The Photograph (4 page)

E
VA
WAS
RELIEVED
when Menno finally returned to the kitchen, yet Frona looked to be holding her breath as their brother took his place at the head of the table.

“Doubtless you're wonderin' why I'm here,” Menno said.

Across the table, Frona stirred uneasily.

Menno continued. “Not livin' on the premises is becoming a challenge with all the time I spend working round here, so I plan to take full possession of the farm and the house. I'll be movin' my family in as soon as I can manage it.” He paused and sighed. “There might not be room here for all of yous.”

Eva's mouth dropped open, but none of them spoke.

Menno cleared his throat and expounded further on his plans. When he was finished, he looked first at Frona, then at Eva. “Why are ya surprised? Surely you knew this time would come.”

Eva swallowed. They
were
surprised, thinking since Menno hadn't moved in right after Mamma's passing, maybe he'd wait awhile longer.
At least till some of us marry
 . . .

“It'll be a tight fit for all of us,” Lily said, bless her heart—she didn't seem to grasp what Menno meant.

Frona turned toward Lily and shook her head. “That's not what Menno's sayin'.”

We'll
be divided up,
Eva thought sadly.

“Well, yous might have to stay with Rufus or Emmanuel instead of here. But it wouldn't be the worst thing,” Menno said.

Living
with this brother would be!
Eva thought dolefully.

“Of course, if only one of you is still single by then, you'll have a place here as a live-in mother's helper for Bena,” added Menno. “At least one of you must have a beau.”

Surely he'll wait
to move here till wedding season, or after,
Eva thought.

Lily asked, “What 'bout Eva's candy shop? Dat built it for her.”

Menno bowed his head, and for a moment Eva thought he might just come up with something to soften this disappointment. But Menno was true to form. “Eva can't expect she'll spend the rest of her days making candy,” he said.

Eva watched Menno closely.
The shop's my last connection to Dat.

“I can't believe this,” Frona said.

Seeing her older sister's burning expression, Eva expected her to press Menno for more information, but she merely rose to offer him some hot tea or coffee.

“Is it instant coffee?” Menno frowned.

Frona nodded. “That's all we have.”

“Well then, I'll have one more peanut butter ball and be on my way,” he said with a faint smile.

“We might all end up with Great-Aunt Mary Girod clear out in Berne, Indiana,” Frona worried aloud. “According to her circle letters, she has plenty of room.”

Menno rolled his eyes, but Eva cringed at the thought of living so far from home.
Menno's upset the fruit basket!

———

“Honestly, what'd ya think of all that?” Frona asked Eva and Lily once Menno was gone.

“I'm tryin' to get used to the notion of leavin' here.” Eva considered Frona's comment about Indiana. “Why'd ya bring up Aunt Mary Girod?”

“Well, she's hinted that one or more of us could go out there, is all. Says she wouldn't mind some company.”

Mamma and Frona had kept in close touch with Aunt Mary through the years and learned of the differences between this Plain community and their own.

“One thing 'bout living with Aunt Mary, we'd have to learn sign language,” Frona added, wrinkling her nose.

Lily looked aghast. “
Aendi
Mary's gone deaf?”

“
Jah
, happened just over the past couple of years,” Frona told them.

Eva couldn't imagine being unable to communicate verbally with a woman they'd never met—another rather gloomy thought.

“Aunt Mary's also written that the average age for baptism there is seventeen. So you know what that means.” Frona looked Lily's way, but she was staring out the window, seemingly unaware.

Clenching her teeth, Eva felt embarrassed by what Frona had inferred. And her heart went out to their only sibling yet to be baptized. Lily didn't need this added pressure right now.
It won't
sit well with her.

Suddenly Lily announced that she must write a quick letter and rushed upstairs.

Eva stayed put at the kitchen table, feeling numb. “Why do
ya think Menno's bringing this up now? I mean, why didn't he take over the farm after Dat died?”

Frona paced the length of the kitchen and back. “Honestly, I'd thought Menno might let us stay put for as long as need be. Guess I was wrong.”

Eva found it curious Frona hadn't spoken up to him as other times in the past, particularly over farm-related issues. Not only to Menno, but also to their brother Emmanuel, who helped Menno work Dat's land each day. Frona was never unkind, but she did have a way of expressing what she thought was right and good
 . . .
and what was best for Eva and Lily, too. She thought of herself as the head of this particular house.

Frona stopped in her tracks. “You know, it's been the longest time since I attended a Sunday Singing. I figure you've got a beau, Eva, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lily does, too, considering how secretive she's been lately.”

Eva nodded but didn't correct her assumption. It was obvious Frona was thinking ahead to their future. Sadly, she was the least likely to marry, considering her age. And, too, Frona had a way about her that seemed to set some folks on edge.

Forcing a smile, Frona said, “I'm inclined to march over to Menno's place and give him an earful.”

“You all right?” Eva asked quietly.

“Well, like Menno said, we weren't gonna live here forever.” Trudging to the table, Frona sat in Mamma's former chair and folded her ample arms, like their mother sometimes had at that very spot. “If I didn't know better, I'd think he just wants an excuse to get us out of his hair.”

Eva's head hurt. She wished Menno had stayed home with his family tonight, hadn't stirred things up. Truth be told, she felt downright glum and as miserable as Frona looked. “I think one of us should go and check on Lily.”

“I have work to do,” Frona murmured, then leaned her face into her hands. “Besides, you're closer to her.”

Eva had always been able to get through to that sister, and the whole family knew it. She and Lily had shared a room when their brothers were still single and living at home. Yet even after the boys married and there was extra space, Lily disliked the idea of having her own bedroom. Eva didn't mind sharing if it made Lily more comfortable and at peace.

Eva excused herself and headed upstairs. She paused in the open doorway of their bedroom and looked in on Lily sitting at the corner desk, pen in hand. A white envelope was propped against the gas lantern, and Eva couldn't help but see the sad face.
Thanks to Menno.
Yet, in his defense, Menno had given them time together in their parents' house following Mamma's death, and now he'd given them fair warning.
Surely he'll wait
till after harvest. . . .

Eva stepped inside the room. “You're upset, ain't so?”

Lily turned and forced a smile. “Just thinkin'.”

Eva went to sit at the foot of the bed.

“For one thing, I kinda feel sorry for Frona.” Lily placed her pen on the stationery and moved the chair to face Eva. “It hasn't been easy for her, ya know
 . . .
with fellas, I mean.”

Lily's
sad over that?
Eva realized she evidently hadn't paid close attention to Menno's remarks. “Frona ain't
en
alt Maidel
yet.”

Lily rose and went to stand in front of the dresser mirror for the longest time. “She's not unattractive, but she does seem to hold a young man at arm's length.”

“Frona has her nice qualities, though.” Eva disliked saying negative things about anyone.

“You, on the other hand, could have Alfred Dienner,” Lily said, moving to sit beside Eva. “Though I doubt you'll marry someone you don't love. Remember what Amy March says in
Little Women
? ‘You don't need scores of suitors. You need only one . . . if he's the right one.'”

“But no one has seriously courted me, not even Alfred, though he'd like to.”

“
Jah
, well
 . . .” Lily paused as if lost in thought. Then
her voice changed to wistful. “There are always
other
alternatives, Eva.”

“Surely ya don't mean someone from the outside?” Eva was startled. “An
Englischer
 . . .”

Again, Lily seemed distracted. “If you're determined to marry for the right reason, why would ya even think of settling for Alfred?” Her sister had never spoken so pointedly about a fellow.

Lily rose and went back to the dresser. She opened the lid to the box of hairpins and removed one after another from her bun till her blond hair tumbled over her shoulders and down her slender back.

“
Ach
, Lily, what're ya doin'? We haven't had evening prayers yet.”

“I'm goin' to bed early.” The mirror reflected Lily's pained expression.

Eva shifted, troubled. They never let their hair down before evening family worship.

Yet Lily began to brush her long tresses, making dramatic sweeps as she went to sit on the opposite side of the bed, away from the door. She hadn't ever slept on the side nearest the hallway. Eva suspected she was afraid of the dark as a child. In the spring and summer, when they kept their door and windows open for ventilation, Lily seemed quite content to sleep on the opposite side of the bed, with Eva as a buffer of sorts.

“Honestly, sister, you're too tired for Scripture reading?”

“I am,” Lily admitted. “And for much of anything else round here, too.”

Their eyes locked and held for a moment. Lily was the first to look away.

“What's really botherin' ya?” Eva got up and stood near the dresser.

“My heart pains me.” Lily continued brushing. “Somethin' terrible.”

“Missin' Mamma?”

Lily placed her brush on the dresser. “We keep losing the people we love
 . . .
and now the house where we grew up. Where does it end, Eva?”

“You won't lose
me
,” Eva reassured her.

Lily teared up.

“Is something else worrying ya?” Eva asked gently.

Lily was silent for a moment.

“Sister?”

“If only you knew.” Lily was staring now at the wooden quilt hanger across the room, where their mother's prettiest quilt was on display, the most beautiful Dahlia pattern Eva had seen in all of Eden Valley, or anywhere in Lancaster County, for that matter. It was the last quilt Lily and Mamma had made together, just the two of them, before Mamma took sick.

“It's Mamma, ain't so?”

“I miss her all the time.” Lily leaned her head gently on Eva's shoulder and began to cry like a child.

“I understand. I truly do.” Eva slipped her arm around her. “Go ahead, sister. The Lord sees and knows your heart.” Such were the very words Naomi used when Eva couldn't keep back her own tears.

“Why'd Dat and Mamma both have to die?” Lily's pitiful sobs filled the room, and Eva guessed there were many more
why
s in her sister's mind, simmering just below the surface.

“I miss them, too,” Eva offered, trying to be strong yet sensitive.
Poor, dear Lily.

“Do ya ever think 'bout what Dat would want ya to do with your future, if he was still alive?” Lily asked.

“Well, we
know
, ain't so?”

Lily pulled a face. “For me to join church and settle in with the People,
jah
?”

“Why sure.” She looked at her sister, pretty as a daisy. “Why turn up your nose at that?”

Abruptly, Lily straightened and dried her wet cheeks with a hankie from her dress pocket. “That's just it. I don't know if this is the life I want. Don't you ever wonder what else is out there?”

“My life is here, Lily. But of course I have private moments when I wonder what
Gott
has planned for me, like anyone else.” Eva brushed back her own tears. “Losin' our parents might be a test to see what we're made of
 . . .
like Job of old.”

Lily's shoulders drooped and she moved to the wooden wall pegs, where their long nightgowns hung on hangers. Lily's were a lovely pale pink, and Eva's plain white. “Like I said, I'm all tuckered out, sister. I'm weary of tests.”