The Hope Chest

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  Rebekah shook her head. “Silas did take Anna home from a singing awhile back, but from what I’ve been told, there’s nothing more to it. Of course, that’s not to say that Silas wouldn’t like for there to be more. Me either, for that matter.”

  “Silas seems like a nice enough fellow. I would think Anna would be anxious for him to come calling.”

  “My eldest daughter’s not acting like herself these days.” Rebekah lowered her voice some. “Fact is, I’m kind of worried about all three of my oldest kinner.”

  Mary Ellen’s eyebrows lifted high on her forehead. “How come you’re worried?”

  “Well, Anna’s been saying things to rile her daed, like how come he doesn’t want to put in a phone at the greenhouse and maybe he should modernize some.”

  “Maybe she thinks you’d have more customers if you had a phone.”

  “That could be, but the fact that she won’t let Silas court her when they’ve been friends since they were little makes me wonder if she’s got her eye on someone else, or maybe she’s just feeling discontent with things.”

  “Why would she be discontent? She joined the church last fall, so I would think she’d be all settled in by now.”

  “I can’t really say what’s going on with her.” Rebekah shrugged. “Maybe it’s just my imagination, or maybe it’s some kind of phase she’s going through. I’m hoping it will pass real soon.”

  “You said all three of your oldest have you worried. What’s going on with Joseph and Rachel?”

  Rebekah’s voice lowered another notch. “Joseph is carrying a torch for Pauline Hostetler, and he hasn’t got the courage to tell her that he cares. That’s made him kind of moody lately.”

  “I see. And Rachel? What’s her problem?”

  “I’m not sure about Rachel. She’s been acting strange for some time, kind of like a young woman in love, only she doesn’t have a boyfriend, so I know that’s not the case.”

  Mary Ellen bent her head and kissed the top of Amanda’s head. “If they could only stay sweet and innocent like this little girl, we grandmothers wouldn’t have so much to worry about.”

  Rebekah chuckled. “Jah, but knowing us, we’d find something else to fret over.”

  ***

  Rachel and her family had begun packing up to leave the Yoders’ place, when she noticed Silas had Anna cornered next to his courting buggy. Her sister didn’t look any too happy, and Rachel couldn’t help but wonder what was being said. She inched a bit closer, hoping to catch a word or two. Eavesdropping had become a habit, it seemed, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Besides, it wasn’t like she was doing it on purpose. People just seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  “I think it would be best if you’d forget about me,” she heard Anna say. “You really should find someone better suited to you.”

  Silas shuffled his feet a few times, turning his hat over and over in his hands. “Don’t rightly think there’s anyone better suited to me, Anna.”

  “If you think about it, you’ll realize that we don’t have much in common. Never have, really.” Anna shrugged. “On the other hand, I know who would be just right for you.”

  Me ... me ... Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, waiting to hear Silas’s next words.

  “Who might that be?”

  “Rachel.”

  “Don’t start with that again, Anna.”

  Rachel’s eyes snapped open. She had to give up this silly game of bouncing back and forth from hope to despair. It only proved her immaturity, which was exactly why Silas saw her as a mere child.

  “She likes a lot of the same things you like, Silas. Besides, I think she’s crazy about you.” Anna nodded toward her family’s buggy, where Rachel stood, dumbfounded and unable to move. She would probably never be able to look Silas in the face again.

  Silas didn’t seem to notice Rachel, for he was looking right at Anna. “As I’ve said before, Rachel’s not much more than a kinner. I need someone who’s mature enough for marriage and ready to settle down.”

  “Rachel is eighteen, soon to be nineteen,” Anna said. “Give her a few more months, and she’ll be about the right age for marrying.”

  “But it’s you I love, Anna.” Silas’s tone was pleading, and if Rachel hadn’t been so angry at her sister for embarrassing her that way, she might have felt pity for the man she loved.

  “Rachel, are you getting in or not?” Dad’s deep voice jerked Rachel around to face him.

  “What about Anna? She’s still talking to Silas over by his buggy.” Rachel pointed in that direction, but Dad merely grabbed up the reins.

  “I’m sure Silas will see that Anna gets home,” Mom put in. “After all, you did mention that he’s sweet on her.”

  Rachel’s throat ached from holding back tears, and she reached up to massage her throbbing temples. Silas thought she was just a child, and he was in love with Anna. At the rate things were going, she might never get to use the things she’d put in her hope chest. She glanced Silas’s way one last time, then hopped into the buggy and took her seat at the rear.

  Joseph glanced over at her. “Why are you lookin’ so down in the mouth?”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “I’ll bet she’ll tell me. I’m a girl, and girls only share their deepest secrets with another girl. Isn’t that right, sister?”

  Before Rachel could answer Elizabeth’s question, Perry put in his two cents’ worth. “Aw, Rachel’s probably got a bee in her kapp ’cause she don’t have a steady boyfriend yet. She’s most likely jealous of Anna gettin’ to ride home with Silas.” He gave Rachel an impish smile. “That’s it, huh? You’re green with envy, right?”

  “Leave Rachel alone,” Mom called from her seat at the front of the buggy. “If she wants to talk about whatever’s bothering her, she will. Now, let’s see how quiet we can make the rest of this ride home.”

  ***

  As Anna pressed her body against Silas’s buggy, she felt like a mouse cornered in the barn by a hungry cat. Couldn’t Silas just accept the fact that she didn’t love him? Why did he keep going after her like this? If only she felt free to tell him what was on her mind. If she could just reveal her secret...

  “So, what do you have to say, Anna? Can I give you a ride home so we can talk some things through?”

  Silas’s pleading voice pulled Anna’s thoughts aside, and she gritted her teeth. “Danki for the offer, but I think I’ll just walk home today.”

  His eyes widened. “On a hot day like this, you want to walk all the way home when I’m offering you a ride in my open buggy?”

  She nodded. “There’s really nothing more for us to say, so I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone.”

  Silas pulled back as if he’d been slapped, and his face turned bright red.

  Anna hated being rude, but Silas obviously didn’t want to take no for answer, and speaking so bluntly seemed to be the only way she could get through to him. “I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, Silas, but it wouldn’t be right for me to lead you along when I know we can’t have a future together.”

  “We could have if you’d give it half a chance.”

  “Sorry, but I can’t do that.”

  “Why’d you accept a ride home in my buggy after the last singing then?”

  Anna swallowed hard. How could she offer an answer to that without revealing her secret? “I probably shouldn’t have accepted that ride, and I’m sorry if you got the impression that it meant anything more than just a friendly ride home.” Anna stepped away from Silas’s buggy and darted off before he had a chance to respond. She had to get away now before she ended up telling him the truth.

  CHAPTER 5

  The following day, Rachel felt more fretful than ever. She’d hardly said more than two words to anyone all morning and was sorely tempted to tell Anna that she had overheard some of her conversation with Silas yesterday. In fact, she was working up her courage and praying for the right words as she hung a bat
ch of laundry on the line.

  When Anna came out of the greenhouse and headed in Rachel’s direction, she decided this was as good a time as any. Rachel waved and called for her sister to come on over. Anna merely gave a little nod and kept walking toward the barn. A short time later, she emerged with one of the driving horses, then began to hitch the mare to the buggy parked nearby.

  Rachel dropped one of Perry’s shirts into the wicker basket, but before she could move to intercept Anna, their mother called, “Where are you going?”

  “I’ve got to run some errands in town,” Anna explained. “Then I may stop by and see Martha Rose for a bit.”

  “You be careful now,” Mom called. She sat on the front porch in her wheelchair, shelling peas into a large ceramic bowl sitting in her lap.

  “I will,” Anna hollered, as she stepped into the buggy.

  “And don’t be out too late, neither. There was a bad accident last week along the main highway. It was getting dark, and the driver of the car didn’t see the Amish carriage in time.”

  “I’ll be careful, Mom.” Anna flicked the reins, and the horse and buggy were soon out of sight.

  Rachel walked back to the wicker basket, bent down, and snatched a pair of Dad’s trousers. “Guess I’ll have to catch Anna later on,” she mumbled.

  “Rachel!”

  “Jah, Mom?”

  “When you’re done with the laundry, I’d like you to go over to the greenhouse and help your daed awhile. I’ve got several things here at the house needing to be done, so it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to work out there today.”

  “What about Anna? She’s the one who likes working with flowers.”

  “She’s running some errands in Paradise.”

  Rachel already knew that. What she didn’t know was why. Couldn’t she have gone to town so Anna could have kept working in the greenhouse? Life wasn’t always fair, but she knew there was no point in arguing, so she cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, “Okay, Mom! I’ll go over to the greenhouse as soon as I’m finished here.”

  ***

  Silas’s morning chores were done, but he had a few errands to run for his dad. He decided this would be a good time to stop by the Beachys’ greenhouse and have a little talk with Anna. Maybe he’d even buy Mom a new indoor plant or something she could plant in her flower garden. That would give him a good excuse for stopping at Grandma’s Place, and it might keep Anna from suspecting the real reason for his visit.

  Half an hour later, Silas stepped inside the greenhouse and was surprised to see Rachel sitting behind the counter, writing something on a tablet. “Guder mariye,” he said, offering her a smile. “Is Anna about?”

  “Nope. Just me and my daed are here today.” She motioned toward the back room. “He’s repotting some African violets that have outgrown their containers.”

  Silas’s smile turned upside down. “I thought Anna usually worked in the greenhouse. She isn’t sick, I hope.”

  Rachel tapped her pencil along the edge of the counter. “She went to Paradise. Had some errands to run.”

  Silas scratched the back of his head. “Hmm ... guess maybe I can try to catch up with her there. I have some errands to run today, too.” He turned toward the door, all thoughts of buying a plant forgotten. If he hurried, he might make it to Paradise in time to find Anna. The town wasn’t so big, so if she was still running errands, he was bound to spot her. “Have a nice day. See you later, Rachel.”

  ***

  Anna ... Anna ... Anna ... Rachel gripped her pencil so hard, her knuckles turned white. Was getting Anna to agree to court him all Silas ever thought about? He hadn’t bothered to ask how Rachel was doing or even make any small talk about the weather.

  “I heard the bell ring above the door,” Dad said as he entered the room. “Did we have a customer?”

  Rachel was about to answer when she felt a sneeze coming on. She grabbed a tissue from the box under the counter, leaned her head back, and let out a big ker-choo!

  “ Got segen eich—God bless you.”

  “Danki.”

  “You’re not coming down with a summer cold, I hope.” Dad’s forehead wrinkled, and he looked at Rachel with obvious concern.

  She shook her head. “I think I’m allergic to all these flowers. I do okay with the ones growing outside, but being cooped up with ’em in here is a whole different matter.”

  “Guess working in the greenhouse isn’t exactly your idea of fun, huh?”

  She turned her head away as she felt another sneeze coming on. “Ker-choo!” She held her finger under her nose. “Truth is, I would rather be outside.”

  “How come the doorbell jingled and we have no customers?” Dad asked, making no mention of her preference.

  “It was Silas Swartley. He was looking for Anna, and when I told him she was running errands in Paradise, he hightailed it right out of here.”

  Dad chuckled. “Love is in the air. There’s no doubt about it.”

  Rachel nibbled on the end of her pencil, remembering the way Silas always looked whenever he spoke of her sister. It made her sick to her stomach, knowing he was so sweet on Anna when she didn’t love him in return.

  Dad grinned like an old hound dog that had just been given a bone. “Someday your time will come, Rachel. Just be patient and have the hope that God will send the right man your way.”

  “I’m hoping,” she mumbled. “Hoping and praying for a miracle.”

  ***

  By the time Silas had reached the town of Paradise, his horse was breathing heavy, and the poor animal’s sides were lathered up pretty good. Silas knew he shouldn’t have made the gelding trot all the way there, but he’d been in such a hurry to see if he could find Anna that he hadn’t thought about what he was doing to his horse.

  He pulled up to the back of the variety store and secured the horse to the hitching rail that had been put there for Amish buggies. “Sorry about making you run so much,” he said, as he rubbed the horse’s flanks with a rag he’d taken from the back of the buggy. “I’ll get you a bucket of water, and then you can rest while I go inside and see if there’s any sign of Anna.”

  Silas took care of his horse first thing. Then he hurried into the store. After checking every aisle and asking both of the women who worked in the store if they’d seen Anna Beachy, he realized that Anna wasn’t in the store, nor had she been there any time today.

  “Guess I’ll have to check somewhere else,” he mumbled as he climbed back in his buggy. “She couldn’t have left town already.”

  For the next hour, Silas drove around Paradise, checking inside every store and asking all the clerks if they had seen Anna. Not one person remembered seeing her, and Silas thought it was more than a bit strange. If she had really come to town to run some errands, then surely he would have spotted her by now, or at least someone would have remembered seeing her come into their store. Maybe Anna had changed her mind about going to Paradise and had gone to one of the other small towns in the area to do her shopping.

  Silas knew it would take too long for him to travel from town to town looking for Anna, and he’d probably miss her anyway. Finally, with an exasperated groan, he took his seat in the buggy again and gathered up the reins. “There’s no hurry getting home,” he mumbled. “So I may as well let my horse walk all the way.”

  ***

  It was after nine o’clock, and the sun had nearly set, yet Anna still hadn’t returned home. Dad and Mom sat on the front porch, talking about their workday, while Rachel kept Elizabeth entertained with a game of checkers she’d set on the little table at one end of the porch. Joseph and Perry were out in the barn, grooming the horses and cleaning Joseph’s courting buggy.

  Rachel had just crowned her last king and was about to ask her little sister if she wanted to give up the game and have another piece of funny-cake pie their Mennonite neighbor had given them earlier that day, when a horse and buggy came up the graveled drive. It was Anna, and before she even got the ho
rse reined in, Dad was on his feet.

  “Why are you so late, daughter?” He ran toward the buggy, shaking his finger all the way. “You sure couldn’t have been running errands all this time.”

  The porch was bathed in light from several kerosene lamps that had been set out, but the night sky was almost dark. Rachel knew Anna wasn’t supposed to be out alone after the sun went down because of the risk of an accident, even with the battery-operated lights on their buggy.

  Rachel peered across the yard and strained to hear what Anna and their father were saying. Sure hope that sister of mine hasn’t done anything foolish. An unsettled feeling slid through Rachel as she watched Anna step down from the buggy.

  “Your mamm and I were gettin’ worried,” Dad’s deep voice announced.

  Mom coasted down the wheelchair ramp. “Oh, thank the Lord! I’m so glad to see you’re safe.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t realize it was getting so late,” Anna apologized.

  “Well, you’re home now, and that’s what counts. We can talk about where you’ve been all this time after I get the horse and buggy put away.” Dad quickly unhitched the mare and led her off toward the barn.

  “Anna, where’s your apron and head covering?” Mom asked, as Anna stepped in front of the wheelchair.

  Rachel studied her sister closely. Sure enough, Anna wasn’t wearing anything on her head, and the black cape and apron she’d been wearing over her dark blue cotton dress when she’d left home were off, too. No cape. No apron. No head covering. What in the world was that girl thinking?

  Anna reached up to touch the top of her head. “I ... uh ... guess I must have left my kapp someplace.”

  Elizabeth stepped off the porch. “That makes no sense, sister. How could you have left your kapp anywhere when it’s supposed to be on your head?”

  Anna shot Elizabeth a look that could have stopped the old key-wound clock in the parlor, but she pushed past her little sister and stepped onto the porch without any comeback at all.