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

  Tears pooled in Fannie’s eyes. “You see it too? I always dismissed it.” She blinked her eyes rapidly, as if to keep the tears at bay. “She seems to have enough love for Eliza, though.”

  “Jah,” Granny blurted. “But I love you like my own dochder.” She cupped her hand over her mouth, in horror over her lack of self-control coupled with anger toward Mona’s comments all day. “I’m sorry.”

  Fannie embraced her. “I’m not. It’s nice to know that. To be loved like a dochder.”

  Granny wrapper her arms around Fannie’s growing middle. “And between the two of us, we’ll have enough love for these twins…if my intuition is right…”

  Fannie pulled back and searched Granny eyes. “You think it’s twins then?”

  “Or one mighty big boy,” Granny said. “Only the goot Lord knows...”

  Mona came near and startled them both. “We’ll hardly have time to get home and come back for knitting. Best not come tonight.”

  “You can stay here for dinner. I have apple butter chicken in the oven.” Granny forced a smile at Mona.

  Mona nodded in agreement, and they walked around the side of the house, towards the front porch. Jeb was sitting on a rocker, petting Little Bea. The gentle way he stroked the poor little dog, starved for attention, touched Granny’s heart, she had to admit. Jeb had enough love to meet the needs of man and beast. Danki for Jeb, Lord. He’s wunderbar.

  ~*~

  Granny watched Fannie and Mona put plates filled with Apple Dapple Cake on the table. Couldn’t Fannie even cut cake the right size in Mona’s eyes? You’re making them too large, Mona had harped. Granny walked over to her China closet and took out her favorite teacup. When her nerves were raw, the little blue and white cup calmed her for some reason; being handed down in the family for ages, it evoked happy memories. She went over to the stove and put a ladle full of hot apple cider into it, and then took a sip, and rubbed the knot in her neck. Help me be kind to Mona tonight, Lord.

  One by one, the girls arrived, and to Granny’s surprise, Suzy came. She’d told her to stay home and rest, being so fatigued due to crying. She went over to her old friend and knitting teacher and welcomed her. “Suzy, so goot of you to come.”

  “It’s my gift to teach. And I can do it, although I might sniffle at times,” she said, her voice a little too measured.

  “Have some apple cider and some cake. We won’t be needing too much help tonight, seeing that we’re surprising Ella. Did you bring it?”

  Suzy nodded with a glint in her eyes. “It turned out better than I thought.”

  “You’re a goot teacher.” Granny said, leading her over to the apple cider in the kitchen. She spun around in shock when she heard Maryann’s voice…and then her daughter Becca’s. Ach, they’re back! The cold weather had come again, and everyone from the original circle would be here tonight; the last night Ella would be with them. How Ella’s sunny disposition would be needed with Mona attending.

  When the women all had their fill of refreshments, they sat in a circle on the many benches and rockers Granny had in her living room.

  Granny nodded to Ella, who then stood up. “I have wunderbar news.” She put her hands to her cheeks. “I’m pregnant.”

  If Englishers thought there was always a peace and calm in Amish homes, they were mistaken, Granny mused. The shouting and laughter that echoed around the room could most likely be heard in downtown Smicksburg, three miles away. All the girls took turns embracing Ella, asking her how it was all possible. Ella said repeatedly, “I’m like Sarah in the Bible. A Miracle.” When Mona embraced her, it appeared painful, but nevertheless she made the effort.

  Suzy sat by Granny. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have brought a matching one.”

  “It was a secret. Ella told me this morning.”

  “Well, should I give it to her now?” Suzy asked.

  Granny nodded, knowing that Suzy wasn’t her independent self. She always took charge, but tonight, she needed rest from making even the smallest decisions. After two days, Granny loved her Little Bea to a fault, and she wasn’t afraid to admit it. Lap dogs were the next best thing to knitting, and especially a poor creature that hadn’t been loved or even fed enough.

  Lavina took a seat by Granny. “Are you going to bring it up, or should I?”

  “Ach, I don’t care. It’s your news, jah?”

  Lavina beamed. “Jah.” She stood up as the women all took seats. “Since the weather is cold again, and putting up time is over, it’s time to read again, jah?”

  “Yes” and “Jah,” filled the air.

  “Well,” Lavina continued, “what if we knit and read books, like a book club and knitting circle combined?”

  “Long books?” Maryann asked. “Those thousand- page books I see in the library?”

  “Nee, ones that we all agree on.” She looked over at Granny. “I think we can all agree on Jane Austen, for Granny’s sake.”

  Granny put a hand up. “Pick what you want to read. We don’t have to choose my favorite author.”

  “Isn’t the Bible your favorite book?” Mona asked, her tone cool.

  Granny bit her lower lip, and looked down. The urge to tap her foot nervously washed over her, but she planted her foot down. She slowly looked over at Mona. “I’m talking about human authors…”

  Mona rolled her eyes. “I see no reason to read something that isn’t true.”

  “The Prodigal Son in the Bible wasn’t a real boy,” Granny said in a very measured tone. “Jesus told stories to teach a lesson.”

  Mona looked perplexed. “Well, I won’t be coming then.”

  Fannie, who sat next to her mother, seemed to be begging Granny to say something. Something to make her mamm come, but she only looked over at Colleen. “Will you share how the book, The Secret Garden, helped you?”

  Colleen put down the knitting she just took up. “Well, I didn’t feel loved, like the main character, Mary Lennox. Her parents really didn’t love or care for her, but she found love in another place. She found family somewhere else.” Colleen looked around the room at everyone fondly. “Before I read that book, I felt alone, and yinz know I couldn’t cry, so I cut myself. But as I kept reading, Mary became me, and when Mary expressed hurt, my own hurt came to the surface, and I cried. Cast it on God. And I found a family here, with Emma, and with yinz.”

  Fannie’s eyes were round as buttons. “Sounds like a goot book.”

  “It is,” Lavina interjected. “Colleen and I read it together. I felt like Mary Lennox, too, and it’s nice to know you’re not alone…even though Mary’s not real.”

  Mona’s stone-cold face seemed to soften. “Well, maybe I’ll come just to knit. Can I do that?”

  Suzy stood behind Granny with a large box at her feet. “If you’re willing to learn, I’m willing to teach, even though my Mollie is gone…”

  Ella got up to give Suzy a hug. “I’m so sorry about your dog. Are you alright?”

  Suzy pursed her lips and nodded quickly, as if she needed to change the subject. “Ella, we all chipped in to give you this surprise.” She pointed to the box. “I couldn’t find a gift bag big enough, and I didn’t have time to run out and get wrapping paper. So excuse the plain, brown box.”

  Ella stared at the box hesitantly. “It’s not alive, right? I mean, I’m not one to have a little dog in my house, like….you…and Granny.”

  Suzy smiled. “The love for little pooches is contagious, as you can all see. Jeb and Bea are quite the pair.”

  The women chuckled, but Marge almost screamed in laughter. “Jeb made fun of the girls getting a bunny, and here he is, out on the porch…in love with a dog!”

  “Jah,” Ruth added. “I’ve never seen a grown man cuddle a dog so. What does Jack think?”

  Granny put up both hands to hush everyone. “Jeb cares, plain and simple. He cares about the birds outside in winter, stringing up all kinds of goodies for them. And I have to say, I believe it says a lot about his good character
to be so tender with a dog that’s been abused.”

  “Abused?” Fannie asked. “How?”

  “Well, we don’t know all the particulars, but the shelter up in Punxsy has others, like Bea, who aren’t fed at all. Some are half-starved.”

  Suzy clasped both hands to her chest. “Deborah, I am so amazed. I thought the Amish didn’t care for animals…”

  “…Like the English?” Granny said. “Nee, we do. Some of our horses are like family. We just don’t grieve the loss like the English, seeing it as the cycle of life.” She grinned. “But I don’t know of any other Amish person who lets a dog sleep on its bed.”

  More laughter filled the small room, and Granny joined it. “Jah, Jeb knows Bea is afraid, and she slept in between us.”

  “Then she came between you and your man,” Marge quipped, and more mirth broke out.

  Soon all eyes were on Ella, and she bent down to open the box. She slowly pulled out a striped afghan of many colors and held it to her cheek. “It’s beautiful. So soft. Danki.”

  “It’s alpaca,” Suzy said, “and each woman here is a different color. Pink is what Granny knit, Fannie knit the green, Janice the blue, Ruth the yellow –”

  “Danki,” Ella gasped, now hugging the large blanket. “I’ll miss yinz so much.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “This circle has changed my life in many ways. I don’t have words to express what I feel.”

  Granny got up and put an arm around Ella’s back. “And you’ve helped us, too. Remember last winter, when I got the flu? Who nursed me back to health?”

  Tears slid down Ella’s cheeks. “But I won’t be here this winter if you take ill.”

  “You’ll visit, jah?” Granny said in a soothing voice. “It’s not so far away.”

  Ella shook her head, not able to talk. Several women got up, making a circle around Ella, patting her back, or saying a kind word. Granny hoped to say good-bye without shedding a tear, but now knew it just wasn’t going to happen. How she loved this dear girl…She overheard Suzy say something that sounded familiar. To everything there is a season…a time for every purpose under heaven.

  ~*~

  The sound of a child crying…whimpering….broke Granny’s sound sleep. With a start, she sat up in bed, looking around. Tillie? Millie? Jenny? A little black ball darted across the bedroom floor: Beatrix. She poked Jeb to get up and let the little thing relieve herself, but he only turned over and snored louder.

  Feeling the work frolic still in her shoulders, she rubbed them, and then slowly got up. Making her way to the leash that hung from the peg by the door, she attached it to the little red collar and went out on the porch. Little Bea made a beeline down the stairs and onto the grass.

  Granny sat in a rocker, getting a chill in her bones. How she loved autumn, but the cool, damp weather, her body did not. Old age, she reckoned. Mona came to her mind…she’d just been dreaming of the woman, and even in her sleep, she was serving her a mouthful of advice. Ach, Lord, she’s so mean to my Fannie, and Eliza can do no wrong.

  She bowed her head right then, learning over the past year that fretting didn’t change anything. And harboring unforgiveness and anger towards someone never made the situation better.

  Lord,

  I’m sorry, but I see Mona’s tongue doing harm. Like your Word says, the tongue is a little thing, like a spark, but can burn down a whole forest. Lord, minister to Fannie how fearfully and wonderfully she is made. Close her ears to her mamm’s criticism somehow, and let her see all the love that I and the girls at the knitting circle have for her.

  The girls at the knitting circle…Lord, I’ll miss Ella sorely, and you know that. What a fine young woman, Amish to her core. Christian to her core, I mean. Guide her steps and give us all the grace we need to bear her absence.

  And Lord, bless our new circle, the ‘Knit-Lit’ circle, as Colleen wants to call it. Danki for the women so eager to knit for charity. So many homeless will have wool or alpaca socks, scarves, and mittens this winter, all due to our summer to autumn circle. And the women are stronger when together, being spun together like a three-strand cord. We are not so easily broken when in fellowship with others. Show our new circle who we should knit for…so many needs in the world.

  In Jesus name,

  Amen

  ~*~

  The smell of fresh brewed coffee roused Granny from her slumber. By the slant of the sunshine that poured into her bedroom, she knew it was nigh eight o’clock. Ach, I slept in and Jeb made breakfast. She blinked her eyes a few times, and then remembered why she was so tired; up half the night with the little dog. Well, it was an hour, but it seemed like all night.

  She heard Nathan’s voice, loud and…happy. Jeb’s voice got louder, saying he didn’t feel up to a ride. It was cold. What on earth?

  Granny quickly got up, scooped her long gray hair up in the back, pinned it, and shoved a kapp on. Feeling like it would be a dreary day, she picked her black dress with blue apron to quickly put on, and then made her way into the kitchen. Lavina was there?

  “Guder mariye,” Granny said, searching Jeb’s eyes. He looked besides himself. “What’s wrong?”

  Jeb tapped the table with his fingers. “I told Nathan they had to wait. Now he says he’s sure I’ll change my mind. But I said, just like the Bible says, ‘Let your yeah be yeah, and your nee, nee’, and I said NEE!”

  Nathan’s eyes danced merrily, as if he had a secret. “Nathan, is there something you want to tell us?” Granny asked.

  “Nee, there’s something I want to show you, but Opa said he won’t take a buggy ride.”

  “Why not? Jeb, why not go out and have a talk.”

  “About what?” Jeb snapped. “I’ve heard it all before, and I said nee. They have to wait until February.”

  She noticed that Lavina looked confused as well. “You don’t know what this is about?” Granny asked.

  “Nee. Nathan just told me we were meeting here at eight to see something.”

  All eyes turned to Nathan, who was totally unshaken by Jeb’s poor disposition. Granny went to get coffee and sat by her husband. “Jeb, what is it?”

  He hesitated, and then said, “Now, Deborah, I like that little dog and don’t want to get rid of her. Understand? But I took Bea out several times last night, and I’m worn out.”

  “You were dreaming. That was me who took her out….” Granny looked at Bea, sound asleep on the blue braided rug by the woodstove, her long bushy tail wrapped around her like a blanket.

  Jeb sighed. “Nee, I’m not daft. I took her out. Got sick of it, and tried to wake you up to help.”

  Granny stared into her black coffee, and then scrunched her lips to one side, trying to hold it in, but to no avail. She burst into laughter, which turned into a good belly laugh. “Jeb. We both…got up?”

  Jeb slowly looked up. “Huh?”

  Nathan intervened. “Opa, seems like the dog had you both awake half the night, and you’re tired, jah?”

  Jeb glanced over at Granny. “You took her outside, too?”

  “Jah, and then she wanted cuddled. Starved for affection she is. So I rocked her.”

  Now Jeb let out a hoot. “You rocked her like a boppli? Deborah…I did too.” He slapped his knee, and then got up and picked up the little dog. “Wake up. You wake up. You’re not sleeping all day and then keeping us up all night.” He went over to the door and grabbed her leash. “Nathan, we’re all going on that buggy ride, Bea included.”

  The little dog licked his face, and then nuzzled up against his gray beard, and closed her eyes.

  ~*~

  They put the black flaps down on the buggy as the wind kicked the leaves into their faces. Granny turned to Lavina. “Want to collect leaves and press them?”

  “Whatever for?”

  “Craft projects of all kinds. Didn’t you ever dip them in wax? They keep their color and form to enjoy all winter. The girls put leaves under paper and rub a crayon over it, and the veins and outline of the leaf appear. It’s fu
n, and educational. The girls know almost every tree by its leaf.”

  Lavina seemed to not be interested, her mind on what was ahead. She leaned toward Granny. “Nathan said it was a surprise. Is it a surprise for Joe and Marge, too? Why are we stopping here?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe to check on them to see if they need more help packing.”

  As they approached the little dawdyhaus behind the large farmhouse, where Joe and Marge decided to live, the smile on Nathan’s face seemed to grow. Joe came out on the porch, giving something to Nathan, and then Nathan climbed back into the buggy. He turned it around, and headed towards to road again, but stopped in front of the large farmhouse.

  “I want to show you something.” He jumped out of the wagon and swiftly took Lavina’s hand. He pulled her along, until they were running on the side walk that led to the house.

  Jeb stared at Granny, shrugged, and made his way out of the buggy, meeting her on the other side. “Want to hold Bea?”

  “Okay. She keeps me warm.”

  They made their way to the house. Crimson and yellow hardy mums had been planted in the once deserted flower bed out front. When Granny entered the house, all the walls Marge had painted white did make it look crisp and clean.

  Nathan took Lavina’s hand, and it appeared he was going to burst from too much joy. “I bought it!” he blurted.

  Lavina stared at him, her mouth hanging open. “Nathan, we talked about debt, jah?”

  “Well, we don’t have much. Only forty-thousand left on the land contract.”

  Jeb held on the banister leading upstairs. “What? Did Jacob come down that much on the land contract?”

  “Nee, just a little. It’s a miracle of sorts. Sit down on the benches.”

  Granny looked over and for the first time noticed the new hickory bent benches. “Did you make those?”

  “Jah, with Roman’s help.”

  Nathan took Lavina’s hand and sat on the bench that faced the other, and Granny and Jeb followed suit. Nathan’s eyes misted. “We had a bumper crop of corn and soybeans in Montana, and with the drought, the price of both went up. Wheat, too. So, my parents sent me a rather large check, along with their blessing for me to marry Lavina and settle here in Smicksburg.”