The Amish of Ephrata Collection: Contains Four Books: The Tomato Path, The Quilting Bee, The Hope Chest, and The Clothes Line

by Sarah Price

  When she heard the buggy wheels rattling down the driveway, Priscilla turned to look at her mamm. They were both stunned by what they had seen in the paper, even more stunned that it was anonymous. One could easily submit something to the media under a different name or even ask a friend to do it. But Priscilla knew better than that. She knew exactly who had submitted that horrid news story, a story full of lies.

  The men appeared to be in a rather solemn mood as they walked into the house and hung their straw hats on the pegs by the door. It was Stephen who spoke first as he approached Priscilla who was sitting on the sofa, her hands keeping busy with her crocheting.

  He knelt before Priscilla and took one of her hands in his. He brushed his thumb along the back of her hand, staring at it for a long moment as he collected his thoughts.“We went to speak to Bishop Zook. We showed him the newspaper article and what was written. He agreed that it was most likely Susie Byler so he went to her parents’farm,”Stephen said.“He wanted to confront her about it.”

  “Did you go with him, then?”she asked curious about whatever had happened while they were gone.

  “Nee,”he replied, shaking his head.“Your daedand I waited at the bishop’s house. Felt it was better, so that tempers didn’t flare.”

  “What happened, then?”she asked, her eyes wide and sorrowful. Despite the wrong that Susie Byler had done to her, Priscilla still felt some degree of pity for the tormented woman. Her own reflections of the situation made her worry about the woman’s mental stability. If there was something wrong with Susie, perhaps she was not entirely to blame, Priscilla had rationalized.

  “Susie refused to open the door,”he said slowly. He glanced over his shoulder at her daed before he continued.“Her daed and her mammwere nowhere to be found but the bishop said that he saw Susie looking out the kitchen window when he pulled up and the parents’buggy was parked right out front.”

  “Oh help!”Priscilla gasped.“She was looking out the window but wouldn’t open the door? For the bishop? Didn’t she see him?”

  Stephen took a deep breath and exhaled. He looked weary from the day’s events. It had taken an emotional toll on all of them.“She certainly knew why the bishop was there. Didn’t want to face him, I reckon.”

  Priscilla couldn’t imagine what would happen to Susie next. Certainly the bishop would be most irritated at the young woman’s behavior. Still, she was not a baptized member of the church. He couldn’t reprimand her by putting her on warning or even shunning her. Yet, defying the bishop was a serious matter and one that the bishop would not take lightly, of that Priscilla was sure and certain.“So what did he do?”

  “He left a note for the Bylers to visit with him about the matter at hand. That’s all he said to us. Not much more he can do until he sees them.”

  The whole situation seemed surreal. In all of her life, she had never heard of such a thing. How could a person think that she could get away with telling such horrid lies about another? Was her jealousy so strong? Were her insecurities so great?“Well, I will just pray that she gets the help that she needs,”Priscilla replied.“I have much better things to do than to worry about that Susie Byler.”

  With a smile, Stephen covered the top of her hand with his other hand, holding it between his.“The g’mayknows the truth. She’s pulled her little tricks too often. No one believes her anymore. There is nothing else for you to do but to continue being your sweet, godly self, Priscilla Smucker.”

  The color flooded to her cheeks. She wasn’t used to being complimented.“I’m not any more godly than anyone else,”she countered, her eyes downcast.

  He stood up, his knees cracking as he did, and turned to her parents.“While I’m here,”he said slowly.“I heard a story about a young woman wanting her hope chest brought down from the attic. Mayhaps I could help make that happen, ja?”

  It was the perfect thing for Stephen to say to change the mood of the room to a more positive level of energy. Mulling about the reasons behind Susie Byler’s actions, as ridiculous as they were, certainly would help no one. Only Susie knew the answers. So, moving on with life was the best medicine for the continued heartache caused by the jealousy of mean-spirited Susie Byler.

  Chapter Seven

  “She said what?”

  It was as if she was replaying a scene from two summers ago.

  Priscilla had run into Sylvia and Polly at the Dry Goods Store where she had stopped to pick up some material for a new apron; hers had worn through in too many places to fix. She had also wanted to look for a new hymnbook to teach the children new songs for the end-of-the-year picnic. The parents would be coming and she had an entire program outlined so that the children could entertain their parents before it was time for the dinner meal and a game of stickball in the playground.

  Polly shook her head and sighed, her jaw clenched and her expression showing her disgust.“She’s telling everyone that it was not the bishop but Stephen that came to her daed’s farm and banged on the door, threatening her. She claims that they had to get the bishop involved and that now he really is going to shun you and Stephen.”

  “Nee, nee,”Sylvia said as she shook her head.“That’s not what I was told by Naomi and Dorothy. I heard that it was Stephen and Priscilla that went to the farm.”

  “What!”Priscilla felt as if she could scream.“That’s ridiculous!” She stared at her two friends, her eyes wide and full of disbelief. The Amish were non-violent by nature. Of course, there were younger men that might be prone to fighting before they took their kneeling vow and older men who were considered a bit strict in their ways. But violence against each other? Unheard of.“Anyone who knows Stephen would realize that it is an outright lie! And I haven’t been to that side of town since last March! I have no reason to go there.”

  “She’s telling people that the bishop had to get involved because you threatened her.”

  At this, Priscilla heard herself laugh.“I did what?”

  Several people walking down the aisle smiled at her as they passed. They must have heard her laughing. Many of the Amish girls in the community were serious and quiet so hearing a young woman laugh in public was unusual and drew attention from those people who walked nearby.

  “Threatened her,”Sylvia repeated.

  “Ach vell,”Priscilla said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.“I’m starting to find her lies humorous. Whoever heard of such a thing? Threatening her?”

  “Well, you won’t find the next part humorous,”Sylvia said.“She’s telling people that she’s getting a restraining order against you and Stephen.”

  Priscilla blinked, repeating the words in her head.“A what?”

  “A restraining order,”Sylvia repeated.“It’s an Englische legal document that states you cannot be near her.”

  She had never heard of that term before and knew that it was not something that had ever been in their Amish community before. Why on earth would Susie do such a thing?“I don’t know anything about that,”Priscilla said with a frown.“What do you know about it?”

  “Well, as I understand it, the police would come to your house and give you a paper,”Sylvia explained.“My brother knew about it.”

  “The police?”Priscilla didn’t understand. Could the Englische law do such a thing without speaking to her first? Would they accept Susie’s word without question?“Why would she go to the police? I haven’t done anything. Besides, Amish don’t use the Englische law enforcement!”

  “The whole thing is ridiculous,”Polly said and, glancing around to make certain no one was nearby, she lowered her voice.“Personally, I think she seems to have an issue wanting attention, even if she had to lie to get it.”

  Sylvia rolled her eyes.“I have half a mind to say something to her.”

  Sylvia’s words immediately alarmed Priscilla. She knew too well that anyone who came to her defense eventually felt the brunt of Susie’s wrath. Hadn’t Anna encountered a bit of the bullying, too, that summer over the charity auctio
n? And now Stephen and the bishop were under attack?

  “Oh please don’t,”Priscilla pleaded.“If you do, she might start bullying you.”

  Dismissing Priscilla’s fear with a wave of her hand, Sylvia laughed.“I’d like to see her try!”

  With an air of authority, Polly clicked her tongue.“I wouldn’t pay any mind to it, Priscilla. Everyone knows by now how deranged she is,”she said.“Besides, the only people that pay any attention to her are that Naomi and Dorothy.”

  Still, the situation didn’t sit well with Priscilla. She had never said or acted in any way against Susie. She had never spoken one ill word about her, not even in defense of herself. In fact, she had never had any interaction with this woman before the bullying began over the charity auction.

  Speak no ill, even of your enemies, she had always been taught. She also knew that God would protect her, even from slanderous lies from the likes of a misguided young woman in their g’may. Still, as the lies became larger and more ridiculous, it began to wear on her nerves. She simply didn’t know how much longer she could stay quiet.

  The walk home from the store took her almost thirty minutes as it was two miles from her parents’farm. For the entire walk, Priscilla could think of nothing else besides what she had just been told. She didn’t know much about this restraining order claim. Sylvia seemed to think that the police would show up at the farm with this document. The thought of a police car pulling into her parents’lane unnerved her.

  Still, knowing that she had done nothing wrong, she had no fear that such a scene would ever unfold. Even the Englische with their worldly ways and nonsensical laws would see through such a falsehood. Not even Susie Byler could spin such a tale full of lies and deceit that the Englische would not be able to see that she was crazy.

  When she arrived at home, she noticed that her parents’buggy was gone. They must have gone visiting one of her older sisters. Priscilla set her package on the kitchen table and wandered over toward the side room where Stephen and her daed had put her hope chest earlier the previous week. She ran her hands along the smooth wood and paused, thinking about how this would look at the foot of the bed that she would someday share with Stephen.

  She’d have a large garden by the side of the house. Stephen had shown her the exact spot when he had taken her to the farm not so long ago. He insisted that she have the best plot of land so that she could grow her tomato plants. After all, he had teased her, she had grown the most expensive tomatoes in the county.

  He had also pointed out the two windows that were in the main bedroom. The bed would go between the windows and the wedding quilt that she had made two winters prior would decorate the bed. It was at the foot of that bed that wore that quilt where the hope chest would be.

  She knew that it would be there for their entire marriage. When they had children, she might store keepsakes from their infant-hood and school years. She’d keep special letters from family and friends in that hope chest. And one day, God willing, she would prepare both her and Stephen’s funeral clothes and leave them in the hope chest for when they passed into God’s kingdom.

  The hope chest was more than just a place to store things for her new home, she realized. It was a place to store bits and pieces of her life. A happy life began with peace. She knew that from the Bible. She wondered what Susie Byler put in her hope chest, if she even had one. Perhaps that is her problem, Priscilla thought. She just isn’t a happy person because she doesn’t have peace and without peace, there is no true life.

  With a sigh, Priscilla turned around and looked at the empty kitchen. Without her mamm or her brudersin the house, it felt large and lonely. It would feel that way at Stephen’s farm, she realized. During the day, Priscilla would be in the kitchen by herself, cooking and canning food with no help from her mamm. In the mornings and evenings, she’d most likely help her husband with the dairy cows, something she had always enjoyed doing with her daed and bruders, too. There would be times during the year when she would help him in the fields, too.

  It was almost an hour later when her bruders returned. She heard the buggy and jumped up from where she had been seated, cutting out the material for her new apron, in order to hurry to the window to see who it was. David unhitched the horse while Jonas walked quickly toward the house. His face was drawn and serious, the muscles in his jaw tensing as he approached.

  What’s wrong now, she wondered, feeling her heart palpitate as a dozen horrible thoughts raced through her mind.

  “Priscilla!”he called out when he flung open the door.“Oh! There you are.”He approached her, shaking his head.“I need to tell you something. You should sit first, too.”

  Priscilla sighed and lifted her hand to stop her bruder.“Is that that nonsense about how I threatened Susie Byler and she has those Englische police coming after me?”

  “You heard about that?”Jonas asked, stunned that she was so calm.

  “Ja, ja,”she nodded her head as she admitted her awareness.“I saw Polly and Sylvia at the store earlier. They told me all about it.”

  “I heard it from that horrid Naomi Miller and her cousin, Dorothy. They are telling everyone.”He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.“Did you hear about the not Christian part, then?”

  She winced at his words.“The what?”

  He raised an eyebrow.“So you don’t know it all, then,”he said solemnly.“She’s telling people that you don’t believe in God and that you are worshipping other things…ungodly things.”

  It took Priscilla a minute to digest what Jonas was telling her. Worshipping other things? That was a lie of all lies and one that would not please God. Not only was she spreading horrible rumors and making waves, she was creating a bad aura around herself. With Priscilla beginning the instructional that very next day, the accusation that she didn’t truly believe would reflect more on Susie than on Priscilla.

  When will this end, Priscilla wondered.“Is that what she’s saying?”she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  “I’m telling you,”Jonas said, the tone of his voice sounding angry.“Bishop Zook needs to do something about that woman. She’s sick in the head and crazy in the mouth.”

  There was no denying the truth behind Jonas’words. Yet, something about the way that he said them…the force of emotion behind his claim…that made Priscilla sorrowful. There was something about that Susie Byler that made people behave in a heavy-handed manner. Her antics and behavior seemed to pull people away from God, creating dissension and discord. This type of divide was not healthy and Priscilla wanted no more of it.

  Looking up, Priscilla stared at her brother. His face was taunt and his jaw clenched tight. Anger. She recognized the look and knew that she had to stop this before it went any further.

  “Pray for her,”Priscilla said sharply.“She needs our prayers, Jonas, not our scorn.”

  He glared at his sister.“How can you be so kind hearted as to even care about that horrid woman?”

  Defiantly, Priscilla lifted her chin and stared at her bruder. How could he ask such a question? Did not Jesus forgive his persecutors, even as he hung on the cross, his earthly life ebbing from his body as he prepared to join his father?“Because God wants us to forgive her and pray for her.”

  As her words hit him, his shoulders slumped and he lowered his eyes. Priscilla felt bad for snapping at her brother as she reminded him of what was truly important. It wasn’t that Susie Byler continued to slander her good name and reputation. No, Priscilla thought. It is a test from God to see how we respond to such a person. Do we talk with our mouth but not act with our hearts, she asked herself.

  “You are right,”Jonas said.“Her sins need to be forgiven by everyone, not just you.”

  “I suggest that we pray together,”Priscilla said and reached for her brother’s hand. He hesitated before he took her hand, reluctantly acquiescing to her suggestion.

  Silently, they bowed their heads and prayed.

  Chapter Eight
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  It was the next day before church service when Priscilla had a moment to speak with her friends. Susie was standing on one side of the kitchen, surrounded by Naomi and Dorothy, their faces locked in a grimace as they periodically glanced over their shoulders at Priscilla.

  Priscilla ignored them and hurried over to join Polly, Sarah, and Sylvia. They wanted to talk about Susie Byler but Priscilla shook her head, not wanting to waste one more minute of her precious happiness thinking about Susie.

  Her heart had shifted the day before when she had prayed for Susie with her brother. It was as if the burden of the problem left her shoulders and moved elsewhere. Priscilla suspected it moved onto Susie’s, especially if the angry scowl on her face was any indication.

  Priscilla noticed that Susie’s mamm had not attended the service that day. In fact, as she thought about it, she realized that Susie’s mamm hadn’t been to church for over a month. She wondered if her mamm was ill, perhaps from knowing what her dochder was doing and what the community was saying about her.

  “Oh,”she said out loud.“I forgot something in the buggy!”She smiled at her friends.“If you’ll excuse me. I dare not forget it and will need it for the service.”

  Polly raised an eyebrow and, with a knowing smile, nodded her head: En Miener Jugen, the devotional book for youths seeking to take the baptism. Sarah and Sylvia didn’t catch up and for that, Priscilla was grateful.

  She hurried outside, past the clusters of men that were talking before the service. This was the time when everyone got together and shared stories and news. The women tended to congregate in the kitchen of the house where the service was being held while the men stayed outside or in the barn, depending on the weather.

  The buggies were parked all over the yard and driveway. She had to peek at the backs of them to try to identify her daed’s. Jonas and David had arrived later, having ridden in David’s buggy. She suspected they were going to visit their friends after the fellowship meal.