by Jerry Eicher
“I am serious, Marcus,” she said.
“Did Elmer speak with you?” he asked.
Mam nodded. “What he said was true. My eyes have been blinded. I’ve been thinking too much about myself since Dat passed. Letting you carry a load which doesn’t belong on your shoulders.”
“I’m okay. I really am.”
“I have accepted a date this weekend with John Beachy,” she said.
Marcus stared. “John Beachy, the widower.”
“It is time. I have to move on. John asked me a few months ago, but I turned him down. I shouldn’t have. The man waited for me, even when I had given him no hope.”
“Mam!” he exclaimed. “This is wrong. You don’t really want to start a friendship with him or you would have accepted his offer earlier.”
“That is not true. I told Elmer to pass on the word that I was willing to date him, if John was still interested.”
“Of course he’s interested!” Marcus seized her arm. “Mam. Don’t do this because of me. I’m okay. I’m happy.”
“You are not the only one who does what is right.” She smiled gently. “I know what love is, thanks to your dat. I will not marry a man I cannot love.”
He looked away.
“So Mary was decent?”
“Mam, please.”
“It is time that you found a wife.”
“Mam,” he said again.
“Was she interested in you?”
He reached for the stair doorknob and propelled himself upward. When he glanced over his shoulder, Mam still stood at the bottom. She peered hopefully up after him. Mam’s pleadings would not change his opinion of Mary Wagler. He entered his room and pulled the door shut behind him.
Mary lingered in the upstairs bedroom of the Hochstetler home after Lavina had left.
“Take your time settling in,” Lavina had told her. “I have supper under control, so you don’t have to help.”
“I’ll be down soon,” Mary had replied.
She liked Lavina, and had liked her from the moment they met. After Marcus’s disapproval, the Lord would not lay a heavier burden on her shoulders than she could bear. Lavina would make living in the community a joy and delight.
Mary pushed back the drapes on the window to look out in the direction of the schoolhouse. The structure was rectangular with white shiplapped siding. A bell tower was perched on top. She could already hear the clanging of the bell after each recess, and the eager voices of her students vying for the privilege of pulling the cord.
“Can I? Please, teacher,” they would beg.
“You will take turns,” she would tell them. Disappointment would cross their faces, but so much greater would be their happiness when their opportunity arrived.
Mary let the drapes slip from her fingers and heaved the turquoise suitcase onto the bed. She opened the zipper and took out the first of her dresses. The nerve of Marcus. She had stuck up for him in front of Lavina, but Marcus wouldn’t have had to follow Elmer’s suggestion. She knew what had happened. Marcus had arrived at the bus station with hope in his heart, thinking this might be a chance to meet his future wife. She had not been fooled. Obviously Marcus had decided rather quickly that she did not fit his vision of a wife. At least the man could make up his mind. But she was not going to allow Marcus’s opinion to mar her future in the community. He was nothing to her, a man who lived across the road. That was all.
Mary lifted her face to the ceiling and let the happiness of this place wash over her. “Thank you, Lord, for bringing me here,” she whispered.
Mary opened the closet door to hang the dresses and stuffed the empty blue suitcase into the farthest corner. When she walked over to the window again, another buggy had pulled in the driveway. She watched the man climb out and approach the house. A moment later Lavina called up the stairs, “Someone is here to see you!”
Mary hurried out of the bedroom.
“Elmer Miller,” Lavina mouthed at the bottom of the stairs. “He’s waiting outside on the porch.”
There was a twinkle in Elmer’s eyes when she opened the door. “Elmer Miller.” He extended his hand. “Welcome to the community.”
“Thanks.” She smiled.
“I see Marcus got you here safely.”
“Yep, and thanks for setting up the ride.”
“Everything going well with the Hochstetlers?”
“Perfectly.”
“Our former schoolteacher, Susie Martin, will meet you at eight tomorrow morning at the schoolhouse to go over the lessons and curriculum we use. If that works for you?”
“Works for me.”
“Sounds like everything is in hand then,” he said. “We are honored to have you, and welcome again.”
“Thanks for hiring me.”
He grinned. “You haven’t met everyone yet.”
Mary laughed. “I’m sure they are more than pleasant, and the children will be darlings to work with.”
“Spoken like a true schoolteacher,” he said, appearing pleased. “You have a goot* night, then.”
“And you, too,” she said, and he left, driving his buggy out of the lane.
Moments later, Marcus exited the Yoders’ house in his chore clothing. He paused at the sight of Elmer’s buggy approaching the driveway. Marcus waited until Elmer pulled to a stop at the hitching post before he walked up to the buggy.
“How are you doing?” Elmer leaned out of the door with a big grin on his face.
“Okay.” Marcus’s shoe toe dug into the gravel of the driveway. The teasing had only just begun.
“Mary will be at the schoolhouse to meet Susie at eight,” Elmer said. “You should get the fire going in the morning, as cool as the nights have been.”
“I’ll do that.”
Elmer lingered. “I didn’t tell her that you are the janitor. I figured you got that all straight on your ride home.”
Marcus stared. “I don’t think we talked about who was janitor.”
“So how did the ride home go?” Elmer was obviously perplexed. “She seems like an awesome girl, quite suitable . . .”
“Mary should make a perfect schoolteacher,” he said. “I’m sure the school board didn’t make a mistake.”
Elmer still appeared confused. “Mary looks like she is much more than that. I hope you make the most of your opportunity which the Lord has given you.”
Marcus tried to smile. There was no way he was going to spread rumors in the community about Mary’s shimmering suitcase or flighty ways. The woman wasn’t suitable marriage material for him, but that didn’t mean that another man wouldn’t snatch her up in a moment. The woman was beautiful—gorgeous, in fact. Mary should have no lack of suitors, that much was clear.
“You have a good evening then.” Elmer jiggled the reins. “And don’t be leaving Mary unattended for long. She deserves a goot man like you.”
The objection choked in Marcus’s throat, but Elmer didn’t seem to notice. He turned his buggy around in the driveway, and with a wave of his hand was gone. Marcus gathered himself together and entered the barn to let the heavy door slam behind him. Mose had the cows in their stanchions, with the feed shoveled into the wheelbarrow, ready for distribution.
“I’ll take things from here,” he told his brother.
Mose’s eyes twinkled. “She was pretty, wasn’t she?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he retorted, and grabbed the shovel from Mose’s hand.
“Wow,” Mose said. “I can’t wait to meet this Mary.”
Marcus busied himself with his chores and ignored his brother. There had been enough thinking and talking about Mary Wagler for one day.
* goot is the Pennsylvania Dutch word for “good.”
CHAPTER 4
THAT FOLLOWING MORNING MARY WAGLER AWOKE WITH A START. She sat bolt upright in the strange bed, with the covers flying. She stared at the alarm clock. Five thirty! She had awakened on her own. Mary stilled the rapid beat of her heart as excitement rushed throu
gh her. Awakening early in this new place was an excellent sign and a promise of a great day ahead. She had rested well, after the hearty supper served last night by Lavina. The meal had been eaten to the tune of happy conversation and laughter as she had become better acquainted with the elderly couple. Leon, with his lengthy salt-and-pepper beard, had proven as charming and good-natured as his wife. The Lord had truly blessed her with a place to call home away from home.
Mary punched the button on the alarm clock to turn it off before she pushed back the drapes. The dawn was rising on the horizon, a deep blush of red light that bubbled up from the other side of the world. The white schoolhouse lay in the middle, beckoning and calling her. The sight overwhelmed her.
“The world could not be more beautiful this morning,” she whispered. “Thank you, dear Lord.”
Mary lingered for a long time at the window before she lit the kerosene lamp and dressed for the day. On schedule was a workday with Susie at the schoolhouse, so she wouldn’t wear her best dress, but come Monday morning she would have a line of proper Sunday dresses to wear which were suitable attire for a schoolteacher. No one would assume she came from an impoverished family who couldn’t afford decent clothing, or worse, that she had wasted her money since she became of age at twenty-one.
Mary blew out the lamp and left the bedroom to make her way down the dark stairs, her fingers pressed against the wall. There was enough light from the open stairwell to find her way. The smell of a delicious breakfast drifted upward, wafting around her face. She stepped into the light of the lantern, making sure her steps creaked on the hardwood floor. She didn’t want to startle Lavina.
Lavina looked up from her work at the stove with a bright smile. “Goot morning. Hope you slept well?”
“Your home is wunderbah*,” Mary assured her. “I am so grateful that you and Leon have given me a place to stay.”
“And we are thankful that you came down to teach the children of our beloved community.” Lavina gave a little laugh. “We have lived here our whole lives. Most of them are related to us one way or the other. That’s why new schoolteachers are greeted with such eagerness.”
Mary smiled. “Your kindness is appreciated just the same. How can I help with breakfast?”
“I’m thinking you made quite the impression on Marcus yesterday.” Lavina ignored Mary’s question. Already? she thought. Do we have to talk about Marcus first thing in the morning?
Mary tried to keep her smile in place. “He is handsome enough.”
“I know, and still single. Isn’t that something? The Lord moves in mysterious ways.” Lavina beamed.
“I . . . I don’t think things went quite like Marcus planned,” she managed. It was time to put a stop to these expectations before they got out of hand.
“Really?”
“He wasn’t very impressed, I don’t think.”
Lavina looked quite unconvinced. “You expect me to believe that?”
“I’m not being modest. Marcus didn’t like much about me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I need to speak with the man.”
“Please don’t,” Mary gasped. “I didn’t mean to criticize Marcus.”
Lavina appeared ready to say more when the outside door below the kitchen burst open, and Leon entered.
“Goot morning,” he hollered up the stairwell. “What is this wunderbah smell that floats down to hang around my nose?”
“Just breakfast cooking, dear.”
“Something special, it seems, for someone special.”
“That would be you,” Lavina hollered back.
“Be right up,” Leon said, and went down the basement stairs.
“Can I help with something?” Mary offered again.
“Set the table, perhaps,” Lavina suggested. “You know where we sit from last night.”
Mary moved quickly and the plates and silverware were in place by the time Lavina finished with the eggs and bacon. There was a pot of oatmeal kept warm on a corner of the stove. Leon appeared moments later, his face still aglow from his morning chores. “The Lord has given us a beautiful day,” he proclaimed, seating himself.
“That He has,” Lavina agreed.
“Amen.” Mary echoed. “I was watching the sunrise from my window. I can’t say how thankful I am for how the Lord has led me down here, and how lovely this house is. I slept like I was at home.”
“That’s what we want to hear.” Leon grinned from ear to ear. “Shall we pray and bless the food?”
Lavina transferred the plate of eggs and took a chair. “I’m ready.”
They bowed their heads in silent prayer.
“I haven’t seen Marcus head up to the schoolhouse this morning,” Leon observed. “It’s chilly enough for a fire, I’m thinking.”
Mary tried to hide her surprise. Why was Marcus responsible for fires in the schoolhouse?
“Marcus takes his duties seriously,” Lavina said. “He’ll be up before eight, when Mary has to meet Susie.”
“I’m sure he will be,” Leon said, his eyes twinkling. “Didn’t Marcus bring you home last night?”
“Leon,” Lavina chided. “I’ve already been over that with Mary this morning. Marcus needs a talking-to, I think.”
Leon didn’t appear to get the hint. “I think this is in many ways a day of new beginnings, for all of us, but especially for Marcus. The man has waited a long time for his gift from heaven.”
A rush of red spread across Mary’s face. She helped herself to the bacon and eggs, then quickly changed the subject. “This is truly a great breakfast. Thank you, so very much.”
Mary saw Lavina pinch Leon on the arm, leading to a puzzled look that never quite left his face, even as the talk turned to chores and plans for the day. Lavina would have to explain later. This wasn’t the time to venture into the troubled waters that surrounded Marcus Yoder.
Marcus made his way across the hayfield with the sun bright in his eyes. He tipped his hat to shield his face and turned sideways to open the wooden gate into the schoolyard.
He should have come down an hour ago to light the fire, but he had to admit to himself that he wanted to see Mary again. Elmer’s words bothered him more than he wished to acknowledge. “Don’t be leaving Mary unattended.” Surely he wasn’t missing the Lord’s will? Elmer was his elder, and was usually right, but Elmer didn’t know what he knew. Mary was simply not an option. She was much too beautiful to take an interest in him, and her attitude and incessant questions were intolerable. So why did he wish to see her again this morning? Simply to confirm that his first impression had not been off the mark, he told himself. And perhaps to make amends for his initial rudeness, which he couldn’t deny. He hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable, but he had, and that wasn’t right, regardless of how odd and grosfeelich* she was. Anyway, he had to visit the schoolhouse to fulfill his duties, and a tense relationship between the two of them would benefit no one, so he may as well try to make her feel welcome.
He pulled the schoolhouse key from his pocket and unlocked the front door. When he stepped inside, the chill of the large room swept over him. He hurried to the stove and set a match to the kindling he had prepared last week. The flames leaped upward quickly and he added larger pieces of wood before he closed the stove door. The smoke puffed from the pipe and Marcus worked the damper a few times to find the best rate of draw. Warmth crept outward from the stove and he opened his coat.
While Marcus waited, he looked around the schoolroom. His years spent here as a student seemed light-years away this morning, almost as if they had never happened. He had learned the lessons that could be learned, but the real lessons that life taught had been etched in sorrow and pain on his heart, after Dat’s passing. Those were not things presented in a schoolhouse, things which were hardly teachable at a student’s desk. How could a book show a young child what life was like without his father, or measure the weight of the world that would settle on his shoulders?
Marcus ran his fingers over
the back of the closest well-built desk. The faint outlines of initials made their presence felt underneath his fingers. He hadn’t carved his name into the wood when he went to school. Such a prank was not allowed by the rules. A few of the boys chose to act out on their baser instincts anyway, taking the chance they wouldn’t get caught by the teacher.
Would Mary be sharp enough to catch such childhood pranks? Likely not. She was a teacher who would become so deeply enraptured in her lessons that she lost track of childhood natures on rampage around her. Some rash eighth-grader might even light the match which could burn down the place. Marcus grimaced. That was a bit extreme, but Mary was flighty. There was no question there.
The schoolhouse door opened behind him, and Marcus turned around.
Mary was glaring up at him. “Why are you still here?”
“I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you yesterday that I’m the janitor,” he said. Her tone was already caustic, but he pushed away the instinct to reply with a defensive retort.
“You drove me home yesterday in your buggy. There was plenty of time.”
“You are right,” he admitted. “I should have told you.”
“That’s what comes from being critical of luggage.”
“I was hoping we could leave that behind us, and begin anew,” he said.
“And how is that?”
“As friends,” he said quickly. “I am the janitor and I do have to come up to the schoolhouse.”
“So you are changing your opinion about my luggage?”
“I’m keeping it to myself,” he said. “You have a right to arrive with whatever color suitcase you desire.”
“So do you have more criticism for me this morning? Perhaps doubts about my school teaching skills?”
Now he was starting to struggle. Here he was, humbling himself and making an honest attempt to be civil, and all she could do was poke and probe him with accusatory questions? He forced a slow breath to calm himself, which she interpreted as disapproval.
“I see.” She tilted her head at him.
“I do have strong opinions,” he admitted, as calmly as possible, “but I did mean what I said about the fresh start between us.”
