Katie Opens Her Heart

by Jerry S. Eicher

  Katie hoped no one could hear the loud beating of her heart.

  Esther tapped Roy on his shoulder.

  He turned around, a broad smile on his face. “Well, who have we here?” Roy teased, holding out his hand to Katie.

  Katie tried to still her trembling as she took his hand.

  “Katie Raber,” Esther said before Katie could answer. “I invited her like you said, and here we are.”

  “I’m glad you could come, Katie,” Roy said. “You’re just in time. We have some games planned first, and then we’ll eat cake and ice cream later. That’s what Esther is looking forward to.”

  “I am not.” Esther slapped Roy’s arm. “You make me sound like a spoiled child.”

  Roy laughed and turned back to Katie. “Here, let me introduce you to some of the others. Over here is Harold Kargel, of local fame for his volleyball spikes, and his sister Margaret who is almost as good.”

  Roy was summoned to the kitchen just as Katie got out a “Hi” to the two youth.

  “I’m glad you could come,” Margaret said. “You work with Esther at Byler’s, right?”

  “Yah,” Katie replied.

  “Do you live in the Amish community near there?”

  “Yah,” Katie repeated.

  “Why don’t you ever stop in at Byler’s for lunch, Harold?” Esther asked, punching him lightly in the ribs. “Are we too lowbrow for your high standards or what?”

  “Maybe I like my mother’s sandwiches for lunch,” Harold said. “Besides, they’re cheaper than Byler’s.”

  “I could fix you up with the most scrumptious meat sandwich with your choice of cheese,” Esther said. “Add coleslaw and pork and beans, and it can’t be beat.”

  Harold laughed. “Maybe I just don’t want to see you.”

  Esther made a face at him before smiling. The others joined in the laughter.

  “Come on,” Margaret whispered in Katie’s ear. “Let me show you around since Esther has the boys entertained.”

  “If that’s okay with Esther,” Katie replied, glancing in Esther’s direction. “She brought me.”

  “Esther doesn’t care,” Margaret assured her, leading Katie away. “Is this your first young folks gathering with us? It must be because I haven’t seen you before.”

  “Yah. Roy invited me through Esther. He saw me working at Byler’s.”

  “We don’t have that large a group compared to your Amish community,” Margaret said. “We’re always glad when someone new shows up.”

  Katie opened her mouth to say that she was the one who was really thankful that Margaret was being so nice to her. But her new friend was already introducing her to another girl so the words died in her mouth.

  “Katie, this is Sharon Watson,” Margaret was saying. “She’s a good friend of mine and a darling at making quilts. She and her mom can outwork even our experienced women without even trying.”

  “Now that’s not a nice thing to say,” Sharon countered, offering Katie a smile. “Don’t pay any attention to what Margaret tells you. She exaggerates.”

  “You know it’s true,” Margaret shot back. “All the two of you have is that little sign out in the front yard, and you sell quilts faster than you can make them.”

  Katie stared at Sharon. Did she also live alone with her mamm? Sharon looked perfectly normal, so perhaps a mother and daughter could make it alone. Did she dare ask whether Sharon’s daett had passed away?

  “So what brings you here tonight, Katie?” Sharon asked.

  “Roy invited me through Esther,” Katie said. “Because… well…he comes through Byler’s once in awhile, which is where Esther and I work.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Sharon said. “I hope you feel very welcome here.”

  “Thanks,” Katie said, glancing at the floor.

  They were being so nice. Was it put on or did they really mean it? Perhaps they gave a special welcome to all visitors? A welcome that would soon be taken away once they really knew her. But could that possibly be true? These girls seemed much too nice for that.

  Margaret touched Katie’s arm as the flow of young people moved toward the back of the barn. “It looks like everyone’s moving out to the other barn to play volleyball. Shall we join them?”

  “I love to play volleyball!” Sharon exclaimed. “What about you, Katie?”

  “Yah, of course,” Katie said as she followed the two girls through the back door and into an even larger barn where the ceiling went so high Katie had to put her head way back to see the top.

  Cobwebs hung high in the air, lit up by bright lights from a string of electric flood lamps attached along the walls. Katie shivered as the thought of Mamm flashed through her mind. It must be dark outside by now, and Mamm would be waiting by the kitchen table or looking out the living room window wondering what she was doing. And here she was at a Mennonite gathering with electric lights hanging from the ceiling. Mamm would be so horrified she’d pass out. Katie pushed the thoughts away and turned her attention back to the two girls. She was determined to enjoy every minute of her time with them, even if it turned out they were only nice to newcomers.

  Across the barn floor a boy shouted out instructions. “Everybody get themselves to one side or the other.”

  “Come on!” Sharon said. “Katie, you can be on our side.”

  Katie hesitated and then joined the two girls on one side of the net.

  Sounds of laughter rose all around her and Katie froze for a second, and then she relaxed. Nee, these people weren’t laughing at her. No one was even staring at her. Instead, a boy was motioning everyone to their places around the net, waving his hands about. There seemed to be no rhythm or pattern to the boy’s decisions, other than making sure an equal number of boys and girls ended up on both sides of the net. Katie found herself standing on the far side with boys she’d never seen before on either side of her. Sharon was also on her end, but positioned further back. Margaret had been moved to the other side to make the teams even. The boy who had directed the two teams to their places was now hollering, “Come on! Come on! Get ready to start.”

  A girl on the opposite side was twirling a volleyball around in her hands. She soon backed up to the far corner to give the ball a good whack.

  “This is the deciding ball,” the boy hollered again. “The team who gets the first point starts the game.”

  She knew all that, Katie thought, but they sure were starting the game fast and without a lot of fuss. On the other side of the barn, it looked like another game was also getting ready to begin. Katie pulled her eyes away and kept her gaze on the ball as it came over the net. The two boys beside her tensed up, but the arc carried the ball well over their heads.

  On the bounce back, the other team sent it over to the left side of the court. Katie was sure it would be out of bounds, but a girl playing the spot chose not to take the chance. With both hands held together, she sent the ball back across. This time it returned with such force that everyone stayed away as the ball bounced out of bounds.

  “Yeah! It’s ours!” the boy to Katie’s left hollered in triumph. He offered his hand to Katie as the server on their side prepared to start the game. “Hi! How are you tonight? Name’s Bryan.”

  “Katie,” she said, speaking over the murmur of voices around her.

  “Glad to have you here.” Bryan pointed to the boy on the other side of her. “That’s John, the bad one. You want to watch yourself around him.”

  Katie laughed. Bryan was teasing, she was sure. But the fact that he’d been so nice to her caused her not to care if he was giving her a hard time. He at least had spoken to her. She could hardly believe it.

  “Hi!”

  Katie turned to offer her hand to John. “I’m sure you’re not as bad as he makes you sound.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” John said with a grin. “I have my moments.”

  The girl in the server’s spot launched the ball, and the other team sent it back with force as everyone t
raced its flight. Katie readied herself. At the last minute she saw the ball would travel to the left, so she stepped back as Bryan stepped forward. He sent the ball flying back to the other side, where it was set up and spiked successfully.

  “You don’t have to be shy of us,” Bryan told Katie. “You can see I didn’t do too well. Just step right in and give it a try. And we’re not much into counting scores. It’s all about playing the game.”

  Katie took a deep breath and smiled. Five minutes later the ball came within her reach, and she stepped up and sent it back to the right side of the court. A girl tried to set the ball up for the front row but failed. The result was a sluggish return, which was set up and spiked by Katie’s side.

  “There you go!” John cheered. “That was great. Almost as good as Bryan could do.”

  Katie relaxed even more. This was much better than she’d expected. If Mamm could only see her now, perhaps she would understand. Was that possible? Had Mamm ever had this sort of fun? Katie’s face darkened. There was no way Mamm would think any of this was right…or fun. She was, no doubt, even now weeping over her rebellious daughter. Katie shoved the dark thoughts away, concentrating on the ball as it flew back and forth over the net. She made herself listen to the happy chatter John and Bryan were keeping up. They were including her, and she didn’t even have to try to fit in. It was almost as if she belonged—and had always belonged—among them.

  Chapter Nineteen

  More than an hour later, Katie stood between Margaret and Sharon as the entire gathering sang the “Happy Birthday” song to Roy. The chorus ended with a round of applause and broad smiles as Roy blew out the candles on top of a white-frosted, stacked birthday cake. “ To many more happy years!” a boy shouted, and there was another round of hand clapping.

  Roy’s mother gave him a big hug and then cut the cake. She motioned for a line to form in front of the table where fruit, ice cream, and two additional cakes were laid out.

  What a wunderbah group of people, Katie thought as she stood in line with Margaret and Sharon and listened to the friendly chatter around her. As she moved nearer to the front of the line, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Roy, a plate splattered with cake crumbs in his hand.

  “Have you had a good time so far?” he asked above the noise.

  Katie felt her face turning red, so she glanced away before answering. “It’s been a lot of fun, Roy. Thank you for inviting me.”

  “You’re welcome!” he said. “I hope you come to more of our gatherings.”

  When Katie didn’t say anything, he added, “You’re always welcome, you know. And Esther will be willing to pick you up, I’m sure.”

  “Thank you so much for everything,” Katie responded, finally meeting his eyes.

  He smiled before moving away to speak with someone in line behind her.

  Katie took several deep breaths when Roy was gone as she tried to slow the pounding of her heart. She mustn’t read too much into this, she told herself again and again. Tomorrow would come, and she would be back to the same old Katie. But right now she felt lightheaded and very happy all at the same time. Oh, if Mamm could only see how much gut this party is doing for me! Perhaps she wouldn’t be so opposed to me coming back.

  Katie wondered why she was having so much fun tonight, and yet she’d seldom enjoyed herself at Amish youth gatherings. Was she acting in a different way from what she usually did at Amish gatherings? If so, how? She certainly wasn’t trying to act differently—it just felt different. And she seemed to have nothing to do with it at all.

  Ahead of her Margaret had a plate in one hand and was dipping ice cream with the other. She turned to Katie. “Do you want some?”

  “Yah, but I can get it myself,” Katie said. “You don’t have to wait on me.”

  Margaret laughed. “The dipper’s sticky, so I might as well dip for you too now that my fingers are already in it.”

  “Okay.” Katie held out her plate. “Thanks. Only one scoop, please.”

  Roy’s mother must have noticed the stickiness problem because she came up with a washcloth. She wiped Margaret’s fingers, the two women laughing the whole time. Roy’s mother cleaned the dipper next, and soon the line was moving past the ice cream bucket again.

  Sharon had disappeared into the crowd, but Margaret stayed close to Katie while they ate, making sure she was included in the conversation.

  Katie was almost finished with her food, when Esther showed up, apparently out of nowhere. Margaret jumped up and offered Esther her chair.

  “No, no!” Esther told her. “Stay sitting. I’m only here to see if Katie’s ready to go. I need to get on the road.”

  “Just a few more bites,” Katie said as she gulped down the cold ice cream.

  “You’ll give the poor girl a frozen throat,” Margaret protested.

  Katie stood up. “I’m fine. And thanks, Margaret, for helping make this such a great evening. Will you thank Sharon for me as well? I don’t know where she got to.”

  “Sure,” Margaret said. “And you’re very welcome. I’ll tell Sharon you enjoyed the evening.”

  Esther motioned with her hand for Katie to hurry. “Over here’s the place to leave your plate. And we’d better stop by and say goodbye to Roy. We can’t leave the birthday boy without giving our last good wishes.”

  Katie stayed close to Esther as they made their way across the room. Already the crowd had begun to thin out. They spotted Roy standing near the door, shaking hands with departing guests.

  “Leaving already?” he teased Esther and Katie with a grin.

  “You know we have to go,” Esther said. “It’s already past my bedtime, and I have to work tomorrow.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Roy said. “And you too, Katie. Stop by our youth gatherings again sometime.”

  “I will,” Katie almost said, but she choked back the words. “Thank you for the invitation,” she said instead. “It’s been so nice.”

  When Roy turned to the person behind them, Katie took one last, quick look around the barn before following Esther outside. If this never happened again, she wanted the memory of her time here stuck in her mind so it would never be lost. She’d felt so normal and at home tonight. Roy had no idea what he’d done for her. He might think she’d done him a favor by coming to his birthday party, but it was really the other way around.

  “What a night!” Esther sighed as she opened the car door. “I’ll be paying for this tomorrow though. Mrs. Cole will chew me out if I can’t stay awake at the deli counter.”

  “It was a very nice evening,” Katie agreed, sliding into the passenger car seat.

  Esther started the car, backed up, and pulled out onto the road.

  Katie settled back in her seat and hung on to the armrest. The ride back with Esther was even scarier in the dark, Katie decided. Her friend drove like a mad woman, and the shadows seemed to dance along the side of the road as they passed. Katie prayed Da Hah would see fit to get them home safely. Mamm would be sure judgment had struck if they were found dead tomorrow morning and the car was wrapped around a tree.

  Fifteen minutes later, at the sight of her home place in the shadows ahead, Katie breathed a silent “Thank You, dear Hah.”

  Esther slowed down just enough to make the turn into the driveway, bouncing the car across the ruts in the road. Coming to a halt near the hitching post, she turned to Katie with a cheerful, “Here we are, safe and sound!”

  Katie reached for the door latch. “Thank you for the ride, Esther. And for inviting me to the birthday party.”

  Esther smiled brightly. “No problem. Let me know if you need a ride again sometime.”

  “I probably won’t get any more birthday invitations,” Katie said as she climbed out of the vehicle.

  Esther shrugged. “You don’t need an invitation to come to our regular gatherings. You seemed to enjoy yourself tonight, and we enjoyed having you. Just let me know when you want to come and need a ride.”

  “O
kay, I’ll see,” Katie said. She stepped back from the car and waited while Esther turned around and then roared out the driveway. Katie pivoted and walked toward the house, noticing a dim light coming from the kitchen window. She halted.

  Mamm was up waiting like she said she would be. Katie forced her feet forward. She moved up the steps, through the front door, and tiptoed across the living room to peak into the kitchen. Yah, there was Mamm, her eyes closed, her head resting on her arms, which were resting on the kitchen table. The kerosene lamp was burning in front of her. How Mamm could be sleeping with all the noise Esther had made coming in and going out the driveway was amazing.

  Should she tiptoe on upstairs and let Mamm wake up later? Katie didn’t think too long on that question. That wouldn’t be right, she decided. Mamm might wake up hours from now and think her daughter still hadn’t come home. Mamm had already been through enough tonight without adding to her distress.

  “Mamm!” she said quietly as she slipped into the chair beside her. She slid her arm around Mamm’s shoulder. “Mamm, I’m home.”

  Mamm awoke with a start and called out in alarm.

  “It’s me, Mamm,” Katie said again. “I’m home.”

  Mamm was silent. She was shivering, and she wouldn’t look at Katie.

  “Come,” Katie said gently as she pulled on Mamm’s arm. Glancing up at the round clock on the kitchen wall, Katie said, “You should be in bed by now instead of waiting up for me. It’s close to midnight.”

  “What have they done to you?” Mamm looked Katie over like she didn’t know her.

  “Nothing, Mamm. I’m just happy. Isn’t that a gut thing to have happen?”