Double Take (10 page)

“Why don’t we head on over to Nantucket now? We can keep working on our Jacob search over there. It’ll be more comfortable than sitting here. I got the house all stocked with food and everything.” He ran his finger alongside her cheek and smiled. “Don’t forget that you promised if I helped you with this, you would—”

“I said
if
we found Jacob,” she reminded him. “We haven’t found him yet.”

Garret frowned.

“I am going to visit all those YMCA places,” she declared. “I will find out if he is at one of them.”

“No way. You can’t do that.”

She looked evenly at him now. “I can.” He obviously had no idea how determined she was.

“There were like twenty or more, Madison. Do you realize how long that’d take to go to each one?”

She shrugged. “I don’t care. I’m going to do it.”

He rolled his eyes and let out a big sigh.

“I don’t expect you to come with me.” She picked up her purse and stood. She had no plan for how she would do this. Especially since she didn’t even have a list of the YMCA places and had no idea how to best get around the city. But somehow she would figure it out.

Garret opened his computer again, and Anna stood watching over his shoulder as he started punching in the keys again. She wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not, but the more she watched, the more she thought she might be able to do what he was doing. That is, if she had a computer. Hadn’t Madison mentioned a computer? Why hadn’t Anna thought to search her room for one? Perhaps in the desk.

“Well, I guess we could start in Manhattan.” He picked up his phone and pressed a number, asking whoever was on the other end to send a car. The next thing she knew, Anna was riding with Garret, being transported from one YMCA to the next, where she would go inside and ask whoever was at the front desk about Jacob Glick. But by the end of the day, she was completely discouraged. This really felt hopeless.

“I have to say that I admire how much energy you’re putting into this search for Jacob,” Garret told her after she asked to be dropped back at the penthouse. “I mean you barely met that Amish chick, and yet you give up a whole day of spring break just to help her. And that’s cool. But seriously, don’t you want to have some fun this week, Maddie?”

Unsure of how to answer, Anna simply shrugged. She wondered how Madison would’ve responded to that and whether or not she was having fun right now. Despite Madison’s confidence that she could pass herself off as Anna—and have fun doing it—Anna knew better. Being stuck with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Daniel and those spoiled children couldn’t be much fun for a pampered city girl. Anna would not be surprised if Madison was already regretting the switch. But, in all fairness, it had been Madison’s idea. Hopefully she was putting her full effort into it.

Hopefully she was trustworthy too. Anna hated to consider all the problems that could arise from this. Surely Madison wouldn’t do anything to get Anna into so much trouble that she’d never be able to show her face there again. And what about Anna’s own settlement? If Madison did something really terrible, Aunt Rachel would surely call Anna’s parents. Anna did not want to think about that. More than ever, she knew she had to find Jacob! That seemed the only way out of this messed-up mix-up. The sooner the better.

For a “day of rest,” Madison felt fairly exhausted by the time the sun went down. She’d helped with the cooking, where everything was made from scratch, followed by the never-ending tedium of cleaning up without the aid of any modern-day conveniences, including hot tap water. After running herd on Elizabeth and Jeremiah, breaking up fights between the twins, and finally helping the children get ready for bed, Madison was totally ready to crash. No wonder these people went to bed so early!

But instead of putting on her nightgown, which was still damp from being hand-washed in the bathroom sink, Madison got into bed with her dress on and just lay there, hoping she could stay awake. It had been Malachi’s idea for them to meet out by the irrigation pond after everyone else was asleep . . . to look at the stars. Naturally, Madison had agreed. How could she not? Just the thought of those sky-blue eyes looking directly into hers sent a delicious shiver down her spine. But she could still hear the sounds of someone moving in the house. She would have to wait until all was quiet and still.

It was the sound of the rooster that woke Madison. She opened her eyes to see that night had vanished in an instant and the gray light of dawn was slipping in between the curtains again. She had fallen asleep and missed her clandestine meeting with Malachi!

“Mamm, Mamm!” Elizabeth called from her crib.

“Nicht Anna is comin’,” Madison said as she climbed out of bed. Rachel had explained yesterday that if Elizabeth was taken to the toilet first thing in the morning, there would be no soggy nightgowns. Thankfully, Rachel was right. But after finishing in the bathroom, Elizabeth, now wide awake, could not be enticed to return to bed, which was what Madison had hoped. Not that this was a possibility since the rest of the household was coming to life as well.

With Elizabeth occupied with her odd-looking faceless rag doll, Madison closed the door and quickly removed her dress from yesterday, replacing it with a fresh one in a dull shade of blue. Mad at herself for missing her meeting with Malachi, she hung the wrinkled dress on a hook and just shook her head. So much for her big plans. Too exhausted to wake up, she’d slept straight through the night. She wondered how Malachi had felt to be stood up. Perhaps, like her, he had slept through their date too.

Today’s morning routine wasn’t much different than yesterday’s. Except that after breakfast was finished and cleaned up, there was more housework to be done. Today was laundry day. Fortunately, the twins had school to attend, and Jeremiah begged to go with his father out to the field. The house was fairly quiet.

“It is true what they say,” Rachel said as Madison cranked the wringer and Rachel caught the sheet. “Many hands make light work.”

Light work?
Madison bit her tongue. If this was light work, she didn’t want to find out what heavy work was.

“It is so good to have you here.” Rachel sat down on the wooden bench. She tried to lift Elizabeth onto her lap, but it was too small to accommodate the toddler. She sat her on the bench next to her instead.

Madison set the wet sheet on top of the others and turned to Rachel. She wanted to ask her how she did this day in and day out. How did she do all these chores, care for all these kids, cook all that food . . . and she was pregnant to boot? That reminded her of something Anna had said.

“Aunt Rachel?”

“Ja?”
Rachel was playing a form of patty-cake with Elizabeth.

“I thought Mamm said you were not supposed to work too much.” Madison patted her own slender midsection. “Because of the baby.”

Rachel gave Madison a sly sideways glance. “
Ja
, that’s what I told her.”

Madison studied her. “You mean it’s not true?”

Rachel smiled as she pushed herself to her feet. “It is time to fix lunch.”

“Do you need help?”

“No. You peg sheets to dry and watch Elizabeth. Then you go and fetch Jeremiah back. Help him to clean up to eat.”

Relieved not to be stuck in the kitchen again, Madison took Elizabeth’s hand and went over to where the clothesline was. Hanging the wash was not as easy as she’d imagined. Hanging the wash while keeping an eye on a toddler was even more challenging. But eventually the sheets were on the lines, not neat and straight like she’d wanted, but at least they were hanging.

Madison picked up Elizabeth and walked toward the field that was being planted. From a distance she could see a horse slowly moving along, pulling some kind of plow thing behind it. On the back of the horse sat Jeremiah, his straw hat bobbing with each step, and behind him walked Daniel. It made a pretty picture, but Madison wondered how safe it was. What if the boy fell?

When they were about ten feet away, she called out and waved to them, saying it was almost time for lunch. Daniel stopped the horse and lifted Jeremiah down. The small boy looked relieved as he came running toward them.

“Pferd Fahrt! Pferd Fahrt!”
Elizabeth cried out for a horse ride.

Madison laughed, then reminded Elizabeth it was nearly lunchtime and that she was too little to ride a horse. But Daniel walked over, took Elizabeth out of Madison’s arms, and placed her on the horse. Madison watched in horror. Surely he wasn’t going to let the toddler ride on the horse by herself. To her relief, he walked alongside, holding onto Elizabeth as the horse slowly moved along.

Although it looked dangerous, Madison knew there was no point in questioning him. She walked Jeremiah back to the house, where she helped him scrub the dirt from his hands and face.

After their midday meal, Madison cleaned up the kitchen without any help from Rachel. While she still would not classify it as “light work,” it was somewhat satisfying to do it unassisted. By the time she was finished, she found Rachel sitting on the porch with a sewing basket in her hands.

“Children are sleeping now.”

Madison sat down on the other chair. “Good.”

Rachel put her bare feet on a wooden crate, letting out a tired-sounding grunt.

Madison looked more closely at her now. Her eyes had dark circles beneath them and her feet looked swollen. “How are you feeling?”

She rubbed her big belly. “I will be better when baby comes.”

Madison felt a strong surge of pity for this woman. “Can I get you anything? Water? Tea?”

Rachel sighed. “You know what I want?”

“What?”

“A bit of
wein
.”

“Wine?” Madison was shocked. For one thing Rachel was pregnant, besides that she was Amish. Did Amish drink alcohol?

“
Ja
. Dandelion
wein
. You know, the kind your mamm makes.”

“Oh,
ja
,
ja
.” Madison nodded. So Anna’s mother made dandelion wine. Who knew?

“It is in the baking cupboard,” Rachel said softly. “Way in the back. A
flasche
of dandelion
wein
.”

Madison wasn’t sure what Rachel meant by this. “Oh?”

Rachel held up her thumb and forefinger a couple of inches apart. “Just a bit. I think it is all right.”

“You want me to get you some wine?” Madison was getting more concerned now.

“Just a little.” She waved her hand at her. “You go and get it, Anna.”

Madison got up and went into the kitchen. She knew where the baking cupboard was, and sure enough, there behind a canister of flour and some other baking ingredients was a glass bottle of what appeared to be wine. The bottle was about half full with what was probably homemade wine. She pulled it out and swirled the golden liquid around, then uncorked it and sniffed. It was definitely wine. Should Rachel be drinking while pregnant? On the other hand, who was Madison to tell these people how to live?

She got a glass and poured a bit in it. Just to be on the safe side, she filled another glass with water. Then she went out and handed them both to Rachel. Rachel set the water aside and slowly sipped the wine. Madison picked up a ratty-looking knitted shawl, folded into a makeshift pillow, and slipped it beneath Rachel’s swollen feet. “Better?”

“
Ja
,
ja
.
Denki.
”

“Can I ask you a question, Aunt Rachel?”

“
Ja
,
ja
. Sure.”

“Did you love Uncle Daniel when you married him?”

Rachel laughed. “Oh, Anna, you know the answer to that question.”

Madison laughed too. “
Ja
. I just wonder about love.”

“You are thinking of Jacob?”

Madison was surprised. “You know about Jacob?”

“
Ja
,
ja
. You know yer mamm and I write letters, Anna. What do you think we write about?”

“How can you do all this?” Madison asked. “If you don’t love Uncle Daniel?”

Rachel turned and looked curiously at Madison, and Madison worried she’d gone too far. Rachel just smiled. “Love is like a tree. You plant it, you water it . . . it grows.”

Madison nodded. “You love Uncle Daniel now?”

“
Ja
. He is a good father to my children.” She took another sip of wine and sighed. “He is a good man. Some say he is too good for Rachel.”

“Too good for you?” Madison frowned. Daniel might be a nice enough guy by some Amish standards, but Madison didn’t care much for the grouchy old grump.

“
Ja
,
ja
. Dey say Daniel is a hard worker and Rachel is lazy.”

“You are
not
lazy!” Madison shook her head. Good grief, this woman rose at the crack of dawn, took care of her energetic children, cooked, cleaned, and did everything the hardest ways imaginable. Who would ever think she was lazy?

“Anna, you were
Yuchend
, but you can remember.” She set the empty wine glass down. “No young man came for me when I was your age.”

“Oh.” Madison considered this. What would an Amish woman do if no one wanted to marry her? Their lives seemed centered around family, marriage, children—and lots of work.

“A friend told me of Daniel. As a young man, he married Lydia. She was a pretty young woman. Yellow hair, blue eyes.” Rachel pointed to Madison. “Like you, Anna. But Lydia grew sickly . . . no children came . . . she died young. Daniel grieved for her.” She waved her hand toward the field in front of them. “Working this farm, Daniel grieved and grieved. He was all alone. It was bad.”

“That’s sad.” Madison imagined a younger Daniel plowing and planting, missing his bride. Maybe she’d been too quick to write him off.

“So Daniel married me.” Rachel pointed to her ample chest. “We were happy in the beginning. Children came—not one but two baby
Yuchend
.” She smiled. “Proud daed.”

“And?”

“And . . .” She shook her head. “It is my fault.”

“What is your fault?” Madison demanded.

“Other women see my house, my children, my cooking, my sewing—they see and they say that everything I do . . . is not good.”

“Not good?” Madison so didn’t get this.

“Not good enough.”

“But you work so hard, Rachel.”

Rachel looked at Madison and laughed. “You changed, Anna.” She tapped the side of her head. “That fall on your head—when you knocked your noggin. It has changed you. Before, you worked hard, you looked at me like other women, you thought that Rachel was lazy too.”

“No,” Madison insisted. “I never thought you were lazy!”

Rachel laughed again, even louder. “
Ja
,
ja
. Maybe you cannot remember so well. But I remember.” She reached over, patting Madison’s arm with a smile. “You are different now, Anna. I like you better.”

Madison chuckled.

“It is good that you are pretty, Anna.”

“Why?”

She pointed to the clothesline, where the sheets were hanging all cockeyed and lopsided and one was actually dragging on the ground. “Because you are not so good at cookin’ and cleanin’ anymore. You will need a man to love you for other reasons.”

This reminded Madison of Malachi and her missed “date” with him. She’d been keeping a lookout today, but so far she hadn’t spotted him anywhere on the farm.

“Where does Malachi live?” she asked.

“He stays with Uncle Andrew. Andrew is Daniel’s older brother. Malachi is helping him too.” Rachel nodded in a knowing sort of way. “What do you think of Malachi?”

Madison just smiled.

“
Stattlicher
. . .
ja
?”

“Ja.”
Madison chuckled. Rachel thought Malachi was handsome too.

“He can help you to forget Jacob?”

Madison wasn’t sure how to respond. On one hand it sounded like a great idea, on the other hand . . . there was Anna to consider.

“Malachi is a good boy, a good young man, but he needs a good partner.”

“You mean a wife?”

“
Ja
. But more’n that. He needs a good woman to bring him back.”

“Bring him back?”

“
Ja
. Malachi is like me, Anna.”

Madison frowned. “How so?”

“He is an outsider here too.”

Madison did not get this. “You mean because what you said about the women saying you were lazy and all? Malachi did not seem lazy to me.”