[Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  He smiled. “I think we’re fine. If we get thirsty we’ll drink water from the jug in the ice chest in the back room.”

  “Okay. See you at suppertime.” Suzanne hurried from the shop. At least she’d learned a few things about Titus. She still didn’t know whether he had a girlfriend or not.

  Of course, she reasoned, it’s not my job to find that out. Esther’s the one who’s interested in him, and she did say she would ask. I just wonder when she’ll do it, and what she’ll find out.

  CHAPTER 6

  Paradise, Pennsylvania

  As Fannie stood at the kitchen sink, peeling potatoes for supper, her thoughts went to Titus. He’d used Allen’s cell phone to let them know he’d made it to Kentucky, but she didn’t know how often they might hear from him in the days ahead. She planned to write letters, of course, but knowing Titus, it was doubtful that he’d take the time to write back. Probably would just leave messages on their voice mail from time to time, and she’d never get to speak to him directly.

  “What are you thinkin’ about?” Abraham asked, touching Fannie’s shoulder.

  She whirled around. “Ach, you startled me!”

  “Sorry.”

  “How do you know I was thinking about anything?”

  He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “ ‘Cause I said your name three times, and you just stood there, staring out the window without saying a word.”

  “I was thinking about Titus and how much I miss him.”

  “I miss him, too, but we still have the rest of our family living here.”

  She nodded. “Just doesn’t seem the same without one of our special twins.”

  “The twins are special,” Abraham agreed. “Havin’ those boys was such a comfort to me after Zach was kidnapped.”

  “I know they were.” Fannie set her potato peeler aside. “Let’s sit down so we can be comfortable while we talk.”

  They sat across from each other at the table. “The twins didn’t take the place of my lost son, but they sure filled an empty spot in my heart,” Abraham said.

  She nodded. “Even though I thought I was too old to have anymore bopplin, when the twins came along, it was a blessing to me as well.”

  Abraham smiled. “Remember when Titus and Timothy were teenagers, and how much they liked to joke around?”

  “Jah. One of the things they did to irritate each other was to grab the other one’s hat and toss it into a tree.”

  “And remember the time when the boys were fooling around and got too close to a pile of manure?” He reached for the plate of pickles she’d cut up before starting the potatoes and popped one into his mouth. “They ended up with that stinky stuff all over themselves.”

  Fannie crinkled her nose. “What a stench that was! It took two or three good scrubbings before I had the smell out of their clothes, and I don’t know how much soap and water they used to get their bodies smelling good again.”

  Abraham chuckled. “Another prank those two often pulled was pretending to be each other. ‘Course I’ve always been able to tell ‘em apart, because Titus’s left eye is a little bit larger than his right eye, whereas the shape of Timothy’s eyes is about the same.”

  “It’s the difference in their personalities that’s always let me know which twin is which,” Fannie said. “Timothy’s easygoing and doesn’t let much bother him. But Titus has always been impulsive and kind of headstrong.”

  Abraham gave a nod. “Timothy’s a steady worker and has been satisfied to farm with me and work part-time as a painter for Zach. Titus has tried several different jobs and becomes easily distracted.”

  “Between the two of them, Titus is more immature.” Fannie sighed. “Why, that boy couldn’t even do his chores without being reminded all the time. I have to wonder how long he’ll stick with the new job in Kentucky.”

  Abraham grabbed another pickle. “I think he’ll do okay. Once he starts working, he works hard and does a good job. He just needs to be on his own so he can grow up. I believe Titus might be on a journey to discover himself, and we need to let him find his own way.”

  “Do you think he’ll ever get over Phoebe Stoltzfus?” Fannie asked, going to get the coffeepot from the stove.

  “I hope so. Maybe he’ll find someone new in Kentucky—someone more mature and settled into the Amish ways—someone who’ll make him a good fraa.”

  Fannie frowned. “I’d rather he came back here to find a wife. If he marries a woman from there, he’ll probably never move back home.”

  “I know it’s hard for you to see one of our sons move away,” Abraham said, as she handed him a cup of coffee. “It’s hard for me, too.”

  Fannie sniffed. “I never thought any of the kinner would decide to leave.”

  “As much as it hurts to have Titus gone, we need to accept his decision and realize that it’s probably for the best.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Think about it. If he’d stayed here and kept pursuing Phoebe, she may have hurt him again and again.”

  “But she’s gone to California,” Fannie said. “I don’t see how she could hurt him from there.”

  “She’ll be back.” Abraham grunted and slapped the table with the palm of his hand. “Mark my words, that girl won’t last long out there in California among the English.”

  Pembroke, Kentucky

  “We’ve put in a good day, but it’s time to call it quits,” Nelson said, setting his hammer aside.

  Titus did the same. “Say, I need to stock up on some food. Can you tell me where the nearest store is located?”

  “We do our big shopping at the Walmart in Hopkinsville, but there’s an Amish-run store in the area, and they carry most of our basic needs, as well as some bulk foods.”

  “Where is it?” Titus asked.

  “Just off Highway 115—the Pembroke-Fairview Road over near the Fairview Produce Auction. You probably went past the place when Allen brought you here yesterday.”

  “I don’t recall. Just remember seeing the Jefferson Davis Monument.”

  “The store’s not far from there.”

  Titus grabbed a pen and scribbled the directions on his arm.

  Nelson’s eyebrows lifted high. “There’s no need to mark up your arm with a pen. I’ll write it down for you.” He quickly scrawled the directions on a tablet and handed it to Titus.

  Titus smiled. “Danki.”

  “How you planning to get to the store?” Isaac questioned.

  “Figured I’d ride over on Lightning.”

  Isaac grunted as he shook his head. “You’re gonna need somethin’ bigger than the back of your horse to carry groceries home. Why don’t you go up to the house and see if Suzanne’s free to drive you to the store? Tell her she can take my horse and buggy if she wants.”

  Titus hesitated near the door. He wasn’t sure he wanted Suzanne to take him anywhere. But he guessed Isaac was right—he couldn’t carry all the groceries he’d need on the back of Lightning. He grabbed his straw hat from the wall peg near the door, plunked it on his head, and headed out the door. “See you both tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder.

  When Titus stepped onto the Yoders’ back porch, an orange, white, and black calico cat whizzed past his leg. Startled, he jumped back, nearly clipping the critter’s tail.

  “Go on! Get away! Shoo!”

  The cat hissed at Titus, leaped off the porch, and bounded away.

  “Stupid katz,” Titus mumbled as he knocked on the door.

  A few seconds went by; then Suzanne opened the door. “Can I help you with something?” she asked, tipping her head.

  Seeing her again made Titus’s heartbeat pick up speed. He sure wished she didn’t remind him so much of Phoebe.

  “I … uh … need to get some food and a few other things, and Nelson said there’s a store nearby.”

  “That would be the Beilers’ store. You met Esther Beiler yesterday.”

  Titus shuffled his feet, feeling more uncomfortable by the secon
d. “Umm … your grandpa said I should ask if you’d mind taking me there. Said you could use his horse and buggy.”

  Suzanne’s mother, Verna, stepped out of the house just then. Titus had met her briefly when he left the shop the day before. “I need a few things at the store myself,” she said, smiling at Titus. “So Suzanne would be happy to take you to the store.”

  Suzanne shot her mother a questioning look, but she didn’t offer a word of protest.

  “You can tie Titus’s horse to the back of the buggy, and then when you’re done shopping you can drop Titus off at the trailer,” Verna said.

  “Oh, okay,” Suzanne mumbled.

  Titus suspected by the slump of Suzanne’s shoulders that she wasn’t happy about accompanying him to the store. Well, he could understand that because he wasn’t thrilled about going with her, either.

  As Suzanne and Titus climbed into Grandpa’s buggy, one of Suzanne’s cats—a fluffy gray one—leaped in and jumped up on the seat between them.

  “Get out of here!” Titus muttered as he pushed the cat out.

  Suzanne ground her teeth. He obviously didn’t like cats any more than he liked her.

  As they headed down the road toward the store, Suzanne tried to make conversation, but that was hard to do when Titus didn’t say much in response.

  “What’s that?” Suzanne asked, when she noticed some writing on Titus’s arm.

  “What’s what?”

  “That.” She pointed to his arm.

  Titus’s face colored. “Oh, I … uh … started writing the directions to the store when your brother told me …”

  “I can’t believe you’d write a note on your arm.”

  “It’s easier than carrying a tablet with me all the time. I’ve been doing it since I was a kinner.” He’d spoken without looking at her again.

  Suzanne didn’t say what she was thinking, that writing notes on his arm was really strange.

  When they arrived at the store, she left Titus to do his shopping while she went after the things Mom needed. She’d just started down the bulk foods aisle when Esther joined her, wearing a frown.

  “I thought you weren’t interested in Titus.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then what are you doing here with him?”

  “He needed to come to the store, and since he doesn’t have a buggy, Grandpa volunteered me to take him.”

  “Oh, I see. Did you find out whether he has a girlfriend or not?”

  “No, you said you were going to do that.”

  “I will, but I need to wait for the right opportunity. I can’t just go up to him and say, ‘Oh, by the way, I was wondering if you have a girlfriend in Pennsylvania.’ “

  Suzanne bit back a chuckle. “No, I guess that would seem too bold.”

  “Why don’t you ask him?”

  “Why me?”

  “Because with him working in the woodshop, you’ll see him more often than I will.”

  “I can’t just blurt it out, but if the subject comes up, I’ll ask. Does that make you happy?”

  Esther’s face broke into a wide smile. “I’ll be even happier if he’s available.”

  When Titus finished shopping, he found Suzanne talking to her friend. He said a quick hello to Esther and then told Suzanne that he’d gotten everything he needed and was ready to go whenever she was.

  “Great. I’ll be done soon.”

  A short time later, Titus and Suzanne paid for their purchases, said good-bye to Esther, and climbed into the buggy. They’d no sooner pulled away from the store, when it started to rain.

  “Does it rain much here?” he asked.

  “In the spring, mostly, but we can have showers any time.”

  They talked more about the weather and the kinds of trees and plants that grew in the woods along the road. Titus listened with interest as Suzanne told him that maple, cedar, river birch, willow, and pine trees grew in the area, and that a bush called crape myrtle could grow to be anywhere from fifteen to twenty feet high and six to fifteen feet wide.

  “Crape myrtles put on a show all year long,” Suzanne said. “Their long-blooming flowers come in pink, red, white, and lavender. In the fall, the leaves turn yellow or red, then drop off to reveal peeling gray and brown bark.”

  “Seems like you know a lot about flowers and trees,” Titus commented, glancing briefly her way. At least he’d been able to make eye contact with Suzanne now that the shock of her looking so much like Phoebe had worn off.

  “I enjoy doing almost anything that takes me outdoors, and I also enjoy—” Suzanne pointed to a rabbit skittering into the woods. “Do you like to hunt?”

  He nodded. “I’ve gone deer hunting with my half brothers Jake and Norman a few times.”

  “I like to hunt and fish,” she said, “but Nelson thinks women shouldn’t do things like that.”

  Titus glanced at Suzanne again. She might look like Phoebe, but there were definitely some differences. Phoebe wouldn’t go near a hunting rifle, or even a fishing pole. She liked adventure but not the kind that involved tromping through the woods or sitting by a pond for hours, waiting for a fish to bite.

  “Do you miss your family?” Suzanne asked, changing the subject.

  “I probably will, but I haven’t been gone long enough to miss anyone too much yet.”

  “Not even a girlfriend?”

  “Huh?”

  “I wondered if you might have a girlfriend back in Pennsylvania.”

  “I did have one,” he mumbled, wishing she hadn’t brought the subject up. “But that relationship’s over now.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  They rode in silence the rest of the way, with the only sounds being the splatter of raindrops against the roof of the buggy and the steady clip-clop of the horse’s hooves on the road. Titus was glad when Suzanne didn’t question him further about Phoebe. It wasn’t something he wanted to talk about right now.

  When they arrived at the trailer, Titus hopped down from the buggy, untied his horse, and led him to the barn, which wasn’t in much better shape than the trailer. Then he returned to the buggy for his groceries. “Danki for the ride,” he said, giving Suzanne a nod.

  “You’re welcome.”

  As Suzanne’s horse and buggy pulled away, Titus hurried into the trailer. When he entered the kitchen, he screeched to a halt. A huge puddle of water sat in the middle of the floor.

  CHAPTER 7

  It rained all night, and Titus had trouble sleeping, with the constant ping, ping, ping of the water dripping into the pan he’d set on the kitchen floor. No wonder the house smelled so musty. This probably wasn’t the first time the roof had leaked. To top it off, he’d discovered some fresh mouse droppings under the kitchen sink and inside a couple of the cupboards. He figured he must have at least one mouse in the house. He’d have to see about getting a couple of traps to take care of that.

  Guess I’d better climb up on the roof and see about patching the place where the water’s been coming through before I leave for work today, Titus thought as he forced himself to crawl out of bed the next morning. He would have done it last night if it hadn’t been raining so hard. So he’d put up with the dripping and spent the evening cleaning out the propane refrigerator, as well as the cupboards, before putting away his groceries. As soon as he got his first paycheck, he planned to hire a driver and go to Hopkinsville to get a new mattress for his bed. If his new job worked out well and he decided to stay in Kentucky permanently, he’d need to find a better place to live, because this trailer wasn’t fit for the mice.

  “I can’t believe Allen would expect Titus to live in Vernon Smucker’s old trailer,” Suzanne said to her mother as they scurried around the kitchen getting breakfast on the table. “I didn’t get to see the inside, but if it’s anything like what I saw outside, Titus has a lot of work ahead of him to make that place livable.”

  “I never thought much about it, but you’re probably right,” Mom said, turning from the stove where she w
as frying some bacon. “Vernon’s trailer has been abandoned for quite a while now, and it’s probably not fit for anyone to live in. I think we ought to talk to my daed and Nelson and see about getting a crew of people together for a work frolic soon. The trailer might be livable if a group of us helped fix it up.”