by Linda Byler
“What’s on your busy schedule today?” he asked.
“Not a whole lot of anything. I suppose it depends a lot on them.” She rolled her eyes to the vicinity of the camper.
“You don’t enjoy camping?”
“I don’t want to be ungrateful.”
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Makes no difference to me.” Then, “Go hiking with me.”
“To where?”
“I’m planning an all-day hike. Maybe find the Appalachian Trail.”
Emma considered this. It would beat sitting around the campfire all day, although she wasn’t sure she wanted to be in this man’s company for an entire day. She wanted to go home, check her mail, find out if there had been messages left on her parents’ voicemail. Perhaps he had tried to tell her his summer job was over and he was ready to come to her valley, in Crawford County.
She drank her coffee as she mulled over her options.
“What about Elvin and Eva?” she asked. “They couldn’t go very far with the baby.”
As if on cue, Elvin appeared at the door of the camper, his hair disheveled, snapping his suspenders over his shoulders. He was wearing a red shirt and black Amish trousers, which Emma thought was a bit inappropriate for a camping trip.
She thought of Ben and his blue denims from Gohn Brothers in Indiana. She remembered the way he walked, remembered the fit of his clothes, the graceful gait, the polo shirts he wore with his old pair of brown suspenders, the easy way he flipped his hair off his high forehead.
He had wanted her, had truly made her feel as if she was the special woman in his life.
She did not hear the easy banter between the two men, but gazed at the dead embers of the campfire as she sipped the good hot coffee.
“What’s with the maiden made of stone over there?” Elvin called out. Emma blinked her eyes, came back to reality, waved a hand in dismissal.
“Give me your coffee,” he said, walking barefoot over the gravelly area. He bent over, grimaced, picked his way across the areas that contained the least amount of stones.
“Ow! Ouch.”
Matt caught Emma’s eye and smiled, then burst out laughing. Emma found herself laughing without wanting to, which made Elvin look from one to the other.
“What?” he asked.
“Shoes?” Matt asked.
“Didn’t get that far. Emma, share your coffee.”
“There’s a good coffeepot in the camper. Make your own.”
“No wonder you’re not married. A good wife would get up and make her man coffee,” Elvin joked.
“You’re not my man,” Emma answered easily.
Elvin opened his mouth. Matt held up a hand.
“Don’t say it.”
The door of the camper swung open, with Eva carrying the little boy, her hair uncombed, a blue bathrobe belted around her waist.
“Coffee’s on!” she called. “Here, Elvin, come take Elijah so I can get dressed.”
“Good morning!” Emma called out.
“Good morning to you, dear friend. And how was your night?”
“Okay.”
“Just okay?”
“Not much sleep.”
The morning was spent preparing breakfast over the campfire. Eggs, ham, and cheese between two slices of bread, toasted to perfection in the cast iron mountain pie makers held over the good hot embers. There was plenty of coffee, grape juice, and the shoofly whoopie pies Eva had brought.
Plans were made to hike the surrounding trails, with Elvin boasting about being able to carry his son on his backpack all day if he had to. They packed light food, water bottles, tea, and Coke, then set off at a respectable pace, Elvin easily carrying Elijah perched high on his back.
Eva and Emma fell behind the men, engaged in a serious conversation as they walked along. Bits of gossip, news of the community, Emma’s refusal to teach school, and finally, to Ben.
Birds trilled and warbled, fluttered in bushes and treetops. Bold chipmunks sat in the center of the trail till they were almost upon them, then dashed off into the undergrowth with the speed of lightning.
Squirrels peeked around tree trunks, chirring indignantly, before racing along branches to leap like acrobats onto another tree, then another. Emma wished for a good pair of binoculars after an orange bird called a beautiful note from high up in the treetops.
“It’s a Baltimore oriole,” Eva said, stopping to crane her neck.
“But there’s no black,” Emma protested.
Around them, the forest became increasingly heavier, the level land turning into hilly terrain, dotted with jagged gray rocks that rose randomly, as if someone had dropped them from the sky years and years ago, the undergrowth now holding them hostage. The scent of pine needles was prevalent, and they soon came upon a thick stand of white pine, the needles carpeting the ground beneath them.
Emma sniffed with appreciation.
“Break time,” she called out.
The men stopped, turned, and came back. Elvin looked flushed, a bit pained, and immediately divested himself of the cumbersome backpack. He lowered his son to the ground, flexed his shoulders, and grimaced.
“That thing gets heavy,” he said.
Emma produced the granola bars and bottles of water, before turning to find a comfortable place to rest. Matt shrugged off his flannel shirt, placed it on the bed of pine needles and suggested she sit there, noting that the pine needles had sharp points. He was completely unselfconscious—it was merely a gesture he would have done for a child, or Eva.
She sat gratefully, with a murmured thanks, turned to meet his eyes, but he was occupied with the wrapper on his granola bar and didn’t notice.
Eva asked her to move over and share her blessings. Elijah set up a howl after being freed from the confines of his backpack only to find the pine needles sharp and too slippery to support his crawling.
Before Eva could get to her feet, Matt reached him and scooped him into his arms.
“Poor guy. This is not a good place for little boys, is it?”
He held him, smiled down into his astonished eyes. Elijah reached up to pull down the black curls behind his ears.
“Ow!” Matt cried softly, teasing him.
Emma watched the muscles of his arms turn into cords of strength, the T-shirt doing nothing to hide them.
She looked away, stunned by the sheer masculinity. And she couldn’t help watching as the little boy giggled and squirmed, grabbed at more black curls, clearly enthralled with Matt. When they sat down on the ground, Matt shared the granola bar with him, breaking off small pieces and placing them carefully in his mouth.
Elvin rubbed his shoulders with the palm of his hands.
Matt watched, offered a turn with the backpack, which Elvin accepted.
Back on the trail, they found a marker saying the Appalachian Trail was straight ahead, which would take them to the top of Gobbler’s Knob, but the trail to the left would take them to Iver’s Hollow, the place on the map that showed a small lake and a rest area of sorts.
They decided to tackle the mountain, then visit the lake on their return. The climbing was more than Emma had bargained for. Eva gasped and hung on to small saplings, opened her mouth and panted without a trace of embarrassment. When they stopped to breathe, Emma massaged the calves of her legs, which felt as if they would burst into flames.
Elvin did his best to act as if he was in good shape, but his chest was heaving, his shirt buttons open. Matt stood solidly, his foot propped on an outcropping of stone, the baby sound asleep in his papoose-like gear, looking as if he had not taken more than ten steps. Emma thought of his smoking, pictured his blackened lungs and his impaired breathing, but saw no sign of either one.
“I cannot keep going at this pace,” Eva wheezed, clutching the sapling, bent over as she gasped for air.
“Of course, we’ll slow down,” her husband said.
She smiled at him gratefully, and he gave her a look that was full of unspoken endearments. Emm
a watched this exchange, thought how Ben had said so much with his eyes, making her feel as if she was the only person he would ever want to be with.
She had been loved, admired, cherished. If things did not work out this time, she would never marry. She’d remain single. She had been in love twice, had the love reciprocated once. That was more than many people could say.
“Onward ho!” Elvin shouted, drawing his wife to his side with an extended arm, smiling into her flushed face. Eva laughed, then set off with her husband at her side, happy to match her step with his, which left Matt standing on the trail, waiting for Emma.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“The back of my legs are sore,” she said, sheepish now. “I thought I was stronger than this, the way I work at the produce farm at home.”
“Bending over and carrying things uses different muscles than climbing a mountain,” he said, defending her.
“I guess you’re right.”
“It would likely help if your ankles were supported with hiking boots.”
She nodded. She had paid almost a hundred dollars for her sneakers and they had served her well, but he was right that they didn’t offer any ankle support.
And still the trail became even steeper, rising straight ahead, beckoning them to test their endurance, silently mocking their so-called fitness. Determined to show her strength, Emma matched his stride. They both laughed when Elvin and Eva slid to the side and sagged to the ground.
They teased them without mercy, then kept walking to show them up and thus were subject to breathless wails of outrage.
They were both laughing helplessly as they kept their pace up, ascending the murderous trail in good time. Weak calls from Elvin and Eva finally slowed their pace.
“You two are show-offs,” Eva panted, mopping her flushed face with the hem of her apron.
“This is brutal,” Elvin said.
When they finally reached the summit and found the low stone wall surrounding the lookout, with the Blue Ridge Mountains stretching away into the hazy distance like an undulating carpet of green, the physical exertion had been worth the climb. They stood as a group, spellbound.
The sky was cobalt blue, with wisps of white like torn quilt batting. A vulture circled, floating on warm air currents, on the lookout for some unfortunate animal, or one that already had been turned to carrion. Hawks flew in straight lines, intent on finding dinner that scurried beneath fallen logs or rock crevices all too son.
Emma thought of the thousands of years these hills had endured. It was a vast tract of unspoiled wilderness that counteracted all the symptoms of manmade tarmac and diesel fumes, of overheated and overcooled mega cities built by the ingenuity of man to provide easy access to material things that would make life even easier. The pursuit of ease, a luxurious lifestyle meant to make everyone happy and content—lofty goals that were loading the atmosphere with dangerous carbons that were already destroying natural beauty such as this. Some thought global warming was only nibbling at the edges of security, but scientists knew what was going on, and the outlook was grim.
Emma kept her thoughts to herself now, as she usually did. A woman’s views were never taken too seriously, especially in matters of science or politics. Being a schoolteacher, Emma was widely read and formed her own opinions on many subjects, but mostly she kept them to herself.
“That’s a lot of unspoiled land,” Elvin said finally.
“Bunch of trees, that’s for sure,” Eva echoed.
“You have to wonder how many Native Americans wandered around down there,” Emma offered quietly.
“What a teacher. You’re always thinking of history,” Eva teased.
“Seriously though. They were here first.”
“They should still be here. It’s completely unfair that we’re here and they’re not,” Matt said.
Emma looked at him, taken by surprise.
“Not many people agree with me,” she said.
He said nothing, just kept looking out over the vast beauty with squinted eyes. He still wore the heavy backpack with Elijah asleep in it. He stood with ease, his thumbs hooked in the belt loops of his jeans.
“It’s too beautiful,” said Eva. “I’m going to burst into tears at the awesome wonder of God. He is beyond comprehension. Imagine, guys. This is a very tiny portion of the earth. And think of all the people that have lived and died since creation, yet He knows how many hairs were, are, and will be on everyone’s head,” Eva said, becoming emotional now.
Elvin grinned. “He might not know how many are on Matt’s arms and chest.”
Matt laughed good-naturedly, taking the joke for what it was, a simple jibe.
Didn’t the man have an ounce of guile in his body? She couldn’t imagine her own brothers taking that lying down.
The return trip was easier, going down, for a while, till the pressure on her knees became uncomfortable, the toes on her right foot burning as they were pushed against the fronts of her sneakers. Elijah woke up and kept hitting his mouth on the aluminum bar of the child carrier, crying out in frustration every time it happened. Matt stopped, took Emma’s empty backpack, and wrapped it around the offending bar, before continuing down the trail behind Elvin and Eva.
For whatever reason, they walked in pairs now, Matt staying with Emma. Husband and wife wanted to be together, Emma reasoned. Matt was actually good company, remaining quiet much of the way. She kept her eyes on the trail to watch for stones or roots, placing one foot in front of the other. She was thinking of the panoramic view from the mountaintop when she asked suddenly, “So what do you think of global warming?”
He looked over at her. “Where did that come from?” he asked.
“You’re answering a question with a question. That is so irritating. I was simply wondering. I was thinking of the oxygen those trees, these trees, put into the atmosphere. You know, balancing the effects of carbon emissions.”
“Sorry to irritate you,” he said. “But yeah, there is definitely something to it. We’re doing a good job of ruining the good earth.”
“Really? You think that?”
“I do.”
“It’s funny, being Amish. You know we’re a simple folk, set in our old traditions, and sometimes it feels like people are afraid to think outside our little bubble. Do you know how many times I grit my teeth when someone comes to school with a buggy full of children, yelling about the cold weather, and ‘where’s the global warming now?’? No one takes it seriously.”
“I take it you do?”
Impassioned now, she launched into how politicians could change emissions policies, which led to a lively debate about the president, the problems with a two-party system, the role of the electoral college.
Matt shook his head. “Pretty weighty matters here. I’ve never heard an Amish girl talk like this.”
He knew he was falling for her, and told himself to back off. He couldn’t see himself returning to the Amish fold, ever. After ten years doing what he wanted to do, how could he return to all those silly rules?
“Amish women aren’t all stupid, if that’s what you mean. We’re just taught to submit to our men. And believe me, that doesn’t mean what most people think it does.”
“You don’t believe in submission?”
“Only if the husband gives his life to his wife, the way Christ gave His for the church.”
“Wow. Tough call.”
Emma laughed. “You wouldn’t do it, give your whole life, for me?”
When he said nothing, she glanced at him, sideways, and found his face darkened by an unnamable emotion, almost like pain. She couldn’t have known the internal struggle he felt in that moment, imagining giving up his car, his job, everything.
“Sorry,” Emma murmured. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
He shook his head. Suddenly, he reached for her hand, held it so tightly she bit down on her lower lip.
“I’m sorry,” was all he said.
CHAPTER 16
“We’re heading to the lake,” Elvin informed them when they got closer. “You still okay carrying Elijah?”
“We’re great,” Matt said. “Lead the way.”
As they started off again, Emma realized Matt was slowing his steps, so she matched his pace, and soon Elvin and Eva were out of earshot again. But almost immediately, Elijah began fussing. He started by kicking his feet into Matt’s side, followed by unhappy grunts, which soon escalated into howls. So they hurried and caught up to Elvin and Eva quickly. They all stopped and transferred Elijah and the backpack to the Elvin’s shoulders. After a graham cracker and a drink of apple juice, they were off down the trail.
Matt sighed, flexed his neck, then smiled at her. “Race you,” he said unexpectedly, taking off at a sprint now that he was no longer burdened by the backpack.
“What?” Emma laughed, chasing after him as fast as she could. “Cheater!”
There was no way she could catch up, but it felt good to run, plummeting down the trail, dodging jagged stones and roots, her covering loosening with every stride. Matt was out of sight in no time, but eventually she rounded a bend and saw him sitting on a rock on the edge of the trail. She slowed to a stop, breathing hard, sweat dripping from her forehead.
“What took you so long?” he teased.
She was breathing too hard to answer, so she just made a face and reached up to pin her covering back in place.
“Let’s walk,” she panted, once she could, and he stood and joined her.
They walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Then suddenly she spoke, feeling bold, adrenaline from the run still fresh in her blood.
“So why were you so sullen before, when I mentioned giving yourself up for a wife. You know I was just joking, right?”
“Yeah,” he answered. “Nothing really.”
