The Amish Buggy Horse BOXED SET Books 1-3 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: Faith, Hope, Charity) (Boxed Set: The Amish Buggy Horse) (3 page)

Matthew 17:20.
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Chapter 5
.

Nettie had spent a pleasant week. She had scrubbed the
haus
from top to bottom and had added lavender to the washing water, so the
haus
was well on its way to losing its musty smell. She was happy that she now had means of transport. She would just have to have faith that
Gott
would help her to find work. For now, she had a supply of food in the
haus
; there was plenty of grazing for her two horses, and there was ample grain stored in the barn. Her financial situation would have to be addressed, but it was not urgent.

Nettie was out in the garden, gathering the tiny, purple-dotted, white flowers as well as the stems of chickweed to make a salve. Her
mudder
had found that it provided relief for her arthritis, but Nettie liked to have the salve on hand for insect stings as well as burns.

The clip clop of horse's shoes signaled a visitor, and Nettie looked up, hoping it would be Daniel Glick. She had found him strangely attractive, despite his rude ways, and he had made her heart flutter. Yet this was no handsome bay, high-stepping horse approaching, but a rather tired looking, shaggy, gray horse, and even at the distance, Nettie could see that the
mann
had dark hair, unlike the fair hair of Daniel Glick.

Nettie wiped her hands on her apron and stepped outside the herb garden to meet the
mann
. The
mann
drove straight up to her, and got out of the buggy, taking the horse by the bridle. He nodded to Nettie. "
Gude mariye
."

Nettie said a polite
good morning
back, and wondered what the
mann
wanted.

The
mann
smiled at her, a thin, tight-lipped smile. "Nettie, don't you recognize me?"

Nettie gasped and clutched at her throat. "Jebediah Sprinkler!" she exclaimed.
How long has it been?
she wondered.
Five, six years?

"What are you doing here? Why have you come back?" Nettie had a horrible feeling of apprehension which formed a hard knot in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm sorry to hear about your
mudder
," Jebediah said.

"
Denki
." Nettie studied him. His face had hard lines. He would not have been much older than she, yet he looked many years older.

"Nettie, can we talk?"

"
Jah
, go on."

Jebediah looked annoyed. "
Nee
, I mean in the
haus
."

Nettie suddenly felt afraid. "
Nee
, Jebediah, I'm here alone and that wouldn't be right."

Jebediah appeared to consider her words for a moment. "If you wish. Nettie, there's no way to break the news to you gently, but I have to tell you that your
mudder
left the
haus
and
farm
to me."

Nettie stared blankly at him. Firstly, there was the shock of Jebediah Sprinkler turning up without warning after all these years, and now he was saying he owned her property. "But, but," she stammered, "the lawyer said it was all left to me."

Jebediah did not appear concerned by her words. "You're speaking of an old will, of course."

Nettie scratched her head. "What do you mean?"

"The will," Jebediah said, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "The lawyer had an old will."

"Well,
jah
, he did." Nettie wondered how Jebediah knew.

Jebediah looked smug and smirked a little. "Your
mudder
made a new one after that."

"Why didn’t the lawyer know about it, then?"

Jebediah shrugged. "How should I know? Look, Nettie, your
mudder
made a new will leaving everything to me. I'm surprised she didn’t tell you. Are you sure she didn’t mention the will to you? She didn’t say anything at all about it?"

"
Nee
, she didn’t tell me, and why would she leave anything to you?" Nettie felt she was becoming hysterical, but it was all too much to process. What was Jebediah up to?

"We were engaged at the time," Jebediah said sternly, "and your
mudder
obviously thought we would be married."

Nettie shuddered at the memory. Her
mudder
had all but arranged a marriage between Jebediah and Nettie, when Nettie was sixteen. Jebediah's
mudder
was an old friend of Nettie's
mudder
, and the two of them had decided that their
kinner
should be married. Jebediah had also been keen for them to marry, but Nettie had refused outright. It was the only time she had disobeyed her
mudder
, and her
mudder
had been furious with her. Nettie had thought her
mudder
had made her life a misery before that time, but it was nothing to the way she was treated afterwards.

Nettie had always found Jebediah to be a cold person, perhaps even cruel, and there was no way she would subject herself to marrying him. She had somehow managed to find the backbone at the time to stand up to her
mudder
.

Nettie thought it would not have been out of character for her
mudder
to leave the
haus
and farm to Jebediah in the will. In fact, her
mudder
had often brought up Jebediah's name, saying he was not yet married and Nettie should reconsider. That was, at least, until Jebediah's
mudder
passed away and Nettie's
mudder
of course stopped receiving letters from her.

Perhaps her
mudder
had in fact left a will leaving everything to Jebediah. It would have been her way of trying to force Nettie to marry him after all. Yet why wouldn’t her
mudder
mention that to Nettie, and why did she not sign the will with her lawyer? That part made no sense.

Nettie looked up to see Jebediah looking at her through narrowed eyes. "My
mudder
never mentioned any such will to me," she said.

"That doesn't change the fact that she made one."

"Do you have a copy?" Nettie held her breath.

"
Nee
. I assume it’s somewhere in the
haus
."

"Why didn’t she lodge it with her lawyer, the one who she made the,
err
, other will with?" Nettie winced as she said "other" will.

"I'm not your
mudder's
keeper," Jebediah said in a hostile voice. "How should I know? All I know is that she told me she had made a will in favor of me, leaving me the
haus
and the farm. Perhaps she lodged it with another lawyer."

Nettie was growing more and more anxious. "Even if she did, Jebediah, that was because she thought we were getting married. We didn’t get married."

Jebediah took a step toward Nettie, and she took a step back. "Listen to me," he said, his voice hard. "Your
mudder
made a will naming me as the sole beneficiary. That's a fact, and nothing you say can change that. I want my inheritance, so I'm going to start to call all the lawyers in the district. There is no need for you to search the
haus
for the will, but do let me know if you happen to find it. I'm staying with the Glock
familye
; you can reach me there if you wish to speak to me."

Nettie stomped her foot. "I will destroy it," she said in a raised voice.

Jebediah narrowed his eyes, and his face and neck turned went a horrid shade of beet red. "
Nee
, you will not," he said, in an obvious temper. He moved toward Nettie and she was afraid what he would do, but just then, the buggy horse Blessing trotted over to them, startling Jebediah.

Jebediah flung up his arm as the horse made to nip him. He jumped back aboard his buggy and took up the reins, while muttering about dangerous horses. "Nettie, you know you have to do the right thing by
Gott
," he said patiently, as if speaking to a child. "Your
mudder
left the inheritance to me, and you must abide by her wishes. Otherwise, you are working against the will of
Gott
." With that, he hit his horse hard with the reins and the horse trotted off.

Nettie stood there, watching after him. She was quite shaken up. Thank goodness Blessing had come along when he did, as that had made Jebediah leave. Nettie now turned her attention to Blessing. "How did you get out?" she asked him, and then looked over to see the gate was open. Nettie would never leave the gate to a field open, so she wondered if Blessing was one of those horses that could open gates. She took hold of a piece of Blessing's long mane, and he followed her meekly back to the field. Nettie shut the gate, and then went into the barn looking for something to secure the gate in case the horse was indeed able to lift the latch.

Jebediah was right about it being the will of Gott
, she thought with sadness in her heart,
if Mamm really did make a will leaving the haus and farm to him. It would be the will of Gott to honor the terms of any will
.

Still, Nettie had rebellious thoughts. It was not fair. She had looked after her invalid
mudder
for all these years, only to have the possibility of eviction hanging over her. If she did find a will, what would she do? She was tempted to destroy it. Such thoughts surprised Nettie, for she had always strived to do the right thing.

James 1:6.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Chapter 6
.

Nettie was tired and in despair. She had spent a restless night tossing and turning, struggling with her conscience, wondering what she would do if there was a will in favor of Jebediah Sprinkler.

If she found the will, what would she do? She wanted to destroy it, but that was not the honorable thing to do. Still, if she did the honorable thing, she would have nowhere to live. The bishop would find her a
familye
to live with, no doubt, but what sort of life would that be for her?

Nettie had come to no conclusion, and had begun her search of the
haus
. The
haus
itself may not have been large by Amish
familye
standards, but it was large nonetheless. It was a renovated 1700s farmhouse, and unusually for an Amish
haus
, was packed full of items such as crocheted doilies, crocheted rugs, and all manner of knitted items. Most of these were tucked away in aged, yellowing boxes of every size and shape. Old, plain chests of drawers were crammed full of old knitted or crocheted items, and the kitchen cupboards were full of kitchen utensils. Nettie guessed that most were her
grossmammi's
, or even her
grossmammi's
before her. Her own
mudder
had been somewhat of a hoarder; she had thrown nothing out, even if it had been broken. Her
mudder
thought that women should be knitting or crocheting all day long when not doing chores, always quoting a favorite Amish saying, “Idleness is a resting-pillow of the devil and a cause of all sorts of wickedness.”

Nettie figured she could have many weeks' work ahead of her. If there was in fact a will leaving the farm to Jebediah Sprinkler, it could be tucked away in one of the boxes. Nettie had no idea what she would do if and when she found the will, but her first job was to find the will.

Nettie sat down to a breakfast of stewed crackers in warm milk, followed by sausage and scrapple topped with apple butter. Nettie had liked scrapple since she was a child, and it was the only meat her mother could eat, being soft. Scrapple was pork scraps and trimmings combined with flour, cornmeal, and sage from the herb garden, and then formed into a loaf. Nettie always cut it into three-quarter-inch slices and pan-fried it until it was brown to form a crust, but she had not fried it for her
mudder
.

She'd only had a mug of
kaffi
before she'd milked the goat, fed the chickens, and started her search of the
haus
. Now, with some food in her stomach, Nettie was able to think more clearly. She would call the lawyer and inform him of Jebediah Sprinkler's attempted claim on the will. The lawyer would be able to advise her.

Nettie decided to harness up Blessing and drive him to the phone shanty. She took the lawyer's card from the table on her way out. The card was fancy; gold embossed letters on a white background with plenty of swirls. Nettie wondered why anyone would spend so much money on something that could have been just as effective if simple.

It was a beautiful, late spring day, and Nettie's spirits lifted as she drove Blessing in the direction of the phone shanty. She was about to turn down the lane, but spotted a buggy at the end of it, right near the phone shanty. Someone else was making a call. Nettie drew Blessing to a stop and pondered her options. If she continued ahead, to the phone shanty, she would have to make small talk to the people there, and Nettie, having been used to isolation, dreaded social encounters. On the other hand, should she drive Blessing to the Glicks'
haus
? Nettie knew they had a phone in their barn, as her
mudder
often complained about that fact. Yet did she want to speak to the Glicks any more than whoever was currently at the phone shanty?

The thought of running into Daniel Glick sent butterflies racing through Nettie's stomach, but as she hesitated, trying to decide, Blessing took the option out of her hands. Without any encouragement, Blessing set off at a trot in the direction of the Glicks'
haus
.
He's probably heading for home
, Nettie thought with resignation, letting Blessing trot on ahead.

Nettie enjoyed the drive to the Glick
haus
, out in the spring air, the buggy winding its way down little used roads amidst a backdrop of gently rolling hills, past beautiful, golden, corn fields and green alfalfa crops.

As Nettie approached the Glick
haus
, she saw Daniel standing next to a pretty, young woman with dark hair showing in front of her prayer
kapp
. Nettie was unprepared for the pangs of jealousy that assaulted her.
What's wrong with me?
she silently scolded herself.
I hope I'm not turning into one of those desperate women that Mamm was always complaining about
.

Nettie drew Blessing to a halt and Daniel walked over to the buggy, followed by the attractive, young woman.

"
Hiya
, Daniel." Nettie smiled shyly at Daniel and then at the young woman.

"
Hullo
, Nettie. Do you member my
schweschder
, Melissa?"

"
Schweschder
?"

"Yes, who else would she be?" Daniel's green eyes were twinkling with amusement and Nettie hoped that her relief had not shown in her voice. Anyway, whatever was she thinking to be so attracted to this young
mann
?

"
Jah
, I remember you, Melissa, but you look different."

Melissa laughed heartedly. "Well, it's been many years since we were small
kinner
. You look different too."

Nettie at once warmed to Melissa. "I need to call my lawyer, so may I use your phone, please? I drove to the shanty but someone was already there."

"
Jah
, of course," both Daniel and Melissa said together.

Nettie climbed down from the buggy and Daniel tied up Blessing for her. "How is Blessing going for you?" His eyes were kind, and her stomach fluttered at his close proximity.

"
Wunderbaar
,
denki
," Nettie said, twisting the strands of her prayer
kapp
.

"Please feel free to come and use our phone at any time," Daniel said. "I'll show you where it is."

Nettie followed Daniel and Melissa over to the barn. Every time Nettie looked at Melissa, she was smiling warmly at her, so Nettie forgot her nervousness about being in a social situation. "I'm sorry about your
mudder
," Melissa said.

"
Denki
."

"Are you lonely?"

Nettie looked at Melissa with surprise. "Lonely?"

"
Jah
. The bishop told everyone not to visit you until you were ready; he said you’d be too overwhelmed."

Nettie saw Daniel shoot Melissa a warning look, so hurried to reassure him. She did not want Melissa to get into trouble on her account. "That was kind of the bishop. My
mudder
did not permit visitors and she did not permit me to leave the
haus
, so it’s left me a little, well, shy."

"May I visit you some time?"

This time Daniel verbally rebuked his
schweschder
. "Melissa!"

Melissa hung her head. "Sorry, Nettie."

"I would love you to visit, Melissa;
denki
." Nettie meant it; she had felt an instant kinship with Melissa and was sure the two of them would get along. It would be lovely to have a
gut
friend, one close to her own age, when the only companionship she'd had for years was her
mudder
.

Melissa left the barn, smiling, and Daniel turned to Nettie. "Please forgive my
schweschder
. She's very forthright; she always speaks her mind. Don’t feel pressured into having her visit."

Nettie smiled. "I really like Melissa; I look forward to her visits."

Daniel looked at Nettie as if trying to ascertain whether she was simply being polite or whether she actually meant it. He didn't comment, but showed her to the phone. "Here you are. Please feel free to come and use it anytime. Now I’ll give you some privacy."

When Daniel left, Nettie stared at the phone. A dreadful feeling of anxiety settled over her.