Ella: An Amish Retelling 0f Cinderella (An Amish Fairytale Book 2) Read online

  While she waited for it to fill, Ella glanced over to the bird feeders she kept at the corner of the property near the sunflower patch growing there. She knew the birds loved her sunflowers, which stretched from the end of the house all the way to the white picket fence in front of the house. When people walked to town, they always paused to stare at the giant sunflowers and to admire the collection of birds that lingered nearby to pluck the seeds growing from their big, friendly heads. But September was almost upon them, and with that, the end of summer. Soon the birds would migrate south, the sunflowers would droop and dry up, and the leaves from the trees would flutter to the ground—the end of yet another season in Echo Creek.

  It had been a quiet summer, at least for Ella. Between managing the garden and tending to the house, she had more than enough work cut out for her. Her workload was so great that she hadn’t even attended many of the youth gatherings or singings.

  But that would change once autumn arrived.

  At least she hoped so.

  “Ella? Ella, where are you?”

  She sighed. Drusilla was in the kitchen. “Out here, Dru. Washing clothes.”

  The door burst open and her oldest sister emerged, her long hair hanging down her back. “I can’t find my brush. Where’s my brush? Did you put it somewhere?” It wasn’t so much a question as an accusation.

  “Ja, I did,” Ella replied, matching Drusilla’s harsh tone with a congenial and light one. “In the bathroom drawer, where it belongs.”

  “Oh! Don’t get sassy with me!” Drusilla snapped before promptly disappearing back through the door.

  Ella glanced at the washer and decided she had time to investigate why Drusilla was in such a frazzled state. She followed her sister’s footsteps and, after her eyes adjusted to the dim light in the kitchen, watched Drusilla fuss with her mousy-colored hair in the downstairs bathroom that everyone shared.

  “Something important happening today?” Ella asked.

  Tossing a quick look over her shoulder, Drusilla raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “You seem rather . . .”

  Ella searched for the appropriate word. She certainly didn’t want to insult Drusilla, who had almost as hot a temper as Linda.

  “. . . flustered.”

  “Oh, you silly goose!” Drusilla pursed her lips and frowned. “Mind your own business!” And with that, Drusilla used her bare foot to kick the bathroom door so that it slammed in Ella’s face.

  The sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs announced that Anna, too, was awake.

  “I’ll tell you, Ella,” Anna said with a mischievous smile. She was one year younger than Drusilla and always seemed to be cheerleading for her older sister. But there were occasional moments when Drusilla wasn’t around that Anna almost behaved like a real sister. Almost. “There’s a new vendor coming to the general store today. From Liberty Falls! Drusilla is hoping he will be young and unmarried.”

  From behind the closed door, the muffled voice of Drusilla could be heard crying out, “Anna! You hush now!”

  But Anna paid her no attention. “I’m hoping that, too.” She giggled, her shoulders lifting up to her ears as she did.

  The bathroom door flew open and Drusilla stood there, hands on her hips, glaring at her sister. “Now, Anna, gossip is akin to sin!”

  “Then I’ll confess to the bishop,” Anna quickly retorted.

  Ella knew that this conversation would end up with her two sisters having a heated argument, so she did what she always did: changed the subject. “What does the vendor sell?” She was genuinely curious, as she always liked to know what new products Linda purchased to resell at what used to be her father’s store. For, while Troyers’ General Store still bore his name, the Troyer in charge was no longer her father but her stepmother.

  “What does he sell?” Anna repeated the question and gave her an incredulous look. “How should I know?”

  Drusilla marched out of the bathroom, apparently satisfied with her hair. She had placed her prayer kapp on the back of her head and secured it with a single straight pin to a thin elastic band that she wore around the top of her head. “Clocks. He makes and distributes clocks.”

  Anna made a face. “Clocks? How unromantic!”

  But Ella was intrigued. “Are they small ones or big ones? Do they sit on tables or hang on the walls?”

  “Aren’t you the inquisitive one?” Drusilla said hotly. “Perhaps you should be working at the store instead of us.” She paused and put her finger to her lips, as if thinking. “Oh, wait, you can’t because you have too much to do around here.” And with that, Drusilla moved her hand and knocked the bowl of flour onto the floor. “Oops. Sorry about that.”

  Anna laughed.

  But Ella reacted with neither a grimace nor a harsh word. Instead, she ignored Drusilla’s unkind act and said a quick little prayer for God to forgive her sister. In the past six years, Ella had grown used to her sisters’ mean-spirited ways. She forgave them every day at least seven times seventy, just as the Bible told her to do. Sometimes she wondered if she forgave them seven times seventy times seventy-seven, especially now, since her father had passed away unexpectedly the previous year.

  “Now, I’d like some eggs for breakfast. Do you think you can manage that without making a mess of your kitchen?” The mocking tone in Drusilla’s voice made Ella say the second prayer of the day for her sister.

  “Mayhaps one of these days you might get up early enough to cook breakfast yourself.”

  Drusilla spun around and gave her a stern look. “My word! It seems you woke up on the sassy side of bed today, Ella.”

  Ella sighed, her shoulders slumping just a little. She hadn’t meant to sound impudent. The truth was that all of the household chores fell on her shoulders, with Drusilla and Anna doing less and less every day. For so many years, it had been Ella doing all of the cooking, all of the cleaning, all of the everything!

  While she knew that her two stepsisters worked many hours at the store, especially since Ella’s father died, she also knew that their continual shirking of responsibilities in the home was a shortsighted plan. No Amish man would accept a wife who behaved in such a manner. And word traveled fast along the Amish grapevine. Perhaps that was why neither one of them had any serious suitors vying for their attentions. Well, at least not suitors that Drusilla and Anna felt were worthy of their attention, anyway—with the exception of Timothy Miller, who had brought Drusilla home from a singing recently, which was all the attention Drusilla needed. For two weeks, she had bragged about that buggy ride, and ever since then, she often disappeared from the store to visit someone—anyone!—who lived near the Miller farm, clearly hoping that Timothy might offer her a ride home.

  “What was that sigh for?” Drusilla snapped.

  Ella knelt down and began to clean up the flour on the floor. The more she tried to sweep it into a dust pan, the more the white cloud spread on the linoleum. “Oh, Drusilla. How will you ever feed your family if you don’t know how to cook or bake? Isn’t it time you learned?”

  But Drusilla merely laughed at her. “Mayhaps I’ll always have you around to do it for me, Ella. After all, I don’t see many young men tossing pebbles at your window at night.”

  Ella was thankful that her back was to Drusilla so that her stepsister couldn’t see the horrified expression on her face. Ella had several dreams for her future, but not one of them included living with either Drusilla or Anna, that was for sure and certain.

  But Anna appeared oblivious to Ella’s aversion toward Drusilla’s comment and delighted with her sister’s announcement about the pebble. “Oh, Dru! Was that the noise I heard on Saturday night?”

  Ella looked up, startled at this news. Had someone come calling on Drusilla at last? She hadn’t heard a buggy approach, nor had she heard any noises. She couldn’t imagine who it might have been, for most of the young men in Echo Creek were already walking out with young women. Unless, of course, it was one of the men who lived farther fr
om town. Despite being curious, Ella refused to ask any questions, for she knew that was exactly what Drusilla wanted her to do.

  Anna, however, grabbed her sister’s arm and demanded more information. “Who came calling on you?”

  “I’ll never tell.” But the smug look on Drusilla’s face said otherwise. Ella had no doubt that Drusilla would share her little secret with Anna the moment they were out of the house.

  Sitting back on her heels, Ella placed her hands on her lap, not caring that the flour left white palm prints on the black fabric. “Well, it will be a short-lived romance if he starves to death during the first month of your marriage,” she quipped.

  Drusilla glared at her one last time, stomped her foot, and promptly turned to leave the kitchen, Anna in tow.

  “What about your breakfast?” Ella called out.

  “I’d rather starve with my future husband than have you cook for me!” Drusilla shouted over her shoulder as she dragged her sister out the door.

  “You forgot to take the bread,” she called after them, but knew that neither one of them would respond. She sighed, knowing that she’d have to box up the loaves and carry them to the store by herself. Just another chore added to her already long list for the day.

  Still, as quiet descended upon the house, Ella tried not to feel pleased with herself. She suspected that, if the church leaders knew about her behavior, they would reprimand her for taunting Drusilla. They’d most likely have her reflect long and hard on her inability to behave prudently and hold her tongue. However, Ella also knew that the church leaders would disapprove even more of how her stepmother and stepsisters treated her.

  It had started slowly, shortly after her father had married Linda. Drusilla and Anna were constantly excused from certain chores, due to their delicate nature or tendency toward having headaches. Ironically, after Ella’s father died, both of her stepsisters seemed to suddenly have much stronger constitutions, and neither experienced another headache again.

  But they refused to work around the house, which meant that Ella was left doing everything. The more chores Ella did, the more they seemed to expect of her. While Ella wasn’t one to run to the church leaders, she knew that the time for change was coming. She felt it in her bones and sensed it with each passing day. Simply put, Ella knew she couldn’t take much more of it. However, she also knew that her increasing aversion to the unfair treatment was not an excuse for her to behave in less than a perfect Christian spirit.

  “Please, Lord,” she prayed aloud, “I know that you have plans for me, that there is a time for everything, and that I prove my faith by rejoicing even when distressed by the trials of life set before me. Please forgive me for my sharpness of tongue and lack of patience with my family.”

  Chapter Two

  Later that afternoon, the sun was beating down on Ella’s back as she knelt in the dirt, weeding the family’s vegetable garden. Nearby was a large basket, filled to the brim with juicy red tomatoes and vibrant green cucumbers. She didn’t remember having planted so many cucumbers, but the vines seemed to have multiplied overnight. They were overtaking the rest of the garden, strangling the other plants. Try as she might to keep cutting them back, the cucumbers continued to grow.

  At least we’ll have plenty of pickles for the winter, she thought.

  Just as she was plucking the last of them, she heard the voices of her sisters, and then the creak of the gate, announcing their arrival.

  Ella knelt back on her heels and wiped the sweat from her brow, her eyes staring down the gravel driveway as she waited for them to appear on the walkway.

  “I can’t believe that this is happening!” It was Drusilla’s voice.

  Anna mirrored her sister’s sentiment.

  They stomped up the porch steps, ignoring Ella as they slammed the front door behind them. It was only a few minutes later when Linda appeared.

  Ella stood up and wiped her hands on her apron. “Everything going well?”

  “Nee, Ella!” Linda snapped. “It’s not going well at all.” She, too, stomped up the porch steps and disappeared into the house.

  With a mixture of curiosity and concern, Ella decided to follow them so that she could learn whatever news seemed so upsetting to her family.

  Inside the house, all three of them sat at the kitchen table, the two girls slumped over with their heads resting on their hands. They looked miserable. Linda appeared equally distraught, but instead of staring at nothing, she was reviewing some information on a piece of paper and shaking her head.

  Something must be troubling them indeed.

  Without being asked, Ella hurried to the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of fresh mint tea. She poured three glasses and carried them to the table. “Is there anything I can do to help?” She set down the glasses and sat beside Drusilla.

  “Not unless you have fifty thousand dollars stashed in your dresser.” Drusilla’s sharp tone was almost as strong as her sarcasm.

  Fifty thousand dollars? Ella wondered what her stepsister was talking about.

  “Please, Drusilla.” Linda rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Our business need not be aired to everyone!”

  Ella frowned. She wasn’t “everyone.” She was family. Even more importantly, she was the only child of the man who had started that store. If anyone should know what was going on, Ella knew it was she.

  Clearly her stepmother felt otherwise.

  After so many years, Ella wondered why she hadn’t gotten used to the hurtful comments from her stepmother. The truth was that words stung harder than a pinch or a slap. Still, she managed to ignore the slight from her stepmother’s comment, and she dared to ask, “Has something happened at the store, then?”

  “Ja, Ella! If you must know, something has happened at the store!” Linda mimicked Ella’s concerned tone of voice. “Sales are down for the year, and I’ve only just learned that we have unpaid taxes! From last year and the year before!” Linda tossed the paper onto the table. It fluttered and landed in the middle, too far away for Ella to reach it without leaning over Drusilla, which, given the current temperature in the room, didn’t seem like a good idea.

  “Taxes?” she asked instead.

  Linda waved her hand at the paper in disgust. “Taxes. You know. As in paying taxes to those Englischers and their government!” Clearly she didn’t like that idea one bit.

  Aha. Now Ella understood. Even without reaching for the letter, she suspected it was from the Internal Revenue Service. “Daed always paid his taxes on time.” She paused, realizing that if the unpaid bills were from the previous year, Linda hadn’t paid them since her father’s passing. And that meant that she was also late on the quarterly taxes for the current year.

  “Oh. I see,” Ella whispered.

  Linda narrowed her eyes and glared at her, which was confirmation enough for Ella that she was correct. Linda had, indeed, neglected to stay on top of paying the government their fair share. And that certainly did not bode well.

  “Surely Irvin Landis helped you with the taxes?” Ella asked.

  “Who?” Linda, Drusilla, and Anna asked at the same time.

  “Irvin Landis, the Mennonite from Liberty Falls,” Ella replied. Being much larger than their town, Liberty Falls was where many of the Echo Creek Amish traveled for services and goods that were not sold locally. However, from the blank looks on everyone’s face, she quickly realized that they had no idea whom she was talking about “The accountant? He always helped advise Daed about financial matters,” she explained. “And prepared his taxes.”

  Once again, Linda waved her hand, this time at Ella as if she spoke nonsense. “Oh, that man.”

  There was a glimmer of hope. “So you met with him?” Ella asked.

  “Nee, I did not,” Linda said with an air of superiority. “I don’t need help from a Mennonite. In fact, I don’t need help at all.” She lifted her hand and brushed her fingers down the side of her cheek, a supercilious gesture. “I happened to be very good with numb
ers. I was the best math student in my class, I’ll have you know.”

  Oh help, Ella thought, fighting the urge to cover her eyes with her hand and shake her head in disbelief. Was her stepmother truly referencing her education from forty-plus years ago? And, since the Amish did not continue formal education past the eighth grade, Ella suspected that Linda’s tax situation wasn’t going to end well if she didn’t get any help from a professional accountant.

  “We’ve no choice but to raise prices at the store.” Linda sighed. “Again.”

  That made no sense to Ella. And it wasn’t the first time that Linda had raised prices. In fact, Ella had heard grumbles from her friends Belle and Sadie regarding the ever-increasing prices at the Troyers’ General Store. The Amish of Echo Creek were not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, many of the Amish struggled to make ends meet. They lived off the land as much as they could, but they also had to adhere to strict financial budgets.

  “Maem,” Ella started slowly, hoping her tone displayed the respect she did not particularly feel. “Mayhaps you should rethink that and consider doing the opposite.”

  “The opposite?” With a short laugh escaping her lips, she gave Ella an incredulous look. “What little you know of business!”

  That comment smarted. But Ella marched forward. “It’s supply and demand. That’s what Daed always said. When there is a high supply and low demand, you lower prices. And right now that seems to be the case at the store. You raised them just two months ago, ja? And sales have declined. Try the opposite and see how it goes.”

  “Oh, Ella! You know nothing about profit margins!” Linda glanced at Drusilla, who snickered as if on cue. “Why, it’s simple, really. If you lower prices, you make less profit! Everyone knows that!”

  Ella wished that her stepmother would listen to her. Not just let her speak, which was rare enough, but actually stop and hear what she was saying. “But, Maem, if you sell more items because of the lower prices, you make up the profit by moving inventory and satisfying the customers.”

  “Enough, Ella.” The stern tone of her voice made it clear that Linda was not interested in hearing any more of Ella’s ideas.