Harley hooked his thumbs in his suspenders and stared at the ground. “You’re doing okay.”
“All that praise will go to my head.” Willis bent sideways to see his brother’s face. “How about the truth?”
Harley shrugged. “There are things you could improve.”
“Enlighten me,” Willis said, choosing one of Eva’s words. He sat down on a bale of hay beside the barn door.
“I guess we want to feel like a family again. We can take on more chores. We aren’t babies.” Harley’s voice trailed away.
Willis looked around at three unhappy faces. “The bishop could find you another family to live with if that’s what you want.” He barely got the words out of his tight throat.
Otto glared at him. “Is that what you want?”
Willis wanted his old life back, didn’t he? Where he didn’t have to be concerned about anyone but himself. Where he was never a disappointment to anyone else. He cleared his throat. “I love you. I want what’s best for you.”
Maddie climbed onto the bale beside him and rested her head against his arm. “Bubble doesn’t want to live anywhere else.”
Harley glanced at Otto. “Neither do we.”
“I miss the things Mamm and Daed used to do with us,” Maddie said.
“What things?” Willis asked.
“Mamm used to read us Bible stories at night. And she used to tuck me in real tight. You don’t tuck very well.”
“I can learn to do better. Why haven’t you said anything before?”
They looked at each other. Maddie sighed deeply. “I was scared you wouldn’t like me and you might send me away.”
He put his arm around her. “Nope. Not going to happen. I’m not sending Otto away. I’m not sending Harley away and I’m not sending Bubble or you away. You are my family and you can stay with me until you have families of your own. Okay?”
They all nodded and smiled. Willis swallowed the lump in his throat. “Otto, you’re in charge of Dodger, my buggy horse and the draft horses. Feed them and make sure they have water. Keep them groomed, keep their stalls clean and make sure Dodger gets plenty of exercise. We don’t want him to act up when the teacher is driving him.”
“Can I drive him?” Otto asked hopefully.
“Okay. You’re old enough to handle the reins. Maddie, you will feed the chickens and geese every morning and gather the eggs. Plus, you will sweep the kitchen every day after breakfast. Got it?”
She nodded. “Got it.”
Willis looked at Harley. Maybe this was the time he should confess how dimwitted he was but his insecurity ran deep down into his bones. “Harley, I’m putting you in charge of bringing in the mail, reading it and letting me know what things are important.”
“Eva needs our enrollment forms filled out,” Harley said. “I can do that.”
“I almost forgot about those forms. It would be great if you could do that for me.” He wanted to hug the boy.
“It will be up to you to find stories and prayers to read to us in the evening. Eva has lots of books. She’s offered to loan us some and I think we should take her up on that.”
Maddie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, do you think she has Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?”
“I’m not sure. You should ask her. Eva also needs some help learning to be a teacher. She’s never done it before. She would like you, Maddie, and you, Otto, to be her first students.”
Otto scowled. “I don’t want to go to school. School is stupid.”
“I felt that way about school when I was your age and my opinion has never changed, but I didn’t have a teacher as nice as Eva. I think you should give her a chance, Otto.”
The boy stared at his bare feet and drew a circle with his big toe in the dirt. “I’ll go but I won’t like it.”
Maddie got off the bale and took Otto’s hand. “She can make it fun. You’ll see.”
Willis stood up. “All right, this family meeting is officially over. I think we should have a family meeting every week to make sure we’re on the right track. Bishop Schultz is worried that I can’t take care of you. So I think we’re going to have to take care of each other. We’re going to be a family team.”
Harley grinned and held out his fist. “This is how the team does it. Everybody put your hand in.” Maddie had to stand on the bale, but they all stacked their hands on top of each other’s.
“Go, Gingrich team,” Harley declared. The boys cheered as they tossed their hands in the air. Maddie jumped up and down, clapping her hands.
Willis was struck by the notion that there was one set of hands missing. Eva should’ve been in on this. She wasn’t a member of the family but she was becoming important to him and to the children. And that scared him. He’d never felt this way about any woman, not even the one who hurt him the most.
Chapter Nine
Eva was disappointed when Willis didn’t accompany the children to her home the next morning. Harley came in and handed her the enrollment forms she had been asking Willis to provide. She took them happily. Harley sat with them for a while, but he soon excused himself. He stopped before he went out the door. “I will be over at the Arnett farm today if you need me.”
“Danki, Harley. Has your brother written to your old school asking them to send your records here?”
“I don’t think so. Can’t you do it?”
“I reckon I had better if I’m to get them before the start of classes.” It was a simple thing she could do to help Willis.
“I will need your former teacher’s name and the school address. Do you know it?”
“Sure.” He supplied the information and she wrote it down.
“Where is Willis today?” She tried not to sound too curious about him.
“He’s gone to a farm sale hoping to pick up some scrap metal and another anvil. He said he would be home by five o’clock.”
So she wouldn’t see him until later. Hiding her disappointment Eva stared at the two children watching her. Maddie was all smiles. The dour look on Otto’s face didn’t bode well for the day. “Otto, I will have you start by sweeping out the classroom and making sure all the desks are clean and lined up. Maddie, I’m going to need you to help me make cookies.”
“Will they be snickerdoodles?”
“I think I have the ingredients for some. Otto, what kind of cookie do you like?” She needed to engage with the boy on some level. If she couldn’t break through his barrier of resistance the school year was going to be difficult.
“Oatmeal chocolate chip,” he muttered.
“Two of my favorites mixed together. Good choice. The broom and dust rags are in the coat closet at the school. I’ll be over later if you need any help.”
His eyes snapped with anger. “I’m not so dumb that I need help sweeping the floor.”
“Of course, you aren’t. That isn’t what I said and certainly not what I meant.”
He stomped out of the house without looking back, letting the screen door slam behind him.
Maddie shook her head. “He hates it when people treat him like he’s slow.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt his feelings. I was only offering to help.”
“I know. Daed used to say Otto had a chip on his shoulder and that’s why he gets mad but I never see one.”
Why was the boy so prickly? She didn’t know and she wasn’t sure how to find out. She could only hope things improved before he started school.
Eva was finishing up in her kitchen after making a batch of blackberry jam from the bush out back when she saw a white car turn into her drive. Two women got out. They turned out to be the county social worker and a public health nurse. They left Eva papers showing what they suggested should be taught regarding health and science and gave her a schedule for vision and hearing tests in October. Working with local health and welfare people was anoth
er part of her teaching position she hadn’t given much thought about. She would have to visit with the school board and learn how much of what the outsiders offered the community would accept.
They left after a brief visit and Eva was about to go across to the school when a second car pulled into her drive. This time an Amish fellow got out. She couldn’t see his face but there was something familiar about him. He pulled a suitcase out of the trunk. When he turned to look at her she gave a squeal of delight and raced out the door and flew to hug him. “Danny. What are you doing here? Oh, it’s so good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too, Eva.” He turned to inspect the school. “So this is where you’ll be spending your days.”
“Ja, isn’t it lovely? It’s brand-new and so is the house. In a few days the community is holding a frolic to add a barn and corrals. I can hardly believe how fortunate I am to have landed here. How long are you staying?”
“A week or so, I think. Gene wanted to make sure you were getting along up here since the only thing you have written us about is the need for your books.”
She laughed “If I wrote about everything that has happened since I arrived in New Covenant, I would have my own book to be published.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I like a good story. Maybe you should fill me in.”
She took his arm and led him toward the house. “Come into my lovely little house and I will make us both some kaffi. I must warn you I have company. The children from across the street are staying with me during the day. Harley is thirteen, Otto is eleven and Maddie is six. I should warn you that Maddie has an imaginary friend named Bubble so please be kind to her.”
“When have you known me to be anything else?”
“Never. That makes me wonder how you inherited all the kindness in the family and Gene inherited all the sour. How is he? I never thought I would say this but I have missed him and his grumpy looks. I even miss Corinne and her litany of aches and pains.”
“Gene is fine, but some things have changed. I’ll tell you about it over that coffee.”
Eva held open the screen door. A single bark alerted her to the fact that Sadie was on her way to make a visit. She glanced inside the house and saw Maddie coloring at the kitchen table. “Maddie, Sadie is coming.”
Maddie’s eyes grew wide with joy. “She is? Can I go outside and play with her?”
“You may go outside and play with her but don’t stray from the yard.”
Maddie stopped in the doorway when she saw Danny standing behind Eva. “Who are you?”
Eva held a hand toward her brother. “Maddie, this is my brother Danny who has come for a visit.”
“I’m Maddie Gingrich and this is my friend Bubble.” Maddie put an arm over the shoulder of her imaginary friend.
Eva waited eagerly for Danny’s reaction. He glanced at her and then took his hat off. “Pleased to meet you, Maddie and Bubble.”
Maddie grinned. “We’re going to go play with Sadie. She kept the bear from eating us.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Did you say a bear?”
“Ja. Come on, Bubble.” Maddie raced down the steps of Eva’s porch and out to see Sadie. The dog held a thick stick in her mouth. She gave it to Maddie who promptly threw it for the happy retriever.
“The bear was imaginary, too, right?” Danny asked.
Eva covered her mouth with her hand and giggled as she shook her head. “Nee, it was quite real. Come in and sit down. I’ll tell you the whole tale while I brew you some stout kaffi.”
After she had a pot fixed for the two of them and while it perked she recounted her adventures in New Covenant.
“All this took place in a week?” He shook his head in disbelief.
“I dread to think what the next month will bring.”
“I hope you don’t find yourself with a bear in the classroom.”
“Fortunately, Sadie comes to the school with the children so I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”
Eva poured them both coffee when it was finished and spread her fresh jam on several pieces of homemade bread. She sat across from her brother, took a sip from her mug and then put it down. “So. Why are you really here, Danny? It’s only a little over a week since I left.”
“Gene thought perhaps you would be ready to return by now.”
“Oh, he did? He has very little confidence in me. So I assume he sent you to escort me home, is that it?”
Danny leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his thick black hair. “In a manner of speaking, but that’s not why I came.”
She leaned back with her arms crossed over her chest. “Do tell.”
“I wanted to see for myself if you were happy here. Are you?”
Eva heard footsteps on her porch. She looked out and saw Willis in the doorway. A jolt of happiness sent her pulse racing. She smiled at Willis. “Ja, Danny, I am happy here. Come in, Willis. I have fresh coffee and some jam to send home with you. This is my brother Danny who surprised me with an unannounced visit.”
Willis stepped inside, and the two men nodded to each other. “We are blessed to have your sister as our new teacher. I won’t interrupt your reunion. I’m home from my errand. I’ll take the kinder off your hands. Thanks for watching them. I see Maddie playing with Sadie. Where is Otto?”
“He’s doing some cleaning for me inside the school.”
“Has he been trouble for you?”
“Not a bit.” She grabbed an unopened jar of jam and pressed it into his hands. “For you and the kinder to enjoy.”
Willis shot a glance at her brother and mumbled his thanks. He walked to the edge of the porch and shouted for Maddie and Otto. Maddie came running with Sadie beside her. A few moments later Otto appeared at the schoolhouse door. Willis gestured for him to come on. Otto sauntered down the steps, crossed the lawn and paused in front of his brother.
Willis smiled at the boy. “I brought pizza from town for our lunch. How does that sound?”
Maddie jumped up and down. “Yea, I love pizza. Let’s go.”
Willis tipped his hat toward Eva. “Thanks again.”
Otto shifted his weight from one foot to the other and folded his arms tightly over his chest. “I think Teacher will want to check my work before I leave.”
She shook her head. “Nope. If you did your best, then I can’t ask for anything more.”
He seemed surprised by her answer but didn’t say anything. He took off running to catch up with Willis and Maddie. Eva waited hoping Willis would look back. He did. She waved and called out, “See you tomorrow.”
He lifted his hand in a brief salute. She was still grinning as she turned back to Danny. “Where were we?”
“You were telling me that you’re happy here. I can see that for myself. It didn’t take you long to meet the neighbor. Seems like a nice guy.”
“He is. The children are his half brothers and sister. He took them in after their parents died. It hasn’t been an easy adjustment for him or for the children. I’ve been doing what I can to help him. As a good neighbor.”
“As a neighbor. I see.” Danny’s grin widened with the hint of humor in his voice.
She wasn’t sure what he thought was funny. “Not to change the subject but why are you here?”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Corinne’s mother suffered a stroke two days after you left.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Unlike Corinne, her mother was a kind and hardworking woman.
“She’s still in the hospital and very weak. The doctors say she’ll need a lot rehabilitation, but she should be able to come home at some point. Unfortunately, she has lost the use of her right side. Her husband isn’t going to be able to take care of her alone. Corinne wants them to move into the daadihaus on our farm.”
“That should make it much easier for Corinne t
o help.”
“Well, that’s the rub. Corinne doesn’t feel she can do it by herself. Gene agrees.”
Comprehension dawned and Eva’s heart sank. “He wants me to come home and take care of her parents. That’s why he sent you.”
Eva turned away and walked to the end of the porch. She wanted to pound her hands on the railing. Her family needed her again, but she had already accepted the teaching job. She didn’t want to leave New Covenant. She was making friends here even if one of them was imaginary. She bit down on her thumbnail as she wrestled with her conscience. What should she do?
“You don’t have to make a decision today.”
“Gene knows I want to do this. Why can’t he get help from someone else in our family or from Corrine’s?”
“Eva, you are under no obligation to return home. I think it’s time Corinne stepped up and took care of them. They are her parents.”
“But I’m the one with the most experience caring for the elderly.” It was true. She’d had many years of practice. She could already visualize the things that would be needed.
“I don’t know what to say. I know I should return but I don’t feel that I can. I have made a commitment to this community. I have a house and it has been filled with furniture donated for my use. I have the loan of a horse and cart. I’ve even received three new kapps in this congregation’s style. The people here have welcomed me with open arms. How can I walk out on them after everything they have done for me?”
“If you feel that strongly you should stay.”
She spun around to face Danny. “Do you really think so? Is Gene adamant that I come home?” What was the right thing to do?
Danny shook his head. “He didn’t insist that I bring you back.”
“Yet.” She supplied the missing word.
“It would be easy for me to tell you what to do, but you are going to have to decide for yourself. Either way, the woman is still in the hospital. There’s no rush to make a decision. She may recover better than expected.”
“But there is a rush. If I decide to leave, the school board will have to start searching for a teacher all over again. The more advance notice I can give them, the better.”
The Amish Teacher's Dilemma and Healing Their Amish Hearts Page 10