“The prospect of losing a million dollars’ worth of stolen property can turn a greedy person into a violent one pretty quickly,” Ryan countered.
“If that’s the case, I’m sure the police are on top of it. The FBI is on top of it. It’s likely they’re already surveilling the camp. Like you said, they’re just not telling us about it because we’re Amish and they know it violates our principles.”
Ryan chuckled. “We’re Amish?”
“What?”
“You said we’re Amish and it violates our principles,” Ryan echoed. “You do know you’re still... What do the Amish call us? Englisch, right?”
Sometimes, I wish I weren’t, Caleb thought. I wish I could stay here forever because, even in the midst of all this chaos, I feel more tranquil and at home now than I have since...since I lived with the Amish in Pennsylvania. “Yeah, the Amish would consider us Englischers.”
“Speaking of Englisch—or actually, of German—the other day I received the mail you had forwarded from your home. You got a big envelope from the university.”
“That’s probably my teaching contract for the year. I’ve got to sign it before the semester begins. Could you put it in a plain envelope and send it to me here? I don’t want anyone to see the university’s return address.”
“Then you’re definitely staying in Maine longer? You really don’t have to—especially if you think you’re at risk.”
“I know that. But I want to.” Not just because of the hunt for the coins, either.
“A couple weeks ago you were concerned about the dangers of staying there and now you’re insisting you won’t leave. What changed?”
“God is sovereign, so what do I have to fear?” Caleb said, paraphrasing Rose. “But promise you’ll do one thing.”
“Whatever you need.”
“Pray for me—for all of us here.”
“I already have been praying, but I’ll keep it up.”
“Denki,” Caleb said. Then, realizing he’d spoken in Amish, he clarified, “That means thank you in Deitsch.”
“Bitte schön,” Ryan replied.
“That’s you’re welcome in German, not in Deitsch, but it’s not bad for an Englischer,” Caleb told him, and their call ended with both of them laughing.
* * *
For once, instead of Hope and Charity running off to Miriam Lapp’s house after church, Miriam had accompanied the twins back to the camp. Rose was relieved; considering the conversation they’d had with Oliver Graham, she preferred that Hope and Charity not hang out where they might bump into him. Not because she gave what Oliver had said any weight, but because it had resulted in Charity and Hope being upset—and it had almost resulted in an argument between Rose and Caleb, too.
The girls were in the kitchen gathering snacks, including the blueberry muffins left over from last night’s supper, to take with them canoeing. Rose managed to sneak one for herself and she ambled out onto the porch with it, thinking about Caleb. He had seemed a lot more relaxed on the way home than on the way to kurrich. She wondered what he was up to right now.
She’d barely sat down when he sauntered up the path and settled into the other glider. “Hi, Ro—oh, muffins! Have you got any more of those?”
“You can have this one.” She handed him her muffin. “I don’t know why I took it—I’m not the least bit hungerich.”
“Do you have to be hungerich to eat a blohbier muffin?” Caleb’s grin outshone his eyes. Or maybe it was that his eyes illuminated his grin.
“I’ll get you a glass of millich.” As she was inside pouring it, Rose heard the cell phone ring, but she didn’t take business calls on the Sabbath. When she returned to the porch, the muffin was gone and Caleb was brushing crumbs off his lap. Rose extended the glass to him before taking her seat again.
He accepted the milk, then immediately set it aside and leaned forward, resting his forearms against his knees. “Listen, Rose, there’s something I need to speak to you about, and I’d like you to hear me out before you say neh.”
Her heartbeat rattled. For the briefest moment she wondered if he was going to ask to court her. How would she answer? “Go on,” she replied.
“I’m sorry I suggested we should go to the police. After talking to Abram and praying about it, I realized I was letting my concern—my fear that something might happen to you or to the twins—get the best of me. So, I want you to know I have no intention of contacting Oliver Graham’s onkel.”
Rose’s ears and cheeks stung; how silly she’d been to imagine he’d ask to be her suitor. Yet how sweet it was to hear him express concern for her and the girls. “Denki. I appreciate that.” She smiled, though Caleb’s forehead was riddled with lines.
“But I still think it’s important to exercise caution. So, I’d like to suggest you and the meed consider not going off canoeing or hiking on your own. I think there should always be at least two people together.”
“Is this your indirect way of asking me to go hiking with you?” Rose quipped. There it was—she knew she could spark a smile across Caleb’s lips again.
“I do hope you’ll kumme hiking with me this afternoon, jah, but I also hope you’ll agree not to go into the woods or canoeing alone.”
“Okay, sure,” she said, nodding. Once again she could hear the cell phone in the background; she should have silenced the volume when she was inside getting milk. “I’ll tell Charity and Hope not to wander off alone, either—although the two of them are usually inseparable anyway.”
“Wow.” Caleb leaned back in his chair. “I didn’t think you’d agree so easily.”
“Oh, I’m still not concerned we’re in any danger, and I don’t want us to lose our wits again, but this seems to mean a lot to you, so pairing up instead of going out alone is a small concession for me to make,” she explained.
“Denki. It does mean a lot to me.” Caleb’s eyes gleamed as he added, “It means so much that if you said neh I was prepared to cash in the favor you owe me! I’m glad I didn’t have to.”
Rose tittered. “Well, don’t wait too long—that favor expires when we head our separate ways in four weeks.” At the thought of summer ending, Rose was gripped with apprehension. Not merely because she was still over five hundred dollars short of her financial goal, but also because she was going to miss this place. These people. Hope and Charity and Caleb. Especially Caleb.
“I actually already have something in mind—” Caleb said, but he was interrupted by Hope charging through the screen door in tears, Charity on her heels and Miriam wringing her hands behind both of them.
“That was Mamm on the phone,” Hope sobbed. “Daed’s health has taken a turn for the worse. She wants us to kumme join her in Ohio as soon as we can.”
Chapter Nine
Rose leaped to her feet and enveloped both of the twins in her arms. She wanted to tell them everything was going to be all right, their father was going to be fine—or maybe she wanted someone to say that to her—but she knew she couldn’t give them false hope, so she just held on to them. After a few moments, the girls pulled away and Hope wiped her eyes. “I’ll help you pack, but let’s pray first, okay?” Rose asked.
She extended a hand, palm up, to Hope on one side and to Caleb on the other. Caleb reached for Charity’s hand, and she reached for Miriam’s, and Miriam completed the circle by taking Hope’s opposite hand. They bowed their heads and shut their eyes. Too distraught to pray aloud herself, Rose squeezed Caleb’s fingers and whispered, “Could you?”
“Our Lord Gott, we kumme to you with troubled hearts,” Caleb began somberly. Hope caught her breath, and Rose feared the young woman would break into tears again as Caleb continued, “We’re concerned about Sol’s health, yet we know You’re the great physician, the One who can heal all our illnesses and forgive all our sins. We don’t know what Your sovereign will is for Sol’s life, but our pra
yer is that You’d make him well again.”
As Caleb asked Gott to give Charity and Hope a safe and trouble-free trip, Rose cherished the feeling of his warm hand engulfing hers. She had the same sense of being able to trust him to accompany her on this dark journey that she’d had when he led her down the path from Paradise Point on the Fourth of July.
After he finished praying, Miriam said, “Kumme, Hope and Charity. I’ll help you with your suitcases.”
The girls were following her into the house when Charity said, “We have to tell Ivy and Arleta we won’t be able to mind the kinner this week. They’ll need to know soon so they can find someone else to help.”
“I’ll go tell them,” Caleb offered. “I can arrange for a van driver to pick you up in the morning, too.”
“What about you?” Hope asked Rose. “How will you manage by yourself?”
“I’m not by myself. I have Eleanor and Caleb,” Rose assured her, even though she had the same misgivings about how she’d keep up with everything at the camp.
“I’d love to help you serve breakfast and clean up in the mornings,” Miriam volunteered. “It will give me a break from taking care of my breider.”
“Oh, but I was going to ask if you’d watch Ivy’s kinner in my place,” Charity suggested.
“No way! I’d rather watch my breider!” Miriam’s expression of dismay momentarily caused the twins to giggle. “I’ll ask my mamm to help find a maedel to care for Ivy’s kinner.”
“Don’t fret about those details now. We’ll work things out later so no one is left short staffed,” Rose told them.
But as she lay in bed that evening, she struggled to create a plan for keeping up with the responsibilities of running the camp and harvesting the produce, while also making pies and jam for her own profit. Amity Speicher, a newlywed and the district’s schoolteacher, might be available to cover one of the girls’ mother’s-helper jobs—until school began again anyway. Maybe Mildred Schwartz could give a hand to the other mother? As for making pies, Rose thought, Helen said she’d be flexible if something came up and I couldn’t bake... But she quickly rejected the idea of canceling Helen’s standing pie order. It was a reliable source of extra income, and Rose didn’t want to let the Englischer down. She’d just have to rise even earlier or go to bed even later than she’d already been doing.
Rose pulled the sheet to her chin and rolled over. But instead of slumbering, she watched the shadows of pine branches dancing on the wall until she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Nearby, a loon wailed plaintively. I know exactly how you feel, she thought, and drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Not long after Caleb had taken Miriam home and informed Ivy and Arleta that Hope and Charity were going to Ohio to be with their parents, a series of storms bowled across the lake, and even now gusts of wind clapped choppy waves against the rocks outside his window. But that wasn’t what was keeping him awake; Caleb was anguished over Sol’s health and bothered by the idea of Rose staying in the house completely alone.
Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he got out of bed and took the Bible off the dresser top to continue reading where he’d left off. As he flipped the leather cover open, he came across the photo of Liam. Caleb recalled how he’d told his nephew he’d come back to Chicago and go camping with him as soon as possible. That felt like a lifetime ago and he wondered how many teeth Liam had lost since then. He tucked the photo away and exchanged the Bible for a sheet of paper and a pen.
“Sol,” he wrote. “I’m sorry you’ve been so ill. I will continue praying for you daily.”
Things are going well here at the camp. The beans, broccoli and cucumbers are flourishing. The potatoes were infested with aphids earlier in the season, but the mums and zinnias have attracted enough ladybugs to remedy that situation.
Please greet Nancy for me and let her know Rose, Charity and Hope have kept everyone happy and well-fed. One guest even sent a thank-you note saying he gained seven pounds while his family was here—but it was worth it. (I could say the same thing myself!)
I reeled in a couple four-pound trout a few weeks ago, but the twins told me you’ve caught fish twice that size. You’ll have to show me what I’m doing wrong when you return at the end of August.
Caleb reread the letter before signing it, and then he uttered another prayer for Sol’s health and went back to bed. He woke extra early to collect eggs and milk the cow so Hope and Charity wouldn’t have to—he wanted them to get as much sleep as they could before their journey. Since a van driver wasn’t available to travel such a long distance at short notice, Charity and Hope had to take the bus, which involved several transfers and nearly sixteen hours on the road, and Caleb knew from experience how grueling the trip would be.
As he deposited eggs into a basket he’d found in the barn, Caleb chuckled to himself, recalling the first morning at the camp when he left the coop door open and the chickens escaped. At least my boots are broken in now, so I don’t have blisters anymore.
“Guder mariye, Caleb.” Rose’s quiet voice broke through his thoughts.
Turning, Caleb did a double take. Although Amish women sometimes wore their hair down at home in the morning or evening, he’d never seen Rose without hers fastened into a bun and covered with a kerchief or prayer kapp. Now her loose tresses softly framed her face and poured past her shoulders in a dark velvety torrent. Caleb couldn’t think straight.
“For once I’m wearing a head covering and you aren’t,” he blurted out.
“What?” Rose’s mouth puckered with the word.
“I—I—I...”
Rose tossed her head back and laughed, her hair rippling as she moved. “I think someone needs more sleep. You shouldn’t be out here collecting oier anyway.”
“It’s okay. I won’t break them. I’m using a basket.” Caleb held it up.
“I didn’t mean that. I meant I would have done it,” she said, coming to his side and reaching into the nesting box. He extended the basket so she could place the egg inside. He might have been quicker picking berries than she was, but her slender hands were more deft when it came to plucking the eggs from the bed of pine shavings. “I was a real shrew to you that first morning, wasn’t I?” she reminisced woefully.
“Neh, not a shrew. Just a little briary,” he teased.
“Briary?” She stopped gathering eggs to narrow her eyes at him.
“Jah, you know, like a briar.” He took her hand and turned it over to point to where her wrists were embedded with raspberry prickles.
“Oh.” She didn’t move. Caleb knew he ought to release her fingers now that he’d shown her what he meant, but the best he could do was to loosen his grip. Sadness eclipsed her face. “You’re right. I really can get under a person’s skin, can’t I?”
Jah, but not in the way you’re thinking. Caleb cleared his throat. “You can’t help it—it’s all in your name. But a rose is beautiful, too.”
As Rose swiftly withdrew her hand to reach into the nesting box again, Caleb thought, Uh-oh, I shouldn’t have said that. No matter how much he meant it.
* * *
Rose wondered whether she should thank Caleb for the compliment. He didn’t actually say I’m beautiful—he said a rose is beautiful. He couldn’t have been flirting with her, could he? Not here, standing beside the chicken coop first thing in the morning, with her eyes puffy and her hair wild.
Not knowing how else to respond, Rose replied earnestly, “I’m glad you gave me a second chance to prove I’m not always briary. Lots of second chances. Your friendship is important to me. Especially now when everything is so—so...” She was overcome with an urge to weep, but she held it in and fastened the coop door shut. “I can take the basket now.”
Caleb allowed her to grasp the handle but he didn’t let go of his side. When she gave it a tug, he tugged back until she met his eyes. “I’ll help you
with whatever you need, Rose,” he said. “Picking hembeer and blohbier, checking guests in and out, or—or buying a pair of earplugs so you don’t have to listen to Eleanor prattle while you’re preparing meals.”
Rose chortled. “I don’t mind her babbling while we work, as long as her hands are moving as quickly as her mouth is.”
Caleb released the basket handle. “Have you thought about how you’re going to make extra pies and jam while the meed are away?”
“I have a couple ideas. Right now, the most important thing on my mind is making breakfast and sending Hope and Charity off to Ohio.”
“Mine, too—after I millich the kuh.” Caleb agreed to come to the dining hall when he was finished. Since the girls were leaving so early, this morning Rose was preparing breakfast for the four of them before making it for the guests.
They ate quickly and then hurried to the barn together. Rose hugged Charity and Hope, and gave them a canvas bag filled with cards for Nancy and Sol, half a dozen jars of blueberry jam to share with their relatives in Ohio and enough snacks to last the girls all the way across the country and back. As she watched the buggy pull away, Rose allowed the tears she’d been fighting all morning to stream freely down her face. Dear Gott, if it’s Your will to take Sol home, please at least allow Charity and Hope to get there in time to say goodbye first.
After praying, Rose sobbed even harder, primarily because she feared for Sol’s health, but also because she’d miss her cousins in the coming weeks. Soon she’d have to leave the lake and Serenity Ridge behind; she’d have to bid farewell to Caleb, too. It was enough to make her want to bawl like a baby for the rest of the day, which of course she couldn’t. She had guests to serve. Rose blotted her face with her sleeve and smoothed her apron, but as she shuffled back to the dining hall, a few stray tears cooled her cheeks.
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