The tears cascaded unimpeded down her face as she ran as far away from Moses as possible. Being careful not to repeat her embarrassing fall, she dodged bushes and branches and protruding roots, stumbling once but not falling. Her heaving lungs and burning legs did not slow her as she passed under ancient, majestic maples into a clearing on the north face of Huckleberry Hill. She quit running when she found herself in a purple sea of huckleberries.
Lia caught her breath at the sight. Huckleberry bushes grew all over Huckleberry Hill in small clumps like splashes from a spilled can of green paint, but here the ripe berries glowed in over two acres of concentrated, dazzling color. A ray of sunlight peeked through the blanket of summer clouds and seemed to illuminate the field of berries and nothing else. No wonder they had named it Huckleberry Hill. It was a sight Lia would never forget.
Moses had brought her here in late June, before Rachel had interfered with her perfect summer.
Thinking of Moses called forth fresh tears. Why had she come to Huckleberry Hill? She had been content enough in Wautoma, working alongside her father in the fields and helping Mamm in the kitchen. She had met Moses only to realize that she couldn’t have him. A soft moan came from deep in her throat. It would have been much better not to know.
“Do you always take your Bible with you on walks?”
Startled, Lia whirled around to see Felty wearing a new straw hat, carrying a small galvanized metal bucket, and grinning from ear to ear. He studied the book in her hand, which she had almost forgotten about. “Or is that my Bible?”
Lia brushed the tears from her face and tried to return his smile. It couldn’t be done. “I needed some comfort from the good word. I was in a hurry and took your scriptures instead of mine. I’m sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. The good book doesn’t do any good unless somebody’s reading it.” Felty stepped close and put a grandfatherly arm around her shoulder. Lia could tell he used to be taller, but now they were the same height, and he looked straight into her eyes. “Would you rather be alone? I can come back another time.”
“Nae.” No need to tell him that she would be fine as long as she was away from Moses and Rachel. “It’s silly that I let myself cry.”
“Nothing wrong with that. Everyone should indulge in a few tears now and then. It washes out the dust in your soul.”
“Did you come to pick berries? They are beautiful.”
“You should see the bushes come autumn. The leaves are so red, they look like they’re on fire.” He let his eyes drink in the sight. “I came to check if the berries are ripe. Then we can have a berry-picking frolic. I usually pick a few dozen and take them to Annie to taste, but you can do the tasting right here for me.”
“Don’t you like to taste them yourself?”
Felty put down his bucket, took off his hat, and wiped his forehead with a red bandanna from his pocket. “Oh, I can’t taste anything. My taste buds was seared, the doctor said.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t really remember. I think I was but three years old. I got into some kerosene and the fumes burned my nose and tongue. My lungs almost gave out, but I pulled through with a lot of prayer.”
“But you can’t taste anything?”
“Or smell much. I can smell real strong smells like a fresh pile of manure or a good, smoky fire. But I can’t tell when a huckleberry is ripe.”
A memory brought a smile to Lia’s face. In her mind’s eye, she saw Felty popping scorching hot meatballs into his mouth without a hint of discomfort. The president of the United States doesn’t eat this well. An adventurous cook like Anna couldn’t have asked for a more fitting husband.
Felty flashed her a puzzled grin. “I wish I saw that smile more often. You smiled all the time when you first came here, then Rachel showed up and you smiled less and less.”
Lia wrapped her arms around Felty’s Bible and hugged it to her chest. “I guess I don’t feel very happy.”
“When I’m troubled, I like to do my reading in Job. Helps me remember I don’t have many problems.”
Lia slumped her shoulders. “Job makes me feel guilty for ever feeling sorry for myself.”
Felty took her by the wrist and led her to a fallen tree at the edge of the berry patch. They sat, and he took his Bible from her hands. After leafing through the pages, he found what he looked for. “‘I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.’”
“Paul was one of the greatest men to ever live. I don’t measure up.”
Felty knit his brows together and began thumbing through pages again. Lia cast her gaze to the ground. Felty wouldn’t ever be able to find a scripture to solve her problems.
“Here’s a good one. ‘In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’”
“I give thanks in my prayers every day,” Lia said.
Felty reached out his gnarled fingers and took Lia’s hand. She liked the feel of his hand—calloused and big, a farmer’s hands, hands of a man who hadn’t wasted one day of his life in idleness. “What are you grateful for?”
“I’m grateful for you and Anna, for inviting me here and being kind to me. I’m grateful for my family and my health. I’m grateful to Jesus for saving my soul. Many, many things.”
“Does thinking of that make you feel better?”
Lia breathed in the moist air. “Jah, of course.”
“That’s the easy part. Can you thank your Heavenly Father for the things you aren’t particularly grateful for?”
“I can’t think that deep.”
Felty opened his Bible again. “Don’t feel guilty, but I’m pulling out Job. ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
“I don’t think Job was very happy.”
“He knew where all things came from. He knew that he lived and breathed by the Lord’s good pleasure.” Felty grew solemn and got a faraway look in his eye. “When the Lord took three of my little ones, a prayer of gratitude in my heart every minute was the only thing that saw me through.”
His revelation stunned her. “You lost three children?”
Felty rubbed the side of his face and seemed to snap out of his sadness as he patted Lia’s hand. “My little Andrew drowned in a puddle of water no bigger than a bathtub. Martha Sue and Barty got hit by a car on the way to school.”
“How terrible! You must have been heartbroken.”
“It was like God ripped my heart right out of my chest. I thought of Job every minute of every day, and then Anna found that scripture about giving thanks. So I started thanking Father in Heaven for everything—for my three angels already in heaven and my ten angels still with us. I thanked Him for my sorrow because it brought me closer to Him and the memory of His Son on the cross. I got to thinking that He didn’t have to lend those children to me at all. I got two years with Andy and lots more than that with Martha Sue and Barty, and I am grateful for the time we had. I thank the Lord every day for His promises.” He turned the pages of his Bible once again. “‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.’ That’s what I’m waiting for. To see my little ones again.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Felty lifted his eyes to heaven as if to catch a glimpse of his children. “God gave me a new heart. From then on, I decided to praise the Lord and to be happy. I choose to be happy.”
Lia took deliberate breaths to hold back her tears. “I feel like I have always been a cheerful person, but I can’t summon it now.”
“I had this very conversation with Moses when that girl left him three years ago. She put him down so low his chin scraped on the ground when he walked.”
“Well, he’s over it now.” Her voice cracked and she couldn’t finish. Felty glued his gaze to her face as she chastised herself for being so transparent.
Felty leaned back and almost fell off the
fallen tree in an attempt to find a place to rest his hand. He slapped his knee energetically as if he’d solved the world’s greatest riddle. “This is where the rubber meets the road. All Annie Banannie’s scheming worked.”
“Please don’t tell anyone. If Rachel knew, things would get very unpleasant. Especially when Moses is my brother-in-law.”
Felty’s mouth fell open. “You think Moses is going to marry your sister?”
Lia’s words came out more like a sob than a reply. “Can you see why I’m so unhappy?”
Felty lifted his eyebrow and acted like he had a mouth full of news he wasn’t telling. “Moses is juggling so many balls that he doesn’t even know which way is up. He’s so concerned about Barbara and Rachel and your dat that he hasn’t noticed the nose on his face. The good news is that Moses’s mamm is my daughter, and she didn’t raise Moses to be a fool, even if he’s a little slow to see things clearly.”
Lia wished she could decipher what Felty tried to say. “So you won’t tell anybody?”
Felty made a show of zipping his lips, locking them, and throwing away the imaginary key. “Only, promise me you won’t cast Moses off like moldy bread yet.”
Lia lowered her eyes and nodded. “I will try.”
“You can choose to be happy. Try thanking the Lord for things you’re not grateful for.”
Lia hesitated, reluctant to reveal her uncharitable thoughts. “I don’t know. . . .”
“Try it.”
“Thank you, Lord, that Rachel is here on Huckleberry Hill with me.”
Felty smirked and nodded.
“I am grateful that Rachel is here because she is teaching me patience.”
“Gute. What else?”
“I am grateful I am tall. I never have to strain my neck to see the preacher at gmay.” Lia didn’t want to feel better, but the invisible burden of gloom lifted somewhat. “I am grateful that Moses broke his leg so we can take care of him.” Even though his eyes, twinkling with amusement, broke her heart every day.
Felty snapped the Bible shut and stood up without even a nudge from Lia. “Now, daylight’s a-wasting. Let’s test these huckleberries.”
He hobbled to the nearest bush and plucked three plump berries from a leafy branch. He handed them to Lia, and she popped them into her mouth. She puckered her lips when the juice met her tongue. “They’re tart.”
“How tart? Do they taste green or will a spoon of sugar do the trick?”
“I think they’re ready.”
“Gute. We can send the word out to the children and tell them we’ll have a berry frolic tomorrow. We make huckleberry jam and maple syrup for the market.”
“That will be wonderful gute.”
Felty stuffed a few berries in his mouth. “Mark my words. All you need to do to push Moses over the edge is to make him a wild huckleberry pie.”
Push him over the edge of what? A cliff? It didn’t matter. Rachel would take credit for whatever Lia baked for Moses. Lia clenched her fists and clamped her eyes shut.
I am grateful that Rachel gets so much benefit from my cooking.
Won’t Moses be surprised when they are married and Rachel actually does cook something for him?
I choose to be happy.
Felty dropped a handful of huckleberries into his bucket and winked at Lia. “Anna will be disappointed if I don’t bring at least a few for her to taste.”
“If we pick a bucketful now, I can make some pies for the frolic tomorrow.”
“Make sure Moses gets the biggest piece. That ought to do the trick.”
One wheel of Moses’s scooter met a giant-sized pebble in the lane, and he nearly had a spectacular crash. Instead, he caught his breath, gripped his handlebars tighter, and hopped on his good leg until he regained his balance. It would take awhile to get used to this new gadget, and the crutches might be more practical outdoors.
“Oh, oh, be careful,” Rachel encouraged as she tiptoed to catch up and tried to slip her arm into the crook of his elbow.
Honestly? Did she think he should help her to the door?
He subtly dodged her grasp by turning his handlebars and maneuvering to the driver’s side of the car, wishing Lia had gone to the doctor with him instead of Rachel.
Rachel had turned pale when the doctor started picking out Moses’s stitches, and the assistant had led her to the waiting room to sit for the duration of the doctor visit.
Moses paid the driver and scooted himself to Mammi’s front porch as efficiently as possible while avoiding Rachel’s clingy hands. She must have realized she was useless, because she stayed two feet behind him as he studied the steps. The scooter wouldn’t make it up to the porch. Grabbing the railing, Moses pulled the substantial scooter out from under him and hopped up the steps with the scooter dangling from his grasp. Up the stairs took more effort than he anticipated, and he paused at the top to catch his breath. He’d lounged in bed entirely too long. Positioning the scooter underneath his cast, he waited for Rachel to catch up and open the door for him. Much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t do everything for himself.
Instead, Mammi threw the door open, squealed with glee, and hugged him tight. “Look at you. You’re getting around on your own.”
“He’s like a toddler learning how to walk all over again,” Rachel insisted.
While Mammi hugged him, Moses caught sight of Lia kneading dough. His heart jumped around a bit. She granted him a brilliant smile, which made his heart jump higher. Even though sadness shone in her eyes, he sensed she was happy to see him. Happier than she had been for days.
Moses winked at her—anything to keep her smiling. “I didn’t miss huckleberry picking, did I?”
“Nae, they are coming after dinner to pick,” Lia said.
He rolled himself farther into the room. Rachel sauntered in behind Moses and hovered around him like a pesky fly.
Mammi patted the handlebars of his scooter. “And what in the world is this piece of machinery?”
“This is my knee scooter, so I don’t have to use crutches all the time.”
Lia rinsed her hands and came to see the new arrival. She spoke directly to the scooter as if it were a new baby. “You’ve got a cute little basket and everything. We should tie a ribbon around you.”
Moses pretended to be offended. “I’ll have you know, this basket is for carrying important things. It’s very manly.”
Lia laughed. Moses tried to remember how long it had been since she had been amused at something he said. Too long. If he could, he’d be funny every minute just to hear that musical laugh.
“What did the doctor say?” Lia asked.
Rachel grabbed Moses’s arm possessively. “He took out the stitches, which made me sick, and I had to lie down in the waiting room.”
Lia’s crooked grin did not escape Moses. He smiled to placate Rachel and slid his arm from her fingers. “He said I’d need to be in the cast for probably seven weeks. But he took an X-ray and said my leg is healing straight.”
“Gute,” Mammi said, knocking on Moses’s cast. “I will have to knit a cover for this thing, or you’ll be putting dents in all the walls.”
Hopefully not. If he was unstable enough to be crashing into walls, he had worse problems than his broken leg.
Mammi wrapped her arm around Lia. “Lia has made something special for supper tonight. Your mamm and dat are coming and so are Uncle Titus and Aunt Abigail and their families.”
He hadn’t seen Mamm and Dat since the accident. Moses glanced at Lia. It shouldn’t really matter, but he hoped she liked his parents. Of course, his parents would like Lia. Everybody liked Lia the minute they met her.
“We will bring you back plenty of huckleberries,” Lia said. “There are so many, you could like as not swim in them.”
“Do I have to come?” Rachel said.
Lia, Mammi, and Moses spoke in unison. “No.”
“Gute, I’ll stay and take care of Moses.”
Moses shook his head and widened
his eyes in mock displeasure. “I’m not letting them pick huckleberries without me. I’ve done it every year since I was a baby.”
Lia opened her mouth to speak.
Moses interrupted. “And it’s not easy holding a bucket crawling on your hands and knees.”
Lia couldn’t hide her smile even as she tried to be firm. “You won’t be able to scoot all the way to the north side.”
“I’ll ride the horse and then use my crutches. I’ve been stuck inside for two weeks. I’ll get there even if I have to crawl. I’ve got real tough knees.”
Again Mammi put her arm around Lia. “Did I mention Lia has made something special for supper tonight?”
Chapter Seventeen
Moses stood at the top of the lane with his crutches tucked under his arms and a bucket in one hand. His parents rode up the hill in their buggy, and another buggy followed close behind. Mamm and Dat lived almost an hour and a half away from Huckleberry Hill and didn’t get here often. They counted on Moses to look out for Mammi and Dawdi.
“We probably should have tried to make it sooner, but your dat’s been sick and then we had to catch up with the mowing.”
“Don’t worry,” Moses said. “They took good care of me.”
Mamm jumped from the buggy and gave Moses a loud kiss on the cheek. Dat, who stood only six feet tall, put his arms around Moses and patted him hard on the back. “You don’t look too bad.”
“Neither do you,” countered Moses, who couldn’t stop smiling at the sight of his parents.
Mamm quit smiling and pulled a bright yellow envelope out of her pocket. “I stopped by your house and got your mail.” She handed Moses the letter and stared into his eyes as if she were trying to see the back of his head.
Moses wrapped his fingers around the envelope with Barbara’s handwriting on it. She’d drawn little hearts next to his name. Hearts? Hadn’t seen that before. Surprised at his disinterest in the contents of the letter, he folded the envelope once and stuffed it into the pocket of his trousers.
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