Amish Superstition

by Hannah Weaver

  “Thank you for assuring us of this good news,” Jacob said. “But I sense there is some bad news you’re holding back. Don’t be shy. We’re all adults here and can handle it.” Again, he gave his guest a friendly tap on the shoulder.

  “Right to the point then,” Ethan said. “Your proposal that we send a delegation of farmers and shopkeepers to the Farmers Market in York will not be approved. The Elders are all in agreement, it would be a worldly pursuit to seek out the Englischers for increased commerce.”

  Jacob let out a puff of air, but Ethan hurried on.

  “Also, if you wouldn’t have acted so quickly, talking to the merchants and farmers without first asking for advice from the Elders, you might have had a better reception. Many of the folks like your ideas for improvement. You just went about it the wrong way.”

  An objection rose in Jacob’s throat, but he swallowed it. The fight had seeped out of him and he was tired of arguing his position. Truth be told, he was simply relieved to hear they wouldn’t be asked to leave the community.

  But what’s more, he felt a different kind of hope kindle deep down inside when he thought of Hannah. He glanced at Miriam and could tell she held a similar flame for their guest, Ethan. Now they both had personal reasons for wanting to stay in Ephraim.

  The two siblings shared a knowing look, but Miriam quickly hid her feelings with a frown.

  Ethan mistook their nonverbal communication and said, “I hope I didn’t cause offense.”

  “No, no,” Jacob said. “I agree, I should have waited until we were established before bringing up changes that could cause misunderstanding. I can abide by their ruling to abandon plans for traveling to York, if that’s what the Elders decide.”

  Miriam got up and poured another round of coffee.

  “That’s good to hear, Brother Jacob,” Ethan said enthusiastically. “For it gives me confidence that tonight I might present an alternative plan regarding the Farmers Market, one I believe both you and the Elders will find agreeable.”

  This piqued the sibling’s curiosity.

  “Tell me, then,” Jacob said. “I’m open to ideas.”

  For the next hour, Ethan explained what he had in mind and, after a time of prayer, he bade them good day and promised he’d see them later that evening at the gathering.

  Jacob couldn’t help but dance a little jig after Ethan left, while Miriam, ever the practical one, put away the plate of cookies, humming happily to herself.

  Chapter Seven

  Hannah and her parents left their home after supper. The Lapps were walking by their front yard and stopped and waited for them. After a cordial, if a bit formal, greeting the parents began to share whatever parents share when they already know everything about each other. This let Ethan and Hannah fall slightly behind and engage in quiet conversation.

  “I believe almost the whole community will turn out for the welcoming of the Hostetlers,” Ethan said.

  Hannah was surprised. Not on hearing that most of the people of Ephraim would show up this evening but that Ethan used the word welcoming. From what she’d overheard, this was going to be more of a grilling than anything else and may end up with the Elders asking Jacob and Miriam to leave. She was worried and said as much to her childhood friend.

  “Oh, no,” Ethan assured her. “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” After a moment, he said, “I know you care for them…him.”

  Now this surprised Hannah. She hadn’t thought her feelings for Jacob were so transparent. Nevertheless, she cared for Ethan as well and didn’t want to intentionally upset him.

  “And,” she hesitated, “if I am, would you be so terribly hurt?”

  Ethan chuckled softly.

  “We know each other better than that. I’ve known for a long time that we would remain friends forever, but would never marry despite our parents’ wishes.”

  This lifted a burden from Hannah’s shoulders that she didn’t know she was carrying and her spirit immediately brightened. Impulsively, she hugged her companion and kissed him on the cheek in gratitude. Both of their mothers turned and offered a look of mild rebuke. Hannah shrugged apologetically. It wasn’t as if they’d never showed innocent affection as children.

  But she was no longer a child. And this simple gift from Ethan did in fact surprise her and gave her the courage to pursue the adult dream of finding and marrying the man of her own choosing. The man Jacob Hostettler. If it be the Lord’s will, she reminded herself, but felt in her heart that it was.

  “But what about your father and Elder Stoltz? Will they…will they…?”

  “Make a scene, as they say?” Ethan grimaced. “I don’t believe so, but then my father is quite impulsive. Still, your father had a long conversation with him and Elder Stoltz earlier today. So something has changed and I hope for the better.”

  Hannah gave her friend a curious look, for she had assumed he shared his father’s opinion about the Hostetlers. She was about to ask him about his change of heart when they arrived at the large community building and followed their parents in.

  The spacious hall served as a meeting place for all kinds of events, including church dinners, music recitals and dances, and official business. Tonight’s gathering was, of course, quite official. As they entered, Hannah saw Jacob and Miriam sitting together on the far side of the hall. They looked like they’d been put on display. Her heart immediately went out to them.

  Soon the meeting came to order and each family in turn was introduced to the siblings from Ohio. It was then Jacob’s turn to speak and share their background, what had brought them to Ephraim, Pennsylvania, and explain his plans for expanded commerce.

  Everyone’s response seemed warm and sympathetic when Jacob explained about their parents’ unfortunate excommunication from the Millersberg community. Hannah was now familiar with the story. As she looked around at the faces in the crowd she only noted a few who stared on in judgment. A few more faces turned sour when Jake propounded on his plans for other tradesmen and farmers to join him at the Farmers Market in York. This, more than anything, seemed to be the sticking point for most of the residents of Ephraim.

  When Jacob was finished, one of the Elders stood up and asked a question. After receiving a satisfactory answer, he invited other members of the community to ask any questions they had. This session went on for about twenty minutes and Hannah was starting to get bored.

  Then Elder Lapp stood up and Hannah held her breath.

  “Jacob and Miriam, first of all we welcome you to Ephraim and we hope you have been warmly received as a brother and sister in the faith. As you can surmise, the situation with your mother and father has many of us quite concerned. Without meaning to cause offense, I now suggest the following.”

  Here Ethan’s father cleared his throat, looked down and stroked his long beard as if recalling a speech he’d written earlier but had forgotten to bring with him.

  “Seeing as you are new and we do not yet know you very well, and considering the somewhat questionable motive behind your move to Pennsylvania, I recommend to the members of our community that we hold off on officially welcoming you as new members of Ephraim until such time as we have witnessed firsthand your virtue, humility, and faithfulness.”

  There was a murmur through the great hall and many nodding of heads. Hannah was floored. This was unprecedented. Though they hadn’t had many families join their small community over the years, she couldn’t recall one instance when they weren’t immediately received into their membership.

  Elder Stoltz immediately stood and affirmed the proposal. When Hannah’s father stood and asked if there were any objections, Hannah’s heart sunk. No one spoke up for the Hostetlers. Seeing that this order of business was finished, Elder Lapp raised his voice once more.

  “Furthermore, I recommend that we continue our current commercial policy and not engage with the Englischers in York or establish a presence at this Englischer market.”

  This recommendation received so man
y “Ayes” that there was no further discussion. Hannah bit her tongue as she was not expected to add her opinion to any of the proceedings. But she was surprised when Ethan stood up and asked to speak. When he looked at her, he winked.

  After he was given the floor, he said, “Since we have reached a consensus on these matters, I only ask that we consider introducing a test as to how we might determine the Hostetlers’ ‘virtue, humility, and faithfulness,’ to use my father’s words.”

  All eyes were on Ethan. Hannah got the distinct impression that he’d anticipated the outcome of this evening and had rehearsed this additional proposal. Murmurs of interest were heard.

  “Well then. I believe the best way to decide if the Hostetlers might be fit members of Ephraim is to allow Jacob and Miriam to attend the Farmers Market for a period of one month and evaluate their reputation at the end. If they bring no shame or disrepute on our community, then we can once more gather and discuss whether they should join us.”

  “So who will go with them to York to evaluate their interactions with the Englischers?” someone asked.

  “As Elder Lapp’s son, I will,” Ethan said.

  Hannah immediately stood up and said, “And as Elder Beiler’s daughter, I will as well.”

  After some discussion, this new proposal was accepted and one of the Elders closed in prayer. Hannah couldn’t suppress a grin as she caught Jacob’s eye from across the room. He was grinning too.

  Chapter Eight

  Early Saturday morning, Jacob and Hannah loaded up the buggy, while Ethan and Miriam prepared a wagon full of various crops and products. In the two days between the meeting and their trip to York, Jacob had found four other tradesmen and farmers willing to allow him to sell their goods in the larger town.

  Jacob looked over the inventory and nodded in satisfaction. There were dozens of eggs from Mrs. Beiler’s chickens, enough of Fisher’s ham to feed a small army, some wooden utensils that he’d managed to craft after working late into the night, and a few other items that he thought would sell well. Even Mrs. Baumgartner’s tallow candles were going to make the trip.

  It was a bit chilly when they set out from Ephraim, the buggy leading, the wagon not far behind. No frost had yet appeared, but the damp autumn air hinted at the possibility in a few weeks. The horses neighed and snorted gently, anticipating a nice bit of exercise, their breaths making small white clouds.

  Once they were on the rutted buggy path that led out of their small village, Jake gave Hannah the reigns and reached into the basket he’d stowed at their feet. He pulled out a thermos of coffee.

  “Can I pour you a cup to warm you up?”

  “Yes, thank you, although this blanket does a fine job, as does sitting next to you.”

  Hannah’s smile did more for him than ten cups of coffee would, it warmed him deep inside and he had a hard time concentrating on pouring the hot liquid without spilling it all over himself.

  “Does my driving make you that nervous?” Hannah teased.

  He just shook his head and winked, taking back the reigns as he gave her the mug of coffee.

  The trip went smoothly. They chatted easily with each other and laughed often. Over the past two days, they’d started getting to know one another, as did Ethan and Miriam, who could be heard laughing and talking in the wagon behind them. It was as if all four had been friends for a lifetime already.

  “I’m so happy,” Hannah exclaimed. “Earlier this week, I thought my life would never change, and here we are doing something new and exciting.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say selling goods to Englischers is all that exciting, but it does provide for some entertainment at times. We had a fairly brisk trade with outsiders in Ohio and, oy, some of the stories I could tell!”

  He went on to share one of the funnier ones he could remember.

  “My father was explaining to one young boy how we made things by hand. ‘Without electricity?’ the boy asked. ‘Certainly,’ my father said. ‘Mom,’ the boy yelled to his mother, ‘this man makes things by magic!’”

  They both just shook their heads at all the silly notions the non-Amish had about them. A few more stories and the minutes flew by. Soon they pulled into the market area, which was in the large parking lot of a big box store, and were directed to a couple of spaces reserved for new sellers.

  They received a curious glance or two from some of the other retailers as this was their first time at the market. But this was Amish country, after all, and their presence wasn’t all that surprising to longtime residents of the area. A few of the other fellow farmers offered to help them set up and get settled, for which Jacob was grateful.

  It wasn’t long before the nearby residents, tourists, and even out-of-town commuters who loved all things organic and natural were walking the parking lot with baskets, finding bargains, and “buying local.” Miriam and Hannah kept busy restocking the table with goods from the wagon as Jacob and Ethan interacted with the shoppers.

  During a break in the activity, they ate sandwiches and drank more coffee. The day was warming up quite nicely and the aromas of the market wafted around them – a hint of apple cider, the leather work from the stall next door, some nearby cook fires, and chicken and hamburgers on the grill.

  By early afternoon, their goods were sold out. The last of the eggs and ham went to a local café owner and a retailer bought the candles for her store. She also wanted Jacob to think about negotiating a distribution deal with Mrs. Baumgartner for a weekly supply. The candles, she said, combined with some essential oils, would appeal to the growing group of millennial shoppers traveling to York each week. When Jacob told the others about this, they didn’t know what to say, having never heard of essential oils or millennials.

  As they made ready to leave, Jacob stopped and took it all in. He was thrilled to see how excited Miriam, Hannah, and Ethan were about the whole experience. Surely, once the Elders in Ephraim heard about their success and the positive comments from the community, they’d allow them to expand their initial offerings to include everyone who wanted to participate.

  “Ethan,” Jacob said as he harnessed the horses for the thirty minute ride home, “you’re a natural born salesman. I think I’ll call you Slick from now on.”

  “Oh no, just what my father needs to hear,” Ethan said, laughing.

  “Which reminds me, Jake,” Hannah added, “you still haven’t told me your nickname.”

  Miriam patted her arm and said, “No mystery there. You’ve already been using it.”

  But Jake just shrugged noncommittally, knowing Hannah was unconvinced and bemused that he still had a secret she wanted to wheedle out of him.

  The afternoon sun was slowly make its way to the horizon. Jacob gave the reigns to Hannah and pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes, apologizing for the need to take a short nap on their way home. Ethan and Miriam were in the wagon, not far behind.

  As the buggy approached a blind country intersection just outside of York, a car came speeding by, seemingly to appear out of nowhere, horn blaring, gravel shooting out from under the back tires. Hannah pulled hard on the reigns, but the horse had already reared. The mare then twisted in the harness and jerked the buggy sideways to avoid the zooming vehicle.

  The horse stumbled, then bounded into a short gallop. The buggy’s back wheel, however, hit a rut, broke free from the axle, and the whole carriage crashed on its side. Hannah was thrown from her seat and Jacob, awake now and reacting by instinct, jumped clear as the harness broke and the buggy came to a stop.

  He rushed to Hannah who was lying in the road, not moving. Ethan leapt from the wagon and ran to the both of them. Miriam was there in a moment as well, kneeling down, checking for a pulse.

  “Hannah, Hannah,” Jacob said, scooping her into his arms. “Can you hear me?”

  A soft moan and a flutter of eyelids was all the response he received. Then Hannah sank into unconsciousness.

  Chapter Nine

  By evening, Hannah was aw
ake and feeling better. A nearby doctor had come and gone and pronounced no long term repercussions to the fall. Some sore muscles, a head ache for a day or two, but no broken bones or significant injuries, thank the Lord.

  After eating a light supper, Hannah felt well enough to get up and complete her evening chores, but her parents made her stay in bed, admonishing her to rest. They’d also turned away all the visitors who’d dropped by earlier to see her and wish her well.

  “Even Jacob?” Hannah asked. “Surely, you could have allowed him to stop in for a few moments.”

  Her father looked grave and Hannah gulped.

  “Oh no, don’t tell me the Elders are blaming him for this, are they?” she asked.

  “No,” her father said, “but we did meet briefly and decided to immediately suspend the trips to York. Some of our members took the accident as a sign from God that we should not have participated in the Farmers Market in the first place.”

  Hannah was about to object, but her father gently shushed her.

  “No need to worry about Jacob. He’s not in any trouble. Based on what Ethan said, we all agree it was an accident that could not have been avoided. In fact, Ethan’s enthusiastic support of the Hostetler siblings has endeared them to the community. He believes Miriam’s quick response and Jacob’s sober deliberation and immediate actions helped save your life.”

  This news came as welcome relief. And part of Hannah wished she’d been awake during her rescue so she could have felt Jake’s strong arms around her. She sighed, wistful at the thought. She’d have to settle for a thank you embrace the next time she saw him.

  After a few more assurances, Mr. Beiler took his leave and Hannah slept.

  The next morning, the family walked to town to attend the worship service. All who saw her greeted her and many inquired as to her well-being. She was back to normal, she said, and felt no worse for the wear.

  The Hostetlers were there, of course, and more than a few prayed aloud, thanking God for bringing the brother and sister to Ephraim, and for protecting their Hannah.