A Simple Spring: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel Read online

  “Can’t you take care of things by telephone?” Adam asked.

  “I wish. But there’s the matter of my car, sitting in Nancy’s garage, and my apartment. I need to return my car to Herb. He helped me come up with the money to buy it, so it’s rightfully his. And the apartment has to be cleared out so that it can be sold. It’s my responsibility. I talked to the bishop about it and he agreed. I have to start leaving my English ways behind.”

  “What’s your plan?”

  “I just ended my cell phone contract, so that’s done. My car has been safe in Nancy’s garage, but I need to drive it back to Philadelphia. Maybe I’ll use it to haul my furniture to Goodwill or to Herb’s house. Whatever I have to do to clear the place out.”

  “Most Amish don’t have so many things to give away before they get baptized. That will be some work. When do you plan to do this?”

  “Soon. And I’d like to take Sadie with me. She likes the city, and two sets of hands are quicker than one.”

  Adam rubbed his chin, considering. “I don’t know about that. She might want to buy your car from you.”

  Remy laughed. “Maybe so. But she’s a hard worker, and I could use her help.”

  “I don’t know.” Adam’s voice was thick with concern. “Sadie already has one foot in the Englisher world. Even Bishop Samuel has commented on her many trips to the city.”

  “But she’s in rumspringa. She’s finding her way.”

  He grunted. “She’s finding the wrong way, if you want to know the truth. Many youth get the wildness out of their system during rumspringa. The drinking and dating. But Sadie is unzufriede with the Amish ways, and that’s far worse than simple bad behavior.”

  “Unzufriede?” It wasn’t a word Remy was familiar with.

  “It means she is not so satisfied with being Amish. I see it in her because I was once there myself.” That flicker of regret was still evident in his voice when he talked about his own falling away from the Amish.

  When Remy had first met Adam, he’d been returning to Halfway from a three-year absence, burdened with grief and remorse. She knew he still felt guilty for not being here when his parents were killed, but he was doing his best to put the past behind him and deal with the family concerns of the present.

  And lately Sadie seemed to be the foremost concern on his mind.

  Remy squeezed his arm. “You’re really worried about her, aren’t you?”

  “She’s looking beyond our ways to the rest of the world.”

  “I thought that was part of the decision-making process. To taste the Englisher world before choosing to get baptized.”

  “Mmm, not so much. Sadie is meant to become Amish. It’s expected of every Amish child since the moment of their birth. An Amish girl is to remain Amish, and that means she must choose baptism. If she is looking the other way, it’s up to everyone in the community to turn her head back in this direction. Sadie belongs here, with her family. Her baptism is the thing that will seal her place in the Amish community.”

  Only Sadie didn’t choose baptism … at least, not for this year.

  Remy was about to say something reassuring, but bit back her words as the realization settled over her like the blue pitch night. Remy held tight to him as they turned down the lane to Nate and Betsy’s, the open carriage jiggling over the rutted gravel road. Tipping her face to the sky above, she wondered what the Lord had in store for Sadie.

  When Sadie didn’t show up for the first class, Remy had been disappointed, but for selfish reasons. It would have been reassuring to commit to the faith in the same group as Sadie, whom Remy thought of as a younger sister.

  But now, hearing Adam’s concern, she realized that Sadie’s decision that morning could have major ripple effects. There was a real chance of losing Sadie to the English world. For the first time, she saw the risk clearly, and she understood the weight of Adam’s concern. This was no simple matter. If Sadie couldn’t be lured back to the community, she would be lost forever.

  ELEVEN

  The future was as long and vast as the dark road ahead, but for once, Mike wasn’t worried about it. With the radio playing and cool country air blowing through the car, Mike felt as if he were soaring, the wheels hovering over the road as he returned home. Gone was the dread that usually weighed him down on his trips west to Lancaster. Gran had given him his freedom back, and the awesome feeling he hadn’t felt since he’d been in Jamaica now blossomed in his heart.

  He kept his eyes on the road, though in these parts the lack of lights made it impossible to see beyond his headlights. He was grateful for the red triangles on the backs of Amish carriages, making them far more visible in the dark. He had just passed through the town of Halfway and figured he was twenty minutes or so from home when his headlights flashed on a woman riding a scooter in the road ahead.

  It was dangerous, especially after dark. No helmet and just one slim reflector on the back of the scooter.

  As he slowed the car, he saw that her hair was tucked into a white prayer kapp, but she wore jeans and a dark shirt. As if she were half Amish, half English.

  He didn’t want to spook the girl, so he gave her plenty of space as he crept past her. Still, he couldn’t resist a look as his window came up beside her.

  Sadie? Was he imagining it or … no, it was her. Susie King’s sister.

  He hit the gas, pulling ahead a bit so that he could give her time to stop. Then he threw the car in park, put his emergency flashers on, and stepped out.

  “Sadie,” he called, straining to see in the darkness. “Sadie, it’s me. Mike Trueherz. From the doctor’s office?”

  The white of her kapp shone under the moon as she scootered up to him and put her sneakered foot down, stopping a few paces away. “Mike! What are you doing here?”

  Mike folded his arms across his chest. “Me? How about you, riding a scooter on a pitch black country road?”

  She shrugged. “I usually get a ride home, but my friend had to go to his cousin’s house.”

  “And he let you travel alone in the dark? That’s no friend at all.” The words were harsh, but they were out before Mike realized he was sounding like his father.

  “I had band practice and I didn’t want to miss it.” Sadie’s eyes were round as quarters, her skin creamy smooth in the moonlight.

  She was a beautiful girl, though Mike had a feeling she didn’t have a sense of that yet. When he’d gone over the King family tree, he had noted that she was eighteen. She was no longer a kid, but she hadn’t really crossed into the next age. Sadie was a woman-child, and he felt a strong urge to protect her from a world where so many things could go wrong.

  “Let me give you a ride home,” he said. “Your scooter will fit in my trunk, right?”

  She blinked those big, beautiful eyes. “I don’t want to trouble you. Our farm is just a few miles ahead.”

  He could tell that she was demurring because she didn’t want to put him out. “Hey, it’s no problem. I’m going that direction.” He closed the distance between them and clamped a hand on the scooter’s handlebars. In the scooter’s basket was a small bundle of clothes. “Really. I wouldn’t be able to sleep thinking about you alone on this road.”

  She snorted, pressing a hand to her lips to cover a smile. “You sound like a dat.”

  “Hey, it never hurts to be careful. A lot of drivers wouldn’t pick up the small reflector you have on that thing. Besides, if you go down, you’ve got no protection.”

  “I’m a careful scooter rider.”

  “Yeah, well, I still have a scar on my knee from when I went down on my bicycle, and that was years ago.” The scooter didn’t fit into his trunk, but he was able to angle it into the backseat, and they were good to go.

  He started the engine and the radio blared. “Sorry.” He went to turn it off, but Sadie waved his hand away from the dash.

  “No, please, can we play the radio? I’ll turn it down some.”

  “That’s right. You’re the secret mu
sic buff. The songbird.”

  “Yes, and I need to find a good song.” She was focused on the radio, pushing buttons. “I don’t get to hear new music much.”

  “Play what you want,” Mike said as he pulled onto the empty road.

  “I love this song.” She sang along, “You really had me going.…”

  He listened as she went through the song, mimicking the singer’s voice to a T. The girl could really belt. Her lustrous voice filled the car, and though she stumbled on some of the lyrics, the lines she hit were clear as a bell. “You’re good,” Mike said as the song ended. He didn’t know much about popular music, but anyone would recognize Sadie’s talent.

  “That’s Rihanna.” She rolled the window down more and dangled her right hand out to catch the air. “I love her music. But I don’t know all the words yet. Frank doesn’t want our band to do her songs. He likes the old ones.”

  “Frank is the bandleader?”

  “Ya. And my friend.” She found a new song and bobbed her head in time to the beat. “Can you drive faster? Cars can be so thrilling when the wind blows in.”

  “No. I don’t want to take the chance of running into any more Amish girls out on scooters after dark.”

  Sadie giggled. “I don’t do it all the time, but I’m grateful for the ride.”

  He could tell she was enjoying her time in the car. Besides fiddling with the radio, she kept playing with the electric window and adjusting her seat.

  “This is a very comfortable seat,” she said, tilting it back. Her head rolled lazily toward him. “Where were you headed?”

  “I’m on my way home. I spent the weekend in Philadelphia.”

  “Ya?” There was interest in her voice. “I was there Saturday night, at Mad River. We did a couple of songs, and there were real lights on us. It made my heart flutter like a butterfly, but it wasn’t a bad feeling at all.”

  “So you liked performing?”

  “It’s sort of a secret because no Amish girl has ever gone onstage like that, but I do like it. Singing is a part of me I don’t want to let go of.”

  “Well, you have a beautiful voice.”

  “It’s a blessing from God.” When he looked over, she was smoothing her hand over the armrest in the door, staring out the window. “Do you ever wonder what God intends you to do with the gifts he gave you?”

  Mike thought of his ability to draw people out—his people skills. “I’ve been wondering about that a lot lately. With my personality and skills, I’m fairly sure I’d be a pretty lousy doctor.”

  She turned to him, squinting. “You think that?”

  “I know it. But I just started thinking about how I might use the talents I have.”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking the same thing. God gave me this voice. I think He wants me to use it. But the bishop and the other leaders aren’t going to agree. There’s nothing for me to do with a singing voice in our community. I can’t even be a song leader in our church. The song leaders are always men.”

  “So if you pursue music, it’s going to take you away from the Amish community,” Mike said. When she nodded, he asked, “Does that scare you?”

  “Ya. But right now, I’m trying to do both. Most of the time I do as I’m told on the farm. But at night, when my family thinks I’m working at the hotel, I go to rehearsal. And sometimes, like Saturday, I go perform in the city.”

  “It’s like you’re living two separate lives,” Mike said, thinking of the way he’d divided himself between Philly and Paradise these past two years. He’d gritted his teeth to get through school and his part-time job at his father’s clinic. He had pushed through each week focused on escaping for the weekend.

  “That’s right. And if I keep them separate, I think I can continue singing and make everyone at home happy, too.”

  Mike saw the flaw in Sadie’s plan; he’d made that mistake himself.

  But he was hardly an expert. He was still figuring things out, too.

  “I hope it works out for you, songbird. I’ve been leading a double life myself, but it’s coming to an end.”

  “What’s this double life?” she asked.

  “You know … two lives. I’ve been torn between my family in the country and my friends in the city.” It was an oversimplification, but their ride wasn’t long enough to dredge up much more. “But I’m moving to the city in August.”

  “I think you’ll be mighty happy there, Mike.”

  He took his eyes off the road to catch her shy smile. Her big, round eyes were full of hope. He didn’t know how she would reconcile her two worlds, but she still had hope … and something else. Sadie King had courage.

  “Oh, Mike … slow down!”

  “What?” He snapped his attention back to the road, but there was nothing but the circle of headlights on the bare asphalt.

  “The turnoff to our farm is coming up.” She tapped the window. “You can pull over by that beech tree.”

  “I’ll take you up to the house,” he said.

  “Oh, no, denki. That would set tongues a-wagging.”

  “When their sister Sadie pulls up in a car with a mystery man.” He grinned as he pulled onto the dirt shoulder. “The gossip would fade when they realize it’s only the doctor’s son.”

  “You’re still an Englisher. That’s trouble for me.” Sadie popped open the door and went to retrieve her scooter.

  Mike met her at the backseat and maneuvered the scooter out of the car. “Well, stay out of trouble, okay?” he teased as he wheeled it over to her.

  “I’ll do my best. Denki. Thank you for the ride.” She smiled up at him, with a sparkle in her eyes that held him cemented in place. Something about Sadie, her brusque honesty or her easy manner … something about her made him feel both comfortable and on edge when he was around her.

  “You’re welcome,” he said, adding, “Next time I find you on the side of the road, I’ll take you back to town for ice cream.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wanted to roll his eyes. Ice cream? Really? He sounded like a creepy uncle.

  “I’d like that,” she said, “as long as you let me blast the radio.”

  “You got it.”

  She nodded, then wheeled off into the darkness.

  Watching her disappear down the lane, he said a quick prayer that things would work out for her, too. Please, Lord, guide her with your loving hand.

  TWELVE

  A few days later, as Sadie stared out the van’s window at passing cars, she realized she was trying to find one that matched the shape and color of Mike’s car. A blue Ford Fusion; she had seen that written on the back of the car in silver.

  It seemed silly, for what would she do if she spotted Mike driving alongside them on the highway? Wave? Smile? Open the window and shout that she was on her way to a gig in the city?

  Well, maybe she would give a shout, and Mike would smile right back at her and holler to ask where the gig was. And then he’d follow right along so he could watch and listen from one of the tables. He’d said she had a beautiful voice, and she could tell he didn’t want to say good-bye that night when he’d given her a ride home.

  And Sadie had felt the same way … but she had a boyfriend already. A small blue car approached, but it had an H on it instead of the word Ford inside an oval. She sighed and turned away from the window.

  Foolish thoughts she was having. Besides, if she did run into Mike, she didn’t even know the name of the place where they would be performing tonight. She asked Frank about it.

  “Tin Angel,” he said as they neared Philadelphia. Many houses clustered along each street now. Sadie felt the rumbling excitement of the city with its traffic and lights and noise.

  “I think I’m going to like this place,” Sadie said as they circled the block to find a spot to park. “A place with the name Angel in it has to be good.”

  “Easy, church girl,” Frank said as he turned the wheel. “We don’t want people to think we’re Holy Rollers.”

  “
I like angels,” Red said. “Angels are New Age, man. And Jimi Hendrix got rescued by a sweet one.”

  “Whatever.” Frank frowned as he backed the van into a spot. He was a little sour today, so Sadie left him alone and tried to keep her mind on the songs they would be performing. Two sets! That meant five songs, then a break, and then another five songs. It was a wonderful good chance for the band to be heard by the Saturday-night crowd, and Frank was sure it would lead to bigger and better things for them. He was working on how they might start getting paid for performing, which would be fine with Sadie. Now that she didn’t work at the hotel, she was getting short on money to pay for her cell phone and new songs for her iPod.

  While they were setting up their equipment, a group of girls came over to Frank, very excited to see him. They hugged him and squealed like pigs fighting over food … and there were so many of them. Sadie counted nine.

  “It’s my cousin Heather and her friends,” Frank explained just before they went onstage. “They came out to show their support for the band. Isn’t that great?”

  Sadie didn’t feel great about it as she peered at the three tables in front of the band taken up by sparkling girls with very red lips. They had hugged Frank, but ignored Red, Tara, and her. The girls were here for Frank, not for the band, and the tables were a little too close for comfort. Although none of the clubs they performed in had actual stages, usually the band was allowed a bit more space in a corner or at the back of the room. Here, the flashy girls seemed within arm’s reach.

  Her bad feeling grew worse when, after Frank thanked everyone for coming out and they started their first song, the girls kept talking and giggling. Sadie closed her eyes and tried to go to that special place where she soared above the earth. But then someone hooted like an owl, and she opened her eyes to see one of the girls on her feet, dancing with Frank.

  The girl flung herself to and fro like a porch swing in the wind. At one point Sadie had to step back so that she wouldn’t get hit by her, and she almost missed a line of the song. It was all so distracting!

  The second song, “Summertime,” was slower, and the girls seemed to calm down at last. Sadie found her way to the zone, closing her eyes to let her voice flow from her like a river.