Allison's Journey (4 page)

Aaron snapped the last rivet into place, picked up the harness, and headed to the front of the shop. He reached Paul’s desk just as the front door opened. In walked Harvey with a young Amish woman Aaron had never seen before. Her hair was the color of dark chocolate, she was of medium height and slender build, and her nose turned up slightly on the end. Had Harvey found himself a new girlfriend? If so, she wasn’t from around here. Aaron knew all the young women in their small Amish community. Maybe she was from one of the towns near Jamesport, where a good number of Amish people lived.

“Afternoon, Harvey,” Paul said with a friendly smile. “Your timing is good; we just finished your daed’s harness.”

“Great.” Harvey turned to the young woman at his side. “This is Allison Troyer. She’s my cousin from Pennsylvania, and she’ll be staying with us for the summer.”

Paul took a step forward. “You’re Herman’s daughter, aren’t you?”

“Jah,” Allison said with a nod.

“I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl.”

Allison opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it again.

“You came to my cousin’s harness shop with your daed a couple of times.”

“I. . .I don’t remember.”

“You were pretty young.” Paul smiled. “Anyway, I took the message when he phoned to say you were coming.”

How come I didn’t know about it?
Aaron wondered.
I had no idea Harvey had a cousin living in Pennsylvania
.

Paul took the harness from Aaron. “Here’s what you came for, Harvey. I hope it’s done to your daed’s liking.”

“Looks fine to me,” Harvey said with a nod.

“Where are my manners?” Paul motioned to Aaron. “Allison, this is my son Aaron.”

Stepson
, Aaron almost corrected, but he caught himself in time. “It’s nice to meet you,” he mumbled.

She smiled, kind of shylike. “Same here.”

“Are you related to Isaac and Ellen Troyer, who live not far from here?” Aaron asked.

“No, I don’t know them,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Guess I’d better settle up with you and get on home.” Harvey moved over to the desk. “Mom’s probably pacing the floors by now, waiting for me to show up with her niece.”

As Paul wrote out the invoice and Harvey leaned on the desk, Aaron ambled over to one of their workbenches and picked up a piece of leather that needed to be cut and dyed. He was surprised when Allison followed.

“It smells nice in here,” she said, tilting her head and sniffing the air.

“You really think so?”

“I sure do.”

“Most women don’t care much for the smells inside a harness shop. Except for my mamm, that is,” Aaron amended. “She used to work here with my real daed when I was a young boy. Then she took the place over by herself for a time after he died.” He glanced over his shoulder at Paul. “After Mom married Paul, she kept working in the shop, but then my grandparents’ health started to fail, so she had to give up working here in order to see to their needs.”

“I see.”

Aaron’s ears burned with embarrassment. He didn’t know what had possessed him to blab all that information to a woman he’d only met.

“I can see why your mamm would enjoy working here,” Allison said, motioning to the pile of leather on the floor. “This looks like a fun place to be.”

“Some might see it as fun, but it’s a lot of work.”

“I’m sure it would be.” Her fingers trailed over the end of the harness. “I’d like to know more about harness making.”

Aaron was about to comment when Harvey sauntered up, holding his finished harness. “Guess we’d better get going,” he said, nodding at Allison.

She gave Aaron a quick smile. “Maybe I’ll see you again sometime and you can tell me more about harness making.”

“No maybe about it. You’ll see him at church tomorrow morning.” Harvey winked at Aaron, but before Aaron could think of a sensible reply, Harvey and his cousin walked out the door.

“She seemed like a nice person, didn’t she?” Paul asked, as Aaron resumed his work.

“Huh?”

“Harvey’s cousin, Allison. She seemed real nice.”

Aaron shrugged. “I guess so.”

Paul thumped Aaron on the back. “How come your ears are so red?”

“Must be the heat. Summer weather makes its way indoors pretty quick on days like this.”

Paul nodded and picked up a piece of leather lying on the workbench near him. “Just never saw your ears turn so red before.”

Aaron just kept on working.

While Harvey guided his horse and buggy down Highway C, Allison sat in amazement, studying her surroundings. Everything looked so different from what she was used to seeing in Pennsylvania. There were no rolling hills—just a multitude of trees with Amish and English houses built on the land that had been cleared. Most of the homes looked old, and many were a bit rundown. Few had flowers in abundance, the way most Amish places did back home. The two-story gray and white home that loomed before them as they turned onto a graveled driveway was an exception. A bounty of irises danced in the breeze near the vegetable garden growing to the left of the house, and two pots of pink flowers graced the front porch.

Harvey had no more than guided the horse to the hitching rail when the front door opened. A middle-aged woman followed by a young boy and a girl hurried over to the buggy.

Allison climbed down and was surprised when the woman gave her a hug. “I’m your aunt Mary, and these are my youngest children: Sarah, who is twelve, and Dan, who’s ten.”

Allison noticed immediately that Aunt Mary had the same dark hair and brown eyes with little green flecks that she had. Since Allison barely remembered her mother, she couldn’t be sure her mother’s sister looked like Mama, but Papa had said they were identical twins. Mama probably would have looked much like Aunt Marry if she were still alive.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aunt Mary,” Allison said. She turned to face the children. “You, too, Cousin Sarah and Dan.”

“Actually, we have met before,” Aunt Mary said. “I came to
Pennsylvania for your mamm’s funeral.”

Allison stared at the ground, struggling to remember the past. “Sorry, but I. . .I don’t remember.”

“You were quite young then, so I don’t expect you would remember.” Aunt Mary put her arm around Allison’s shoulder. “Shall we go inside and have a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade? It’s turned into a real scorcher today, and nothing cools a parched throat quite like cold lemonade.”

Allison licked her lips, realizing that they were parched and she was rather thirsty. “That would be real nice.”

“I’ll put the horse away and bring in her luggage,” Harvey said as Allison, Aunt Mary, and the two younger children headed for the house.

“Sounds good. When you’re done, come join us in the kitchen,” his mother called over her shoulder.

Allison began to relax.
Aunt Mary seems so pleasant—much different than Aunt Catherine. Of course, I’d best wait until I get to know her better to make any decisions
.

As Allison sat around the supper table that evening, she was amazed at the camaraderie between family members. Aunt Mary made no sharp remarks—only smiles and encouraging words. Uncle Ben was kind and friendly, but then Papa and her brothers had always been that way, too. It was Aunt Catherine who had made Allison feel as though she could do nothing right. No jokes were tolerated at Aunt Catherine’s table, and she often hurried them through their meals, saying more chores needed to be done.

Allison had never been able to talk about her feelings with Aunt Catherine, either, and Papa sure didn’t have much time to listen. Here, everyone seemed interested in what others in the family had to say.

She glanced at Cousin Harvey, who sat beside his fifteen-year-old brother, Walter. The younger teenaged boy had been in the fields with their father when Allison had arrived. This was the first chance she’d had to meet him. Both Harvey and Walter seemed polite and easygoing, and so did Dan and Sarah. Could the whole family be as pleasant as they seemed?

“Allison brought us some peanut brittle,” Aunt Mary said to Uncle Ben. “Since it’s your favorite candy, I hope you’ll let the rest of us have some.”

He chuckled, and his crimson beard jiggled up and down. “I’ll share, but only a
bissel
.”

“Ah, Dad,” Walter said with a frown, “don’t you think we deserve more than a little?”

Uncle Ben jiggled his eyebrows playfully. “Well, maybe.” He smiled at Allison. “It was sure nice of your daed’s sister to send the peanut brittle. She must be a very
gedankevoll
woman.”

Allison almost choked on the piece of chicken she’d put in her mouth. If Uncle Ben knew Aunt Catherine the way she did, he might not think she was so thoughtful.

“Are you all right?” Aunt Mary asked, patting Allison on the back.

“I’m fine. I almost choked on a piece of meat, but I’m okay.” Allison reached for her glass and took a gulp of water.

“I met your aunt Catherine at your mamm’s funeral,” Aunt Mary said. “You said earlier that you don’t remember me being there, right?”

Allison nodded. “I was only seven when Mama died, so I don’t remember much of anything about that time.”

“Are you saying you don’t remember your mamm at all?” Uncle Ben asked with raised eyebrows.

“I have a few vague memories of her from before the accident, but that’s all.”

“Martha and I were so close when we were growing up,” Aunt Mary said in a wistful tone. “It was hard on both of us when I moved to Missouri. We kept in touch through letters until her passing. I sure miss my twin sister.”

“What made you move to Missouri?” Allison asked, not wishing to talk about her mother’s death.

“That was my fault,” Uncle Ben interjected. “I wanted to get away from all the tourists in Lancaster County. Since I had a brother who’d moved to Missouri, shortly after Mary and I got married, we packed up our things, hired a driver, and moved here to Webster County.”

Allison wondered if her life would be any different if Aunt Mary and Uncle Ben still lived in Pennsylvania. Aunt Catherine wouldn’t have needed to move in with them after Mama died if Aunt Mary had lived closer. She took another sip of water.
Oh, well. As Papa always says, “Since you can’t change the past, you may as well make the best of the present.” So I will try to enjoy my summer here
, she resolved.

B
efore church the following morning, Allison stepped into the Kings’ barn and was surprised to see how few people filled the backless wooden benches. At home, twice as many people would have attended, but then this Amish community was much smaller than hers in Lancaster County.

As she lowered herself to a bench on the women’s side, someone touched her arm. She glanced to the left. A young, blond-haired woman smiled and said, “Hi. My name’s Katie Esh.” Her vivid blue eyes sparkled like ripples of water on a hot summer day, and a small dimple was set in the middle of her chin. Allison thought Katie was the prettiest young woman she’d ever seen. Not plain and ordinary like her. That’s what Aunt Catherine had always said about Allison, anyway.

“What’s your name?” Katie asked, nudging Allison’s arm again.

“Oh, I’m Allison Troyer, visiting from Pennsylvania.”

“How long will you be here?”

“Until the end of August. I’m staying with my aunt and uncle, Mary and Ben King.”

Katie leaned closer and whispered in Allison’s ear, “Looks like the service is getting ready to start. We can talk later, jah?”

Allison nodded and sat up straight, thinking about the way Aunt Catherine expected her to behave in church. She remembered one time when she’d been sitting next to Sally and had been caught whispering. Aunt Catherine had marched up to them and plucked Allison right off the bench. Allison had spent the next three hours sitting beside Aunt Catherine, worried that she might receive a spanking if she moved wrong or did anything Aunt Catherine disapproved of.

Allison glanced over her shoulder at Aunt Mary, sitting a few rows behind.
I wonder what kind of mother she is to her children. Is she really kind and gentle, the way she appeared to be last night, or does she have a mean streak like Aunt Catherine?