by Sarah Price
“Anna,” Freman called after her. At the sound of his voice saying her name, she froze and turned around. “She’s fine. You should sit and have breakfast with the rest of us.” He gestured toward the table.
Stunned once again at his thoughtfulness, Anna stood there, her feet unable to move while he looked at her. She couldn’t read any emotion in his eyes, yet his kindness was more than apparent.
He swept his arm, once again, toward the other side of the table where he was seated.
Without further invitation, Leah and Hannah pulled out the bench opposite the men and sat down, Leah making certain that she positioned herself across from Freman. She kept her hands folded in her lap but smiled when she caught his attention. Quietly, Anna slid onto the bench beside Hannah, feeling uncomfortable and awkward sharing a morning meal at the same table as Freman. She tried not to look at him and kept her attention focused on her plate. Leah, however, was quite content to be the focal point of his vision.
Once everyone was seated, Jonas bent his head and the others quickly did the same. Anna prayed silently over her food, thanking God for His many blessings and asking that He help her sister feel better. When she lifted her head, she noticed that she was the last to do so.
Hands reached across the table, picking up serving bowls and dishing hot, steaming food onto their plates. The sound of spoons hitting against the side of porcelain replaced words while everyone served themselves.
“I’m sure you are looking forward to meeting your maem’s cousin,” Rebecca said as she passed the butter plate to her left where Benjamin sat. Her statement, however, was directed to Leah and Hannah.
“Maem insisted that we visit with her,” Hannah volunteered. “They haven’t seen each other in years!”
“Not since her dochders were younger,” Leah added. “I do wonder what our cousins are like, don’t you, Hannah? I barely recall having met them so many years ago. It was a wedding, I believe.”
“You were only ten or eleven at the time,” Hannah reminded her. “I recall the younger dochder, Mary, was rather bookish.”
“Bookish?” Leah gasped and turned to Anna. “Such a shame you won’t be going. You love to read! You’d get on quite well with her, I reckon.”
Hannah laughed. “No doubt! Anna gets on well with everyone, after all.”
Both of the young women radiated happiness, excited to meet their maem’s extended family. But, from across the table, a look passed between Rebecca and Jonas. Anna recognized the look and thought she saw a hint of a smile on Rebecca’s lips. Remembering Rachel’s comments about the Blanks, Anna suspected that the mother’s reputation for inane and senseless behavior was just as well known in Leola as it was in Sugarcreek.
Benjamin, however, lifted his head and studied Anna for a long moment. When she realized that she was being watched, she fought the urge to squirm in her seat. He soon ended her agony when he asked, “You like to read, then?”
“I do, ja,” she answered.
He inhaled deeply. “As do I. ‘For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.’”
Anna smiled. “The Book of Romans. One of my favorite in the New Testament.” When she paused, she sensed Leah giving Hannah a nudge with her knee under the table. Trying to focus her attention on Benjamin, she ignored the two women beside her. “Do you prefer the poetic verses to the prose? I do.”
“Nee,” he said, shaking his head, the light rapidly fading from his eyes. “David’s lyrical poems speak to my heart, and, as such, remind me too much of Fanny.”
A silence fell over the table and Anna chewed on her lower lip, embarrassed at having reminded him of the one thing that she suspected his parents wished him to forget.
After an appropriate pause, Jonas asked for more potatoes, and the noise of breakfast returned to the room.
As she passed the jam to Rebecca, Anna forced a smile and addressed her directly. “Do tell me about your neighbor,” Anna asked brightly, redirecting the conversation to a safer territory.
“Oh, ja! The Kings live just down the road a spell,” Rebecca responded. “You’ll adore the kinner. The oldest one is most likely at market today. She goes to Maryland on Fridays and Saturdays.”
Leah gasped. “Maryland! So far!”
Freman chuckled. “Mayhaps from Ohio, Leah, but it’s only a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here.”
Rebecca continued, eagerness showing in her tone of voice. “Rachel King has six kinner and, from the looks of it, another one on the way. The two youngest dochders are so dear, always trying to help their maem.” She smiled and clicked her tongue: tsk, tsk. “Such sweet angels. I do so miss having little ones around.”
Pointing across the table with his fork, Jonas interrupted her. “You have plenty of little ones that run around!”
“Only when Susan’s or Becca Ann’s come visiting!” Rebecca retorted in a gentle tone, referencing her two daughters who lived nearby.
Another unsafe subject, Anna feared. She wondered if Benjamin was reminded of his Fanny and how, if they had married in November, they might have been blessed with a child by August of the following year. The thought weighed heavy inside of her chest, and she wished that she could help him through his pain.
Shortly after breakfast was finished, Benjamin and Freman excused themselves. The two men had a lot of catching up to do, and Anna suspected that Freman wanted some quality time with his cousin. While Rebecca hurried upstairs to make the beds and finish her morning chores so that she and Anna could depart, Anna stood at the sink washing the breakfast dishes. She was drying the last one when their buggy pulled down the lane toward the road, the black horse’s mane and tail fluttering as it moved.
She must have sighed for Leah walked up behind her, peering over Anna’s shoulder to see what she was watching. Glancing at the younger woman, Anna smiled and leaned, just slightly, against her. “So intriguing,” she said softly.
“Benjamin?”
Turning around, Anna stared at Leah, taken aback by her quick reply. Immediately, as she realized what Leah had inferred, color flooded her cheeks. “I was actually referring to the differences between Sugarcreek and Leola.”
Leah tried to hide her smile.
“The gray-topped buggies,” Anna continued. “And the larger houses. Even Jonas’s neatly shaven beard. It’s interesting to me, Leah.” Setting the dish towel on the counter, she leaned forward and whispered, “Not . . . Benjamin!”
With a soft laugh, Leah covered her mouth and turned away, which only added to Anna’s embarrassment.
That was twice that Benjamin had paid special attention to her. She thought well enough of him, so far anyway. However, when Leah teased her, Anna was mortified that anyone might have conceived the idea that she was interested in anything beyond friendship with Benjamin Esh. While she enjoyed talking with him, especially about Scripture, for his recollection of Bible verses appeared most impressive, she found him dark and foreboding—as if he might be melancholic in general and not just because of Fanny’s death.
An hour later, the Musser sisters and Cris stood in the kitchen, waiting for Mary to
finish getting ready. After Anna brought her breakfast in bed, Mary had suddenly recovered and dressed, eager to ride with Hannah, Leah, and Cris to meet their family.
“Now how will we all ride over to the Blanks?” Mary fussed as she looked in the small mirror hanging over a wash sink, retying the thin white ribbons that hung from her prayer kapp. “We can’t all fit in one buggy, now, can we?”
Cris tapped his fingers on the counter while he waited for his wife to finish her primping. “I have the directions and Jonas is lending us his horse and buggy.”
Anna peered out the kitchen window. “The horse is already hitched to the buggy, Mary. You needn’t even wait.”
“Where is Hannah? We can’t leave without her! And if she doesn’t hurry, we’ll be late!” She frowned at Cris. “What will your aendi think if we are late because of your schwester?”
By nine o’clock they were on their way to the far side of Leola while Rebecca and Anna walked down the road in the opposite direction. There was a slight incline before the Kings’ mailbox. The field closest to the driveway was already cleared of cornstalks, and in the distance, Anna saw a man working on cutting the growth. With his hat tilted forward upon his head and the sun in his face, he didn’t notice them. Rebecca waved anyway.
The Kings’ farmhouse was older than the Eshes’. However, Anna noticed that, once again, the downstairs kitchen, combined with a sizable sitting room, was large enough to accommodate not just the King family but extended relations and visitors. When they arrived, the women were already busy peeling apples at the wooden farmer’s table. Their heart-shaped prayer kapps, so different from the stiff, cuplike kapp that Anna wore, framed their faces in such a way that they appeared delicate and dainty.
“Wilkum!” A convivial older woman greeted Rebecca and Anna at the door. “You must be Anna Eicher!” With her brown dress held closed with tiny straight pins down the front, Linda King seemed plain enough. Her three daughters, busy at the sink washing and drying canning jars and lids, also wore darker clothing; however, two wore a fabric that had patterns in it, so minute that Anna wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been looking. How different, she thought, smiling while Linda introduced her to each of the girls and her two sisters who sat at the table already.
“Benjamin and Freman stopped by on their way out visiting, to see if Abe wanted to ride along,” Rachel said as she returned to her seat at the table. “Abe was put out to think he couldn’t go.” She laughed good-naturedly and glanced at her daughters. “Wasn’t he now?”
The younger girls merely smiled and nodded their heads.
Anna and Rebecca joined the other three women at the table. Within minutes, a paring knife in her hand, Anna’s fingers worked at peeling the apples, a sweet, juicy aroma filling the air. She listened to the older women talking, sharing recent news about people that she didn’t know or places she had never been. The one thing she did know was that it was a warm and inviting environment. Unlike her home growing up or Mary’s home, there was no tension in the air, and a feeling of happiness pervaded the room. Even the children, so wide-eyed and shy, wore an expression of genuine peace.
“Your schwesters are here too ain’t so?” Linda asked, breaking Anna’s train of thought.
Looking up from the apple she held in her left hand, Anna nodded. “My one younger schwester, ja,” she answered. “She went with her husband’s two schwesters to visit with their cousins.”
“Oh?” Rachel seemed surprised and glanced at Rebecca. “I wasn’t aware that there was family in the area.”
“It’s her husband’s family,” Anna pointed out.
Rebecca kept her head bent, her focus on peeling the apples as she added, “The Blank family.”
At this announcement, Rachel pursed her lips and leaned back in her chair. “I see” was her simple response. But from the terse tone in her voice, it was clear that her opinion of the family was less than favorable.
Nothing further was said about the Blank family.
The conversation shifted to more mundane topics related to the people they knew from their church district while Anna continued peeling her apples. On the stove were three large steel pots, all with steam escaping from under the tops. Rachel was quick to cut her apples into eight pieces before tossing them into the boiling water. Anna knew that, after thirty minutes, the apples would be soft enough to drain and then mash, with just a hint of cinnamon added to the mixture, before the smooth liquid would be spooned into the waiting jars. The jars would then be added to a hot water bath in order to seal their tops. They would repeat the process at least three times that day in order to fill all of the empty jars waiting on the counter.
Working in the kitchen was a chore that Anna liked, and she rarely complained about any particular tasks. However, when there were other women—especially friendly and cheerful women like Rebecca and Rachel—to work alongside, canning food was no longer a chore; it became a social event.
Even though Anna did not know the people that Rebecca and Rachel mentioned as they told stories, she laughed with them and felt a camaraderie that she so often missed back in Ohio.
Unfortunately, her sister’s day did not travel the same course.
Later that afternoon, when the Mussers returned from visiting her husband’s cousins, Mary took the opportunity of being alone in the sitting room with Anna to share her less fortunate experience.
“My word!” Mary plopped her weary body down on the sofa and leaned her head back against the soft cushion. Even though they were alone in the room, Mary lowered her voice when she said, “I’ve never seen such a place! Not tidy at all; and that woman!”
“What of their maem?”
Mary exhaled sharply and shook her head in disgust. “Such a ridiculous creature! It’s a wonder that Salome would want us to visit her!”
Not certain how to respond to Mary’s statement, Anna remained silent.
“And not one son! No wonder the place is in shambles!”
Anna wanted to remind her that there were only daughters in their immediate family too. But she quickly saw that Mary wasn’t looking for contributions to the discussion, merely sympathy as she complained about her husband’s relations.
Placing her hand on her forehead, Mary sighed. “I’ve such a headache from listening to her ramble on and on about her dochders.” She opened one eye and peered at Anna as if to make certain she was listening. “They seemed fine enough, especially the two older ones. But it’s no wonder they aren’t married! I’d be quite unhappy if one of my boys married into that family.”
“Mary!”
“Vell!” She lifted her head and stared at Anna. “It’s the truth, ain’t so?”
“‘Pleasant words are a honeycomb,’” Anna quoted softly.
“And with every honeycomb is a hive of bees!” Mary snapped back, an intense look on her face.
Anna highly doubted that the visit could have gone as poorly as Mary suggested. However, when the rest of the Mussers joined them, there were no lively discussions from Leah or Hannah about their cousins. Kind words were mentioned in regard to the two older daughters, Jane and Lizzie, but that was where the discussion ended. Neither Rebecca nor Jonas pressed the issue; neither did Freman.
Mayhaps Mary was right, Anna thought. If so she couldn’t help but wonder why Salome would have insisted upon the visit. Regardless, Anna remained quite pleased with her own day and secretly felt rather thankful that Freman had made the suggestion to begin with.
After the supper meal, Anna and Hannah helped Rebecca with the dishes while Mary retired to nurse her headache. The four men sat in the small sitting area, Leah joining them, to listen to Freman’s description of his visit with Benjamin to the carpentry store.
“A fine operation that John runs!” His voice relayed how sincere the compliment was. “He uses an assembly-line-type method for construction. I often wondered about the benefits of that system, and I can see now how effective it truly is.”
“Not surprised,” Jonas said. “His grossdawdi started that business, and John’s expanded it substantially. He’s a gut man with an even better reputation.”
“Can’t ask for more than that,” was Freman’s response. “A man who stands by his word and does the right thing is almost certain to have a successful business.”
“Speaking of success,” Jonas said, turning his attention toward his wife. “How was your time making applesauce?”
Rebecca was wiping down the table when he asked the question. “Eighty quarts canned,” she replied, hardly able to repress a smile despite the hint of pride it would indicate.
Whistling, Jonas seemed impressed. “That’s a lot of apples!”
“I think Linda said she bought six bushels!” Rebecca told him. “Although we didn’t quite peel all of them, did we now, Anna?”
“Nee, not quite all.”
“Curious that Linda seemed to know Anna was coming,” Rebecca remarked as she shook out the dish towel over the sink and hung it on the side. “Didn’t she make that comment, Anna? That she had heard you were coming?”