“No way, Nadine. After everything we’ve had to deal with so far in life, we’re probably way more mature than any Amish girl twice our age.”
“I guess you’re right, Jane. But I worry that Benjamin won’t wait long, though. Rebekah told me that Deborah Yoder is sweet on him. I’m guessing that means she likes him too.”
Who knew Amish girls could be so competitive?
“I’m not sure I’d worry about her—she likes most every Amish boy around here. Do you think he likes her?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think he’d ask me to the youth singing next Sunday if he liked Deborah—do you?”
She sounded almost worried.
I heard the clip clop of the horses and looked up to see Benjamin and Elijah riding side by side toward the schoolhouse.
“Here’s your chance to ask him,” I said as I got up to meet Elijah.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Jane.”
“Well you better hurry up and think of something to say to him,” I warned her.
They both rode up to the steps and helped us on their horses. Benjamin didn’t get on with Nadine this time either, and she flashed me a look of desperation. I knew she wanted my help, but I rode off with Elijah holding me tight. I didn’t dare look back because I was too involved in my own dilemma.
“Sorry we were late.” Elijah said. “We were in town helping your papa and Mitchell get some supplies at the feed store.”
“That’s cool; it gave me and Nadine a chance to talk over a few things.”
“Did you settle your differences?”
“Yeah, but Nadine just told me what Benjamin’s intentions are for her. Did you know anything about this?”
“Jah, I already knew,” he admitted.
“Don’t you think it’s sorta sudden?”
I wasn’t prepared for Elijah’s answer, but he stated the embarrassing truth regardless of my readiness to hear it.
“While you and Nadine were busy watching me and my papa in our field for the last few weeks,” he said slowly, trying to suppress a grin. “Benjamin was watching Nadine from his field that runs alongside ours.”
My face was so flushed by the time he finished—I couldn’t even look at him. I buried my head against his chest and closed my eyes; unable to deny what he had said—I could only offer an apology.
“I am so embarrassed, and so sorry that we spied on you like that.” I hung my head, not wanting to face him in my humiliation.
“I’m not sorry. I’m flattered.”
He gave me a quick squeeze that felt more like a hug, but I wasn’t about to question it.
“So you think she should tell him yes?”
“Jane, you have a one-track mind don’t you?”
I turned back and looked him in the eye, trying to establish whether he was getting impatient with me. When he smiled, I offered a pleading look, but he didn’t take the hint.
“Well? Tell me what you think. Please.”
“She should say what she feels. But you should warn her not to take too long in answering if she’s also interested in him.”
“Why?”
“I happen to know that Deborah Yoder has been sweet on him for two years. Until Nadine showed up, he thought he was going to have to settle for her. If she turns him down, he’ll likely marry Deborah.”
My eyes grew wide. “That seems a little harsh, don’t you think?”
“It probably is, but that’s how he feels. I don’t think Nadine wants him to marry Deborah if she takes too long in deciding. Nadine may change her mind later, but then it would be too late. He wants to be married soon, and he wants it to be Nadine,” he said.
“She was afraid of that. I hope she doesn’t choose outa fear of losing him. She doesn’t hardly know him.”
We both let out a heavy sigh at the same time.
“You won’t tease him will you? For courting, I mean.”
Elijah shook his head. “Benjamin Lapp isn’t just my cousin, he’s my best friend. We wouldn’t tease each other about that. We’ll leave that to the less mature boys who attend the Singings.”
Elijah gave me another gentle squeeze, and I remained silent the rest of the trip, as I wondered how long it would be before I’d be able to attend a Singing with him.
FOUR
A TIME OF TESTING
Elijah didn’t take me home. Instead, he steered the horse toward his own barn. Mitchell was waiting on a milking stool just inside the barn when we rode up.
He stood up to greet us
“Elijah, I hope your intentions toward my sister are strictly proper,” he said.
“Mitchell, don’t get after him like you're my father.”
“You stay outa this, Jane. I’m talking to Elijah, not you.”
“Don’t worry so much, Mitchell, I’m not out to hurt her. I care for her and my intentions are gut.”
They were discussing me as though I wasn’t there, and it angered me slightly, until what Elijah said registered in my brain. I smiled wide, unable to prevent the grin from spreading across my face—my cheeks aching from grinning so wide.
“If you expect me to believe that your intentions are proper toward Jane, then I shouldn’t catch you riding that horse with her again,” Mitchell said sternly.
Elijah nodded his agreement. I was so mad at Mitchell I wanted to spit, but I held my tongue. No, I would wait until after Elijah left to discuss my displeasure over my brother’s treatment of me.
After giving his horse a good long drink, Elijah put Eli in his stall, and turned his attention to Mitchell. He was trying to explain the right way to take care of a barn to prepare Mitchell to handle the few heads of cattle he and my father had purchased earlier in the week. When it came time to explain the milking of the cow, my brother got a little squeamish. Up until they purchased the milk cow, we’d been getting our milk in town from Fork’s General Store. I was interested in seeing the show, so I sat still in the haystack, observing Mitchell’s clumsiness.
“Ach, if you’re ever to marry my sister, you better let me teach you how to be a real farmer,” Elijah said, jokingly.
“Stop laughing at me. I seriously need to learn this stuff,” Mitchell said.
“There’s a lot more to farming than running that fancy tractor of yours back and forth along the soil,” Benjamin teased as he entered the barn.
Upon hearing his cheerful voice, I wondered how the ride home had been between Nadine and him. I was concerned that Nadine may need to have a talk, but I wasn’t willing to leave just yet and miss out on Mitchell’s lessons. In an effort to divert my attention from the laughter, I pushed playfully at one of the barn cats, pretending not to notice the two of them poking fun at my brother.
“May I give it a try?” I asked politely, after tiring of hearing my brother complaining.
Elijah motioned for me to take Mitchell’s place at the milking stool, and he crouched behind me to guide my hands to the cow’s udder.
“I’m leaving,” Mitchell said. “You two lovebirds are enough to make a fella sick.”
I sighed heavily as my brother stormed off, my face flush from his forward statements. Benjamin was already on my brother’s heels, calling after him and begging him not to give up so easily.
“Is that what we are? Lovebirds?” Elijah asked around a grin wide enough to expose the dimples in both his cheeks.
I thought about how he expected me to answer such a question, then, decided to give my honest opinion.
“We are as long as no one finds out just yet,” I said.
His grin widened as he nodded his head and rested his chin on my shoulder, allowing his cheek to touch mine as we milked the cow together.
****
Later, I caught up to Nadine, who had decided that my side of our bedroom needed to be as clean as her side. Whenever Nadine was upset about something, she would clean, and I would end up having to suffer for it by cleaning my side of the room to match hers. Normally, I would pace, nearly wearing a hole in the flo
or, if I had a crisis, but I was too happy to pace or to argue with her about cleaning the room.
“What’re you so happy about?”
“Me? Uh…uh…” I stammered.
“Something’s going on with you and Elijah, ain’t it?”
“I can’t say anything, Nadine, or Dad will find out.”
“Who’s gonna rat on you, Jane?”
“Mitchell threatened to. He saw us riding on the horse together.”
“Mitchell ain’t a nark; he won’t rat on you. He’s just trying to scare you.”
“You think so?” I asked.
“Don’t worry so much about it. He ain’t gonna tell. Just don’t let him see you on the horse with Elijah anymore, or he might be tempted.”
“When did he turn into such a goody-two-shoes?”
“I think something changed in him when mom came home from the drunk-tank.”
“Don’t say that, Nadine. She’s made a lot of progress. And if she overheard you talking like that, it might push her off the wagon again,”
“Are you still worried she’s gonna go back to drinking’?”
“Sometimes. I guess that’s why I’ve been trying so hard to behave and help around here.”
“She isn’t your responsibility, Jane. She never was,” Nadine said angrily.
“Well, if I hadn’t picked her head up outa the toilet all them times, then she wouldn’t be here, because she would’ve drowned in her own vomit.”
”Okay, okay! Stop trippin’, Jane. How did we get so far off the track?”
“Sorry, Nadine. I guess I still have some worries about her going back to her old ways. I’m still worried that problems will come up even here that will upset her to the point that she wants to drink again.”
“She isn’t going to, Jane. Dad takes her to them meetings every week, and she’s gonna make it. Stop worrying about making her mad. She ain’t hit you even once since she’s been back with us. Things have been real good since we moved here.”
It felt good to confide my fears in Nadine. I knew that she understood me more than anyone could, and it was a huge relief to be able to voice my concerns out loud instead of holding them all in. Still, I felt the need to do as Mitchell had said regarding Elijah. Maybe he knew something that I didn’t, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to cause anything to go awry in this new house of harmony.
“So are you gonna tell me what happened with Benjamin?”
“He asked me to court him again, but I asked him for more time to think, and he consented. Now, I have to come up with the right answer.”
“Nadine, why don’t you just put it out of your mind until you know for sure how you feel about him,” I suggested.
“Well, I already like him a lot, and I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to accept his courting proposal, but I don’t have the guts to ask dad.”
“Pretty soon you won’t have to. After your birthday, it won’t be an issue. After all, it was dad himself that said you could court when you turned seventeen.”
“Thanks for reminding me of that fact. It’ll come in handy when I’m breaking the news to Mom and Dad.”
“Does that mean what I think it means, Nadine?”
“Yeah, I think I just made up my mind,” she said with a smile.
We both let out a squeal, then, hushed each other, not wanting anyone else in the house to hear.
****
After my talk with Nadine, I felt more inspired than ever to help Hannah. Making a friend and learning new skills such as shucking corn and shelling peas felt like an easy way to start learning more about the Amish ways that would come in handy if I decided to join them as my brother and sister had chosen to do. I knew it wasn’t an easy decision for Nadine to make, but I admired her for making up her mind; something I wondered if I would have the guts to do if and when the opportunity presented itself.
****
The leaves began to turn beautiful hues of red and yellow due to early frosts. Rain, it seemed, would wait awhile, leaving us with eighty-degree days. The warmth of the Indian summer was enjoyable to me but, most of all, pleasing to the local farmers who still had a great deal of harvesting to tend to.
In spite of harvest season being in full swing, Elijah and Benjamin continued to take Nadine and me to school every morning, long after my ankle had healed. They weren’t always able to pick us up at the end of the school day, though. In between working their own land, they were still busy coaching Mitchell on his farming skills, so he would be able to provide for Rebekah once the two of them wed.
On Saturday, after the noon meal, neighbor women gathered at the Zook’s house to prepare the wedding ring patterned quilt to add to Rebekah’s wedding dowry. We had all been busy making tea towels and hand-stitched linens for her as well. Elijah’s mam was a great instructor and she was very patient in teaching us how to sew and crochet.
As I watched Rebekah gracefully arrange the fabric swatches, I wondered if my brother knew how fortunate he was to have such a wonderful woman love him. If she had met him even a few short years before, she might have run the other way because of his bitterness. She truly loved him, and his past attitudes were no longer important because they had all been forgiven and remained in the past.
****
Hannah Lapp and her mam, Martha, were the first in attendance for the quilting. Rachel Miller, and her two daughters, Miriam and Abigail, brought some beautiful patchwork squares that were left over from Abigail’s quilting. The Miller sisters, Mary, Elizabeth and Leah, who had lost their mam, were also in attendance for their cousin. Even Deborah Yoder and her sister, Lydia, made the effort to come, along with their mam.
I was surprised to see Deborah at the quilting, after the argument she and Nadine had over Benjamin Lapp. Nadine had won that disagreement, and in the end, made the right decision, as far as I was concerned. My father had been much obliged to give his permission for the two to begin courting after Nadine’s birthday. Nadine was pleased when our parents presented her with a cedar chest packed with things for her own dowry. She also received a silver locket, into which she promptly placed a lock of Benjamin’s hair. I was excited for Nadine, but it made me anxious to court Elijah, even though he hadn’t officially asked me yet. Our biggest obstacle would be getting past my father before my seventeenth birthday—I wasn’t sure I could wait another entire year.
In two days, Elijah and I would celebrate our birthday together and I had never been more aflame with excitement. I was secretly hoping my father would allow more than friendship for the two of us, after giving permission to Nadine and Benjamin to begin courting. I was also counting on Mitchell’s upcoming wedding in November to be helpful in bringing the families together more often.
****
At the quilting, the women began their stitching—and their stories. Gossip was more like it, but I held my tongue. I was shocked that Amish women gossiped, but I kept out of it. I suppose I hadn’t realized before now that everyone is susceptible to the gossip bug, but I didn’t want to be any part of the talk. I was too busy thinking about how much I wanted to sneak out and spend some time with Elijah. I sure was tired of the women and their talking by the end of the quilting bee. Though the quilting went smoothly enough, we would need to gather together two more nights to complete the already beautiful quilt. Just when I started to get the hang of it, the quilting bee was over, and my sore fingertips told me it was for the best.
At four o’clock, the women left to prepare the evening meal at their own homes. I decided that helping my mother in the kitchen would be the perfect opportunity to pitch my ideas about my birthday. I made small talk about Nadine’s and Rebekah’s dowries, hoping it would lead to talk of courting.
Instead, we worked in silence for the most part. We put away the leftover cakes and refreshments and washed the teacups. I tried hard to steer the nearly one-sided conversation toward the subject of my birthday with Elijah, but it seemed that my mother was too wrapped up in Mitchell’s wedding plans to pay atte
ntion to my constant chatter.
Dad poked his head in the doorway to the kitchen and interrupted me just as I got up enough nerve to ask out-right about my birthday plans.
“How about we spend a little quality family time together tonight,” he said.
“Go ahead, Jane, I’ll finish up in here. As soon as I get the rest of these teacups put in the cupboard, I’ll be in there to help you, Jack,” my mother said.
Little Wild Flower, Amish Romance/Amish Fiction/Christian Romance Page 6