Amish Circle Letters II: The Second Circle of Letters

by Price, Sarah

  Rubbing her arms to keep the cold at bay, she hurried back into the house. Her heart leapt with joy, imagining Menno’s reaction to the Bible quote. Would he smile? Would his eyes sparkle? Would he realize that she was trying to please him as a good wife should?

  In her mind, she imagined all of this happening. She saw him standing in the kitchen doorway, watching her with a look in his eyes that said that he loved her, that he was sorry for whatever was troubling him. He would wait until the children weren’t looking before he would approach her and place his hands on her waist, pulling her into his arms. He would lower his head and gently, oh ever so gently, press his lips against hers for the softest and most tender of kisses. Then he would whisper “I’m sorry” in her ear and she would fight tears of joy at Menno’s change.

  Yes, she thought. That’s exactly what will happen.

  Once inside the kitchen, Mary Ruth tried to forget about her anxiety over the note. She didn’t want to be distracted as she hurried to set the table and began to prepare breakfast. With the chill in the air, she decided to make some warm oatmeal for the kinner and Menno. He’d be all warmed up from the coffee and hopefully even more from her love note to him. But nice, hot oatmeal would keep him warm throughout the cold morning.

  Melvin stumbled down the stairs, wiping the sleep off his eyes. His hair was tousled and his shirt untucked. He gave her a quick greeting, a toss of the hand and a grumble, as he headed toward the washroom to get his coat and join his daed in the barn. He usually spent an hour helping feed the animals and muck the stalls. By seven-fifteen, Melvin would return to the house to get cleaned up for school and breakfast. It was a long morning for such a young man but Mary Ruth knew that it would build character and work ethic in her stepson to help his father each day.

  When Suzanna came down the stairs, she was already dressed with her hair neatly brushed and pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. She carried the laundry basket with her. Mary Ruth smiled as Suzanna left it in the washroom.

  “That was right gut of you, Suzanna!”

  The young girl smiled. “Knew you’d be doing the laundry today,” she said. “Didn’t hurt me none to bring it down for you.”

  She was such a sweet girl. Mary Ruth felt her heart swell with love for her stepdaughter. How blessed, she thought, am I to have such thoughtful children. “Why don’t you sit for a spell and I’ll make you some hot cocoa? It’s cold outside today.” She didn’t wait for an answer as she hurried to take some milk from the propane operated refrigerator and poured some into a waiting pan to heat up on the stove.

  It was over an hour later before Menno and Melvin returned from their barn chores. The younger girls were already seated at the table and Suzanna was helping Mary Ruth with the food. Bread was toasted. Oatmeal was ready. Juice was poured. All that was needed was the blessing over the meal from Menno.

  Mary Ruth glanced up when she heard the men return from the chores and enter the washroom. Her heart pounded, a swelling anticipation for a reaction from her husband. She placed one hand on the counter, steadying herself as she waited for him to fulfill her dream. She reached up with her other hand, making certain that her hair was smoothed back and no stray hairs had fallen from beneath her prayer kapp. She pinched her cheeks, just a little, hoping that they looked rosy and fresh.

  And then he walked into the kitchen. He didn’t stop in the doorway. He didn’t seek her out. There wasn’t a sparkle in his eye. Instead, he merely carried the coffee pot and ceramic mug toward the counter, avoiding her eyes. “Danke for the coffee, Mary Ruth,” he mumbled before taking his place at the head of the table.

  She stared at him, her mouth gaping open in surprise. Surely he had seen the note? How could he have missed it? She was stunned. He had read the note and still wouldn’t look at her? He loathed her so much that he couldn’t even meet her eyes?

  Somehow, she managed to walk toward the table to take her own seat. Her heart pounded inside of her chest and her hands were shaking. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Menno. She hoped he would look up, smile or even wink at her. Nothing.

  Oh, she had expected many things from Menno, but a continuation of the silent treatment was not one of them. With a heavy heart, Mary Ruth bowed her head to pray when Menno lowered his own. Keeping to God’s instruction was going to be more difficult than she imagined.

  Mimi woke up in her bed, alone and, for the briefest of moments, confused. She glanced over to where she had imagined Steve would be lying but he wasn’t there. Had she dreamt the wedding? Had she made up the memory of their first night together? She sat up and looked around the room. Everything looked so familiar: her dress hanging on the wall, her prayer kapp on top of her dresser. But then she saw it: man’s clothing that was folded neatly on the chair by the window.

  And she smiled, sinking back into the pillows.

  There were footsteps outside of the door and the doorknob turned. In the dim light of dawn, Mimi saw the door open and Steve poked his head into the room. His eyes were bright and his hair messy from having already been working outside with his hat on, creating a soft ring around his head.

  When he saw her, the slightest of smiles crossed his face, a look of adoration in his eyes. “Gut mariye, fraa,” Steve teased, stepping into the room and carefully shutting the door behind him. For a moment, he stood there, watching as she pulled the covers up to her chin while she sat up. Only the neckline and sleeves of her nightgown were exposed as she peered at him, her eyes wide and bright and her hair loose and hanging down her shoulders.

  Steve carried two coffee mugs in his hand and, after crossing the room, he handed one to her. “How did you sleep?”

  “Right gut, danke,” she said, a blush covering her cheeks. She took the coffee mug and felt the steam rise to warm her face. “Ummmm. Smells gut. Did you make it?”

  He laughed. “Nee, your mamm did.” He sat down on the edge of the bed and Mimi moved over to make room for him. “I can do lots of things, but cooking isn’t one of them. I can bring it to you but I best not be trying to make it!”

  She peered at him over the rim of the coffee mug and, shyly, asked, “And you, husband. Did you sleep well?”

  Another laugh. “I suppose it will take some time getting used to sharing a bed with someone else,” he said and then, with a mischievous smile on his face, he added, “Especially one who likes to steal the covers!”

  “Oh!” The color rose to Mimi’s cheeks and she buried her face into his shoulder, hiding herself.

  Pleased with her modest response, Steve placed his hand on her leg and leaned over, gently kissing her on the forehead. “I’m teasing you, Mimi. I slept just fine, especially knowing that the most wonderful gift from God slept beside me.” He lifted the mug to his lips and drank the coffee before setting the mug on the nightstand.

  Glancing around the room, he sighed. It was no different than his sister’s rooms had been at his own house: plain white walls, hooks behind the doors to hang her dresses, a simple dresser, and a needle-point wall hanging with the Hostetler family tree. There were touches of Mimi in the room, too. Her prayer kapp was next to her hairbrush by the kerosene lantern. On top of the dresser was a pale green glass bowl to hold the straight pins that she used when she put on her dresses. There were no buttons or zippers on her dress. Instead, it was kept together with carefully placed pins.

  He shook his head and turned to look at Mimi. His pulse quickened at the sight of her, her hair hanging over her shoulders and the crimson blush on her face. “I can see that I shall have to fix up that grossdaadihaus after all. I can’t imagine living apart from you for months at a time, only to see you on the weekends.” It was true. After all, he had spent a lifetime alone. Now that he had a wife, he didn’t want to waste one more minute apart from her.

  Mimi smiled at his words. A new eagerness seemed to overtake her and she sat up straight in the bed. “Really?” she asked, enthusiasm in her voice. “Oh Steve! That’s wunderbaar gut news! What needs to b
e done?”

  What doesn’t need to be done? Steve tried to push that thought from his mind but couldn’t hide the frown that covered his face as he tried to remember. It had been a long time since he had been in the grossdaadihaus. He had no reason to visit it. When he had bought the farm, he had been much younger. At the time, he knew that it was his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Farms tended to pass down through the family. To find one across the lane from his parents’ farm was a dream come true.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Steve had bought the farm. He had rented out the main house to an Amish family that couldn’t afford to buy their own farm. Between the rent and the money that Steve earned by having his own herd of cows there, he was able to pay back the loan each month. However, at no time during the years had he ever bothered looking at the house and considering its upkeep. The tenants kept up the main house and there was no reason to even bother with the grossdaadihaus.

  Now, he regretted that decision to not fix it up from the beginning.

  “Vell,” he slowly began, still searching his memory. “I seem to recall that there is an issue with the walls in the bedroom from a leak in the roof. And the windows need to be replaced.” He glanced at her. “Know of any stores where I might get new windows?”

  She tossed a pillow at him and he laughed.

  “We can look at it together, Mimi,” he said. “We have all weekend. We can place an order for what is needed with your daed when I bring you back here on Sunday.” He stood up from the bed and reached down to collect his coffee. “But we can only do that if you get up from this warm, sweet bed and get ready to help your mamm clean up downstairs. I’ve already helped your daed with the benches and furniture. We can return to my daed’s farm as soon as the rest of the house is in order, ja?”

  Ten minutes later, Mimi walked down the stairs and noticed that the table was set for four and that the smell of a wonderful breakfast waft through the air. Everything looked in order with the exception of a lot of pans and dishes that needed to be washed from the previous day’s festivities. She wondered how early Steve had arisen to help her parents put the room back in order. A quick glance at the clock on the wall caused her to blush, embarrassed for having slept so late while others were up early and working. It was almost seven-thirty. Surely her daed and Steve must have been up by six. She wished that Steve had awoken her to help.

  “Gut mariye, Mamm,” Mimi said sheepishly. “I didn’t realize it was so late!”

  Her mamm gave her daughter a smile. “You had a long day yesterday. Steve was right gut and took care of most of the clean-up, Mimi. When I came out here, he had the room back in order already!”

  Mimi glanced around. Indeed, the furniture was back in its proper place and everything looked right as rain. “By himself?”

  “Ja, by himself,” her mamm said. “A right gut man you have there, dochder.”

  Mimi didn’t need to be told that. She knew that Steve was a good man…a decent, God-loving, and hard-working man. She felt blessed all over again, realizing that Steve had taken on the burden of re-organizing the house while leaving her sleep late that morning.

  “Well, good afternoon, young lady!” Her daed walked into the kitchen, a broad smile on his face as he greeted his daughter with a sparkle in his eye. “Married one day and lazy the next, at that!” he teased.

  “Oh Daed!”

  Steve walked up behind her father and placed his hand on Jonas’ shoulder. “No lazy one there, Daed,” he said. “It was my fault for not waking her.”

  After the breakfast, Mimi hurried to help her mother wash the dishes and return order to the kitchen. It took almost two hours, during which her daed and Steve drank coffee and read the Budget. By nine o’clock, however, her daed had excused himself as he had to open up the store for customers. Steve joined him in order to look through the inventory so that he could see what he might buy for fixing up the grossdaadihaus.

  The only problem, he thought, with fixing it up was time. Steve milked his cows on a different schedule than most dairy farmers. Instead of milking them every twelve hours, he milked his cows every ten hours. That meant that he milked his cows at two o’clock in the morning, noon, and ten o’clock at night on one day only to milk them at eight o’clock in the morning and six o’clock in the evening on the next day. He managed to get more milk out of the cows and was still able to help his father with the morning milking each day. It was a busy schedule, one that didn’t leave a lot of opportunity to take on extra projects such as fixing moldy sheetrock, repairing kitchen appliances, and replacing windows.

  Yet, for the love of his new bride, he would do all that he could to make it livable throughout the winter so that they would not be separated.

  After the kinner had left for school, Mary Ruth cleaned up the morning dishes and began the daunting task of washing the clothes. While she had never taken a fancy to this particular chore, she especially disliked it during the winter months. It took longer to dry the laundry and, often, she had to bring them inside to hang them in her mamm’s washroom. Now, at Menno’s home, she had to rethink this strategy for the washroom was much smaller.

  But her mind wasn’t really on the laundry or the issue with drying clothes in colder weather. It was on Menno.

  Oh, she had held such high hopes for a loving and strong marriage. She remembered him causing her to blush during a church service, the one that they attended just after they had decided to get married. When she had left abruptly, he had sought her out. He had been concerned and his presence had caused her pulse to quicken. Had that only been just a few short weeks ago? She had truly believed that she had fallen in love with him and he with her. Why had that changed? Why was he so repulsed by her?

  Suddenly, she felt her temper begin to flare. No! she thought. He did care for me. I know it! If he chose not to acknowledge the olive branch that she had extended that morning, she was not going to give up. She would continue pursuing him, much in the same manner that God pursued David. She would not accept defeat so easily.

  Wiping her hands on her apron to dry them, she stormed back into the kitchen. She yanked out the yellow pad of paper and her Bible once again. She returned to Corinthians and looked for the passage that she had in mind:

  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

  But the greatest of these is love.

  1 Corinthians 13:13

  She held the piece of paper in her hand and stared at it: re-reading the words: faith, hope, and love. Yes, she thought. These are, indeed, what truly remains. Faith that God sanctioned this marriage. Hope that Menno can turn around. Love for this family. Satisfied, she shut the Bible and gently pushed it into the center of the table before she folded the piece of paper and walked into the bedroom. She set it on his pillow, just above where the quilt was tucked underneath. Certainly he would see it there, she told herself.

  Mimi stood in the middle of the kitchen of the grossdaadihaus. Steve was watching her expression; too aware that the color drained from Mimi’s face and the life slowly disappeared from her eyes.

  During the ride from the Hostetler house to the Fisher farm, Mimi had been a bundle of energy in the buggy, talking about how wonderful it would be when she could make him breakfast in the morning and they could read the Bible and Martyrs Mirror at night. She even looked forward to crocheting in the evenings while he read The Budget, sharing stories from their neighboring communities.

  “It will be just perfect!” she had exclaimed, clasping her hands together like a young child receiving a wonderful birthday gift. He had laughed at her, loving the warmth and excitement that exuded from his wife. She made him feel alive, that was for sure and certain.

  Now, it was gone.

  Looking around the house, Steve admitted that the task at hand appeared daunting. The kitchen was in poor shape. He could see that right away. The windows were old and needed to be replaced. There was rotting paneling by the back wall and, from the looks of it, mold. The cabinets were homem
ade and needed an upgrade. Even the linoleum floor needed to be replaced.

  “Ja vell,” Steve said as he plucked his hat from his head and scratched behind his ear. In his mind, he could see the end result of the grossdaadihaus fixed up, but he knew that it didn’t seem very inviting in its present state. “Needs work, I know. But there’s potential.”

  “Potential,” she said, repeating the word with a sour tone to her voice.

  “It can be our fun project,” he added, trying to lighten her mood. “Hard work is good for everyone!”

  “Fun.” Her voice sounded anything but fun.

  Steve laughed and walked over to her, pulling her into his arms. “Aw Mimi,” he said, staring down into her face and smiling at her. She didn’t smile back. “Look at it from an adventurous perspective. This is going to be our first home. We will fix it up together. I’ll get Isaac to help me during the week. You’ll be so surprised at how fast it becomes home.”

  Yet, he could tell from the look on her face that this grossdaadihaus was a far cry from the home that she had imagined.

  Together, they explored the rest of the small house. The downstairs bedroom had a broken window and there was mold on the wall as well as piles of dried leaves on the floor. Plaster cracked from the sagging ceiling. Mimi merely raised an eyebrow and glanced at Steve. His response was a sheepish smile and shrug of the shoulders.

  “I suppose this is another adventure, ja?” she quipped with sarcasm.

  The only bathroom in the grossdaadihaus was on the first floor and that was not in too bad of a shape as the last tenants had only recently added it. Upstairs were two small bedrooms and those were in as much disrepair as the other bedroom on the first floor.