The Matchmaker

by Sarah Price

  A forlorn look of understanding crossed Hannah’s face. “He gets them on contract. There weren’t any there when I stayed with Elizabeth, but she told me he gets over a hundred at a time.”

  “A hundred!” Emma gasped at the number. “Why! You must thank the good Lord that you were there in between contracts! The smell of a hundred hogs would never have left your clothing!”

  Hannah wrinkled her nose. “I suppose there was a mild odor to the farm, I do reckon.”

  “Certainly nothing like a dairy farm or a home with a man of trade,” Emma added casually. “I’m more familiar with men like Gideon King and Paul Esh! Why, I’m sure that Paul Esh’s house never smells like pig!” She laughed lightly and was pleased that Hannah joined her. “And I can scarce imagine a pig farmer ever being nominated to lead the church! That’s such a great honor, you know,” she whispered before she opened the buggy door and placed her foot on the metal step. “A true godly man leads the church, nominated by the people and chosen by God.”

  Hannah didn’t respond.

  “Consider how different your Ralph is when compared to Gideon or . . . ” She glanced at Hannah. “Paul.” She smiled. “Why, Paul was most delightful company the other night, and he’s a godly man, don’t you think?”

  “Paul did seem rather righteous the other evening,” Hannah said slowly. “In a good way, of course.”

  “Of course.” Emma pulled herself into the buggy and moved over, giving Hannah room to join her on the cloth-covered seat. “After all, Paul is the son of the bishop. I would expect nothing less than for him to be a role model of righteousness for the rest of us to emulate. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was nominated to lead the church one day too!” She smiled at Hannah, who was now sitting beside her. “After he’s married, that is.”

  Without another word Emma released the brake to the buggy and urged the horse to back up a few steps before pulling lightly on the right rein in order to leave the parking lot of the general store. There was no further discussion about Paul Esh or Ralph Martin as they drove the back roads toward the Wagler home. Instead, the two young women began to talk about the quilt that they intended to make and how exciting it would be to have it finished in time for the October auction.

  The Wagler home was small and quaint. As farm land fell prey to development, the Amish community continued to expand, forcing more and more families to live in contemporary homes. It was easy to convert them to accommodate the Amish lifestyle, simply by removing the electric lines and modern conveniences. The Wagler home was one of them. However, it sat on a nice-size lot, and most would consider it a farmette despite the fact that most of the property seemed to be simple pasture.

  As Emma pulled the buggy into the driveway, she looked around at her friend’s new home with a sense of comfort. Samuel Wagler may have been alone for many years, but it was clear that he had a fine sense of care when it came to his property. Not a weed grew among the landscaping, and the bushes were all properly trimmed. It spoke well of his character, and once again Emma was pleased for her cousin in marrying such a fine man.

  “Wilkum, girls!” Anna Wagler stood at the front door and smiled at the two young women as they made their way to the house, their arms laden with cloth for the quilt they were going to make. “I was wondering when you might arrive! Come in, come in!”

  Despite being older, Anna still had the physique of a young woman, tall and willowy instead of the typical stoutness found in Amish women her age. Her brown hair, pulled back under the white heart-shaped prayer kapp, lacked any gray, and her dark eyes sparkled at her two visitors. Clearly Anna was happy in her new home and eager to entertain her former ward and her friend.

  The kitchen was smaller than the one at Emma’s home, and it took her a moment to get oriented to the differences between the two. There was a small, plain pine table with a pretty green-and-white checkered tablecloth covering it. Anna had already set out a pitcher of meadow tea and a basket of freshly baked cookies. After the proper greetings were exchanged, Anna encouraged the girls to partake of the refreshments. While Emma merely took one cookie to nibble at, Hannah was more than happy to have two.

  “So which pattern will you do then?” Anna asked as she fingered the material. “You sure picked out beautiful colors.”

  And they had. Emma loved the color blue and had picked different variations and patterns in that color. Against a white backdrop, the quilt would be lovely on any bed. “For the center panel,” she responded, her fingers brushing against one bolt of the fabric. “Something simple like the shoofly pattern, I reckon. But I’m thinking to leave a wider border and do some more detailed quilting patterns there.”

  “Why, that will be quite lovely!” Anna exclaimed.

  “And we’ll be donating it to the Mennonite Central Committee to raise money for the poor,” Emma added with a smile. Her face lit up at the mention of helping others. She had first started donating her work when she was fourteen. Her older sister, Irene, had helped with her first quilt, a simple twin-size quilt in greens and brown cloth. While not a very intricate piecing design, the quilting itself had been labored over during the late summer and early autumn months. When she had finally finished it, everyone had been surprised at her proclamation that she was donating it, rather than putting it into her own hope chest.

  Over the years Anna had helped Emma with the piecing and quilting for at least five quilts. It saddened both of their hearts that, because of her marriage, she would not be able to work on this new quilt with Emma. In times past they enjoyed many a quiet afternoon seated in front of the old wooden quilting frame set up in the living room of the Weaver household. There was something about quilting that created a bond between women.

  “And Hannah,” Anna began, shifting her attention from Emma to the younger woman. “Have you made many quilts then?”

  “Nee.” Hannah shook her head in response. “This will be my first.”

  “Your first quilt?” The question came out more as an expression of disbelief. Anna looked from Hannah to Emma then back to Hannah. Emma didn’t need for Anna to say what was on her mind. It was almost impossible to believe that any Amish woman had never made a quilt. “Ja vell, then,” Anna stammered, searching for the right words. “It’s right gut that Emma shows you how, I reckon. She has a lovely stitch.”

  “It’s no finer than yours, I reckon,” Emma countered demurely, but her eyes glowed at the compliment. “After all, it was you who taught me.”

  For the next hour the three women sketched out on paper the pattern for the quilt, deciding the order of the different fabric for each of the individual squares used to make up the quilt. Most of the discussion was between Emma and Anna, Hannah being a mere observer who watched the conversation as if she were at a volleyball game. Her eyes traveled from Emma to Anna and back to Emma again as the two women laid out their plan on paper, obvious experts in a field that Hannah knew nothing about and to which she could contribute nothing more than her enthusiasm for learning.

  It was close to eleven when they heard the sound of men’s footsteps on the porch. Emma lifted her head from the paper where she had been sketching the final design and glanced at Anna, an unspoken question lingering in the air. It didn’t need to be answered as Samuel appeared in the doorway with a familiar face by his side.
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  “Why, Gideon King!” Emma exclaimed. “Whatever brings you here?”

  He laughed at her reaction. “Helping Samuel with some new equipment he bought at the auction. You shouldn’t sound so surprised, Emma. I do have other friends beside your daed.”

  She made a face at his teasing statement but did not respond. She was too used to Gideon being a fixture at their own house, a regular companion to her daed, welcomed even more now that Anna had married and moved to her own house with her new husband.

  “Equipment?” Anna smiled and glanced over Gideon’s shoulder at her husband. “Did you purchase something then?”

  “Ja, ja, I did.” He set his straw hat on the counter and ran his fingers through his graying hair. The age difference between Samuel and Anna disappeared whenever he set his eyes upon his young wife. The sparkle that lit up his face made it more than clear how he felt about her. “It’s only a small farmette, but we can have a right nice garden and I can set up my shop in the outer building.”

  Emma raised an eyebrow and glanced at Anna. “You’ll be gardening?”

  “Oh, ja! A right big garden with corn, brussels sprouts, asparagus, and peppers, as well as the usual things we planted at your home.”

  The way Anna nodded her head and smiled surprised Emma, for while Anna had been the main gardener at the Weaver home for all of those years, she had never expressed such enthusiasm for the chore. Granted, the Weaver property was small, not even two full acres, and the garden had only consisted of simple things, such as herbs, tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers. For the rest of their needs they had chosen to buy their vegetables and canned goods from neighbors and friends. They had kept far too busy with quilting and visiting and tending to the care of the house and Daed, especially after he retired from his work repairing buggies.

  “I never knew you to be one to garden, Anna!” Emma laughed lightly as she said it. “I may have to learn one or two more things from you yet!”

  “I don’t think I taught you all of my tricks,” Anna teased back. “We are also going to raise chickens and sell eggs!”

  At this announcement, Emma’s mouth dropped open and she found herself rendered speechless.

  It was Gideon who laughed this time, only not at Anna’s announcement. “Well played, Anna. Anyone who can steal the words from our dear Emma has my admiration. Lord knows that I’ve been trying to do it for years.” He winked at Hannah. “And not often able to succeed, might I admit.”

  “I gardened in Ohio and found it most relaxing,” Hannah declared.

  Surprised, Emma turned her eyes to look upon her friend. “Did you, then? Why, you are a gardener but not a quilter! I think today is a day of surprises for me . . . from my cousin Anna and my new friend Hannah!”

  Everyone laughed at Emma’s innocent remark and she too joined them, always being agreeable to laughing at herself when the situation warranted it.

  The clock on the wall began to chime. Emma turned to look at it and gasped when she saw the time. “Oh, help!” She began to gather the items on the table, stacking the papers in a neat pile and placing them on top of the folded piles of cloth. “We best get going,” she said to Hannah. “Daed will need his dinner!” Everyone knew that Henry Weaver was a creature of habit as well as one of worry. If Emma was late to return, her daed would not only worry about his dochder, he would also be forced to wait for his noon meal. The combination of both would create havoc for all to experience for several days, for he’d be certain to inform everyone of the matter and the reason for it.

  Still, the blame did not rest entirely on Henry’s shoulders. Emma was only too willing to ensure that her daed wanted for nothing. While her compassion for others was well known in the g’may, being one of the traits that made her the go-to person during a time of need, her coddling of her aging father was another matter entirely. Some of the g’may members thought it was wunderbaar gut that a dochder took such doting care of her daed, while others disapproved of the fact that she could have no private life of her own while tending to his. Despite having taken the kneeling vow several years prior, the bottom line was that Emma Weaver had refused to court any young man in the g’may and gave no indication that she’d ever settle down, not if it meant leaving her daed on his own.

  Gideon stood on the porch, watching as the two young women hurried to the waiting buggy, eager to return to the Weaver home in order to start cutting the pieces for their quilt top. He smiled at their enthusiasm but there was something else, something wistful and distant in his gaze.

  When the buggy pulled away, he turned to Anna. “I’m not quite certain about this friendship between the two girls,” he mumbled.

  “Is that so? I do wonder that!” Anna sounded genuinely surprised at his statement.

  Gideon shrugged. “Hannah seems quite innocent and different from our Emma. Certainly not as mature. I fear Emma is placing a replacement kapp upon her new friend’s head in order to fill a void from your departure.”

  Anna glanced toward the road as if she could still see the two women. But the porch was empty and the road long deserted by the buggy. “Hannah might be a breath of fresh air for Emma,” she countered. “After all, Emma has a lot she can teach her. She is wise beyond her years.”

  At that, Gideon smiled. “Wise indeed. She learned from the best, I reckon.” The look in his eyes indicated that he was referring specifically to Anna’s influence on Emma.

  “No better than any other woman in the g’may.” While her words spoke of modesty, the flush on her cheeks, however, said otherwise.

  “Well, at least they are spending their time doing something for the good of others.” There was an approving tone in his voice, at last.

  Chapter Three

  THE QUILT TOP was rolled in the large wooden frame next to the living room windows. Emma preferred that location for the afternoon sun, the natural light warm and welcoming for the hours she would spend seated in her chair, her head bent over the quilting frame as she worked. Years ago her daed had found her a special chair just for her quilting: old with a cracked leather seat and resting on wheels so that she could slide down beside the frame as she quilted. When others came by to help her quilt, she always offered them her chair, but they would decline, knowing that Emma’s quick stitches were better suited for the rolling chair while they could make do with folding chairs.

  For the past week she had worked diligently on the quilt. With the help of Anna, the two women managed to piece the quilt top in only two days. Both Hannah and Emma spent almost a full day working on it the previous Saturday, even beginning to quilt the pattern with Anna joining them for the early part of the afternoon. With Emma’s love of quilting, she often spent additional hours in the evening after Hannah returned home, the silence of the room broken only by the gentle hissing of the propane lantern beside the quilting frame.

  The only day she did not quilt was Sunday, a day when such pleasures were forbidden by Bishop Esh. It didn’t matter to Emma. She always enjoyed a day of worship, relaxation, and visiting with friends and neighbors.

  On that particular Sunday she attended the worship service with her daed at the Yoders’, who owned a nearby farm. The three-hour service, followed by an hour of fellowship, took up the first half of the day. Then, as usual, Emma
invited the Widow and Maedel Blank, Paul Esh, Gideon, Gladys, and Hannah for supper. The Waglers were still busy visiting family on the weekends, something that newly married couples did for the first few months of their marriage.

  It was a lively gathering, with Hetty Blank’s constant chatter and habit of repeating herself to her maem, keeping the noise level energized. And then there was Henry with his fretting over the types of food the people in the g’may were eating, worrying that nonorganic food was causing sickness. Both Gladys and Gideon seemed to listen with the utmost respect. At one point Emma thought she heard Gideon promise to help plow the garden in the back so that the Weavers could continue growing their own food next spring. And who would tend this garden? Emma wondered. Personally she did not relish the chore.

  But it was the interactions between Paul and Hannah that Emma paid the most attention to. She thought herself most clever in seating Paul next to Hannah, pleased to see that the conversation between the two flowed naturally and with intimate ease. Hannah seemed to hang on to his every word, and on the few occasions that she spoke, he seemed to do the same. Inwardly Emma hugged herself in delight at the knowledge that once again she may have made a wunderbaar gut match!

  In the evening Paul even offered to pick up both Hannah and Emma and take them to the Sunday evening youth singing that was to be held in the Yoders’ barn. Emma was quick to agree, knowing that Paul would certainly offer to bring them home as well. With Gladys’s home located farther away than the Weavers, Emma asked if Paul could drop her off first, claiming the onset of a sudden headache which had not been entirely untrue. However, the primary reason for the request was to enable him plenty of time to spend alone with Hannah as they rode the buggy through the dark back roads of Lititz.

  The following day, Hannah came quilting. With great delight, she meted out the details of the buggy ride home and the conversations that she had shared with Paul.