Priscilla's Escape

by Diane Craver

  “I trust you will tell her when the time is right.”

  “If I tell her now, she’ll expect me to take back what I told her. I have no problem with her painting at the beach while she’s with family, but here at home for a couple of months, she needs to quit.” He smiled at Lillian. “She might have time then to see Stephen or some other Amish man. I’m glad I had time to court you when we met. Taking you out for ice cream turned out to be time-consuming, but you were worth it.”

  She giggled. “Your expressions were funny when I asked if we could go to the store to get ice cream. Or if we could go to a Dairy Queen. You said you never knew anyone to love ice cream so much. Those were the days when I could eat ice cream a lot and not gain weight.”

  “That was a special time in our relationship. I knew I needed to buy you your favorite dessert. I was afraid I wasn’t making a good impression on you. Other Amish men were interested in you. Your beauty and sweet nature caused many men to want to court you. I was surprised you agreed to go out with me. You seemed out of my league, as I’ve heard the young people say today.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “That’s crazy. I never felt I was better than you. I fell in love with your kind eyes and sense of humor.”

  “You made me happy then and now.” As he looked at her, he thought how lovely she still was. She wore a lavender dress with a matching apron. It was neatly pressed, as always. “You are as beautiful as you were the first time I saw you outside your aunt’s house.”

  Lillian’s face lit up. “You say the sweetest things. When you came to fix Aenti Eunice’s fence, I wondered if she had a matchmaking motive in mind. After you repaired the fence, she wanted you to stay for pie and kaffi. Then she kept telling you how everything I cooked was wunderbaar-gut and that I would make a fine fraa for someone.”

  He laughed. “Your face turned beet red.”

  “All this talk about ice cream has made me hungry for some.”

  “Let’s get some. We’ll bring back some for Priscilla. Grab an ice cooler to put hers in so it won’t melt. It’ll be a date.”

  “I like it . . . a romantic buggy ride with my ehemann.” Lillian stood the same time he did. “I’m glad that Anna and Sadie are at Beth and Henry’s. I love our kinner, but it’s nice to have alone time with you.”

  * * *

  Lillian’s light snoring wasn’t keeping Amos awake, but memories of his father’s words and actions kept him from sleeping. Wounds of loss and shame were reopened. Although the physical abuse and destruction of his paintings had shocked him, the angry words that came out of his parent’s mouth had hurt him deeply. His dat had insisted that his talent was worldly and that it would be prideful to share it with anyone. When his dat had labeled his painting as sinful and a curse that was keeping him from God, Amos’s spirit broke. As a teenager, he realized he could never paint again. He wanted to serve God and decided to obey his father.

  Unfortunately, a pang of regret had crept into his heart when he saw Priscilla’s unhappiness when he told her to stop painting. He knew this feeling of loss, but at the same time, he felt justified in disciplining Priscilla. If I hadn’t been forced to quit painting, I might not have been chosen to be a bishop for our community. Perhaps suppressing his love of creating pictures had been God’s will. What had seemed tragic had brought a richness and blessing to his life.

  He loved being a bishop in their church district, but it took a lot of his time. He oversaw bestowing discipline and forgiveness on behalf of their community. Sharing preaching duties with his ministers, Saul and John, gave meaning to his life and hopefully to the church members. He enjoyed visiting their families after births and performing marriage ceremonies. Whenever one of their members died, he went to comfort the family and to help make funeral arrangements. One of the things he loved a great deal was giving the instructional classes for baptism. He looked forward each year to baptizing the new members after they finished their classes.

  With his full days as head of their church district, how could he squeeze time into his schedule for painting? He couldn’t, but at times wished he could. Whenever he took a moment to appreciate nature’s beauty, a feeling of how much he wanted to paint again rushed over him. Then he quickly reminded himself that it was more important to stay focused on his bishop’s duties. Carving out time for his family was of utmost importance too. God had richly blessed him and his family.

  He smiled, thinking how Lillian’s attempts at matchmaking didn’t always work out the way she wanted. She’d tried to get Luke interested in Katie Weaver, but he only had eyes for Violet from the beginning. Hopefully, she’d get Stephen and Priscilla together if it was God’s will. However, trying to encourage a relationship between them might not be enough to keep their daughter home.

  Amos prayed silently. Please give me and Lillian the right words to say when we tell Priscilla she can’t go to work for Madison Wittenberg this summer. Help our daughter to realize that because we love her, we want the best for her. Going away from our community to live with an English family is not the right thing to do. Or best for her. Help her to draw closer to you in all matters. Thank you for all your blessings. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.

  Chapter Four

  As the buggy made its way down the road, Priscilla enjoyed listening to the sound of Stephen’s horse’s hooves hitting the pavement. When Anna had wanted to stay longer to look at Luke’s new horse, Priscilla was glad that Stephen had asked earlier in the evening to take her home. She hadn’t wanted to wait around while Anna examined a horse. Her sister loved horses, and even though she wasn’t a veterinarian’s assistant any longer, she still enjoyed training horses.

  “I’m glad you said yes when I asked if I could take you home.” Stephen glanced at her.

  Priscilla grinned. “I had to. I said if our team won, I would. You’re a gut volleyball player.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I had to play to win.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve missed you at the last few youth events. If you hadn’t decided to come tonight, I was planning on going to the fabric store to see you.”

  She laughed. “Do you sew a lot? We have nice fabric if you do.”

  Stephen chuckled. “I was going to buy thread for my mother. I figure she could use it for all the sewing she does.”

  Priscilla drew in a breath, thinking what to tell Stephen about her summer plans. When she wasn’t around for two months, he might wonder why she hadn’t said anything about leaving Fields Corner. Of course, her parents hadn’t said if they would give their approval for her to go. She had a strong feeling that they were pinning their hopes on Stephen changing her mind. Her mother was up to her favorite pastime of matchmaking. I went along with it because I thought if it made her happy, she might talk Daed into letting me have freedom to work as a nanny. “I might not be working at the store much longer.”

  “Did you get a job elsewhere?”

  “I’m hoping my parents will give me permission to go to Florida. I was offered a job as a nanny. I’ll work for Madison Wittenberg and watch her five-year-old daughter while she finishes her book. She’s a writer and has a deadline to make.”

  “How long will you be there if you get to go?”

  “Just two months.”

  “Is it okay if I pull in the spot ahead? There’s a dirt road by a field I planted for a neighbor. No one uses it except when the field is farmed. I want to hear more about your possible nanny job.”

  “We can stop. It isn’t too late. My daed won’t be out looking for me yet.”

  A worried expression crossed his handsome face. “Maybe we can talk at your house, then. I don’t want to worry your parents.”

  “Nee, it’s okay. I was teasing. Daed won’t be getting his buggy out to look for me.”

  Within a couple of minutes, Stephen parked the buggy on the dirt road. He exhaled a breath as he turned off the battery-powered headlights. “I wanted to get to know you better this summer.”

  She was surprised ho
w easy Stephen was to talk to, and realized she wanted him to understand how important her art was to her. “We can write to each other. I want to take the job offer because I want to paint the ocean. It’s a great opportunity for me to go somewhere I have never been before, and a chance to paint something other than Amish scenes.”

  “That makes sense to have a chance to paint something different. If you go to Florida, when will you leave?”

  “In a couple of weeks.”

  He gave her a broad smile. “How about seeing me again before you leave?”

  “Maybe we should wait until I return from my nanny job. You’re busy with farming and building houses.” He’d told her earlier in the evening how he helped his father with their farm, and he also worked for the same local builder as Jonathan did. Staring at Stephen, she thought it would be interesting to paint him. He was muscular from all the outside work he did. His adorable, crooked smile and strong chin showed he was full of gentleness and amazing strength. His brown eyes studied her.

  “Ach, I can make time to see you.”

  “I’d like that.”

  He cleared this throat. “I hope you get to go and will have time to enjoy the beach and to paint. I’ve never been to Florida. My family went to Cedar Point and Lake Erie last summer, but that is as far as I’ve gone.”

  Twisting her kapp string around her finger, she contemplated how much to share with Stephen. Should she mention about waiting to be baptized? If he’d taken the kneeling vow, that might not be a good idea. After a brief silence, she decided it was a common topic among the youth, so she said, “My daed wants me to take baptism classes this summer. I’m not ready. I probably made a mistake telling my parents about my desire to experience my running-around time at the same time I mentioned my nanny job.”

  Stephen chuckled. “Ya, that might not have been the best time. I’m relieved you’re not baptized, because I’m not either. I don’t know if I should tell a bishop’s daughter this, but I have my driver’s license and I own a car.”

  Her head spun at his admission . . . very few in their district ever went so far as buying a car. Although her brother had gotten his license, it was so he could experience something from Violet’s English world. Luke had never bought a vehicle, but had driven Violet’s car before it was sold. While they dated, Luke appreciated Violet living in a house without electricity. It’d been an adjustment for her, so he thought it was only fair he did a few English things . . . like getting his driver’s license and GED. Obviously, her parents were not aware of Stephen having a car. Her mother never would’ve encouraged her to talk to him. Before she’d left with Anna earlier in the evening, her mother had mentioned Stephen’s interest in her again.

  Dating someone also in their rumspringa might have advantages. Leaning closer to Stephen, she said, “I’m surprised. Are you thinking of jumping the fence?”

  Shrugging, he said, “I don’t know. I’m twenty-one years old and I know I’m not ready to commit to our faith. I keep praying about what to do.”

  She sighed. “It’s hard, isn’t it? I’m not ready either.”

  “I guess we can be confused together.” He took her hand in his. “I never knew an artist before. I’d love to see your paintings. If you decide to sell your ocean paintings, I’ll buy one.”

  Pleasure flooded her soul that he wanted to see her artwork and even buy a painting of hers. She seldom heard compliments from other Amish people in their community about her talent. Well, there was one . . . Noah Hershberger. He took time to comment on her work, but Noah was also an artist. He understood the difficulty of being Amish and an artist. She never put her name on any of her work because her daed cautioned that would be prideful. How could putting her name on her art be prideful?

  * * *

  After Stephen took Priscilla home, he felt great as he reviewed in his mind how the evening had gone. He kept smiling, remembering their conversation. He’d enjoyed talking with Priscilla and had been relieved when she wasn’t upset that he owned a car. However, he’d forgotten to tell her about his cell phone, and wished he had. If she had one, they could call each other directly. Her lovely blue eyes had seemed filled with happiness at being with him. It wasn’t until he finished giving his horse, Billy, oats and water that he started to wonder if he’d read too much into Priscilla’s apparent interest in him.

  He’d been surprised when she mentioned leaving for Florida. Was that why she’d agreed for him to take her home this time? She knew once she went to her summer job, it wouldn’t be possible to spend time with him for a couple of months. Maybe she hoped he’d forget about seeing her again. They hadn’t made any definite plans to see each other before she left. She’d given an excuse at first and reminded him how busy he was with his construction job and farming. Had Priscilla even been sincere when she mentioned she’d like to see him again?

  Ten minutes later, he was in his bedroom and relieved everyone else was in bed. He wouldn’t have to give an account of his evening. His mother seemed ready for him to settle down, and she’d be anxious to hear about Priscilla. Right now, he didn’t feel like talking about taking Priscilla home. What could he say? That she wanted to leave for the summer? He was thankful that he had his own bedroom. Their farmhouse had five bedrooms, so his younger brother and sister each had their own room. Many Amish families had seven or more kinner, so their family was considered small. He knew his mother was anxious for him to join the church, get married, and give her grandchildren. She frequently mentioned being disappointed at not having more children.

  His parents were not froh about his car, which he understood. As the oldest, he needed to set an example for his younger siblings. Having a car and a driver’s license wasn’t something he should do while living in his family’s home. He kept the car behind the barn, so it was out of sight. It was doubtful he could keep it much longer, because his father insisted it needed to be sold soon. Or he could move the car to an English friend’s house.

  He wished it could be easy for him to give up worldly ways, but it wasn’t. Whenever he prayed about what to do with his life, the path he should take in life wasn’t clear. He understood why his parents wanted him to join the church. That was what all Amish parents wanted for their kinner.

  Although he was technically still on his rumspringa, he knew it was time to decide. His parents wanted him to take instructions soon. Would he finally be able to join the Amish faith? He’d hoped going to youth singings again would help. At age twenty-one, he had stopped going for a year.

  When he’d seen Priscilla with her mother at a school program, her beauty stunned him. At that moment, he knew meeting Priscilla was what he wanted. On the way home, he’d mentioned that he would attend youth singings again. His mother was pleased that he would attend in the district where his siblings went to school. Many of the young people in his district enjoyed going to outside singings. It was a great way to meet other Amish people. Socializing was important because they were looking for their life partner. Marrying an Amish woman would force him to make his baptism vow.

  One problem . . . the woman he could see that might happen with wasn’t ready to take her kneeling vow either. Priscilla had surprised him when she’d said how she was in her rumspringa. If a bishop’s daughter had doubts, then he realized they both had hard decisions to make. One would make their parents relieved and happy, but not joining would break their hearts.

  He climbed into bed and punched his pillow. As he rested his head, a disturbing thought came to him. I never should’ve mentioned having a car. What if she tells her parents? They might not allow Priscilla to date me. But I don’t regret explaining to her why I’m not baptized yet. Our indecisiveness is something we have in common. For now, anyhow.

  It was amazing to learn that she was an artist. Most girls spent their time baking desserts for their boyfriends or working on a quilt to have when they married. It was nice Priscilla was different. He liked that about her too.

  I wish I could draw Priscilla’s
exquisite face. I’d love to paint her blue eyes that remind me of the sky. And painting her hair that has lovely auburn highlights in the sunlight would be perfect for my picture. He’d attempt to convey her warmth and kindness in her face. Her delightful grin might be hard to get right. Even if I had any artistic talent in my fingers, I wouldn’t be able to paint her face. It would never be allowed in our community. What a shame not to be able to paint her. Or to take a picture of her with an English camera or smartphone.

  I doubt any artist could capture her beauty was his last thought before sleep claimed him.

  Chapter Five

  Two days after the singing, Priscilla sat on a chair in the living room across from her parents. They were seated on the sofa. Before they’d asked her to join them, Priscilla had changed from her drab brown dress to a bright blue one for her date with Stephen. Her parents had waited to talk to her until Anna and Sadie were at Molly’s house, helping her plant more flowers. If they had decided to allow her to go to Florida, then why send Anna and Sadie away? They would find out soon enough. Instead it could be that they were going to tell her no, and her parents didn’t want to tell their reasons in front of her younger sisters. It would be nice to have their approval, but if not, she might disobey them.

  While Mamm gave her a small smile, Daed took a drink of his coffee. I hope he won’t wait until his cup is empty to tell me their decision.

  Daed set his cup on the end table by the sofa. “Your mother and I decided that we don’t think it is wise for you to go to Florida. We talked to Carrie and she said you can go with them sometime in the summer to their beach house or with Violet and Luke. If Violet can get off work at the birthing center and Ada can be available for her patients, you can go for two weeks then. You will have more time to paint the ocean without having to work as a nanny. It’s a win-win situation for you.”