At Home in Pleasant Valley

by Marta Perry

  “Not worrying is easier said than done.” She wanted to reach out, to touch that silky hair she’d brushed and braided so often for her little sister, but she was afraid Anna would pull away. What had happened to them, that there was such distance between them now?

  She moved, intending to get down. Anna’s hand shot out to grab the buggy, blocking her way.

  “You’re not coming in, are you?”

  She froze. “I thought I’d get something cold to drink. Are you ashamed of me, Anna?”

  Anna’s face turned sulky. “Well, you’re ashamed of me, dressed this way, aren’t you?”

  “Not ashamed. Never ashamed.” Now she did reach out and touch her sister’s hair lightly. “Just worried that you are flirting too much with the English world. I love you, Anna. I don’t want you to be hurt.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “I know you think that, but—”

  “I can.” Now Anna did jerk away from her. “And you’re a fine one to talk about that to me when you’re doing the same thing.”

  Leah’s heart seemed to turn cold in her chest. “What are you talking about?”

  “You. Johnny Kile.” Anna took a step back, throwing the words at her. “All that work you’re doing at the clinic.” She shot an angry glance toward the black case. “Everyone knows you’re only doing it to get close to Johnny Kile again. So maybe you’d better save your lectures for yourself.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Let’s pick out the colors you want to use for your doll quilt,” Leah said, spreading out the contents of her mother’s scrap basket on the table in the living room at the daadi haus.

  Elizabeth looked at them doubtfully and shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever you think is best.”

  Elizabeth’s impassive little face didn’t give Leah any clues to her feelings. Did she want to learn how to quilt, or was she going along only because her daadi wanted her to?

  Leah moved scraps of colors around, hoping for an inspiration. She had suggested teaching the child to quilt, thinking that it would lead to conversations while they worked together. Most Amish girls of eight were already fairly accomplished with a needle, but then, most had a mammi or grossmutter to guide them.

  She glanced at Elizabeth’s solemn little face. Did she feel that something was missing in her life, without a mother to teach her the skills of Amish life?

  Or was she longing to go back to the English world her mother had taken her to? If that was the case, it would devastate Daniel, who was trying so hard to restore his relationship with his children after their time apart.

  “These might be pretty together.” She moved a dark blue piece next to a coral rose.

  “That’s a nice color.” One small finger touched the rose fabric. “Do you have a dress made of that?”

  “No, that piece is left from a dress my sister Anna made.”

  Leah kept her voice calm, but her mind winced away from thoughts of her sister. She and Anna had been painfully polite to each other in public since the incident at the fast-food restaurant. In private, they had been silent, living in the same house without speaking.

  The hurt would go away in time. They’d be normal to each other again. Just not right now.

  “This is a doll quilt that I made when I was about your age.”

  Leah unfolded the small, faded one-patch quilt. With its simple arrangement of seven squares across and seven squares down, it would be the simplest design to start with.

  “I remember I thought the yellow and the green would look fine together, but once it was done, I wasn’t so sure.” She’d sat in this room with Grossmutter, trying so hard to make her stitches as smooth and tiny as her grandmother’s had been.

  “I think it’s pretty.”

  That was the first positive thing Elizabeth had said, and it pleased Leah, even if the child was just being polite.

  “Your quilt will be really pretty, too, I know. And I’ll make one along with you. I think I’d like this light blue piece for one of my colors.” She took a good-sized piece of fabric, hoping that would encourage Elizabeth to do the same.

  Elizabeth looked at her, forehead wrinkling in a frown. “Do you have a doll bed?”

  “Well, not anymore. I gave it to my little sister when she started playing with dolls. But I’ll make a quilt anyway, and I can put it away to give when I need a gift for someone.”

  Elizabeth picked at the piece of rose fabric. “I don’t have a doll bed, either.” Her mouth seemed to tighten on the words, and Leah had a sense of some emotion quickly suppressed.

  “You have a doll, don’t you?” She couldn’t imagine any Amish girl without at least one of the faceless cloth dolls that were so much a part of childhood.

  Elizabeth nodded. “But she has to sleep on my bed, because she doesn’t have one of her own.”

  Again Leah sensed that tension. She longed to find out what the significance was of a doll bed, but if she probed, Elizabeth would retreat, and they’d be left in silence again.

  Best to let it go for the moment. Perhaps Daniel would be able to shed some light.

  “I’m sure your doll will like to have her own quilt, even if she’s sleeping on your bed.” She was going to have to move things along, or she had the sense that Elizabeth would sit looking at the fabric pieces until it was time for Daniel to come for her. “Let’s decide what colors we want.” She pointed to her old doll quilt. “How many colors would we need to make a quilt like this?”

  Elizabeth studied the design, obviously counting to herself. “Seven.” Her fingers lingered on the rose fabric. “May I use this one? And the light green?”

  “Ser gut.” Leah’s heart warmed at the show of interest. “Choose five more, now, and then we can start cutting them out.”

  Nodding, Elizabeth began moving fabric pieces around, face intent as she considered each one.

  Somehow Leah had attracted the child’s attention. That was the first hurdle, and she’d have to be content with that for today.

  She watched Elizabeth’s face, longing to do more. The trauma of what had happened to Elizabeth had made her put up barriers against showing what she truly felt. Leah, of all people, knew about that. She had guarded her own feelings just as carefully after Johnny left.

  The thought hit her, taking her breath away for a moment. She hoped to help Elizabeth surmount her fears, but how could she do that when she hadn’t succeeded with her own?

  And if she did, through God’s grace, manage to help Elizabeth, who would help her?

  • • •

  Matthew and Jonah darted ahead of Daniel as he headed across the field to the Beiler farm to collect Elizabeth. Matthew seemed more settled in recent days, for which Daniel was truly thankful.

  As for Jonah—he had to smile as his youngest grabbed Matthew’s hat and took off, Matthew in hot pursuit. Nothing ever seemed to dampen Jonah’s spirits. He had the gift of taking things as they came, unlike the other two.

  Still, even Elizabeth had been better lately, making him wonder if this business of having Leah work with her was necessary. Maybe all his daughter needed was time to adjust to her life here.

  “Daadi!” Matthew, having retrieved his hat, came racing back to him. “Mahlon and Joseph are working on something at the barn. Can we go see?”

  “Go, but mind you stay out of their way.”

  Matthew ran off again, Jonah chugging along behind him like a little shadow. The Beiler brothers would make time for them, he knew, and maybe that was the answer with Elizabeth as well. Whether or not she really needed the counseling, as Leah thought, it would be good for her to be around a family like the Beilers.

  When he reached the back porch, Leah and Elizabeth were just coming out. As usual, Elizabeth’s face didn’t give anything away.

  “How was the quilting?” He hated that his voice s
ounded too hearty, as if he still couldn’t be at ease with his own child.

  “It went very well,” Leah said, resting her hand lightly on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “Elizabeth has a natural talent for needlework, I think.”

  Elizabeth darted a glance at her, as if checking to be sure Leah really meant it. Apparently she was satisfied with whatever she saw on Teacher Leah’s face, because a smile played on her lips.

  “I’m making a one-patch quilt for my doll,” she announced. “Can I go tell Matthew about it?”

  Leah nodded slightly over the child’s head. She wanted to talk with him privately, then. Apprehension tightened his stomach.

  “Your brothers are out at the barn. Go and find them, but don’t get in the way.”

  “There’s no need to worry about that.” Leah sat down on the porch swing as Elizabeth crossed toward the barn. “Mahlon and Joseph are working on some project, but they always have time for company.”

  He sat down next to her. “What’s wrong?” He said the words bluntly, not willing to wait for her to lead up to whatever troubled her.

  “Nothing.” She reached out toward him, a tentative little gesture. “I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”

  “There is something, Teacher Leah, or you would not be so cautious. Just tell me.”

  She looked troubled. “Daniel, it’s important that Elizabeth not feel I’m reporting to you on what happens between us.”

  Irritation flickered. “I’m her father. I have a right to know what concerns her.”

  “Please understand.” Leah’s voice went soft with caring. “I won’t keep anything important from you, but Elizabeth must know that she can trust me, or she won’t open up at all. You can see that, can’t you?”

  He pushed past his annoyance, past his instinctive response that he was the only one responsible for his daughter’s happiness. If Leah could help Elizabeth, he must swallow his pride and let her.

  “Ja,” he said. “I see. I’ll be careful.”

  “Ser gut.” She glanced toward the barn, as if checking to be sure that Elizabeth was well out of earshot. “When we were planning the doll quilts we’re making, Elizabeth said that she doesn’t have a doll cradle. It seemed to upset her a little, so I wanted to ask if it means something I should be aware of.”

  For a moment he looked at her blankly. The doll cradle—

  “I made one for her,” he said slowly. “For her third birthday, that was. It was one of the things Ruth took with her when she went away.” He could feel the tension tightening inside him like a spring.

  “Do you know what happened to it?” Leah’s voice was carefully neutral.

  “When I went to pick them up, I stopped at the place where they’d been living.” He had to force himself to remember that, hating the fact that his children had lived in a place with dirty dishes in the sink and clothes strewn on the floor. “I wanted to pack up their things, but the cradle wasn’t there.” His voice roughened. “There was nothing left to remind them that they’d been Amish. Ruth must have gotten rid of all of it.”

  “I’m sorry.” Leah’s green eyes went dark with sympathy.

  His hands had curled into fists on his knees. He forced them to relax, one finger at a time.

  The anger is still here, Father. How am I ever to be rid of it? Please, take it away.

  Leah put her hand over his, her touch startling him. “It’s so hard, I know. But they were things. Things don’t make us Amish.” She paused, as if groping for words. “It is Gelassenheit that defines who we are. If they’ve forgotten, your children will learn it again, now that they’re safe with you.”

  Gelassenheit. It meant humility, but it was so much more, encompassing all that was simple and humble and good about their way of life.

  He took a deep breath. “I pray you are right,” he said. “Certainly I can make a new doll cradle for Elizabeth.”

  “Her birthday is later in the summer, isn’t it?” Leah drew her hand away, flushing a little. “We’ll try to finish the quilt by then, too, so that she can have both the cradle and the quilt together. And my mamm has already started making a doll for her.”

  “That is kind of her. And you.”

  “It’s a pleasure for both of us. We’re glad to have Elizabeth in our lives.”

  The warmth in Leah’s voice touched the sore place in his heart, soothing it. He glanced at her, liking the delicate line of her profile, the warmth and caring that flowed from her so effortlessly.

  His family kept telling him that he should marry again, that his children needed a mother and he needed a wife. If he intended to do that, wasn’t Teacher Leah the logical person to ask?

  She had been kind to them from the moment they’d arrived, had gone out of her way to help his children. And he was attracted to her—he couldn’t deny that.

  But balanced against that was her work at the clinic, bringing her again and again into contact with her onetime intended. He knew, better than most, the trouble that could come from flirtation with the outside world.

  And even if he did decide to risk it, the truth was that despite her kindness, despite the attraction that he thought was mutual, he had no idea how Leah would react if he courted her.

  • • •

  Leah got up, setting the porch swing moving slightly. She was getting too close to Daniel, and that was a problem. She neither wanted nor was ready for any further changes in her life. She was dealing with enough already.

  “Shall we go out to the barn and see what they’re up to?”

  Daniel nodded, standing and falling into step with her. The silence between them bothered her, filled as it was with the things unsaid.

  “It’s hard to tell what Joseph and Mahlon might be doing,” she said to fill the gap. “When the two of them get together, they turn back into young ones again, ready for all kinds of foolishness.”

  “They’ve always been close?”

  She nodded. “They’re near each other in age and sandwiched between the girls, so maybe that accounts for it.”

  “My brother Caleb and I were like that.” His smile flickered, reminiscent. “Mamm declared we gave her more gray hairs than the rest of the family put together.”

  “She probably enjoyed it, even if she didn’t want you to know.”

  He glanced toward the barn, as if looking for his own young ones. “Maybe so. I’d like to see Matthew and Jonah be closer.”

  “When they’ve grown a bit, the age difference between them won’t mean as much,” she suggested.

  He nodded, frowning a little. In this, as in everything connected with his children, Daniel wanted so much to have everything be right. He was a good man, trying hard to be both mother and father to his family.

  She admired that, as she should, but that didn’t mean she ought to be drawn any deeper into a relationship that might not be what either of them wanted for their lives.

  Daniel slid the barn door back. Joseph and Mahlon were bent over a piece of machinery, and Matthew knelt next to them, obviously intrigued. Elizabeth and Jonah were in the hay mow, engrossed in some game of their own that seemed to involve Elizabeth putting strands of hay into her little brother’s hair.

  “Don’t tell me you’re still trying to get that corn binder working. Last year it broke down so often that Daadi said it was simpler to do it by hand.”

  Joseph, a streak of grease on his forehead, grinned at her. “That’s why we’re working on it early this year. Come time to harvest the corn, we’ll have this running like a top.”

  “That’s what you said last year,” she reminded him.

  “This year we have Matthew helping us,” Mahlon said, reaching out to tousle the boy’s hair. “He’s a natural with machines already.”

  “That he is,” Joseph said. “I could use a bright boy like this as an apprentice in a few years.”

/>   A slight movement drew Leah’s gaze to Daniel. His hands pressed tightly against the sides of his trousers, and his mouth was a firm, straight line.

  “We’d best be getting along home now.” He softened the words with a smile, but she thought it took an effort.

  Matthew scowled. “But I want to see the corn binder work. Please, Daadi, can’t I stay until they get it working?”

  “No.” The word was sharp and uncompromising, sounding loud in the quiet barn.

  Mahlon and Joseph exchanged glances, and then Mahlon gave Matthew a friendly cuff on the shoulder. “Knowin’ my brother, that could be a long wait. You come again another time, all right?”

  Matthew’s lower lip came out, but he bobbed his head and got to his feet. Elizabeth and Jonah slid over the low wall of the hay mow, and in a moment the Glick family had gone.

  Leah stood still, fingers clenched. It’s not your place to interfere. You’re not going to get any more involved, remember?

  But it was no good. She crossed the barn floor quickly and hurried after them.

  The children were already running ahead. Since Daniel seemed to have no intention of stopping when he saw her coming, she fell into step with him.

  “What is it?” A plain, frank question seemed to be the only thing that worked with Daniel. “Why did you pull the children away like that?”

  “It’s time we were getting to the chores.” But his gaze evaded hers.

  “Do you object to using the corn binder? It’s been approved by the bishop long since, and most farmers in the valley use them. As long as they’re pulled by horses—”

  “It’s not the corn binder,” he snapped.

  “Then what?”

  He stopped, swinging to face her. “I don’t like Matthew’s interest in things mechanical, that’s all. He won’t be looking for any apprenticeship, either, because he’s got a gut farm waiting for him.”

  “Joseph didn’t mean anything but to encourage the boy.”

  “I don’t want him encouraged.”

  She struggled to understand. “Surely it’s right for a farmer to understand the machinery he uses. Levi always says he’d be lost if he didn’t have Joseph to keep things running.”