Now, as she passed by the garden, the chirping voices of young boys caught her attention. Levi was playing with his new companion, Sam King, whom Jonah had brought to the house a few times. She slowed to watch their game.
“Look at this one!” Levi pointed to a weed that was half as tall as he was.
“That’s a big one,” Sam agreed. “Should I give it a pull and see what happens?” He held up his hands, which looked tiny under the large garden gloves he was using.
“Go on and try it,” Levi said, stepping back to give him room.
Sam clasped the fat weed in his gloved hands. There was much show of grunting and pulling, but with some effort he pulled it out.
“Gut,” Levi said. “We’ll get a good price on that at the market.”
“What are you talking about?” Annie said under her breath, amused.
Just then Jonah appeared around the side of the garden shed. “So … you see that I’ve put the weed pickers to work.”
“I see that.” Annie put her basket of eggs on the ground, glad to see Jonah. Now that they were past the awkwardness, she always felt happy to see him. There was something about having him around that reassured her; it warmed her to know that, sure as the sun would rise each morning, Jonah would appear at their farm, ready to lend a hand. With all the changes in her world, Jonah was steadfast and reliable. Solid as a rock.
“Who would think weeding the garden could be so much fun?” Jonah said.
She smiled. “You have a knack for making work fun for them.” Every time Sam came to visit, both boys became captivated with chores and games.
“Nay, it’s not me.” He pointed a finger to his head. “They use their imaginations—and they make everything a game. Right now they’re collecting weeds for the compost pile, but in the game, they pretend to bring them to the farmers’ market to sell their wares. Thistle salesmen.”
Annie laughed. “Thistle salesmen? And who will buy their weeds?”
One side of Jonah’s mouth lifted in a subtle grin. “Imaginary customers, of course.”
“They’re very creative. It’s all good experience for when they want to sell in the market,” she said. “But if they could find a real market for weeds, now, that I’d like to know about.”
“I’ll get them working on it,” Jonah teased. “Just as soon as we weed the garden and feed the horses.”
“You get a lot done in one day, Jonah. I don’t know what Dat would do without you.”
“He’d find some other young Amish man to help him out,” he said quietly.
“But none of them would make the chores go as fast as you do. I always tried to make work a joy when I was younger. The things I would do to get Hannah to stop being grumpy about chores! Singing to the cows and giving her little tastes of treats we baked.” She laughed at the memory of Hannah’s sour expression. “She was a hard one to please. She never quite took to farm chores.”
“Is that why she usually goes into town to work at the tea shop?”
“I reckon the tea shop suits her better.” She picked up her basket of eggs, though she was reluctant to end the conversation. “Did you always take a shine to farm work?”
“Ya. I never thought to do anything else. There are some, like Adam or Sadie, who look for their heart’s desire down the road. Me, I did some looking but I never went too far. The farm, my family …” He shrugged. “It’s a good fit. I always knew I would stay here in Halfway.”
“I always thought I would, too.” The words were out before she realized how much they revealed. Ya, she’d been concerned about leaving home, but she still stood by her decision. “I mean, I would have liked to stay, but now my mind’s made up, and all the plans are made. I got a letter from Sarah last week, and she’s found me a place. There’s a family in the district in need of help. The mamm is expecting and she needs to rest till her baby is born. I’ll stay with them and mind their three small children.” She glanced over at Sam and Levi, who were now pushing a wheelbarrow of weeds over to the compost heap. “That’s what I do best—taking care of the little ones.”
“You have a gift for it.” It was no flowery compliment; he said it as a fact, and it made her heart glad that he saw her so clearly.
She glanced toward the house. “I’d better get back. Mamm wants these eggs for a dish she’s making.” Though she longed to linger and watch the little boys. There was also the temptation to stay and talk with Jonah, who made work a joy for her, too. Whether milking, shoveling, or grooming, he always managed a conversation that took her mind off the task. Such a talker he was when you got to know him! Hardly the Quiet One. Yesterday they had spent the afternoon together in the stables, tending to the horses. Normally, the process of scraping dung and clumps of mud from two dozen hooves was a task she dreaded, but Jonah’s knowledge of the horses and his dry sense of humor had made the afternoon pass like the wind.
“And I’d better get these gardeners the tools they need.” Jonah ducked into the shed and reappeared with two small spades. “Try these, boys. For the really deep weeds, you can dig down around the roots. Just don’t disturb the sweet potatoes.”
The boys let out a squeal of delight and came running toward Jonah. Glancing back at them on her way to the house, Annie smiled. He was good with the little ones, too, and that was a good thing for young Sam, who would grow up without a father.
At least he would always have Jonah.
Over in the garden, Jonah was lifting the boys into the wheelbarrow for a ride. Ya, he would always have his big brother.
That afternoon Annie was taking clothes down from the line, moving fast to stay ahead of the approaching storm. Black clouds billowed over the hills and the wind gusted around her, tearing at her skirt as she moved along the clothesline. Normally she would take time to fold the clothes, but today she dropped trousers and dresses into the basket willy-nilly. Better to have rumpled clothes than soaking wet laundry.
Sunny barked a warning, as Mamm called, “Hurry in!” Lovina waved with one hand, pressing the other to her prayer kapp to keep it in place in the wind.
“I’ll be right there!” Annie shouted, though the wind seemed to sweep her voice away. She dropped both laundry and clothespins into the basket now. She could sort them later, safe in the house.
Just then a flash lit the sky and Annie saw an unnerving slash of lightning silhouetted against the dark hills. The quick crash of thunder let her know the storm was getting close … and she still had another line of clothes to bring in.
Rain was falling slowly now, fat drops that splatted on her head and shoulders. At this rate, she would be soaked before she got inside.
A dark figure crossed the lawn—it was Jonah, running toward her.
“Let me help,” he said, nearly tearing two shirts from the rope line.
Annie felt a mixture of relief and amusement. She had never seen a man tend a clothesline, and Jonah was pulling pins off so fast they flew to the ground over his shoulder.
At last, they got everything down. Jonah grabbed one basket and Annie held the other to her chest. Head down against the driving rain, she held her breath and ran alongside him. The sky opened up, tossing down splattering rain just as Jonah pulled the porch door open. She felt giddy with excitement as they scurried inside.
“Where did that come from all of a sudden?” she asked, swiping at her wet cheeks with the back of one hand.
Jonah took off his hat and shook off the rain. “It came from clouds in the sky,” he said with barely a grin, though amusement danced in his dark eyes. “That’s how it looked to me.”
“Oh, you’re so funny.” She picked up one of the baskets. “Kumm, help me bring these into the front room.” The damp wind blowing through the mud porch chilled the air, so she would do the sorting and folding inside.
Mamm looked up from the cutting board, where peeled potatoes waited to be sliced. “That storm blew in fast, but you two moved faster. I was watching you through the window.”
“We
saved the dry clothes in the nick of time,” Annie said. “Thanks to Jonah.”
“It’s a blessing to have you around, Jonah,” Mamm said.
He nodded, holding up the basket. “And where do you want this?”
“The front room.”
“And would you light a fire in there?” Lovina called after him. “There’s a chill in the air.”
The two little boys were glued to the window of the front room. “Did you see that lightning?” Levi asked.
“It’s Gott’s electricity,” Sam advised.
“But I don’t like those loud booms,” Levi said wistfully.
Jonah placed a laundry basket on the floor. “That’s just thunder. It’s the noise made by the lightning.”
“It makes me shiver,” Levi said.
“But you’re safe inside.” Annie folded a towel under her chin and touched the boy’s head consolingly. “Why don’t you boys play a game or get the storybooks out?”
Sam moved away from the window. “Let’s play a game.”
“Is my dat afraid of those booms?” Levi asked, still focused on the window.
“Not the booms,” Jonah said. “We all need to stay away from lightning but the thunder won’t hurt you.” He went back to the kitchen to fetch firewood.
As Annie folded a shirt, lightning zigzagged through the sky beyond the window, and Levi clapped his hands over his ears in anticipation of the noise.
“Kumm, dear one.” She pulled him away from the window, hugging him with one arm. The poor thing was afraid of the storm and worried about his parents, too. “Do you want to help me fold?” When he shook his head, she brought him over to the shelf, where Sam was looking through games.
“Let’s play jacks,” Sam said.
Levi shook his head. “I don’t know how.”
“Jacks is a good game to learn.” Jonah returned, carrying a scuttle full of wood. “I’ll play a round with you if you promise to let me win.”
“But I want to win,” Sam insisted as Levi took the little ball and bounced it hard. The small red ball leaped high in the air, then dropped into the laundry basket.
Everyone laughed, and Levi’s worries seemed to melt away. But as rain tapped against the window, Annie wondered about the folks in her family traveling in the blustery storm. Rebecca and Hannah were working at the tea shop. Daniel was also in Halfway, managing the harness shop. And Dat was probably on the road, heading home from the seed shop in Paradise.
Not a good day for travel.
As the dinner hour approached, rain and wind continued to batter the house. Annie began to share Levi’s worry. Would their family make it home?
While the boys played in the front room, Jonah and Annie warmed up with hot tea. Annie kept expecting to hear the familiar sound of horses’ hooves on the lane or Dat calling from the mudroom, but the only noise was the rush of wind and rain against the house.
“It’s not letting up at all,” Lovina said. “It’s not safe to travel in this until it all blows over.” She insisted that Jonah and Sam stay for dinner, and Jonah didn’t argue. He thanked Lovina for her kindness, slipped on a plastic poncho, and went out to the barn to milk the family’s three cows.
Mamm took the meat loaf from the oven. “That’ll be cool enough in twenty minutes, but we’re still missing a few.” She glanced up at the clock.
“Nearly six,” Annie said aloud. She had been watching the clock for the last hour. “I keep thinking their carriages will come down the lane any minute.”
“Not if they’re smart.” Mamm took a deep breath, rubbing one temple. “Jonah knows it’s not wise to go out in this. Your dat and your sister would know the same. If they got the same storm in town, maybe they decided to stay put?”
It was a good point. “There could be a message on the phone. I’ll go to the shanty.”
“You’ll get soaked.” Her mamm put a dish towel over the potatoes au gratin to keep them warm. “Have some dinner first. We’ll eat as soon as Jonah finishes milking the cows.”
Annie nodded and started setting the table, though if she’d had her choice she would have gladly skipped dinner and run to the phone shanty.
As Annie bowed her head in silent prayer, she asked Gott to keep her family safe from harm. Although she was grateful for the distraction of Levi and Sam, who enjoyed the novelty of having dinner together, she was anxious to finish. She couldn’t relax until she knew everyone was safe.
Wary of the strong winds, Jonah warned that it wasn’t a good idea to take a carriage. Better to walk the half mile. He would go along so that he could call his family’s phone and leave a message for them not to expect Sam and him home tonight.
“This is an adventure for me,” Annie said as they stepped out into the dark storm. The thunder and lightning had passed, but rain was falling steadily. She had secured the plastic poncho around her with a string at the waist, but the wind tugged at the bottom. “I’ve never deliberately walked into a storm.”
“You’re not missing anything,” Jonah said.
With the patter of falling rain all around them, the farm seemed different—like a forest of rain.
“It’s not so bad,” she told Jonah. “I could have walked this by my—” The words weren’t past her lips when the wind kicked up and knocked her back. She put her arms out to regain her balance, but that opened the poncho for the wind to catch it like a kite.
She wobbled and gasped and finally laughed as she was knocked back into Jonah’s arms.
“Easy there,” he said gently, his lips not far from her ear.
“That wind is like a giant fist!” Annie had never experienced anything quite like it, but somehow she was more amused than frightened. Was it because Jonah was by her side, here to save her?
“This storm has a lot of power. I’ve seen winds like that knock over carriages. It’s a good thing we’re walking.” He eased her to her feet again, but he kept one hand behind her back, his fingers curling round her rib cage. “How about if I hold on to you, just in case it hits again?”
“That’d be good.” She didn’t mind the feel of his arm around her at all. In fact, there was something reassuring about the way her body fit against his. Something very natural about it. What a blessing that he was here tonight, when she and Mamm truly needed help.
As they walked together, arm in arm, their steps matched in the dark storm, she thought about what he said about how a carriage could topple in high winds.
“Do you think something happened to their carriage?” she asked, worrying aloud. “In the rain and wind …”
“I don’t think Rebecca and Daniel would leave town in a storm like this,” he said evenly. “And your dat has more experience with foul weather than all of us put together.”
“That’s true. I’m just all in knots about it. I think Mamm is worried, too, only she doesn’t want to scare me.”
“Let’s just get to the phone shanty. One step at a time.”
She looked up at him in admiration as he continued to guide her forward. Jonah’s easy, steady approach was good at a time like this.
At last, the small shanty was in sight. Another gust of wind battered them as they reached the tiny hut, but Jonah held on to her tightly. She felt the wind tug at her dress, and she was sure she would have been swept away if it weren’t for Jonah.
He opened the door and she stepped inside, wind whistling through the tiny building until he entered and closed the door behind them. The space was small, and Jonah stood close behind her, his hand between her shoulder blades as she checked the answering machine.
“The light’s flashing! There’s a message.” She pressed the button, and relief washed over her at the sound of Rebecca’s voice.
“Mr. Kraybill warned us that there’s a bad storm coming with lots of rain and high winds, so we’re all staying in town. We’ll sleep in the office over the harness shop. Hannah is here, and Leah and Susie King, too.”
Jonah rubbed his chin. “I’m glad to know my sisters
are in good hands.”
“Susie is very excited. She’s calling it a storm bee,” Becca went on.
“That sounds like Susie,” he said.
When Rebecca’s message ended, Annie checked the answering machine one more time. “Only one message,” she said, looking up at Jonah, whose face was barely lit by the flash of the answering machine light. “Do you think Dat is trying to make his way home in the storm?”
“I don’t know.” There was a grave silence as they both considered the possibilities. “Is there someone else we can call? Maybe a friend in Paradise he might be staying with? Do you know anyone there, Amish or English?”
Annie took a deep breath, considering. “No one I can think of.” She stared at the floor while Jonah quickly called his family’s phone shanty and left a message there, saying he and Sam were fine and would stay the night at the Stoltzfus farm.
When he hung up, she stared at the phone. “Who can we call? We have to find Dat.”
“You won’t have much luck finding an Amish man with a telephone.” Annie knew he was right, but she didn’t want to leave the phone shanty without word from Dat. “I’m so worried for him.”
“I know,” Jonah said softly. “But we can’t stay here all night.” He touched her cheek gently. “You’re a good daughter to worry for your dat, but Gott will take care of him.”
His touch stirred something deep inside her even as it seemed pure as snow. Maybe it was because his words reminded her of a song refrain—God will take care of you.…
As they walked back to the house, Annie leaned heavily into Jonah. The excitement of their journey in the storm had faded to a dull fear that she could not ignore. Like a burr, it needled her and hindered her every movement as she worried about her dat. Was he out in this storm alone, in the cold, driving rain? Were the battery lights working on his carriage? Was he right now calling the phone shanty, leaving a message telling them not to worry?
Annie held tight to Jonah and tried to chase those dark thoughts from her mind. She imagined waking up in the morning and finding her dat in his usual chair, reading a newspaper while he sipped coffee.
A Simple Autumn: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel Page 23
