Ella's Wish (Little Valley 2)

by Jerry S. Eicher

  With a full breath, the song leader led out on the second line, his voice rich and rising and whirling in a triumphant sound. Ella gave herself to the moment and joined in the joyous sound as the congregation added their voices. A wedding day was surely one of the highest experiences her people participated in. Even the songs on days like this were special. Most of them were sung only for the occasion and were so filled with joyous emotion.

  The whole room rose and fell with sound as even the very walls seemed to join in the emotion. It was good that she had decided to come. The last line was sung twenty minutes later, and then another song number was given out.

  Joe’s shoes appeared before the song started. He stepped quickly and quietly down the stairs and was followed by Ronda’s much quieter footsteps. Both of their faces were sober. What counsel have they been given? Were they warned about calamity and of the duty of faithfulness to each other through the trials of life? Perhaps they were told of children to come—loved then lost—or of parents who would need support in their old age.

  At least they have each other. Ella squirmed on the bench. She had lost Aden without a wedding, yet what God did should not be questioned. She swallowed hard against her tight throat. There was a reason for everything, even if it couldn’t be seen with human eyes.

  Joe and Ronda settled quickly back into their seats as the song leader cleared his throat. Ella waited, but no sound came. The bishop’s black shoes appeared on the first step above them.

  The whole house perked up as the ministers came downstairs and found their seats. Feet scraped on the floor, and a preacher Ella didn’t recognize got up slowly. He looked around the room and then began to speak.

  “Our dearly beloved brothers and sisters, we are gathered here today for a special occasion—to give a brother and sister in holy marriage, as has been instituted by Da Hah Himself. In the garden He made man and soon saw that it was not good for man to be alone. The same still holds true for us today. It is not good that a man dwell alone, without a wife, without children, without a real home.

  “Our brother and sister have found each other in the Villa Gottes, and we are here to honor and recognize their desires. They are a gut example for all of us to follow.”

  Ella held baby Barbara as the service continued. She squirmed and looked as if she were ready to cry but then quieted down.

  “I hope,” a second preacher said, “that you, as a young couple, will draw valuable lessons from the example of Jesus. Whatever the circumstances you experience in your married life, even in the seemingly impossible ones, there are simple deeds you can do for each other and turn them into acts of love. Miracles can be made out of the most common things. Jesus did this when He turned the water into wine. In the same way, you can meet the needs of each other.”

  Ella snuck a quick glance at Ronda and Joe. They were intently watching the preacher. What is it like to receive such gut advice on a wedding day? What must it be like to be getting married? Ella let her eyes find the preacher’s bench. The young bishop was listening intently. What is he thinking? Is he imagining himself seated on the chair up front with me sitting across from him? Why am I so afraid? He is a gut man.

  The second preacher finished and sat down, motioning with his hands toward the home bishop. He got to his feet slowly, coming to stand in front of Joe and Ronda.

  Ella felt the tears sting again. They were about to be married.

  “If it is still the desire of the brother and sister to be joined in holy marriage, will they please stand to their feet?”

  Joe got up first, and then Ronda stood next to him. Ella was sure she saw Ronda’s dress tremble.

  “Does the brother believe that by the will of God, he has been given sister Ronda to be his lawful wedded wife?”

  “Yah,” Joe said firmly.

  “Does the sister believe by the will of God she has been given brother Joe to be her lawful wedded husband?”

  “Yah,” Ronda said, looking down at the floor.

  The questions continued, and then the bishop reached first for Joe’s hand and then Ronda’s. “I now give these two into the bonds of marriage from which no man can ever part them. You are now husband and wife in the sight of God and man.”

  Joe and Ronda sat back down. From the back of the room, the song announcer bellowed out the number. It was an explosion of sound in the solemn silence. Ella joined wholeheartedly in the singing. How gut it is that I came! This does my soul so much good to see love still alive and well even if it is in other’s lives and not my own.

  The song ended, and Joe and Ronda got slowly to their feet and walked out. The two couples seated beside them followed. What a beautiful sight the six of them made, walking side-by-side, the boys in black suits and the girls in dark blue dresses. Ronda had an amazing ability to turn even common colors to her favor. Perhaps Ronda can help me in the quilt shop, even design for me. That is if she has time. There can’t be that much to do as a young married woman.

  Ella rose when her bench of women moved toward the kitchen. A few of the ladies shook her hand and smiled at the girls. Apparently everyone is comfortable with the situation. That is something to be thankful for because it would take too much energy to do all the explaining.

  Ella followed the line out to the pole barn, where long lines of tables had been set up. Directed by the ushers, she ended up at a table near a wall. Multiple couples, most of them only paired for the day and clad in identical outfits, rushed about. The boy and the girl were always close together, and their arms were full of plates heaped with food.

  Ella gasped when Eli came out of the makeshift kitchen where the cooks toiled behind temporary curtains. Behind him came Amos Hershberger’s Miriam. Her eyes were more intent on Eli than on the plate balanced on her long slender fingers.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were a table waiter?” she whispered as he walked by.

  “They had someone back out,” Eli said, laughing at her expression.

  Eli is so confident and full of life. Miriam is perfect for him. The sight of them together almost took Ella’s breath away. Oh, why doesn’t Eli see what’s in front of him? How can the boy be so stubborn?

  Eli, with Miriam in tow, left the plates at the table he was in charge of at the far end of the pole barn. On the way back, he teased Ella by whispering loudly, “You’re a mamm already, I see. Three of them. And no husband!”

  “Ach!” She gasped and glared at him.

  Watching Eli’s face, Miriam laughed, obviously impressed by the wisecrack.

  Does she know about the Englisha girl? Likely not, and just as likely she would drop Eli like a hot potato fresh from the coals when she finds out. If a good shake would do any good, I would stand up and give Eli one right here and now.

  “Who was that?” Mary asked.

  “Just my brother,” Ella said quietly. “He’s not as fierce as he looks.” Why can’t Eli just be decent? It would make things so much better for everyone.

  Young Bishop Miller got to his feet at the other end of the pole barn. “We are all gathered together for the meal now. Let us pray.”

  They all bowed their heads, and the sound of the bishop’s prayer bounced off the sides of the metal building. If he made as gut a husband as he prayed, then Mamm and Daett certainly are correct.

  The waiters passed the food quickly from one end of each table, and the guests sent the heavy plates down each side. Ella helped the girls with what they wanted, keeping the portions small. She might be acting like their mamm, but eating leftover food off their plates would be taking things too far.

  After the last bite had been eaten, Sharon, Ronda’s mom, worked her way toward Ella.

  “I’m so glad you could come,” she gushed.

  “I almost didn’t, what with the three girls.”

  “Just because you’re taking care of Stutzman’s girls is no reason to stay away,” she said, shaking Ella’s hand. “So why don’t you stay for the youth supper tonight?”

  “O
h, but the girls need naps,” Ella said.

  “You can use one of the bedrooms upstairs,” Sharon said quickly. ‘They’ll sleep as well there as any place.”

  Ella considered the invitation and said, “I suppose that is true. I’ll stay, then.”

  “That’s a gut decision,” Sharon said, patting her on the shoulder. “And I think it’s so nice of you to give Ronda and Joe a place to stay—and at such a reasonable price. That will give them a real nice start in their married life. Ronda was quite mixed-up and didn’t know what to do when the other plans fell through.”

  “I’ll be glad to have them,” Ella said.

  She hadn’t known how much she missed the young folk gatherings. Somehow this felt right. With the wedding, no boys would be asking girls home afterward.

  “Let me know if you need anything,” Sharon said. “I suspect Ronda’s got her mind on someone else today.”

  “I would think so,” Ella said, laughing.

  “Yah, and we are so happy for them,” Sharon said, glancing toward the center table. A tear sprang to her eye. “Ronda’s got herself a gut man.”

  “They do make a nice couple,” Ella said.

  Sharon lowered her voice and said, “Ronda says the young Bishop Miller’s callin’ on you. I’m so glad to hear it. We were all so shocked at Aden’s passin’.”

  “I guess life must go on,” Ella said, wishing the subject hadn’t come up.

  “Da Hah will heal your heart. He’s about that kind of business,” Sharon said, squeezing Ella’s shoulder and moving on.

  All around Ella, people had risen from the tables and moved to speak with friends and relatives. The noise in the metal-clad pole barn was at a high volume.

  “Come,” she said, taking Sarah by the hand and the baby in her other arm. “Let’s go inside the house. All of you could use naps, I think.”

  The yard was full of people, and a few nodded as she passed. Upstairs, the bedroom was almost empty. One baby lay on the bed with blankets spread around on the floor. Ella got Mary and Sarah to fall asleep easily enough, but the baby objected. After fifteen minutes, Ella gave up and headed downstairs with Barbara in her arms. There she spread a blanket out on the floor and remained within earshot of the upstairs bedroom door.

  Here she was like a real mamm, taking care of her girls, but no one looked at her strangely. The flow of women and girls in and out of the house was constant.

  “Hi, Ella,” the girls her age would say as they passed through the room on some sort of business in the house, but few stopped to talk long. Mary and Sarah awakened an hour later, and the rest of the afternoon passed along pleasantly enough. By five thirty long lines of buggies again filled the driveway. Almost all of them were filled with young people coming back for the evening supper.

  At six, Ella joined in with the line of girls moving out to the pole barn.

  “I’ll take care of the girls,” Sharon whispered, coming up to her.

  Ella looked at Mary and Sarah and raised her eyebrows to ask the unspoken question.

  Mary smiled, and Sarah nodded vigorously.

  “I guess,” Ella said, handing baby Barbara over to her. “This is so nice of you.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Sharon said. “Go enjoy yourself while you’re still young.”

  Ella thanked her again and found a seat between Naomi Schrock and Esther Hochstetler. Across from them the benches filled up with the boys.

  “How are you doing, Ella?” one of the boys asked.

  “Okay,” she answered with a smile. “I don’t think I know you.”

  “Amos Troyer. I knew Aden, but I live in one of the north districts—way up,” he said, waving his arm in that direction. “Aden was a good friend and a good man.”

  “I know,” Ella said. “I still miss him.”

  “I suppose you do,” Amos said.

  Ella saw Naomi out of the corner of her eye give a sharp glance in Amos’s direction.

  Amos picked up on it and said, “I’m sorry I brought it up. I just thought about him when I saw you.”

  “It’s okay,” Ella said with a weak smile. “Time heals. Is that not what they say?”

  “Well, I wish you the best,” Amos said, nodding and then turning to the boy beside him.

  The singing started at seven thirty, and Ella abandoned herself to the music. No one gave out selections half the time. They just started the song when one had ended. These were her people, and she had actually dared to attend a singing again. If Aden were here, he would be seated across the bench from her now. She could almost see him, blending in among the white shirts and black vests. How he loved to sing, raising his voice with the best of them. Soon the singing will be finished, and Aden will pull his buggy up to the walk outside. I’ll dash out to meet him, and my heart will be full of love and happiness.

  Her voice caught in the midst of a line, and Ella glanced down quickly. Naomi kept her eyes on the song book in front of her. Hopefully she hadn’t noticed. Ella gathered her emotions in check and joined in again.

  Eli sat across the room with his back to her. Miriam was still beside him. Ella saw their heads turned toward each other, and the songbook laying on the table. When the song ended, they whispered together, and Eli laughed softly. Can this be? Has Eli come to his senses?

  As soon as the last song was over, Ella found Sharon near the pole barn door, collected her girls, and waited—at Sharon’s insistence—while Sharon sent her husband to get Ella’s horse.

  “You shouldn’t,” Ella said but to no avail. Her buggy was soon delivered to the front of the pole barn.

  On the drive home, only the stars were out. The last rays of summer’s light had gone, and the girls sat sleepily beside her. When she reached home, she tied the horse and took the girls inside, making sure they were settled in upstairs before she went out to unhitch the horse. The harness was heavy in her hands as she pulled it off. She managed to lift and hang the leather straps on the barn hooks in one swoop. She slapped the horse on the rump, and he raced out through the outside stall door with a whinny. Outside the stars hung close above her head, seemingly drawn even closer by the darkness.

  Ella somehow felt pressed down and heavy. But why? The day has been a joy. Is it because life must be faced again? Perhaps it’s because the bishop is coming over on Saturday night, and I really don’t want to see him. Mamm and Daett think the bishop is perfect for me. A lot of other people obviously do too. How can I be so wrong?

  Ella lingered, gazing long at the sweep of the heavens, and then walked to the house, pushing the dark thoughts away.

  Thirty-one

  “They got married,” Mary said, bubbling with excitement at the breakfast table. “They got married yesterday.”

  Has this little four-year-old just absorbed the information? She didn’t express any of this excitement on the way home last night. “Yah, they did,” Ella said, nodding, “and Ronda will come to live with us soon. Perhaps today. Do you think you’ll like that?”

  “I’ll like it a lot,” Mary said. “She’s nice.”

  “What about you?” Ella asked Sarah, but she was already nodding and trying hard to put her spoon to her mouth without missing the target. Her older sister knew how to handle her spoon without spilling, but Sarah hadn’t quite mastered the task yet.

  “Like this,” Ella said, holding the spoon with Sarah’s little fingers wrapped under hers. “Slowly…and then in there.”

  Sarah smiled, but as soon as the spoon left her mouth, the contents spilled out. Ella saw it coming and quickly spooned the oatmeal back into Sarah’s mouth. The girl chewed a few bites and puckered her face and started to bawl. The oatmeal, once again, poured down her chin.

  “She’s messy,” Mary said with disapproval.

  “Sarah’s just a little girl,” Ella said. “She has to learn just like everyone else.”

  “I don’t have a bib,” Mary said, showing her pleasure.

  “That’s because you’ve already learned,” E
lla said. “Sarah will too in time.” The rest was best left unsaid. You, Mary, had a mother at Sarah’s age while Sarah doesn’t. Surely Preacher Stutzman will have a wife soon—a decent one willing to care for children who aren’t her own—and these girls will then receive the proper care they need.

  Who will Preacher Stutzman ask to be his wife? Ella ran through the list of available widows in the community and came up with only a few names.

  Ben Kaufman died three years ago. His widow, Lovina, would be a little older than Preacher Stutzman, and she had seven children of her own. Ella frowned. Susie Miller, from one of the north districts was younger, had four children, and was widowed two years ago. Her oldest boy was at the wedding yesterday with one of his aunts. Ella glanced quickly toward Mary. The boy would surely pinch Mary’s ears if he ever had access to her. Perhaps he’d even snap her cheeks and other such torments when no one was watching. I’m certain he would.

  That leaves Nancy Weaver, from the southern district, and her three boys. The girls would be safe with her at least. Surely Preacher Stutzman would have enough sense to ask her. She’s available, although one never knows for sure. There could always be something in the works with someone else. Even in the second time around, such things are kept secret, although my date with the bishop certainly hasn’t been.

  “Can I have more?” Mary asked. “I’m still hungry.”

  “Sure. Do you like the oatmeal?”

  Mary grinned. “It’s good. I like it.”

  Ella placed a small dab in Mary’s bowl and added the sugar and milk.

  “I want to stir,” Mary said, reaching for her spoon.

  “That’s good, but just don’t spill. Stir real slow,” Ella said, keeping her eye on the girl.

  Mary beamed. Does anyone ever praise this child? It is hard to imagine the rough Preacher Stutzman with words of honey in his mouth. How dare the man not speak kind words to such darling girls! Perhaps I should remind him of his duties on Friday night when he picks them up.