Josiah was eager to be on his way. After the worker telling him he was too busy to answer questions, he’d certainly turned talkative. Josiah waited until he finished his sentence, then cut in. “I need to go and pick up my son.”
“Have fun,” the man said. “Oh, by the way, she thought the girls you took down the road”—he flipped a hand in the direction of Zook’s farm—“were her sisters.”
“They were.” That made him even more certain it was Ada. So most likely the little boy was Nathan. His roiling stomach settled a little, but it wouldn’t calm completely until he saw Nathan for himself.
Chapter Nine
When Ada pulled into her driveway, the pony cart was in the barn. Her uneasy stomach settled. Her siblings had made it home safely. She’d hurry in to be sure all was well and remind her sisters to pick the ripe tomatoes while she drove Nathan home.
She climbed out of the buggy, then hesitated. She shouldn’t leave Nathan out here alone. He’d already wandered off by himself once. By the time she picked up her school satchel from the back and rounded the buggy, Nathan had already climbed down. He clutched at the edge of her apron the way Mary Elizabeth did when she was nervous or upset.
She squatted in front of him and made the sign for my by touching her hand to her chest. Following the sign for house, she pointed to the house, then raised her eyebrows in a question.
Some of the nervousness left his eyes, and he nodded. So he must have understood. She had no idea whether he recognized the signs or if he’d interpreted her pointing, but they’d communicated. That was the important thing.
She reached for his hand and led him to the house. She opened the door and set her satchel on the floor by the coat hooks.
Scrambling sounds came from the kitchen, along with Sadie’s sharp “Ach! Ada’s home.”
Somehow that did not sound promising. Ada hurried toward the kitchen. Nathan looked up at her questioningly, but he kept pace with her. When she reached the kitchen doorway, she stopped short and sucked in a breath.
Sadie had mentioned a surprise, but…To say she was surprised was an understatement. Floored was more like it. And speaking of floors, her kitchen floor was completely coated with white powder. Flour dusted the tabletop and counters. And…Oh, no! The flour canister lay shattered on the floor. Shards of orange, yellow, and brown pottery lay scattered everywhere. In the center of the mess stood Mary Elizabeth, frosted with flour from head to toe. Even her eyelashes were white.
While Nathan looked around wide-eyed, Ada wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. But one thing was clear. She’d been worried her sisters and David might not be here. Fears of them being kidnapped had occupied her the whole way home. So this mess paled in comparison to their safety.
“I’m so glad you’re alive,” Ada said.
Sadie looked at her as if she’d gone crazy. “You’re not angry about the mess?”
“Well…I’m not going to say I’m happy about it, but I’m so relieved after hearing that you’d been kidnapped.”
“Who told you that?” Sadie demanded.
“A worker at the accident site. He said some man had tricked you into driving down a dead-end road.”
Sadie laughed. “The man who tricked us was his dad.” She pointed to Nathan. “He showed us a shortcut to get home.”
“Josiah showed you how to get home? But that road is a dead end.”
“There’s a dirt road behind Zook’s barn. Josiah took us that way, and he drove the whole way to our house so we could find our way.”
“That was nice of him.” Now she felt guilty. She’d misjudged Josiah. The whole way home she had been thinking critical thoughts about him, and instead he’d been helping her siblings. Ada laughed shakily. “I’m so relieved to know you weren’t kidnapped.”
Sadie put her hands on her hips. “Mamm always said not getting all the facts straight is how rumors start.”
As soon as Sadie said the word Mamm, Mary Elizabeth burst into tears. Ada rushed over and pulled her sister into her arms.
“I miss Mamm,” Mary Elizabeth wailed.
“We all do,” Ada said, patting her back.
Across the kitchen, Sadie’s eyes filled with tears. I’m sorry, she mouthed.
Ada shook her head to let her know she wasn’t to blame and hugged her youngest sister closer.
Mary Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Ada’s neck. “And I missed you all day.” Her voice quavered.
“I know,” Ada said. They had to talk about Mary Elizabeth’s actions at school today, but now was not the time. First she had to take Nathan home. Then they had to clean this kitchen and can the tomatoes and…
Ada freed herself from her sister’s embrace and stood. She brushed at her dress and apron, but only succeeded in smearing the flour into the black cloth. She had white spots everywhere Mary Elizabeth had pressed against her.
A strange sound came from Nathan’s throat. A deep, throaty gurgle. He was laughing. It was an odd sound, but he was actually laughing.
Ada stared at him. It was the first time she’d heard him make a joyful sound. Despite the mess, Ada couldn’t help smiling. With an exaggerated rueful expression, she swiped at her dress, making him laugh harder. The twins joined in with hearty belly laughs. Sadie snickered, and Hannah giggled. Soon everyone was in hysterics. The harder they tried to stop, the more they chuckled. Even Ada joined in.
Finally, her stomach hurt so much, she held up a hand. “Enough.”
The chortles died down to giggles and then to occasional snorts.
Sadie sobered and glanced around the flour-coated room. “I’m sorry, Ada. We wanted to make cookies to surprise you.”
“I see. You for sure did that.”
“I meant…”
“I know. It was very thoughtful of you.” Ada had to get Nathan back to his family, but if she didn’t give her siblings cleaning instructions, the house would be an even worse mess when she returned.
“Hannah, hand Sadie the broom so she can sweep the floor, and give the twins clean rags to wipe the counter. Then you can dust off the table. Be sure to use dry cloths. Otherwise the flour will turn into a sticky mess.”
A loud knock on the front door startled them. They all glanced at each other and the mess. No one was fit to answer the door except Hannah. She was shy and even hung back when her siblings played or got into trouble, which was why she was the only one not covered with flour.
When everyone’s gaze fixed on her, Hannah’s eyes widened and her lip quivered. She ducked her head. “I’ll go,” she whispered. Then with a bowed head, looking as if she were heading to be punished, she went to the door.
A man’s deep voice carried down the hall, although Ada couldn’t make out the words. Then heavy boots clumped down the hallway, and Ada panicked. They were in no shape for company. Why was Hannah bringing someone to the messy kitchen?
Hannah walked through the doorway followed by Josiah, and heat swept up Ada’s neck and splashed across her face, leaving her cheeks burning. Of all the people who had to see her in such disarray, it had to be Josiah.
* * *
The young girl who answered the door had assured Josiah that Nathan was here, but he almost forgot about his son as he took in the scene in front of him. Flour everywhere, including on four of the children, broken pottery, and Ada stood in the middle of it, her cheeks rosy and her eyes apologetic, holding her little sister’s hand. Her black dress and apron were spotted with flour, but laugh lines crinkled around her eyes. He had to stop staring, but he was mesmerized by her beauty, her calmness.
He cleared his throat. “Is everything all right? No one’s hurt?”
Ada’s laugh sounded embarrassed. “We’re all fine. Just a bit messy. The girls were hoping to surprise me.”
“So I heard.” Josiah chuckled. “I see they succeeded.”
“Jah, well, this wasn’t the surprise they intended.”
“That’s good to know. I wouldn’t want too many surprises like this one.�
�
“It was an accident,” Sadie, her face fiery red, said in a defensive voice.
“Accidents happen,” Josiah said. “I’ve had plenty of my own.” He smiled at her to assure her he hadn’t intended to shame her.
“I, um…” He made the mistake of looking back at Ada and lost his train of thought. The sunlight streaming through the window highlighted the gold of her hair, and despite the mess surrounding her, her eyes twinkled. He could get lost in those eyes, which seemed to be staring back at him with equal intensity.
Sadie broke the spell. “Thank you for bringing us home earlier, Josiah.”
What? Oh, right. He’d taken them down the shortcut, and…Nathan! For the first time, he glanced around the room. His son stood in the corner of a clean part of the room. As soon as their gazes met, Nathan stiffened and shrank back against the wall behind him.
Relief flooded through Josiah. His son was safe. He rubbed the back of his neck to release the tension and unclenched his jaw. “You found him,” he blurted out. “I searched everywhere.”
The sympathy in Ada’s eyes did strange things to his insides. “I slowed down near that tractor trailer accident and saw him standing beside the road, watching the lights. I was going to bring him straight home, but…” Ada’s whole face and neck flushed a deeper shade of pink. “I was worried about my siblings, so I came home to check on them, and then I found this…”
“What she means is,” Sadie interrupted, “she thought we were kidnapped.” She smiled at Josiah. “By you.”
“Ach, Sadie.” Looking mortified, Ada gave her sister a warning glare, but Sadie only laughed. Then Ada turned to him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t really think that. I mean, someone from the road crew told me…”
Sadie jumped in again. “Some man told her you took us down a dead-end road, and they both jumped to conclusions.”
“I don’t want you to think…” Ada’s already rosy cheeks darkened to crimson.
The more flustered she grew, the more Josiah wanted to take her hands and calm her down. To hold her close and reassure her. To keep his mind off those thoughts, he forced himself to concentrate on Sadie’s words. “I see. I believe I know the man you’re talking about.”
“You do?” Ada pressed her hands to her cheeks, streaking them with flour.
Josiah swallowed hard. The flour on her face made her appear even more adorable, and he longed to brush it away by running his fingers down her cheeks. With his thoughts occupied by images of stroking the softness of her skin, he struggled to come up with a coherent thought. The man. Concentrate on the man.
“Um, yes,” he finally croaked out. He fastened his gaze on the floor by his feet and forced himself to picture the SLOW sign—a warning he desperately needed right now—and the man who held it. “He was around forty with a black mustache and a sunburned nose, jeans and a white—”
Now it was Josiah’s turn to color. With hot cheeks, he floundered for a substitute description. Like many Englischers, the man wore his undershirt under his safety vest, but the thought of saying that word to Ada and her sisters was unthinkable.
Ada broke the uncomfortable silence. “Yes, that’s the man who suggested you were, um, kidnapping my siblings.”
“He confronted me about that and threatened to report me to the police.”
“Yes, he sounded ready to contact the police, but I’m sorry I let him put ideas in my head. Will you forgive me?”
“Of course.” Josiah made the mistake of glancing at her. Even spattered with flour, her beauty shone through. He clenched his fists as he remembered the man’s comments. She didn’t deserve to be thought of that way.
“I didn’t really think you were capable of being a kidnapper.” Ada’s voice shook a bit. “But I did worry about my siblings going down that road and not coming back.”
“I understand. Most people don’t know about the dirt path behind Zook’s barn. I wouldn’t either, except Jakob directed me that way last week.” Josiah broke her gaze and concentrated on the floor. Counting swirls in the wood grain might keep his mind from straying to where it shouldn’t go.
“Thank you for taking care of them,” Ada said.
“It was my pleasure.” And so was standing here talking to her. Thirty-two, thirty-three…don’t look up…thirty-four.
Ada’s soft voice interrupted his counting. “Are you all right?”
“What? Yes, yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” His answer sounded defensive, and he hastened to correct himself. “Thank you for finding Nathan and taking such good care of him.”
The back door opened, and David, accompanied by an older boy, started to step inside.
“Wait!” Ada called, and both boys halted in the doorway. She softened her tone. “Noah, take David around to the front door.”
Noah surveyed the kitchen. “What happened here? It looks like a winter snowstorm.” He chuckled. “And Mary Elizabeth’s a snowman. Or is she a snowgirl?”
Mary Elizabeth’s lip quivered, and Noah held up a hand. “I was just teasing.”
Josiah needed to collect Nathan and leave before he made a fool of himself. “I should be going, but thank you for caring for Nathan.”
David’s gaze, though, went quickly from the flour to Nathan cringing in the corner, and his eyebrows rose. He turned to Ada and signed furiously.
She signed back, and Josiah wished he knew more sign language so he could follow the conversation.
When it looked as if their conversation had concluded, Josiah said, “Tell David I’m sorry I didn’t listen when he tried to tell me about Nathan.”
“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” Ada suggested gently. “He reads lips.”
Slightly exaggerating his lips as he talked, Josiah apologized and thanked David.
The small boy nodded. Then he signed to Nathan. After pointing to himself and then to the stairs leading to his room, he waited for Nathan’s reply.
Josiah held his breath, wondering if his son would reply. He couldn’t believe it when Nathan nodded and headed toward the stairs. And even more unbelievable, his son hadn’t uttered a peep. No crying, fussing, or kicking. Maybe some of his tantrums came from loneliness. Josiah had kept him away from other children because he was afraid Nathan would hurt them, but it seemed he’d been mistaken.
Nathan’s crestfallen look when David exited and shut the back door tore at Josiah’s heart. But when David entered the front door, cut through the living room, and beckoned, Nathan beamed. He followed David to the stairs, scooting close to the wall, staying as far away from Josiah as he could. That niggling thought from earlier hit Josiah full force right in the gut. Nathan’s tantrums might be his fault. His son almost seemed to hate him. But why? What had he done to upset Nathan that way?
Josiah pushed aside his own hurt and tried to concentrate on Nathan’s sunny smile. His son hadn’t been that happy and animated since…since…Josiah squeezed his eyes shut to stop the rush of memories. Nathan as a toddler curled up on Ruth’s lap with a book. Laughing as she threw a ball to him in the yard. Kneeling beside her as she weeded the garden.
Then their world shattered. Hearing Ruth had cancer had ripped apart their happy lives. Although it had been heart wrenching, Josiah agreed when she wanted to try experimental treatments in Mexico, like others in their community had. Nathan was only two years old—too young to be separated from her. All Josiah wanted was to be with them, but he had to pay for Ruth’s medical care, so he endured the three years of loneliness while they were gone.
By the time Ruth returned she’d been much too ill to lift her head from the pillow. From time to time, Nathan signed to her, and she’d try to sign back. Josiah wanted to learn more signs, but he couldn’t tax Ruth’s small store of energy. Other than a few basic signs, the only big ones he knew were Mamm, Daed, and I love you. He’d added the sign for gone after Nathan continually asked Mamm where?
“Are you all right?” Ada’s question startled him.
“I’m fine,”
he croaked. He must have looked like a fool, standing there with his eyes closed. “I was remembering…” He couldn’t say my dead wife, so he stumbled to a stop.
Ada waited for him to finish, but when he didn’t say anything, she gave him an understanding look. “Memories can be painful sometimes.”
His grief must have shown on his face. “They can be.” To lighten the mood, he gestured toward the flour. “And they also can be frustrating, but situations like this create humorous stories later on.”
With a bit of tartness to her tone, Ada replied, “Why don’t you ask me about this in a few weeks and see if I find it funny?” The quirk of her lips made it clear he hadn’t upset her.
Josiah laughed. “I’ll be sure to do that.” He wasn’t certain, though, that he’d ever find the memory of her dabbed with flour comical. For him, it would stir emotions better left alone. Emotions he shouldn’t be having while he was still in his mourning period.
With a rueful glance at Mary Elizabeth, whose gaze ping-ponged back and forth between them, Ada said, “Well, we’d better get this mess cleaned up. I’m going to take Mary Elizabeth outside to dust her off.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you. I’ll collect Nathan and get moving.” Josiah headed toward the stairs. “Would it be all right to go up to get Nathan? I have errands to run.”
“If you have errands, why don’t you leave him here until you’re done? David doesn’t often get to have friends, so it would be nice for him to have company.”
Josiah was reluctant to leave Nathan, knowing his penchant for fits, but he acquiesced. “I’ll be back in an hour, if that’s all right.”
Ada waved a hand. “Take as long as you need. I’m sure the boys will be fine.”
“Nathan can be a problem.” That was an understatement. When he was in full-blown-tantrum mode, he could be dangerous. “I worry he may hurt someone.” Like you. Or your brothers or sisters. “If he gets in one of his moods, he might hurt David.”
Ada only smiled. “David is the youngest of eight, he’s used to roughhousing. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
The Amish Teacher's Gift Page 7
