Sarah's Orphans (25 page)

So instead of thanking him for the seven birds she did not want, birds that would feed her family and be a good experience for Isaac and Mateo…instead of trying to find words for any of that, she stood on her tiptoes, kissed him on the cheek, and before he could reply, hurried into the barn.

CHAPTER 45

P
aul didn't want to stop planting, but he realized he needed to eat, and the tractor might overheat if he didn't turn it off for a few minutes, and Sarah was waiting.

He arrived at the barn at the same time Andy did. “How's it going with the corn?”

“
Gut
. How's it going with the alfalfa?”

“Same.”

The two tractors sitting side by side appeared rather old and pitiful, but they worked. Without them, it would be difficult to till the fields and plant the crops. As folks had warned him, the Oklahoma dirt was more difficult to farm than it looked. It dried out as soon as you broke a row open. He couldn't imagine doing what they'd done this morning with horses, though when it came time to mow and rake the hay in the fall, he was determined to have two workhorses to do it. For some reason, even as he drove and was grateful for the old tractor, it became more and more important to him to retain as much of the old ways as possible.

Sarah stood under an elm tree, placing lunch on the battered picnic table. Andy and Henry fell on it like vultures. Paul washed his hands and waited for her to head back into the barn for more supplies. When she did, he followed her inside.

“I wanted to thank you for feeding us yesterday and again today.”

“Thank me? They are my
bruders
, you know.” She smiled prettily at him, and Paul felt something in his heart lighten.

“
Ya
, sure, but you could have brought food for them and made me eat more eggs.”

She laughed at that. “Who would have ever thought your six hens plus our two could produce so many?
Mammi
was making a twelve-egg pound cake when I left, Mia at her side stirring the batter. They are a sight.”

“It's been
gut
since your
mammi
came. Hasn't it?”

“She's more help than I can even begin to explain. And having her here—well, it seems to settle us as a family once more. The boys suddenly remember to take off their muddy boots before coming in, and everyone helps to keep the place tidy.” Sarah tucked a strand of blond hair back into her
kapp
. “We'll see how long their helpful attitude lasts, but for now I'm grateful.”

She picked up a pitcher of lemonade, and Paul carried the glasses. They sat at the picnic table with Andy and Henry, and soon the conversation turned to crops.

“We'll be done this afternoon if we push until dark.” Andy finished off his first sandwich and began to make himself another—thick, fresh bread, turkey from the deli, and locally made cheddar cheese.

“Maybe. Twenty acres of corn and another twenty of alfalfa doesn't sound like much, but in this dirt…” Paul shook his head as he plopped a large spoonful of potato salad on his plate. “We could finish tonight if we stay at it.”

“
Mammi
is making a large stew,” Sarah said. “We could bring some over…”

“
Nein
. There's no need to do that. End of the day? It would be easier for me to drive to your place.”

Henry laughed. “I see you're not turning down her cooking. The woman is a saint. Not that I'm saying anything bad about your kitchen skills, Sarah.”

She laughed with them. “Actually, I'm learning from
Mammi
.”

“Recipes?” Paul asked.

“Some, but the main thing I'm learning is not to be distracted by anything while I'm cooking.”

“And to set Mia to helping,” Andy added.

“
Ya
, that keeps her from finding mischief.”

Paul listened to the banter and glanced out over his farm. Things were going well, better than he had expected. He had much to be grateful for.

“Tomorrow we'll start on your place,” he said.

Andy refilled his glass of lemonade and nodded in agreement. “Between the two of us, and the
gut
Lord willing, we'll both have a fine harvest by fall. I realize that no one likes to talk about this, but when
Dat
was here the farm was never very productive.”

No one disputed his observation, so he pushed on. “He had
gut
intentions, of course, but if we planted at all, it went in late, and we rarely finished what we started. This is the first year that I've been hopeful about the crops in a long time.”

“Still depends on the weather.” Paul stared out across their fields, as if he could look hard enough to see the future.

“But that is the one thing we can't control.” Henry reached for several cookies. “Do what we can and don't fuss over the rest, that's what
Mammi
would say.”

Four hours later, they were still at it. Every muscle in his arms and back and legs hurt, but Paul wasn't about to stop when they were so close to finishing. Who would think that driving a tractor could be so exhausting? Between the constant jostling, stopping to work on the mechanical beast, and the warm temperatures, by five o'clock he felt completely depleted. He looked up and spied four small figures walking toward Sarah, who was crocheting under the elm tree. He had tried once to send her home, but she demurred, saying she was actually enjoying a day away from their place.

When he saw Luke, Isaac, Mateo, and even Mia, Paul pulled the tractor up to the barn. He didn't shut it off, but he hopped off to grab a glass of water.

“We came to work, Paul.”

“Did you now?”

Luke nodded, helped himself to one of the cookies, and took off to the south pasture, where his older brothers were still planting.

“And did you two come to plant as well?”

Mateo and Isaac both shook their heads, but it was Isaac who answered. “Actually, we came to see if you'd picked up the piglets.”

“Nope, but I heard from the guy. He's supposed to deliver ten tomorrow.”

“Ten? We thought you were only getting four.” Mateo reached for a cookie, handed it to his sister, and took another for himself.

“The price was better than I thought.” Paul glanced at Sarah, who only smiled. They had a running joke about farm animals since he'd gifted her the chickens.

“We've been reading one of Brian's books at school—all about pigpens and that sort of thing.” Isaac shuffled from foot to foot. “Learned some interesting stuff.”

“You're welcome to take a look behind the barn to see how I did.”

That was all the permission they needed. Each boy snagged another cookie before trotting off in the direction of the pens.

“And what about you, little Mia?”

Sarah answered as Mia climbed up into her lap. “Apparently,
Mammi
thought some time out in the sunshine would do this little girl good.”

“Is that so?”

“Why?” Mia asked.

“Because sunshine is good for you.”

“Why?”

“Vitamin D.”

“Why?”

Glancing at Paul, Sarah said, “I read recently that the average four-year-old asks four hundred and thirty-seven questions a day.”

“And Mia's only three, which means she's either ahead of her age group—”

“Or the questioning is just getting started.”

“Why?”

“Maybe you should eat your cookie.” Sarah kissed Mia on top of her head.

Paul picked up two cookies, slugged down an entire glass of water, which he would sweat out before he reached the end of the field, and headed back to the tractor. The last thing he saw, the thing he would remember four hours later when their lives were once again turned inside out, was Mia sitting in Sarah's lap, reaching up to touch Sarah's face, as the child tried to feed her a cookie.

CHAPTER 46

M
any things had improved since
Mammi
showed up on their doorstep over two weeks earlier. She seemed such a natural part of their life, and Sarah didn't want to take her for granted. That was one reason she was working on the shawl today, and at Paul's instead of at home, though
Mammi
had eyed the cloth bag slung over Sarah's shoulder as she was leaving that morning.

“Taking some handwork with you?”

“I am. The barn is already spick-and-span. You would think Paul expects an inspection any moment. There's nothing for me to do there, and his house—well, I wouldn't know where to begin.”

“It's
gut
to have work with you.”
Mammi
had slipped a silver-wrapped chocolate into her hand. “Enjoy your day, dear.”

And she had. She'd loved watching her brothers and Paul out in the field. The breeze had tickled her hair and swept away the worries of winter. Spring seemed like a miracle to her, and it was bursting everywhere she looked.

Now, with Mia in her lap, Sarah put aside her crochet work and focused on the little girl. They sang their ABCs. They counted birds on the fence post. They spied wildflowers that were colored green and blue and yellow. When Mia began to grow restless, Sarah attempted to occupy her with singing one of the hymns from church, but Mia was having none of it.

“Home, Sarah. Home to
Mammi
.” Her vocabulary was expanding as quickly as her appetite.

“Not yet. See all these dishes?” She'd piled them neatly at the end of the table, all except the plate of cookies and glasses for lemonade. “I have to take them back. We need to wait for Andy.”

“Sarah…” Mia began to pull on her arm and her voice took on an all too familiar whine. Soon she'd escalate into a hearty cry.

“Let's count again.”

“No. Home, please.”

“Can you find the color purple?”

“No, Sarah. No.” As the pitch of her voice climbed higher and higher, lines formed between her eyes, and she pulled on Sarah's hand with all of her might.

“What's wrong, Mia?” Mateo plopped down on the bench next to Sarah.

“She wants to go home already. Maybe you could play with her?”

“I could take her home.”

“Weren't you—”

“Looking at the pigpens with Isaac. Yeah, I was, but now he's drawing a sketch of how Paul can make it better. I got bored.”

“Oh.”

“I'll take her home. It's no problem.”

“You won't get lost?”

“Sarah.” Now he sounded comically like Mia, who was hopping from foot to foot and had taken to pulling on Mateo's arm. “It's next door. How can I get lost?”

“You'll have to go around by the road. Mia can't climb over the fence.”

“Okay.”

“Hold her hand the whole way.”

“I will.”

“You know how she likes to h-i-d-e.”

“I promise to watch her the whole time.” He'd begun walking backward, smiling at her, his right hand holding Mia's, and his left holding a stick which he banged against the ground.

“I'll be right behind you.” Already the sun was lower and the afternoon cooling. “Tell
Mammi
I'll be there before dark.”

He gave her a thumbs-up and turned toward the direction they were walking.

She watched the two of them strolling down the lane.

It was a good sign, it seemed to her, that Mateo sometimes went off without Isaac. She thought of what Andy had said, about needing to prepare Isaac for when Mateo wasn't there. But Sarah couldn't imagine such a time, and she didn't think Isaac needed preparing. Regardless what happened with the judge and whether or not they attempted permanent placement, Mateo and Mia would always have a place in their hearts. Mateo and Isaac would always be friends.

She gathered up the glasses, took them into the barn, and rinsed them off. Once the boys were done, she'd be ready to go. She was looking forward to a nice quiet dinner at home, not to mention a full bowl of
Mammi
's stew.

CHAPTER 47

M
ateo didn't pay much attention to the white car at first. It was parked across the road from their house. When he did look more closely at it, he thought it must be broken down. Anyone visiting would turn down the lane, and there was no other reason to stop on the side of the road here. Nothing to see but fields, soon to be planted with corn and alfalfa and sorghum and soybeans.

He was looking forward to seeing the plants push up through the soil. He'd never watched anything grow before. He understood where food came from, but he'd never participated in planting or harvest. Sarah had said that on Saturday they could plant their own garden. He and Isaac had made up several diagrams—Isaac loved to draw things out on paper.
Mammi
had teased that they needed to save room for her to plant a chocolate candy tree.