by Mary Davis
A little bit later, after she’d watched his methodology, she knew how to be of further assistance. She could cut his per-block time in half by handing them to him. While he slapped the mortar in place, she gripped one and heaved. It was all she could do to raise it an inch off the ground. These were heavier than she thought. She didn’t want to hurt her back, so she crouched. She still couldn’t lift it.
“What are you doing?”
She tilted her head and squinted up at him. “Helping. How much do each of these weigh?”
He shook his head. “Not much. Thirty-five or forty pounds.” He grabbed the block she’d been trying to lift and hoisted it with one hand as though it was nothing more than his dinner plate. “Don’t try to lift another one of these.”
She wanted to protest, but what was the point? They both knew she couldn’t, even if she wanted to, so she studied him instead.
The way he applied the mortar in swift motions, never hesitating, mesmerized her. Scoop, splat mortar into place on an already set block, scoop-splat, scoop-swish-swish mortar on the end of the next block and set it in place.
By suppertime, the foundation walls were completed. The room that would be built on top was already welcoming her.
Eli wiped his hands on a rag. “Danki. It went much faster with your help.”
“And what help would that be? Watching?”
“Mixing the mortar.”
“That didn’t take much time.”
“But it allowed me do other things, so the work went faster.”
Her insides danced at his praise. “It did?”
“Ja.”
She wasn’t sure if that was the truth or if he was merely being nice. Then a smile pulled at her mouth. Of course it was true. She’d never known Eli to lie. But that he admitted it to her was amazing. He could have easily said nothing, leaving her to believe she hadn’t made a difference at all.
Dori wasn’t the only one who had changed from her Amish roots. Perhaps her influence had set Eli on his own path, cracking the traditions and helping him to soften the rigid ways.
Working beside him had been rewarding. She’d enjoyed the time, and she decided that she would help with the whole addition, whether he approved or not. She could be just as stubborn as any of the men.
What was it about Eli that made her feel happier than she’d been in a long time? And there was something safe in being near him. Both things she definitely wanted to hold on to.
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Dori sat at the table eating a bowl of Oaty-Ohs mixed with Cinna-Apple Rings. She had enjoyed working with Eli yesterday, though her muscles were telling a different story today. She wouldn’t see him for a few days, maybe not until next week. It all depended on when the inspector came to look over what had been done on the addition so far.
Grossvater entered through the front door from wherever he’d been. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“What is it, Grossvater?”
“Eli’s not coming today because the construction has to wait until the foundation is inspected. I had planned to take Nelly to his forge—she’s thrown a shoe—but I’m needed on the far side of the district. Are you up to walking Nelly over to Eli’s for me?”
“The exercise will do me—us—gut.” She caressed her stomach. “We’d love to.” She would enjoy seeing Eli at his forge, sending a little thrill through her at the prospect. In truth, the prospect of not seeing Eli had saddened her. “Shouldn’t I wait for the inspector?” Now that she’d realized that she had to stay, at least until the baby was born, she was anxious for the extra rooms to be finished.
“Ne, the inspection card is attached to the back door. Are you sure the walk won’t be too much for you?”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Danki. I need to leave. Can you get Nelly all right?”
“Ja, Grossvater. I haven’t forgotten everything about being Amish.” Not that she was Amish or ever would be. Despite the fact that she had fully assimilated into the Englisher world, that hadn’t erased her past. Everything came back to her like an old friend.
His wide grin and the mischievous twinkle in his eyes suggested Grossvater might be up to something. He slipped out before she could question him.
Was he trying to get her to interact with the community? Maybe he thought if he got her more involved with the Amish people in the community she would stay, but he was wrong. However, she did like the chance to get out of the haus.
Dori had chosen to wear yoga pants that morning. Not only were they comfortable on her growing waistline, but they had a back pocket, which was convenient for carrying her cell phone. She slipped it in there and then headed for the barn. On her way, she glanced toward the big haus. Mutter was likely in there alone, cleaning up the kitchen.
In the barn, Dori bridled Nelly and walked her outside. How long would it take to get to Eli’s?
Mutter met her outside the barn and held up a canvas shopping bag. “Cookies for you and Eli.”
“How did you know where I was headed?”
“Your grossvater told me. I also packed sandwiches—egg salad. You always liked egg salad. And some cheese, in case you get hungry on your way there or back. I know I had to eat often when I was pregnant with all you children.”
Hunger had become Dori’s constant companion, but at least now she knew she would have food to eat. The bowl of cold cereal wouldn’t last her long. She took the bag from her mutter. “Danki. But you aren’t supposed to be talking to me.”
“You aren’t shunned, so it’s all right.”
A technicality. “What about Vater?”
“He won’t mind.”
“Meaning you’re not going to tell him.” For all the Amish rules, people bent them often enough to suit their needs or wants.
“He saw you working alongside Eli yesterday. He’s glad you’re home.”
Mutter probably just hoped he was glad. “Could have fooled me.”
“Ja, well, it was a shock—” Mutter dipped her head “—seeing you.”
Dori was quite an odd sight in an Amish community with her colorful hair and Englisher clothes.
“I left your Amish clothes on the porch the first morning.”
As Dori had suspected, her own clothes had come back to haunt her. “I found them.” The ones she’d stuffed safely away in the corner of the living room, where Grossvater wouldn’t know to ask her about them.
“If you wore them, your vater would yield more quickly.”
Her mutter wanted—ne, needed—everyone to be at peace with each other.
“I’ll think about it, but I won’t make any promises.” A shiver tingled her skin in agitation merely thinking about putting on a cape dress again.
“Danki. I can’t ask for anything more. You best be on your way, before the morgen gets away from you.”
Poor Mutter. She wanted what she couldn’t have. Her family to be whole again and everyone happy. To have one, excluded the other.
Dori headed off down the road toward the Hochstetler farm. An hour later, after she’d eaten half the cheese, she entered the yard.
The clang of Eli’s hammer rang through the air.
She walked the horse around to the back of the barn where Eli’s forge stood, open like a two-car garage. She stopped a few yards from the large threshold.
He swung his hammer onto red-hot metal. Sparks sprayed up in all directions from the contact point. His actions were smooth and practiced, no wasted motions. Almost as though he worked to some internal rhythm. He looked as though he’d stepped out of a blacksmith calendar. She’d buy that calendar. Especially if all the pictures featured the handsome Eli.
The piece took shape as he worked and worked. An herb chopper. So that was how he fashioned one of those. A table along the rear wall behind the forge fire held many pieces of ir
onwork. Kitchen knives, cooking utensils, fireplace tools, ax heads, weather vanes and various other items she couldn’t identify from this distance.
Nelly whinnied and pawed the ground, evidently not enjoying the view as much as Dori.
Eli looked up, and a smile lit up his face. “Rain— Dor— Hallo.” He shoved the iron piece he’d been working into the hot coals. “Does Nelly need a shoe?”
Again, her baby responded to Eli’s voice, moving around inside her. “How did you know?”
“Usual reason people come unannounced, walking a horse.” He ambled over and stroked the draft horse’s neck. “How are you doing, Nelly?”
The horse lipped his shoulder.
“Do you know all the horses in the community by name?”
He shrugged. “There are a few new ones I don’t. Yet.”
“You called me Rain a moment ago. Why?”
His face turned red and not from the hot fire. “Which hoof?” Without waiting for an answer, he went straight to the hind leg and lifted it.
He had to have heard her question, but she would play his game. She pointed at Nelly’s leg. “How did you know which one?”
“She had her hind hoof cocked up.”
“You certainly know horses.”
“Horses are part of meine job. They’re easy to figure out.”
“Easier than people?”
He nodded. “Everything about them conveys something. The different sounds they make. The way they stand, the tilt of their ears, the swish of their tail. Horses have much to communicate.”
She’d never thought that much about horses. In her youth, she viewed them as a means to pull buggies and plows. In the Englisher world, they were a source of irritation by impeding traffic and leaving smelly things on the road to avoid.
He took the lead rope and walked Nelly over to a post and secured her there. With his tools, he cleaned out the hoof, then set it on a hoof rest and filed it. With various shoe sizes, he measured until he found one that was close and shoved it into his coals with a pair of long tongs. “This will take a few minutes. Do you want a chair?”
She was a bit worn-out from the walk. “Ja, danki.”
He grabbed a three-legged stool and plopped it down in front of her, well outside the danger zone of getting hit by flying sparks. “You’ll be safe here.” With the extra long tongs, he moved the metal shoe around in the coals, digging it deeper in the heat.
She instinctively put a hand on her stomach as she sat, then quickly removed it. “So tell me, why did you call me Rain?”
He shook his head. “It was nothing.”
“I want to know.”
He pulled the shoe out, studied it and shoved it back in. “I used to see you in town every time I went. I didn’t know who you were, so I called you...”
“Rain?”
“Rainbow Girl.” He pointed toward her head with the long tongs. “On account of your colorful mane.”
She ran a hand through her cropped hair. “I kind of like that. You can call me Rainbow Girl. It’s a lot better than Dorcas.”
“Dorcas is a nice name.”
“I don’t really like it. It doesn’t suit me. So either call me Dori or Rainbow Girl. Or just plain Rainbow.”
Rather than agreeing, he pulled the shoe from the fire and beat on it, sending sparks into the air again.
She stood and scooted around him to the table with his wares.
He stopped his work. “What are you doing?”
“I want to look at all the pieces you’ve made.”
He put the shoe back into the coals and stood next to her. “Just things I make when I’m caught up on meine other work.”
She jerked her hand from her stomach again. She needed to stop doing that. Soon enough she would show too much to hide her growing belly with a baggy shirt. She should probably tell him soon.
Besides the pieces she could see from a distance, a six-inch-tall deer sat among various other animals. She picked up an iron frog not much bigger than a real frog. “These are really nice.”
“Danki. You can have it.” He returned to the horseshoe.
“Really?”
“Ja. As you can see, I have plenty.”
She peered over her shoulder at him and slipped her cell phone out of her back pocket. She took pictures of everything, trying to get as close to each object as she could and still keep it in focus with the limited light. When she finished, she sat down again and inconspicuously snapped a few pictures of Eli. These would look great on his website, him wielding a hammer with sparks flying. Nothing that gave the appearance of him posing, because that would not be fitting.
She smiled. The website he didn’t have—her smile widened—but soon would.
* * *
Eli struck the iron in an unusual cadence, his normal rhythm off. He couldn’t believe Rainbow Girl was here, and he’d been taken aback to have her suddenly standing there. His focus returned to the horseshoe.
Completely misshapen. Ruined.
He tossed it into the water barrel and took another mostly formed shoe from the wall. He wedged it into the fire with the long tongs and worked the bellows. He made shoes ahead of time in various sizes so horses and their owners didn’t have to wait so long.
What was Rainbow Girl doing with her phone? Still too much English. Would she ever settle back into the Amish way of life? Doubtful. She had said herself that she didn’t know if she would stay. But she’d helped him finish the foundation of the addition rather than trying to talk him out of it like before. She almost seemed eager to have the project completed. Was that because she wanted to be rid of him? He hoped not, but when he finished, even if she stayed in their community, he wouldn’t see her as often. Only on Church Sundays. If she went at all.
He took his time sizing the shoe and filing Nelly’s hoof. He didn’t want Rainbow Girl to leave. He cleaned out each hoof.
“Are you almost done?”
Was she so anxious to be away from him? “I want to make sure she has a gut fit.”
Rainbow Girl held up the cloth bag she’d brought. “Well, when you’re done, I have lunch for us.”
He nailed the shoe into place, turned Nelly out into the corral, then grabbed a blanket, his tin drinking cup and a jug of water. “The shade on the side of the barn will be more comfortable.” He let her walk ahead of him.
He set the jug and cup down, and she did the same with her bag. She took two corners of the blanket and helped him spread it out. They worked well together as they had yesterday, when she’d helped with the foundation, as though they knew what the other was going to do. It made the day’s work go faster. With the delay of going into town, he’d accepted he would have to work through supper until dark, or return the next day to finish, therefore holding up the inspection.
He gave her a hand to sit on the blanket, then he sat, as well. The egg salad sandwiches were loaded with lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Just the way he liked them. “Did you make these?”
“Ne, meine mutter did.”
He’d hoped Rainbow Girl had prepared lunch, then he could compliment her. “Tell her everything was delicious and danki.”
“I will.”
After eating, Eli led Dutch, harnessed to the two-wheeled trap, out of the barn. Rainbow Girl stood some distance away. Eyes closed, face tilted toward the blue sky, one hand on her lower back and the other on her round stomach. She wasn’t a horse, so what did her stance communicate?
Then his breath got knocked out of him as though a mule had kicked him.
Rainbow Girl couldn’t be pregnant!
But it all made sense, her return to the community, and her vater being so upset with her instead of welcoming his prodigal daughter home. How could Eli have allowed her to help him with construction? Gut thing he’d stopped her from lifting those heavy concrete blocks.
Where was the baby’s vater? Was he coming for them? He was probably the reason she insisted she wasn’t staying. She was using her Amish family. Her vater knew, but did the rest of them? Did the bishop? Would he be so welcoming if he did?
Rainbow Girl straightened and turned toward him. She adjusted her shirt, apparently to hide her condition, and walked toward him. “Is everything all right, Eli? You look upset.”
“I’m fine.” He released the harness and set the brake on the rig. “I’ll get Nelly.” After striding to the corral, he gripped the top rail and squeezed it as hard as he could, making the rough wood bite into his palms.
He’d thought she might have actually wanted to change her ways, to return to the Amish life, to be the woman Gott intended her to be. How could he have let her get under his skin?
Nelly stuck her muzzle over the railing and into his face.
“Did you know?” he asked the sweet mare.
The draft horse stared at him with soulful brown eyes.
“Come on, girl. Time to go home.” He walked into the corral and bridled the gentle giant. He no longer wanted to drive Rainbow Girl home or spend time with her, but he couldn’t allow her to walk all that way back home. Having lived with the Englishers so long and driven everywhere in cars, she’d likely grown soft. He led Nelly out of the corral and toward the buggy. Maybe he’d seen wrong. Maybe the light had played tricks on him. Maybe...
He tied the horse to the rear of the trap.
Rainbow Girl had already climbed in. She should not have done that on her own. What if she slipped and hurt herself or the baby?
He hoisted himself up, took hold of the reins and put the buggy into motion.
“Danki for taking gut care of Nelly.”
“Ja.” He glanced repeatedly out of the corner of his eye, trying to confirm if she was pregnant.
After a mile, she said, “Is everything all right?”
Ne, not at all. “Why wouldn’t it be?”