by Jo Ann Brown
“What is it?” Daniel asked as he handed it to her.
“A queen excluder.” She set the simple plastic mesh on top of the supers. “It has holes worker bees can pass through, but not the queen who’s larger. The queen excluder will insure she doesn’t fly off while the hive is getting accustomed to their new home.”
Making sure the mesh was set squarely on the box, she picked up the other supers and set them on the first ones. She took care to avoid squashing bees. Finally she looked around the cellar.
“What do you need?” Daniel asked.
“That piece of plywood. It goes on top of the supers.” She pointed to the wood leaning against the shelves holding the last of the canned peaches she’d put up last summer.
They maneuvered it on the hive. On each side, it was about an inch wider than the boxes. He moved aside and watched when she took a ragged quilt from the shelf. Swinging it over the hive, she watched the quilt puddle on the floor in every direction, darkening the hive and offering no escape for the bees. However, air could sift through the fabric and reach the combs, so the bees didn’t suffocate.
“And that’s that,” she said, walking around the hive and adjusting the quilt on each side before she set bricks on it to keep the fabric from shifting. “We’ll leave them in the dark. When they come out, they’ll have no idea they’re not much more than a stone’s throw from their old hive.” She smiled. “It’ll help that you’re taking out the rotten board.”
“I had no idea how to take care of bees. I’m glad I contacted you.”
She pulled off her gloves and yanked the tabs on her protective shirt. Shrugging it off, she folded it over her arm after making sure no bees clung to it. “And I’m glad, too, that we’ve saved the bees.”
“How long will they be here?”
“About a week or so. Maybe two. It has to be long enough for them to forget where they were before. The cold helps because they’re less active, and the rain we’ve been having will wash away the scent trails quickly. By the time I move this hive beside my others, warmer weather should be here and the first flowers blooming. The bees can then do what they do best, gathering nectar and spreading pollen and making honey.”
“I’ll be glad to help you when you’re ready to move them outside, if you need help.”
“I appreciate that.” And she did, which surprised her. The past few days hadn’t been easy, but they also hadn’t been the end of the world. Daniel had shown he could be a gut friend by helping her with Shelby. He’d revealed he did have a heart by how gently he treated her great-grandmother. “Let’s get out of here ourselves.”
She walked to the cupboard where she kept her equipment and beekeeper’s clothing. Putting away each piece, she made sure the kerchief she wore over her hair was in place. She turned around and gasped when she discovered Daniel standing right behind her.
He grasped her chin and tilted it so the lantern’s light played across her left cheek. “What happened to you?”
How could she have forgotten the mark on her face? Help me, Lord, she prayed. I can’t tell the whole truth, because I don’t know what will happen to us then. Help me find the right words. I have to protect my family. They’re all I have.
“Just an accident,” she replied, hoping he’d leave it at that.
He didn’t. “What type of accident?”
“I was down at the bridge earlier. I wanted to check on the hive once more before I moved them. It was raining, and the grass was wet.” She stepped away from him. “You can guess what happened next.”
Would he accept her story that was true but didn’t include the part about her great-grandmother losing her temper? She held her breath.
Puzzlement dimmed his dark eyes, and she knew he was trying to believe her. When he motioned for her to lead the way up the stairs to the kitchen, she felt relief and regret. She wished she could depend on someone else, most especially Daniel, but how could she when the one time she’d dared to trust him, he’d left her as her daed had?
Chapter Seven
“Gute mariye, my girls.” Grossmammi Ella came into the kitchen with a broad smile at dawn early the next week.
“Good morning.” Hannah flashed a smile over her shoulder. She stood by the stove frying eggs. She was relieved to hear her great-grandmother’s happy tone. Though the elderly woman’s mood could change in a split second, when Grossmammi Ella’s voice was filled with joy, the day usually went well.
In the distance, Hannah could hear the equipment used by Daniel’s crew on the Hunter’s Mill Creek Bridge. They had begun tearing off the rotten boards the day after Hannah moved the bees. Behind the concrete barriers, piles of debris had been swelling, but she’d noticed this morning when she raised the shade on her bedroom window that the wood was being loaded in a beat-up truck to be carted away. Faint laughter had reached the house as the men worked together.
Smelling the eggs starting to scorch, she flipped them. At the same time, her great-grandmother announced, “I have something here.”
“What is it?” She scraped at a spot where the eggs had stuck to the pan.
“It’s for the boppli.”
Hannah took the cast iron pan off the stove so she could give the older woman her complete attention. She wiped her hands on her apron to make sure there was no grease on them and then took the toy held out to her. Grossmammi Ella had knit its body and head before stuffing it with rags. Bright yellow and black, she guessed it was meant to be a honeybee. The old woman must have made it during the quiet times she spent in her bedroom each afternoon.
Until that moment, Hannah had wondered if her great-grandmother would accept Shelby as a member of their family. Doing that meant Grossmammi Ella had to admit her grandson had left the toddler behind as he had Hannah. Or perhaps her great-grandmother simply wanted to make a lonely kind happy.
“Don’t you want to give it to Shelby?” Hannah asked.
“Ja.” Walking with care to where the little girl sat in her high chair, Grossmammi Ella placed the knit toy on the edge of the tray. She wiggled it, catching Shelby’s attention. “See, my friend, little one?”
Shelby poked one finger at the toy. When the elderly woman slid it across the high chair tray, the kind laughed.
Hannah was astonished when the little girl pursed her lips and made a whirring sound by blowing through them. The toddler was copying the noise Hannah had made the previous evening while reading her a picture book about a busy bee and its attempt to find a flower. Hannah hadn’t been certain the kind had understood the story, but realized Shelby had connected the sound with the picture of a bee in the book.
What else did the toddler understand? Hannah hoped the therapists the doktorfraa was sending would be able to help her answer the question. And wouldn’t Daniel be amazed when she told him what Shelby had done!
Hannah stared at her wooden spoon which was halfway between the pan and the plate she used for serving the eggs. She hadn’t expected that thought. Was Daniel wheedling his way into her life—into their lives—again? The idea should have annoyed her, but all she could think of was how pleased he’d be when she told him about Shelby comprehending the story.
Things had changed—again—between her and Daniel. They hadn’t been friends before, because she’d fallen so hard and fast for him. Was what they shared now friendship? A friendship could make their bargain more comfortable for them instead of being lit by the white-hot intensity of the infatuation she’d had. She wondered if any young man could have lived up to the fantasy she’d built. Especially one like Daniel who’d made no promises other than they’d have fun together.
“Sounds like she’s saying buzz-buzz-buzz,” said Grossmammi Ella, pulling Hannah from her surprising thoughts.
“Buzz-buzz would be a gut name,” Hannah said with a smile. “Danki, Grossmammi Ella, for making her a
special gift.”
“A boppli needs toys. Soft toys to hug.” Her great-grandmother sounded gruff, and Hannah guessed she was trying to hide her satisfaction at how thrilled Shelby was with her gift. “When will breakfast be ready?”
“Right away.”
The rest of the morning passed as pleasantly as breakfast. Shelby continued playing with the stuffed bee much to Grossmammi Ella’s delight. That gave Hannah time to take care of the animals, including the bees in the cellar, and to do her other chores. The two in the living room made up games together, the elderly woman in her favorite chair and the kind leaning against her knee as she made the bee “fly.” Laughter filled the house that had been somber for too long.
During the midday meal, Grossmammi Ella spoke about the flowers she wanted to plant by the front steps once the weather was warm. Hannah listened while making a mental list of the annuals she’d buy for her great-grandmother at one of the greenhouses in Paradise Springs.
When the elderly woman retreated to her bedroom, Hannah tried to keep Shelby quiet. The little girl refused to nap and fussed with her sore mouth. One tooth had popped through over the weekend, but another was already giving her misery. Grossmammi Ella needed to rest, so Hannah put some honey on Shelby’s sore gum and tried to rock her to sleep. The little girl refused to settle and continued to cry.
Hannah felt weak tears flood her eyes when she heard footfalls on the porch just as Shelby was falling asleep. The kind routed awake. Rising, Hannah opened the door.
Daniel stood there, his clothes dirty with the road dust ingrained in the boards on the old bridge. Her heart jumped, astonishing her. Her traitorous heart had done that in the past, but it shouldn’t now. She knew better.
“I can’t stay long.” His lowered voice resonated through the house like the rumble of distant traffic. Taking off his straw hat, he held it in front of him. “I wanted—” He paused as Shelby offered her new toy to him. “What do you have there, liebling?”
Shelby made the buzzing sound before giggling with excitement.
“She’s trying to tell you,” Hannah said, “the bee’s name is Buzz-buzz.” She quickly explained how Shelby had connected the stuffed toy with the story Hannah had read to her and the sounds she’d made for the little girl. “Grossmammi Ella made it for her.”
When Daniel took the toy and examined it, Shelby watched him. He handed it to her, and she pretended to make it fly.
He laughed. “That’s right.” He winked at Hannah. “Though I doubt most bees fly upside down, do they?”
“Toy ones do.” She set the little girl on the sofa. “What do you want, Daniel?”
“A couple of things. First, I hope the noise from the bridge hasn’t been a bother.”
“No, it’s been fine. It won’t go on too long, will it?”
“We need to be done in under six weeks.” He turned his hat around and around by the brim, startling her because she hadn’t expected him to be nervous. “The other thing I wanted to say was you should come to the supper at the Paradise Springs Fire Department tonight. We’re raising money for new equipment and hoping for a big turnout. Will you come?”
“It may be too late in the day for my great-grandmother and Shelby.”
He shook his head. “Nope. The supper starts at six, and it’s for a gut cause. In addition, it would do you gut, Hannah, to get out and spend the evening beyond these four walls.”
Hannah hesitated. For the past couple of years, she hadn’t taken her great-grandmother many places because Grossmammi Ella always had an excuse at the last minute not to go. It was easier to stay home. But this supper was different. Many of the volunteer firefighters in Paradise Springs were plain, and the Amish community supported the volunteers who protected their homes and other buildings. She’d heard people talking about the supper after the church service on Sunday, so there would be familiar faces there. And Daniel was right. It was for a gut cause.
“All I can say is maybe,” she replied.
“Anything I can say or do to turn that maybe into a ja?” His eyes twinkled.
Again her heart did a little dance. As it had when he used to flirt with her. She’d forgotten how gut that felt.
“Maybe,” she replied.
He grinned. “Is maybe all you can say?”
“Maybe.”
Starting to laugh, he clapped his hand over his mouth so he didn’t wake her great-grandmother. He winked again and ruffled Shelby’s hair. “Then maybe, I’ll see you tonight.”
His easy smile sent warmth spiraling through her, even after he was gone. It should have been enough to convince her to stay away from the firehouse tonight, but she wanted to go. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone anywhere but on errands or to attend church.
It was time to change that.
* * *
As Hannah had expected, when she suggested attending the fund-raising supper, her great-grandmother was reluctant to go. Hannah’s insistence they support the firefighters convinced Grossmammi Ella.
Or so Hannah thought. She realized how mistaken she was when, after she’d hitched up the buggy horse, she came into the house and discovered her great-grandmother standing in the front room and watching Shelby play.
“It looks like Hannah is taking to the bee, ain’t so, Saloma?” the old woman asked.
Hannah flinched. Her great-grandmother was lost in time again. The changes came without warning. Grossmammi Ella thought Hannah was her granddaughter-in-law and Shelby was Hannah. Last year, Hannah had paid no attention to these misconceptions, telling herself everyone mixed up names once in a while. She couldn’t ignore them any longer. It was part of the sickness stealing Grossmammi Ella’s mind.
After taking her great-grandmother to a specialist, Hannah knew how each step of the disease would progress. She also knew there was little that could halt it. The doktor had written a prescription for a medicine to slow the inevitable, but Grossmammi Ella refused to take it after the pills made her sick and dizzy.
Hannah hadn’t insisted. Not after her great-grandmother in a lucid moment had said if her days on earth were numbered, she preferred not to spend them weak and nauseated. Unable to argue with that, Hannah had taken her great-grandmother to Dr. Montgomery for regular checkups. The doktorfraa accepted the elderly woman’s determination to live her life on her terms.
“She loves it,” Hannah replied to her great-grandmother’s question about the stuffed toy. As long as Grossmammi Ella didn’t do anything to hurt herself or someone else, Hannah let her keep her illusions. “She’ll enjoy it while we’re at the supper at the fire station.”
“You’re letting her take it with her?”
“Ja.”
“You spoil that kind.” The sharp edge had returned to the old woman’s voice. Her abrupt mood swings were impossible to anticipate.
“Bopplin should be spoiled.” Hannah kept her voice light. “It makes them happy, and it makes us happy, too.”
Her great-grandmother sniffed once at Hannah’s reply and a second time while taking her cane. “Mark my words, Saloma. You’re spoiling that kind, and who knows how she’ll turn out?”
“We’ll have to wait and see what the future brings, ain’t so?”
Relief flooded Hannah when Grossmammi Ella didn’t reply as they walked out to the buggy. Though it made driving difficult, Hannah made sure the toddler was sitting to her right instead of between her and her great-grandmother. There was the possibility the elderly woman would become upset and strike out at the nearest person. Hannah didn’t want Shelby to be the target.
She touched her cheek where the bruise had almost faded. The doktorfraa’s words haunted her: “If your great-grandmother gets to the point where she’s a danger to herself and others, we’ll have to discuss the best options for her and for you, Hannah. I know you want to kee
p her living with you, but you can’t put both of you in peril.”
Now three of them lived in the house, and Daniel was there often. She hoped Grossmammi Ella wouldn’t get worse anytime soon.
The fire station was bright with electric lights and the flashers on the fire engines when Hannah drove the buggy into the parking lot between it and the post office. Kinder gathered around the trucks and firemen, calling out questions and examining the firefighting tools the volunteers held. No kind was allowed near the axes, but they didn’t seem to mind. They were having too much fun trying on helmets and sitting behind the wheel while a fireman activated the siren.
“You came!” Daniel’s voice reached her as she opened the buggy’s door.
Where was he?
He grinned as he edged out of the darkness, and her breath caught. His black hair shone with blue fire beneath the powerful electric lights. Crinkled with laughter, his eyes snapped with the same blue sparks. Though dozens of voices were raised in conversation in every direction, her ears had picked out his as if it were the only one.
Before she could answer, Shelby started babbling and holding out her short arms to him. He picked up the toddler as he said, “Komm with me. I’ll show you around.”
Hannah assisted her great-grandmother from the buggy and followed him toward the firehouse. He stopped again and again to point out something to Shelby who chewed on her stuffed toy to ease her sore gums. When he reached the building, he waited for her and Grossmammi Ella to catch up.
She blinked when they entered the large space where the fire trucks were usually parked. Tables had been arranged in rows with baskets of rolls placed every three or four chairs. The aroma of tomato sauce and taco spices drifted from where the buffet tables were. It was a haystack dinner, and her stomach growled in eager expectancy of the flavors of beef, rice, green peppers and cheese as well as onions, olives and salsa. Everything would be piled together on their plates, each flavor enhancing the others.
Daniel walked to where a woman with graying hair was setting out stacks of cups. She smiled.
