October song (11 page)

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clay pots and things. Quickly, she hung up the clippers and put her gardening gloves away in the top drawer of an old weathered cupboard she and Clan had found at an estate sale a while back.

Latching the small wooden door, she headed through the yard and up to the back porch. Indoors, she noticed her list lying on the kitchen counter and was glad to retrieve it. As Darlene had cautioned her, list-making was essential “for such an important day.” She chuckled, thinking that both Mamma and Mary would prob’ly laugh out loud if they knew of the list. Why, she’d even taken time to include such things as:peel potatoes, polish silverware,andset table.Farther down on the list, of course. Still, they were things she normally remembered without a crutch. Duties that, as she’d told Darlene, “are second nature to me,” she, having tended to housekeeping, cooking, baking, ironing, and, jah, peeling potatoes since she was fourteen or younger in Mamma’s big kitchen.

Nevertheless, she slipped the list into her pocket, lest Clan return home early and discover too early all the lovely things she had planned. She couldn’t dream of letting her surprises be spoiled by absentminded-hess such as that.

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First things first. She headed off to Darlene’s for the meeting concerning the bake sale tomorrow. There, each of the women had lists of their own, and though Katie was in charge of the planning, she found herself wishing the get-together could be shortened somewhat, not develop into a teatime of sorts. She had so much to do.

“Would you mind terribly if I slip away?” she whispered to Darlene in the kitchen as her friend sliced a variety of apples and pears, placing them alongside a wide tray of cheese and crackers.

Darlene’s face wrinkled up. “Aw, Katie, do you hafta go now … this soon?”

“I really hate to rush off, but I believe we’ve covered everything, and I really must make a stop at the grocery store before going home.” It was then that she re minded Darlene of her anniversary. “It’s this Saturday, you know.”

Darlene’s face broke into a broad grin. “Oh, that’s right.” She paused. “Well, if you’ve got a list—”

“Right here,” Katie said, pulling it out and waving it.

“Then I should say you’ll be fine.” Darlene encouraged her to be on her way. “I’ll finish things up here. Don’t worry none.”

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Katie was ever so grateful and quickly said her goodbyes to the womenfolk, assuring them that she’d see them first thing in the morning.

“We’ll be seeing you tonight at church, too, won’t we?” asked one.

“By all means.” Katie thanked Darlene for her kindness and went out the back door. She made note of the sun’s position in the sky, ignoring her own wristwatch, which, had she glanced at it, would’ve told her that she had less than ninety minutes to do her grocery buying and supper preparations for the evening meal. Besides that, she ought to change clothes before going to the meetinghouse tonight with Clan. And then tomorrow the all-day bake sale. Had she taken on too much for herself?.

Glancing in her rearview mirror, she thought she ought to make time to brush through her hair and pin it up in a fresh bun beneath her prayer veiling. Sighing, she kept her eyes on the road, resisting the urge to go too fast.

At market she referred to her list, gathering up all the necessary ingredients.Darlene’s right,she thought, waiting in line at the check-out.I’ll be fine.She did feel somewhat like a chicken with its head

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chopped off, with all the running she must do.

Yet pleasing even surprising Clan was uppermost in her mind. Whatever it took to complete her plans, that was what she’d see to. The day was, after all, one they would long remember.

“Are you sure you want to celebrate alone?” her darling had asked last week at the supper table as they’d lingered over dessert.

“More than anything,” she’d said. “Then that’s what we’ll do.” Unexpectedly, he had slid his chair over next to hers, turned to gather her into his arms, and kissed her soundly. “We’ll make the best of the day,” Clan assured her, and she understood that he, too, was thinking of what sort of anniversary dinner and merriment they might’ve had if they were still living and worshiping amongst the People.

“Oh, Clan,” she’d said, “do you have any idea how muchIlove you?”

He had declared emphatically thathelovedherthat much and more, and placed his hand gently on her back and kissed her yet again.

That evening discussion had taken place six days ago, and neither of them had brought up the topic since. Katie had even

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begun to wonder if the date had already slipped Dan’s mind until yesterday at breakfast. He’d mentioned going over and spending “part of the afternoon at Brother Miller’s place.” She had no idea just whatthatmeant, but she was fairly certain his being gone might have something to do with the gift he was surely going to give her.

The minute supper was finished she dove into baking for the annual sale. It would be an all-day affair, and she had to be on hand the whole time, overseeing the setting up of tables, the display of baked goods, the exchange of money things such as that. She would just have to catch up on everything else round herownhouse tomorrow.

She made four dozen pineapple drop cookies along with a chocolate-mint dream cake. All for the Fall Bake Sale. That done, she hurried upstairs to freshen up, only to find Clan had nodded off to sleep.Such a busy week,she thought. Yet she knew he didn’t want to miss the meeting. She would let him snooze a few more minutes.

Meanwhile, she went and stared at the mirror and decided not to take her hair down, making do by combing a few stray wisps up and tucking them under her

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Kapp.She changed into a clean dress and pulled on her best cotton sweater, thinking the evening might turn cooler, as she’d seen a V-shaped string of birds flying south this very day while working in the rose arbor. Unseasonably warm days couldn’t last much longer. Yet she didn’t bemoan the fact that wintry days were soon upon them. The shifting of seasons was likened unto a person’s life, she knew. Perhaps God, in His infinite wisdom, had planned the remarkable parallel to remind us to prepare and plan for the inevitable. She wondered how many more years her own parents’ good health would hold out. Would they come to walk in the fullness of God’s grace before the winter of their lives came and went? Katie prayed it would be

SO.

Friday morning, Katie got up hours be fore dawn and mixed the batter for one more cake and slid it into the oven for the bake sale.

Wash goblets.She scanned the remaining items on her list, feeling quite confident that she had time to do several chores be fore leaving for the bake sale. Quickly, she rinsed the water glasses, thinking they might be a bit soiled, and they were. The

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set had been a wedding gift from Dan’s former boss and his wife. Only seldom were the glasses ever used, and now, thinking on it, she hadn’t meant to wash all twelve glasses, not for just the two of them. But she was this far along, so why not?

After drying them, she returned the glasses to their appointed spot in the corner cupboard. Locating the white candles she’d purchased yesterday, Katie placed them on the buffet, in plain sight, so she’d remember. Then she checked to see that her white linen tablecloth and matching napkins were nicely ironed. They were.

She set to work polishing the best silverware, doing the same with all twelve place settings, even though she needed to polish only two. Humming as she worked, Katie wondered all the while what wonderful-gut surprise Clan surely had for her. Her darling had thrown out plenty of different options over the past weeks, so she couldn’t be certain just what he had in mind. “A rocking chair would be nice,” he’d said. “I think so, too,” she’d agreed. A bit taken aback, he’d looked at her, a twinkle in his eyes. “Are you telling me something, Katie?” he asked. “Ach, not yet . but I

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hope soon,” she replied.

Clan had also asked what sort of candies she liked best, along with remarks here and there about certain items of furniture. In the end, they had concluded there were plenty of furnishings for their home “For now,” Katie said.

‘Course, part of the fun was the anticipation, waiting to see what the day might bring forth. Mamma had often said,

“You’re much too curious a girl.“But that was years back, when shewastoo prying for her own good. Now, all grown-up and a young wife, Katie tried to quash her growing excitement. Clan had said not one word about any of his plans. Was his silence proof of something special? She wondered but wouldn’t let herself get too caught up in the speculating, instead going about her duties, then checking the items off her list, sometimes two or three at a time.

“You’ll be fine ““Darlene Frey’s encouraging words rang in Katie’s mind as she dry-mopped the hardwood floor in the dining room. As the sun rose she gave the bay windows a quick once-over, these windows where she and Clan would look out together at the evening sky and the fields beyond. Tomorrow evening!

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Come noon the church bake sale was already a big success. More than half the baked goods were bought up and some of the womenfolk were even accepting prepaid orders for specialty items like homemade teething cookies, soft pretzels, half-moon pies, and candies such as hardtack candy and taffy.

Darlene and several others at the long pie table got to talking about their wedding anniversaries, prob’ly because Katie had mentioned that her first was tomorrow. “Well, I didn’t expect too much that first year,” Darlene said, ” ‘cept maybe flowers and some little candies, but my husband surprised me but good.”

“What’d he give you?” one of the women asked.

“Abrand-new bed,” came the reply, which was met with laughter all round.

“Ifyou’d ever spent a night in the old lumpy one, you’d know why a new bed was definitely in order,” Darlene said, laughing.

Thinking on it, Katie was perry sure Clan wouldn’t be buying a new bed. The one they had was perfectly fine.

Another woman howled with laughter as she chattered aboutherfirst wedding anniversary.“Myhusband iotted down the date

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on the calendar, but he put it on the wrong month, by mistake so the day came and went without a gift a’tall.”

Katie was quite certain she didn’t have to worry about that happening. She and Clan had discussed the day just last week. No, her husband was altogether dependable. For sure and for certain.

The next morning Katieslipped outof bed while it was still dark, tiptoeing downstairs to whip up Mary’s lime salad, then slid it into the refrigerator. One less thing to do later. She was tempted to make the lemon sponge pie now but decided to wait. She didn’t want Clan to notice the pie too early. Besides, if he was going over to visit Brother Miller this afternoon, she could bake it then. Same with the rest of the supper preparations.

Back upstairs she had a bath and was dressed before Dan’s alarm clock jolted him awake. Turning the alarm off for him, she sat on the edge of his side of the bed, then leaned down and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Wake up to our special day,” she whispered.

His eyes fluttered, and he smiled up at her sleepily. “You’re up and dressed … so

soon.)”

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She nodded. “I had somethings totend

,,

tO.

He sat up and stretched. “Happy day, Katie,” he said, all smiles.

“Just think . . we’ve been husband and wife for one year already.”

He pulled her near and wrapped her in his arms. “Doesn’t seem possible.”

She thought back to all the months and years they’d been apart before their marriage, seemingly lost to each other. “What counts is that God put us together, jah?”

“We both know that to be true.” With that, he smiled.

While Clan showered and dressed, Katie cooked up a batch of blueberry pancakes on the griddle and made her own pancake syrup using brown and white sugars, molasses, water, and maple flavoring. She let the mixture simmer, then removed it from the heat and added a little vanilla when she heard Dan’s footsteps on the stairs. Homemade pancakes and syrup always put a smile on her beloved’s face. Today was no exception.

“Well, what’s this?” He’d spied the platter of blueberry pancakes. “Are we celebrating so early?” He went to her and slipped his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her neck.

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“All day,” she said.

They sat at the table, Clan saying nothing in return.

“It’s all right with you, isn’t it?” she asked quickly.

He looked at her with blank eyes. “What is?”

“That we celebrate for a full day?”

He smiled, nodding. “Sure, but you remember I’ll be gone a good part of the afternoon.”

The fact that he hadn’t said a word abouthisplans made her wonder. But she wouldn’t worry, not a bit. She bowed her head as Clan said the blessing over their food.

The morning’s routine was similar to most every other Saturday. Clan got caught up in either answering the phone or making calls, so she spent the morning mending buttons on several of his dress shirts. Because he was caught up in his own doings, she had time to read a bit, even wrote a letter to a distant cousin over in Wisconsin.

The noon meal consisted of cold cuts, sliced cheeses, and freshly baked honey-oatmeal bread for sandwiches, pickled beets, and cottage cheese salad. Clan spoke of his work during the meal, showing en

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thusiasm for his company’s plans for a new church building over near York. He also mentioned several small-group meetings, upcoming, where they’d been asked to play their guitars, things like that.

“Well, enough about me,” he said. “How was the church bake sale?”

“A good amount of money came in for the mission fund.”

“That’s great. Any idea how much?” Shehadknown the tally, but that was yesterday and she’d already put it out of her mind. Her primary focus was on today. She longed to talk intimately about their life, their future together. A bit of romance, too, would be nice. “I’ve forgotten the amount” was all she said.

He pushed away from the table. “Thanks for a delicious meal, dear.” He got up and pecked her on the forehead.