The Amish Buggy Horse BOXED SET Books 1-3 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: Faith, Hope, Charity) (Boxed Set: The Amish Buggy Horse)

by Ruth Hartzler

  "Married?" Nettie was a little embarrassed that the word came out as a shriek, but why on earth would Linda Beiler mention marriage?

  Linda smiled again. "Of course you will be married one day, Nettie." She would have said more, but the bishop interrupted her.

  "Nettie, are you concerned about this mann taking away your haus and farm?"

  "Jah."

  The bishop smiled patiently, and said one word, "Gelassenheit."

  "Gelassenheit?" Nettie repeated.

  "Do you know that that means, Nettie?" The bishop's voice was gentle and kind.

  "Jah. It means to submit; my mudder always said it."

  The bishop smiled again. "It means to submit to the will of Gott," he continued, "even if it makes no sense to us. The ways of Gott are not the ways of man; who knows why Gott does what He does? But do you have faith that Gott will provide for you?"

  Nettie wanted to lie and say, "Jah," but she did not in fact have faith that Gott would provide for her, which was precisely why she intended to destroy the will, if she found it. Yet she could not lie to the bishop. "I don’t think I do have faith," she said slowly. "I do not want to be living with another familye when this is my own haus and farm. It’s not fair." Nettie looked at the bishop to see how he was taking her disclosure.

  He appeared unconcerned. "Do you remember when you were at skul?"

  "Jah," Nettie said, puzzled.

  "There was a little rhyme you said at skul, that all kinner say when they are at skul:

  I must be a Christian child,

  Gentle, patient, meek, and mild,

  Must be honest, simple, true,

  I must cheerfully obey, Giving up my will and way.

  "Do you remember it?"

  Nettie did remember the rhyme, but before she could say that she did, the bishop continued. "Nettie, you must give up your will and way. You must give up your will and way to Gott. It is the will of Gott that counts, not your will. You need to have faith that Gott will provide for you. Can you have that faith, Nettie?"

  "I will try," Nettie said truthfully.

  Psalm 37:1-37.

  Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

  Chapter 11.

  Nettie woke up an hour earlier than her usual time. She tossed and turned, unable to get back to sleep. The bishop's words were still ringing in her ears. Sure, it was the right thing to do to surrender her will to Gott and have faith that He would provide for her, but what if Gott wanted her to be homeless and go live with a familye? She didn’t think she could cope with that. Then again, she realized that not trusting Gott, even if He did want her to live with a strange familye, was showing a lack of faith and was not submitting to Gott's will.

  Nettie pulled the quilt over her head, but her thoughts were still swirling around in circles, around and around in her head. Finally, she threw the quilt aside in disgust and got out of her bed. She made her way to the bathroom stealthily, until she remembered that her mudder had gone to be with Gott. Her mudder used to yell at her to bring her breakfast the second she heard Nettie awake.

  Nettie stretched and yawned, and then hurried to the kitchen, with kaffi on her mind. She sat down and looked up at the old, oak mantle clock, an engagement gift from her vadder to her mudder. It was sitting in the kitchen, on a little wooden bench. It used to strike loudly every half hour, but Nettie stopped the clock after her mudder died. The noise had always grated on her, as had its loud tick-tock. Still, there was another clock in the living room, a much quieter clock.

  Nettie shook her head and attended to the kaffi. Soon she was sitting back down with a mug of hot kaffi in her hands. Nettie took a sip and smiled.

  As the sun was already up, Nettie walked outside to feed the chickens, but to her dismay, noticed at once that Blessing was in the herb garden. He had his head down, munching away. She was sure she had secured his gate properly, and her retired horse, Harry, was still in the field, grazing.

  Nettie sighed. After scolding an indifferent Blessing for being a naughty boy and opening two gates, she led him back to the field and made sure the gate was securely latched, and then returned to the herb garden to inspect the damage.

  Most of the herbs were untouched, but Blessing had eaten all the sage and the basil. Nettie used both herbs heavily. She used sage tea for sore throats and coughs as well as stomach upsets, and used to wrap her mudder's ankles in it when they swelled. Her mudder had also found a steam inhalation of sage helpful with her spring allergies. Nettie also used sage in cooking, in chicken casseroles, in meatloaf, and in stuffing.

  As for the basil, Nettie was fond of using it too, especially in pesto, which was a favorite of hers. It was also wonderful in salads. Apart from cooking, Nettie used basil medicinally. Basil tea was excellent for soothing indigestion, and the macerated leaves were soothing for insect bites and stings.

  Blessing had eaten all the basil plants and sage bushes right down to ground level, and these were two herbs Nettie always liked to have on hand. There was only one thing she could do; she would have to drive to town that morning and buy new plants from the plant nursery. There was still money in the cookie jar basket, and by the time that ran out, she would be earning an income from gardening for the Glicks.

  Later that morning, Nettie drove Blessing to town. It was the first time she had driven any horse but Harry to town, but Blessing was entirely unconcerned by the cars that passed too close. Soon Nettie relaxed and enjoyed herself. She drove past stately, old beeches, and when she drove past the stream, she admired the spectacular colors of the wildflowers: the pale pink fading to white of the mayflowers, the bright pink of the moccasin flower, the bell-shaped blue and purple of the columbine, and the pastel pinks and blues of the somewhat disturbingly named liverleaf.

  Nettie loved the fragrance of spring, when the air was filled with the pleasant aromas of lilacs and sweet spices.

  Nettie soon arrived at the nursery where she had bought all her plants previously. It was run by Amish, and Nettie was comforted to hear the words of Pennsylvania Dutch spoken around her, mixed as they were with Englisch words. Rows and rows of colorful, flowering plants vanished into longer rows of shrubs and trees. The air was thick with the smell of manure, and the day was warmer than usual for spring.

  Nettie was sorely tempted by all the pretty flowers, the spreading Solomon's seal with its bell-like flowers, the vivid blue cornflowers and gentians, big, bright dahlias, masses and masses of creeping phlox in shades from subtle pinks to deep purples, the large, showy flowers of the begonias in every color imaginable, and petunias in every manner of color and pattern. The dusky pink and delicate looking but sturdy hellebores were her favorite. Nettie stood for a moment simply to marvel at Gott's creation.

  Suddenly the hair on the back of Nettie's neck stood up, and she swung around to see what had caused this feeling of disquiet. Was that Jebediah Sprinkler over by the tomato plants? She could not be sure, and whoever it was had ducked away quickly behind a group of Englischer ladies.

  Nettie had felt eyes on her, but had chided herself that it had been her imagination; after all, she was used to solitude and isolation. Being in a crowd of people would be expected to make her somewhat uneasy. Yet, she had distinctly felt that someone was watching her.

  Nettie paid for her purchases and then struggled to carry all the plants and the packets of seeds out to the buggy. By the time she was half way to the buggy, she felt she would drop them all so placed them on the ground for a rest.

  "Here, let me help you with those."

  Nettie spun around to look into the kindly, blue eyes of Daniel. "Denki, Daniel, that's very kind." Nettie was glad that the words had come out automatically without so much as
a quiver in her voice, as her insides were shaking from seeing Daniel Glick. His proximity made her nervous. Well, the sight of him alone was enough to make her nervous.

  Nettie licked her lips as her mouth had run dry. As Daniel took the one remaining plant she was holding from her, their hands brushed and Nettie felt as if she had just been plugged into a generator. She stole a glance at Daniel and saw a slow flush travel up his cheeks. She wondered if he'd felt it too.

  As they walked over to the buggy, Blessing turned his head and stared long and hard at the plants. "No, you can’t eat those, too," Nettie said. "You've done enough damage as it is."

  Nettie turned to help Daniel put the plants into the buggy and saw he was looking amused. She instantly felt embarrassed for talking to the horse.

  "What damage did he do?" Daniel asked causally.

  "He got out of his field and also opened the gate into the herb garden. He ate all the sage as well as all the basil, and those are two plants that I particularly rely on," Nettie said. "Did he ever open gates at your farm?"

  Daniel shook his head. "Nee, but I'm not surprised that he can."

  "Why?"

  Daniel smiled down on Nettie. "Oh, I don't think I've ever mentioned it. I found Blessing too. It was one day when Daed and I were removing an old fence on the far side of our farm. We didn’t know there was barbed wire on the bottom. Daed reached in and pulled hard and the barbed wire ripped his arm above his glove, making it bleed badly. I tore a piece off my shirt and bound his arm tightly, and was going to run to the barn to call the doktor, but at that very moment, Blessing appeared. He was trotting down the road with his driving bridle on, and the reins dangling around his legs."

  "Where did he come from?" Nettie was intrigued.

  Daniel shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is, I jumped on him and galloped off to the barn to call the doktor. You wouldn’t think so from the sound of it, but it was a nasty wound. That’s why I called him 'Blessing.'"

  "And you never found his owner?"

  "Nee. I called the police; I told the bishop who contacted other communities - nothing. We even put a notice in the Die Botschaft, but no one ever came forward."

  Nettie scratched her bonnet. "How strange. He surely can’t be an Amish horse then, if no one contacted you after reading the national Amish newspaper."

  Daniel nodded in agreement. "That's what my familye and I thought. We figured he must be some sort of show horse, but it’s very strange that no one's ever looked too hard for him."

  Their conversation ceased then, and Nettie wondered how she could keep Daniel talking, in order to keep him there just a little while longer. She felt inexplicably happy when he was around.

  Just as the silence stretched to the point of making Nettie uncomfortable, Daniel spoke. "Would you like me to have a look at your gates and make them more secure for you? You don't want Blessing escaping again."

  "Denki, Daniel. Denki," Nettie said again, embarrassed that her cheeks were hot and, no doubt, her face was beet red.

  Hebrews 11:1.

  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

  Chapter 12.

  Nettie watched Daniel walk away. "He is so handsome and kind," she thought. She went to untie Blessing, but then had a sudden thought - she had not seen the packets of ashwagandha seeds when she and Daniel had placed the plants in her buggy. Nettie hurried to look in the buggy, but there were no packets of seeds anywhere to be seen. I must have left them when I put everything on the ground for a rest, she thought, shaking her head.

  Nettie hurried back in the direction of the nursery. She had never seen ashwagandha seeds sold locally before and had only one solitary ashwagandha plant growing. Ashwagandha tea had always had a calming effect on her mudder, far more so than chamomile tea, and besides, ashwagandha was also effective against colds, as well as being a pick me up for tiredness. If Nettie had a restless night, she would always get up and make ashwagandha tea, and then would be assured of a gut night's sleep. Nettie had been overjoyed to find the packets of seeds, but now had lost them.

  To her great relief, Nettie found the packets of seeds lying on the ground not too far from the nursery. Thankfully no one else had taken them, although she couldn't have been away for long. She picked them up, but before she could even straighten back up, another male voice addressed her. "Nettie Swarey."

  Jebediah Sprinkler! So she had seen him after all. Nettie started so violently that she almost fell forward. Jebediah's hand took her arm to steady her, but she snatched her arm away.

  "You!" she snapped, folding her arms across her chest. He looks like a snake waiting to strike, she thought.

  "Hiya, Nettie. Have you thought more about the will leaving everything to me?"

  "Nee." Only that I've been looking for it. If I had found it, I would have burned it, Nettie thought, glaring at Jebediah. He had ruined her perfectly good day.

  Jebediah smirked at her. "You don’t seem happy to see me."

  "Why would I be?"

  "Let me guess," Jebediah said in his grating voice. "You're not happy that your mudder left everything to me in her will."

  "You'll have to prove that first." Nettie noted, with some satisfaction, that her words removed the sneer from Jebediah's face. "My lawyer doesn't know anything about it."

  Jebediah simply shrugged one shoulder. "That's none of my concern. I have my lawyer currently looking into it."

  Nettie caught her breath at his disclosure, and anxiously gnawed on a fingernail.

  "There's a café here, at the plant nursery."

  "So?" Nettie snapped rudely. Nettie's mudder had brought her up to be polite. The Amish were invariably polite, but Nettie's mudder had seen to it that Nettie was trained to surpass even the most normal standards of politeness. Yet Nettie felt no remorse for speaking to Jebediah so rudely. He would see her homeless, if he had his way. He wasn't the one to get up at least once in the middle of every night to empty her mudder's bedpan. He wasn't the one to be on the receiving end of verbal abuse year after year. He wasn't the one who had led a life of isolation to the extent of being afraid of people. Why, it was amazing that Nettie had come so far in recent times as not to be afraid to be out in public that very day. No, he'd had it easy, and now he was trying to steal her own haus and farm from her.

  Nettie stomped her foot. "You will not steal my haus and farm from me!" Her voice came out louder than she had intended, and Nettie did feel a moment of embarrassment when an Englischer couple shot her a sidelong glance before moving away, but that soon passed.

  "That’s what I want to speak to you about."

  Nettie eyed Jebediah suspiciously. His voice had gone from grating to soft. Is he trying to turn on the charm? she wondered.

  Jebediah did not speak again, and finally Nettie could stand it no longer. "What do you mean?"

  Jebediah smiled. "I have no wish to turn you out of your haus, so I've had an idea which may be to our mutual benefit."

  Nettie frowned. She had no idea what Jebediah could have in mind, although she was sure that whatever it was, that she would not like it.

  "Come and have kaffi with me," he offered, "and I'll tell you all about it."

  "You can tell me all about it here." Nettie had no wish to sit down to kaffi with his mann.

  "Nee." Jebediah shook his head. "Come and sit down. What harm could it do? My treat."

  "Nee," Nettie said in turn. "I shall pay my own way, but denki for the offer." Despite her mistrust of Jebediah Sprinkler, Nettie was curious to hear what he had to say. And, although the will had not yet come to light, if there was any way he was considering relinquishing his claim on her land, she wanted to hear about it.

  With a deep sigh, Nettie reluctantly followed Jebediah back inside the entrance of the plant nursery and then turned left around a corner to the café. To Nettie's relief, the little café was all but deserted. She had never, in all her life, eaten anywhere but at someone's haus, and in recent years,
that haus had always been her own.

  Nettie sat down on a black wicker chair and surveyed her surroundings. It was a pretty café; the floor was made of red brick pavers, and so many huge ferns hung from baskets that it was all but impossible to see the ceiling. The tablecloths alternated between olive green and pastel floral patterns.

  Jebediah had walked away and was looking at a menu. He soon returned and sat down opposite Nettie. "I know you said you wished to pay, but I've already paid for you. I ordered you a hot Rooibos tea and a ham sandwich with chips and pickle."

  "Denki," said Nettie through clenched teeth. She did not know the protocol in such situations, for she had been sheltered from having to observe social niceties, but she thought that since she had said she would pay for herself, then Jebediah surely should have permitted her to pay.

  Nettie had planned to leave as soon as she heard what Jebediah had to say, but now she had to wait for her food to arrive and then eat it, all the while being forced to put up with Jebediah's company.

  "What is your idea?" Nettie thought the direct approach was called for.

  "My lawyer is looking into the missing will," Jebediah said slowly, "and when the will is found, and it will be found eventually, under the terms of the will, I will own everything."

  Nettie shifted in her seat. "But you said you had an idea for me to keep my haus and farm." Nettie was growing impatient; what was Jebediah up to?

  Jebediah ducked his head and looked up at Nettie from under his eyelashes. "This is a little embarrassing, Nettie."

  Nettie frowned. Did he have an idea, or not? Or was he simply trying to irritate her? At that moment, the food arrived, and Jebediah tucked into it. Nettie sipped her tea and waited for him to continue, which was difficult, as he was trying her patience.

  Much to Nettie's frustration, Jebediah did not continue until he had eaten his hot dog. She debated whether or not to leave then and there, but her curiosity got the better of her. If there was a chance that Jebediah would forego his claim on her land, then she had to know.