An Amish Homecoming

by Rosalind Lauer

  So many changes on the horizon. Were she and Alvin prepared to take on Sarah’s girls? Miriam believed that true challenges came from Gott, and this one would bring her closer to the memory of the sister who had filled her childhood with laughter and joy. But how did her husband feel about taking this on?

  She turned to Alvin. Those tiny crinkle lines at the edge of his eyes made him look weary but wise. “What do you say, Alvie?”

  He took a deep breath and rubbed his injured leg. “We can’t turn away family. The girls can stay with us, but they’ll pitch in like all of our children. That’s all.”

  Looking at her dear husband, Miriam found it hard to contain the swell of love she felt for him at that moment. In Alvie’s heart, there was always room for one more.

  * * *

  Miriam insisted that Sully stay and eat, despite his claim that he had no appetite due to the heartbreak of saying good-bye to his girls. Mammi served up a right good plate of chicken and vegetables, corn bread and butter, and Miriam was satisfied to see her brother-in-law bite into a drumstick. By the time Miriam and Alvin sat down, the little ones were finishing up, and Essie and Megan were in sight.

  Harlan left his half-eaten dinner to get up and go meet Essie.

  “Where are you going? Was it something I said?” Serena called after him, her brows lifting in merriment. From what Miriam had seen, Serena had said plenty, all right. That one had always been a chatterbox, but at least, tonight, she seemed more upbeat than her sisters.

  The youngest one, Grace, was more of a concern. Her eyes were red, her face puffy, and she seemed on the verge of tears as she chewed a chunk of zucchini. Miriam knew it was hard to handle so much raw emotion, but life’s sorrows were really a matter of perspective. Miriam wished Grace could see how blessed she was to have a father who loved her and a family in the country that was happy to take her in.

  It made Miriam smile to see her youngest one, Sarah Rose, watching Grace with curiosity and awe. She kept patting Grace’s hand like a doting grandmother, and, at one point, she climbed onto the bench to get a closer look at Grace’s pink hair, finally nodding in approval.

  “There’s plenty of food left,” Miriam told Essie and Megan when they arrived at the table. “Help yourself.” Peter and Paul got up to give them a place to sit, reminding the others that they would be back for dessert—German chocolate cake, Essie’s favorite for her birthday cake.

  “It’s Essie’s birthday?” Serena leaned past Harlan to get a peek at Essie. “Happy birthday! This will be one for the record books, the day your cousins crashed your party.”

  “I’m sure I won’t forget it,” Essie said in a voice that seemed both sweet and sour.

  Maybe Essie was disappointed that her celebration didn’t turn out as planned, but when life gave you lemons, lemonade was the best you could do.

  * * *

  Instead of bringing out dessert, Miriam saw that all the dinner dishes were cleared from the tables and brought inside. She set up her girls in the kitchen to wash dishes, then had Paul and Peter scrub the vinyl tablecloths. Mammi wanted to head home to her small house down the road at the larger farm of Alvin’s brother Lloyd. Miriam asked Harlan and Sam to take her in Harlan’s buggy, then come right back for cake.

  Again, Miriam and Alvin summoned Sully to the side porch, this time with his daughters. The twins sat together on the swing, while Grace took a seat next to her father on the glider.

  “So I’ve talked with your aunt and uncle,” Sully began, “and they’ve generously agreed to the plan. They’re going to take care of you here for the next year or so. You can finish high school. You’ll be safe, and surrounded by family.”

  “What high school?” Serena asked. “I just asked Annie about it, and she doesn’t go to school and she’s only sixteen.”

  Miriam noted the quickness of Serena’s objection. The clever girl had been doing some investigating, and she’d uncovered the truth. Annie had finished eighth grade, as was traditional with Amish youth, who then went on to jobs at home or in the community.

  “Annie looks after the animals here on the farm,” Alvin explained. “The horses and the chickens need tending, and the vet thinks she’s got good instincts when it comes to taking care of the dairy cows. Are you good with animals, Serena? Was it you helping us milk the cows last time you visited?”

  “Probably not,” Megan said. “The closest she’s been to a cow is drinking a vanilla latte at Starbucks.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Miriam said. “The county high school will do just fine for the three of you. There’s a bus to take you there. An English girl down the road goes there. Jenny is her name. I’m sure she’ll tell us all about how to do it.”

  “Figuring out the school system is not the issue,” Megan said. “The problem is that we all want to go back to Philadelphia.”

  “That’s not an option,” Sully said. “Look, we went over this on the ride here. I need to work to support you girls, at least for the next four years, until I can vest out. And you need a stable, steady environment. A more positive environment, away from the temptations that have gotten you in trouble.”

  “I’m not in trouble, Dad.” Grace’s hand slid down his arm as she looked up at him. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why can’t I just come home with you?”

  “Because I can’t be there when you need me, Gracie-girl. You know you get lonely, being alone in the apartment, and you deserve to be surrounded by people who love and support you. Besides, your sisters will be here. Don’t you want to be with them?”

  “I want us all to be together at home,” Grace pleaded, tears shining in her eyes.

  Sully shook his head. “I’m sorry, kiddo. This will be your home for now.”

  “Actually, you can’t force Megan and me.” Serena folded her arms across her chest. “We’re both eighteen now. Legally we’re adults, and we can do what we want. Maybe we’ll just run away.”

  Sully seemed crestfallen as he faced Serena. “It would destroy me to know you’re not in a safe place.”

  “Stop! Just stop, Serena.” Megan gave her sister a stern look. “Can’t you see he’s trying his best?”

  “It’s not my fault that you landed in the hospital again last night,” Serena said.

  “Nice.” Megan scowled. “Way to be sympathetic.”

  “Girls . . .” Sully warned.

  “We’re not here to argue or lay blame,” Miriam said. “Better to look ahead and agree on the best solution, which is truly to have you girls stay here with us. I know you two are eighteen, and that makes you legal adults. You’re not prisoners here, of course, but won’t you agree to give it a try? If it turns out you want to leave, we won’t stop you. We just ask that you let us know you’re going.”

  “That sounds fair,” Sully said. “Would you agree to that, girls?”

  “Only if they’re staying,” Grace said.

  “I guess,” Serena said. Megan gave a nod.

  “Okay.” Sully clasped his hands together. “Progress. I’ll let you keep your cell phones, but you’ll have to find someplace in town to charge them. Same with the laptop.”

  “Some folks use the library,” said Alvin. “But I hear that cell phones don’t work too well out in these parts.”

  “No service,” Serena said. “I’ve been having trouble since we got here. You people need to have some antennas installed.”

  “All right, then. Let’s go get your stuff from the car.” Sully turned to Miriam and Alvin and shrugged. “I had them pack clothes and toiletries. Is that okay? They can wear their regular clothes here?”

  “Hold on, Dad,” Megan said. “You can dump us here, and we’ll try to bloom where we’re planted and all that,” she said, “but you can’t make us be Amish.”

  Miriam had to bite back a smile. As if you could make a person accept a way of life, as well as the Anabaptist faith.

  “What? We have to be Amish?” the youngest one asked, her eyes shiny with yet more tears. “This is
worse than death. I’m not taking out my piercing. You can’t make me.”

  “And I’m not going to wear a saggy dress and a bonnet,” Serena said. “No offense, but there’s no way I’d let anyone see me that way.”

  Megan held up her hands. “Same.”

  “Girls, please . . .” Sully scraped his hair back. “Show a little respect.”

  “Come on, now.” Miriam held back a smile. “In all the times you visited, did you ever dress like us?”

  The girls looked at one another and shook their heads.

  Miriam went on. “We wear plain clothing because this is what the scriptures in the Bible tell us. But you weren’t raised Amish; we know that, and no one expects you to dress like us. You can wear your clothes, and we won’t force you to church.”

  “See, girls?” Sully said. “I told you they weren’t a cult.”

  “But if you were to live here, we ask that you live by our most important rule,” Alvin said.

  “Here we go,” Megan muttered.

  “We ask that you love your neighbor and treat others as you would want them to treat you,” Miriam said.

  “Oh my gosh!” Serena’s eyes were wide with wonder as she stared at Miriam. “When you said that just now, you reminded me so much of our mom.” She touched her twin’s arm. “Did you see that?”

  Megan nodded. “So, what other rules?”

  “That’s the important one.”

  Alvin smiled. “We can make up the others as we go along.”

  The girls seemed horrified, but Sully laughed at that, and Miriam chuckled, too. “It was a joke,” she said.

  “Right.” Megan arose from the bench. “If the touchy-feely session is over, let’s get a move on. We’re not getting any younger here.”

  “This is true,” said Alvin. His face was neutral, but Miriam thought she noticed a twinkle in his eyes as Megan rallied the group to move. Sarah’s daughters were feisty, stubborn, and still grieving their mother’s death. They were going to be a handful, but, oh, what an interesting year they would have together!

  Chapter Four

  Later that night, Serena lay on the mattress, staring at the bunk overhead and listening to the soft sounds of breathing all around her. Even with Sarah Rose sleeping in the nursery, this room was chockful of people. The large girls’ room in the Lapp house had always been very much like a dormitory, with three bunk beds and two mismatched dressers. But unlike a dormitory, storage space was limited. The Amish cousins hung dresses, nightgowns and bonnets on hooks, and the single closet was packed with blankets and quilts. Cousin Annie had moved her clothes to offer Serena two empty hooks, which was a start. Serena had pushed aside the few books on the dresser top to install her perfumes and hair products, bottles that might otherwise spill into her luggage. Still, there was no way she and her sisters could unpack. Consequently, two suitcases and a duffel bag lay on the floor against the wall.

  Wide awake, she rolled over and tried to slow the thoughts whirring in her head. What was she doing here? Why was she even in bed so early? How could anyone expect her to fall asleep at nine o’clock? The grandfather clock in the living area had just struck nine when the younger Lapp kids headed up the stairs, yawning, and Aunt Miriam reminded the rest of them that they’d be up with the crowing roosters in the morning.

  Seriously? Serena doubted that Dad’s plan was going to last a month. She was going to miss her friends way too much, Grace was going to fall apart without Dad, and Megan . . . Well, Megan might be the exception.

  Although Serena gave her twin a hard time, she worried about her a lot now. Everyone knew that Megan’s addiction had been accidental, but Megan had almost died twice, overdosing on drugs she had bought from friends when she couldn’t get her prescription refilled anymore. Dad said the addiction had broken Megan’s strong will, but Serena refused to believe her sister was broken. Megan was the toughest person she knew; it might take time, but she believed her sister would get her bold, fearless life-force back. Amish life would be good for Megan—being here, away from the city and stuck on this pokey old farm. Serena hoped this would keep her sister out of trouble.

  The steady breathing of the girls around her was reassuring, sweet in its way, but it also made Serena that much more annoyed that she couldn’t fall asleep. She threw off the bedsheet and sat up, careful not to bump her head on the bunk where Grace was sleeping. The curtains on the windows lifted and fell back with the gentle breeze. It would be cooler outside. Maybe some fresh air would help. Not wanting to wake anyone, she grabbed her cell phone and Ugg slippers and tiptoed to the door. Out in the hall, she put her slippers on, smoothed down her favorite cotton nightgown with little hearts embroidered on the white bodice, and headed down the stairs.

  The main room downstairs was dark, and she paused, her hand against the wall, until her eyes adjusted to the bit of moonlight coming in through the windows. Although it was unfamiliar, there was nothing creepy about crossing the large room, its wood floors smelling of lemon wax, the kitchen sweet, probably from years and years of baking delicious pies and cookies. Serena had lots of memories of visits here. Decorating Christmas cookies with colored sugars. Spreading the filling between the two cookies of a whoopie pie. Dipping lard cakes in sugar. And standing on a stool so that Aunt Miriam could teach her how to make the gravy “nice and smooth” without lumps.

  When their family came to Joyful River, it was the one time when Serena’s mom seemed younger, in the presence of her sister Miriam. Serena’s Amish grandparents had moved to another Amish settlement in Michigan a few years after Sarah left home. Serena had never met Mom’s parents, but she didn’t think it was any great loss. Although she was curious, any parents who would cut their daughter off for rejecting their lifestyle were way too strict in Serena’s book.

  The kitchen door had been left open so that a breeze could come in through the screen door. Dad would have freaked if they left a door unlocked in the city, but here, things were probably different.

  Her slippers made a shuffling sound on the porch, where it had to be at least ten degrees cooler. Much better. She took a seat on a rocker and looked up at the starry indigo sky. The coolness seemed to tamp down the farm smell, a mixture of hay and manure that Serena had noticed the minute she’d stepped out of the car. She checked her cell phone for service, but still, no luck. Frowning, she placed it on the little table. When she finally got to a place with service, she knew she’d have a gajillion messages. Probably dozens just from Jigger, her boyfriend, who had texted that he was going to miss her like crazy, that his heart was broken, that he’d be lost without his angel. They hadn’t even had a chance to say good-bye in person, since Dad had been so frantic to get them out of town. Fix things. Save their lives.

  He could be so dramatic.

  Maybe Megan needed saving, but Serena had been going along just fine. Just because Dad didn’t like her grades or her talent for having a good time, it didn’t mean there was anything wrong with her. He didn’t understand how important it was to live for the moment. He didn’t get that her friends were everything.

  She slid out of her slippers and put her feet up. The state of her toenails was a concern, and she was wishing that she’d gotten a pedicure before coming out here when a low rumbling sound came from the other side of the house.

  In the country quiet of gentle wind and crickets, the noise sounded like an approaching monster.

  And it was getting louder.

  Maybe it was just a passing truck on the main road. She popped her slippers back on and went along the porch to take a look toward the barn and the front of the house.

  A truck trudged down the lane, its bright headlights like two eyes, staring her down. What in the world?

  Gripping a fence post, she considered bolting upstairs to wake her aunt and uncle. The truck groaned, gears downshifting as it slowed and then turned right, grumbling along the stone drive to the milking barn.

  Was someone coming to steal the cows?

  Sh
e hurried back inside, up the stairs. In the darkened hallway she wasn’t even sure which door led to her aunt and uncle’s room, so she went back to the girls’ room and put one foot on the ladder so she could peek up to Essie’s bunk.

  “Essie!” she hissed, touching Essie’s shoulder. “Wake up. Something major is about to go down. A truck just pulled up to the barn, and I think they’re about to steal all the cows.”

  “Nay.” Essie brushed a braid from her neck and sighed. “The cows are out to pasture. It’s just the milk truck, come to pick up the milk.”

  “The milk truck,” Serena whispered. Of course, it wasn’t a major heist. Good thing she hadn’t bothered Miriam and Alvin.

  But now that she knew the truth, she wanted to check it out. After all, it would be someone else to talk to at nine o’clock at night.

  She dug a sapphire-blue bolero jacket from her suitcase and put it on over her nightgown. The short jacket made her nightgown look like a summer dress. Perfect.

  Outside, she crept toward the barn, the soles of her slippers crunching on gravel. The rumbling beast had been pulled up to one of the barn doors, and a fat blue hose stretched from the barn to the back of the truck. Interesting? No. But at this rate, watching paint dry would be better than tossing and turning in bed.

  “Hello?” she called. “You have a visitor, Mister Milk Truck Man.”

  A shadow moved inside the barn, and a lean figure in jeans, black T-shirt, and a trucker’s hat appeared in the doorway.

  “Is that Essie there? Or Annie.”

  “No. Neither.” Hands on hips, she struck a pose. “Do I look like an Amish girl to you?”

  He tilted his head and squinted at her. “Actually, no.”

  Although she couldn’t see a lot, he had the agile movements and bright smile of a young man. Maybe even her age. What a relief!

  “I’m their cousin, from Philly. My name’s Serena.”

  He nodded. “Scout Tanner. I’m just here to pick up the milk. I hope the noise of the truck didn’t bother you.”