by Linda Maran
He read no discomfort in her eyes and felt a wave of relief wash over him. He returned her smile.
“Why don’t you join us for pizza? I already have some here. Then we can show Kristen the home baked pies and quilts.”
“Wouldn’t you rather go to the hardware store?” Sadie grinned.
Jah, he would, but he had no intentions of disobeying his daed’s wishes to stay by Kristen’s side while in town.
“It’s fine,” he said, leaving Sadie with raised eyebrows.
She took a napkin and placed it on her lap.
John gave her one of his three slices.
He was glad Kristen and Sadie hit it off. Now Sadie would have no reason to be jealous if she heard that he and Kristen went somewhere together. Would she? Nee! For all intents and purposes, Kristen was his cousin, whether by blood or otherwise, and they would behave as such.
5
John tried not to roll his eyes over the fuss Sadie and Kristen made over the candles and later over those Edna Lucille soaps at the country store where the Englicsh owner sold many crafts the Amish made. Each weekend, weather permitting, the parking lot bustled with both Amish and Englisch women interacting as baked goods exchanged hands.
Kristen and Sadie spent more time than he’d anticipated sniffing all fifteen kinds of the soaps displayed inside The Amish Commons. He was ecstatic when they were ready to return to the general store.
Sadie went right in and headed for the hard candies for her brudders.
“This is a nice store. Why is there a FOR RENT sign on the glass?”
“Sol Yoder is moving to Pinecraft, Florida, next month. The landlord is looking for someone to take over the store,” John explained. “I’ll go get your cell phone. I’m sure it has a charge by now.”
“OK. I’ll listen to the messages in the buggy so that your mamm doesn’t get upset with me doing it in the house.”
“She’s OK with it so long as it isn’t idle silly talk. Your messages might be important.”
“Kind of. I think my friends would want to hear how I’m doing. If I don’t answer them, they’ll worry, especially Cindy. She and I grew up together and her parents took me in after my mom and Ross died. Just the same, I’d like to listen to the messages while we ride home.”
“Sure, that would be fine.”
They headed inside the store, and Kristen went to check out the candy counter.
Sadie held a green candy stick and handed a purple one to Kristen. They giggled as they unwrapped them like excited school girls.
It was gut for Kristen to have another female friend, and there’d be no more concern about being seen with his pretty Englisch cousin. Now his only worry was why he couldn’t keep Kristen out of his thoughts. She’d done nothing to lead him into any kind of romantic notions, and he’d had no interest in anyone else except Sadie for the past year. So, why was his mind full of how to make Kristen happy? Did he feel sorry for her? Could it be that he mistook compassion for some other emotion? Were his feelings for Sadie not deep enough for courting?
When John retrieved Kristen’s cell phone, he bought a fresh pretzel for Anna and decided he’d eat the one he’d gotten earlier on the way home.
Outside, he untied the horse of each buggy from the hitching post.
“Are you all right riding home alone, Sadie? Or would you like Kristen to keep you company, and I can follow in my buggy? ”
“Ach. I’ll be fine. It’s not the first time I’ve come here alone.”
“Jah, that’s true. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then.”
Sadie nodded, got into her buggy, waved good-bye, and trotted off.
Kristen was already seated inside John’s buggy when he handed her the cell phone.
“Thanks, John. I’ll just be a few minutes getting my messages, OK?”
“Jah. Take as much time as you need. I’ll munch on my pretzel.”
“After pizza? It’s a wonder that you’re in such good shape the way you eat.”
Her words flattered him, but he quickly dismissed his vanity. “It’s the farm work that keeps most of us fit.”
Kristen gave him a smile and then turned her attention solely to her phone. She had the nicest smile. And the blunt way she spoke to him continued to amuse him. He wondered what her beau back in New Jersey was like. Was she the least bit happy staying here in the Plain world? Judging by the way she anxiously punched the buttons on that phone of hers, he doubted it.
“What’s the matter? Doesn’t your phone work?”
“I don’t know. Something must have happened to it. I have no messages. How can that be?”
“Maybe your friends want to give you a chance to settle in before they call.” He didn’t know what else to say. She looked as if she would cry any minute.
“No, I left Derick a message to call or text me. He’d have told Cindy and the others. And even if he never got the message, he would have called by now to see how I’m doing. And Cindy is my best friend. I don’t get it.”
“Why not try calling them now that the phone is charged to see if it’s working properly? I can wait. There’s plenty of time ’til supper.”
“Really? OK. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going? I promised Daed I’d keep an eye on you. You can stay here. I’ll step out of the buggy and wait next to it.”
“No, that’s all right. I like to walk when I talk on the phone, especially if I’m nervous. And right now I am. I’ll be just over there by the store’s porch where you can see me.”
Kristen walked over to the bench outside the general store but never sat down. Instead, she paced back and forth as she spoke.
John finished off his pretzel while he waited and watched. After about ten minutes, Kristen was no longer speaking on the phone but stood as still as a tree trunk. He was about to go over and ask what the problem was when he noticed her wiping her eyes with a tissue.
What could have happened to make her cry? Had Derick or Cindy said something to upset her?
Waiting a few minutes before going to see if she was OK would be best. But no sooner had he decided that, Kristen walked over and got into the buggy without a word.
“Kristen, are you all right?”
“I don’t know how I am. Let’s just go back.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” He surprised himself with the question. Since when did he or any other Amish person display such inquisitiveness?
“No. Talking won’t do any good. Things are going from bad to worse. I just wish my mom and Ross were alive, and I had my old life back.” She took out a new tissue from the pocket of her denim skirt and wiped at her eyes.
“Is it that bad being here?” He was almost afraid to hear her reply.
“It’s just very different. I miss my mother so much. And my friends. At least I thought they were my friends.”
“Why do you say that, Kristen? Of course they’re your friends.” He was doing it again.
“Ha! Yeah, right. Let’s just go, please.”
John couldn’t understand what had caused such a change in Kristen. She looked absolutely crushed, and he was tempted to give her hand a squeeze as a caring gesture but thought better of it. Best be remembering that he needed to be keeping Sadie at the forefront of his mind. Why did he have to keep reminding himself to do that?
~*~
When Kristen and John arrived back home it was four o’clock. The haus was empty. Kristen went straight to the washroom. When she entered the kitchen, John noticed that the tear stains were gone from her cheeks, but her eyes were still red. He decided to keep quiet about her crying episode. Instead, he went to the fridge and took out a pitcher of cold lemonade.
“Can you please get me a glass from the cupboard? Get one for yourself, too, if you’d like some.”
“OK, thanks. I could use a cold drink. It’s so hot here. I miss the ocean.” She got herself and John a tall glass each.
“I’ve never been to the ocean, but we have plenty of streams,
waterfalls, and lakes here.” John hoped she’d be pleased to know that.
“I’m sure they’re pretty, but there’s nothing like the ocean.”
So much for that.
“You can see way out to the horizon, and the air has a salty, fresh smell,” she went on. “I can almost taste it just thinking about it. Oh, and the waves! Sometimes they’d soothe me to sleep when we’d keep the windows open in summer. I like the sounds of the gulls, too. I used to watch them swoop down onto the surface of the water for fish and then glide right back up to the sky again. And the awesome sunsets. Imagine, if you can, the whole beach turned to a golden orange. That’s how it is, John. It amazes me no matter how many times I see it.”
John stood quiet for a moment. Kristen’s sentiments for the ocean moved something inside of him, the way she looked when she described it. Her eyes glowed with a sweet longing. He saw a glimmer of happiness come over her; something he hadn’t seen on her face since she’d arrived.
“Kristen, maybe you can enjoy a few places here. I can show you a beautiful stream and the mountain fields with wildflowers if you like.”
Kristen’s face fell momentarily, but then she looked at him with her haunting dark eyes and smiled a half-hearted smile.
“Well, OK. I guess it’s only fair for me to see what you love about this place if I want you to see what I love about the shore.”
John thought it a gut idea to have a picnic in the meadow by the lake with Kristen and the familye next Saturday for a couple of hours. She needed to start liking the area if she was ever going to feel at ease here and think less about the ocean and her former home.
“Gut. We’ll plan on a picnic with the familye for next Saturday. And maybe you can help make the sandwiches since you might still want to leave the meat out from yours,” he teased. When he looked over to her with a chuckle, she was staring out the kitchen window.
“John? Who is that across the road outside?”
John followed her gaze out the window and saw a dusty car stopped by the entrance of their walkway by the mailbox.
“I never saw that car and I can’t see the driver too gut. Maybe he’s looking for directions. Let me go see.”
“No! Don’t go.”
“Kristen, why would I not go?”
“It looks like the same car I saw when I was with Anna this morning. Why would they come back here?”
“Best I go and check it out then. You stay here.”
As soon as John opened the screened door, the car took off. If this was the same car that Kristen told Daed about, he knew he needed to tell the familye at supper time. But right now, he didn’t want her left alone while he tended to some chores in the barn. Kristen still stood with her gaze out the window when he turned toward her. He could see the worry lurking behind her deep brown eyes.
“How about you come with me to the barn to see how the cows are milked? We don’t have many, but enough for our needs.”
“What about that car?”
“It’s gone. If it comes back again, we’ll deal with it. For now, try to put it out of your thoughts.”
“I’ll try. I’ve never milked a cow before, so maybe that will take my mind off of things. Do you sell any of the milk?”
“Nee, we don’t produce enough. We grow alfalfa to sell as feed for folks who have enough cows for milk selling. And soon we’ll get a gut crop of corn that we’ll sell at the farm market, too.”
As they walked to the barn, Kristen turned and looked around her. Seemed things were mounting up on her nerves today. First, the mysterious car this morgen, then whatever happened with her friends on the phone, and now the return of the car.
“Kristen?”
“Yes?”
“You’re safe here. I’ll see to that.”
~*~
When the family had finished their meal, Kristen saw Aunt Elizabeth catch Aunt Miriam’s eye, as if it were time to do something.
“I have to go to Rebecca Bieler’s tonacht to help bind her cookbooks. Would you like to help me in the kitchen, Anna? This way I can get there sooner.”
“Jah, sure, Aenti Miriam. Can I go with you to help with the books, too? They’re candy recipe books. I’d like to see ’em.”
“As long as it’s all right with your mamm.”
Aunt Elizabeth nodded her agreement.
“I’ll help, too,” Mary said as she stood.
“Nee, I think a familye talk is about to begin,” Aunt Miriam explained.
“Can’t we stay for the talk and then go to help with the cookbooks?” Anna looked to Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Miriam with a pout.
“Rebecca has to have all the books done tonacht, so we need to get an early start. Besides, it’ll be all grown-up talk here, and you’ll get bored faster than a cat in a barn without mice.”
“Jah, OK, Aenti Miriam. Maybe I can bring back one of those candy recipes for you to make, Mamma.”
“That would be fine. Now go on with Aenti Miriam. Mary and I will take care of the dishes.”
“Denki, Elizabeth. Come by tomorrow for tea, if you can.”
“Jah, Miriam, I will. We’ll talk more then.” Aunt Elizabeth walked Aunt Miriam and Anna to the door.
Aunt Elizabeth placed a pitcher of iced tea and a plate of lemon cookies on the table then she sat with a serious expression.
“I have something to tell you all. I wanted to wait ’til after supper so that our meal wouldn’t be interrupted by anything upsetting.”
“What is it, Liz?”
Aunt Elizabeth reached into her apron pocket and handed the yellow folded note to Uncle Jonas. Her uncle’s eyebrows furrowed as he silently read the words. Then he put it down, scratched his beard and pushed the note toward Kristen.
“What’s this?”
Aunt Elizabeth sighed then said, “When Rebecca dropped me off from her haus, I noticed part of the yellow paper sticking out of the closed mailbox as I walked toward it. You need to read it, Kristen. We don’t want to hide anything from you. You’re not a kind anymore. You can read it out loud if you want.”
“Is this the note that was left here about me this morning?” Kristen looked from her uncle to her aunt.
“You know about that note?” Uncle Jonas looked at her with surprise.
“Yes. John told me on our way to town today.”
“Vell, this is a second note that your aenti found in our mailbox.”
“Another one? About me?”
John grabbed the note before Kristen read a word.
“John, what are you doing? Let Kristen read it. She needs to know what the notes say. I have the other one from this morgen right here in my pocket.” He pushed it toward his son.
“She already knows what the first note says, Daed. I told her word for word.”
“Can someone please clue Mary and me in to what this is all about?” Daniel asked from across the table.
“You’ll both be knowing as soon as John reads the two notes to us.” Uncle Jonas’s voice held a hint of impatience.
“Jah, sorry, Daed. I just thought Kristen didn’t need to be any more nervous than she might already be from the note this morgen, and, er, the car we saw stop here this afternoon.”
Kristen looked up at John, and he held her gaze followed by a not-to-worry kind of smile. His quiet reassurance calmed her. The mention of the return of the car would cause more concern to them. It sure had her on edge.
“What car, John?” Aunt Elizabeth’s brow creased.
“It was the same car that Anna and I saw this morning,” Kristen was quick to say before John could reply.
“Jah, at the entrance to our walkway near the mailbox. So, whoever it was must’ve left the second note then,” John said.
“Jonas, did you know about this car around here this morgen and not tell me?”
“I was going to tell you at bedtime, Liz. Didn’t want to worry your whole day is all.”
Aunt Elizabeth gave him a half-hearted nod then faced Kristen.
; “We don’t want you to be nervous and afraid, but none of us should keep any notes or news of seeing strange cars around here from you or one another. We need to be vigilant. Now, John, please read the notes to us like your daed asked.”
John unfolded the first note and cleared his throat.
“It would be better all around if the girl is sent back to where she came from.” Then he unfolded the second note, and without looking up, he read: “Take the girl back to where she came from. It is in her best interest. The notes will continue until she leaves Palatine.” He put the note down and his gaze rested on Kristen. She tried to keep her composure but her eyes began to water.
“Why would anyone not want our cousin here?” Mary asked.
“We don’t know,” Jonas answered. “But obviously someone does not.”
“I think if we get more notes or see that same car around here, we should tell the sheriff,” Daniel said.
Uncle Jonas stared at the notes in John’s hands.
“You know we have to let the bishop in on this before we can do that, Daniel.”
The bishop? This was turning into something bigger with each passing hour.
“Kristen, I don’t mean to be unkind in asking you this, but when I showed your Aenti Miriam the note, she wondered if it could be your boyfriend trying to get you back to New Jersey?”
Aunt Elizabeth’s voice held no accusation as she went on. “After thinking on it more, I came to realize that you are in a vulnerable position. You have nowhere to go until the estate is settled. You can easily fall prey to a young man’s promise to take care of you. That’s why your mamm asked for you to come here in her last wishes. If he doesn’t have a job, Kristen, the responsibility would fall on his familye. You have familye.”
Kristen’s heart raced and hot tears spilled onto her face. All eyes were upon her awaiting her answer, but instead, she stood and ran from the room. If only Derick would have cared enough to be the one to do such a thing.