Ella's Wish (Little Valley 2)

by Jerry S. Eicher

  “That’s why the lady purchased this one. It seemed an easy sale to make.”

  “See, you’re gut,” Ronda said. “Really gut.”

  “Not sure about that,” Ella said, wrinkling up her face.

  Mary set down her doll, came up to Ella, and pulled on her dress. “Can we go outside?” she asked. “Sarah and I?”

  “I don’t know,” Ella said, getting up to glance out the window. “It’s not raining or too hot. You have to stay close to the house and don’t go out toward the road.”

  “We won’t,” Mary said with a solemn shake of her head.

  Ella held the basement door open for them as they ran outside. Childhood was such a joyful time; so innocent of the troubles of the world. Surely it was the mercy of Da Hah on the little children.

  They climbed to the top of the steps and then stopped. A shiny white stone Mary found beside the driveway captured their interest. Mary held the stone in her hand and gave it to Sarah when she showed interest.

  How darling they really are. I could do this…be their mother. Where did that thought come from? Yet for the first time since Aden’s death, something in her life began to make some sense. Don’t I want to be the girls’ mother? But is it worth the sacrifice of also being Preacher Stutzman’s wife?

  Back inside, Ella placed baby Barbara on a blanket on the floor, took her place at the quilt, and got to work in earnest. Her stitches easily matched Ronda’s in both speed and quality.

  “You’re good too,” Ronda said. “I don’t think anyone could tell our work apart.”

  “Yah,” Ella said, nodding, “we work together well.”

  Silence settled on the house, and their hands stayed busy. The clock on the wall ticked away, marking off the minutes. Every fifteen minutes or so, Ella got up to walk to the window and check on the girls.

  Ronda got up at eleven to go upstairs. “I’m hungry. I’ll go prepare lunch and holler when it’s ready.”

  “Yah,” Ella said, “quilting makes for as good an appetite as farmwork.”

  “Don’t expect Joe to believe that,” Ronda said from the foot of the stairs.

  “They know it, though,” Ella said. “You couldn’t get them to quilt either way, I think.”

  “Now that’s a fact,” Ronda said, laughing and climbing up the stairs.

  Concentrating on the fabric, Ella prepared to stitch around a little animal. For effect she needed darker thread and checked her own quilt on the wall for the right color. In every way this should be an exact copy. The woman had liked what she’d seen.

  When Ronda called, Ella picked up the baby and went outside to collect the two girls. Little Barbara blinked at the bright sunlight, and Ella shielded her eyes with her hand. She found the girls having a pleasant discussion in the barn. She paused to listen in.

  “He’s too brown,” Mary said. “Much too brown. I like Daett’s horse better.”

  Sarah nodded.

  “He looks mean,” Mary said. “He looks like he could bite you, and I’m stayin’ right here. You should too, Sarah. You’d better be careful. You don’t like him, do you?”

  Sarah shook her head vigorously.

  “I don’t either,” Mary said and then grinned sheepishly when Ella cleared her throat.

  “So you don’t like my horse?” Ella asked with a smile.

  “We were just playin’,” Mary said.

  “He’s a nice horse, but you had best stay away from him. In fact, you should stay away from all horses until you’re bigger. Horses can step on little people.”

  “That’s what Daett says,” Mary said.

  “Oh, he does?” Ella asked.

  “Yah, he takes us out to the barn with him sometimes when Aunt Susanna can’t watch us. We have to be careful then.”

  “That’s good,” Ella said, picking Sarah up in her free arm. “It’s time for lunch now. Are you hungry?”

  They both nodded.

  Ella walked toward the house. Will I really become the mother of these children? It seemed as if the choice was hers. To do so she would have to become Stutzman’s wife. That was the price to pay.

  Ronda had the sandwiches ready. They washed their hands at her washbowl and wiped them on the towel. At the table, they bowed their heads in silent prayer for the proper length of time, which was governed by some inner sense developed from youth.

  “It’s good,” Mary said after the first bite.

  “Yah, they are,” Ella said. “Ronda’s a good cook.”

  “I’ll be gettin’ Joe fat yet,” Ronda said, giggling. “That’s what he said last night.”

  Sarah dropped her sandwich, and Ella bent over to pick it up.

  Ronda seems happy with Joe as her husband. What would it be like to have Stutzman as my husband? With Aden I knew what to expect. Here, the future stretches out dark and unknown. Only these three children can shed light on the journey. I love them, but could I ever love their daett? Certainly not like I loved Aden, but does that matter?

  With Sarah’s sandwich back where it belonged, Ella bit into her own. What would Ronda think if she knew my thoughts? Ronda didn’t ever date one man while having thoughts of another. She’s calmly looking out the window, so she must not have noticed my distress.

  “I’ll help clean up,” Ella said when they were done eating.

  “You have more to do than I do,” Ronda said, motioning with her hand. “Just get on back to your work.”

  “We’ll help,” Mary said with bright eyes.

  “See?” Ronda said, smiling. “Everything’s taken care of.”

  “I guess it is,” Ella said, getting up and taking baby Barbara in her arms. “Thanks so much for lunch, but we can’t do this every day.”

  “Only when necessary,” Ronda said, sweeping the crumbs from the table. “I like it. I really do. That’s what’s so nice about this—I can invite you up whenever.”

  “Nice on my part,” Ella said. This was why she liked Ronda. Not because she invited her to lunch, but because she was a real friend.

  Downstairs Ella returned to her work on the quilt. When the girls came down after helping Ronda, Ella settled the girls down for naps.

  “I’m not sleepy,” Mary said but fell asleep quickly. Sarah still had her eyes open and her thumb in her mouth.

  That was one thing that would have to change as soon as possible. Ella’s mamm never let her brother and sisters suck their thumbs very long. It deformed the teeth, her mamm had often said.

  Silence settled on the basement, and the stitches stretched out before her. How glad I am for Ronda’s help. Many hours will go into this quilt, but in the end, the effort will be worth it. The finished product will warm the buyer’s heart—and mine too.

  “Da Hah’s way of blessing,” her daett said. “When one works with the hands, the blessing goes to both the giver and the receiver.”

  Feeling the need for a break from the needlework, Ella thought about her journal. Would this not be an excellent time to write in it? By tonight, the first day the girls were back, she would be too tired to write.

  The news from this morning almost demanded it, and so with a silent step, she slipped upstairs, hoping each step didn’t squeak too much and that Ronda wouldn’t wonder why she went upstairs in the middle of the afternoon. Grabbing her journal, she also picked up the repainted sign and went outside and hung it on the hooks.

  Back down in the basement, she opened the tablet and began.

  Dear Journal,

  How strange life can get. Preacher Stutzman proposed to me this morning, just like that. I don’t know what the man was thinking. Surely he could see that I have no feelings whatsoever for him, and yet I love his daughters. The most surprising thing is that I didn’t say no. Could this be Da Hah’s way, or is my life all messed up?

  I’m sure I know what the bishop will say—if I ever tell him.

  I have no idea what my answer will be. The man even apologized for the hard preaching at Aden’s funeral, as if he knew this bothered
me…even when I had never told him so. He’s a strange man, but then all of life is very strange right now.

  I suppose I could just tell them both no and remain single, like I planned all along. The thought of being someone’s wife after losing Aden is hard to imagine. How will it feel to have another man’s arms around me? I don’t even like to think about it.

  I think, though, that I will have to say yes to one of them. The hard part is to just make the best choice possible. What God has in mind, only He knows. I sure don’t. There are still moments of bitterness when I wonder why, but as strange as it may seem, the girls have softened those feelings faster than anything else has.

  Could this be a sign of what I am supposed to do? I don’t know. I wish Aden would send some sign, like it seemed he did when I had to make the decision about the house. But all is silent in the heavens. Maybe he thinks I can make my own decisions now. That would so be like him—not to interfere in my choices. He would want the best for me now that he’s no longer here. Yet what is that?

  Can’t he see that better than I can? Can’t he send an angel back to tell me or do some little thing to show me the way to go? Yet, I’m just Ella, one girl among millions on this earth. Many are in worse shape than I am, and I’d best be thankful for what I have.

  I need some answers, and that right soon. Perhaps my answer will be evident by seeing if the bishop makes a move. I don’t really know why what he does is so important to me, but somehow it is. I should know by Saturday—whether he does what I expect him to do. He’ll be back that night, and we’ll have to see.

  Ella shut the pages gently, slid the tablet under the couch, and returned to her quilt, humming a hymn softly to entertain herself.

  Minutes later gravel crunched in the driveway. Stretching her fingers, Ella got up, glanced out the basement window, and saw a car parked by the barn. A lady, in her thirties or so, had stepped out of the car, and a young girl—a daughter perhaps—followed her. The two looked around, said something to each other, and then walked toward the house. Are they here to see the quilt shop?

  The children were still asleep, and Ella hoped they wouldn’t be awakened. Business came first, anyway. The girls could go to bed early tonight, if necessary.

  “Good afternoon,” she said, greeting the woman at the door.

  “Good afternoon,” the woman said with a nod. “Is this the quilt shop?”

  “Yah,” Ella said, motioning them inside. “I have girls sleeping, but don’t worry about them. It goes with having a business in your basement.”

  “Oh, we can come back later,” the woman said, stopping just inside the door.

  “Nee,” Ella said, “please come on in. I don’t have much to show anyway because we just opened. But you can see the quilt we’re working on right now.”

  The woman crossed the room with her daughter close by her side. She ran her fingers across the stitches on the new quilt and then raised her head to look at the quilt displayed on the wall.

  “That’s our sample,” Ella said, “and right now we’re just making this one kind. The centerpiece is a copy of the house.”

  “I noticed,” the woman said, smiling. “Is this one sold?”

  “Yah,” Ella said.

  “Have you another ready to sell?”

  “Nee,” Ella said, “not yet.”

  “I’d take one if you did. Perhaps we can stop by next time we are through here. Maybe then you’ll have more like this one?”

  “Yah,” Ella said. It was clear that she could make quilts ahead of time, and then sell them.

  “Your girls are still sleeping,” the woman whispered with a soft smile. “Thanks for the tour.”

  Ella held the door open for her. I will enjoy making and selling quilts. Da Hah has been gracious by giving this idea to me.

  Toward evening and just before Joe came home, Ronda called to Ella from the top of the basement stairs, “What did that lady want? Did you sell a quilt?”

  “She would have bought one,” Ella said, “if we had one ready.”

  “We need to work steadily and have more quilts ready to sell on the spot,” Ronda said, smiling from ear to ear.

  “I think so too. I’m thrilled at the opportunity, but it does look like we have a lot of work to do.”

  “Yah, it does,” Ronda said as buggy wheels turned into the driveway. She quickly closed the basement door, and soon Ella heard the front door open. Next she heard excited voices and then the heavy steps of a man on the hardwood floor above.

  Ella fixed soup for supper, fed the girls, and had them in bed by eight. She stepped outside when the stars came out. It was a clear night with not a cloud in sight from horizon to horizon.

  The bright sweep of the stars seemed silent tonight. Gazing up at the sky, she sought out the familiar figures she knew—the seven sisters, the little dipper, and the sword that hung from the hunter’s belt.

  “Dear God, please help me,” she prayed, but there seemed to be no answers tonight. Ella pulled her gaze away, stepped back inside the house, and prepared for bed. She needed her sleep for the week ahead.

  Thirty-nine

  Ella started the washing machine early the next morning and carried the finished laundry outside to hang on the line. She set up a ladder so Mary could climb up, help pin the clothes to the line, and then turn the wheel, which sent the wash out toward the windmill. Sarah squealed with delight and handed the clothespins up to her sister until she tired of the exercise. Mary stuck it out until the last piece of wash was rolled out.

  “Good morning,” Ronda called from the kitchen window.

  “Yah, that it is,” Ella said, waving. The morning air improved her spirits a little.

  Back in the basement, Ella completed the next load of wash and made another trip to the line with the girls. She held Mary’s and Sarah’s hands on the walk back while Mary dragged the hamper with her other hand.

  “Let me take that,” Ella said when they came to the driveway. “I don’t want it to drag on the stones.”

  “When I’m big, I will carry it like you do,” Mary said, beaming.

  “Yah, you will,” Ella said, thinking how great it would be to be Mary’s mamm and watch her grow up. Ella pushed the thought away.

  She worked on the quilt till lunch and then fixed soup for the girls.

  Soon afterward an older lady drove her car up the driveway. Ella opened the basement door for the woman while holding baby Barbara in her arms. “Hello. Please come in,” she said warmly.

  “Oh, she’s such a cute baby,” the woman cooed. “Such a darling.”

  “Yah, she is,” Ella agreed.

  “You have quilts?” the woman asked and stepped inside.

  “Only the one we’re making,” Ella said, pointing to the quilt she and Ronda were working on. “There’s the display of the finished product. We just make that one kind right now.”

  “Oh, just the one,” the woman said. Ella couldn’t tell if there was disappointment in her voice.

  “We’re just starting up,” Ella said. “We might branch out later, but not for now. We just have the one, and the one we’re working on is already sold.”

  “Ah, then, you must take orders and ship them? I hope you do because we live in Ohio and can’t come through here that often.”

  “I do. In fact we plan to ship this one when we’re finished.”

  “Do you have anyone to help you? With three children—”

  “Yah, the lady who lives upstairs helps me. We could have another quilt done in four months, we think.”

  “Then I’ll take it,” the woman said. “It’s a beautiful design. I’ll just leave my address and such.”

  “Yah, that will be fine. We will ship the quilt C.O.D. Is that okay?”

  “Oh sure,” the woman said, writing her name and address on the piece of paper Ella gave her.

  Ella drew in her breath. What if I can’t get it done in time—even with Ronda’s help?

  “It’s good doing business with
you,” the woman said as Ella held the door open for her.

  Only moments later Ronda opened the basement door and called down the stairs, “Was that another sale?”

  “It was,” Ella said, laughing nervously. “I think I’d better take the sign down now. I can’t go on selling like this, and we can’t work this fast.”

  “Then I’d best get busy,” Ronda said. “My, but this is fun. And don’t take the sign down. They can always just look. You want your shop to be well-known so people will stop by. Just think, they’ll soon be standin’ in line at the door.”

  “I doubt that,” Ella said, relaxing a little.

  “Your mom just drove in with Clara,” Ronda said. “I suppose you didn’t hear them with the Englisha car driving out.”

  “Ach,” Ella gasped, “Mamm’s here, and the house is all a mess.”

  “It’s not,” Ronda said. “Stop worrying. It just looks worked in. Isn’t that good? Your mamm will understand.”

  Ella still rushed behind the curtains where the girls were playing, picked up things, and then grabbed the dolls the girls had left on the couch.

  “Who comes?” Mary asked. “Is it someone to look at the quilts again?”

  “No. Mamm’s coming.”

  “Mamm?” Mary asked, wrinkling her brow. “But we have a mamm. How can she come?”

  “It’s my mamm,” Ella said.

  “You’d better marry him,” Ronda said from the top of the stairs. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you.” Then she closed the door.

  Ella stopped her straightening for a moment, wrapped her arm around Mary, and looked at her eye-to-eye. “Mary, I just take care of you. Your real mamm is up in heaven. Your daett will find a good mamm for you some day.”

  Mary’s eyes clouded over. “But I already have one. There’s one in heaven, and then there’s you.”

  Ella bit her lip. She glanced up to see her mom walking past the basement window and carrying a paper bag. Clara walked behind her.