Amish Circle Letters II: The Second Circle of Letters (25 page)

“
Wilkum
!”

Mimi
’s
mamm
greeted her
dochder
with a big smile when they walked through the door. The kitchen smelled of cooked chicken and fresh biscuits, a comforting smell to welcome both Steve and Mimi to the house. The table was set with a plain green tablecloth, white plates, and mix-matched water glasses. Still, to Mimi, it felt like she was coming home.

“
Daed
will be in shortly. Going to shut the shop early today so he can visit proper,”
Mamm
gushed, opening the oven door to pull out the freshly baked biscuits. The room immediately warmed to the smell of fresh baked dough. “I always said that it’s not Saturday if the kitchen doesn’t smell like bread!”

“Sure does smell right
gut,”
Steve admitted.

Mimi didn
’t respond. She merely stood just inside the doorway, partially leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She had been unusually quiet during the buggy ride from their farm to her parents. Steve had noticed it right away and wondered what was bothering her. However, knowing that she hadn’t felt well earlier, he left her alone to her thoughts.

Shuffling his feet, Steve glanced from Mimi to her
mamm
, wondering what to do. He was concerned about Mimi and how she had been acting recently. She seemed so sullen and withdrawn, yet he couldn’t understand why. Everything had seem to be going to quite smoothly: their marriage, being able to move into the
grossdaadihaus
at his farm, even their ability to work so well together.

“Mayhaps I should go see if your
daed
needs any help,” he finally offered, eager to leave the kitchen and hoping that Mimi might benefit from some time alone with her
mamm
.

The bell over the store door tingled as he walked inside, announcing his presence. Two Amish men were standing at the end of an aisle, looking at the back of a product when he entered. They recognized him and greeted him with a simple hand wave.

Steve waved back but continued walking toward the back of the store, suddenly wondering if Mimi missed working there. Unlike living on their farm, there was certainly much more social interaction at the store. Perhaps the isolation of living on a farm was too much or too sudden for her. While he had been encouraging Mimi to visit next door with his
mamm
and Anna as frequently as she could, it dawned on him that, mayhaps, working a day or two for her
daed
might help her with her sullen and morose moods.

“Hullo, Steve!”

“Thought I’d pop in.” Steve smiled at his father-in-law. “See if you needed any help,” he said as he shook John’s hand. “Let the women have a few moments to catch up by themselves, too.”

John laughed, his eyes crinkling into half-moons. “Escaped the kitchen, then,
ja
?”

“Escaped the kitchen,” Steve admitted.

“Don’t blame you! Next thing you know, they’d have an apron pinned around your waist!” John teased.

“
Vell
, not so sure about that,” Steve retorted. “Mimi sure doesn’t need my help at home in the kitchen. But mayhaps…” He let his voice trail off, wondering if he should talk to Mimi before mentioning anything to her
daed
. However, he quickly realized that the opportunity was presenting itself now. “Mayhaps you might be needing some help here at the store?”

John paused and tilted his head, assessing Steve as he stood on the other side of the counter. “Help, eh? What did you have in mind, then?”

Glancing over his shoulder, Steve made certain the two men were not nearby. It would do no good if anyone overheard their conversation. Satisfied that they were not going to be interrupted, Steve turned back to his father-in-law. “I was thinking that Mimi might like to come back to work for a day or two. Seems a bit lonely at the farm and might perk her up a bit.”

“Perk her up a bit, eh?” John pulled at his white beard, which, unlike many of the other Amish men, was neatly trimmed. For a long moment, he seemed to study Steve
’s face, his eyes searching for answers to unasked questions.

“
Ja vell
,” Steve began, not liking the look of concern on John’s face. He hoped that her
daed
didn’t blame him for the changes in Mimi. He had tried to make things easy for her, even working extra hard to get the
grossdaadihaus
ready for them to live in. He knew it wasn’t perfect but most newlyweds didn’t live together for months after being married. He had thought she would be happy there. “She does seem a bit…overwhelmed with some of the changes, I reckon.” He shuffled his feet as he spoke. “I was thinking that, mayhaps, she misses interacting with all the people every day. It’s right quiet on our farm, you see.”

There was a long pause. Too long for Steve
’s comfort. He watched as John took a deep breath and nodded his head. “
Ja
, I see,” he said softly. “I think I do see, indeed.” He sighed and looked over Steve’s shoulder, seeking out the two men that were walking down the aisle toward the counter. “Let me take care of these two customers then we can close up shop and go check on the women,” he said. “Mayhaps you might go put the CLOSED sign in the front door,
ja
?”

An ominous feeling washed over Steve as he walked toward the front of the building. John
’s reaction seemed a bit apprehensive, as if thinking of something far more important than Mimi working at the store one or two days a week.
In due time
, he figured as he reached for the sign on the door and flipped it over so that the words CLOSED faced the other side,
I reckon I’ll learn what’s not being said
.

Katie stomped into the stable, her eyes piercing and her lips pressed together tightly. Two hours, she thought angrily. Two hours to fix a silly old gate! She frowned as she looked over her shoulder toward the barn. Her anger was at her
daed
, that was for sure and certain. Fixing the gate had turned into needing to straighten some fence posts, which had led to completely repositioning the opening to the paddock because it simply didn’t line up and that meant it wouldn’t shut.

“I
’m sorry, Butterscotch,” she said to the pony as she opened the door to the stall. “It’ll have to be a fast grooming if we want to go riding, I reckon.”

The grooming tools were contained in a small quilted bag that hung from a hook overhead, just high enough that Butterscotch couldn
’t get into it. Katie withdrew the currycomb and began to brush broad circles in the pony’s creamy coat. With the cold weather, Butterscotch had grown fuzzy, her hair almost two inches thick. It made her look rotund and healthy, as if she had been out grazing instead of cooped up in the stall.

Tossing the currycomb back into the bag, she next pulled out a hard brush and ran it over the pony
’s back. The bristles of the brush left little patterns in the hair, the dirt lifting to the surface so that she could then sweep it away with a softer brush.

“There!” she said triumphantly.

She didn’t have much time. Her
mamm
had told her earlier that she would need to help with the younger
kinner
when they would go to market after dinner. Thanks to the cow kicking in the fence, most of Katie’s riding time was already gone.

“May as well hay while the sun shines,
ja
?” she said out loud as if talking to the pony.

Grabbing the bridle from the hook on the wall just outside of the stall, Katie wrapped her arm under the pony
’s head and slid the bit into its mouth. Expertly, she lifted the headpiece and slipped it over Butterscotch’s ears, starting with the right ear first, while standing on the left side of the pony’s head, as should be. She didn’t bother to buckle the throatlatch and tighten the girth, leaving these for later, choosing to grab the reins instead and led the pony outside.

“Be careful now,” her
daed
called from the barnyard. “And it’s almost dinnertime! Don’t be out for long, you hear?”

Katie waved her hand. She knew what that meant. It meant she didn
’t have a lot of time to spend with her pony. After dinner, her
mamm
would have plenty of chores for her to do such as folding laundry and washing the kitchen floor. Then it would be time to help
Daed
with the afternoon chores.

Frustrated, she began walking toward the field, eager to escape before her
daed
found yet another chore for her. With Steve married and living on his own farm, her
daed
sure did rely on her more and more. When would Benjamin step up and take over as the eldest son?

When she was finally in the field, she mounted Butterscotch and, holding the reins in one hand, gently kicked her, urging her forward and away from the house. She needed time to think after being busy all morning, not to mention the day before at the Yoder
’s barn raising.

Her confrontation with Melvin had been easier than she had thought. At first, she had been reluctant to say anything to him about the Bible verses and the fact that she recognized Mary Ruth
’s handwriting. After all, it was the thought that counted…at least that was what
Mamm
told her all of the time.

Still, after praying long and hard about it, Katie realized that Melvin was living a lie and that was sinful, perhaps just as bad as stealing. He needed to confess to his parents in order to cleanse his soul. Otherwise, she had told herself, he was not following the practices of their church and community. The last thing she wanted was to see Melvin suffer in eternity over something that could so easily be corrected.

From Melvin’s reaction to her words, she knew that he would do as she asked. It was more than clear that he had felt the burden of his actions. Confessing would bring him enormous release.

Pressing her heels against Butterscotch
’s barrel, Katie clicked her tongue and loosened the reins. “Come on, pony,” she said, feeling her own release as she rode across the field, urging the pony from a canter into a full gallop. “Let’s enjoy what little time together we have,
ja
?”

The
kinner
were seated at the table, each with a cup of fresh milk and a large cookie. Mary Ruth had allowed them to each have one, even though they hadn’t eaten the noon meal yet. She was at the counter, folding some towels that she had washed earlier that morning before leaving for Leah and Rachel’s. They had dried quickly in the mudroom, the wood-burning stove creating a smoky warmth.

“Melvin,” she said as she turned around. “Would you mind taking these upstairs when you are finished? And girls, I
’ll be needing you to set the table.”

He nodded his head and, after shoving the last of the cookie into his mouth, wiped his hands on his black pants before reaching for the folding towels.

“Such a big help,” Mary Ruth said with a smile and gently touched his shoulder. “
Danke
, Melvin.”

A shadow crossed across his face and he averted his eyes. Immediately, she wondered what she had said that made his shoulders slump over in such a manner. Puzzled, she watched as he headed toward the stairs, his steps slow and his attitude so suddenly deflated.

Mary Ruth glanced at the girls but not one of them had seemed to notice the change in their older
bruder’
s mood. As he disappeared up the stairs, Mary Ruth frowned. Everything had been going so smoothly these past few days, she thought. What on earth was bothering Melvin all of a sudden?

“Suzanna, can you help the little ones with the table then? I need to check something upstairs,” she asked.

He was standing inside of the bathroom putting the towels into the cabinet by the bathtub. When she appeared in the doorway, he jumped and dropped them on the floor.

“Ach!” Melvin quickly knelt down to begin picking up the towels as Mary Ruth did the same. “I
’m so sorry,” he whispered, avoiding her eyes as she picked up the towels and made certain they were still folded properly.

“It was an accident, Melvin,” she said lightly. “Nothing to worry about. I didn
’t mean to startle you and there is no reason to apologize.”

He reached up and grabbed her hand. “
Nee, Mamm
,” he said, his voice quivering as he stared at her. “I’m…I’m sorry about a lot of things.”

Ah
, she thought.
So that’s what this is about.
She braced herself for the confession, wishing that Menno were here with them. It was time, she told herself. Time for the burden to finally be lifted from the child’s shoulders. “Something you want to tell me, then?”

The young boy blinked his eyes, tears starting to well up, clearly mustering up the courage to share what was on his mind when they were interrupted by Menno
’s booming voice.