Never Far From Home (The Miller Family 2) (11 page)

“Let me see. There will be probably close to a hundred people, mostly our age, some a little older. And all of them unmarried. Married folk don’t attend these things. Several volleyball games will be going on, plus horseshoes, a big bonfire, plenty of eats, including some of the best pies and cakes you’ve ever tasted. The girls try to outdo each other with their baking.” Sam rubbed his belly with a circular motion.

James wasn’t quite as interested in the food. “You’ve been to a lot of these parties?”

“Nah, not that many, but maybe I should start going. Now that my classes are done at the vocational center, I won’t be seeing many gals till county fair time. You run into few ladies down at the Feed-n-Seed.” He swept off his hat and snaked a hand through his long hair.

“So you’ll go?” asked James with anticipation building in his veins.
Is this what people mean by spring fever?
“And you’ll invite me to come with you?”

Sam set his straw hat back on his head. “Yeah, I think I’ll go. And you can tag along so long as you pick me up. The bishop won’t let me drive my truck to a social event.”

“You’ve got a deal,” James said, a little too loudly.

“Did you eat supper yet?” When James shook his head, Sam continued, “Let’s go see what my ma cooked up. I’m starving. And I’ll fill you in on proper behavior and what to expect at this party. Mom will be happy to offer her two cents on that topic.” He slapped an arm around James’ shoulder and the two marched inside like comrades undertaking a daring mission.

And to James, that’s exactly what it felt like.

Emma had been unusually quiet on the drive back from Charm, and that had been fine with Hannah. The tour of the Davis’ grand estate had left her feeling out of sorts. She wasn’t jealous of such worldly wealth, and the Davis family seemed like genuinely good people, but the whole excursion had been a big waste of time.

Why had Emma yearned to see that vast, complex agribusiness? Plain people farmed to feed themselves and their families and earned a cash crop to pay taxes, medical expenses, and those things not easily grown or bartered. Their farms, although some were quite large, were far simpler and straightforward.

Hannah had a theory regarding Emma’s fascination that had nothing to do with shearing facilities resembling hospital operating rooms. Perhaps the young woman’s sullen melancholy on the way home indicated she might have lost enthusiasm for the fancy life. For Emma’s sake, Hannah certainly hoped so. There was good reason why Plain people seldom mingled with
Englischers
, and it had nothing to do with covetousness.

After she dropped off her niece and watched the girl shuffle her booted feet up the driveway, Hannah released a sigh of relief.
That should be the last of the foolishness.

Home beckoned. Her lettuce and green beans could use a few buckets of rainwater. She also needed to check her flock’s feed supply since the pasture was somewhat sparse. But first she wanted to cut up a chicken and put it up to simmer. Chicken stew with baby carrots, new potatoes, peas, and celery sounded good with the rest of yesterday’s buttermilk biscuits. Soups, stews, and pot roasts always worked when outdoor chores still remained. Even
she
couldn’t ruin those dishes by overcooking if she kept the flame low.

As she unhitched the horse and turned it into the paddock, Leah appeared from the back path pulling Phoebe by the hand.

“
Guder nachmittag
, Aunt Hannah,” Leah called.

“Good afternoon to you,” Hannah said.

“
Mamm,
” Phoebe yelled and ran to embrace Hannah as though she’d been gone for days.

Hannah lifted Phoebe to her hip. Soon she would be too big to pick up, so Hannah cherished the wonderful feel of a child in her arms.
Will I one day know the joy of nurturing an infant? Will I be blessed with a baby to rock to sleep in the handmade oak cradle used by four generations of Millers?
Hannah fervently hoped so, but so far her prayers had gone unanswered. Lately, she confined her prayer requests to other people’s woes, lest the Lord think her unappreciative of the grace she’d been shown. She’d been welcomed into a new community, found a wonderful man to love, and given a precious child to help raise. She loved 2 Corinthians 9:11, which summed up being grateful: “Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.”

Hannah swung Phoebe around before setting her down and giving Leah a warm hug. “
Danki
, Leah. Did you two help your
mamm
pickle and can the first baby beets?”

For her answer, Leah held up her hands for inspection. The cuticles and fingertips were stained red from beet juice. Phoebe mimicked the gesture as they walked toward the house. “Come inside and have a glass of lemonade,” Hannah said. “I have some cold in the fridge.”

“No,
danki
,” her niece said, stopping at the steps. “I need to get back and make supper. Emma ran straight to her flock when you brought her home. She didn’t have one thought about helping me in the kitchen.” She frowned with determination.

Hannah tried not to smile. Those two sisters were as different as strong coffee and cold milk—both refreshing but absolutely nothing alike.

“I appreciate you walking Phoebe home,” Hannah called as Leah headed for the back path. After she disappeared from sight, Hannah entered the kitchen to find Seth sitting at the table.

“Afternoon,
fraa
,” he said. A coffee mug sat before him.

“Seth, have you been waiting for me? Did you forget about my trip to Charm today?” Hannah hurried to take the seat opposite him. Phoebe started to sit down too until Hannah stopped her. “Go wash up and play in the front room,” Hannah said to the child.

Seth waited until his daughter left the room before speaking. “No, I remembered, but there’s something I wanted to talk about before more time passed.” He drained the last of his coffee.

Under the table Hannah smoothed her palms down her skirt with growing trepidation. “What is it?”

“I joined up with some men in the district to take advantage of the corn situation.” He met her gaze with an expression of tenderness.

“
Ach
, the high corn prices. So you’re not alone in wanting to plant extra fields with a moneymaker.” She breathed easier. Her fears of illness or some other dreadful news had tensed the muscles in her back.

“
Jah
, a third of the district is doing the same, but there’s more to it than that. Plenty of land in the county has been sitting fallow, mostly owned by
Englischers
who either aren’t farming anymore or have reduced the number of acres under cultivation.” He kept his focus on her steady.

It seemed as though he wanted her to guess what he was trying to say, but she hadn’t a clue. Tension began to creep back into her shoulders. “Spell this out for me, Seth,” she said, “so I can start fixing supper.”

“We’ve formed an alliance to lease available tillable land. Together as a group, we’ll put up equal amounts and share in the profits at the end of the year.”

She stared wide eyed like a barn owl high in the rafters. “With what money would you invest in this scheme?”

Some of the tenderness faded from his eyes. “It’s no scheme, Hannah. It’s a solid business investment. I put up the money in our savings account.”

“All of it?
” she asked, annoyance replacing trepidation. The savings account included the remaining proceeds from the sale of her Pennsylvania farm to her brother, no small sum of money.

“No, not all of it, but a good chunk. We’ll get it back and more after the final harvest.”

“Seth, it’s almost June. Isn’t it late to be looking for land to plant more corn?”

“
Jah
, it would, but it’s already done,
fraa
. We’ve leased the land and the crop is in. We’re all praying nightly for rain, but not too much, you know.” His laughter sounded hollow and brittle in the kitchen.

Hannah pulled off her
kapp
and slapped it down on the table. Her scalp had grown hot and prickly. “You’ve already done this, but you’re just getting around to telling me now?” Anger replaced annoyance in her voice.

“Calm down. Don’t work yourself up into a tizzy. We’ve both been so busy I haven’t had a chance. That’s why I wanted to tell you before I milk the cows tonight. Didn’t want anymore time to slip by.”

“Well,
danki
very much,” she said, rising to her feet. She pulled the stockpot from the cabinet with a clatter. “I would’ve liked to discuss the matter with you before you went out and withdrew our savings, but since it’s too late for that, I might as well start my chicken stew!” Hannah tried to keep her voice down so she wouldn’t draw Phoebe to the kitchen, but there was no disguising her emotions. She took celery from the crisper drawer and began to chop stalks with zeal.

“Hannah, Hannah. You’ve got a bee in your
kapp
.” Seth spoke softy as he walked up and placed his big hands on her shoulders. “Calm yourself, dear one. You’re my wife now. You are no longer making independent decisions like you did following Adam’s death. I’m in charge of these matters now.” He patted her back, the same way she often stroked ewes before a shearing.

Hannah stopped attacking the celery stalk, fearful for her fingers. Her hands were shaking badly. Sucking air into her lungs, she gritted her words through clenched teeth. “I have no bee in my
kapp
; it’s on the table.”

But her pronouncement echoed in an empty kitchen. Seth had gone out to his evening chores before dinner. The screen door slammed resolutely behind him. Hannah was left alone to do women’s work as she tamped down uncharitable thoughts toward the man she pledged to love, honor, and obey.

The first two were easy as pie.

The third was proving to be more of a challenge than she ever would have imagined.

They say a watched pot never boils. The same idea must be true about calendars. Emma thought Saturday would never arrive. The volleyball party would be her first social outing since turning sixteen and declaring her
Rumschpringe
. She had spent the week catching up with her barn chores and in the garden, besides helping
mamm
and Leah with the baking, sewing, and laundry.

Leah had it so easy. She didn’t have farm chores, such as tending sheep or hauling feed buckets. Leah would also arrive late to weed or water the garden, and she usually found an excuse to leave early—either a roast needed to come out of the oven or the bread needed to go in.

But Emma wasn’t complaining. Even drudgery tasks, such as coring apples or shelling peas, didn’t bother Leah. While her sister loved helping
mamm
in the kitchen, Emma preferred the great outdoors. And whenever it rained, plenty of work waited in the loft or in her herb shed.

For the rest of today, however, play awaited. And Emma was ready.

Wearing new tennis shoes, she tapped her toe on the porch until Matthew finally brought the pony cart around.
Daed
had decided Matthew could attend the volleyball party since he didn’t want Emma going alone. Even though her brother was only fourteen, this daytime party included those younger than courting age.

Courting age
. She was finally old enough to attend Sunday night singings, summer corn roasts, fall hayrides, and winter skating parties with Plain people her age without her parents watching like a hawk. Now she could stay out late, as long as a young man asked to bring her home in his courting buggy. But the only young man occupying her thoughts lately drove a very big truck with four knobby tires across the back axle instead of the normal two.

Thinking about James made her feel a little sad as Matthew drove toward the center of town. Partly because she didn’t want to miss activities Amish girls enjoyed, and partly because she knew how much seeing James would upset her parents. They would never allow her to court an
Englischer
, running-around years or not. That could easily lead to shunning and eventual banishment from the church, and no girl in her right mind wanted that.