by Price, Sarah
“Mimi?” Steve removed his black felt hat and set it on the table next to her prayer kapp before he quickly crossed the room in four long steps. Kneeling by her side, he reached for her hand. “What’s wrong, Mimi?”
She kept staring out the window.
“Are you unwell, Mimi?”
She shrugged.
“Where’s your mamm?”
Mimi sighed and turned to look at him. “She left after dinner to go visit her sister.” Her voice was flat and emotionless. “Why are you here?”
Confusion crossed his face as he caressed her hand. “I came to visit you,” he said. “I missed you.”
“That’s nice,” she whispered, returning her gaze to the window. Despite trying to fight them, the tears began to glisten in her eyes.
“Mimi, what is going on?”
And then she began to cry. She covered her face and looked away, embarrassed by her sudden outburst. “Oh Steve!” she sobbed, fighting the hold of his hands on her shoulders as he tried to embrace her. “I just feel so awful lonely!”
“What on earth?”
She shook her head and pushed him away, refusing to meet his gaze. “Living apart is for young married people! Not us. We’re too old to be doing this! It feels foolish when we’ve waited so long to find each other!”
Ah, he thought. So that is the problem. “Oh Mimi,” he said, trying to soothe her as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his chest. “Is that what this is about?” He leaned back on his heels and looked into her face, wiping at her tears with his thumb. “That’s why I’m here, Mimi. To get more supplies. I want to finish up the paneling and bring you there as soon as possible.”
She sniffled and avoided his eyes. “Couldn’t I just stay at your parents? They have enough room with Mary Ruth gone, ja? Mayhaps, I could help you then.”
Steve frowned. “Well…” He hesitated. It was true that his parents had an extra room, especially with only John David living there until the tenants would move out of the farm that he had rented to them. It would be tight having Mimi there. They’d have to move into Mary Ruth’s old bedroom. However, this wasn’t the way that it was traditionally done among the Amish and Steve wasn’t certain if such an arrangement would be too much of a burden on his parents. “I reckon I could speak to my parents.”
To his surprise, she flung her arms around his neck and clung to him. “Oh danke, Steve! Danke!”
Her immediate change of demeanor startled him. The tears had vanished and there was excitement in her voice. Hesitating for just a moment, Steve wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. “Now, no one has said yes, yet,” he reminded her. “And you would need to talk to your father. He counts on your help in the store, I reckon.”
She pressed her cheek against his shoulder and sighed, a surprisingly happy sound. “Oh, I know he’ll be fine. Mother can help him or he can hire one of the neighbors’ girls. They want me happy and being with you does just that!”
Steve shut his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his. If something as simple as having Mimi live with him at his parents’ farm could bring her such joy, he knew that he would have to try.
By the time Mary Ruth drove the horse and buggy into the driveway, it was almost two o’clock. She knew that Menno would not be home from the farm sale until later that evening. Her heart raced as she quickly unharnessed the horse and led him into the barn. Then, after putting away the harness and buggy, she ran into the house, the folded piece of paper still clutched in her hand.
Immediately, she headed for the bedroom and threw open the door. Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to imagine Menno walking into the room the other night and how, perhaps, he could have missed the note on the bed. Was it possible? She hadn’t cleaned the room since that evening, yet everything was neat and tidy. The bed was made and the clothes hung from the hooks on the wall. Her eyes traveled across the room and fell upon the nightstand by Menno’s side of the bed. There was nothing there except a lantern and a box of tissues.
Walking around the bed, Mary Ruth looked under the tissues but found nothing. She sighed, wondering what might have happened to that second note. Glancing down at the floor, she suddenly had an idea. Setting the first note on the pillow, she hurried back to the door and flung it open. Sure enough, it created enough air movement that the piece of paper fluttered off the pillow and onto the wooden floorboards.
Mary Ruth dropped to her knees and lifted up the side of the bedcovers. And then she saw them: both notes on the floor, side-by-side and hidden from view. Quickly, she grabbed them and clutched them to her heart, tears of joy forming in her eyes. She lifted her head to look at the ceiling and said a quiet prayer of gratitude to God. Thank You, she prayed, for guiding me to find these notes. I am sure now that Menno does not know how much I love him.
She sat at the edge of the bed, shutting her eyes and imagining how it would happen. She would leave the notes in the bedroom again, only this time she would make certain that they could not flutter away. When he would come into the room, she would wait until she was certain that he would have read them. Then, she would come to him and let him embrace her. He would kiss her like he had, that night of their wedding, before everything had started to go so terribly wrong. And then, he would make her his true wife, at last.
She clutched her hands together and bit her lower lip. Oh, she thought, to make everything just perfect!
She’d have the children help with the evening chores so that, by the time Menno returned home, he would have nothing left to do. She’d have a lovely meal hot and ready and would wait on him tenderly and with a smile on her face. He’d notice the change in her and, the moment he saw those two Bible verses, he would know what she truly felt. Surely that would melt through whatever was bothering him!
“Starting to snow really hard now!” Melvin cried out as he flung open the kitchen door. “Mayhaps we can go sleigh riding this afternoon!”
Mary Ruth was tempted to confront Melvin but had talked herself out of doing so earlier that afternoon. Instead, she leveled her gaze at him and shook her head. “Not sure about that. I want you and Suzanna to head out to the barn to get started on the evening chores. Help out your daed since he’s having such a long day.”
Melvin’s mouth dropped open. “But it’s barely three-thirty!”
Suzanna sighed and stared at Mary Ruth with a blank expression on her face.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Mary Ruth frowned. “No sassing me, now,” she started. “You can begin mucking at once and then do the haying and milking at four-thirty, like always. When you’ll be done, your daed will most likely be returning home from the auction and won’t he be ever so pleased!”
At the moment, neither Suzanna nor Melvin seemed too concerned with pleasing their daed. Grumbling, they slowly retreated to the mudroom and pulled down their coats from the pegs on which they had just hung them, a short time ago Mary Ruth listened for the door to shut then leaned over to peer out of the window. They weren’t in any particular hurry but both children were wandering through the accumulating snowfall that had already covered the driveway leading to the barn, kicking at the soft white snow in front of them with their shoes.
Melvin tossed the pitchfork down on the ground by the back room. Already, it was dark outside. That meant it was probably almost six o’clock. For over two hours, he had been doing the bulk of the work, milking the cows with Suzanna’s help and mucking the stalls. He hadn’t grumbled too much out loud, especially when Mary Ruth had come out to help with the milking. It had surprised him that she was such a strong worker, moving quickly among the cows as she milked them. But Melvin was too angry with her to entertain the thought of making such a compliment.
One glance outside told him that a solid two inches of snow had fallen. Had he not been forced to do the chores, he could have gotten in a good thirty minutes of sleigh riding before the evening milking.
It isn’t even officially winter qui
te, he thought miserably. Yet, he had already missed the first snowfall of fun!
“You pick up that pitchfork, Melvin” Mary Ruth scolded. “No need to have someone trip over it. I’m going back inside to finish supper. Make certain everything is tidied up and outten the lanterns before you come in, now.” Without another word, she pulled her black shawl tight under her chin and disappeared out of the barn door, heading back toward the house.
Melvin scowled at her back, reaching for the broom to sweep the walkway by the door. He stepped over the pitchfork, purposely leaving it on the floor. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t go sleigh riding, he complained to himself. He could have started the chores later on and still enjoy himself all afternoon. He needed some fun time too, especially after last Saturday.
Katie hadn’t received the envelope yet and Melvin had felt as though he was walking on pins and needles all day long. He had wondered when they would get the mail and hoped that she wouldn’t open the letter right then and there. Not to mention that the Englische woman, Eleanor, had not been able to pick up Butterscotch. That had put Katie in a bad mood. The entire visit had been a disaster and Melvin could hardly wait until it had been time to leave.
“Melvin!”
He glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the voice. “Ja?”
“Supper’s ready!”
He rolled his eyes, leaning the broom against the wall with a sigh. He wasn’t quite done sweeping so he’d have to finish shortly after supper. Great, he thought. Just what I wanted to do tonight!
Mary Ruth kept glancing at the clock. It was getting later and later with still no sign of Menno. The kinner were eating their supper, but Mary Ruth decided to wait and eat with her husband. After all, she told herself, they had much to discuss.
The snow was falling harder now and, by the time supper was finished, there was at least four inches of it on the ground. Glancing out the window, Mary Ruth sighed. With so much snow, she worried that Menno was having difficulties returning to the house.
“If you’re finished, then,” she said. “Bring your plates over and you can go on upstairs to get ready for bed.”
Melvin frowned. “It’s not even seven o’clock!”
Mary Ruth spun around and put her hand on her hip. Her eyes were wide and her mouth pressed together in a tight grimace. “Melvin Yoder!”
He lowered his eyes, suddenly embarrassed that he had spoken to his new mamm in such a tone of voice. Yet, he didn’t understand why she seemed so short and so distant this evening. And she seemed to be taking most of her frustration out on him, in particular. “I’m sorry, Mamm.”
“You get upstairs now,” she snapped back.
Hanging his head, Melvin shuffled upstairs. He knew that Mary Ruth would certainly tell his daed that he had talked back to her. No good would come out of that, he told himself. There would be a punishment, more chores for sure and certain. And he’d probably not be permitted to visit with Katie for a while. Great, he thought, not without some cynicism. The perfect end to a perfectly miserable day!
After helping to wash the supper dishes, Katie had told her mamm that she wanted to go to bed early. Anna had barely looked up from where she sat on the sofa, her shoulders hunched over as she focused on mending a tear in Isaac’s pants. Katie took her silence as permission and slipped away, hurrying up the stairs. Once inside of her bedroom, she turned on the battery-operated light on her nightstand and reached for her Bible. She wanted to read the note one more time. Her heart fluttered as she opened the Good Book, flipping through the pages to find the note.
It had been a long weekend, one that was filled with great disappointment. She had fought the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes when she had heard that Eleanor couldn’t help transport Butterscotch that weekend. Even being near Melvin had irritated Katie for he reminded her too much of the time they had spent all summer long with the pony. After everyone had left, Katie had wandered down the lane to the mailbox, kicking the stones in the driveway along the way.
But when she had received the envelope, something inside of her shifted. With shaking hands, she had opened it and when she pulled out the piece of paper, she realized that she was holding her breath.
It was from Melvin, of that she was certain.
And he was declaring his feelings for her. Of that, too, she was certain.
She smiled as she thought of Melvin. Ever since Mary Ruth had married Menno, Katie had found herself daydreaming more and more, thoughts of Melvin flooding her mind. She couldn’t wait until summer time when she could visit with him more often. And she’d be older then, too. She wondered if, one day, he’d be the boy who would ask her home from the singings on Sunday nights. Mayhaps they would even go on picnics, too?
Her fingers got to the end of her Bible and there was no sign of the note. She frowned and flipped back through the Bible. No note. The color drained from her face and she lifted the book, shaking it gently in the hopes that the slip of paper would flutter out. But it didn’t.
Where was it?
A moment of panic washed over her. What if her mamm had found it? What would she think of this? Katie jumped up from her bed and knelt down beside it, peering under the frame. Nothing was there except a few clusters of dust.
Lifting her right hand to her lips, she tried to think about what to do. For a moment, she tried to convince herself that she had not put the piece of paper in the Bible. She glanced around the rest of the room, trying to remember if she had put it somewhere else. But she knew that she didn’t. Why would anyone take Melvin’s note to her? And, if they did, why hadn’t anyone spoken to her about it?
It was almost eight o’clock when Mary Ruth opened up the outside door, her shawl tightly wrapped around herself as she stepped outside on the porch. The snow had stopped falling so hard but there was enough covering the ground that everything reflected light, despite the sky being so dark. Still, there was no sign of Menno.
Earlier, she had made certain to fix up the bedroom, putting extra care into cleaning the lantern’s glass hurricane by the bed and fluffing the pillows. When she was finished, she tucked the two pieces of paper under his pillow so that, this time, there would be no risk of them fluttering to the ground. He’d find them and he’d realize the truth. She could barely contain her excitement, even though she was nervous as well.
Glancing at the barn, Mary Ruth realized that there was still a faint light glowing from inside. She hadn’t noticed it earlier with so much snow falling down, shielding the light from reaching the kitchen window. Mary Ruth shook her head in annoyance when she realized that Melvin had not blown out all of the lanterns despite having been asked to just do so earlier. What ails him, she wondered, as she hurried into the darkness, heading for the barn. Not seeing any light emanating from the barn, she reasoned, would please Melvin as he would understand that the evening chores had already been completed. And she wanted him to come home, knowing that after his long day he would not have to go back out for some more work. That would set a positive tone to their upcoming evening together.
The snow crunched under her feet and, despite the fact that she did not like the cold weather, she couldn’t help but admit that the scenery was beautiful. Everything looked uniform and peaceful, covered in a blanket of white. Fresh snow made everything seem so pure and untouched! For a moment, she stood still in the driveway and looked around, feeling her heart surge with anticipation and love. With the children in bed, the evening chores completed and the house warm and quiet, she could barely wait for Menno to return home. If only she knew when that might be!
Once inside the barn, she stomped her feet to free them from the snow. Despite the animals’ body heat that warmed up the air inside of the structure, it was still colder inside the barn than outside. The thick stonewalls that made up the lower level of the building retained the cold air. In the summer, it had been cooler in the building. But in the winter, it was downright freezing.
The cows’ coats had grown in to acco
mmodate the change in weather. Most of the animals sported fuzzy white and black fur and didn’t seem overly bothered by the temperature. Mary Ruth stood there for a moment, listening to the cows as they ate their hay. It was a peaceful sound, one that reminded her of her daed’s farm.
She looked over at the small lantern, across the building and sighed, wondering why Melvin was so distracted. It was hanging near the back door, near the room where the milking equipment was kept. She walked toward it, her hand raised to pull the lantern down in order to extinguish it when her foot stepped on something springy.
The pitchfork.
A startled cry escaped her throat as she felt herself losing her balance. Almost immediately something long and narrow hit her across the face. Pain shot through her right cheek and forehead. Time seemed to stand still for a moment and her mind tried to understand what was happening. She had stepped on the tines of the pitchfork, causing its handle to spring up and hit her; but now she was falling. For a short second, it felt as if she was floating through the air. She tried to grab for something…anything…so that she wouldn’t get hurt. Instead, her hand hit the side of the lantern and the motion caused it to break free from the hook. As Mary Ruth’s head hit the floor, she heard the lantern shatter and saw a quick flash of light.
Fire...
And then everything went black around her.
Dear Family,
I finally found a few moments to write my letter. Best be doing it now to mail tomorrow for Jonah is quite concerned that letter writing will take me away from my chores. Too much to do these days, it seems.
Seems awful quiet, now that we are on slow time. It gets dark way too early. And the cold! Even tonight, I was surprised to see the snowfall accumulate this early in the season.
The kinner are doing well. Baby Jacob has finally started to crawl. I spend much time with him, working on picking up objects and trying to move. His development seems to flourish with each passing day. Yet, I still recognize that there is a delay in his learning compared to the other kinner.