IN PLAIN View

by Olivia Newport

  “Can they really throw out the Assembly?” Jacob asked.

  “The Assembly did themselves in. Clearly the people want them to vote for independence at the new Continental Congress. Since they refuse to commit themselves to such a path, the people will take matters into their own hands.”

  “I hope there will be no violence here today,” Sarah said.

  Emerson shook his head. “Let’s hope it is only the noise of a determined crowd.”

  The chanting started then. “Independence now! Independence now!”

  “There must be three thousand people here.” Despite the sheltering brim of his hat, rain once again streaked Jacob’s face.

  “My guess is closer to four thousand,” Emerson said. “I could hear the chanting from my office three blocks over.”

  “Imagine what it might have been if the weather were fair.” Sarah gripped her brother’s forearm. “Look! One of the assemblymen is trying to speak.”

  From their position across the yard, they could not make out the man’s words, but the booing that followed left no doubt of the crowd’s sentiment. Nothing he said placated the throng, and nothing short of mass resignations would satisfy. Jacob opened his mouth to speak again then abruptly took in breath and held it.

  Was it even possible that he saw what his mind registered?

  He squinted against the drizzle and wiped his eyes on his coat sleeve. The crowd swallowed the figure that had caught his eye just a moment ago. What had he seen? A woman. No, a man. If it was a woman, it seemed unlikely, and if it was a man, it was impossible. It had been so long, and she—or he—was far enough away to make Jacob distrust his own vision.

  Jacob stepped away from Sarah and Emerson—as much as the crowd would allow—and tried to follow what he had seen, but the shifting mob obscured his view at every step. When he found a clear break in the multitude, whatever he had seen was no longer there. He squeezed his way back to Sarah and Emerson.

  “Jacob, what is it?” Sarah asked.

  He turned to her, uncertain whether to put into words what made no sense as it flashed through his mind.

  “Jacob,” Sarah said again. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I just may have,” Jacob said.

  “Someone you know? You do business with a lot of people in Philadelphia now.”

  He shook his head slowly. “Not business. And someone you know as well.” He turned to lock eyes with his sister.

  “Oh?”

  “Maria.” Jacob exhaled the name. “I think I saw Maria.”

  “How can that be?” Emerson asked. “You’ve always said she disappeared when she was barely grown.”

  “She did,” Sarah said. “We never knew what happened. No one knew she was unhappy, if that’s what she was. I was only seven or eight myself. Jacob, you can’t have been more than ten. Christian was not married yet. Are you certain?”

  “No. It was someone in men’s clothing. Drab, ordinary fabrics. A hat pulled down low. But the face! It was like looking at Magdalena, only twenty years older.”

  Sarah’s eyes locked on his. “Jacob, do you know what it would mean to Mamm to find Maria?”

  Jacob nodded.

  “What can we do to find out if it is Maria?” Sarah turned to her husband. “Emerson, you must help.”

  Emerson turned his palms up. “How? I never met Maria. I’ve never even met Magdalena. And I certainly did not see whoever Jacob thinks he saw—which may have been a complete stranger.”

  “But if it was Maria—”

  Jacob put a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Emerson’s right. I’m not even sure what I saw. The rain distorts many things.”

  “But if it was Maria, then she is here in Philadelphia. We can ask around. You have connections. Emerson knows a lot of people. We could at least try for a few days.”

  Jacob shook his head. “Katie is due to have the new baby in a few weeks. I promised this would be the last trip for a while. This is no time for me to linger in Philadelphia. “No, it couldn’t have been her.

  The crowd thundered again.

  “That’s it,” Emerson said. “They’re demanding a new government, and I believe we’re going to get it. The Assembly will have no choice but to vote themselves out of existence because of their own incompetence. When the Continental Congress meets next month, Pennsylvania will vote for independence.”

  From where Magdalena sat, she could see Nathanael clearly. He always sat in the same place during church. No matter whose home the congregation met in, Nathanael managed to put himself along the outside edge among the unmarried men. Magdalena learned long ago that she could sit on the same outside edge, in the facing women’s section, and see Nathanael clearly during most services.

  Nathan helped his father work both their farms, but he had never moved into his own cabin. Just last week Magdalena had stopped in at the cabin and saw that someone was squatting there. Though Nathan’s mother had outfitted the cabin with basic supplies when he acquired the land, anyone passing through now could see it was untended. What was to stop someone from taking up occupancy?

  Mrs. Buerki often invited Magdalena to supper, where she sat next to Nathan and smiled as she passed dishes around the table. Nathan was polite and ate well. He seemed to find some pleasure in her silent company after meals. As far as anyone knew, he slept well at night. His family said he was the first one to wake in the morning and out to the barn to tend the animals. If asked a question, he answered as simply as possible, but never discourteously.

  But he was not her Nathanael any longer. Magdalena wondered if it would be worse to give up hope that he would return to her, or worse to be certain he never would.

  It had been a year and a half. In a few weeks another wedding season would begin—the third since she and Nathan talked of marriage. Magdalena was tempted to stop stitching linens for her chest. What was the point?

  She sang the last hymn with half a heart, feeling as if it were moving at half the usual ponderous pace of the hymns from the Ausbund. This one had fourteen stanzas, and they would sing them all. Once it had been one of Nathanael’s favorites, and whenever they sang it she would catch his eye with a shy smile.

  This time, as soon as the final phrase of the hymn dissipated into the air, Magdalena stood and swiftly moved out of the congregation, out of the house, out of the close air that was strangling her next breath.

  She ran, and she did not answer the voices calling her back.

  Thirteen

  If you do what I ask, you can see for yourself.” Annie, with her feet up on an ottoman in the living room, tilted her head and snared her sister’s eyes.

  “I don’t know, Annie.” Penny tossed a pillow at Annie.

  “Please.” Annie caught the pillow. She intended to milk her little-sister status for as much as she could get. “You could see my house. Meet my friends.”

  “You mean meet Rufus.”

  “Well, yes, but others in his family as well, if we catch them at home.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll stare.”

  “You won’t. I know you have a lot of questions about what I’ve been doing the last few months. If you come and stay overnight—”

  “Whoa. Overnight?”

  “Yes, overnight. You can see what my house is really like, even at night. You always say you like to visit people where they live so you can imagine them in their own homes.”

  “By ‘always’ you mean I said that once when I was thirteen.”

  “And maybe one other time when you were seventeen. Pretty please?”

  “It’s Wednesday. It’s my last full day here, Annie. I fly out tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Come on, Penny, you’ve seen all your friends. We’ve had family meals coming out our ears. Frankly, I think Dad would like his peace and quiet back.”

  “You’re the noisy one.”

  “Am not.”

  “Are too.” Penny sighed. “If I’m back in time to have lunch with Mom before my flight tomorr
ow, it might work.”

  Annie swung her feet from the ottoman to the hardwood floor with a thud. “Perfect. I’ll go pack.”

  “We can’t take Mom’s car, you know,” Penny said.

  “I know. We’ll take the Prius, but you drive. I’ll send Ruth a text.”

  “Ruth?”

  “Ruth Beiler. If we’re just going overnight, she’d probably like the chance to see her mother.”

  “Are you even supposed to be texting her?”

  “So now you’re the Amish police?” Annie laughed and opened her phone. “Last time. I promise.”

  “Why did Ruth Beiler leave if the Amish are so phenomenal that you’re trying to get in?”

  “It’s not a question of ‘getting in,’ Penny.” Annie nimbly thumbed in the text message to Ruth. “It’s following a calling. It’s choosing something, rather than being run over by the stampede of everybody else.”

  “Are you sure you’re not just choosing Rufus?”

  Annie set her phone down on the cushion next to her to await Ruth’s response. “Would it be so terrible if I were?”

  “Since I haven’t met him, I reserve judgment.”

  “Thank you for being fair. But no, I don’t think it’s just about Rufus. Maybe I belong with the plain people even if I don’t belong with Rufus.”

  “Annie, if you join the Amish, am I even ever going to see you again?”

  “Of course you will.” Annie answered quickly, but the color was gone from Penny’s face. “They’re not some kind of cult that brainwashes kids and cuts them off from their families.”

  Annie watched as her sister swallowed hard. Then Penny sucked in a ragged breath.

  “It will be all right, Penny,” Annie said. “We’ll still be sisters. We may just have to get better at writing letters.”

  “Won’t they ask you to believe a bunch of crazy stuff?”

  “What do I believe now, Penny? That’s the bigger question. What kind of faith do I have? Do I make choices that have anything to do with Jesus, or do I buy into thinking I deserve everything at my fingertips?”

  “Surely those aren’t the only two choices.”

  “Perhaps not. I’m still asking a lot of questions.”

  “I go to church,” Penny said. “There’s plenty to believe without being so drastic about it. Why can’t you join a normal church?”

  “Who decides what’s normal?”

  Penny pushed the pillow off her lap. “Never mind. Let’s just do this.”

  A couple of hours later, Ruth opened a rear door of the Prius and settled into the backseat. Annie made the introductions. Penny was polite, but she made no effort to strike up a conversation with Ruth. Every minute or two, Annie saw Penny glance in the rearview mirror and she wondered if Ruth were looking back, inspecting her sister at regular intervals. Ruth and Annie’s occasional murmurs softly infused the awkwardness that settled over the car. One step at a time, Annie told herself. Penny did not have to love Ruth today. But Annie did wonder what tomorrow’s drive back would be like, when Penny and Ruth would be alone in the car.

  Rufus knelt and fished through his open wooden toolbox, not finding what he wanted.

  “What have you lost now?” Mo, owner of the motel, put one hand on her hip and gazed down at Rufus.

  Rufus looked up, pushed his hat out of his eyes, and gave a halfhearted smile. “Does it seem to you that losing things has become a habit?”

  “Yes, I seem to hear you rummaging in that toolbox more often these days.”

  “I prefer to believe I haven’t lost anything. It’s a matter of not anticipating what to bring with me from my shop. I did not anticipate needing a small corner chisel.”

  “I can offer you an ice pick.”

  Rufus smiled and shook his head. “I’ll manage somehow. Thank you again for the new project.”

  She waved him off. “This place is a perpetual remodeling effort. I’m lucky you’re available.” Mo picked up a pile of fresh towels and headed down the hall.

  The only chisels Rufus had with him were too large and awkward for the fine corner work he needed to do. The task would have to wait for another day. He doubted anyone would notice if he did not tap off the barely visible overhang at the end of the closet, but he wanted the work to be right.

  He stood up and wiped his hands on a rag then swished the rag over the trim he had been bent over. Another doorway across the hall was waiting for its custom trim installation. Spring air gusted through the propped-open front door of the motel and threatened to take his hat. As Rufus picked up his toolbox, he heard a horse whinny—and it was not his. He grimaced as he craned around a corner to see what other Amish person had business at the motel.

  Beth Stutzman. Driving her family’s brand-new buggy.

  She did not have business at the motel, he knew, except to find him. The temptation to step quietly out of sight flitted through his head. Instead, he stepped into view. “Hello, Beth.”

  Beth grinned, making her seem a little too enthusiastic to see him. She carried a thermos.

  “I thought you might like something cold to drink.” Beth unscrewed the lid, which doubled as a cup, filled it with the liquid, and handed it to Rufus.

  “That’s kind of you.” He took a swift swallow—lemonade, it turned out to be—and handed it back to her. “What brings you out this way?”

  “I wanted to see if I could be any help to you.”

  “You would not happen to have a small corner chisel in your apron?”

  “No, but I’ll be happy to go fetch it for you.” Beth’s face lit up. “Did you leave it on your workbench?”

  He had not expected that response. “Do you know what one looks like?”

  “Of course. My father uses a corner chisel all the time.”

  That answer made sense. Ike Stutzman was the first person to demonstrate how to use a corner chisel to Rufus two decades ago.

  “Mine is part of a set of small tools wrapped in a leather pouch,” Rufus said. “But it’s not urgent. I’ll bring it the next time I come.”

  “Nonsense. You’re here now. You might as well get the job done. I’ll be back before you know it.” She thrust the thermos at him and swished her skirts back through the lobby and out the front door.

  Round-trip, the errand was eight miles. Then she would have to scour his workbench to find the packet of chisels. Most of an hour would pass before she returned.

  It was too late to stop her now.

  Franey was sitting on the front porch of her home when they drove up. Her face lit when her daughter stepped out of the Prius, and Annie saw the curiosity that piqued when she and the driver emerged as well.

  “What do we have here?” Franey asked as her daughter kissed her cheek.

  “Mamm, this is Annalise’s sister, Penny.”

  “Welcome to our home,” Franey said. “I am so glad Annalise took the opportunity to visit with you.”

  Penny flashed Annie an unsettled look before saying, “Thank you. Me, too.”

  “When Annalise left on Saturday, I had not imagined I would have the pleasure of meeting you. Your sister has been a delight to our family.”

  “She seems very glad to know you as well.” Penny looked around the yard. “It’s beautiful here.”

  “Won’t you come inside?”

  Penny’s eyes widened, and Annie took the cue. “No thanks. I just wanted you and Penny to meet. I’m going to show her my house and where I work.”

  “Annalise has a lovely little house,” Franey said.

  “I am only here overnight, Mamm,” Ruth said. “Penny will drive me back tomorrow.”

  “The Stutzman sisters are sleeping in your room, but I can put up a cot in Lydia and Sophie’s room for you.”

  A few minutes later, Annie was back in the passenger seat of the car. She rolled her gaze toward Penny. “Isn’t Franey great?”

  “She seems very nice.”

  “Of course she’s nice. And she would not have bitten you if you h
ad accepted her hospitality.”

  “Hey. I’m being a good sport. Don’t push it.” Penny put the car in reverse and looked back over her shoulder at the lengthy Beiler driveway.

  “It’s easier to just turn around,” Annie said, “and drive out going forward.”

  Penny glanced at her then put the car in Drive. “I suppose you’ve had a lot of experience figuring this out.” She twisted the steering wheel sharply to the left.

  “I’m here a lot. Of course, I’m not usually in a car.”

  “I’m not sure who Franey was happier to see, Ruth or you.”

  “Ruth is her daughter.”

  “And you might be…well, you know.” Penny pulled out onto the highway and headed toward town.

  “Just drive.”

  “Are we really going to drive all over tarnation hunting for Rufus?”

  “He’s probably at the motel. It’s four miles.”

  “That’s one of their buggies, isn’t it?” Penny carefully steered around an enclosed black buggy headed in the same direction.

  “Yes. I’m not sure who.” Annie twisted in her seat, but she could not see the driver.

  A few minutes later they parked in front of the motel. Annie saw Rufus’s buggy off to one side. The horse was unhitched and wandering on a generous tether, so Rufus must have been there a long time.

  As she slammed the passenger door, Annie looked over the top of the car at her sister. “You behave yourself.”

  Penny smiled in that way that Annie did not quite trust.

  They entered the motel. From behind the desk, Mo looked up. “Who do we have here?”

  “This is my sister, Penny.”

  Mo’s eyebrows went up a notch. “Bringing her to meet Rufus?”

  “Maybe.” Annie tilted her head.

  Mo waved them on through. “I won’t tell anyone! He’s just down the hall.”

  “Thanks, Mo.”

  Penny elbowed Annie. “She treats you like a couple already.”

  Annie pushed back with her own elbow. “Behave.”

  And there he was, his white shirt stretched across his broad back as he expertly placed pieces of trim he had crafted in his workshop on the Beiler land. Annie slowed her steps, wanting just to watch him and breathe in the fragrance of his artistry as it took form.