Smicksburg Tales 1,2 & 3 (Amish Knitting Circle, Amish Friends Knitting Circle & Amish Knit Lit Cirlce ~ Complete Series: 888 pages for Granny Weaver Lovers and 30+ Amish Recipes

by Karen Anna Vogel

  “I can get it down.” He ran towards the trees but stopped when he heard Lizzie laugh harder than she’d done in years. He ran back and took her hand. “I’ll get the kite, and you’re going to help.”

  They ran across the field, Lizzie teasing him that he’d never get it down. He retorted that she forgot he could climb a tree like a raccoon. He looked up, figured out which tree it was in, and glad it was a maple with lots of low branches. He jumped up and caught the lowest limb and pulled himself up. He caught hold of the next limb and swung up.

  “Roman, I think you made your point. That tree is too high.”

  Roman took a deep breath. How refreshing to hear that she cared for his safety. “I’ll watch my step.” He continued up the tree and soon retrieved the kite out of the top branches. He looked down at her, concerned etched on her face. How he loved this woman. He had to know. “I’ll give you your kite back on one condition.” In the past, that meant he wanted a kiss first.

  “And what’s that?”

  Did she really forget all those kisses after he’d withheld something from her? “Remember when your cat got stuck in the tree? What did I ask for before I brought her down?”

  He saw Lizzie put her head down. He should have listened to his daed. He was rushing things. He slowly made his way down the tree, not eager to get to the bottom. She’d tell him she needed time and that she wasn’t sure of her feelings for Amos. How much longer could he endure this?

  He looked at her from the bottom branch. Her back was turned and her head was down. He’d really gone too fast. Knowing all she’d been going through, she needed time. He swung down from the branch. “Sorry, Lizzie. Here’s your kite.”

  She didn’t turn around. He made his way to her, placing both hands on her shoulders. “I’ll wait. As long as you need…I’ll still be here waiting, okay?”

  He turned her around and saw that she was beaming. She got on tip-toes and tenderly planted a kiss on his lips. “Can I have my kite back now?”

  Roman gasped, not realizing he’d been breathing so shallow. He drew her to him. “Lizzie, I love you so much. Please say yes. Not to courting, but marrying me.”

  She threw her arms around him. “Yes. I’ll marry you. I’ve never loved anyone else.”

  Roman twirled her around. He could call her his Lizzie again.

  ~*~

  Granny bowed her head in silent prayer, and then looked up at the two men in her life; her dear husband, and grandson Nathan. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you might stay.”

  Jeb chuckled. “I’ve survived almost fifty years of marriage. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Granny rolled her eyes. “I’m talking to Nathan…old man. And you take back what you said about just surviving.”

  Jeb made a straight face. “I’ve had almost fifty years of marital bliss.”

  Nathan hit the table. “You two make me laugh. All this bantering back and forth.”

  “It’s your opa, Nathan. He’s always trying to get my dander up,” Granny said, eying Jeb.

  “I’m just having fun. Not boring to live with, right?”

  “Jah, never a dull day…” Granny turned to Nathan. “Can your daed spare you on the farm? Does he know you want to stay?”

  “Well, to be honest, it was his idea that I come for a while. I have lots of money saved, but just can’t seem to find the right girl to share it with.”

  Granny looked at Jeb and smirked. “A single man with a large fortune is in need of a wife.”

  Nathan scratched his head. “Oma, why are you talking so funny.”

  “To get up my dander,” Jeb groaned. “She’s quoting Jane Austen again.”

  “Who’s she? Austen doesn’t sound like an Amish name. Is she an Englisher?

  “Jah, from England. Exactly. I read her books.”

  Jeb leaned forward. “Jah, and this lady thinks love is a feeling more than a commitment.”

  “No she doesn’t.” She gave Jeb the look that he knew so well. Let’s change the subject.

  Jeb poured gravy over his roast beef. “Nathan, there’s lots of nice girls here in Smicksburg. Maybe go to a Singing.”

  “Will Lavina be going?”

  Jeb’s eyes grew round and searched Granny’s. She held her fork full of meat up in mid-air. Silence followed and Nathan slouched back in his chair. “Is she someone else’s girl?”

  Granny put her head down, trying to compose herself. She loved Lavina, but she’d imagined a good moral Amish girl for her Nathan. But Lavina had kneeled and confessed to her immorality and they were to forgive…

  “Oma, what’s wrong?”

  Granny hoped Jeb would say something, but he only looked up at the ceiling, as if deep in thought.

  “Opa? What’s wrong?”

  Jeb slowly looked down at his grandson. “I’ve been asking the dear Lord to bring the right man in her life. Maybe you’re the answer. So you like her?”

  “Jah, we’ve talked for hours. She such a goot listener…and real pretty.” He turned to Granny. “What do you think, Oma?”

  Granny held her stomach. “I think this meat is bad… feeling sick.”

  ~*~

  Roman and Lizzie burst through the door, and Granny took the cold washcloth off her forehead, and leaned her head back down against her rocker. “What on earth?”

  “We’re getting married. Me and Lizzie. She said yes.” Roman twirled Lizzie around again. “Can you believe she said yes?”

  Granny looked at Lizzie, laughing and hugging Roman around the middle. But it wasn’t long ago that she had quills up like a porcupine when around him. Over the past few months, since she went to Lancaster for counseling, she was transformed. God had heard all her prayers. The fast she did on Second Christmas, a day to pray for Lizzie while in Lancaster. God really heard her…her moaning at times, translated into a prayer, like the Bible said. When we don’t have words, He heard her heart. She clasped her hands over her face, so touched at the thought. Cast your cares on the Lord because He cares for you. How could she have doubted.

  Roman took the cold washcloth from her hands and put it back on her forehead. “Are you sick, Mamm? You aren’t saying a word. ”

  “Ach, I’m sorry. Ever so happy.” She reached out for Lizzie’s hand. “It’s been my prayer yinz would find love again. I watched you court before, remember?”

  Lizzie looked at Roman, and then back to her. “So you don’t mind? I mean, I know how much you loved Abigail.”

  “That I did, and we’ll always remember her warmth and love. But I know my Roman’s been a lonely man, and you’ve always had a place in his heart. ”

  Roman put his arm around Lizzie. “And I love her more than when we were young. “

  “How so?” Granny asked.

  “Well, I know what it’s like to live without love, and know how much I need it, I suppose.”

  Granny pulled a handkerchief from her apron pocket and dabbed her eyes. “I feel a goot cry coming on. Tears of joy.” She held the handkerchief up to her eyes and was silent, trying to absorb it all. But she had the knitting circle to get ready for. Cookie bars to put in the oven. She’d have a goot cry tonight. “So, we’ll have two weddings this fall.”

  “Nee, we want to get married in May, before planting time.”

  Granny gasped. “It’s hardly ever done in spring. Why the hurry?”

  “We’ve missed too many years together already. Anyhow, spring is Lizzie’s favorite season.”

  Granny knew many Englishers got married in the spring, but it was their custom to have weddings in November, and if necessary, December. But she wouldn’t say anything to break this moment of joy. And she knew her son well enough; once he set his mind to something, it rarely changed. She looked at Roman. “You’ll need to talk to your daed and the bishop, jah? To get their blessing?” She turned to Lizzie. “But if they’re in agreement, looks like we have lots of work to do. Where will the wedding be?”

  “Well, since my mamm’s not w
ith us, we thought maybe….”

  “Ach, of course. You’ll have it here,” Granny said. “And your dear mamm would’ve been so pleased.”

  “Jah, she hoped I’d marry Roman someday.”

  “Mamm, a wedding can be whipped together in no time, jah?” Roman asked.

  Granny tried to hide her shock. Men. They always thought big gatherings took such little time to prepare. Roman had no idea what he was asking. “I say you talk to your daed and the bishop and see what they have to say before plans are talked about, jah?” She tilted her head. “Aren’t you forgetting something important though, Roman?”

  “What?”

  “Your brothers, scattered across the country.”

  “Ach, I forgot about them.” Roman led Lizzie to the bench and looked at her. “I’d like my brothers to be here.”

  “We can wait until fall…” Lizzie said.

  Roman put his arm around her. “You’re worried about your daed…”

  “Jah…”

  Roman turned to his mamm. “Jonas seems to be having some kind of relapse. His MS treatments were going goot, but now he’s having trouble with his legs. If it gets any worse, Lizzie will need more help. She can’t lift him.”

  Lizzie leaned her head on Roman’s shoulder. “It could just be the cold weather affecting his joints. That’s why we’re bringing up closed in buggies at counsel meeting on Sunday. ”

  Granny got up and went to sit by Lizzie. “Do you really think it’s wise?

  “They have them in Lancaster. I don’t see why not.”

  “The expense. “ She took Lizzie’s hand. “So many of us old folk have arthritis and it’s painful in the winter. But to make everyone buy new buggies?”

  “Maybe the bishop and elders can make an exception for my daed and elderly folk. “

  ~*~

  Granny took the cookie bars out of the oven with the help of Lizzie. To think this girl would be living next door filled her with such joy. And the girls would have a mamm again. Knowing that her headstrong son was talking with Jeb at this very moment gave her another knot in her stomach. Roman was being so impulsive…She grabbed her middle.

  “Granny, what’s wrong?” Lizzie asked.

  “Upset stomach.”

  Lizzie put her hand on Granny’s forehead. “You don’t feel feverish. But go sit down in your rocker. I’ll finish up here.”

  Granny embraced Lizzie. “I’m so happy you’ll be my dochder.”

  “And I’ll have a mamm again,” Lizzie said. “God puts solitary souls in families, jah?”

  “Jah, like the Good Book says.” Granny held Lizzie for a few moments, thanking God for Lizzie once again, and then turned and made her way to her rocker. She didn’t know if turning seventy made her nerves be so unraveled. Was this part of aging? Nee, she knew what it was. Ever since Nathan said he took a liking to Lavina she’d felt sick, and she felt ashamed. But she didn’t want Nathan to marry someone who’d been with other men. Nathan deserved a goot Amish girl. Ach, but Jeb seemed to encourage it? Of course Lavina told Jeb more than she did him, amazed that she found a man who was kind and listened to her. Yes, Lavina was finding healing through the love of Jeb. Would she find further healing with Nathan?

  She picked up her knitting loom and started to knit. The feel of the yarn wrapped around her fingers always calmed her nerves. She looked at the black yarn in her basket. How the black wool made such pretty patterns on the shawls. She’d heard the English call someone the black sheep in the family, and she’d asked Suzy about it. It was a phrase for someone who’d done something wrong and shamed the family. She thought it was so unkind to black sheep; they were a beautiful animal.

  She thought of Lavina. Would she be considered a black sheep in her family? Did she need to be spun together with another family? Lizzie had quoted one of her favorite Bible verses…God puts the solitary in families…but it was longer than that. She reached over to the little table where her well-worn King James Version Bible lived. She opened the back cover where she’d kept her notes. Under “Verses for Lonely Days” she’d written out several scriptures. She moved her finger down the list and found Psalm 68:6 written out. “God sets the solitary in families: he brings out those who are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

  “Was Lavina someone bound, or was she someone who was rebellious? Her stomach tightened again. This was something she needed to cast off before she made herself sick. Only God knew Lavina’s heart and the reasons she didn’t want to go home. Lord I cast Lavina on you. Lead Nathan to a girl who’s the one for him, and take the others away!

  She heard the door open and she looked up. Jeb slowly walked in, face pale. He looked over at Lizzie in the kitchen. “Deborah, can we talk in our bedroom? Private-like?”

  “Jah,” she said, setting down her Bible. “Jeb, you alright? Need to see the doctor?”

  He motioned for her to follow him, which she did. Obviously, Roman was being impulsive again and they had a divided house. She took a chair in their room while Jeb sat at the edge of the bed. “I told Roman he was being too hasty, and he said he thought I dragged my feet too much. He called me a turtle, when I told him to be in pace with nature. He said I was a turtle and he was a jack rabbit.” He looked down at his clasped hands. “I’m getting mighty old…”

  “Nonsense. You’re gray hair is a sign you have more wisdom. “

  “But Roman did bring up some goot points. A wedding in November gives the couple all winter to live with relatives to save for a house. But Roman has a house already. “

  “Well, I’ve been praying those two would get married for years, but I always imagined a fall wedding. “ She scooted her chair up toward Jeb and took his hands. “What’s really worrying you?”

  “Well, Amos was here not long ago. I just don’t understand women. Seems like Lizzie liked that fellow, and now she’s marrying Roman? How’s that possible?”

  Granny’s eye shone. “I saw through it all. Amos helped her when she needed a friend, after counseling. But when she got home, I saw how she looked at Roman, and I knew it.”

  “So she never cared at all for Amos? He came the whole way out here to see her? Hasn’t ruled out moving here, neither.”

  Granny pursed her lips. “You know when you see those big orange detour signs when the English are fixing the roads? You go on a different road for a while, but end up back to the road you were on. It’s the same thing. Amos was a detour, but Lizzie’s heart is back to where it’s always been, with Roman.”

  Jeb slowly looked up. “I see. Like when I’m fishing and the fish get distracted, but always come back to the worm?”

  “Jah, Lizzie was distracted for a while. So, are we going to have a wedding in spring or fall? Does Roman have your blessing for a spring wedding?”

  “We have Easter in three weeks, and the lambs will be birthing. It’s birthing season for lots of our People. And May would be plowing time. We have weddings in November for a reason. “He sighed deeply. “And I’m supposing Roman wants you to plan everything. You’re no spring chicken anymore.”

  “I’ll have help…”

  “Nee, it’s asking too much. I’ll be telling Roman he needs to wait until fall, but we won’t be in agreement and we have communion coming up.”

  “Jah, you need to have no strife or unforgiveness, and knowing Roman, he’ll be awful upset.” She squeezed his hands again. “Let’s cast this all on God. He can knit your hearts together in love.”

  Jeb moaned. “I see you spin that wool of yours. Sometimes it breaks. Let’s hope Roman doesn’t pull so hard he breaks the unity in the Gmay.

  ~*~

  Ella raised the spoon to Vina’s mouth. “Eat your grits, wee boppli.”

  “She’s not so little anymore,” Zach mused, sitting across the table. “Seven months old, right?”

  “Jah, seems like a week ago we went up to Troutville and collected them.”

  “What’s wrong, Ella?” Zach asked. “I can watch them
while you’re at the knitting circle. Why aren’t you going?”

  “Ach, tired, is all.”

  Zach leaned forward. “Tell me.”

  “Granny said Lavina is welcome to join. Going to our Gmay is enough; do I have to see her everywhere?”

  “She’s made it clear she doesn’t want the twins back. I believe her and you said you did too.”

  Ella sighed and put some Cheerios on Vina’s highchair tray. “Eat these, Sweetheart.” I don’t know Zach; I don’t trust her. Has she really changed? I mean, she’s making it very clear to Nathan she’s available. Almost flirting.”

  “You’ve seen this?”

  “Nee, heard it through the Amish Grapevine.”

  “Not a reliable source, jah?”

  “Well, I see the concern in Granny’s face too. She’s struggling and with Easter approaching; we need unity. I can’t be having these feelings toward Lavina and take communion.”

  Zach took a sip of coffee and gave Moses a spoonful of baby cereal. “He’s a guy for sure. This is his second bowl.”

  Ella grinned. “Moses is my big boy. Jah, Moses?”

  Moses clapped his hands and swung his feet in delight. “He knows his mamm’s voice.”

  “Jah, he does. He’s my big boy, who will need a haircut soon.”

  “Nee, it’s not long enough for a bowl cut, but in a few months.” Zach scratched the back of his neck. “It’s not a feeling, Ella.”

  “What?”

  “Forgiveness. You know that.”

  “If she hadn’t followed Nathan around like a stray cat, I don’t think I’d be feeling this way.”

  “He follows her around. Watch real close after church. He makes his way over to her and they take a walk outside.”

  Ella met Zach’s eyes, seeking comfort and advice. “Do I need counseling?”

  “Maybe talk to an older woman in the Gmay, who’s raised boppli. I think you’re tired.”“

  “But is it normal to have all this anxiety? And unforgiveness?”

  “Ella, I know you. You take your walk with God real serious and fear you’ll lose that closeness with Him more than anything. Am I right?”