certain how that will make up on the back end for harvesting.” She placed the bowls of piping hot boiled potatoes on the table and motioned for Priscilla to bring over the other bowls of hot food.“But it sure is nice to have warm weather once again.”
Once everyone was seated, they bowed their heads in silent prayer. Priscilla thanked the good Lord for the food that was on the table and the many blessings that He bestowed upon her family and the community. She barely heard her daed clear his throat, signaling the end of the pre-meal prayer.
For the next few minutes, plates were passed around, first to daed then to the boys before finally making their way to Priscilla and her mamm. The clinking of the mismatched tableware and bowls broke the silence as everyone filled their plates. The dinner meal was the heaviest meal on the farm. It would provide them all with energy to face the long afternoon of work, both in the house and in the barn.
“Bishop stopped by earlier,”her daed said, breaking the silence as he began to cut a piece of the meatloaf.
Priscilla looked up and frowned at her daed. The bishop didn’t often visit with the members of the community unless he was invited or unless there was a problem. Since no one had mentioned inviting the bishop to fellowship in the past few months, she had the sinking feeling that something was amiss.
“Ja?”Mamm responded, raising an eyebrow as she glanced from her husband to her daughter. Clearly, she was as surprised as Priscilla by the announcement.“A social visit during planting time?”
He hesitated before responding, taking the moment to savor the food. With his eyes shut, he smacked his lips together.“Your meat loaf,”he started.“The best in the church district, if I may say so myself.”
“Daed?”Priscilla prodded.“The bishop?”
He set his fork down and looked at her.“Ja, I did mention he stopped by for a visit,”he started slowly. From the expression on his face, Priscilla could tell that it wasn’t bad news and, for that, she was thankful.“Seems like the teacher got into a little accident and broke her leg.”
Mamm gasped.“I hadn’t heard any of that! When did this happen?”
“Just yesterday, it seems. School needs a replacement teacher until they let out at the end of May. Bishop Zook asked if you, Priscilla, might be able to step in to help.”
For a long moment, the room fell silent. Four pairs of eyes stared at Priscilla and mouths hung open in wonder. To be asked to help the children, to be a teacher for the next two months, was not something to be taken lightly. It was a big job and quite an honor, especially after all of the Susie Byler fuss earlier in the winter and last summer.
“Oh my,”Priscilla whispered. Her heart began to flutter. To be a teacher? To teach the children? She’d have to work outside of the home and away from the farm every day. She’d even work on some Saturdays, helping the older children with their journals and math, since they stopped attending school at eighth grade. “I’ve never taught before! Why would he ask me?”
Her daed shrugged as he lifted a fork loaded with meatloaf toward his mouth.“Don’t rightly know why but he sure was confident that you’d be a right gut substitute.”
“What did you tell him, Daed?”
Her father frowned and lowered the fork, shaking his head at his daughter.“Now, you know I’d no sooner commit you to something like that than I would make any other important decision for the family without discussion. It impacts more than just you, Priscilla,”he pointed out.“Impacts all of us, truth be told.”
“I don’t know what to say,”she replied softly and looked at her mamm as if pleading for guidance. “I’d have Katie and Ben as students, too. Would they respect me as their teacher?”
Her mamm smiled.“That’s up to you to ensurethat it happens, ja?”She reached over and touched Priscilla’s hand.“But they are raised well. There’s no reason that they wouldn’t pay you proper respect.”
“But who will help you with chores?”Priscilla asked.
“I can manage on my own. Plus, you’d be here in the afternoons to help,”her mamm reassured her.
“Priscilla’s going to be a teacher,”Jonas teased. His older brother, David, nudged him to be quiet.
“You’d earn some money,”Daed added.“Might be nice to have some extra cash on hand in case there is anything you need to buy in the upcoming year or so.”
She knew exactly what her daedmeant, despite not actually saying it. In early March, Priscilla would turn eighteen. Most likely, she’d take her kneeling vow in the autumn so that, if Stephen asked, she could marry him shortly after. Most young couples got married in November and December, although some couples were getting married in May to help break up the wedding season. With Stephen being older and already established with his own farm, she doubted he would want to wait much longer. So, to her daed’s point, there would be a lot of extra expenses in setting up a new home together should that event take place. The next few months would go by quickly after all.
“I reckon I could do this,”she said out loud, but mostly to herself.“It can’t be too hard.”
“And you’d be helping those students who don’t have a teacher right now,”Mamm added.“It would be a good experience, too. One can learn a lot from helping others to learn.”Clearly, her mamm approved of the idea and was trying to point out the positive aspects of the proposition.
Without further hesitation, Priscilla nodded her head and smiled.“Then I guess I’ll be a teacher for the next two months!”
Daed looked as pleased with her decision as Mamm did.“After dinner, we’ll ride to the Zook farm and tell them the news. You’ll probably spend the rest of today reviewing teacher notes and lesson plans, I reckon.”
Priscilla looked at her mamm, feeling guilty that the burden of the chores would fall on her alone.“I can help you later this afternoon, Mamm.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing,”her mammresponded.“If you take this job, those students are your priority. Education is important.”
Priscilla bowed her head, humbled by this great task that had been offered to her. She knew that her absence from the house would be a burden to her mamm. After all, there were still a lot of chores to do, even with only three grown children living in the house. One day, David or Jonas would take a wife and live in the house, raising their families there and, eventually, taking over the farm. Then, Mamm wouldn’t have so many chores to do or, at least, she would have some help f
rom the new daughters-in-law and, eventually, their kinner.
“I understand, Mamm,”Priscilla finally said, a sense of humility in her voice.“I won’t take this responsibility lightly.”
Chapter Two
The small cream-colored building seemed unfamiliar to Priscilla, smaller than her memories from eight years of sitting inside it as a student. Today, she approached the schoolhouse, not as a student but as the teacher. Had it only been three years since she stopped attending school?
As she pushed open the metal gate and walked up the path to the front door, she smiled, remembering how she used to study under the big oak tree behind the playground instead of playing on the swings with her friends. Unlike her brothers, she always loved school and studying. Reading and writing were her favorite subjects. She especially enjoyed reading the different books that the school let the children borrow, all approved by the church and families, of course. She hoped that she could instill the same sense of respect for the different subjects as her teachers had done for her.
“Teacher’s here!”one of the children yelled. Several children were already at the school, playing in the schoolyard. Two little girls, one in a blue dress and the other in a green one, sat on the front step by the door of the one-room schoolhouse. Their hair was neatly rolled back and pinned in a bun that was held under their prayer kapps. They looked up when they saw Priscilla approach the building and smiled.
“Gut mariye, Teacher,”the one little girl said. Priscilla recognized her as Gideon Fischer’s dochder, Lizzie.
“Hello Lizzie,”Priscilla greeted her.“And gut mariyeto you both.”
Using the small key that the bishop gave her the previous evening, Priscilla unlocked the door and entered the building. Slowly, she walked down the aisle toward the front of the room. If she remembered correctly, the girls sat on the left side and the boys on the right. She wondered if the current teacher had changed that.
Bright sunshine filled the room, the morning sun beaming through the windows. Children’s drawings covered the bulletin board and a big green chalkboard filled the back wall. A happy place, Priscilla thought as she walked past the bookcase and ran her fingers along the spines of the books: The Story of the Bible, Singing Mountains, Pepper in Her Pie. She remembered some of those books from when she attended the school, the pleasant stories that taught good values and strong morals.