by Jan Drexler
Pausing before taking the final step out of the kitchen, he tried one more time.
“I’ll be heading over to Deacon Beachey’s as soon as the chores are done. Do you want to come with me?”
“Ja, I would like to.” Her voice was tight with strain. “I’ll have to ask Annie if she can spare me, though.”
“That’s good.” In his relief, he slipped back into English. “That’s real good. I’d like to have you with me.”
Her shoulders relaxed and she glanced over her shoulder. “And I’d like to be there with you.” Then she smiled at him.
He whistled as he grabbed Eli’s other hand and swung him down the steps to the ground. Giggling, the boy ran ahead toward the barn and Guy ran after him, catching him just as he stumbled on the rough ground and swinging him around.
Clutching Eli close again, Guy covered the rest of their path to the barn like a galloping horse, making the boy laugh with every jolt.
Even if it took David months to recover from his fall, and even if nothing else right ever happened again, Judith’s smile would see him through.
* * *
Later that morning, Judith peeled potatoes and carrots in Sarai Beachey’s kitchen, preparing them to go into the chicken pie Ruthy and Waneta Zook were making. Judith hadn’t gotten to know Waneta’s stepmother well yet, but as they worked together, Judith appreciated her quick smile and her willingness to work while Sarai took a much-needed rest.
“We are so thankful that David is doing better today,” Ruthy said. She boned the stewed chicken faster than Judith had ever seen anyone do that task.
“Do you know if he’ll be able to go home soon?” Judith put the diced vegetables into a pot to cook before she added them to the pie filling.
“The doctor said that once he sets the broken leg and puts a splint on the hip, he will be able to be moved.” Ruthy strained the broth from the stewed chicken. “It’s good that the Mast farm is a short distance. The move will be hard on him, as it is, but they won’t try it for a few more days.”
Waneta looked up from the piecrust. “He won’t be able to work on his farm, though, will he?”
Ruthy shook her head. “Only God knows when he will be recovered enough to work again.”
“It’s a good thing he has Guy to help him, isn’t it?” Waneta eased the crust into the large baking pan. They were expecting to feed more than twelve people for the noon meal with all the neighbors who had come to visit David and help collect the sap and boil it off. “If it was only David and Verna on that farm, they would have a hard time of it.”
Judith dumped the potato and carrot peelings into the slop bucket. “But the church will help, won’t it? I heard the men talking about a work day to get the crops planted.”
Ruthy nodded. “There are still the day-to-day chores that need to be done, though. That responsibility is too much for Verna, so Waneta is right. Having Guy around to help is wonderful-gut.”
With this talk of Guy, Judith’s stomach took a turn. Just when she thought their friendship was growing into something more, he had to prove himself just as infuriating as any man could be. He had let her make a fool of herself this morning as she talked on and on about baby Maggie Ruth and Bram’s growing family. Why she had smiled at him as he had taken Eli to see the horses, she had no idea. Just because he’d said he wanted her to come to Elam and Sarai’s with him? That one kind offer wasn’t enough to make her forgive him for ignoring her, even if he had made Eli happy with the trip to the barnyard.
While Ruthy took the dishpan off the wall and started filling it, Judith decided to start a batch of gingerbread for dessert. The soft cake would be a welcome end to their meal. As she looked through the cupboards to make sure all the ingredients were on hand, Waneta joined her.
“What kind of cake are you planning to make?”
“I thought gingerbread would be good. The molasses will make it sweet, but I can’t find any ginger.”
Waneta opened another cupboard. “Here are the spices.” She picked up one of the small cans and read the label. “Cream of Tartar.” She looked at each of the containers, one by one. “Does Guy like gingerbread?”
Judith fetched the can of lard from the cupboard next to the sink. “I’m not sure if I care if he likes it or not.”
Waneta found the ginger and set it on the counter next to the mixing bowl. “Why not? I thought you were good friends.”
She kept her voice low, and Judith was glad. Guy was in the next room with Verna and David, and she didn’t want him to suspect that they were talking about him.
“We are. I mean, we were.” Judith broke some eggs into a small bowl and whisked them with a fork. “But this morning I was telling him about spending yesterday at Ellie and Bram’s, and he didn’t listen to me at all.”
“Reuben will do that, too. I think he just doesn’t hear me sometimes.”
Ruthy shaved soap flakes into the dishwater and swirled them around with her hand, waiting for them to dissolve. “You need to be patient with Guy. David’s accident is a shock for everyone, but for him and Verna most of all.”
“That’s right,” Waneta said, scooping the lard into the mixing bowl. “He has a lot on his mind. You’ll learn to gauge his moods and know when he’s ready to listen and when he isn’t.”
The whisking fork slowed in Judith’s hand. Gauge his moods? That’s how Mamm had lived with Daed all those years, and how she and Esther had treated Samuel after their parents were gone. Every day they had tiptoed around their brother, not knowing what kind of mood he was in or how he would treat them. If that was what living with a man was like, then it wasn’t for her.
A soft knock at the back door drew her attention. Levi Zook stood in the doorway, his hat in his hand and a shy smile on his face. “Ruthy, I’m going over to David’s with Guy, Bram and Matthew to see what needs to be done on the farm.”
As Ruthy dried her hands, Judith happened to see the glance that passed between her and her husband. A private look. A loving look. No tiptoeing around Levi’s feelings. It was the same look she had seen pass between Bram and Ellie after Maggie Ruth’s birth and the same look she saw often when Matthew and Annie were together. Many words were held within those looks. Private words that only the couple understood.
Perhaps her family’s example wasn’t the way all couples lived. After all, she had seen those same private looks pass between Samuel and Mary since they got married last year.
Maybe gauging a man’s moods had less to do with avoiding his anger and more to do with knowing how to make him happy.
Levi stepped into the doorway of the bedroom where David was and said something to Guy. As the two men headed out the door, Guy glanced at Judith. His face was hopeful, his eyebrows raised. Waiting. Apologizing? She smiled and he broke into a grin before he followed Levi out the door. She turned back to her work. If she remembered right, Guy had said he liked anything sweet—and especially gingerbread.
* * *
Guy followed Levi out of Deacon Beachey’s house with a light step. David seemed to be recovering, and Judith had smiled at him. Twice. It seemed that whatever he had done to put her off had been forgiven.
Matthew drove the four men to David’s. As they rode, Matthew talked about the work that needed to be done.
“Has David started his plowing, yet?”
Guy shook his head. “We were going to start this week.”
“That will be the first thing, then.” Matthew turned the horse north at the intersection.
“Does he have his seed?” Bram asked. “Do you know what his plans were?”
“He said something about planting sorghum in the lower field and buckwheat in the field next to the pasture. The upper fields, between the house and the road, are being planted to corn this year.”
“What about the mint fields?”
Guy whooshed out a
sigh. The mint fields along the creek bottom at the back of the farm were a mystery to him. “That’s part of the farm I know nothing about. I know we cut the mint last August, but I don’t know if he does anything with the crop in the spring.”
Last spring, he had still lived at the Home and only worked for David a couple of days a week. It wasn’t until after his eighteenth birthday in May that he had left the Home and David had hired him on as a farm hand. In the ten months since then, he had begun to feel the rhythm of farm life, but this was his first spring to work with David full-time. He wasn’t ready to step into the older man’s shoes, that was for sure and certain.
Matthew let out a thoughtful grunt. “I remember David saying something about checking out the fields after the spring rains. Last year he had to replant some of the areas along the creek bank. We’ll have to keep that in mind once May comes.”
“You don’t think he’ll be able to work by then?” Guy looked from one man to another, but none of them met his eyes.
Bram cleared his throat. “David is suffering quite a bit, and the broken bones will keep him laid up for a long time. If he recovers—”
“If?”
“You heard what the doctor said, that his hip is broken.”
“But broken bones mend, don’t they?”
Bram rubbed his knee with one thumb, not looking at Guy. “Ja, for sure they mend, but David is an old man, and he may not be able to work again.”
Guy stared at the fields they passed, but didn’t see them. David not able to work? The man had always been the first to the barn in the morning, the first to get to work when Guy was lagging behind. When the doctor said David would survive, Guy had never thought that he wouldn’t be able to get back to normal.
They rode in silence until Matthew turned into the farm lane. The barn rose ahead of them, on the right, and the house was on the left. Guy’s throat closed as he looked at them, strong and steady. Well cared for. And his responsibility. Could he run the farm without David? He was just a kid. At least, he felt that way. He didn’t have what it took to run a big farm like this. Especially not to David’s standards.
As they got out of the buggy, the other men surveyed the neat barnyard and well-kept grass lawn around the house.
Levi clapped him on the shoulder. “It looks like you’re caring for things the way David would want you to.”
Guy noticed a loose screw on the door to the milking parlor and the chicken house that David had wanted him to whitewash this week. The others might not have noticed those details, but David would have. “I don’t think I would ever keep this place going the way David does.”
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Bram said as he led the way into the barn. “You have the church to help out.”
Inside the granary, Guy showed the others where David had stored his seed for the planting season. The lead-lined bins were clean and free from vermin.
“The plow and harrow are all set for the spring.” Guy led the way into the machine shed across from the granary where the equipment stood ready, the metal plowshares glowing in the dim light.
“It looks like all you need is a dry day like today,” Levi said, leaning down to test the edge of the plow.
“We should be ready. David and I have been cleaning and sharpening the equipment all winter.” Remembering the hours he had spent with a whetstone brought tears to Guy’s eyes. David had leaned over him, showing him the right angle to hold the stone, the right pressure to wield to hone the perfect edge.
“I know the harnesses don’t need any work,” Matthew said, interrupting Guy’s thoughts. “David always keeps them in fine shape.”
The men wandered out into the barnyard again, and Levi walked over to the empty field between the house and the road, on the north side of the long farm lane. The snow from last week’s storm had melted in the warm spring weather they had had since then.
“What is he doing?” Guy asked.
“Checking the soil,” Bram said. “That’s one thing I’ve had to learn as I’ve begun farming on my own. Hezekiah taught me what to look for, but I don’t quite have the knack yet. Someone who’s been farming for years just knows when the soil is right. It needs to be dry enough to plow, but not so dry that the wind will draw all of the moisture out of the soil when you turn it.”
Matthew looked up into the sky. “Doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any rain the next few days. The high pressure seems to be holding.”
Guy gazed up into the clear blue sky. He didn’t see anything.
“Now I know you’re all pulling my leg. You can’t tell what the weather is going to do any more than Levi can feel when the soil is ready. You make it sound like farming is full of old wives’ tales and old timers’ signs.” He grinned, waiting for them to laugh at the joke.
Bram grinned, but no one laughed. “It might seem that way, but where do you think the signs and tales came from? Experience is what a farmer relies on, and if you’re smart, you’ll pay attention and learn for yourself.”
Guy stepped closer to Matthew. “So, tell me how you know it won’t rain tomorrow.”
The shorter man leaned back on his heels, his eyes on the trees rising behind his house across the road. “Look over there at the tree tops and tell me which way the wind is blowing.”
The breeze was light enough that Guy couldn’t feel it on the ground, but the ends of the branches swayed slightly against the sky. “They’re hardly moving, but I’d guess the wind is from the northwest?”
Matthew nodded. “And after the snow went through over the weekend, the wind was from the northeast.”
“And cold,” Guy said.
“Today it’s turned to the northwest, which means fair weather ahead. When the wind turns to the south, you can expect a storm, or at least rainfall.” He turned to Guy. “A wise farmer keeps track of the weather. Makes notes on the calendar or in a journal. The direction and strength of the wind, the amount of rain. Some even have a barometer and keep track of the air pressure. When the barometer goes down, you know rain is coming.”
As Matthew, Levi and Bram discussed the best time to start plowing David’s land, Guy hung back. A heavy weight pressed on his shoulders and his stomach soured. Why hadn’t he paid more attention when David went on endlessly about soil and manure and seeds and hours of sunlight? With one misstep, David was laid up and now the responsibility of the farm fell on Guy.
He took a step back from the others, but they didn’t notice. Panic sent a bitter taste to his mouth. He swallowed. What could he do? He couldn’t stay here. He would mess things up, everyone would see that he didn’t know what he was doing and...worst of all... David would know how inept he really was.
“Guy!”
He focused on Matthew, who was gesturing to him.
“Come over here. We need to make plans.”
What had Bram said? Guy wiped the back of his neck with one hand. He wasn’t alone in this. The church would help. That community that David had talked about the day he made the three-legged stool.
The weight lifted a bit as he joined the others.
Chapter Ten
On Wednesday, after her chores were done, Judith took Eli to the Masts’ to help Guy ready the house for David’s return home on Thursday. The doctor had given Guy and Verna a list of changes that needed to be made for David’s comfort, including moving a bed into the front room. And after living as a bachelor for nearly a week, Judith knew Guy would need help with household chores before Verna came home.
Judith let Eli run down the lane to the Masts’ house in front of her. He stopped every few feet, bending over to pick another dandelion growing in the fresh, green grass alongside the buggy tracks, then took off again, running in his stiff-legged, toddler way. When he had gathered three or four of the yellow flowers, he came running back to her.
“Die Blumm.” Eli opened his st
icky fist and held them up to her. “Blumm.”
“Denki, Eli. The flowers are beautiful.”
He grinned and ran off again, stopping to pick another flower every few steps. By the time they reached the Masts’ back porch, her hands were full of dandelion blossoms.
Guy must have seen them coming. He opened the door and stepped out just as Judith was laying the mass of yellow flowers on the back step.
“Verna will be glad to see those,” he said. Catching Eli in a hug, he sat on the top step with the little boy on his knee. “She loves dandelion tea. I’ve heard her talking of it often.”
“I think Eli has picked enough flowers for a dozen cups of tea.” Judith sat on the step next to him. “And I see you’ve been practicing your Deitsch. You only used two Englisch words in that sentence.”
Guy held up one of the flowers. “What are these called, then? I only know them as dandelions.”
“I’ve heard them called a couple different things, but I’ve always called them pusteblumm. Because when they turn white, you puff on them to scatter the seeds.”
“I get it.” He twirled the stem, switching to Englisch. “Puff flowers. I can just see you as a little girl, picking all the white balls and blowing the seeds everywhere.”
“My sister Esther calls them buddah blummen.” She held one of the flowers under her chin. “Because if you see yellow on your chin when you hold the flower like this, that means you like butter.”
“So, butter flowers.” Guy grinned. “I can tell you like butter.”
Judith snatched the flower away from her face, knowing from the heat in her cheeks that she was blushing. “What do you call them?”
He made a face. “Weeds. The headmaster at the Home wanted the grass in the lawn to be without any weeds, so one of our chores was to dig up the dandelion plants every spring.”
“I’ve never heard of someone wanting to get rid of them. The flowers are good for tea, and the leaves are yummy greens cooked with bacon and vinegar, and the roots are good for medicine.”
