by Sarah Price
It took another fifteen minutes for Emma to finally have Hannah’s undivided attention. The older people had begun to leave while the younger, unmarried adults lingered around Paul and Alice, singing. It was the perfect opportunity for Emma and Hannah to catch up without fear of being interrupted.
“What was this news?” Emma ventured to ask.
Hannah’s face lit up and she smiled shyly at Emma. “You’ll never guess whom I ran into at market this week?”
So that was where Hannah had been! Emma tilted her head and held her breath, waiting to hear this big revelation that caused her friend to glow from head to toe. “I’m sure that I can hardly imagine!”
“Elizabeth Martin!”
Not being familiar with the name, it took Emma a few seconds to realize that Hannah was referring to Ralph Martin’s sister. “Oh!”
Hannah nodded. “And they’ve invited me to visit!”
“They?”
Hannah averted her eyes. “She was not alone.”
Of course she wasn’t. Strasburg was far enough away from the market where Hannah was working that it would not make sense for her to travel such a distance by herself. Certainly Ralph would have accompanied her, eager to run his own errands rather than make a separate trip at a later date.
True to the promise that she had made to herself about meddling in other people’s affairs, Emma did not respond, not wanting to sway Hannah one way or the other. After all, she reasoned, it was up to Hannah to decide whether she wanted to encourage that courtship or possibly pursue what was looking like a potential interest in her from Gideon. She didn’t quite understand why, but the thought of Gideon actually wishing to court Jane or Hannah did not sit well with Emma. It was as though she had always presumed that they were both going to remain single forever, bickering and arguing well into their old age.
Mayhaps, she told herself, there is, indeed, someone for everyone. After all, who was she to question God’s plans?
Chapter Fifteen
DESPITE IT BEING October, typically a chilly and rainy time of the year, the weather could not have been more pleasant. The sun seemed to shine large in the sky, a peculiar sky which was a most unusual blue with nary a cloud to distract from the color. A true Indian summer as unseen for quite a few years had befallen Lancaster County. The regular group that gathered at the Weaver house for Sunday supper had, indeed, decided to pack their food into baskets and enjoy their fellowship by the Yoder’s pond down the road instead of sharing the late afternoon meal inside of the home.
The grassy banks smelled like autumn, and the backdrop of color-changing leaves on the trees made it a perfect afternoon. While the adults seemed to languish in the sun, enjoying what might well be their last leisurely day spent outside until the following spring, Emma, however, was more quiet than usual. Her mood had soured since she had attended the Thursday gathering to welcome Alifce Esh to the community.
On Friday Hetty and Jane had descended upon Emma, completely unannounced and with Alice in tow. If she had not warmed up to Alice at the gathering earlier, she felt even less inclined to change her opinion now. Immediately upon her arrival Alice began staring at everything as if scrutinizing the way Emma kept house. Despite the house obviously being kept in pristine condition, Alice seemed to tilt her nose in the air, a look of disdain upon her face.
To add to her irritation, Francis had stopped by toward the end of the three women’s visit. His stay, however, was immediately cut short. He claimed to have seen the horse and buggy hitched to the post when he was passing by and decided to stop, for he recognized it as belonging to Paul Esh. Emma, however, cast a sideways glance at him, curious as to how he could have seen it from the road. Furthermore, she wondered why he was riding down her road at three in the afternoon, for she was fairly certain that Gideon’s carpenters worked until later in the day.
Regardless, his stop seemed most fortuitous, if not short-lived.
Hetty had promised to take Alice into town since they had the use of the Esh horse and buggy. However, Jane begged to be excused, claiming that a headache had befallen her. Two solutions were immediately offered. The first was suggested by Hetty, who insisted that she’d walk home with Jane and volunteered Emma to ride into town with Alice. The color must have drained from her face for Francis quickly offered the second solution: to escort the ailing Jane home so that Hetty’s afternoon plans with Alice would not suffer.
Emma wasn’t certain which solution was the better of two evils.
Despite his attention and mild flirtations, Emma hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling that something was wrong. She was flattered by his attention, that much she could not deny. And just for a short while she thought she might have found someone who could capture her interest. But something had changed, something she couldn’t put her finger upon. Whatever it was, she had quickly realized that Francis was not the man for her.
Still, coming to this realization did not positively impact her mood. There were other things amiss in the community. Winds of change were blowing through their small g’may, and she wasn’t certain she liked what she was feeling.
On Saturday afternoon Hannah had stopped by, a shy glow upon her face—a glow that, without words, told Emma her friend had good and important news for her. With her daed sitting in the recliner, Hannah sat on the sofa visiting with Emma while she sketched out her next big project: a queen-size quilt for an Englische woman who was friends with the Glick family.
When the clock began to chime, announcing that it was four o’clock, her daed excused himself for his casual afternoon walk, finally providing the much-desired privacy that the two women wanted so that Hannah could share her secret with Emma. Indeed, Emma sensed that her friend could barely contain herself, but the presence of her father had made it impossible for Hannah to confide in her.
“I went to visit with the Martins last evening,” she admitted, avoiding Emma’s eyes for fear of seeing disappointment staring back at her. “I made certain that it was a short visit; I didn’t want to seem overly intrusive.”
“Of course,” Emma responded, not certain what else to say in response to this news.
“I was ever so nervous, Emma!” Hannah confided, her voice sounding stronger. “I was so afraid that they would treat me differently, especially Ralph.”
“Did they?”
Hannah shook her head. “Nee, not at all! In fact, before I left, Ralph took me into the barn where he keeps the pigs. Apparently, he had just received his new contract delivery last week.” When Emma made a face, Hannah could not repress a giggle. “It didn’t smell half as bad as you’d think. And so adorable and precious!”
“They are small now, so I believe you. But when they grow bigger, you’ll be the one to believe me.”
Taking a deep breath, Hannah sighed as if greatly satisfied. “I felt much better upon leaving,” she said. “I sensed no disdain on the part of Elizabeth, and Ralph remained as pleasant as always. There were no hard feelings there, and that, if nothing else, frees my mind from worry.”
It took all of her resolve to not speak out, to question Hannah’s words. Emma wanted to inquire what worry had besotted her mind to begin with? Just because a man proposes, does the woman always have to respond in the p
ositive for fear of hurting his feelings or diminishing her status in the eyes of his family? From her own experience, Emma knew the answer was a firm “nee!” However, Hannah’s lack of self-confidence in this particular matter was a source of much reflection for Emma into the late hours of the night.
And then Sunday arrived.
At the picnic she immediately fell into a rather foul mood. It began when she noticed the excessive attention Francis bestowed upon Jane, who, to her credit, demurely deflected it as was proper for a young Amish woman. Still, Emma found herself resenting the open and particular attention that Francis gave to Jane. And when his attention did shift toward her, inquiring as to her unusually quiet temperament, she merely shrugged her shoulders and looked away.
But it wasn’t until she saw Gideon that her temper shifted from slight agitation to full-blown irritation.
When he arrived, Emma’s mouth fell open, for he was not riding in his regular gray-topped boxlike buggy but in an open carriage, a carriage typically reserved for courting couples. To her further distress, seated beside him was none other than Hannah, who seemed rather pleased to have been picked up along the way. Emma refused to inquire as to how the ride had been obtained: by chance or by plan. Neither answer, she realized, would appease the annoyance she felt.
And then there was Alice. Her demeanor was beyond forward, and Emma found herself doing all that she could to avoid being in her immediate presence. There was a vulgarity about the woman. She spoke her mind, laughed far too loud, and barely paid a lick of attention to her husband. For a newly wedded couple, the lack of communication and, for that matter, any signs of affection between the two were most surprising to Emma.
While she found the woman socially distasteful, it was increasingly clear that the feeling appeared to be mutual. Emma suspected that Alice was unaware of the fact that if Paul had his way with his original proposal, it would be Emma who bore his last name and not Alice. Still, Alice did all she could to blatantly disregard Emma by not including her in any conversations and interrupting any comments she tried to make. It was all too clear that Alice had not taken to her. While Emma found that she didn’t particularly care that Alice was not partial to her friendship, she did, however, wonder why.
Additionally Alice practically announced that she was enamored with Jane, determined to help the young woman come out of her shell of propriety in order to attract a beau, so that she would not have to return to Ohio. When Alice glanced over at Gideon, Emma felt her heart pound, a sudden feeling of irritation developing in the pit of her stomach.
“It’s so pleasant here,” Alice announced as she linked her arm with Jane’s. “Don’t you agree? I love the landscape, so much flatter and spread out than in Ohio. Why, driving here today I saw a valley with a dozen or so farms! Simply breathtaking!”
“It is lovely,” Jane agreed noncommittally.
“And the people, for the most part, are pleasant enough,” Alice added. “If not a bit provincial, I suppose.”
Emma rolled her eyes at that last statement.
“Isn’t it interesting, Jane, that one of my favorite people here is another woman from Ohio?” Alice laughed at herself. “It makes sense, of course. We Ohio Amish simply better understand each other, ja?”
With Alice’s hoity-toity mannerisms and rather verbose opinions, which she was all too willing to share, Jane’s quiet reserve had not stood a chance of arguing against such a ridiculous proposition.
The only consolation for Emma was that, upon arriving at the gathering, she immediately noticed that, despite Alice’s proclamation to the opposite at her welcome dinner a few days before, a heart-shaped prayer kapp now rested upon her head. Secretly it delighted Emma to imagine the conversations that must have taken place to convince Alice of the errors of her ways on that particular subject! Was it a compelling argument on Paul’s part, or simply a spousal request against which she had no recourse?
Hetty sat upon the blanket, legs crossed under her and her dress tucked under her knees as she spread the food from the baskets for all to see. She fussed and prattled on, moving dishes and plates, assessing them, and then quickly rearranging them once again. The older woman’s nervous energy did nothing to soften Emma’s mood, especially when it dawned on Emma that, between Hetty and Alice, no one would ever be able to get a word in edgewise.
Disgusted with the negative feelings that seemed to dwell within her heart, Emma sat to the side, her eyes staring across the glistening pond. She tried her best to ignore the irritation that slowly arose within her chest. How so much could change in such a short period of time, she wondered. Everything had been so pleasant and predictable before Anna got married and moved away. Now it seemed that everything Emma thought turned out to be the complete opposite.
Her eyes fell upon Samuel, Anna, Hannah, and Francis, who were walking around the pond. Hannah had reluctantly joined them, encouraged by Francis. As the foursome rounded the far side, Emma saw that they were headed toward the large oak tree that had a wooden swing hanging from a branch. Emma smiled wryly, knowing which woman would be the one that, inevitably, sat upon it, a man standing behind her to gently push the swing so that she could enjoy the breeze as she swung through the air: Francis and Hannah. Would that not make a suitable pair! His charm could serve as cover for her shyness, and her reserve would atone for his overfamiliarity.
“Emma! Emma! Come join us! You shouldn’t sit alone on such a beautiful day!”
She glanced over her shoulder at Hetty and forced a weak smile. “I’m just admiring the beauty of this glorious day God gave us. Soon it will be winter, ain’t so? Won’t be many more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors without heavy coats.”
Her excuse was met with nods of approval and Emma said a quiet prayer of gratitude to God for allowing her the wisdom to speak kindness and not the turmoil of such negative thoughts as the very ones that were brewing inside of her.
“Such a lovely young woman,” Emma heard Hetty say to Jane. “So reflective and godly!” Hetty must have turned toward her mother for she repeated herself loudly. “Why, if ever there was a godly young woman, I always say that Emma Weaver is she! Oh, indeed! Don’t I, Maem?” A pause. “Godly! Emma!” she repeated loudly. There was no response from her maem. “Why, I can only think of our own dear Jane as being as godly and righteous as our Emma.” Hetty patted her niece’s hand. “I am so blessed to know and love them both.”
“We are fortunate indeed,” Gideon commented.
At his words, Emma glanced over her shoulder, catching his eyes on Jane. When she followed his gaze, she noticed that Jane was more than unusually silent at Hetty’s double compliment.
There was, however, a voice that spoke out in disagreement. “There is a time and place for reflection,” Alice said teasingly, yet in a haughty tone grating on Emma’s nerves. “Personally, I find isolating oneself from a group to smack of pride.” Her loud voice carried in the wind. “Are we not good enough? What say you, Paul?”
To Emma’s relief, Paul did not respond to his wife’s question.
Oh bother, she thought and stood up, rejoining the group on the blanket so as to stop any further potentially controversial statements.
Pretending that she had not heard Alice’s comments, she sat next to Hetty and reached out
for a cup to pour herself some fresh lemonade. To both her relief and displeasure, Emma realized that, despite her sarcastic complaints just seconds before, Alice was already moving on to something else, directing her attention to Jane, as she inquired about the small Amish community where she had been raised. It was almost painful to watch the abortive exchange, because as Alice enjoyed hearing herself talk, despite her questions of Jane, she refused to let another person steal her stage. That left Jane in the lurch, for whenever she tried to get into the conversation, Alice would merely talk over her.
Bored, Emma sipped from her cup and let her eyes drift. The Waglers and Hannah were headed back toward the group, Francis walking beside Hannah, making her giggle at his comments. As Emma returned her attention to the long-winded Alice, she caught Gideon watching her. She tried to smile and was about to say something to him when she realized that, once again, Gideon’s eyes were actually not quite upon her but on Jane.
Her heart sank, and for reasons unknown to her, she felt even more irritated. She was sorry that she had let Alice’s comments goad her into returning to the group. She had been much happier by herself, regardless if this talkative, loud woman thought she was prideful or was just teasing. Her irritation only increased when the Waglers and Hannah returned, all smiles and sunshine from their little adventure.
Francis knelt down in the grass by the blanket and noticed the dark mood over the group. “Now, now,” he started, plucking a piece of grass and tossing it at Emma. “What’s this? A gloomy picnic party?” He laughed as Emma plucked the blade from her lap and played with it between her fingers. “Let’s play a game, shall we? That should liven up the mood of the gathering.”
“A game?” Hetty seemed delighted at the prospect. “Oh yes, let’s play a game. What shall we play then, Francis?”