Love Comes to Paradise

by Mary Ellis

  Nora blushed but managed to smile. Violet’s humor was hard to resist. “I love working there. I’m learning things my mother never managed to teach me despite her best attempts. And I see interesting people every day. You have no idea what bizarre clothes Englischers find fashionable.” She clucked her tongue.

  Violet slumped dramatically onto her elbows. “You lucky dog. I would love working where I get to meet folks. Mamm thinks quilt-making should be enough to keep me busy.” She pulled a frightful expression.

  “Emily could still use more help, in my opinion. We’re busy as hornets the entire time we’re open. Should I ask her about hiring you? I could pick you up in the buggy on my way to work. Then I wouldn’t have to walk, which would please me greatly.” Nora cracked her knuckles.

  “You are an absolute angel sent from heaven, but give me time to soften up my daed first.” Violet threw her arms around Nora and kissed her cheek with a loud smack.

  Everyone either laughed or looked mortified. Such displays of affection among the Amish were rare.

  “We’ll see if you say that after Emily works you like a draft horse.”

  The next morning Solomon Trask walked to the front of his congregation prepared to do battle…or at least convince his district of the dangers of outside influences. He had witnessed firsthand what happened when a Plain family relied too heavily on money from tourists.

  Young men with lust in their hearts ogling underdressed women?

  A wife and mother too busy baking sweets for her shop to properly watch her kinner?

  And Levi—a man familiar with Scripture—working on the Sabbath to produce overpriced leather goods? The memory soured Sol’s stomach but fortified his resolve.

  “Let us turn to the book of Genesis for today’s lesson,” he said, opening his Bible. He’d planned to begin reading in chapter six but reconsidered and set the book down. “I shall paraphrase the story of Noah so my message is clear to everyone.” He waited to speak until he had full attention. “As time went on, the world became filled with evil. Man’s imagination only worked in evil ways. The Lord regretted ever creating humankind. He decided to destroy all living creatures except for one man and his family who had found favor with Him.

  “He ordered Noah to build an enormous ark of gopher wood with many rooms, seal it with pitch, and then fill it with a male and female of every species. Noah was also to supply the ark with enough food to sustain them. Two by two the animals entered the ark along with Noah’s wife, sons, and their wives. Then the Lord sent a great flood to destroy all life on earth.

  “Finally, the sun shone again and the waters began to recede. Noah was patient aboard the ark. He sent out a raven and then a dove to gauge the progress of the earth becoming habitable again. When the dove returned no more, Noah knew it was time to let down the ramp.”

  Solomon looked over both sides of benches. Everyone seemed enthralled with his sermon. “And God told Noah to go forth with his family and the creatures. To be fruitful and multiply in the clean, new world.” He walked to the table where he’d laid his Bible and placed his hand atop the worn cover. Then Solomon lifted his chin and steeled his gaze at the district members. “Look around our community, state, and country. Does not the world grow more mean-spirited, more evil with each passing year? Aren’t hearts hardening to the sorrows of others? Don’t we often turn away rather than correct the wrongdoings we witness?”

  He scanned the people, not letting his focus fall on anyone in particular. “Don’t we allow outside influences into our lives that corrupt our families? We welcome English tourists because they bring the dollars necessary to pay taxes, medical bills, and repair our farms, but what are we trading in return for these comforts?” Solomon’s demeanor grew serious. “We should examine our consciences carefully before we encourage additional intrusion into our Plain lifestyle.” His voice rose steadily in increments.

  Several men and many women shifted uncomfortably on the benches. His message seemed to have pierced their hearts. He hoped there would be no more ignoring the Fourth Commandment—working on the Sabbath—in his community. “Let us bow our heads,” he murmured.

  Solomon prayed for the people he loved that they wouldn’t end up like the neighbors of Noah. When he sat down, the preaching service continued with singing and then another sermon delivered by the bishop. He felt he had served his Lord well.

  After church concluded, he watched his fraa wheel his younger daughter out into the sunshine. Both of their faces glowed with renewed faith. Those sweet, dear women would never find themselves on the wrong side of God’s favor. Several men waited to speak with Solomon about questions regarding taxes. When the minister finally put on his black hat and left the Yoders’ outbuilding, he spotted his wife and daughter under a Sycamore tree. They weren’t chatting with his married kinner as usual, but with Deacon Jonas and his wife, Emily. A skinny girl hovered over Violet’s wheelchair.

  “Daed,” exclaimed Violet. “I thought you would never finish up. This is my new friend, Nora King, who moved here from Maine.” Violet clutched the girl’s hand.

  “How do you do, miss?” asked Solomon, tipping his hat. “Welcome to Paradise. Are you kin to the Gingerichs?”

  The girl identified as Nora stared at him mutely, as though a second head sat on his shoulders.

  Violet shook Nora’s arm. “Don’t look so frightened. My father won’t bite.”

  Solomon watched the girl’s mouth open, yet not a single sound came forth. Either she’d been struck deaf during the last ten minutes, or their newest arrival had been rendered speechless by his sermon.

  Emily slipped her arm around Nora’s waist. “Nora is related by marriage to my sister. She’s quite shy around strangers, but given time she will soon talk your ear off like most young women.” Emily could feel Nora shrinking inside her shoes.

  “Why don’t you all come to our house this afternoon for a visit?” asked Violet, struggling to stand from her chair.

  Her mother forced her down with a firm hand. “Please do.” Rosanna gazed at Emily. “It’ll only be cold sandwiches and tea, but we could put our chairs in the shade. We get a nice breeze from the west most afternoons.” She kept a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

  Emily rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I’ve had a sinus headache for two days, so I think Jonas and I will rest at home today. But there’s no reason Nora can’t take the buggy to your place. She knows the way from last night.” Emily heard an indistinguishable squeak come from the mouse on her right but ignored it. “We’ll be off then,” she said cheerily. “Guder nachmittag, Solomon, Rosanna. Expect Nora later with one of my peach pies.”

  Emily grabbed Nora’s hand and pulled her to the parking area while Jonas hitched up their horse. Once inside the enclosed buggy and rolling away from the hosts’ farm, Emily turned to Nora in the backseat. “What got into you? You acted as though Minister Trask was a rabid dog with huge snapping teeth.”

  Nora leaned between them. “Didn’t you find him scary, talking about God drowning everybody but a handful in a big flood?”

  “It’s all in Scripture.” Jonas steered the horse onto the shoulder to let a car pass by. “We have nothing to fear as long as we walk with God.”

  “Nothing to fear?” squawked Nora. “The minister just said he witnesses plenty of sin in this district caused by Englischers.”

  Emily exchanged a glance with her husband, but Jonas had a quick reply. “Solomon wasn’t blaming the English for Amish sin. He pointed out what could happen if we ignore God’s words and satisfy our worldly desires. It was a cautionary message, not a judgment of our English friends and neighbors.”

  Nora didn’t seem remotely convinced. “All I know is that I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t still in Harmony with their strict Ordnung and rigid thinking.”

  “You find adherence to God’s Word rigid?” Jonas’s question was no louder than a whisper, but it carried the weight of a draft horse.

  “No, mir leid,�
�� she apologized. “I’m just flustered by Minister Trask. I can’t believe he’s Violet’s father. When she talked about him on the ride from St. Louis, she never mentioned he was a preacher with a voice that could echo across the Mississippi River. According to her, she has him wrapped around her little finger.”

  Emily laughed in spite of herself. “Sol does sound like a preacher from olden days, no? But Violet wasn’t exaggerating. That stern man absolutely dotes on his fraa and dochder. You’ll see for yourself when you visit this afternoon.”

  “Must I go? What if I say the wrong thing and make him angry?” A look of pure panic filled her face.

  “I thought you liked Violet, or weren’t you sincere about that?” asked Emily.

  Nora wasted no time responding. “I like her very much. She’s the first woman in a long time I can be friends with, maybe in my entire life.” She placed her hand on Emily’s shoulder.

  “Then you must swallow your fear and go see her. If you value her friendship, there’s no way to avoid her father.”

  Nora settled back on the seat, lost in thought. She remained quiet for the rest of the way home. While Jonas harnessed a fresh horse to the buggy, she washed her hands and face and Emily set a pie into a basket.

  Picking up the wicker handles, Nora smiled tentatively. “I’m off. If I don’t return, tell my family back in Lancaster that I love them.”

  Emily waited until she was halfway down the walk before delivering her final words of advice. “Remember, Solomon is a man of God,” she called. “I doubt he’ll cut you into little pieces to use as fish bait.”

  Nora climbed into the buggy and waved feebly. She drove off at a snail’s pace, not in any hurry to see if the minister was planning a Monday fishing trip or not.

  “That was rather merciless of you, fraa,” said Jonas, entering the kitchen.

  “Ach, I thought you were still in the barn.” Emily knew that wasn’t much of an excuse.

  “Fish bait. Where do you get such notions?” He buzzed a kiss across her kapp, a sure indicator he wasn’t angry, and hung up his coat.

  “Perhaps a little teasing might reduce some of the girl’s stress. Did you see the look on her face after preaching?”

  Jonas nodded his head. “Sol’s sermon hit a chord with many folks, not just with our houseguest.” He poured a mug of cold coffee, his Sunday staple. “Much contained in the early books of the Old Testament is hard to comprehend. A God who would destroy every man, woman, child, animal, and bird, except for a chosen few? But there it is in black and white, English or High German, either way you choose to read it.”

  Emily felt an involuntary shiver snake up her spine. “Is that why the Lord hasn’t blessed us, Jonas? Because of our sins? Because we have fallen short of His expectations?” A lump rose up her throat.

  He turned around. “What are you talking about?”

  “We have no kinner. No sons or daughters to carry on after we’re gone. Will your bloodline and name be continued only by your bruders?” She hated the shrill tone in her voice.

  Jonas wrapped his arms around her. “Emily, bloodlines and names aren’t important to me. Anyway, where is your faith? Didn’t God bring Elizabeth and Zacharias a child in their later years after her fertile time was long past?”

  She spoke into the soft fabric of his shirt. “I doubt if God considers us as worthy as the parents of John the Baptist.”

  “It will happen in God’s own time. Don’t lose hope. We’re not too old yet. If it be His will, we’ll have children on His timetable. But if He chooses for us to remain childless, we can still lead productive lives of service to our community and church. We have been blessed with much. And I thank God for you each day.” Jonas kissed her lightly on the forehead.

  What could she say after that? She loved her ehemann with her whole heart, but didn’t every woman harbor passion to be a mother? “Let’s have a sandwich. Then I think I’ll lay down for a nap on the sofa. My attitude will improve greatly after food and a little rest.”

  Jonas grinned and sauntered away to wash up.

  Emily forced away her selfish thoughts, for they indeed revealed a lack of faith.

  FOUR

  Lose all their guilty stains

  Solomon let his youngest child jabber until she ran out of air. Emily Gingerich must have had Violet in mind when she referred to young women who could talk your ear off. Not that he minded. It was good to see his daughter so excited.

  “She traveled all the way here from the Atlantic Ocean by herself,” Violet emphasized. “Her sister got married and stayed in central Maine, but they’re from Lancaster County originally. Oh, mamm and daed, her parents died in a horrible house fire. Her two younger sisters remained in Pennsylvania with their grandparents.”

  “Nora told you all this during the bus ride from the doctor’s office?” asked Rosanna. She sat between Violet and Sol. He had ordered the buggy extra wide so neither woman would have to crawl into the backseat.

  “Nein. She told me Saturday night at the cookout, while her friend from Harmony played in the volleyball game.”

  “She didn’t want to play?”

  “I told her I wouldn’t mind if she did, but she said she preferred talking with me to smacking at a silly white ball.” Violet beamed with pleasure. “Those were her exact words.”

  “It’s too warm to run around in the hot sun.” Rosanna wiped her brow with her hanky.

  On and on Violet rambled, filling in every known detail about the life and history on her new friend. For some reason the girls had taken to each other instantly, even though Violet usually kept her distance from people her own age. She preferred kinner and the elderly—those who posed no threat to the impenetrable protective wall she maintained. She suspected any attention or kindness to be a form of pity and wouldn’t tolerate it. Somehow Nora King had passed Violet’s mysterious unwritten set of rules for potential friends with flying colors.

  “Are Nora and the volleyball player a courting couple?” asked Sol, peering over his spectacles.

  “If they are, one would never guess. She refused to leave my side the whole evening. I told her I was a grown woman with bad legs, not a toddler learning to walk. No one needed to watch me. But it did no good. When we moved down to the bonfire, she shared a bench with me instead of Elam. But he was busy making new friends among the young men of the district. You should have heard his stories about camping on his way from Pennsylvania. Because he’s still on rumschpringe, he drove a car and accepted handouts of food like a skinny stray dog that wanders up your drive.” Violet shook her head. “It takes all kinds, no?”

  Sol opened his mouth to ask more about the cross-country camper when Violet launched into more background on her favorite topic, Nora King. “Did you know that women, even single gals, aren’t allowed to work in Harmony, Maine? They can only sew or bake at home and then consign the items to markets and stores.”

  Solomon waved a car around the buggy that had slowed to a crawl. “Sounds like wise counsel from their elders and ministerial brethren to me. Women don’t need to be exposed to every temptation and evil running rampant in the world.”

  “Oh, Papa.” Violet purred like a cat. “What evil will Nora encounter working for Emily in her bakery? Rolling and cutting out cookies, kneading bread dough, and filling piecrusts with fruit preserves doesn’t sound very dangerous to a person’s soul.”

  “Violet,” he admonished. “Don’t make light of serious matters, such as where a person will spend eternity.”

  “I’m not at all,” she said, swiveling to face him. “I just believe a woman’s hands shouldn’t be idle. And what better way to stay busy than creating good food to eat?” Violet patted Rosanna’s knee. “Mamm tends house so well she scarcely needs my help.”

  “Turning our conversation back to a more suitable subject for the Sabbath, what did you two think of my sermon?” Solomon pulled hard on the reins as they started the last half mile to their house downhill. If left unchecked, the mare wo
uld run pell-mell to her bucket of oats.

  “Papa,” said Violet, sounding shocked. “If I didn’t know you better, I would think you were fishing for a prideful compliment.”

  Sol flushed to his hairline. “You do know better than that, daughter. But from all the talk of long-distance travelers and employment opportunities for women, maybe you napped during my sermon.”

  “Never. I loved the story of Noah and his ark filled with animals. Amazing how God kept the lions from eating the antelopes and zebras! And how Noah trusted a dove to let him know when it was safe to get off the boat. Birds have brains the size of peas.”

  Before he had a chance to interrupt, Violet changed her tack. “But God rewarded faithful Noah with a new world, free of those sinful people. He and his offspring were given a chance to make things right.”

  “Many were moved by your warning, Solomon,” added his fraa, finally able to get a word in edgewise. “They will be careful not to let dealings with the English influence their lives.”

  “We should have almost no dealings with them, other than lending a hand to neighbors in need.” But Solomon soon lost his audience as he drove the buggy toward the barn. Rosanna got out as soon as they stopped and then helped Violet down.

  Violet, as usual, refused her chair and hobbled toward the house on crutches. “Let’s set up our cold lunch on the picnic table so everything will be ready when Nora arrives. I do hope there’s enough potato salad left from yesterday and some of the pumpkin bread Kathryn made. Mamm, could we sweeten the iced tea with honey?”

  “It’s still the Lord’s Day, young lady,” thundered Sol.

  “Papa, it wasn’t our industry that created the honey, but the bees’. God will have to hold them accountable.” She resumed her labored walk up to the house while he drove the horse and buggy into the barn.

  Papa. How many times had he requested she use the simple word daed to address him? But Violet complied only for a short while and then returned to her favorite term of endearment. He’d finally given in. Now hearing the word warmed his heart. Violet had been a gift to them—a late-in-life baby when their older kinner were teenagers. And what a joy she was.