A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters) (3 page)

And it didn’t hurt he loved her butterscotch pie the best.

Chapter Two

David Hershberger patted his firstborn, Peter, on the back. “Thanks for helping me plow all the fields.”

“It felt good to turn the soil. Before you know it, we’ll be sowing oats and the seed hay.”

He nodded. “I hope Rachel will be home by the time we start planting corn.”

“That’s in May. I’m sure she’ll be home before then.”

“I’m not so sure.” He removed the harness from Joe, his favorite work horse. “She’s eager to leave us. But keeping her here would serve no purpose. She hasn’t made any attempt to move on with her life and it’s been a year now.”

“Samuel’s disappointed. He hoped by now that Rachel would be anxious to marry him. He’s busy finishing a picnic table so they can enjoy eating outside on his farm before she leaves.”

“He’s a good Amish man. The kind of man I want my daughter to marry. I never thought she’d put off getting baptized and married.” After putting the harness on the hook, he continued, “Remember, how she teased you and Ella. She said she might beat you two lovebirds and have the first wedding in our family. I hope she won’t end up like your aunt and marry an English man. I don’t want to lose her too. Losing my Irene has left a hole in my heart.”

“She’ll be back and marry Samuel. Going away from all of us will give her time to think. She’ll get things straight in her mind, so she’ll be ready to move on with her life. Aunt Carrie respects our Plain life. She won’t want to be responsible for Rachel to leave our faith. You don’t have to worry about Aunt Carrie. ”

He frowned. “There’s another reason why Rachel wants to go. She doesn’t want to be around me. She blames me for your mother’s death. I overheard her tell Judith if we had a phone, maybe her mother wouldn’t have died.”

“I should’ve gotten our phone in sooner, but it still might have taken you too long to get to our place.” Peter leaned against the stall. “It wasn’t your fault the Maddox family went away for a few days.”

In the past, they used their English neighbors’ phone when it was an emergency. “They wanted to give me a key to their house, but I told them I’d just put their mail and newspaper between the screen door and front door. Rachel also said to Judith how I should’ve taken your mother to an English doctor. I know Rachel thinks I failed your mother as a husband.”

Peter put his arm around him. “
Mamm
complained of being tired. No husband would’ve taken his wife to a doctor for being tired. We thought her insomnia caused her tiredness. None of us realized she had a heart problem.”

His lovely wife had grieved deeply for her parents, so he’d contributed her tiredness to the many sleepless nights she had and depression she felt. Shortly, before her heart attack, Irene complained of numbness in her jaw.
I didn’t do right by Irene. I should’ve taken her to the doctor. I never realized her symptoms meant heart disease. Rachel’s right to blame me for Irene’s death.
He saw the disappointment in Rachel’s eyes when she looked at him. As much as Rachel was hurting, his sadness was great too. He missed Irene and would give anything to have her back with him and their children. He sighed. “I’m going to put a phone shanty in. Or I might put the phone in the barn. I couldn’t even think about it until now. It’s too late for Irene but if another crisis happens, I don’t want to run around trying to get to a pay phone. I want to be able to call for help right away.”

“Probably a good idea with the twins. They are more daring than I was at their age. They think of too many things to try. If you decide to build a shanty, I’ll help you with it.” Peter scooped oats out of the grain bin, dumping the feed in the horses’ troughs.

“
Danki
. You’re a
gut
son.”

“It’s our turn to eat a snack. Let’s get some of Rachel’s delicious pie. Then I better head home.” Peter’s eyebrows shot up. “Hey, who’s cooking when Rachel’s gone? Not Judith, I hope.”

He grinned at his son. “It’s not going to be me or the twins so Judith’s the only one left.”

“You better see if Grandma Hershberger can make a visit. No man can work eating Judith’s food.”

“If she stays away too long, I might see if my
mamm
can visit, but Rachel said this will be a good opportunity for Judith to improve her cooking skills before she gets married.

Peter laughed. “Improve what? She can’t cook anything.”

“It’s not entirely her fault. Rachel loves cooking. She took after your dear
mamm
when it comes to cooking delicious food.” From the beginning of their marriage, his Irene had been an excellent cook. “Judith has other talents, like teaching and sewing. We’ll survive on Judith’s meals.”

* * *

Rachel glanced at the vinyl-covered floor in the kitchen. The gleaming floor pleased her. She felt satisfaction in seeing a clean kitchen. The light oak cabinets next to the refrigerator and stove with blooming plants on the windowsills made the kitchen cozy. A calendar was on one of the walls. Her
mamm
had loved looking at the pictures of nature for each month of the year. While she was away, the calendar page would change to a new month. What would the month of April bring? Would she still be unsure about her life? On the same wall was a framed Scripture her
mamm
loved. Silently she read the Bible verses written on the calendar,
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

“Did you forget about our cookies?” Matthew asked.

Picking up the plate of cookies from the counter, she said, “Just for a second. You know, Mother loved this time of the day when her children were back home. She enjoyed hearing about the school day.” Before picking up the pitcher of milk, she handed more peanut butter cookies to Matthew and Noah.

While replenishing the milk into their glasses, she thought how cute the boys looked. They were seated on backless benches next to their huge table. Blond Matthew had blue eyes while brown-haired Noah had green eyes. They looked like brothers but definitely were not identical twins. Her
mamm
used to say, ‘God blessed us with two brown-haired
kinner
and three with blond hair.’ Then with a twinkle in his eyes, her
daed
replied, ‘We can try for another brown-haired one.’ She missed those happy days when the family was complete.

“Will you miss us?” Noah asked, after swallowing a bite.

Funny, how well she knew her brothers. She figured Noah would be the first one to ask about her feelings in leaving. When they first came home from school, she’d told them about her trip. She knew after they absorbed this information and ate a few cookies, both boys would ask questions.

She ruffled Noah’s hair. “What do you think? Of course, I will. I love you both a lot. I’ll send you a postcard of the beach as soon as I can.”

“Who’s going to tuck us in at night? We like you coming to our room to listen to how our day went.” Matthew gulped a big amount of milk.

If anything could make her want to change the plans to see the ocean, this would be the reason why.
Maybe I should cancel my trip. My little brothers depend on me a lot. I can never replace Mamm but they’ve responded well to me tucking them in at night and spending quality time with them before they fall asleep.
But deep in her heart, she knew that this trip was necessary for her own survival and healing. “Judith can read to you and tuck you in. That’ll be fun to do something different. I might not be gone long at all.”

Matthew gave her a puzzled look. “What will you wear when you live with Aunt Carrie? You might have to wear funny clothes, like Violet.
Daed
won’t like that.”

She wasn’t surprised that Matthew asked her about what she’d wear. He was bolder than Noah and the more curious of the two. “Don’t worry, Matthew. I’m going to wear my own Plain clothes.” Although it might be tempting to shed her own clothes once, wearing something like capris on the beach would help her to feel free. Maybe she could be daring and just for one day borrow Violet’s clothes. Wearing a
kapp
, dress, and apron on the beach would draw a lot of attention. She hated it when tourists and the English stared at the Amish.

Noah drank his milk. “But what if you’re the only Amish woman?”

“Instead of worrying about what I’ll be wearing, I want to talk about what I expect from you two.” Staring at her brothers, she said, “You need to mind
Daed
and Judith. Do your chores and your homework. No slacking.”

“Who will watch us when we get home from school,” Matthew asked. “Judith doesn’t leave school until she’s cleaned the classrooms.”

She felt a twinge of guilt at her selfishness. Judith had her work schedule changed so she could go away. Forty-five students attended their Amish school in Fields Corner. Her mother had been especially proud of Judith becoming a teacher. After graduating from eighth grade, Judith observed the teaching methods of the two Amish teachers. Within a short time, she tried teaching in the two classrooms with the experienced teachers’ permission and guidance. When Miss Miller, the teacher of the lower grades left the area to get married; Judith took the position to teach the first four grades. Being an apprentice first gave Judith the confidence she needed to teach her own brothers and the other students.

“Miss Yoder is going to do the school cleaning so Judith can leave early. She’ll have her hands full with cooking and laundry while I’m gone.”
While I’m gone, Judith might learn to enjoy cooking and housework, so she’ll be more helpful in the future,
she thought.

Her brothers moaned at the same time.

“Judith can’t cook,” Noah said. “We’ll starve.”

Matthew said in a worried tone, “She’ll burn the house down.”

“I heard that,” Judith said, as she walked into the kitchen. “I only had a small fire.”

Rachel remembered coming home from work to a smoke-filled kitchen and a lot of screaming. Judith had decided to fix supper for them one Saturday. Somehow the kitchen counter caught on fire. Although the damage was contained to the counter, she glanced at the white walls, hoping they’d still be white when she returned home.

“I’m sure there won’t be any fire happening.” She noticed the blush in her sister’s cheeks with several strands of blonde hair escaping her black bonnet. “Is it still windy and chilly outside?”

Judith nodded, untying her bonnet. “The calendar might say it’s spring but it doesn’t feel like it today.”

She pointed to the door. “Boys, scoot now. Get your chores done so you’ll have some free time to play later. Be sure to wear your jackets.”

After they put their rinsed glasses by the sink, Matthew and Noah slid their arms in their jackets and hurried outside.

“Did they behave today in school?”

“
Ya
. They were good.” Judith grabbed a cookie. “You make the best cookies. Well, actually everything you fix is delicious. I don’t blame Noah for saying that they’ll starve when I cook.”

She grinned. “They can stand to lose some weight.”

“If I see everyone is wasting away, I’ll be sure to contact you to come home.” Judith opened the refrigerator and grabbed the milk. “We should get through the first few days since you’re doing extra baking and cooking on Saturday. Too bad it’s not our turn to have church this Sunday. People sometimes leave their food for the hosts.”

“But it takes so long to clean up and to put everything away after having a hundred or more people here.” She opened the oven door to check her chicken and rice casserole. “I’m glad it’s going to be at Weavers. Don’t worry. You’ll do fine cooking the meals. If you get desperate, toss out some hints to your students to have their mothers send prepared casseroles for you to heat up.”

“Rachel, I can’t do that. I don’t want others to know I can’t cook. All Amish women are excellent cooks except me.” She sighed. “I’ll never get married. Plain men work hard and expect big meals. That’s one of their enjoyments in life. It’s not like being married to an English husband who works in an office all day instead of doing farm work.”

“Well, some English husbands do hard physical work in their careers. Uncle Scott might not eat as much as
Daed
but he likes the usual meat and potatoes. I don’t think it matters if we’re English or Plain; we enjoy eating. Some Amish women buy from Weaver’s Bakery, so you can learn to prepare a few basic meals and buy some prepared food too. Don’t worry. You have many wonderful qualities and will make a fine wife. Besides, you’re better at sewing than I am. We can swap. When we both are married, I’ll cook for you sometimes while you sew clothes for me.” She watched Judith take a bite of cookie, noticing how pretty her sister was in her blue dress with her big blue eyes. She was surprised that no one had courted her sister, but Judith was shy outside of the classroom.
Too bad Samuel’s brother, Jacob, isn’t older. I’ve seen him looking at Judith with interest.

Judith stopped eating her cookie. “If I don’t marry, I can give you a break and watch your children.”

She nodded. “The boys love it when you read to them. You change your voice when you read the different characters’ dialogue. I don’t do that.”

Judith took a deep breath. “I love the sweet fragrance in here when you do your baking.”

“Cinnamon’s the reason for the pleasant smell. I put the spice in the oatmeal cookie dough.” She’d made two kinds of cookies that afternoon for them. The boys loved peanut butter cookies while Judith’s favorite was oatmeal raisin.

“Rachel, promise me one thing before you leave us.”

“It depends on what you want me to promise.”

“Promise that you won’t fall in love with an English man.
Mamm
always missed her sister and hated it when Carrie moved away from Fields Corner. It’d break my heart if you left our world.”

She had no plans to marry someone English, but she did want to feel the ocean breeze on her face and experience new things. But was it wrong to be so happy about leaving her family and Samuel? “I promise I won’t.”