A Home for Lydia (The Pebble Creek Amish Series) (10 page)

“
Ya
. It does.” Gabe grinned at the two of them.

“What are you smiling about? Miriam probably sent you over here to get you out from underfoot.” David tested the top board of the fence. It was sturdy. He’d knocked the entire place into tip-top shape. Either that, or he’d had Seth working on it to keep the kid busy.

“No, Miriam’s at your parents’.” Anna placed her hand at the small of her back.

“She told you that?” Gabe asked.

“She didn’t have to. She goes there every Friday.”

“Women share everything,” Gabe muttered.

“Not everything, but many things. Now, isn’t there somewhere you two can go? And take Seth with you.”

“Why would we do that?” David’s scowl returned.

“Count it as a favor. He just came banging through the house. I’m worried about him, David. He seems so unhappy.”

“What does he have to be unhappy about?”

“Do it for me. It would be a big help.”

“Speaking of help…” Their worry over Seth had reminded Gabe of Aaron. “I met someone yesterday who could probably use a hand.”

He related meeting Ervin’s nephew, taking him by the cabins, and Aaron’s confrontational meeting with Lydia. David and Anna exchanged knowing glances as he neared the end of his story.

“Might be a
gut
idea for us to go by there,” David admitted.

“David’s tried to help before, but Ervin always said he could take care of things himself.”

“The place looked as if it needed repairs. I’m not sure Aaron can do it alone, at least not quickly.”

“Why should he?” David asked. “My
fraa
wants us out from underfoot, and young Seth apparently has some energy to burn off.”

“Sounds like a
gut
reason to stop by.”

“Ride with me or take your own buggy?”

“I’d better take my own. The cabins are on my way home.”

Fifteen minutes later they were underway. Gabe wasn’t sure they would be welcome, but he was glad they were going by to check on Aaron Troyer. Something told him they should at least offer to help. After all, it was the Amish way.

He wasn’t sure how the cabins had fallen into such a sad state of repairs, or what the look between David and Anna meant, but he wouldn’t be able to plant his fields before next week even if the sun came out and started shining this very minute. Pushing his hat back, he stared up at the low-lying clouds. At least they had stopped pouring rain down onto the ground. He would have to be grateful for that and trust God knew what He was doing regarding the weather.

As far as he could reason, it didn’t seem as though he had much choice other than fussing about the rain, which was a useless way to spend his days.

Now, would Aaron allow them to lend a hand?

They would find out soon enough.

Chapter 8

G
race sat on the swings with Sadie and Lily during their afternoon recess. Sadie was her very best friend. She had been almost since the first November day Grace had walked into the one-room schoolhouse beside Pebble Creek. She was nearly like Grace in every way, except Grace was sure Sadie was prettier.

That was something she wasn’t supposed to think about. Bishop Jacob had spoken about humility again just last Sunday. It was a hard idea for Grace to put her arms around. She understood modesty and the emphasis on it, but her eye naturally looked for the beauty in things. Her mind found those things and focused on them. Those were the objects she liked to draw.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like herself when she checked her reflection in the small mirror beside her bed before leaving in the morning, but when she looked at her
freinden
she noticed small details worth drawing. A few moments ago she came across Sadie helping Lily with her prayer
kapp
, and her fingers itched to draw the two of them, with Sadie scrunching her nose as she focused on refastening Lily’s hairpins, Lily biting down on her bottom lip as she held perfectly still, and the light bouncing off their black
kapps
. They made a picture like the ones Grace had seen on the shelves in the
Englisch
store.

Sadie and Grace were similar in size and height. Lily was smaller
and younger. She was also a little chubby, probably because she liked her mother’s sweets so much. Lily’s mother cooked wonderful cookies and pies. Most days Lily brought extra helpings to school and shared them.

Every day they ate their lunches together. After they ate, they usually played tag or sat on the swings.

“Why do you think the boys would try to play baseball in the mud?” Sadie asked.

“Because they’re boys,” Grace said, leaning forward in the swing to catch a glimpse of the game going on around the other side of the school yard. The sun was breaking through the clouds in spots, and it was a little warmer, but the thought of all that mud on her clothes made her shake her head.

“What is it, Grace? Whatcha thinking about?” Lily stopped a few feet shy of the other swing.

They had the area to themselves. Some of the girls had stayed inside, and the rest had gone over to watch the baseball game.

“Are you thinking about playing ball?” Lily cocked her head, reminding Grace of Hunter and causing her to laugh.

“
Nein
. I was thinking of the washing I’d have to do if I played ball.”

“You’re right. It wouldn’t be worth the extra chores.” Lily hitched up her dress, stepped carefully over a puddle of water, and plopped into the swing beside Grace.

Sadie moved around behind them and began to push Lily’s swing. She had to reach out with her arms so that she wouldn’t step into the water that had gathered under Lily’s seat. Grace satisfied herself with sitting in the swing and rocking it back and forth.

“I’m surprised Hannah and Miss Bena allowed us to come outside at all.” Sadie stared at the schoolhouse as she pushed Lily again.

“Hannah must have talked her into it,” Grace said. “She seemed eager to have the boys out from underfoot.”

“But Miss Bena—” The way Sadie whispered their teacher’s name pretty much summed up their confusion about their new teacher.

She’d been their teacher only since January.

Several replacements had been tried since Grace’s stepmother had married and stopped teaching. None had worked out particularly well. They had tried a nice Mennonite woman, but the pay was too low and the distance too far from her home. They had also tried an Amish man, but he’d left when he purchased a large farm to the north.

For more than a month a round of substitutes had marched through the classroom each day—her classmates’ mothers, fathers, and even grandparents. That was fun, at first, but it quickly grew old.

Then Miss Bena had appeared.

“I sure hope those boys don’t get muddy,” Lily said.

“She’ll never let them back in the schoolroom.” Sadie slowed the swing Lily was in, as if she suddenly feared the girl would fly out and topple into the muddy water.

“She’d probably give them a bucket and have them scrub off outside.” Grace started laughing as she pictured that. It would make a great drawing.

Suddenly they all heard a cheer go up from around the corner of the school yard, followed by clapping, and the three girls glanced at each other.

Grace turned toward the ball game.

Sadie took two steps away from the swings so she could see better.

And Lily leaned back in the swing.

When she did, she slid farther down into the seat, and then the thing that wasn’t supposed to happen, happened.

Lily, Sadie, and Grace stood outside the doorway to the schoolhouse. They didn’t dare step inside.

Miss Bena stood inside the doorway, arms crossed and mouth scrunched up as though she’d swallowed something sour. Grace had
seen that look before. It wasn’t good. Hannah stood behind Miss Bena, her right hand over her mouth and her eyes open wide.

“You are dripping, Lily Gingerich.” The words came out of Miss Bena’s mouth quietly and slowly.

Grace wondered if she thought that by speaking slowly she could change the scene in front of her. Miss Bena hated dirt of any kind, and she especially detested mud. She’d used that exact word last week. “I
detest
mud in my classroom.” Grace hadn’t heard the word “detest” before Miss Bena had stood in front of Luke and Adam Lapp and proclaimed her dislike for mud.

Sometimes Grace questioned if teaching was the best job for their new teacher, as kids did tend to be dirty at times.

After Miss Bena proclaimed, “You are dripping, Lily Gingerich,” Lily only nodded.

“She fell out of the swing,” Sadie explained. “Into the puddle.”

“I told you to stay inside if you couldn’t be careful.” Miss Bena was still speaking slowly, as if they had trouble understanding. Grace knew about that too. Back when she had lost her voice, people would talk that way to her sometimes, as if her mind was lost as well as her voice.

Lily glanced up at Grace, her eyes
pleading
for help.

Grace wanted to say something that would erase the expression of shock off Miss Bena’s face, but the words in her mind seemed to catch and stick in her throat.

Memories of the years she couldn’t speak crowded in on her, kind of like the other school children crowding in behind them. Now everyone was interested in what they were doing. Usually no one noticed them because they were quiet and small.

Grace turned to look at the other kids.

The boys weren’t exactly clean.

Adam and Luke both had mud stains on the knees of their pants. As if they knew what she was thinking, they ducked to the back of the crowd. No one looked like Lily, though. Dirty brown water was still dripping onto the top step of the schoolhouse.

Lily’s eyes crinkled up and her mouth turned down at the corners, and Grace knew what was going to happen next. Once Lily started crying, it usually lasted at least fifteen minutes.

She needed to speak up, now, or things were headed toward an even bigger disaster. “It was our fault—mine and Sadie’s.”

Sadie’s eyes popped open wide as quarters.

“Sadie was pushing her in the swing, and I was sitting beside her. I guess we weren’t being careful enough.” Grace reached out to clasp Lily’s hand. She was relieved when Sadie did the same. “We’ll take her to the girls’ room and wash her up, Miss Bena. When we bring her back, she’ll be real clean.”