by Jan Drexler
“I didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner.” He held up the book. “I just wanted to return your copy of Menno Simons, and to apologize.”
“Come and sit down. We’ll talk while we’re eating.”
Levi set the book on the end of the kitchen shelf, then sat next to Gideon at the table. He bowed his head for a silent prayer while the others waited, then helped himself to the mashed potatoes Ruby passed to him.
“I haven’t seen your house before,” Levi said. He looked around at the comfortable kitchen and the front room that he could see on the other side of the stairway leading to the loft. Everything looked clean. Homey. He relaxed and dished some chicken and noodles on top of the mashed potatoes.
“You’re welcome to stop by any time,” Gideon said. “Ruby always cooks more than enough food for our family.”
Ruby smiled at Levi. “Mamm taught me to always be prepared in case a friend drops by during mealtime.”
A friend. Levi nodded his thanks to Ruby and took a bite of his dinner. He felt more welcome here in this little cabin than he did at the table at home.
Roseanna was watching him. “Where do you live?”
“Roseanna, let Levi eat his dinner,” Ruby said, reminding Roseanna of her manners with a slight frown.
“I don’t mind,” Levi said. “I live with my parents on their farm.” He smiled at Roseanna as he put some pickled beets on his plate.
“Do I know them?” Roseanna asked.
“They are Preacher Amos and his wife, Salome,” Gideon said, answering for Levi. “You’ve seen them at Sunday Meeting.”
“And Salome came by when we were making cheese this week,” Ruby said.
“Oh.” Roseanna looked at him again. Levi thought he saw a flash of pity on the little girl’s face, but that had to be his imagination.
After dinner, Ruby and the children cleared the table while Gideon took the baby and led the way into the front room. There was a comfortable rocking chair in one corner and a bench along the wall. Gideon sat in the chair, holding the baby against his chest. The little boy’s eyes were closed.
“I can’t stay long,” Levi said, taking a seat on the bench. “Father expects me to finish shocking the wheat before nightfall. I am sorry for the way he acted this morning. He can be obstinate and demanding, but I don’t remember him being so rude before.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gideon said. “Going to see Amos was Abraham’s idea, but I’m not sure I’m ready to be a minister again. Shepherding a flock is not an easy calling.”
Levi studied the planks of the floor. Not too long ago, he had thought the calling to be a minister was the most important thing a man could do. “How is it hard? Father doesn’t seem to think it is.”
Gideon rocked the chair. “Perhaps it isn’t for some men. But I have always felt the weight of the responsibility. Sometimes, that weight nearly cripples me.”
“Shouldn’t the minister rely on the Lord to help him bear that weight?”
The rocking chair slowed. “All I can think of is how the people depend on me, but Abraham recently reminded me that the job isn’t mine alone.”
Levi laced his fingers together and propped his elbows on his knees. “I think that if I were a minister, I wouldn’t think of it as my task at all. Something I read once makes me think that the ministers aren’t the shepherds of the church, but only the helpers. The hired men. Jesus is the Good Shepherd.”
“Abraham said the same thing.” Gideon shifted Daniel to his other shoulder. “But your father doesn’t seem to believe that.”
Gideon’s words dug into Levi. His friend was right. Father didn’t believe that at all. In fact, Levi wasn’t sure what Father believed.
“I hope you are chosen to be our minister,” Levi said. “There is no one else I can think of who would make a better one, unless it was Abraham.”
“What about yourself?”
Levi gazed at the floor between his feet. “There was a time when I was prideful enough to think that was my calling. But now all I want is to do God’s will, whatever it is. I have no ambitions other than his plan.”
“Gelassenheit.”
Levi smiled at Gideon. “Ja. Gelassenheit.”
11
Ruby planned to spend Saturday morning in the woods, looking for the bee tree she had found early last spring. She had cleaned Elizabeth’s washtub and had Gideon’s milk pail to use. The next stop was Anna’s, to borrow another milk pail or two.
Roseanna and Sophia held Ezra’s hands as they went up the slope from the road to Samuel and Anna’s house. The children ran back and forth between the two houses so often that they were wearing a path. As Ruby struggled up the steep hill to Samuel’s house with Daniel in her arms, she tried to imagine how she was going to carry honey out of the woods. Somehow, she would have to find a way to do it.
But once Anna heard her plan, she said, “Leave the children with me today. They can play with William and Dorcas, and you know how much I love taking care of babies.”
She took Daniel from Ruby’s arms and held him close.
Ruby pressed her knuckles into the small of her back. Daniel was almost a year old and getting heavier every day.
“Denki, Anna. Are you sure? It will be more work for you.”
“Just share some of that honey with me, and it will be worth it.” She smiled as she showed Ruby a stack of clean milk pails. “Take as many as you need.”
Ruby took two of the pails. “I had thought of asking Mamm to take care of Daniel today, but I was concerned about the others. Once I start getting the honey, the bees are going to be quite angry. I would hate for them to be stung.”
“Take your time.” Anna shifted Daniel to her other hip. “I’ll put the children to work weeding the garden, and there is a lot to be done.”
Ruby hurried back to Gideon’s house with the two pails. Yesterday, she had borrowed some old clothes from Daed, and now she put them on, tucking her skirts into a pair of baggy trousers and covering her arms with Daed’s long sleeves. She was just putting on an old hat with cheesecloth sewn to the brim when Gideon walked in the kitchen door.
He stared at her.
“I know I look ridiculous,” Ruby said, trying to untangle her fingers from the cheesecloth, “but I don’t want to be stung when I get the honey.”
“You aren’t going alone, are you?”
“Anna wanted to keep the children for the day, so it looks like it will be just me.” She tugged at the cheesecloth, smiling at the thought of a few hours to herself.
Gideon stepped forward and unwound the tangled cloth from her hand. “Would you like some company? I can help carry the honey home.”
Ruby paused, her vision of an afternoon alone in the woods taking flight. But with Gideon along, she wouldn’t have to lug the honey home alone. Besides, he was good company.
“Do you have some old clothes to wear? I have more cheesecloth.”
He put the empty milk pails into the washtub along with the hatchet Ruby had borrowed from Daed. “Bees don’t bother me. I haven’t been stung yet.”
“Never?”
Gideon shook his head. “Either I haven’t been stung or the stings don’t bother me. I don’t remember ever having a problem with them.”
Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Have you ever gotten honey from a bee tree?”
“Does it matter? You just take the honey out of the tree, don’t you?”
“The bees don’t like it.”
He grinned at her. “So, they don’t like it. We’ll leave enough for them to eat through the winter, right?”
Ruby gave up and led the way toward the woods on the west end of Daed’s fields. The ground rose above the valley as Weaver’s Creek turned to the southwest. They followed a small stream that tumbled down the slope toward the larger creek until they reached the top of the ridge. Old growth trees were thick here, even though Daed often harvested firewood from this end of his farm.
“I was here in the early spring with
Daed,” she said, waiting for Gideon to catch up. “He was selecting dead and dying trees to cut down for next year’s firewood, and we found the bee tree then.”
“Are you sure you know where you are?” Gideon looked around them at the surrounding trees.
“For sure.” Ruby pointed to a couple stumps. “Here’s where Daed cut down two of the trees. The bee tree is this way.”
She led the way downhill, toward a narrow spot where the rain ran off toward the west, away from the Weaver’s Creek valley. In the middle of the gorge, a large tree trunk was wedged between some boulders. From the hollow center of the trunk, the constant hum of bees sounded.
Gideon stopped. “Are you sure we can reach that? It must be six feet off the ground.”
“Ja, for sure.” Ruby pointed to another fallen tree below the first one. “If we stand on that, we can chop the hive open and get to the honey.”
Gideon took the hatchet in his hand and climbed onto the lower trunk while Ruby secured the cheesecloth around her neck. He swatted at a bee.
“Are you sure you don’t want some netting around your face?”
He swatted at another bee. “I haven’t done anything yet, but they are still trying to drive me away.”
“They’re only trying to protect their hive.” Ruby called to him over the buzzing. “You have to work quickly.”
Gideon swung the hatchet once. The blade bit into the wood with a solid thud that brought the bees swarming out of the hive. He jumped to the ground, the bees clouding the air around him.
“Get away from the hive, then roll on the ground,” Ruby called. “As long as they think you are a threat to them, they’ll come after you.”
When the bees had quieted down again, Ruby found Gideon sitting on a log at the top of the hill. His arms were propped on his knees, and he glowered at her when she couldn’t stop laughing at the red welts on his cheeks and forehead.
“I should have listened to you when you said they would attack.” He probed his swollen forehead gingerly. “Now I know what you meant.” He rolled up his sleeve to reveal at least a dozen more stings.
“Do you want my help now?” Ruby asked, holding up the cheesecloth.
He frowned at her but let her swathe his head in the gauze. Then she helped him tie the bottoms of his sleeves and trouser legs with some string.
“I’m ready to tackle the bees again,” he said, grinning at her as he settled his hat firmly on his head.
“Remember, they’ll start swarming more quickly this time because they’re on the alert. You have to work fast.”
“I’ll break open the hive, and then we’ll scoop the honey into the buckets, so be ready.”
They went back to the bee tree. The hatchet was still embedded in the wood, and the bees were thick, both in the air and on the trunk.
Gideon pulled on his gloves and climbed up again. He brushed the bees off the hatchet handle and started chopping. In a few blows, he had split the front of the hive off and was ready for the pails. Ruby handed them up to him one by one, emptying the full ones into the washtub until every container was full.
They carried the washtub home between them, leaving the milk pails for a second trip. They set their heavy load on the kitchen table, and Ruby slumped in a chair, breathless.
“I don’t know how I would have carried that by myself,” she said as she took off Daed’s hat and unwound the cheesecloth from her neck.
“You could have asked for help,” Gideon said.
“I don’t ask for help when I don’t need it,” Ruby said, but brushing off his remark wasn’t easy. It clung as tightly as the bees that were tangled in the gauzy fabric in her hand.
Gideon bent to untie the strings from the bottom of his trouser legs. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t need help from time to time. I’m glad I was available today, or you would still be out in the woods, trying to get honey out of that hollow tree.”
“You don’t think I could have done it?”
“I know you could have. You can do pretty much anything you put your mind to. But I would hate to see you hurt, lying out there in the woods somewhere with a twisted ankle or something.”
Ruby started unfastening the shirt she was wearing over her dress. “So now I’m helpless too.”
Her frustration made her fingers fumble and she pulled at the shirt in exasperation. The kitchen was hot, and she was sweltering in the extra clothes. She changed tactics and tried to untie the rope she had used to keep Daed’s old trousers from falling down, but that knot defeated her too.
One snicker from Gideon caused her temper to boil over.
“What is so funny?” She stood up, pulling at the trousers, but they didn’t budge. She stamped her foot on the floor in frustration, an action she regretted when Gideon started laughing harder.
“You. You’re so independent that you would rather broil in that silly outfit than ask for my help.”
She gave him her best glare. When he didn’t notice, she stomped her other foot on the kitchen floor. He only kept laughing. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and tackled the knot again.
“Do you want me to do that?”
Ruby tried to frown at him, but the sight of his face covered in red, blotchy beestings was too much for her. She tried to keep it in, but a giggle escaped and turned into full-blown laughter until she had to sit down again.
“You’re just as stubborn as I am,” she said, her breath coming in gasps. “Your face is full of welts from the bees.” She covered her mouth, trying to control the laughter. “It must hurt terribly.”
“Not really.” Gideon felt the stings again. “They’re beginning to disappear already.” He grinned at her, leaning back in his chair. “But you’re right. We are some pair, aren’t we?”
Ruby dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. “All right. I give up. I’ll let you help me untie this knot.”
Gideon knelt in front of her and tugged at the rope, then started picking at the knot. As he worked, she counted the beestings. Two on his left ear, three on his neck, five on his forehead—
“I’m not pulling too hard, am I?”
He looked into her eyes, inches away. Ruby swallowed. His brown eyes were soft, concerned. His eyelashes were long and dark, gentle curls brushing against his cheeks.
She shook her head. “Is it coming loose?”
“I think I’m going to have to cut it. Is that all right?”
Ruby blinked. His face was so close . . . what would he think if she gave in to the urge to push that stray strand of hair off his forehead? She drew back, away from the temptation.
“Ja, ja, ja. Go ahead and cut it.”
Once the rope was loose, Ruby kicked off the trousers and pulled the shirt over her head, happy to be free of the hot confines of Daed’s old clothes and wearing only her own dress and kapp. Then she went to the sink and splashed her face with cold water, careful not to look in Gideon’s direction.
Her cheeks were hot, but it wasn’t from the warm day. She could only hope that Gideon hadn’t noticed her blushing.
The trip back into the woods to retrieve the rest of the honey was pleasant as Gideon followed Ruby along the trail. The late morning sun was warm, but the trail was in the shade and still cool. They retraced their steps until they reached the spot where they had left the pails by the side of the stream, covered with a length of cheesecloth to keep insects away.
Ruby stopped and pushed some stray curls out of her face. “If you want to walk a little bit farther, I know a place that will give us a good view of the surrounding country. It isn’t far from here, and we’ll be able to feel the breeze.”
Gideon stood with one foot propped on a log and looked around them. “Do you mean up on the ridge?”
“It’s on the south end of the ridge. It’s called Weaver’s Knob, and it’s the highest spot in the township.”
He looked in the direction she pointed and could make out a taller hill through the trees. “For sure, let’s go. We can rest for a b
it up there before we head home again.”
She grinned at him, meeting his eyes for the first time since they left the house. “It’s quite a climb. Are you sure you’re up to it?”
He grinned back. “I’ll get there long before you do.”
Ruby laughed and started out, holding her skirts up to allow her to walk faster. Gideon jogged past her, following a deer trail that led up the ridge.
Something about Ruby brought out a side of him he hadn’t seen since he was a boy in school. Participating in foot races or swimming races, he had experienced the joy of competing against the other boys, and he had missed it. Ruby brought out that same competitiveness and seemed to enjoy it as much as he did. He chuckled as he thought of the look that would be on her face when she finally caught up to him at the top of the hill.
It wasn’t until the trail topped the ridge and started down the other side that Gideon realized his mistake. He stopped, looking down the trail behind him, but Ruby was nowhere in sight. The knob rose to his left, but the trail he had followed went around the narrow hill rather than up it. He should have known a game trail would take the easier route. He would have to retrace his steps until he found the spot where Ruby had turned off and try to catch up with her again.
But before he did, he took a few steps farther along the game trail. Perhaps it would lead to an open spot where he could climb up. The faint path skirted the edge of the knob, and ahead he could see a limestone outcropping rising twenty feet or so above the trail, the western edge of the knob. Just before he reached it, he stopped short at the edge of a clearing.
Someone had been here recently. Bushes had been broken, a few small trees had been cut down. A ring of stones outlined where a campfire had been, and Gideon saw where horses had been tied. At least five men and horses, possibly more.
He froze, his heart pounding, listening for any sound of their presence. Nothing. They had been here, but now they seemed to be gone. But who were they? Keeping a close watch on the underbrush surrounding the clearing, he looked around the fire circle. The ashes were cold, but they hadn’t been rained on. The last rain shower was two days . . . no, three days ago.
