On the buggy ride home, Betty spoke to Hannah from the front seat, “You did right today in turning down Ben, Hannah.”
“I didn’t want him,” Hannah retorted.
“I know,” Betty said, smiling. “Keep saying ‘no,’ to everyone else. You’re writing, remember?”
“Would you stop talking in riddles?” Steve demanded. “What are you two talking about?”
“Oh, nothing,” Betty said.
Steve raised his eyebrows and slapped the reins. Obviously there was little use digging deeper now. Hannah doubted if Betty would tell him in front of everyone anyway. He would probably inquire later. As likely as not, he’d conclude it was all just women’s talk and forget the matter.
Jake had no way to know about the planned youth gathering when he arrived at Bishop Nisley’s the following Saturday around three. He ambled in, relaxed and ready to be off the mountain for the weekend.
“It’s at six o’clock,” Elizabeth told him, “after supper, of course. We’re having popcorn and cider and, of course, playing volleyball.”
“A youth gathering?” Jake’s eyes were big.
“Jah,” she said, “John planned it last Sunday.”
“Are there enough youth to make a team?”
“Probably not,” she said, “but some of us married folk will come too. We have to, you know, with how many young people there are.”
“Do you play too?” Jake asked dubiously.
“Now, now,” she said, “don’t be down on us old folks. We grew up playing volleyball.”
“I guess you’re not really too old,” he ventured. “It’s just that the bishop thing makes you think old.”
“Well,” Elizabeth said, “church does weigh John down sometimes, but we haven’t had it too bad. The people around here are real nice. Of course, being a young church helps. People try harder to get along when there’s only a few of us.”
Jake nodded.
“There’s also the Sunday night singing this weekend. Do you think you can stay for that?”
Jake thought about it. This was obviously an important question. If he stayed and joined in, the bishop’s estimation of him would likely go up. Yet, how was he to get back to work by Monday morning?
“I’m not sure,” he finally said. “I need to be back at the cabin for work by five the next morning.”
“Maybe something can be worked out,” Elizabeth suggested. “We rarely have visiting young people for the singings. It would be a real treat.”
Jake still wasn’t sure how he would be able to stay, but this definitely needed to be thought out. “I’ll try,” he said, finally agreeing. “I’ll ask the bishop about transportation. He might have some ideas.”
He could tell by her smile he had said the right thing.
A few minutes later, John appeared and asked if Jake would help him set up the volleyball net.
“Sure,” Jake said and got up to follow John outside. This could also be his opportunity to approach the bishop about the Sunday night matter.
Together they pushed John’s two buggies outside to use as end posts. They spread the net out on the ground to judge the distance and then parked the buggies, one on either side of the loose net. Next they tied the strings around the middle of the buggies. With the net tight, they placed pieces of logs under one side of the buggy wheels to raise the net to the proper height.
John’s single buggy wasn’t much of a problem to lift, but the surrey required both of them to lift each wheel while they pushed the log blocks in place with their feet. Once this had been done, they retightened the strings on the net and pulled the top of the net level with the top of the buggies. The result was Amish to the core—two tilted buggies on wood blocks holding a volleyball net taut.
As they examined their handiwork, Jake took his chance.
“Elizabeth says you’re having a hymn singing this weekend.”
“Yes,” John said. “We’d really like to have you stay. There are so few youth here. We might as well make the most out of your summer with us.”
“How can I get back in time for work on Monday?” Jake asked. “I usually use Sunday afternoons to get back up the mountain. I have to be there by five in the morning.”
“We’ll think of something,” John assured him. “There are a few of the Mennonite people who come to our hymn sings. I will ask one of them to give you a ride. If that doesn’t work, there are English drivers we can hire to take you back.”
“That would be kind of expensive, wouldn’t it?” Jake didn’t make that much money to spend it on further taxi services.
“Yes,” John said, “it would be. Let’s just hope one of the Mennonites can do it.”
Jake agreed. Apparently this was simply a risk he would have to take. Elizabeth then opened the kitchen door and called out, “Supper’s ready.”
“Well, we’d better go eat before the crowd gets here,” John said with a quick laugh and headed for the house with Jake close behind him.
Twenty
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon back in Indiana when Sam went upstairs to write to Hannah. He sat on a chair by an old oak cabinet handed down from past generations and thought long and hard about what he should say. He felt that his next letter or two could be a watershed of sorts, and so they needed to be just right. Pen poised, he took his time to compose the words.
Confidently he began.
Dear Hannah,
Christian greetings in our Lord and Savior’s name. I received your welcome letter. The news was very interesting. Things around here are about the same as always. The youth have their regular planned things, and I go. It’s not the same, though, without you here.
No really big news. No funerals or that sort of thing. Mom’s busy downstairs and will have supper ready soon. I’m so glad we’re writing. I guess it is second-best to seeing you. I look forward to that when you come back.
My feelings are really strong about this. I see it as the right thing, the way our lives have crossed so many times before. I am still sorry for hurting you that night when we played the game at your place. Yet, as our preachers have always said, God works in mysterious ways, and I cannot but see the hand of God guiding us together.
My joy is great that you see it also. I will wait for your next welcome letter.
Yours truly,
Sam Knepp
Sam sealed the envelope and set the letter on the cabinet, ready for Monday’s mail. He let his eyes skim over the address and her name one more time. It is all too much, he told himself, and yet it is so true.
Hannah stood in the yard with Prince, stroking his neck as both enjoyed the sun’s last afternoon rays. Prince lifted his head toward the road as if he expected someone to pull in the driveway and require him to take another run up the trail.
“It’s over for the day,” Hannah assured him. “You’ve done your duty…and then some.”
She had reveled in early summer weather all day. It was an absolute delight—warm, yet without the humidity the East had.
The sun felt so good that Hannah couldn’t bear to go inside yet. Prince seemed reluctant to end his day too. Surely there would be time for a quick ride before she had to leave for the youth gathering.
“How about we take just a short ride?” Hannah said as she ran her hand across Prince’s head.
He neighed, and she laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Quickly she tied him to the fence and ran inside. She stuck her head through the kitchen doorway and told Betty, “I’m going for a ride.”
“Be careful and be back in time for the youth gathering tonight.”
“Yes, I will,” Hannah shouted through the screen door.
She stroked Prince’s long neck again before she mounted.
With the reins in her hand, Hannah said, “You’re a wonderful horse—a real beauty.” She then placed her foot in the stirrup and swung herself up onto the saddle.
Prince bounced his head, eager to start out.
She
let him walk until they got to the river. There she stopped, overcome again with the beauty and grandeur of this land. The water of the Kootenai seemed to flow faster than it had the last time she was here, the ripples more pronounced even out in the middle of the wide body of water.
“It looks wild,” she told Prince. “Of course, all of this country is wild.”
She breathed in deeply, overcome with the joy that filled her. With a turn of the reins, she headed Prince north and reached the plateau along the river. There she let Prince have his head. They galloped, the wind rushing past her face, until she saw the end of the trail ahead and pulled back on his reins. As he slowed, she gave herself over to the joy of the ride and laughed heartily. Prince snorted loudly as if to echo her exuberance.
“You’re a good horse,” she said and turned him around. “Now, let’s trot back. One run like that is enough for you. You’ve worked hard all day already and here I go making you work even harder.”
On the way back, Hannah was fascinated by the clear blue sky above. It seemed to open into one giant expanse and go on and on forever. A few fluffy clouds hung on the horizon, but the rest was just blue and more blue.
“God is really something,” she told Prince. “How did He make all of this? Then He made you and me, and He makes it all work together. Well, unless we mess it up, of course.” Hannah patted the horse on the neck. “I don’t mean you, Prince. You are just a horse. It’s people who mess things up. Look at me and what I’ve done. But I will straighten it out, though, and be a good girl. Do you think I’ll make a good wife for Sam, Prince?”
Prince simply trotted along and snorted again.
“That’s what I think,” Hannah said, laughing. “Sam? I guess it’s a nice name, like Betty said, but doesn’t it take more than a nice name? Doesn’t there have to be love? See, Prince, there I go again—dreaming. Of course, Sam will love me. In the way that a farmer loves his wife, we will grow old together…work the land…with a dozen children probably. I’m sure Sam wants that many to help on the farm, of course. Little old me, I’ll just be a farmer’s wife. Do you think God wants that, Prince? He wants me to obey my parents, don’t you think?”
This time Prince jerked his neck.
“I thought so,” Hannah told him and urged him on a little faster lest they arrive at the house late.
Once they arrived at the barn, she pulled the saddle off of Prince’s back and turned him out to the pasture behind the barn. “That’s it for the week,” she said. “Enjoy your break because it’s back to work on Monday morning.”
“Hannah, I need some help,” Betty called to Hannah from the house.
“Coming,” Hannah called back as she hurried into the house.
“Carry this out to the buggy for me, would you?” Betty pointed toward a plastic bucket. “Popcorn,” she offered in answer to Hannah’s look. “Everyone brings something. If there’s too much, we just bring it back home.”
“Okay,” Hannah nodded. That wasn’t unusual, but the fact that all these married folks were involved in the youth gatherings was different from the youth gatherings in Indiana. “Will there be a lot of the married people there?” she asked.
“No,” Betty said, “only a few. Not everyone can come, of course. It’s kind of informal, I suppose, but it suits our purposes. Maybe someday, when we have a lot of young people, things will be different.” Her face brightened at the idea. “Maybe you and Sam want to move out here. You like the country, don’t you?”
“You forget that he’s to inherit his father’s farm,” Hannah said. “That kind of locks things in, I suppose.”
“Yes, that would,” Betty allowed. “It would be so nice, though, to have more young couples living here. We’ve never even had a wedding out here yet.”
“Don’t look at me,” Hannah said. “Who’s bringing the cider?” she asked, changing the subject.
“The Nisley’s will supply that. We have to buy it in town, though, because none of the Amish have an orchard. That is, so far. We really need to look into it. They make some of the best fresh cider around here.”
“Better than in Indiana?” Hannah asked.
“Without question, and that’s speaking as one who is loyal to Indiana.”
Hannah laughed. “It’s hard to believe anyone can make better cider than we have in Indiana.”
Outside, the sound of the driving horse being hitched reminded Hannah of the time. “We should go, shouldn’t we?”
“I’m coming,” Betty said. “I have to call the children.”
“I’ll wait for you,” Hannah said. A few minutes later, they walked together to the buggy and rode to the Nisley’s.
Jake lingered at the supper table with John, deep in conversation.
“So you enjoy your job up on the mountains?” John asked.
Jake grinned. “Even the loneliness suits me right now. The morning sunrise—it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. The pay is pretty good. It’s as good as farmwork and certainly not as difficult.”
John laughed. “I’d suppose that’s so.”
After a minute, he changed the subject and asked Jake, “Are you dating?”
“No,” Jake said, gazing at his empty plate.
Elizabeth had just come into the kitchen to gather up the supper dishes and overheard the question.
“Are you sure that’s your business?” she asked and laughed softly.
“I’m just curious,” John said.
Jake’s mind whirled. He wondered whether he should volunteer the information. Wrapped in the safe atmosphere of this home, he felt a pleasant sensation after the long hours alone on the mountain.
“There was someone,” Jake finally said.
“Oh,” Elizabeth stopped with the stack of dirty plates in her hands. “Was it serious?”
“Yes,” Jake said, “very serious. Almost married. In fact, we were just three months from being married.” The pain in his voice was obvious.
“Ach,” Elizabeth said, “that does hurt. But you want to be sure it’s the right one.”
“I thought it was,” Jake told her.
“We can be wrong sometimes,” she said. “The ways of God are not our ways.”
John nodded. “That’s right.”
“I don’t much trust girls now,” Jake muttered. “She gave me no warning—none at all. Granted I was stupid, but it was because I trusted her. It was over just like that. Now she’s dating my cousin…right there in front of me.”
“You really loved her?” Elizabeth asked, sympathy in her voice.
Jake nodded.
“Still, it’s better to find out now rather than later. That’s what dating is for, I guess,” Elizabeth offered.
“God has His ways,” John repeated. “We must learn to trust Him…and not become bitter.”
Jake numbly nodded but said no more.
The first of the buggies started to arrive, and the volleyball game was quickly organized. Until enough players came, it was a hit or miss scramble to knock the ball over the net. As more people arrived, the game soon turned into a fierce competition between opposing teams.
Hannah was uneasy when she noticed that boy, Jake. When he ended up on the opposite team from her, she felt more at ease.
Two games later, they broke for popcorn and cider. The women, headed up by Elizabeth and Betty, brought out the heaping bowls of white fluffy stuff.
“Bring up the picnic table,” Elizabeth told John, who was still winded from the game. “If we set it up under the tree, it should be fine. There’s no wind tonight.”
John agreed with a nod and asked Steve to help him move the table. Together they carried the bench from the barn overhang to where Elizabeth wanted it.
Once the table was in place, she set the large bowls of popcorn down and scattered the smaller bowls around so that individual portions could be served. Betty went back into the house and returned with the cider jugs. These were then set up so cider could be poured into glasses as needed.
John saw that the women were ready and announced loudly, “Let’s have prayer.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around. John then led out in thanks for the food and finished with a request for the grace and mercy of God to be on them during the rest of the evening.
The boys filled their bowls with popcorn first and then splashed cider into their glasses. They spilled generous amounts onto the picnic table, although no one seemed to mind. Hannah went next at Elizabeth’s insistence.
“You are our honored guest,” Elizabeth whispered. “It’s not every day we have a girl your age visiting us for the summer.”
“Is that good or bad?” Hannah asked with a chuckle.
“Good, of course, even if she’s already writing to someone.”
“How did you know that?” Hannah asked and looked quickly around to see who else had heard the comment. All the males seemed busy, and some of the boys were already knocking the ball back and forth over the net again, their bowls of popcorn and glasses abandoned in the grass.
“Oh, a little birdie told me,” Elizabeth said, glancing in Betty’s direction.
“You did not!” Hannah exclaimed in mock horror but partly serious. She reached over to pull on Betty’s dress sleeve.
“I couldn’t help it,” Betty protested. “It just came out. It seemed like they should know. It is good news, after all, isn’t it?”
Hannah wasn’t sure what to say. They apparently took her hesitation as a sign of love’s sweet work and turned the conversation quickly to other subjects to spare her any further embarrassment.
To comfort herself, Hannah took a deep swallow of her apple cider and was amazed. It was better than Indiana cider!
Twenty-one
Sam’s dad, Enos Knepp, had wanted to talk with his son ever since his wife told him about the letters to Hannah. Tonight he got the chance when he and Sam were alone in the living room.
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