The Stone Wall

by Beverly Lewis

  “It’s so beautiful here,” she said as birds flitted from branch to branch, their songs part of the inviting sounds of the forest.

  “Wait’ll ya see the tree house,” Glen said, motioning ahead.

  An excitement stirred in her as they traversed several obstacles, including a large downed maple tree, its trunk and wide branches sprawled across the path. A little ways ahead, there was another challenge—a heap of rocks, which Glen and his sons had apparently deposited there years ago after removing them from the fields. The path even skirted a murky pond with noisy frogs making their presence known, and Anna had to take care not to slip in the soft mud near its edge.

  When they finally came upon it, the tree house loomed high over them, and Anna marveled at the beauty of the natural wood and the spiral staircase that wrapped around the massive trunk, leading to two levels and then to an even higher lookout far above.

  “Did your son build this?” Anna asked, in awe of the amazing structure—so much more than she’d expected.

  “Luke contracted a friend of his to construct it a couple of years ago.” Glen paused. “An Amish company. I believe its slogan is Going out on a limb.”

  Anna laughed. “That’s creative.”

  “The perfect slogan for a tree house–makin’ company, jah?”

  “I like it!”

  Glen motioned for Anna to climb the wooden staircase, following behind. And at the top of the second level, she stopped to look at the lush greenery in all directions—trees of every kind, leafy and lofty. “You could bring a book out here and spend the whole day reading.”

  “Jah, if there was nothin’ else to do.” Glen pointed out a nest with four pale blue eggs. “Well, lookee here—a brand-new nest,” he said as Anna stepped closer to have a peek.

  “I’ll remind the children not to disturb it,” he said offhandedly, as though talking to himself.

  Surely they won’t, Anna thought as they headed back down the curved staircase to the ground.

  “Did ya ever have such a fine place to play when you were little?” Glen asked.

  “Oh, not really to play, but to dream . . . if ya know what I mean.” She paused briefly and wondered if she should share about the attic room where she and Wanita sometimes read aloud from the Little House books, as they called them. It might sound a bit slothful to Glen. “Mamm let us sweep out and redd up a little space in the attic. Actually, at first it was for Wanita, but around the time I was reading on my own, she invited me to go up there sometimes, too.” Anna didn’t describe all they had done to make it cozy and the perfect place for some relief from their six brothers. It had been the spot where the two of them often talked about keeping house and cooking for their husbands some future day, wondering what it would be like to have their own families. “We sometimes watched spiders weave their webs and hoped no one would destroy them.”

  “Most folk would sweep ’em down without thinkin’ a thing of it, I ’spect,” Glen said.

  “Well, we’ve always been mindful of nature and honestly rather tenderhearted toward animals. Once, we took care of a wounded tomcat—its paw had a nasty cut. Another time, we cared for an injured bird.” Anna thought it was funny to tell Glen these things, but she went ahead and mentioned helping her Dat feed the ponies, as well. “He let me ride them, too, whenever I wanted. Well, once my chores were finished, ya know.”

  They both laughed at that.

  “Well, I s’pose we should head back,” Glen said, removing his straw hat to fan his perspiring face. “Which path should we take this time?”

  “How ’bout the easy one?” She was thinking of Glen and how winded he seemed, and, too, it was the hottest time of the day.

  “Denki for showing me this beautiful place,” she said, following him over the well-worn path just as he pointed out a raccoon napping high in a nearby tree.

  She stared up at the furry critter and removed her phone from her dress pocket to take several pictures. In that instant, her phone rang, and she saw that it was the call she had been waiting for. She purposely lagged behind Glen. “Hullo, Anna Beachy speaking.”

  Evelyn said she was calling with some unfortunate news. “It was delightful to meet you, Anna, but we’ve decided to offer the job to one of the other applicants. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.”

  Anna felt the air fly out of her. She scarcely knew what to say—she’d been so sure of getting this job. And what about the divine nudge Sadie had felt? Had she only imagined it?

  “It was a difficult decision.”

  “Thanks for letting me know,” Anna said politely.

  Evelyn mentioned again how lovely it had been to get acquainted with her, then said good-bye and hung up.

  Now what? Anna thought, glad she and Glen had taken the easiest path back to the house, because suddenly she felt spent. And that was putting it mildly.

  “You all right?” Just ahead on the trail, Glen had turned to look back at her.

  “Evelyn called,” Anna said, telling him the disappointing news.

  Glen pushed his straw hat down more firmly on his head, looking a bit surprised. “Mighty sorry to hear it.”

  Anna nodded, unable to say more.

  Chapter 5

  THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1948

  Just days before her sixteenth birthday, Eliza Hertzler stepped down from the enclosed gray carriage and looked around at what seemed to be an emerald sea of alfalfa in every direction but one: her great-aunt Joanna Beiler’s redbrick farmhouse.

  Tired from the trip from Mifflinburg, Eliza stretched her legs a bit, thankful for the charter bus that had brought her to downtown Lancaster. From there, she had taken a taxi to the cobblestoned Strasburg Village Square, where Great-aunt Joanna’s neighbor Jacob Zook met her. Eliza’s Mamma had informed her that, while Jacob was the bishop for the Beachy Amish church district there in Strasburg, Eliza would be surrounded by predominantly Old Order Amish families.

  Eliza straightened her long black apron and headed around to the back of the buggy to retrieve her brown suitcase, anxious to get more comfortable and remove her black stockings and tight black high-topped shoes and go barefoot. She longed to brush out her dishwater-blond hair and tidy it up. She reached to take her suitcase, but Bishop Jacob shook his head, saying he would carry it.

  Falling into step behind him, Eliza walked toward the grand back porch, where a large black Labrador stood at the top of the stairs, wagging its tail and panting. She wondered if much had changed about the place since her last visit with Mamma, but since she’d been such a young child at the time, it was impossible to tell.

  The realization that it was only the middle of May and Mamma expected her to be there through the end of September hit her hard. Four and a half months away from home, she thought, stooping momentarily to pet the dog. With all of my older sisters, why was I the one sent to help?

  She thought with a measure of frustration about the fun she would be missing back home in Mifflinburg—all the youth-related activities, specifically the many opportunities for pairing up once she was official courting age. But she couldn’t let herself think too much about Ephraim Maust, the curly-haired boy she’d admired since fifth grade. Not after seeing him out riding with another girl in his shiny new open buggy last Sunday evening while she sat on the front porch. Now that she was so far away, she mustn’t let her mind work on that too much. Being gone all summer surely meant she would lose any hope of catching Ephraim’s eye.

  Ain’t fair, she thought, wishing Mamma had listened when she told her how important it was to spend the first courting-year summer at home.

  “That’s a mighty light suitcase,” Jacob Zook said, reaching up to rap on the back screen door, his straw hat perched on his graying head.

  “Well, I’ll be sewin’ a few more dresses while I’m here,” Eliza explained as she tried to muster up a cheerful expression for the kind bishop who’d gone out of his way for her. Still, she could easily imagine how lonely she would feel being away from
Mamma and her sisters—Dat, too. But Mamma had said that her coming here might lighten the load for her newly widowed aunt, bringing the poor woman some happiness again.

  If only I could be happy here, too. . . .

  Chapter 6

  Once she’d taken a seat at the kitchen table, Anna told Sadie about the call from the director, and the woman looked crestfallen.

  “Well, I’ll be,” Sadie said, shaking her head.

  For the longest time, they both sat there without speaking.

  Then Sadie suggested inviting Luke and Marianna and their two littlest ones over for ice cream after supper later, as though that might help to cheer Anna.

  But Anna said she didn’t feel up for it. “Besides, I’ll be leaving this evening. First, though, I should call home.”

  Sadie nodded. “We understand.”

  Anna excused herself and rose from the table to make the call.

  Keep your chin up, she told herself.

  ———

  “Someone else was offered the job,” Anna told Mamm while sitting in her car. She attempted to sound strong and confident. “With the way this interview came about, I really didn’t think I’d be giving you this news.”

  “I feel for ya, dear,” Mamm said, her voice gentle and soothing. “What do ya want to do now?”

  “I’ll drive home tonight . . . need to be available for tours at the buggy museum tomorrow. And I’ll still give my two weeks’ notice, too, then figure out something else. Maybe, if the Flauds are okay with it, I’ll return here to Strasburg and put my name in at some of the Amish shops.”

  In the momentary quiet that followed, Anna sensed her mother’s reservations. “Don’t worry, Mamm,” she added, “the Lord is with me.”

  “Your Dat and I believe that, too,” Mamm replied. “Please remember that you’re always welcome at home, Anna, if ya change your mind.”

  “Denki.” Anna told her mother when she planned to arrive home, then they said good-bye and hung up.

  Anna remained there, looking over at the flower garden and beyond to the paths leading out to the towering tree house. She felt bad now about declining Sadie’s offer to invite Luke and Marianna and their children over for dessert this evening.

  Getting out of her car, Anna was drawn to the woods again. And taking the narrowest path—the easiest of the three—she hurried off.

  ———

  “The poor girl’s discouraged,” Sadie told Glen while they sat in the front room waiting for Anna to return and pack up. “And no wonder.”

  “Well, there was never any guarantee, so we can’t fault Evelyn.” Glen looked over his bifocals as he lowered the Family Life magazine he’d been reading.

  “Even so, Anna had her hopes up. And goodness, I feel responsible.” Sadie sighed, getting up and walking back toward the kitchen window to see what Anna might be up to. The car was still parked where it had been, but there was no sign of her. Must’ve taken another walk, she thought, getting some sugar cookies from the cookie jar and putting them in a napkin for Glen. Dear man’s concerned, too, but won’t let on, she thought before returning to the front room, where a good breeze flowed through the open windows. “Would ya like a treat?” she asked him, unfolding the napkin to reveal the plump sugar cookies.

  Just as she guessed, Glen took them, and she went to sit across from him on the rocking chair, where she often sat to think and pray. Pleasant evening though it was, she rocked and wondered how long Anna would stay outside.

  Sadie sighed, ever so curious about who had been offered the job in Anna’s stead. Maybe someone with more experience. But Anna herself had been a tour guide for two years already!

  “I feel like goin’ out to the phone shack and makin’ a call to Evelyn,” she said softly, almost hoping Glen wouldn’t hear. “See why she didn’t favor Anna.”

  “Why would ya do that?” Glen closed his magazine and placed it on the settee, where a few cookie crumbs had fallen. “She has her reasons, and it wouldn’t be right to meddle.” He removed his reading glasses and held them in his right hand. “Anyway, she might think Anna put ya up to it.”

  Sadie groaned. “Ach, true.” Hard of hearing as Glenn sometimes seemed to be, she hadn’t expected him to overhear her. More like selective hearing, she thought.

  “Ain’t the end of the world.” Glen rose from his seat. “Somethin’ else will turn up for Anna.” He headed out through the kitchen and opened the noisy screen door.

  Sadie assumed he, too, felt restless, and she again thought of Anna and where she might have taken herself off to. That dear girl!

  Just as Anna was climbing the stairs to the second level of the tree house, the mother robin flew off the nest. “So sorry,” she whispered, going to lean on the bannister and look out to see where the startled bird had landed.

  She spotted her on a nearby branch. “You’re out on a limb,” she murmured, recalling the slogan of the Amish company that had built this creative and sturdy structure, carefully nestling it around the wide tree trunk. Is that what I’ve done by coming to the Flauds’ before knowing if I’d get the job?

  She heaved a deep sigh, then turned to sit in one of the wooden alcoves, curious how long it might be before the robin would return to its nest. “Someone else must have needed the work more than I do.” Leaning forward, she began to pray, her elbows on her knees. “I will trust Thee for whatever is ahead and offer thanks for the answer when it comes. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.”

  Straightening on the boxlike seat, Anna saw the robin fly back to the nest and settle in, warming the pretty blue eggs. I, too, must wait till the time is right, she thought, gazing at the mother robin. Till God opens the right door.

  When Anna returned to the house, Glen and Sadie invited her to join them for supper and stay for Bible reading and prayer before her return trip. Sadie had such an encouraging smile on her round face that Anna couldn’t bear to disappoint her.

  In passing, Glen mentioned the 1927 split of the Beachy Amish church from the original Casselman River Old Order Amish congregation in Somerset County. “If I remember correctly, your Mamm’s an Old Order Amish descendant . . . ain’t that right?”

  Anna nodded. “And I’m told my paternal great-grandfather was one of the deacons before that.”

  “’Tis interesting how we get to where we are.” As he spoke, Glen glanced at Sadie with a smile.

  “Chust so our journey leads us to our Savior,” Sadie said sweetly. “That’s what our bishop says whenever he preaches.”

  “Jah, every time,” Glen agreed.

  Anna sat with them in the front room while Glen read from chapter five of John’s first epistle. “‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.’”

  According to his will . . .

  The words lingered in Anna’s mind even as she thanked the Flauds for their hospitality and said good-bye, promising to stay in touch. She was especially grateful for Sadie’s kind invitation to return and stay with them if she should decide to look for a different type of job here.

  Anna drove toward Route 30 on her way back to Mifflinburg, appreciating how light it still was at the end of this long day. “Dear Lord, bless Glen and Sadie for opening their home to me,” she prayed softly. “Bless them abundantly.”

  Once again, she placed her future in God’s hands, eager to share with her parents and sister all that she had experienced in Strasburg during this short visit. And she yearned to see Mammi Eliza again, too.

  I’ll tell her how much I’ve always loved her. . . .

  Chapter 7

  Anna’s first day back at the buggy museum turned out far better than she had anticipated. When she gave her notice, her boss released her from having to stick around the full two weeks, saying one of the other part-time guides had recently approached him about going full-time. “This will give
her that opportunity,” he said.

  Grateful and relieved, Anna let her parents know that she was free to pursue another job, and that she would be calling Sadie to accept their invitation to stay with them while she searched.

  Anna called the Flauds’ shanty phone to say she could come back as soon as tomorrow, and Sadie answered right away—she had been out there checking her and Glen’s messages. Goodness, she sounds excited! thought Anna after hanging up. Sadie had also mentioned wanting to introduce Anna to several Amish shopkeepers when she returned.

  That evening, Anna drove over to Wanita’s. Conrad and their older children were out doing barn chores, so Anna visited on the back porch with her sister and the youngest children, and Mammi Eliza, too, enjoying the warm and gentle breezes. Anna filled Wanita in on her plans to look for a job at one of the Amish shops around Strasburg, mentioning Sadie’s offer that Anna could stay with them for as long as she wished.

  “Real nice of Sadie.” Wanita put fussy little Rogene on her lap and jostled her a bit while rocking in one of the several willow rockers there on the porch. “If you get a job in Lancaster County, would you be happy, Anna?” asked Wanita.

  “I think so.” Anna glanced at Mammi, who seemed to be studying her every time Anna looked her way. “Guess what, Mammi . . . I just got back from a visit to Strasburg,” she said for her grandmother’s benefit.

  Mammi nodded her head like she understood. “A perty place,” she said quietly, her stare distant now.

  “All the hayfields were so green . . . ready for the second cutting.”

  “Alfalfa,” Mammi said, still gazing out at something none of them could see.