by Mary Ellis
“No, you won’t be staying that long.” She tried not to grit her teeth as she tethered her horse to a tree branch. “We’ll sit in the shade for a few minutes.” Waiting for him to join her, Josie settled her skirt primly around her ankles.
Caleb lowered himself to his haunches as though ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
“What’s this about?” she asked. “Why did you follow me home?”
“I didn’t know the Englischer you met in Shreve, so I wasn’t sure if he could be trusted.” Caleb rested his wrists atop his knees.
“Is that why you tried to stay out of view, because you didn’t trust him?”
“He could have been up to no good. I also thought you might get mad if you found out,” Caleb added after a slight hesitation.
“You’re the one up to no good,” she snapped. “And I am mad that you were checking up on me.”
Caleb shook his head. “I accidentally spotted your rig when I came to Shreve to buy plumbing supplies for the Sidleys. If you had an errand, we could have ridden to town together.” His tone of voice was soft as though he possessed the upper hand. “You can be so independent at times.”
“I didn’t know about my trip until Steve Strickland sent word he would be in Shreve on business.”
Thus began a series of questions and answers which went nowhere.
“Who’s Steve Strickland?” asked Caleb.
“Mrs. Angela Wilson’s younger brother,” she said.
“Who’s Angela Wilson?”
“The Englisch woman I used to babysit for. I told you about her.” Josie bit her lip, her patience waning.
“How come you never mentioned Steve Strickland before?”
“Because I never met him before today.” She rubbed her neck, which had stiffened during the ride.
Caleb emitted a long, protracted sigh. “Could you explain why you snuck out to meet a total stranger at a coffee shop?”
Josie matched his sigh with orchestrated mimicry. “I didn’t sneak out. My mamm knew about my errands and that I was meeting a beekeeper.”
Her beau stared at her mutely.
“Steve and his family are moving to South Carolina due to a job transfer. He’s not moving his honey production business, so he’s willing to sell the queen bee, along with his equipment, for a very reasonable price.” Josie tugged up a handful of crabgrass.
“Steve Strickland is a beekeeper and you wish to become one?” Caleb sounded both shocked and skeptical.
“Correct. I thought you would be proud of me.” Josie tossed the clump of grass at him, hitting his chest squarely.
“Proud of what, exactly?” He brushed away the grass without breaking eye contact.
“That I had devised a way to make money. You seemed concerned that my income-producing ability was zilch. Real clover honey fetches a good price in the tourist shops. Plus I could sell it in the natural food market in Berlin.”
Caleb squeezed the bridge of his nose. “If this Steve Strickland wanted to sell his beekeeping supplies, why would you meet him at a restaurant for forty minutes?”
“You were timing me?” Josie hopped to her feet and pointed a finger at him. “You sound jealous. I have no idea why you would be...or should be. Steve is a married man. Besides, I’ve already made my feelings for you clear.”
“Mr. Strickland could have delivered everything in his truck, taken a check from you, and then been on his way to South Carolina.”
Josie lowered her finger and explained with as much control as possible. “Beekeeping isn’t the same as hanging a birdfeeder in the kitchen window. It’s complicated; plenty of things can go wrong. If you suffer total hive collapse, the profits and maybe even your whole business might be out the window.” Pulling a spiral notebook from her bag, she fanned pages of neatly printed notes beneath his nose. “I wanted to know exactly what I was getting into before deciding yea or nay.”
“I see why it took forty minutes.” His voice lost most of its vehemence.
“After Steve explained the work involved, I picked his brain for helpful hints and what I should watch out for. He’s had years of experience. After his family moves to South Carolina, it’ll be hard to ask questions. It’s not like I can stay in contact by email.”
Caleb rose to his feet stiffly. “Beekeeping—that’s the last thing I would have guessed.” One of his dimples deepened as though this were merely a misunderstanding.
“What would be the first—that I was meeting an Englischer for a romantic date?”
He blushed, but didn’t deny her preposterous suggestion.
“Oh, Caleb, is that what you thought? How could you possibly have so little faith?”
His flush deepened. “I suppose my past history would be the easy answer.” He gazed down on her with a face filled with sadness.
“We don’t have time for the long, hard answer. I need to help Mamm with supper.” Josie pushed up from the grass.
“I asked you earlier about the men you courted, but you provided few details. Maybe I had distracted our conversation with this.” Caleb clamped a hand over his arm where the horrid tattoo lay hidden.
“I courted boys, not men. Because I was a girl, not a grown woman. You shouldn’t ask such questions, but since this apparently bothers you, I will answer.” Josie meted out her words succinctly. “My relationships with previous suitors never got beyond hand-holding or perhaps a goodnight kiss. Those boys had been my friends. We wanted to see if we could spark something more, but we couldn’t. End of story.” She inhaled a deep breath before continuing. “I thought I was ready for a grown-up relationship with someone I had fallen in love with, but now I’m not so sure.”
“You must admit it looked a tad suspicious. Steve Strickland is a handsome man.” Caleb used his honey-sweet, teasing voice.
It had no effect on her. “Honestly, I hadn’t noticed if that married Englischer was handsome, or if his face contained more warts than a horned toad.” Josie tapped her toe in the tall grass.
Caleb stared at his boots, as though finally realizing his blunder. “I apologize, Josie. I misjudged you and insulted you. Then I threw salt in your wounds by pressuring you for details that weren’t my business. Mir leid.”
Josie unclenched her fists and released her pent-up breath. “All right, I forgive you.”
A dark cloud lifted from his face as Caleb put his hat back on. “Why don’t I rub down our horses and give them a bucket of oats? They could probably use a drink of water too.”
Josie stared at him, stunned. One apology and that’s it? “I thought you needed to deliver plumbing supplies to the Sidleys.”
“While I was busy following you, I missed their road by a country mile. Now it’s too late. I’ll just take everything with me Monday morning.” Closing the distance between them, Caleb took her hand. “Maybe I could wrestle an invite to supper.”
Josie yanked her hand away. “You may certainly not stay for supper. I might have forgiven you because it’s my Christian duty, but I need more time before things are peachy between us.”
“All right, should I come back later to sit on your porch for a spell? It’s Saturday night and we get few chances to be together.” He lifted one eyebrow.
“If rocking on a porch with a woman who’s not talking to you sounds gut, then by all means.”
Caleb’s head reared back as though slapped. “Gut nacht, Josie. I’ll look for you after preaching tomorrow.” He politely tipped his straw hat and strode toward his buggy without another word.
Josie remained on the lawn for several minutes, feeling worse than the time she’d eaten potato salad left in the sun too long.
Eli had been on his way to the house when he spotted his son’s buggy rolling up the drive. He waited to talk, because lately, progress at the Sidleys’ had captured his imagination. Who would have guessed Albert and his bruders would be such hard workers or so eager to learn a trade? Every previous encounter had led him to believe the sons would end up exactly like their
daed—cut off from their community and from God. Caleb had reached not only Albert, but also Elijah and Tobias.
“You’re late, son.” Eli called. “But your mamm left a plate for you on the stove.”
“Gut to hear. I’m starving.” Caleb climbed down slowly, instead of jumping like usual.
Eli couldn’t help notice the long CPVC pipes sticking from the back of his buggy. “You’ve started their new bathroom?”
He nodded. “We gutted the old one and hauled everything to the dump in their hay wagon. Thank goodness they only had one bathroom in the house.” Caleb moved stiffly as he unhitched the horse.
“Did you run into any trouble with the interior walls? Any black mold or dry rot of the timbers?”
“Nein, the worst problem was a huge yellow jacket nest living in the wall. John Sidley had punched his fist through the plaster years ago, leaving a big hole. Albert said his mamm had burned the biscuits on the bottom and John flew off in a rage.”
Father and son exchanged a sorrowful glance. “John had a mean temper,” said Eli. “What about this insect nest? Are you saying none of them knew it was there?” He picked up the harness and followed Caleb into the barn.
After cross-tying the horse, Caleb picked up a brush. “Oh, they all knew its location. Hornets were flying in and out through an open window in Elijah’s bedroom.”
“Did that boy sleep in the same room as an active hive?” Eli walked around the stall wall to make sure his son wasn’t pulling his leg.
“Every single night for the last year. His window contained not a bit of glass. Elijah said he left the bugs alone and they left him alone. I asked if he got bit by mosquitos all night, and he said that he didn’t think so. Apparently, mosquitos no longer raised welts.” Caleb paused in his grooming. “Once a bat flew into Elijah’s room and spent an entire day hanging upside down from the ceiling. The critter flew out the next morning, never to return.”
“The bat probably didn’t want to share space with a bunch of yellow jackets.” Eli hung the harness on a hook.
Laughing, Caleb drew a metal comb through the gelding’s mane. “If you repeat this story, which I hope you won’t, no one will believe you.”
“You’re right about that. Insects aside, how is the reconstruction going? Has John stood in your way?”
Caleb grinned. “It’s coming along better than my fondest hopes. My prayers have been answered.”
“You prayed for the Sidleys?” Eli didn’t hide his surprise.
“Jah, I pray for them. God has been with us every step. So many bad things could have happened while dismantling the roof and masonry chimney, but so far nothing has. Plus, Mr. Sidley hasn’t shot at me or done anything worse than holler foul names.”
Eager to help, Eli filled the grain bucket and hay stanchion. “I’m curious, how did you get rid of the hornets—a giant can of Raid?”
“That had been my suggestion, but Elijah wouldn’t let me. He insisted he knew a better way.” Caleb made eye contact before continuing. “He rigged up a pot of smoldering grass and herbs, then placed it under the hole in the wall. The white smoke put the hornets into a deep sleep, allowing us to dismantle the wall around them. Then Elijah carried the nest out on a stick. He insisted they had as much right to live as we do.”
“Did he sleep in the same room with a smudge pot?”
“He had planned to, but I insisted he bunk in with Tobias.” Caleb rolled his eyes. “Albert made Elijah carry the nest far from the house. When the last stragglers flew out the window, I boarded up the opening until I can get new replacement glass. And the yellow jackets now reside in a pine tree in the north woods.”
“Amazing,” said Eli. Although the word was inadequate for what was happening on that dead-end road.
“That’s not all. Elijah had a black snake living under his bed, sort of like his pet. It would eat any mice that lived upstairs. He or she—hard to tell with snakes—came and went through a hole in the wall to a tree outside the bedroom.”
Eli held up his hands. “Enough. Perhaps I don’t need to hear every detail of the Sidleys’ former existence. I trust you also found a new home for the snake?”
“Now he lives in a rotted log near the river.” Caleb released the horse from the ties and returned him to the stall. “The snake seemed happy when he slithered off, but Elijah was sad to see him go.”
A shiver ran up Eli’s spine. “When the house is done, maybe he can adopt a dog from the shelter. I’ll donate a fifty-pound bag of chow. In the meantime, let’s go inside so you can eat. You’ve had quite a week. Did it get too late to drop off the plumbing supplies? I noticed them still in your buggy.”
Caleb closed the barn door behind him. “No, I left in plenty of time, but I saw Josie in Shreve and decided to go to the Yoders.”
“All the way by road? Why didn’t you just talk in town?”
“Because she was having coffee with an Englisch beekeeper.” Caleb climbed the back steps and toed off his boots.
“A beekeeper? You’ve lost me.” Eli scratched his head. “Are you sure this isn’t part of the Sidley story?”
Caleb opened the kitchen door for him. “I couldn’t figure out what she was doing with him so I followed her home. She got a notion to raise bees and sell their honey. She thinks I want her to earn an income.” He walked straight to the fridge for a Coke.
“And you don’t?” Eli set the kettle on for a cup of tea.
“Not at all, but how can I discourage the idea?” His son drank half the can in several swallows.
“Bees will be good for their peach and apple trees. I read in The Budget that it’s difficult to get one hundred percent pollination of blooms.” Eli selected a chamomile teabag from the metal canister.
“What if she invests her money but doesn’t like tending the colony?”
“She could sell the hive to someone else.” Eli stood at the stove as though watching a kettle made water boil faster. “What did you think of the former beekeeper? Was he covered in suspicious-looking red welts?” He tried his best to suppress a chuckle.
Caleb didn’t appreciate his humor. “I didn’t go inside the diner. I sat in my buggy, watching the door until Josie left to go home.”
“Why on earth didn’t you speak to this Englischer? Then you could have judged for yourself how difficult or dangerous her new undertaking was. Josie might be biting off more than she can chew.” The moment the whistling began, Eli removed the kettle from the heat. His fraa and dochdern could be asleep upstairs by now.
Caleb carried his supper plate to the table and peeled off the cover. Under the foil were two pork chops, a mound of green beans, mashed yams, and an ear of corn. He picked up a piece of meat. “Mamm won’t be happy until she fattens me up.”
Eli waited several minutes until Caleb devoured his first chop and put a dent in the side dishes. Then he repeated his question. “Why didn’t you join them for coffee, son?”
“Because I didn’t realize it was a business meeting. I thought my girl was on a date with another man.” Caleb tipped back his head to finish his soft drink.
“But you said he was an Englischer.”
“Jah. What does that have to do with it?”
“Plenty. I’ve known Josie Yoder from the day she came into the world. She would never court someone Englisch.”
“Then I guess you know her better than me.” Caleb bit into the second pork chop.
“You’re almost midway through the membership classes, preparing to join the Amish church and pledge your lives to Christ. Yet you assumed she was sneaking around behind your back? I thought you two would soon speak to me about intentions to marry this fall after your baptism.”
Caleb dropped the bone onto the plate. “I know that, but I didn’t like seeing her walk into Cup-of-Joe with another man.”
Eli continued to dunk his teabag in the cup far longer than necessary. “So you followed her home in your buggy. Once at the Yoder’s, Josie explained her idea to sell honey?”
“Jah.” Caleb didn’t lift his focus from the meal. “She explained why she went to Shreve. Then she sent me home, all but slamming the door in my face.”
“Women, or men for that matter, don’t like to find out they’re not trusted. You can’t blame Josie for being angry.”
“I don’t, but if this situation were to happen again, I wouldn’t do anything different.” Caleb balled up his paper napkin and tossed it into the trash.
Eli’s years of studying Scripture, along with leading the district as their bishop, momentarily failed him. He didn’t know the right words to say to a troubled young man. “Even when your distrust had been misguided?” he said. “Josie had only been buying a beehive, of all things, which you would have discovered had you not stewed in jealousy out in your buggy.”
“I understand, but I couldn’t tolerate that Englischer laughing and talking with my girl. The man even shook her hand!”
“If you keep up this kind of behavior, she might not be your girl much longer.” Eli had spoken more to himself, but his son heard him nevertheless.
“A man wants to protect those he loves and keep them safe. Josie is an innocent babe in the woods. She has no idea what kind of men are out in the world. I do know. I saw plenty in those Cleveland bars.” Caleb carried his empty plate to the sink.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have been in those bars in the first place. You too could have remained oblivious of things Amish folks don’t need to know.”
“Maybe not, but I can’t do anything about it now.”
“You need to study the Gelassenheit tonight and focus on implementing those principles in your life. Once you’ve learned resignation, detachment, and calmness of mind, then jealousy won’t be an issue nearly so often.”
Caleb met his gaze and nodded. “All right,” he said. “Gut nacht.”
But as he headed upstairs, Eli felt he might as well be trying to teach geometry to a goldfish.
15
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love
Caleb slouched at the breakfast table, not in the best of moods. The thumb he’d hit with the hammer twice yesterday was swollen and throbbing. The steady rain thrumming on their steel roof meant little work would get done on the Sidleys’ back porch that day. They had already burned the rotted, warped boards from the previous porch in a bonfire, the sparks and flames shooting twenty-five feet into the air. The shower enclosure he’d ordered had yet to be delivered, stalling progress in the bathroom. But at least Albert and his brothers had a new flush toilet and pedestal sink, even if cold water was their sole option. Two days ago Daed’s foreman stopped after work with his plumber friend. Within a few hours, Bob and the plumber had installed both fixtures, to Elijah’s utter amazement. The boy watched over their shoulders the entire time. Caleb had been amazed by the number of questions Elijah asked.