Amish Faith: An Amish Christian Romance

by Sarah Price

  Ruthie needed to be loved.

  Faith was happy to oblige.

  “Come on, Faith!” Rebecca called from the other side of the bedroom door. “We want to see!”

  “No!”

  Rebecca laughed and said something in Pennsylvania Dutch to her brother, James, who was waiting with his sister. When James responded, Faith felt her cheeks flush. They were making fun of her, dressing her up like an Amish girl. She hadn’t wanted to play along but Rebecca had insisted. “You’d make a beautiful Amish girl,” she had said. “I want to see how you’d look, anyway!”

  Now, Faith was sorry she had agreed. They were too old for such games. However, it had started after the haying last summer. When Rebecca’s daed commented about making Faith Amish, Rebecca had begun to tease her about it. Yet, Faith often wondered how much truth was hidden behind her jovial jests. After all, Rebecca had hinted that, if Faith became Amish, she could marry her older brother James and they’d be true sisters.

  They were too young for such talk and silly dreams. But that talk and those dreams lead up to this moment: Faith locked in Rebecca’s room wearing a pink Amish dress with a black apron around her waist and a crisp white prayer kapp covering her hair which was pulled back. Faith didn’t mind showing Rebecca, but James? The color crept to her cheeks at the thought of it.

  “Wie gehts?” another voice said from the other side of the door. Someone else had joined Rebecca and James.

  “Manuel!” Rebecca cried out happily. “You have to stay to see this! We’ve dressed up Faith!”

  James laughed. “I want to see the Mennonite-Amish girl!”

  Faith leaned against the door and shut her eyes. Manuel? The last person she would want to see in such a state. He would think she was a silly little girl, playing dress up with Rebecca.

  She heard Manuel say something in Pennsylvania Dutch to which James laughed again and Rebecca began wiggling the doorknob. “We aren’t leaving until you come out, Faith. Please? You promised!”

  Reluctantly, Faith counted to ten and took a deep breath. If this was what Rebecca wanted, well she was sure going to give it to her friend. Let them laugh at her. Let them think she was silly! Clenching her teeth, she turned around and reached for the doorknob, hesitating before she unlocked it and flung the door open.

  She stood in the doorway, scowling at Rebecca and ignoring the older boys. “There!” she snapped. “Happy now?”

  Silence.

  Instead, they stood there, staring at her. Even Rebecca seemed taken aback. Faith faced them, her mouth pressed shut as she waited for them to burst out laughing at how she looked. However, it was Manuel who spoke first. A single word escaped his lips when he whispered, “Schee.” James raised an eyebrow before lowering his head and backing away from the door. The two older boys quickly disappeared down the staircase into the kitchen but not before Manuel gave her a soft, encouraging smile.

  Faith turned to Rebecca. “Is it that hideous?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “Nee,” she whispered, lowering her eyes.

  “What was that word that Manuel said? What did it mean?” Faith demanded, wanting to know what insulting word had been flung at her.

  “Schee,” Rebecca said, lifting her eyes to look at Faith before she reached for her friend’s hand and gave her a smile of approval. “It means beautiful.”

  The only chore that Faith did not grow to enjoy was the laundry. To Faith, it seemed to be a never ending and thankless task. She found that it was best to do it three times a week rather than twice a week as her mother and most Amish women did. After all, working on a farm was dirty work, from weeding gardens to mucking stalls to chasing cows through the pasture. She began to fall into the routine of washing clothes on Mondays and Fridays while saving sheets and towels for Wednesday.

  “I don’t understand this machine,” she lamented to Anna. “It doesn’t make sense!”

  Anna tried to keep a straight face while Sadie and Benjamin giggled from the floor where they sat, watching the show. “It’s fairly simple, Faith,” Anna explained. “You fill up the one tub with hot water and soap and the other one with just hot water. When you are finished washing in the soap, you rinse in the cold water.”

  Faith sighed and rolled her eyes toward the heavens. “Oh, what would I give for just a touch of electricity!”

  This caused the two younger children to giggle again.

  She scowled at them teasingly. “Go ahead and laugh, you silly gooses. I don’t see you up here scrubbing these clothes!” Then, as if an idea had just struck her, she put her finger to her lips and raised her eyebrows. “Well, if that isn’t the greatest idea! Whoever giggles next at me is going to wash all of these clothes by his or herself!”

  Both of their faces quickly turned into somber expressions and they sat up straight, quietly watching without so much as a smirk on their faces.

  “Ah ha,” Faith said, winking at Anna, who smiled. “I thought so.”

  She was grateful for Anna’s help with the laundry but had been determined to figure it out on her own. After all, her purpose in spending her summer days helping the Petersheim family was to help alleviate the responsibility of the many duties that rested on Anna’s shoulders.

  It was Wednesday and she had decided that she would get the sheets and towels done by herself, without any help from Anna. However, the children lingered around to make certain she was doing it properly. While Faith appreciated their company, their presence made her nervous.

  After filling up the two tubs with water, Faith sprinkled some store bought soap into the one tub. When she turned it on, the noise was overpowering as the water churned the soap and made a sudsy mixture.

  “I don’t think I could ever get used to that,” she mumbled, cringing at the loud noise from the diesel fuel engine. “My word!”

  Mary placed her arm on Faith’s and looked up, their eyes meeting. “You would, Faith. Believe me. It’s not that noisy after you get used to it.”

  There was something of a pleading in Mary’s eyes, a look that requested understanding. Recognizing it, Faith smiled and nodded. “You’re right, Mary. It just will take some time,” she said gently, despite feeling otherwise. “I’m not used to such rumblings and grumblings from a washing machine!” When the two children on the floor giggled, she turned to look at them, pretending to be offended. “What did I just hear? Giggling?”

  Immediately, they sobered and Faith had to hide her own smile, amused at their childish antics. “Nothing,” Sadie said, reaching for Benjamin’s hand. “Nothing at all, Faith.”

  It took her twice as long to wash the sheets and put them through the wringer. But, when she had a basket full of clean sheets, Faith smiled victoriously at her audience. “See? You can achieve anything once you put your mind to it!” she declared.

  Sadie wrinkled her nose, making a face at the comment. “It’s just laundry,” she said drily.

  “That’s where you are wrong,” Faith said, shaking a finger at the little girl. “It was a challenge, something I didn’t want to do, something I didn’t know how to do. But now, I conquered the challenge, I better understand the machine, and I will be able to do it even faster on Friday!”

  Sadie shrugged and leaned over toward Benjamin, whispering, “I still say it’s just laundry.”

  Pretending to scowl at Sadie, Faith swept the basket of damp clothes into her arms and carried it outside, humming as she started to hang the sheets on the clothesline. When she had finished pinning each sheet to the line, she stood back and assessed her work. The sun shone down on the sheets, which waved gently in the summer breeze. With barely any clouds in the sky, she knew that the sheets would be dry in a few hours. She’d be able to fold them and put them away before she left that evening.

  “It’s going to rain,” a voice said behind her.

  Faith turned around, surprised to see Manuel watching her. She wondered how long he had been standing there near the corner of the house, his arms crossed over his chest
and his straw hat in his hand. “Rain?” She looked up into the sky. It was blue with a few clouds near the top of the hill but nothing that indicated rain. “Do you think so?”

  He nodded and pointed toward the sky. “Cumulus clouds. Going to rain later.”

  Raising an eyebrow, she looked back at the hill. Now that he had pointed it out, she saw the white clouds with the flat bottoms. “Oh help,” she muttered. Turning back to Manuel, she asked, “How much time do you think?”

  He shrugged. “Hour or two, I reckon.”

  “Well, at least I have that, I suppose,” she sighed.

  “I suppose,” he said before he slid his straw hat back onto his head and started to walk back toward the barn.

  For the next hour, Faith worked in the kitchen and continued to glance out the window. True to Manuel’s word, the skies began to grow darker to the point that the house grew shadowy. She wandered to the door, peering out the screen door and felt a cool breeze on her face. The air smelled like rain. She noticed Manuel standing near the opened barn door, unknowingly mimicking her as he stared into the grey sky.

  When the first lightning flash lit up the sky, Faith jumped. A few seconds later, a long, low rumble followed.

  “Oh help!” she mumbled and pushed open the screen door, hurrying back onto the porch to begin to pull in the line of drying sheets.

  The drizzle began to fall from the sky as she unpinned the first sheet. Tossing it into the basket with the pins, she pulled the line and reached for the second sheet. To her surprise, she sensed someone behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she bumped into Manuel.

  “Let me help,” he said, reaching for the line and pulling the next sheet off. He moved quickly, wheeling the line and grabbing the pins while she quickly took the sheet. With both of them working at it, it only took a few minutes to rescue the drying sheets before the next lightning flash.

  Manuel picked up the basket and carried it inside for Faith.

  “You were right,” she said.

  “Hmm?” He set the basket on the floor in the washroom. “Oh, the rain. Ja, I reckon I was.”

  He stood there for a moment, staring at her.

  “Thank you for helping me,” she said in order to break the silence.

  He nodded. “Anna and Mary can help you hang them in the grossdaadihaus,” he said.

  By the third lightening flash, Sadie and Benjamin raced down the stairs and collided into Faith. Benjamin wrapped his hands around her legs and Sadie clung to her arm. “Now, now,” she said, kneeling down to hold them. “What’s this about?”

  “It’s a storm!” Benjamin mumbled, his face pressed against her.

  “I know it’s a storm,” she laughed. “But why the fuss?”

  Manuel ran his hand over his face. “Sadie. Benjamin. It’s just a storm.”

  Faith looked up, questioning Manuel with her eyes.

  He lowered his hand and exhaled, exasperated. “They are afraid of storms.”

  Glancing out the open door, Faith studied the sky. In just the past few minutes, it had grown black and the winds had picked up. “Well, it is rather nasty out there,” she said. Turning her attention back to the children, Faith gathered them into her arms and hugged them. “Don’t worry. You’re safe in the house.”

  “Who’s going to milk the cows?” Benjamin asked, his eyes wide and frightened.

  The question surprised her. “Why, your daed, of course!”

  “Then he’ll be outside when he goes to the barn!”

  Ah, she thought. Now I understand. Glancing up at Manuel from where she knelt on the floor, she raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to speak. Say anything, she willed silently, just reassure them.

  The sky lit up again and a sharp crack quickly followed.

  “Mayhaps your daed can stay inside for a spell,” Faith finally offered. “I can make him a nice cup of coffee and you two can count how far away the storm is.”

  Sadie looked at her quizzically. “How do we do that?”

  Standing up, Faith took their hand and led them back into the kitchen. Gideon was napping on the sofa while Mary sat on the chair, crocheting a doily. “Well, whenever you see a flash, you slowly count until you hear the thunder. For every five seconds, that’s one mile,” she explained.

  Anna was walking down the stairs, carrying Ruthie. She overheard what Faith said. “I never heard that before!”

  “It’s true,” Faith affirmed, although not fully convinced as to whether or not this was but a popular myth. But at least she had thought of a way to dispel the children’s fears, she pondered. Gesturing toward the kitchen window, she added “Come. Let’s do it together!” She hoisted the two smaller children so that they could sit on the counter then reached out to take Ruthie from Anna, pausing to nuzzle the baby’s neck. Then, while holding Ruthie, Faith leaned forward and peered outside. The children leaned against her, Sadie resting her hand on Faith’s shoulder.

  Within the next minute, the lightning flash came and, slowly, the four of them counted to six before the thunder could be heard.

  “That’s just over a mile away, then!” Anna exclaimed, excited with this new game.

  “That’s right,” Faith said, smiling at her. “Let’s see who can calculate the next strike!”

  For the next ten minutes, the children stared out the window while Faith put on some water to make Manuel coffee. She rubbed Ruthie’s back while she waited for the kettle to boil and watched Sadie, Benjamin, and Anna peering outside. She glanced over at Gideon, still stretched out on the sofa and oblivious to the excitement in the house. Sweet Mary kept her head bent, working diligently on her crocheting despite the room being so dark. Faith’s heart swelled with love for the children.

  And then she caught sight of Manuel. He hadn’t sat at the table. Instead, he leaned against the doorframe, having watched her with the children as she took charge of their fears, creating a game to divert their attention from what frightened them so. When her eyes met his, he held her gaze for a long moment and Faith caught her breath. In the dark shadows of the room, he seemed to fill the doorway with a larger presence than she remembered seeing before. She couldn’t tell whether he was pleased or not with what she had done, although he seemed to be considering her as he watched her.

  “Coffee, Manuel?” she managed to say.

  “Danke.” His reply was soft and he continued to stare at her.

  Faith handed Ruthie to Anna so that she could prepare a mug of coffee for Manuel. Under his steady eye, she felt nervous moving about the kitchen. She wasn’t used to him being in the house. Normally, he stayed outside, working in the barn or the fields. Having him in the kitchen while she worked was unnerving.

  “Ooo, there’s another one and that sure was bright!” Benjamin cried out.

  “One…two…three…” Sadie counted out loud before the noise stopped her. She glanced at Faith. “That’s closer then, ain’t so?”

  Carrying the mug of coffee, Faith walked over to Manuel. He hadn’t moved from where he stood and continued to follow Faith with his eyes. When she handed him the mug, he seemed to hesitate before reaching out to take it from her. Raising one eyebrow, he gave a simple nod of his head. “Danke, Faith,” he said, his voice low.

  The next lightning strike was immediately followed by a loud crack and Sadie shrieked, covering her ears. Within seconds, more thunder rumbled, low and deep. The windows rattled and Faith felt as if she could feel the reverberation of the thunder within her body. “That sure was close,” she said and walked back to the window, looking outside. “Best step back from the window. Just in case.”

  Sadie and Benjamin scampered off the counter.

  “I saw that lightning bolt,” Benjamin said, the color draining from his face. He turned to look at his father, his eyes wide with fright. “It looked like it went over to the neighbor’s farm!”

  Manuel nodded at his son. “Once the storm passes, we can ride over to make certain everyone’s alright, then.” He sipped at his coffee,
his eyes meeting Faith’s once again. “Anna, you should help Faith hang those sheets over in the grossdaadihaus. They won’t dry proper in the basket.”

  Ten minutes later, when Faith returned with Anna from the small grossdaadihaus, the sky was beginning to lighten again and Manuel was gone from the kitchen. Faith felt a sense of relief that he had left the house and, twenty minutes later, when she heard the horse and buggy rattle down the driveway, she knew that he had gone to check on his neighbors. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he wouldn’t be back for a while. Apparently, Sadie and Benjamin had ridden along with him, too.

  She needed a few minutes to collect her thoughts. Comforting the children had stirred something within her. The fact that they had come to her when they were scared and relied on her to reassure them that nothing would happen had touched her. She also knew that their reaction had not gone unnoticed by Manuel and, based on her own reaction, she knew that it bothered him.

  Over the past few weeks, she had grown attached to the children. Each one had their individual personality. When summer ended, Faith knew that she’d hate to say goodbye. She was enjoying herself much more than she had thought possible, finding happiness in the small things such as leaving fresh cut flowers on the table before she left in the evening or seeing Anna’s smile in the morning when she arrived. The conversations that the children engaged in during the day often brought a smile to her face. And Ruthie…

  Faith’s heart broke when she thought of leaving Ruthie at the end of the summer. In just a few months, the baby would begin sitting up and then crawling. One day she would stand and take her first, wobbly steps. Faith knew that she couldn’t be there to see those milestones and the realization that she would miss them brought tears to her eyes.