by Sarah Price
He nodded his head, approving her words. “Well put, Ella.”
He said nothing more, but Ella found herself wondering what situation in his life had prompted the observation. Did he, like her, have to put up with disagreeable relatives? Had someone’s poor choices made his own life difficult?
She dared not pry, but found herself hoping that he might understand—and feel compassion for—her less-than-happy life.
Chapter Ten
On Monday morning, Ella woke up earlier than usual. It wasn’t hard to do, since she had barely slept at all. Her mind kept replaying every conversation, every glance, every moment she had spent with Hannes the previous evening.
While she knew that he would return to Blue Springs soon, she also knew that she would treasure that time spent in his company. How could she not? He had been attentive and kind, funny and charming. And when he had stood behind her, his hand upon her wrist, his chest pressed against her back . . .
Well, she could barely forget that moment. It had been as if there was no one else on the planet. Just her and Hannes.
Without doubt, Ella knew he was unlike any other man in Echo Creek.
Knowing that she needed to arise and greet the day, Ella tossed back the covers, sat up, and stretched. The air in her bedroom felt cool that morning, which did not displease her. As usual, she needed to bake bread for the store and tend to the weeds in the garden. The early coolness was perfect for doing both chores.
When Ella walked down the staircase, the dark and quiet kitchen greeted her. Outside the window, she could hear the faint sound of some birds chirping. The sky was just beginning to shed its darkness and morph into a lighter, steely gray color. This was her favorite time of the day, the time she could pray without interruption. Every morning she talked with God, sharing her desire to be righteous and kind, just as her mother had instructed her. And when there were challenges, she asked God to guide her.
He never failed.
Today, however, her conversation with God was different. She thanked him for bringing Hannes into her life, even if it was just a chance meeting. Hannes had taught her something that she needed to learn: other people struggled with goodness just as much as she did. And she had also learned that there were people in the world who were interested in her as a person, not just as a servant, the way Linda and her daughters treated her.
While Ella held no misplaced fantasies that Hannes wanted to court her, she was truly thankful for having the chance to get to know him and to feel special, even if only for a short few hours. Her entire demeanor felt recharged and ready for almost anything that her stepmother might throw at her.
By the time the wall clock chimed six times, Ella had been awake for almost two hours. Her dough rested in large bowls, rising beneath clean kitchen towels. Ella had already fed the livestock in the barn. Before she could focus on the garden, she needed to punch down the dough one more time, make the loaves, and let them rise once more before baking them.
Just as she started to do that, she heard the sound of footsteps at the top of the staircase.
“Ella, where’s my pink dress?”
With her hands full of dried flour, Ella switched on the faucet and called out, “Hanging on the back of your bedroom door.” She could hear Drusilla’s heavy footsteps as she stomped back to her room.
“It’s not there!” She sounded angry, and that could mean only one thing: recharged or not, Ella’s morning was about to go downhill.
“Look behind your Sunday dress,” she called out, knowing full well that was where the pink dress hung. Yesterday, Drusilla had changed after worship, leaving her dress in a puddle on the floor. Ella had been the one to pick up the dress and apron, shake off the dust, and hang both items on the hook on the door.
A few minutes of silence followed, and Ella knew that her stepsister had found what she sought.
The door to the first-floor bedroom, the one that Ella’s father used to share with her mother and then, years later, with Linda, opened.
“What’s all this ruckus about?” Linda shuffled into the kitchen. Her eyes were still puffy from sleep. “Honestly, Ella, don’t you ever think about anybody besides yourself?” She headed toward the table, still trying to pin the front of her dress shut. “I had another fifteen minutes before I needed to get up.”
Ella rubbed soap on her hands, trying to remove the remnants of sticky dough. “Sorry, Maem.” And she was. That would have been an extra fifteen minutes without having to deal with her stepmother.
“Fetch me some coffee. It’s the least you could do,” Linda mumbled. She sank into the chair at the head of the table and sighed.
After drying her hands on a dish towel, Ella reached for a mug and poured some steaming coffee into it. Carefully, she carried it to the table and set it before her stepmother. “There you go. Mayhaps this’ll help shake away the sleep.”
“Another fifteen minutes would’ve done that just as well!” Linda snapped, but she took the mug anyway and lifted it to her lips.
Footsteps on the bottom steps announced Drusilla’s appearance in the kitchen. “Ella, did you even wash this?” Angrily, she stormed across the floor and stood in between her mother and Ella, holding the edge of her dress. “Look! It’s got a stain on it!” she said accusingly. “Don’t tell me you, too, started hanging out dirty laundry just to look like you’re working hard.”
Linda raised an eyebrow. “Who’s been doing that?”
“Susie Lapp. You know. That woman with all the kinner across the way.” Drusilla gave a delighted laugh. If one thing could switch Drusilla into a good mood, it was gossip. “Why, I saw her the other morning hanging perfectly dry clothing on the line when I woke early.”
Ella highly doubted that. It was more likely that she had been arriving home in the early morning hours.
“Well, I never!” Linda gasped.
“She didn’t notice me, but those clothes were as dry as a field that had no rain for two weeks in the summer!”
Linda clicked her tongue in disapproval. “I sure do wonder if the bishop knows about that. Seems rather deceitful.”
Ella had no doubt that Linda would be the first to inform the bishop. Hoping to divert their attention, Ella reached for the dress and studied the fabric, squinting as she did so. “Where’s the stain?”
“Right here!” Drusilla pointed her finger at the edge. “Are you blind, Ella? Can’t you see that?”
With a soft sigh of exasperation, Ella reached forward and plucked a small piece of black fuzz from the dress. She remained silent as she walked over to the garbage can near the refrigerator and threw it out. She didn’t expect Drusilla to apologize, but it would have been appreciated.
Instead, Drusilla tossed the dress over the back of another chair and sat down next to her mother, the dress all but forgotten. “I need to visit the Whitakers this afternoon, Maem.” She reached for her mother’s mug of coffee, but Linda slapped away her hand.
“Fetch your own coffee!”
Drusilla glanced over her shoulder at Ella. “Coffee.” It wasn’t a question, but a demand. Then she returned her attention to her mother. “The Whitakers? May I?”
“What’s going on at the Whitakers’ haus?” Linda asked, her tone more curious than concerned.
That was always the way it was with Linda and her daughters, Ella thought as she set a mug of coffee before Drusilla. They were the eyes and ears of Echo Creek, spreading tidbits of hearsay and gossip as fast as people could gather it in. Just once, Ella thought, it would be interesting to see how they would respond if the gossip were about them!
“Well, ever since that Sadie disappeared . . .”
At the mention of Sadie Whitaker, Ella’s ears perked up. It had been almost a week since Sadie had vanished. Even though no one had heard anything of her whereabouts, the majority of the Amish community at Echo Creek had not been terribly alarmed. Apparently more people knew that Sadie’s stepmother behaved poorly to the young woman. In fact, the suspici
on was that Sadie had run away after her stepmother tried to convince her husband that Sadie should marry an old, cantankerous widower with six young children.
While this had been news to Ella, she didn’t blame her friend. There were days that she, too, thought about leaving. The idea of running away was much more appealing than continuing to live with her stepmother and stepsisters. The only problem was that she had nowhere to run to. Still, she wondered why Sadie hadn’t said anything to her about her stepmother’s plans.
“. . . Rachel Whitaker’s been terribly upset. I promised to go sit with her awhile.”
Linda made a soft noise that almost sounded like a cat purring. “What a good girl you are,” she said, clearly approving of Drusilla’s plans. “So kind and compassionate.”
With her back turned, Ella rolled her eyes. Oh, she had no doubt that Drusilla was going to visit Rachel Whitaker. But her certainty wasn’t due to Drusilla being overly kind or compassionate to the Whitakers. It was more likely because the Whitakers conveniently lived next to the Miller family. No doubt the real reason for visiting the Whitakers was not to console Rachel over her missing stepdaughter—for she hadn’t seemed very distraught about Sadie’s disappearance to begin with!—but to stop in to the Millers’ house and see if Timothy was there.
“Of course you may take off for the afternoon,” Linda cooed, reaching out to pat Drusilla’s hand in a loving gesture of pride. Then, with a sharper tone, she turned to look at Ella. “You’ll have to cover for her at the store.”
Ella’s mouth opened, just a little. There was no way she could weed the garden, clean the house, and finish baking the bread in such a short period of time. “But I was . . .”
Interrupting her by holding up her hand, Linda narrowed her eyes. “How many times have I told you, Ella, that I do not appreciate your back talk?”
For the second time that morning, Ella found herself apologizing to her stepmother.
Linda scanned the room with an eagle eye. “So finish up your chores here, Ella, then come to the store. And be quick about it. No lollygagging today.”
As if I ever do, Ella wanted to say, but she bit her tongue and held back the words. There was no sense in inviting more ire from her stepmother. She knew that would only make for more unpleasantness, something Ella knew was best avoided, especially given Linda’s bad temper that morning.
“New inventory arrived on Saturday, and I’ll need you there to unpack it, tag it, and stock the shelves. And then the front window needs to be cleaned.” She glanced around the kitchen. “I think the floor in here needs to be re-waxed, too. It’s not shiny enough for my liking.”
Ella wanted to comment that the floor was not only spotless, shiny, and clean, but she had waxed it just two weeks earlier! If it were any shinier, the sunlight would reflect so bright that it would be blinding.
“Of course, Maem,” she heard herself say, dreading the thought of having to do that particular chore once again.
Linda walked over to the small mirror that hung near the door. Gazing at her reflection, she lifted her hand and began to pull her hair away from her face, twisting it into a tight bun. As usual, she pulled it back so tight that the part in the middle of her head looked even balder than before.
“And, of course, we’ll need those loaves of bread. They always sell quickly on Mondays.”
“They’re almost ready to be baked.”
Linda’s eyes traveled to the counter. Silently, Ella watched as Linda counted them and shook her head. “That won’t do, Ella. You only made fifteen! I’ll need at least ten more. Weren’t you listening to me? It’s Monday. People buy the most bread on Monday.”
Despite knowing that, on the contrary, five of the loaves went unpurchased the previous Monday, Ella found herself agreeing to her stepmother’s senseless demand. Often it was just easier to do so and figure out later how to accommodate whatever was requested. On rare occasions, Linda forgot. Perhaps today would be one of those days.
Linda reached for her prayer kapp and placed it upon her head, taking a straight pin from the front of her dress. Reaching up, she stuck the pin through the white head covering so that it was attached to her hair. “Now, how about some breakfast, Ella, unless you have some more dirty laundry to hang outside on the line?”
And so Ella’s week began. With a tightness forming in her chest, Ella moved over to the kitchen counter. She wasn’t necessarily surprised by how unreasonable Linda was on this beautiful Monday morning. What she was surprised about was how she felt. Though she usually just complied with Linda’s orders—for what else could she possibly do?—today she had to fight the urge to bark back at her stepmother.
Be kind and good, no matter what happens, for God has a plan for you.
Her mother’s words rang in her ears, like a whisper from the past. Ella paused in what she was doing and placed her hands on the counter. For a long moment, she gazed out the window and looked across the front yard. A patch of morning glory bloomed in the early morning sunlight, a reminder of the wisdom once spoken to her by her dying mother.
Her mother had planted those vines, and every year, Ella made certain to take the seeds so that she could replant them the following spring. She planted them all around the property, including the shaded area along the side fencing so that, even in the afternoons, there were always blooms.
Be kind and good, no matter what happens, for God has a plan for you.
I will, Maem, Ella said to herself. For you and for God, I will try to do just that.
Turning to Linda, Ella forced a smile. “Would you prefer eggs for breakfast, or pancakes?” She didn’t need to ask, however, for the answer was always the same: both.
Chapter Eleven
Around two o’clock in the afternoon, the store was empty. Ella carried her bucket of cleaning supplies toward the front of the building, passing the table where she had put out the new inventory of fabric earlier. Her eyes caught on the two bolts that had nearly taken away her breath.
What on earth was Linda thinking? No one would buy those fabrics, not with the price tag so dear! Echo Creek was a small, simple town. Young women did not purchase fancy fabrics, and certainly not at the price that Linda had set.
She shook her head, disapproving Linda’s choices in inventory. Just another reason the store was in such bad financial shape.
At the front of the store, Ella set about dusting the display window, hoping not to hear any more of Anna’s complaining to her mother about why she didn’t get an afternoon off like Drusilla. It dawned on Ella that if Anna put as much energy into working as she did into complaining, Linda wouldn’t need both of her daughters to work at the store every day.
Outside the open window, she could hear the sound of an approaching horse and buggy. It stopped in front of the store. Even though the buggy was so close, Ella couldn’t see who it was. Quickly, she shoved the cleaning rag into her apron pocket and hurried to the back of the store so that she could assist the customer, if needed. Clearly, Linda and Anna were too engrossed in their argument to be interrupted.
The bell over the door tinkled, and Ella heard heavy footsteps crossing the floor. But a tall shelving unit blocked the doorway from her view.
“Ella, take care of that customer,” Linda hissed from the back room.
“Ja, I will,” she responded, glancing in the direction of her stepmother’s voice. Only when she returned her attention to the store did she catch her breath. A man stood before her, the counter acting as a barrier, as he stared at her with a look of surprise on his face.
Ella, too, was equally surprised. “Oh!” she gasped. “It’s you!”
Hannes smiled at her, his eyes lighting up his face. “Startle you, then?”
Ella placed her hand on her chest near her heart and nodded. “Ja, you did.”
“I’m terribly sorry.”
Shaking her head, Ella was quick to dismiss his apology. “Nee, there’s no reason to apologize.” She felt foolish. The truth was that she had
started because she recognized him, not just because he had suddenly appeared at the counter. She had never considered that she might run into him again, and it certainly hadn’t crossed her mind that he might show up at the store. “I . . . I just didn’t hear you come to the counter.”
Hannes glanced over her shoulder at the open door to the room where Anna was pleading her case, one more time, to her mother.
Biting her lip, Ella took a moment to reach behind herself, and, embarrassed for both Linda and Anna, she quietly shut the door. “How may I help you, Hannes?”
“So professional and businesslike,” he teased. Then, leaning against the counter, he studied her intently. “I didn’t realize you work here.”
They had only met those two times—three, if she counted their brief talk after worship. Why would he have given any thought to where she worked at all? Still, there was something about the way he said it, the way his eyes widened, that made her wonder if her working there was a good thing or a bad thing in his eyes.
“Nee. I’m just covering for one of Linda’s dochders,” she responded at last.
He raised an eyebrow as if he found that to be rather curious. “I see.” He paused. “Then you don’t normally work here?”
She shook her head, the intensity of his gaze making her feel nervous. Why was he asking her these questions? And hadn’t she already answered that question anyway?
He straightened up and placed his hand on the counter. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said in a strained voice.
Ella frowned, wondering what that was supposed to mean, when the door behind her swung open, the edge of it grazing her hip.
Linda stomped out, Anna following with red cheeks. Both of them stopped abruptly when they noticed Hannes standing there.
“Oh, my!” Linda’s expression softened at once. “Henry Clemens!” She seemed almost as startled as Ella had been to see Hannes standing there. “Were we supposed to meet today, then?”
Ella’s frown deepened. Henry? Meet? She looked from Hannes to her stepmother and then back to Hannes. What on earth was going on here? How would her stepmother know Hannes, and what could they possibly have to meet about? And why had she called him Henry? Ella supposed that Hannes was a nickname and Henry his more formal given name, one that he would use for business.