MENDING FENCES (4 page)

            “Well, sir,” she began.

            “Cooper,” he interrupted.  “Call me Cooper.”

            Maria nodded and started again.  “Cooper,” she repeated.  “I’m on my Rumspringa and…” she paused.

            “Ah yes, the dreaded Rumspringa.  How long have you been out in this world, my dear?”

            Maria looked down at her shoes.  She was embarrassed to admit it had been no more than an hour, though she didn’t own a watch and had no real idea what the time was.  “It’s my first day.”

            “Of course it is,” Cooper said with sympathy in his voice.  “I might have guessed as much when I first saw you.”

            “It’s that obvious?” Maria asked.

            “You have that look about you,” he said, his eyes smiling even deeper.  “Sort of lost and uncertain.  Don’t worry, it’ll get better.  I know it takes some adjustments to feel any sort of comfort out here compared to what you are used to back at home, but it will come with time.”

            Maria felt better already.  She had only spoken with one other person, but based on the phone conversation with the desk clerk at the hotel compounded with the clothing, the mirror, and other things she had encountered, she wasn’t sure she could go through with her Rumspringa even for one full day, much less several of them.  Being with Cooper made her feel like someone understood what she was going through.  There was someone over here on her side.

            Maria felt comfortable with the man.  There was no one who could replace her father in her life, but she felt as if Cooper were a long lost uncle.  She knew she could trust him to guide her on the right path.

            “I feel like my decision is already made,” she said, testing the waters to see where he stood on the issue.  She knew where her parents stood.  They were the reason she was in the modern world at that moment.

            Cooper nodded.  “You like your way of life and you don’t want anything to change.

            It was exactly how Maria felt and it confirmed how much help Cooper was going to be as far as understanding went.  “Exactly.”

            “You’re not the only one who has felt that way.  I’ve talked to a lot of youth who have come out on Rumspringa and most of them end up going right back where they came in a matter of a week or two.”

            “But how do they get by in the meantime?” Maria asked, knowing that was what was expected of her.

            Cooper stroked his beard.  “What’s your specialty…within the community?”

            “I’m best in the kitchen,” Maria said.

            “Ah yes,” he agreed.  “I could have guessed.”

            Maria wondered what it was about her appearance that made Cooper think she was good in the kitchen.

            “Think of your Rumspringa as the best loaf of bread you have ever baked.  That bread takes time, no?”

            Maria nodded.  Bread took lots of time.  Not only did she have to gather some of the ingredients and make the others, but she had to wait for the yeast to rise and take many other steps to get it just right.

            “This time in your life deserves your attention as well.  You will take the process one step at a time and it’s going to take a week or longer for you to get through those steps.  Once you have all of the ingredients put together, you will see what Rumspringa will do in your life.  It’s likely you’ll go back home and commit yourself to the community.  But until your bread is fully baked with all of the right steps and only the best ingredients, you cannot be a full Amish believer.”

            Maria tilted her head.  Cooper had a wisdom much like her father’s, but he spoke with more words and illustrations.  She was pretty sure she understood him.  She needed to go through this process in order to complete the Amish recipe.  It was the Amish way that children go out into the world and then return to commit themselves to the community if they wished to do so.  Without the going out and coming back, commitment would be nothing more than flat bread with a hard texture.

            “In other words,” Cooper went on as Maria contemplated what he already said.  “Take things one day at a time.  One hour at a time.  One minute at a time, if needed.  You will get through this and you will be better for it.”

            Maria felt reassured.  She came into the store completely overwhelmed by the few modern world encounters she had already experienced.  As she was talking to Cooper she remembered that with God by her side, there was nothing she couldn’t handle.

            “Thank you so much,” she said, smoothing her hands over her dress.  “I don’t know what to say.”

            “Just bring me some of that bread sometime,” Cooper said with a wink.  “And don’t be a stranger while you’re in town, you hear?”

            Maria told the man that she would visit often and she planned to do just that.  He made her feel more at home than she had since she left her house that morning, walking out of her mother’s loving embrace under the gaze of her siblings. 

            When Maria left the store she felt like she could really make it on her own.  It was only a few days or maybe even a week.  She would take advantage of her time away from the community and her break from her work and learn as much as she could about the outside world.  Once she went back, she could use her experience and knowledge to help the young ones that would come behind her.  There would likely be others that would have similar anxieties to hers.  She would help to prepare them for their own Rumspringa.

            Maria was so lost in her own thoughts that she wasn’t really paying attention to what she was doing or where she was going.  Neither was the man who was carrying a large stack of wood in his arms.  Before Maria even saw the man, she had bumped her shoulder against his so hard that the lumber went clattering to the ground, making a noise almost as loud as the phone’s shrill ring had earlier.

            Maria gasped.  “I’m so sorry,” she said, her eyes glued to the ground at the uniform boards scattered across the sidewalk.  She bent to begin to stack them up so she could help the man get on his way.  It was her fault that the boards were on the ground in the first place. 

            “Maria?” the male voice said from above her.  “Maria Miller?”

            Maria lifted her head at the sound of her name.  She could not see the man because of the bright sun that shone behind his head.  She stood and squinted in his direction as his features began to materialize before her.  He certainly looked familiar.  His tanned skin was smooth and clean-shaven and his cocoa brown eyes struck her as ones she had seen before.  The man smiled, revealing a row of bright white teeth.

            As the dimple formed in the corner of one cheek, Maria began to place his features alongside a name.  “Eldon Schrock?” she asked tentatively.  She wasn’t positive, but she felt rather certain that the man standing before her was the boy she once knew.

            “In the flesh,” he said, joy lighting up his face.  “Wow,” he continued.  “I can’t believe how beautiful you are.”

            Maria felt her face get hot.  She had been called a lot of things in her 18 years.  A good cook…an excellent baker…a helpful mender…and plenty of others, but beautiful had never been one of them.  The Amish didn’t dwell on appearance so it made sense that no one had ever commented on hers.  But hearing a man call her beautiful gave her a little too much pleasure and thoroughly embarrassed her.  She didn’t know what to say.

            “I…I…” she stuttered.

            “I’m sorry,” Eldon said, realizing his mistake.  “I remember how it was.  I shouldn’t have said anything.”

            Maria felt her shoulders relax a bit.  He must remember the ways within the community.  But where had he been all these years and why had he left?  She wanted to ask, but of course did not feel it was proper.

            “Not to say I didn’t mean it,” Eldon said, the dimple in his cheek deepening.  “Because it’s true.  You are beautiful, Maria.”

            Maria’s shoulders tensed once again.  “I’m so sorry I bumped into you,” she said, looking down at the wood on the sidewalk and avoiding his gaze.

            Eldon shrugged.  “I can stack the wood again.  They’re just rough shelves for the back of Cooper’s store.  He was needing some more storage,” Eldon paused.  “I’m actually really glad we ran into each other.”

            Maria allowed herself a quick glance, but once she met his gaze, she could not look away.

            “It’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone from the community and truth is, it can get lonely around here.”

            Maria had only been outside for an hour or more and she already understood what he meant.  “I can see why,” she agreed, looking down the block past Eldon so she didn’t have to look into his deep eyes any longer.

            “I have to get these shelves to Cooper, but would you want to have some dinner when I’m through?”

            “Dinner?” Maria hesitated.  It wasn’t like she had any plans, but she didn’t know if it was right to have a meal with a man on the outside.  Within the community, she ate with men all of the time, but always in large groups and with other women and children around.

            Eldon held his hands up in front of her as if to show her he meant no harm.  “Just a meal,” he said.  “Some conversation.  I’d like to catch up with you…hear about your family, that sort of thing.  Gosh, you must be, what, 18 now?”

            Maria nodded.  “As of just last week.”

            Eldon shook his head.  “Rumspringa, I presume?”

            Maria nodded again.

            “You managed to put it off longer than most.”

            Maria allowed herself to give him a slight smile.  “That I did.”

            Eldon bent to the sidewalk and started stacking the boards in a pile that he could pick up once again and carry into the store.  “So,” he said, looking at her more than he looked at the boards.  “Dinner?”

            Maria let the silence between them settle in as she contemplated her options.  She could go back to the hotel on her own and see what the café had to offer.  But she had plenty of time ahead of her to explore its choices.  And she may not get another chance to talk with a former Amish who had lived on the outside for several years.  Perhaps he could help guide her through the process with even more advice than Cooper had to offer.  In the end, Maria decided that having a meal with someone was better than eating alone.

            “Yes, that would be nice, thank you,” she agreed.

            Eldon grabbed the stack of boards.  “Just let me take these in to Cooper.  I’ll be right with you.”  He rushed through the store’s door with a backward glance at Maria.

            Maria felt her skin’s temperature rise.  She wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing.  He was making her feel very strange.  She felt tingly and nervous and almost like something was fluttering around in her stomach.  She wasn’t sure she was even going to be able to eat in his presence.  Before she could completely process what she had agreed to, Eldon popped back out of the store.

            “All set,” he said, brushing one empty hand against another.

            Maria met his eyes once again and knew that she was in for a lesson from the outside world.  What that lesson might be, she did not know.  But she had already promised herself that she was going to be open to learning.  Now she had to follow through on that promise.  She turned and started walking beside Eldon.