Mount Hope Page 10

  She watched her brother as he talked with Elijah, realizing that he had become a stranger. The closeness they had shared as children had developed into nothing more than a remote familial bond. Time and distance had a way of doing that. Even more so, his situation upon leaving Colorado had turned out far different from hers. From his letters, infrequent as they were, she understood that he lived a happy life with Aaron, learning his trade. Despite having other children, Aaron treated William like one of his own, fully welcomed and wanted.

  Fanny, although well provided for, lived under the burden of never feeling fully wanted. As a result, she could never face the world with the cheery nonchalance that her dear brother William had achieved.

  Sadly his visit was only a short one. The driver had merely let him off while he refueled the car and visited some of his own friends. When Fanny heard that William was not even staying for supper, she felt like a child on Christmas morning awakening to gray skies pouring down rain instead of snow.

  “Driver wants to get there tonight,” William explained when he stood up to leave not even ninety minutes after he arrived. “’Sides, I have a full day of work tomorrow, I’m sure.”

  Fanny walked with him outside and toward the car.

  “You seem to have done quite well,” William said. “You know, it didn’t seem right, what Maem and Daed did at the time, sending us away like that, but I’ve been back there. They did us a favor, Fanny.”

  “Is it that bad?”

  He nodded his head. “Ja, it is. I feel for the others, especially Susan. What future does she face?”

  Fanny stopped walking and stared at him. She had not thought of her siblings in a long time. “Oh, William! What a poor schwester I have been!”

  He placed his hand on her arm. “Nee, Fanny. We were the lucky ones. Only they don’t know that. They’ve known nothing but Westcliffe. What do they have to compare it to?” He gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. Then, without another word, he walked toward the car and got in on the passenger side. As the car pulled away, he gave her one last wave.

  The lucky ones, she thought as she waved back. The disappointment she had felt just moments ago when she learned that William was leaving so soon was replaced with sorrow for her younger brothers and sisters whom she would never get to know at all.

  To her surprise, as she turned back to the house she saw Elijah standing on the porch, leaning against the railing. He had been watching them say good-bye and had a concerned look on his face.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She tried to smile as she nodded her head. “Ja, Elijah. A short visit is better than no visit, right?”

  “You amaze me, Fanny Price,” he said with a warm smile. “I think we are the lucky ones.”

  Her heart lightened as she realized he had overheard their conversation and sought to console her. At least there was one person here who wanted her . . . for now.

  Chapter 6

  WHEN THE BLACK open-topped buggy pulled into the driveway, Fanny was already carrying a large tray of food to the picnic table: bowls of pretzels, sliced apples, plates of bread, and fresh homemade butter. She had already brought out the platter of sliced meats, cheese, and sour pickles. A tall oak tree shielded the picnic table from the midday sun, and despite the gentle breeze it was hot for late August.

  Earlier Benjamin had arrived, eager to spend some time talking with Elijah. Almost an hour ago the two of them disappeared into the barn. Fanny set the tray onto the picnic table and tried to decide whether she should return to the house to alert Julia and Miriam that the Coblentzes had arrived or try to locate the other two men in the barn.

  “They’re here!” Miriam called out from the kitchen, her voice carrying through the open window. She sounded excited, too excited, and Fanny could only imagine her cousin running over to the small mirror that hung near the door. Certainly she was pinching her cheeks so they’d be rosy and making sure that her hair was not sticking out from under her prayer kapp.

  Fanny heard Julia say something to her sister, but her voice was far too low for her to make out what she said. Undoubtedly it had something to do with Miriam’s interest in her appearance, which was far too obviously for the benefit of one, and only one person: Henry.

  It seemed that all Miriam talked about anymore was Henry Coblentz, to the point that even Julia shook her head at her sister’s wanton attraction to him. After all, Miriam was engaged to another man! Whenever someone dared to remind her of this, Miriam would make a face and remain silent just long enough until she could excuse herself to take a brief rest, her headache miraculously having reappeared in time for her to disappear.

  When the buggy stopped, Mary gave a short, quick wave in Fanny’s direction, more of a dismissive reaction than a true greeting. Fanny didn’t respond. Instead, she watched as Mary climbed down and reached into the back seat for a box while Henry climbed down and began to unharness the horse. He glanced over his shoulder at Fanny and gave her a hearty grin.

  Her skin crawled. It was very infrequent that Fanny disliked someone. Henry had the honor of being the very kind of person who warranted her immediate disdain. Rather than greet either Mary or Henry, Fanny decided that fetching Elijah and Benjamin was a safer option. So while Miriam and Julia practically tripped over each other in order to greet their newly arrived guests, Fanny hurried toward the barn, her bare feet against the dry dirt driveway raising a small dust cloud behind her. She knew that she’d feel much more comfortable being in Henry’s presence, with his roving eyes and leering smile, if Elijah was nearby.

  The barn was dark and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. The smell of manure hit her nostrils and she winced, just a little. Even though she was used to the pungent odor, she couldn’t pretend it didn’t exist. With the heat, the fumes within the barn were that much more overwhelming.

  She hurried down the aisle that led past the holding pens and toward the back of the barn. “Elijah?” she called out. She avoided the area where the cows lined up when it was milking time and headed toward the hayloft. She had to climb a wooden ladder to get to it, and as she poked her head through the opening, she saw Benjamin and Elijah standing close together and looking through a book.

  Fanny finished her ascent and quietly stole across the wooden floor that was covered with stray hay.

  “Elijah? Henry and Mary just arrived,” she said softly, not wanting to startle them.

  But apparently she did just that.

  Immediately Benjamin shut the thin book and quickly held it behind his back. Elijah took a step away from Benjamin as if distancing himself from whatever they had been studying with such grave intent. Fanny stared at both Elijah and Benjamin, her eyes drifting from one to the other. She didn’t say anything, letting her silence speak for itself. Whatever it was, it was clearly something that was not permitted on the farm under the best of circumstances.

  Elijah’s face turned red and he avoided meeting her eyes. “Ja. Vell. Reckon I best go greet the Coblentzes, then,” he mumbled.

  Readily Benjamin agreed. With barely a glance, he brushed past Fanny and disappeared down the opening as he crawled down the ladder. But when Elijah tried to do the same, Fanny reached out and touched his arm.

  “Elijah?” she asked. Her disappointment in his judgment was only matched by her dismay at his inability to face her.

  He stopped walking and stood beside her, his shoulder almost touching hers even though they both faced opposite directions.

  “It isn’t what you think,” he said in a flat voice.

  “How would you know that since I’m not certain what I think?”

  He glanced at her. “It’s a hymnbook, Fanny.”

  “Hymns?” She repeated the word in disbelief. Their regular hymnbook, the Ausbund, was a small, black, chunky book. The book that Benjamin had whisked away was larger and the cover appeared burgundy, not black. “It didn’t look like the Ausbund to me.”

  Elijah glanced away. “It . . . it’s not the Au
sbund.”

  “Elijah . . . ” Her voice carried the disappointment that she felt. “Not the Ausbund?”

  “They are religious songs, Fanny!” he said, far too quickly, which only added further to his shame. “Only they are in English, not German. Benjamin wanted to share it with everyone and he showed it to me for my advice.”

  Fanny shut her eyes and shook her head. “That’s not a gut idea, Elijah. Your father doesn’t want us singing anything except hymns in the Ausbund.”

  Elijah straightened his shoulders. “I didn’t ask Benjamin to bring it.” When she didn’t respond, he took a short, quick breath. “I told him it wasn’t a good idea. So he was showing me some of the hymns and we were discussing whether singing them is a sin.”

  “Sin or not, you shouldn’t have been looking at them,” Fanny said in a flat tone. “You know how Benjamin is. Just that little bit of attention will encourage him.”

  Elijah shut his eyes and nodded his head.

  They said nothing further on the matter, but Fanny knew that Elijah felt guilt for even having looked at the English hymnbook. Timothy’s rule about singing was one that no member of the household ever broke. In fact, there were only two other books that he allowed: the Bible and Martyrs Mirror. Even the newspaper and church-approved Family Life magazine had to pass through Timothy’s approval. Only then was the family allowed to read. After all, Timothy had once explained, as the head of the household, it was his job to protect the spiritual well-being of his family.

  She wondered how Timothy would react if he knew that the spiritual well-being of his son had just been soiled by a non-approved hymnbook.

  Quietly Elijah walked beside her as they left the barn and joined the others at the picnic table. While Fanny had fetched Elijah and Benjamin, Jeb had arrived. He stood in between Benjamin and Henry, barely listening to them as they talked, for he was more interested in staring at Miriam. His eyes looked lost in thought, as if he were thinking of his upcoming wedding.

  Fanny watched him with curiosity, trying to imagine how it felt to be near someone that, in just five weeks, one was to marry.

  She certainly hoped that her fiancé would react in a far different manner than how Miriam responded to Jeb’s ferhoodled gaze. Whether Jeb realized it or not—and Fanny suspected that even a blind person could sense it!—Miriam avoided all of his glances as she focused her attention on Henry instead. When he spoke, she hung onto every word. When he laughed, she joined him. To Fanny, her behavior seemed disgraceful. But she knew that Miriam’s business with Jeb was none of her business at all.

  Thankfully Julia emerged from the house, carrying two plastic pitchers of water. For a brief moment, Miriam’s attention was distracted by the appearance of her sister. Julia greeted Benjamin, Mary, and Jeb, but her soft smile was spared for Henry. Julia slid in between Miriam and Henry and set down the pitchers on the table. He barely paid her any attention and did not offer to assist her. Instead, he moved away from the picnic table and joined the other three men.

  Discouraged, Julia flopped onto the bench next to Miriam and scowled at her.

  “Well, you certainly invited us on a beautiful day,” Mary observed. “It’s not nearly as humid here as it would be in Pennsylvania this late in August.”

  At the sound of Mary’s voice, Elijah stopped paying attention to Jeb and turned his face toward the picnic table. His eyes wandered to Mary’s face, studying her with such intensity that Fanny felt uncomfortable. She forced herself to look the other way.

  “Not as humid as here? Why, it’s so warm out,” Miriam responded, fanning herself with her hand. “Mayhaps I’ll go stand under the shade of the tree where it’s cooler.”

  Miriam slid out from the picnic table and practically pranced over to the tree. She leaned against the tree trunk and continued to fan her neck. Every so often she would sigh and lift her eyes up toward the heavens as if seeking solace there. But Fanny suspected that her cousin’s intentions were not merely to cool off under the tree but to heat up the interest of another man.

  Fanny realized that she was not the only one paying attention to Miriam. Quietly she observed the reactions of everyone: Julia’s frustrated envy, Henry’s too obvious interest, and Jeb’s increasing irritation. There was no denying that Miriam’s theatrical antics made her the center of attention. Again.

  Sighing, Fanny looked over to where Elijah stood with Benjamin and Mary. Whatever they were talking about, Mary seemed animated and engaged. With Elijah being a farmer and Benjamin helping with the family store, Fanny couldn’t imagine what they were discussing with Mary that would have captured her interest in such a lively manner.

  Even more worrisome was the fact that Elijah looked enthralled by Mary’s contribution to the discussion. He stood close to her, his body leaning forward and his eyes never leaving hers. Even Benjamin seemed to have more sense in masking his interest in the pretty, young Amish woman from Gordonville, Pennsylvania.

  None of this would have happened if Timothy were there, Fanny told herself. He would have been there, seated on the porch in the rocking chair with the Bible on his lap, alternating between reading Scripture and monitoring the exchange between the young adults so that nothing inappropriate occurred. And he would have viewed Julia’s visible anger, Miriam’s flagrant flirtation, and Elijah’s undeniable interest as clear violations of his unspoken rules for discretion and proper behavior.

  It was Jeb who finally cleared his throat. “Reckon we might as well eat,” he said. He gestured for Miriam to join him, but she ignored his attempt to have her stand by his side.

  “Aw, I’m not quite ready for dinner yet. What say everyone? Perhaps a game of corn hole?” Elijah said. “I set it up behind the barn.”

  Miriam pooh-poohed that idea. “It’s too hot in the sun, Elijah.” She gave a little laugh and caught Henry’s eye with a coquettish glance. “Almost makes me long for the colder weather!”

  “Hmm, I reckon you’d sure like November to just hurry up,” Julia said, her voice a little louder than she usually talked, “given that your wedding is the first Thursday of the month.”

  At the mention of a wedding, a silence fell over the group. Miriam’s smile faded and Henry took a step backward, his attention suddenly diverted away from her. There was no sense playing with fire, for no one dare interfere in the courtship of an engaged couple. Julia, however, seemed more than satisfied with the rapid shift in attention away from Miriam.

  Mary perked up, and her eyes sparkling, she smiled.

  “A wedding?” She clasped her hands before herself. “Oh, that’s wunderbarr! I so love weddings!”

  Miriam pressed her lips together, and in great contradiction to her flirtatious behavior from just a few second earlier, avoided looking at anyone in particular, including Jeb. “Since it hasn’t been announced yet, Julia, I’d remind you to not gossip.”

  This time Jeb spoke up. “Now, Miriam, it will be announced after the communion service.” He puffed out his chest as he spoke and placed his hand upon her shoulder in a way that clearly indicated his relationship with her was more than friendship, just in case there remained any doubt among the others. “That’s just one month from today!”

  Henry looked from Jeb to Miriam. To Fanny, it appeared that he was making the connection at last. And, to further her surprise, she noticed that he did not appear discouraged by the news. Clearly he did not view Jeb as enough of an adversary to be worried. And Fanny decided at that very moment that her first impression of Henry Coblentz held true. If she had previously suspected she would not like him, she now knew it for a fact. Regardless of the fact that she had not interacted with him personally, simply put, she did not care for this brazen newcomer to their community.

  Mary, however, sat on the picnic bench, the hint of an uncomfortable smile on her lips as she listened to the exchange. While Fanny wasn’t certain what she thought about her, she did notice that someone else was quietly observing the scene: Elijah. Only his attention was focused more
on Mary than Miriam or Jeb.

  “If Daed gets back in time,” Miriam replied.

  Jeb narrowed his eyes, his wide-brimmed hat barely hiding the dark expression that crossed his face.

  “Water, anyone?” Fanny asked, eager to break up the increasing tension that was building in the air. Without anyone replying, she reached for the closest pitcher and began to pour water into the assortment of glasses she had brought out earlier.

  “Danke, Fanny,” Elijah said as he took the glass from her. When she looked up at him, he gave her an appreciative nod and she knew it was not just for the water. She hid her smile and quickly served the others.

  “Where is your daed anyway?” Mary asked, directing the question to both Julia and Miriam.

  Still sulking, Miriam did not respond, so Julia took the rare opportunity to speak. “Pinecraft. Our grossdawdi fell and broke his hip.”

  Mary perked up. “Oh, ja? Pinecraft?”

  To Fanny, that was a strange reply. She began to study Mary, especially when she continued speaking of Pinecraft and made no inquiry of their injured relative.

  “I’ve heard that Pinecraft is wunderbarr! It’s warm all year round and service is held in a church building with the Mennonites!” Her eyes took on a distant look. “Such a shame your daed couldn’t go when it’s colder here, ja?”

  Elijah took the opportunity to speak up, but to Fanny’s surprise, made no mention of Mary’s omission of concern for his grandfather. “Not a fan of cold weather, then?”

  Mary gave a little laugh. “Nee! Why, I can’t imagine how a farmer does it, working all winter outside, his hands as chapped as his lips at the day’s end and with little to warm himself but a small wood-burning fire when the sun sets!”

  At this comment, Henry chuckled. “Ja, vell, I’m not so sure about that!”

  Mary rolled her eyes at her brother’s suggestive comment, but continued. “And a farmer certainly cannot travel to places like Pinecraft! They can hardly even take a day off!”