by Sarah Price
“It’s not that complicated, really. It’s just that, well, you know, Edna . . . she, uh, she needs your help.” Wilma moved the newspaper from the counter to the table and then, as if having second thoughts, moved it back again. “So you’ll both be helping her this season.” A pause. “Starting tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? Rachel had to take a deep breath to calm herself. How could her mother have committed them to work for Edna and never think to discuss it with her and Ella Mae? They weren’t children anymore. At almost twenty, they were young women and didn’t need their mother running their lives. Her blood felt as if it were boiling.
“And you’ve known this since last Wednesday?” Rachel spat out at last, unable to contain herself. “Why are you telling this to us now?”
“Well, I . . .” Wilma swallowed, her large eyes shifting from side to side in a nervous way. “I reckon it just slipped my mind . . .”
Rachel watched as her mother picked up the newspaper once again and carried it over to the rocking chair near the back window. She plopped down and pretended to be engrossed in an article.
“Slipped your mind?” Rachel put her hands on her hips.
Her mother began to flip through the pages of the paper, her eyes shifting back and forth before turning the page. Rachel knew that her mother wasn’t really interested in reading—she’d already devoured the paper three times since it had arrived last week. The new edition wouldn’t be delivered until tomorrow. Clearly her mother was nervous about this news she’d just shared.
“Did you even think about asking us first?” Rachel asked. “Did you stop to consider that maybe we have plans already? Something else to do?”
Wilma mumbled something under her breath.
Rachel turned her gaze toward her sister. “Say something, Ella Mae! This affects you, too.”
Her sister sighed and gave the dough one last, loud smack. “What. Ever.”
Rachel gasped. “Ella Mae!”
“What?” With pursed lips and wide brown eyes, she met Rachel’s gaze. “I mean, Maem’s only been bugging us about this for, what? Two years? Maybe longer? The sooner we start working for Edna and mess things up, the sooner she’ll send us packing.” She shrugged in an uninterested sort of way. “Might as well get it over with.”
Immediately, Rachel thought about it and calmed down. Ella Mae made a good point. That typically was their pattern. They’d get a job, always together, and usually they’d be told within a week’s time not to come back. It wasn’t that they were trying to get fired. No, that wasn’t it at all. The problem was that they had always preferred working at home and certainly did not want to work independently of each other if at all possible. Other people just couldn’t understand how it was with twins. That’s what Rachel always said. After all, Rachel had known Ella Mae longer than anyone, including her own mother, and vice versa. The bond they shared had started in the womb and only grew stronger with each passing year.
“Well, that is one way to look at it, I guess.”
The paper dropped from Wilma’s hands as she stopped rocking and pressed her feet to the floor. “Girls! Please. You can’t go into this anticipating failure! You’re both perfectly capable of helping serve those Englische folks.”
Ella Mae raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, Maem? I’m not anticipating anything. I just know how this will end up. Like the last job we had, cleaning haus for those Englischers. That turned out to be a disaster!”
Rachel made a face. She’d almost forgotten about that terrible experience. Another of her mother’s well-intentioned ideas that hadn’t worked out.
“Oh now, Ella Mae! It wasn’t so bad—”
Wilma didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence before Ella Mae interrupted. “Really, Maem?” Ella Mae gave her a look of disbelief. “I didn’t see you there dealing with that mess. Why, it was worse than a pigsty!”
“They were rather sloppy,” Rachel admitted. “So much disorganization in their haus. Why is it that Englischers feel the need to have so much stuff?” Rachel had never seen anything like it before. Figurines. Books. Candles that, judging from the amount of dust on them and their unlit wicks, had never been used. There had hardly been any room on the side tables for a cup of coffee! “No wonder she needed Amish women to come clean for her. No one else would have tolerated cleaning around such clutter. Why, we had to move everything around just to clean under it! Took three times as long as it ought! And the woman could barely find anything in that big ole mess of a house, never mind her purse to pay us.”
Staring at her mother, Ella Mae raised her hand and gestured toward her sister. “See? We were hired to clean, not to organize that mess. Rachel wanted to move everything in order to dust, but I said that was silly. If they want to live like swine in a barnyard, let them! We should have just cleaned around it!”
“That’s not cleaning, Ella Mae,” Rachel shot back. “That’s cheating. We didn’t get paid to cheat.”
“Ha! We didn’t get paid at all, half the time.”
“Girls!” Wilma clapped her hands.
They both looked up, Rachel blinking her eyes rapidly. It wasn’t often that their mother raised her voice in such a manner. But when she did, both Rachel and Ella Mae knew better than to disregard her.
Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Wilma shut her eyes. “Please stop arguing. I can barely hear myself think with all the commotion.”
“We’re not arguing.”
With a sigh of exasperation, Wilma shook her head at Rachel. “How on earth will I ever get you two married off if I can’t get you out of this haus?”
Rachel froze. Suddenly it all made sense. So that’s what this was all about! The marriage thing. “Seems to me,” she began slowly, “that it wasn’t so long ago you weren’t too happy about us growing up at all.”
Averting her eyes, Wilma waved her hand at her daughter. “Oh, that! Just middle-aged blues,” she said dismissively.
But Rachel knew it had been more than just the blues. Her mother had been downright depressed when Rachel and Ella Mae had turned sixteen and begun their rumschpringe. She hadn’t gotten out of bed for almost two weeks before Edna stepped in and started that Cookie Club of theirs. Thankfully, the companionship of old friends had helped their mother heal, both emotionally and spiritually.
“Nee, I think it was a bit more than that,” Rachel quipped, squaring her shoulders. “Now you can’t wait to marry us off and see us move away?”
“Oh now, Rachel!” Wilma fussed with the newspaper once again, the crinkling noise filling the room as both daughters stared at her.
“And who, exactly, are you thinkin’ we’re to marry at Edna’s place?” Rachel continued. “One of the Englischer guests we’ll be serving?”
Suddenly, she heard Ella Mae catch her breath.
“What?”
“Edna has those two boys! Maem’s scheming to play matchmaker!”
“Not boys. Men,” Wilma corrected and then, quickly, clamped her mouth shut.
“Aha!” Rachel fixed a stern eye on her mother and pointed at her. “I knew it! Scheming with your Cookie Club.”
Ella Mae piped up, too. “Jeremiah and Jonas? Seriously, Maem?”
“What’s wrong with Jeremiah and Jonas?”
Rachel frowned. What wasn’t wrong with Jeremiah and Jonas? One was far too hyper and, in her opinion, too full of himself, while the other one was a bit of a bore and had a sheepish quality about him. When the two of those boys got together, there was no peace and quiet to be found. In fact, Jonas seemed to be a real prankster, always playing jokes on unsuspecting victims. And Jeremiah just followed him around like a lamb to the slaughter. From what she heard on the Amish grapevine, they were always getting in trouble. Nothing too serious, not like the Beiler boys, who had gotten themselves arrested—although no one really talked about that situation—but still, Jonas and Jeremiah were always doing things that any reputable Amish woman would surely disapprove of.
No, the Esh brothers would
never be a match for either one of the Schwartz sisters.
It was Ella Mae, however, who responded, as if she had read her sister’s mind. “You must be feeling poorly in the head, Maem!” She put her hand on her hip and made a face. “Why, that Jonas is way too saucy, and his bruder just follows his lead as if he doesn’t have a mind of his own. The one’s nothing but trouble and the other is nothing at all! Dull, dull, dull.” She returned her attention to the bread. “Neither one of them would make any Amish woman a good husband, that’s for sure and certain.”
Rachel couldn’t agree more. She’d much prefer a nice young man like Adam Troyer, their friend Martha’s older brother. Of course, he had married Esther Mast three years ago, long before Rachel even had any thoughts of courting a young man. But he was the type of man she was attracted to: tall, hardworking, and quiet. The mindful way he treated Esther was also a plus. Of course, Esther was easy to please. Like him, she was quiet and certainly not demanding. Rachel always watched them during the fellowship meal. It was sweet the way Adam would mind the children so she could spend a few moments with her friends and extended family without the little ones pulling on her apron strings. Growing up, Rachel had had a small crush on Adam, though she had never let him know it. So, when he’d chosen Esther, she’d been more than a little disappointed. But now that they had two children with a new baby on the way, Rachel was happy for them. Still, she held out hope that there was another man like Adam Troyer lurking about Shipshewana.
Though, clearly, he wasn’t to be found at the Esh farm.
“Well, the discussion can just end right now,” Wilma announced, closing the paper and pushing it across the table. She stood up and started to walk out of the kitchen. Pausing at the door, she turned around and gave her daughters a stern look. “You’ll both be starting tomorrow. If nothing else, mayhaps you’ll learn something from Edna.”
Rachel sniffed as her mother turned to leave. “Trust me. That’s the only positive thing that will come of this arrangement.”
ELLA MAE
CHAPTER 3
“I don’t know why we have to ride our bicycles there! I mean, Maem is already at Edna’s place baking cookies! We should’ve just gone in the buggy with her!”
It was Wednesday morning, and Ella Mae was not in the greatest of moods. Besides the fact that she wasn’t too thrilled about this arrangement her mother had made, she hadn’t counted on having to ride her bicycle all the way from town to the countryside! There were so many other things she’d have preferred to be doing. Working in the kitchen with Edna Esh and serving Englische women dinner were most definitely not on that list.
Tightening her clutch on the handlebars, she swerved, narrowly missing a pothole.
The Esh farm was to the north of Shipshewana, a good few miles from where the Schwartz family lived on the edge of town. It wasn’t fair that their mother had committed them and expected them to bicycle there four times a week. Why! Ella Mae was already perspiring. Even though it was just April, the weather was far too warm to be pedaling so far. And it would be even worse going home after being on their feet all day.
“Oh hush, Ella Mae,” Rachel chided. “It’s a beautiful day.”
“Bah! Beautiful or not, I’ll be soaked through and through with sweat by the time we get there.” She didn’t fancy the idea of spending her entire day in a kitchen—a hot kitchen at that. And, if the sun continued burning so, she’d surely have big old perspiration stains under the arms of her favorite green dress. “We should’ve ridden with Maem!”
Casting a dark scowl over her shoulder, Rachel made a face. “I didn’t really want to arrive two hours before Edna needed us, did you? We’d have been forced to sit around and help make cookies all morning. That’s not for me, thank you very much.” She paused. “And how would we have gotten home anyway? Walk? It’s not as if Maem would wait around for us while the Englischers eat their meal.”
Ella Mae sighed. She supposed her sister was right. But what if there was a day when it was raining? It often rained in May. Then what? She wasn’t going to ride her bicycle so far in the rain, that was for sure and certain.
They stopped at an intersection, pausing to look both ways before crossing. As Ella Mae pedaled, she noticed something on the side of the road. It was small and gray, but moving. Immediately, she braked her bicycle, the rear tire skidding in the gravel.
“Rachel! Stop!”
Ella Mae didn’t wait to see if her sister listened to her. Instead, she jumped off her bicycle, letting it fall to the ground with a loud clatter as she darted to the grassy incline.
Rachel slowed down her bicycle and peered over her shoulder at Ella Mae. “What is it?”
Bending over, Ella Mae gently scooped up a small kitten in her hands. Despite the fact that its fur was soft and warm, the kitten was shaking. “Poor thing!” She turned around and showed her prize to Rachel. “I don’t see the mother cat anywhere, do you?”
Rolling her eyes, Rachel snorted. “A cat? You’re going to make us late because of a cat?”
“It’s a kitten,” Ella Mae retorted. “And it’s awfully small to be out here alone.”
“Someone probably ditched it there. And for good reason, I’m sure. Put it back and let’s go.”
Gasping, Ella Mae covered the kitten with her hands and held it close to her chest as if to protect it from her sister’s impatient words. “I will not! It’ll get hit by a car or starve to death. It’s too small to make it on its own.”
“It’s just a cat.”
“Kitten,” she corrected again. “It’s a kitten, and don’t be so coldhearted.” She bent down and peered into the large gray eyes. How could anyone abandon a small creature like this? she wondered. But she knew it happened, more often than she’d like to admit. People were always abandoning unwanted puppies and kittens alongside roads or in parking lots. “I’m taking it with us.”
“Oh help!” Rachel began to pedal her bicycle again, as if to get away from her sister. “If Edna doesn’t have a fit, Maem sure will.”
By the time they pulled into the Eshes’ driveway, they could see that the older women were already gathered on the porch, saying their goodbyes. When their mother looked up and saw them pedaling slowly down the gravel driveway, she beamed from ear to ear.
“Why, look who’s arrived!” Wilma pushed past the other women and hurried to greet her daughters. From the look of excitement on her mother’s face, Ella Mae felt as if she hadn’t seen her mother in weeks instead of hours. “And right on time!” Wilma glanced over her shoulder and sent what Ella Mae considered to be a smug look in the direction of her friends. “I told you.”
Hopping off her bicycle, Ella Mae leaned it against the barn. Cradling the kitten in the crook of her arm, she hurried over to the women. She’d caught her mother’s comment and found that it irritated her. Had the group of women been talking about them? “What’s that supposed to mean?” She glanced at the other women, who stood there speechless. “Did you think we’d be late?”
Rachel followed her example, resting her bicycle next to Ella Mae’s.
“Nee, nee,” Wilma insisted. “I didn’t think you’d be late.” But by the way she emphasized “I,” Ella Mae suspected that there had clearly been some speculation from the other women. Just what Ella Mae didn’t want: people talking about her. Of course, she knew that her mother and her friends did exactly that. Gossip was their favorite pastime, besides baking cookies, and the two seemed to go hand in hand lately.
Clearing her throat, Edna stepped forward, motioning for Ella Mae and Rachel to join her near the porch. “Never you mind them. You know how old women talk about everything and anything.” She cast a stern look at Verna. “Nothing better to do than tease one another, and that’s all it was, girls. Teasing. Besides, I’m sure glad to have you both here,” she said, a smile on her lips.
It was Mary who noticed the kitten. “What’s that, Ella Mae?”
“I found it on the side of the road.” Carefully, s
he held up the kitten for the others to see. “Rachel wanted me to leave it there”—she gave her sister a hard look—“but I knew it’d get killed.”
“She almost made us late.”
Ella Mae glared at her.
“Well, I don’t blame you, Ella Mae. It’s one of God’s precious creatures, too.” Edna leaned over and studied the kitten. “Oh my. That’s a young one, all right. Just a few weeks old, I’d guess.”
A bolt of fear pierced Ella Mae’s heart. “Will it make it?”
“I’m not quite sure. Only thing we can do is try, ja?” Edna sighed. “Put it in the mudroom. There’s a bucket with some rags near the wash sink. You can give it some milk, Ella Mae, and then I’ll need you both to first set the tables while I make some meadow tea. The guests will be arriving in ninety minutes’ time.”
Meadow tea? Ella Mae lit up. “I can make that. It’s my favorite!”
Rachel nudged her. “Seriously?” With a rapid roll of her eyes, Rachel shook her head. “You make the worst meadow tea.”
Ella Mae’s mouth opened. How dare her sister say such a thing? “Why, I do not! You sure do drink it often enough with nary a complaint, I reckon!”
Rachel, however, ignored her. She turned to Edna. “Don’t believe her. It’s too bitter; not sweet enough. She skimps on the sugar, you know. If you want meadow tea made properly, I will do it.”
Ella Mae scoffed. “Please!” She rolled her eyes. “Might as well call it sugar water, not meadow tea.” She turned her head toward Edna. “She puts in about ten cups of sugar! Why, the last time I put a glass down on the back porch, a whole horde of bees found it in no time at all.”
“Not true!”
“True.”
Edna took a deep breath and raised her hands. “Girls!” Her voice boomed over their bickering.
