A Simple Autumn: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel Page 8

  “Oh.” She had wanted him to be around for her plan. She smoothed her apron as he came down the ladder. “That’s good. With Perry leaving, Dat would have never been able to make hay and get the roof fixed during this busy harvest.”

  He was on the ground now, standing taller than she’d remembered—a bit taller than Adam.

  “Your lip looks much better,” he said.

  “Ya.” She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “All better. I’m sorry I snapped at you when it happened. I was wrong to be cross with you.”

  “It’s all water under the bridge.” His eyes looked like Adam’s—a deep brown, like Mamm’s chocolate fudge. “So when is the day? When are they leaving?”

  “Friday. They’ve got a driver and a big van booked. I can’t imagine what it will be like around here without Sarah and Perry and little Mark. Our dinner table will seem empty.”

  “I know Levi will miss his cousin; I’ve seen those two playing in the barn. Levi chases little Mark like a mother hen.”

  “They are good together,” Annie said, turning to glance over at the clothes flapping in the breeze. She could see Hannah’s shoes and the bottom of her dress beneath a row of clothes. Perfect.

  “Levi reminds me of my brother Sam. They’re around the same age. And he takes care of his little sister that way.”

  “I keep telling Rebecca that Levi needs a little brother or sister to take care of,” she said.

  “You’re right. A child learns a lot from taking care of his brothers and sisters.”

  She started backing away. “Do you think the roof will hold up through the winter?” she asked, trying to lure him toward the clothesline.

  “It should.” He pushed his hat back. “Where are you going?”

  “Just over to help my sister take in the clothes,” she said, “but I have some more questions about that roof. Why don’t you come over and talk?”

  He squinted at her, but nodded.

  Annie grinned as she turned toward the clothesline. He’d gone for the bait!

  She asked him a few more silly questions about how he’d repaired the roof, and Jonah answered them patiently as she began to take down shirts and dresses.

  Hannah peeked around a bedsheet, her blue eyes round with curiosity. Annie flashed a look that said: Kumm, now! But Hannah didn’t seem to catch it.

  My younger sister is going to need some lessons tonight when the lights are out, Annie thought as she dropped a folded dress into the laundry basket. She should be right here beside me, chatting merrily.

  “Now, look at this over here.” Annie led Jonah over to a quilt hanging on its own. “Isn’t that nice? It was hand-stitched by my sisters and me.”

  “Beautiful. A Sunshine and Shadow quilt, isn’t it?”

  “You know your quilts.”

  “My sisters have taught me well. There’s always quilting going on at our house, but then you know that. You’ve been to our quilting bees.”

  “I have.” Annie ran her hand over the fold in the quilt. “Just about dry. You know my sister Hannah, don’t you?”

  The sheet dropped from the line into Hannah’s arms, and Annie hurried over to take two corners.

  “Hannah is handy with a needle and thread,” Annie said. “And she’s not so bad in the kitchen either.”

  Jonah nodded. “I know that you make a delicious pie, Annie. What’s your favorite thing to make, Hannah?”

  And just like that, the two of them were talking. Annie folded a shirt and watched with satisfaction as her sister answered politely that she liked to make stews. “Everything in one pot,” Hannah said.

  “Mmm. You’re making me hungry,” Jonah said, and they all shared a laugh.

  Ya, this was a good match she was making. Who’d have thought it would be so easy?

  When Jonah carried the laundry basket back to the house for them, Annie could barely contain the big, bright smile that started from inside her.

  Once she and Hannah got into the house, she nudged her sister. “So, what do you think?”

  “I think you’re verhuddelt.” Hannah rubbed her arm. “Why do you keep poking me?”

  “Didn’t you notice how Jonah King just came alive out there? It’s because he’s sweet on you. I can tell,” Annie insisted.

  Hannah’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Do you really think so?”

  “I know it. He carried the laundry basket. That’s the action of a fella who likes a girl.”

  Hannah blinked in astonishment. “He’s a nice enough fella, but a little old for me, don’t you think?”

  Annie waved off Hannah’s concerns. “Wise and handsome, I’d say.”

  And probably ready to marry.

  Annie bit her lower lip at the prospect of her sister marrying before her. That would be hard to watch, especially with the tug of motherhood she’d been feeling lately. How she craved the feel and smell of a little baby in her arms!

  But really … it was foolish to think of such things when neither she nor Hannah had a beau yet. And she couldn’t begrudge Hannah her happiness. Jonah King was a fine suitor … even if he did look a lot like his brother Adam.

  Annie would get past that, for Hannah’s sake.

  There was no stopping her now.

  FOURTEEN

  The flock of birds that crossed the sky, heading south for warmer weather, reminded Jonah of his dat. He whistled his father’s favorite song, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” as he walked the path to the Stoltzfus barn. Dat had loved wildlife—birds and insects and frogs and even the deer who chewed plants in the garden down to bare nubs.

  “His eye is on the sparrow,” Jonah hummed in his gravelly voice, “and I know He watches me.”

  Ya, Gott had shown His divine hand today. What a difference He had made in a single day!

  In the days and weeks he’d worked on the roof, Jonah hadn’t gotten any closer to Annie until this afternoon, when out of the blue she had talked to him as if he were a good friend. Was it because of the accident at the singing? He tipped his hat back and scratched under the brim. It was hard to say.

  And now, with the roof repaired, this would be his last day here. It seemed like a cruel trick when he first realized that. But he had seen Aaron and his sons-in-law struggling to cover all the chores on this farm. They could use some spare hands, and he was ready to volunteer.

  Outside the barn he found Aaron leaning on a stall, looking into an empty pen with two walls.

  “Are you feeling all right?” Jonah asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you standing still before.”

  Aaron chuckled, his face pale against his ruddy beard. “I’m checking over the new birthing pen; got a pregnant Dexter cow due to go into labor soon.”

  Jonah put his hand on the rail and nodded. “This is nice.” He pointed to the wooden walls. “You’ve got your walls on the west and north side to protect against the wind. Open to the sunlight on the south side. I think your mother cow will be happy to make a visit here.”

  “Denki. But you don’t know Buttercup. Last year when it was her time she broke through the fence and gave birth on the riverbank.”

  Jonah laughed. “For creatures with big brains, they’re not the brightest,” Jonah said.

  “Ya. It was okay until the calf walked right into the river. I wasn’t too happy hauling her out. The water was cold.” Aaron went to a stack of hay bales and shifted one from the top. Jonah helped him load it into a wheelbarrow.

  “So.” Aaron looked up at him. “How’s my roof?”

  “All done.” Jonah scratched his chin. “I did the flashing and put the gutters back on today.”

  “Very good. Thank you for your help.” Aaron grimaced and leaned against the fence. “With the harvest going on, we could never have fixed the roof in time for the rain and snow.”

  Jonah nodded. “Adam and I were happy to do it. We’ve got more helping hands at our place, so I could be spared. But you’re losing a good worker here when Perry leaves this week.”

  “
Ach.” Aaron lifted one hand in a gesture of dismay. “Perry does the work of three men.”

  “So do you,” Jonah said. “But you’ll need help, at least for a while. I’m happy to keep coming over, maybe just in the afternoon. There are still the chores at our farm to take care of.”

  Aaron’s blue eyes, so like his daughter’s, scrutinized Jonah. “I would have to pay you. The roof, I know you said you wouldn’t take any money. But if it’s regular work, you must accept pay.”

  “That’s not why I’m offering.…” Jonah paused. What was he going to tell the man—that he was really hoping to work at the farm to court his daughter?

  “If you want to work here, you’ll be paid.” Aaron pushed the wheelbarrow toward the pen for the sheep, calling over his shoulder, “You know I don’t hire just anyone. I’m picky.”

  “That’s what I heard.” Jonah followed along. “I’m flattered.”

  “Gut. Now you can help me clean out the sheep pen.”

  Round the other side of the barn, the sheep were pressing against the gate of their pen, anxious for feed. The muscles in his shoulders tightened when he saw Annie there, sitting on a hay bale with Levi and a baby lamb, which the boy was trying to feed from a bottle. Mark hung on Annie’s knees, watching intently.

  “Now hold your head still,” Levi spoke to the creature gently, cupping its muzzle so that he could get the nipple in.

  “That’s it,” Annie said. “I think he’s getting the hang of it.”

  “What’ve you got there, Levi?” Jonah asked. “Is that an orphan?”

  “How did you know?” the little boy asked.

  “You’re giving him a bottle.” Jonah cupped the curls at Mark’s neck gently, thinking of his brother Simon’s shiny hair. It wasn’t so long ago that Simon was toddling around the barn, learning about all the animals like this. And now Simon was nine, turning ten soon, and he was their horse expert. “What happened to his mamm?”

  “He’s not a true orphan,” Annie explained. “His mamm rejected him, probably because she had triplets. Too many to keep track of. So we had to take him out of the lambing jug. Isn’t that sad?” Her eyes sparkled with rue. That look—it could tear a man’s heart out.

  “It happens,” he said. He’d seen a mother sheep try to hurt her young when she turned them away. It didn’t happen often, but you needed to take special care when you had a bummer, a lamb who tried to bum milk from other ewes because it couldn’t get enough from its mother.

  “How come you’ve got some ewes lambing in the fall?” Jonah asked. In Lancaster County, the usual lambing season was spring. You could plan your schedule around it.

  “We had a hole in the fence, and some of the bucks got through.” Annie shook her head. “By the time anyone noticed, we had a couple of pregnant ewes.”

  Jonah nodded. Every farmer understood the importance of keeping fences in good shape.

  “I’m going to take good care of him.” Levi turned to Annie. “Do you think he can sleep in my bed with me?”

  Annie grinned. “I don’t think your mamm and dat are going to allow that, but you can ask.”

  Jonah found a shovel and began to clear out the sheep pen. “Have you got a name for the bummer yet?”

  “Do we get to name it?” Levi asked Annie.

  “If your doddi says it’s okay.”

  “That depends on the name,” Aaron called from around the side of the shed.

  “Then I will think of a very good name,” Levi said.

  Jonah shoveled manure into the bin. “Why don’t you name it Peanut Butter?” he teased. “Patty Maker?”

  “Nay.” Levi grinned.

  “How about Moon Egg?” Jonah prodded. “Or Picky Picky.”

  “Those are not names for a lamb!” Levi insisted. He giggled, and Annie joined him.

  “I kind of like Moon Egg,” she said. Then she laughed again.

  The sound of her joy was music in Jonah’s ears.

  That night at the dinner table, the teasing came full circle when Jonah’s sisters noticed his happy mood.

  “You’ve been smiling ever since you got home from helping the Stoltzfuses,” Ruthie said as she passed the string beans down the table. “Did someone tell you a funny joke?”

  “I … I think I was the one who told the jokes,” Jonah said, thinking of how he had made Annie and Levi laugh.

  “You? The Quiet One?” Susie blinked in disbelief. “What was the joke?”

  “Nay.” Jonah tore a biscuit in half. “It’s not so funny if you weren’t there.”

  “Well, it’s good to see you smiling.” Mary grabbed Katie’s cup of milk as it wobbled on the table. “I was beginning to think your face was stuck in a serious frown.”

  “I’m not serious. Quiet, ya. But inside I’m very funny.”

  The girls giggled.

  “If that’s so, you’re keeping the jokes to yourself,” Leah said.

  Jonah let his eyes skim over their smiling faces as he cut his chicken. Even Simon was trying to hide a grin. “Are you ganging up on me? I think you are.”

  “I’m on your side, Jonah,” Ruthie insisted.

  “We all are,” Mary said, “as long as you keep smiling.”

  He stabbed some beets with a fork. “And I finished the roof today. Another reason to smile.”

  “That’s good, because we need you tomorrow,” Adam said. “The hay baler isn’t working right, and you’re the mechanic around here.”

  “I’ll take a look at it in the morning.” Would it take long to fix? Jonah wanted to get over to the Stoltzfus farm tomorrow. “I saw that you made good progress on cutting today.”

  “Ya,” Adam said, his eyes on his food. “Another week or two and we’ll be putting up the harvester till next year.”

  “Then things will slow down for a while.” Jonah ran his thumb over the drops on his water cup. “Even with the roof done, Aaron is going to need some help to keep his farm running. Perry is leaving this week, and Daniel’s taking on more and more of the harness shop in town. I’d like to do some work for them, if you can spare me here.”

  Both Adam and Gabe looked up at him at the same time.

  “I would keep working here, too. At least half a day.”

  “We’ll need that,” Adam said, “at least until everything is cut and stored.”

  “But this is our busiest time of year,” Gabe said. “And I had plans for a job, too.” He turned to Adam. “I was going to talk to you about it after the harvest. I want to try something outside the farm.”

  “Why would you do that?” Adam asked. “You’re so good with the cows. It’s a gift you’ve got, Gabe. A blessing.”

  Gabe frowned. “I’m in rumspringa, and I don’t want to be here all the time. And it would be good to make some money of my own, the way Sadie did.”

  Now Jonah and Adam exchanged a look of concern. Was Gabe pulling away, feeling Unzufriede, a sense of discontent with Amish life?

  “Are you looking to get a cell phone and a souped-up buggy?” Adam asked.

  Gabe shrugged. “I already have that boom box, but I wouldn’t mind a few more discs for it. But it’s not about buying things. I just want to try something off the farm for a while.”

  Adam rubbed his chin, a gesture Jonah recognized. He did that when he was worried. “In another few weeks, when the harvest is in, we’ll talk about you getting a job. What Jonah’s doing is different. Aaron Stoltzfus needs our help.”

  Gabe nodded, but Jonah could see the disappointment in his frown.

  “But we can still go to our jobs at the tea shop, right?” Susie had been bubbling with excitement since she’d heard that Lovina would be willing to train Leah and her.

  “Part-time jobs,” Adam said. “But you’ll have to keep up with your chores here.”

  “We will. I’ll sweep up every morning and make all the beds.” Her eyes darted over to her twin sister. “As long as I can get Leah out of hers.”

  “I’m not a lazybones,” Leah said.


  “But every chance you get, you curl up with a book.”

  “Because I like to read.” Leah’s eyes were prim behind her glasses. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “Oh, snooze.” Susie patted her open mouth, faking a yawn.

  “Girls.” Mary gave them a stern look. “I hope you won’t be bickering at the tea shop. Lovina has enough to do. She shouldn’t have to put up with the likes of this.”

  “We’ll behave,” Leah said.

  “And I was just kidding.” Susie turned to her twin. “You know I love you, sister dear. It would be a little scary to take on a job alone. But I don’t have to worry, knowing you’ll be beside me.”

  “Ya. I’ll be there to mop up your spilled tea,” Leah said.

  Everyone laughed, including Susie.

  Jonah found himself grinning as he reached for his water. This was the way Mamm and Dat had wanted their home to be. Peace in the family. Peace, and plenty of love.

  FIFTEEN

  You’ve been awful quiet tonight, Emma.” Elsie stood on a step stool at the sink, scrubbing and rinsing the dinner dishes. “Cat got your tongue?”

  “I’ve got a lot on my mind.” Emma tossed the towel over her shoulder as she reached up to store plates in the cabinet.

  Elsie turned from the sink to face her, and Emma recognized her sister’s thoughtful expression. Her short upper lip was pulled back to reveal her widely spaced teeth—a feature of dwarfism that had always bothered Elsie, though Emma was always reminded of little white pebbles worn smooth from a stream.

  “A burden is always lighter when it’s shared by two,” Elsie said.

  “I know that. But let’s talk about your day first.”

  This was their usual evening routine: Elsie washed and Emma dried. Their stepmother, Fanny, got the rest of the brood bathed and up to bed, while Dat drove back into town to help brother Caleb close up the Country Store, the small shop the family owned. Emma liked the patterns of her life. She enjoyed morning coffee with Fanny and Dat before anyone else got up. She looked forward to seeing her students’ smiling faces each day. And there was something to be savored in the quiet classroom at the end of the day.