Amish Christmas Joy (12 page)

Maggie turned to Ike. “Go with him and hold the light.”

“These old bones don’t want to go back out in the cold.”

Caleb saw his chance. “Leah, would you come hold the flashlight for me?”

“That’s a good idea. Thank you, Leah.” His mother smiled at them both.

His father came to the table. “Joy, would you like to make some Christmas cards to send to your friends back in Texas?”

“I don’t know how.”

Ike sat down at the head of the table. “I will help you. Mama, do we have some colored paper?”

“We do. I have cutouts of flowers and birds and butterflies. I collect them all year for just this reason. I have glue, too.”

“Leah brought me colors. Can I use them?”

“
Ja.
We will make some lovely cards to send to your friends.” Maggie left the room and returned with another, larger box.

The adults all took a seat at the table to join in on the card making. Nettie began another song and soon everyone was singing along.

Caleb put on his coat and held Leah’s for her. She slipped into it and quickly stepped away. He took a flashlight from the cabinet and held it out to her as he opened the door. She took the light and walked out ahead of him.

The clouds had moved on and a clear, star-filled sky arched overhead. The moon was a slim crescent rising in the east.

She turned the flashlight onto his face, making him squint against the brightness. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

He turned his face away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I assumed you wished to speak to me privately, since you asked me to accompany you outside.”

“Can you shine that light somewhere else?”

“Sorry.” She aimed it at the ground.

“Thank you. I didn’t have anything special I needed to tell you. I just wanted your company. I’ll get the saw from the shed. Mind if I use your light?”

“Not at all.” She sounded confused. He didn’t blame her.

His ulterior motive was to spend time alone with her, but he did have questions about Joy. Perhaps it was better to get on a safe subject.

“I know you’ve had a chance to read Joy’s records. Do you think she is ready for the second grade?”

“I don’t think so. Her grandmother kept very poor records. I don’t believe she put a lot of effort into educating Joy. I could be wrong. I can evaluate her and make a better judgment in a few days.”

“I don’t want her to feel bad about not keeping up with the kids her age.”

“I think I will be able to manage that part of it. As long as she feels included and comfortable, I don’t think she’ll realize that she is behind others her age. This will be her first public school. She won’t have anything to gauge it against.”

“She ran away from the private school I enrolled her in.”

Leah shrugged. “She may do the same at Walnut Valley. We won’t know until we give it a try.”

He collected the saw from inside the shed, and by unspoken consent, they began walking into the woods along the path that led to the school. “I’m sure you’ll make her feel comfortable. You have that effect on people. Will my being at the school make you uncomfortable?”

“
Nee,
parents visit our classroom often.”

“I’m not exactly your run-of-the-mill Amish parent.”

She tipped her head slightly to study him. “You are getting there. I see a little pine tree that looks eager to donate some branches to help celebrate our Lord’s birth.” She pointed the flashlight to the side of the trail.

Caleb walked up to the small fir tree. It was only about six feet tall and shaped like a perfect Christmas tree. “It’s a shame I can’t take the whole thing back for Joy. She wants a Christmas tree so badly. I didn’t realize how hard it would be for her to give up all the English trappings of the season.”

“Are they hard for you to give up?”

“Me? I never bothered with a Christmas tree. My condo was too small. Christmas was just another day for me.”

“Then it is a good thing that Joy has come into your life to make Christmas meaningful again.”

He smiled softly as he remembered meeting his daughter for the first time. “She told me her nana used to say she was her special Christmas Joy because she was born on Christmas Day. I think Joy believes the holiday decorations are there to celebrate her birthday.

“Mom intends to make her a special birthday cake and have a small family celebration on Christmas night. You’re invited to come.”

Leah grinned. “I will. We want her to know her birthday is important to us, too.”

He trimmed a few of the lower, longer branches to take back to the house. Hopefully it would be enough to give Joy the sense of Christmas that she craved.

Leah walked all around the small tree. “I see no reason why Joy can’t have her Christmas tree. It wouldn’t be right to cut it down and bring it into the house. That would be worldly. But to put a few homemade decorations on this little tree out here for just the two of you would be an acceptable thing.

“We can make decorations that will look pretty and feed the birds, as well. Stale popcorn strands with dried berries. Perhaps some orange slices or apple slices smeared with peanut butter and coated with birdseeds. No one would object to such a useful tree.”

It was the perfect solution. Why hadn’t he thought of it? He looked at her in amazement. “How do you do it?”

“How do I do what?”

He stepped closer and spoke softly. “How do you see what others need and find a way to give it?”

She gazed at his face. He could see the starlight reflected in her eyes. Her white
kapp
outlined her face with a circle of brightness in the dark.

“I don’t do anything special.”

“Yes, you do. You do something special for my child every time you see her. You calm her, you teach her, you encourage her and you bring her joy. You have a very special gift.”

She looked away. Was she uncomfortable with his praise? “The Lord gives us what we need to follow the path He has chosen for us. Teaching is my calling. Any gifts I possess are given by Him.”

Caleb placed a finger beneath her chin and lifted her face until she was looking at him. “Then for the first time in a long time, I give thanks to Him for what He has brought into my life. You.”

Caleb ached to kiss her. He wanted it more than he wanted his next breath. They were cocooned by the night. The scent of fresh-cut pine filled the air. He leaned toward her slowly, waiting to see if she would reject him or welcome him.

He didn’t get the chance to find out. His mother’s voice broke the connection between them as she called their names.

Leah stepped back quickly. “We must return to the house.”

“I’d rather stay out here with you.”

She turned and raced away, leaving him standing alone in the darkness.

He curled his cold fingers deep in his pockets. Something told him that Leah was the woman he’d been waiting his whole life to find. Did she feel the same? He longed to know.

Yet even if she did, how could they make a life together?

Chapter Eleven

“I
’m so excited. Were you excited on your first day of school, Daddy?”

Joy swung her red-and-white lunchbox from one hand as she walked beside Caleb on Monday morning. She wasn’t exactly walking, more like bouncing. She wore a simple blue dress and a black
kapp
beneath her black coat and bonnet. She had gray snow pants on under her dress to keep her legs warm on the walk to school. The pants would come off once she was at school and would be put back on for recess outside and the walk home.

“I was about as excited as you are.”

Almost as excited as he was now at the thought of seeing Leah again. Their moments together on Friday night replayed in his mind. If his mother hadn’t called to them, he would have kissed Leah.

He was almost sure she would’ve let him.

He intended to test his theory at the first opportunity. Better to know than to spend another sleepless night wondering. She had been on his mind constantly even though he knew nothing could come of their relationship. He wasn’t going to stay in Hope Springs and Leah would never leave the Amish. Or would she? Was it wrong to hope she might consider a life outside the Amish?

A small voice at the back of his mind reminded him there was another choice. He could stay and resume his Amish life.

Was that really a possibility? Two weeks ago he would have said no. Now the idea didn’t seem so farfetched. Wasn’t he happier now than he’d ever been in the English world?

“I know my ABCs, Daddy. Do you want to hear them?” Joy looked at him hopefully.

“Sure.”

“A. B. C.”
She smiled brightly.

“So far so good. Can you say the rest of them?” He scanned the woods, hoping to see a glimpse of Leah. She was probably already at the school.

“
A. B. C.
That’s the ABCs.”

“What if I asked you to say the alphabet? Could you do that?”

Her happiness faded. “I don’t think so.”

“I happen to know the entire alphabet. I’ll help you learn it.”

“For real?”

“For real.”

“What will I do in school?”

“Oh, lots of things. Leah is going to help you learn to read and write and to do your sums. You’re going to learn history and geography. You’ll learn things like how to drive a buggy and share the road with cars.”

“It’s gonna be so fun.”

“I hope so,” Leah said. She was sitting on a fallen log off to the side of the trail. In her dark coat and bonnet, she had blended into the pines behind her. If she hadn’t spoken, he might’ve walked past her. She was waiting for them.

“Good morning. I was afraid we had missed you.” A surge of pleasure filled him when he saw her shy smile.

She rose to her feet and joined them. “I didn’t want to miss walking to school with Joy on her very first day at Walnut Valley.”

“Am I really going to learn to drive a buggy?” Joy asked.

“Not today, but you will learn many practical things at school.”

“How is Pickles? Has her daddy come to see her?”

“No, Duncan hasn’t been over.”

“He’s not a very nice daddy,” Joy declared.

“I’m sure he’s just been busy taking care of all Woolly Joe’s sheep.”

“I miss Pickles.”

Leah glanced at Caleb. “You must ask your father to bring you over to see her again. She’s becoming a little butterball. She is bigger than both her brothers.”

Joy said, “I wish I had a brother. Dad, can I have a brother one of these days?”

The light mood of the morning vanished. Caleb knew exactly what Leah was thinking. She was thinking that David was Joy’s half brother. What would it take to convince her it wasn’t true?

He said, “I think you should stick to wishing for a dog.”

Joy continued talking nonstop, but the adults walked in silence. When they finally reached the school building, Leah set about her work and got the fire going. Caleb brought in two buckets full of coal and then took a broom to clear the snow from the front steps.

Joy spent the time exploring the room and chatting away. Leah showed Joy her desk in the first row and helped her unpack her supplies and stow them. When it was warm enough, Leah had her put her coat and bonnet in the cloak room. Together, they made a sign with Joy’s name on it and hung it over the hook so that she would be able to find her things later.

The other students began arriving in family groups thirty minutes later. They were noisy as they filed in, calling greetings to each other and to Leah. Joy, overcome with shyness, moved to stand beside Caleb.

Some of the children brought out potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil and placed them on a ledge to roast inside the furnace door. Two brothers brought out soup in a glass jar and set it on top of the stove. Leah filled a kettle with water and placed it on top of the stove, as well, to provide moisture in the air.

One excited little girl with blond pigtails ran up to Leah. “
Teetshah,
Mamm
has a
nei boppli.
”

“That’s wonderful, Ammia, but you must remember to speak English when you are at school.”

Ammia concentrated a moment and then said, “Teacher, my mama has a new
boppli.
”

“A new baby.”

“
Ja,
and it’s a girl. Her name is Mary. I have a
shveshtah.
”

“You have a sister. I’m so glad for your family. Your mother and father must be very happy. Now, you should take your seat. We have a lot to do today.”

Caleb moved to a wooden bench at the back of the room. Joy followed him. He sat down and pulled her to him. “Are you okay?”

“There are a lot of kids here.” She chewed her thumbnail.

“I know, but soon they will all be your friends.”

“I don’t know.” Uncertainty colored her shaky voice.

Anna Imhoff came in the door. She spied Joy and waved. Joy waved back. Caleb said, “See, you have one friend here already. Go and take your seat like the other children are doing and listen to Leah. If you have a question, be sure and raise your hand. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Joy walked reluctantly to her desk and sat down. Leah went out and rang the school bell. The last students to come in were the older boys who had been having a snowball fight outside. Tagging along behind them was David. He cast a curious look at Caleb and then raced to his seat.

When the clock at the front of the room reached eight-thirty, Leah tapped her desk bell with a pencil. The room instantly became quiet.

* * *

Leah scanned the room and recorded each of her students in her attendance book. Everyone was present.

She moved to the front of the classroom and smiled at all their bright and shining faces. “Good morning, boys and girls.”

“Good morning, Leah,” they replied in unison.

Walking to the blackboard, she wrote out the date followed by the arithmetic assignments for each of the classes as she did every morning. When she was finished, she returned to her desk and picked up her Bible.

Each day the teacher in an Amish school chose a passage to read. This morning Leah chose
Matthew
5. When she finished reading the Sermon on the Mount, the students all rose, clasped their hands together and repeated the Lord’s Prayer in unison. Joy, looking uncertain, stood, too, but she didn’t know the words. It was another thing she would have to help her learn.

The Bible reading and prayer would be the only religious part of the day. The Amish believed that the instruction of faith was a sacred duty. Religion was taught at home and in their church services, not at school.

After everyone took their seats again, Leah glanced toward Caleb and gave him a tentative smile. She could see he was nervous about Joy’s behavior. Neither one of them wanted to see Joy upset enough to have a tantrum.

She said, “Children, we have a new student joining us. This is Joy Perry. She is the granddaughter of Maggie and Ike Mast. Her father, Caleb Mast, is also with us today. I want everyone to say good-morning to him.”

The class turned in their seat and a chorus of greetings filled the schoolroom. He nodded to them. “Thank you.”

Leah beckoned Joy to come forward. She rushed eagerly to Leah’s side. It was a blessing that Joy had taken such a liking to her. It would make her transition into the community that much easier.

Leah said, “Joy comes to us from Houston, Texas. She grew up in an
Englisch
home. She doesn’t speak our language, so please remember to speak English when you talk to her. I know everyone will make her feel welcome.”

Joy smiled shyly at her new classroom and raised her hand in a quick wave. “Hi.”

“Welcome, Joy.” Anna Imhoff waved from her seat in the middle of the girls.

Leah leaned forward to see Joy’s face. “Why don’t you tell the children something about yourself?”

Joy looked up and whispered, “Like what?”

“Anything. You could tell them about Pickles.”

Beaming, Joy said, “I have a puppy and her name is Pickles. She lives with her mommy at Leah’s house, but when she is big enough, she will come live with me and she’ll never, ever go away. Oh, and Dr. White says I have Up sindome, not Down sindome.”

Leah nodded. “Very good. Anything else?”

Joy shook her head quickly, making the black ribbons of her
kapp
wiggle. She looked very Amish in her blue dress cut in the same style as the other girls. The Amish were all about uniformity and not standing out. The only difference between Joy and the other girls was that Joy’s hair wasn’t long enough yet to put into a braid or bun.

Leah picked up a copy of
Unpartheyisches Gesang-Buch,
their German songbook, from the corner of her desk. When she realized that Joy wouldn’t know any of the hymns, she laid it aside and picked up a collection of Christmas songs.

Singing was a normal part of each school day. Without being told, the children filed to the front of the room and lined up in their assigned places.

Joy stood to one side, not knowing where to go. Leah came to stand by her. She slipped her arm across Joy’s shoulders. “It’s Monday, and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday we normally sing German songs. The children take turns picking which songs we sing. Because it’s your first day, how would you like to choose some Christmas songs to sing? Do you have a favorite?”

“‘Up on the Rooftop.’”

“I’m afraid we don’t have that one. What else do you like?”

“‘Jingle Bells.’”

“We sing a song to that tune, but the words are different. I’m afraid you wouldn’t know it.” Leah realized it wasn’t going as well as she had hoped.

“You pick a song.” Joy was beginning to get frustrated.

“How about ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’? You were helping us sing it at your grandmother’s house last Friday.” Leah glanced toward Caleb and saw his tender smile. He remembered the evening, too.

Singing without accompaniment, the children blended their voices together in a spirited rendition of the chosen work. When the song was done, Leah helped Joy select two more. After they finished singing, she said, “Now I would like to run through the songs we have planned for the Christmas program. We will have a full rehearsal on Thursday after school, so everyone practice your parts for the plays and skits at home and be ready.”

The songs included traditional Christmas hymns and popular secular songs that expressed the true meaning of Christmas. There was nothing about Santa or reindeer. Only the first-and second-grade children had trouble with their song and had to repeat it several times. Joy listened but didn’t join in. When they were done, Leah sent all her students back to their seats. They began working on their mathematics without urging from her.

With the upper grades working quietly, Leah gathered the first graders and Joy in a small group beside her desk where she could work with them on oral reading skills.

Like all Amish children, these first graders came to school speaking only Pennsylvania
Deitsh,
a German dialect outsiders called Pennsylvania Dutch.

English was the language of business and life outside the Amish home. It was essential that children learned to speak and write it. While the Amish strived to live separate from the world, they had to live in it. To that end, only English was spoken at school. Leah spoke Pennsylvania Dutch only when one of her young pupils didn’t understand the meaning of what she was trying to express.

As Leah had suspected from Joy’s sketchy records, the child couldn’t read or write, but she seemed eager to learn. If she noticed that she was older than the other children, she didn’t mention it. After they were finished, Leah had the first graders return to their seats and take out their workbooks to do the pages that corresponded with their reading lesson.