Lilly's Wedding Quilt (8 page)
Jacob rubbed at his dark hair, then plastered a smile on his face. He felt like he’d rather be lying down nursing his shoulder instead of moving forward to greet the head-to-toe fur-clad, blond-haired woman who exited the car once the uniformed driver had opened the door.
“Mrs. Castleberrry.” Seth had his hat off and was shaking her hand. “I’m Seth Wyse. We’re so glad you made it despite the unpredictability of the weather this time of year.”
The woman smiled, a dazzling flash of white teeth and an appraising glance from makeup-lined eyes. “Perhaps the pleasure is mine,” she said, glancing past Seth to where Jacob stood.
Jacob yanked his hat off and extended his hand. “Ma’am.”
“Oh, please call me Victoria, and I’ll call you—”
“Jacob,” he muttered. Seth took a false step backward and dug him in the ribs as he hurried to respond. “Uh, we’ve got the horse we discussed on the phone. If you’d like to come inside the barn, it’s a bit warmer. Your driver is welcome too.”
She gave an airy wave. “James can wait in the car. He reads. Frankly, I was surprised that you were able to use the telephone; I had heard that you Amish do not.”
“Usually we don’t, but for business we are allowed, Victoria.” Seth had caught her arm against his lean side. “Please let me help you over this uneven ground.”
“Thank you.” She glanced over her shoulder at Jacob. “I should like to have the opportunity to see the area a bit while I’m here. Perhaps you might give me a private tour? It would also give me a chance to see the horse perform at an extended trot.”
Jacob ignored his
bruder’s
smiling profile and drew a deep breath. “I’d be glad to, Mrs.—uh, Victoria. My pleasure.”
“Marvelous.” She gave a triumphant toss of her fur-hatted head as Seth began to tell her about the farm in dulcet tones.
T
he beginning of Lilly’s school days were occasionally a time of peace for her, and today looked promising. She opened the back door of the one-room schoolhouse—which had no lock—and concentrated on starting the woodstove, letting the familiar routine soothe away the tumultuous thoughts in her head. She unpacked her satchel of books and graded papers, laying them on her desk, then wrote the schedule for the day on the blackboard. Foremost in her mind, besides the incredible idea of her wedding, were preparations for the Christmas program.
The program was a joyful annual tradition in many Amish communities. Almost everyone would come and crowd the schoolhouse to watch
naerfich
pupils perform. Only English was spoken in the program, and many of her younger students still struggled during practice to remember to speak English and not to slip into their Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. And, since even the bishop would attend to see how well the students’ English was coming along, this gave both students and teacher reason to fret. This year was no exception in terms of anxiety, despite her forethought and planning to make the program unique. But there was never any telling how the students would perform. So, practice was key, and every school day afternoon from late November to the day of the program itself was spent rehearsing.
Lilly looked up from her desk as the stomping of boots on the back porch alerted her to her first students’ arrival. John and Mary Zook, two of the eldest students in the eighth grade, and twin siblings as well, came well-bundled into the room. They wished her “
gut
morning,” then went on squabbling in a friendly fashion over the lunch their
mamm
had packed to be shared. The little trio of Mast children arrived, ranging from first grade through the fifth. Then Lucy Stolis, in the seventh grade, came in shivering, bearing an apple for Lilly. She accepted it with pleasure, considering her own lack of breakfast. By the time she rang the handbell on the back porch, all fourteen of her students had arrived and found their seats.
News spread faster than spilled water in the little community, and Lilly could tell by the students’ suppressed whispers and stray giggles that they knew of her engagement to Jacob Wyse.
“Is there something I should know?” she asked innocently, surveying the excitement on their faces.
“We think you know already, Miss Lapp,” John Zook said, and the others laughed in delight.
To Lilly’s surprise, Mary Zook slid a large handmade card of construction paper from beneath her desktop. “We wanted to say congratulations, Miss Lapp.” She offered the card shyly.
Lilly took it with genuine pleasure, admiring the hearts and flowers and the signatures of all the students. Here was abundant goodwill that cheered her heart and helped set aside her worries of the future for the moment.
“Thank you, thank you all. I’ll cherish it.” She let her smile envelop the class, then she made a sudden decision. “And I have a surprise for all of you—I’d like each of you to come to the wedding. I know that students usually stay in school during wedding ceremonies, but as young ladies and gentlemen, I want you to be there.”
The delight on their faces affirmed to her what an honor she was giving them; even the older boys looked pleased. She just hoped that Jacob wouldn’t mind. She then pushed thoughts of the wedding away and focused on the moment at hand.
“All right, now let’s look at our plans for the day.”
There was a collective groan when they’d reviewed the schedule she’d written on the blackboard, and Matthew Mast raised his small hand.
“Yes?” Lilly asked with good humor.
“Miss Lapp, if we offer to give up Christmas holidays, can we not have the program?”
Several students nodded eagerly in agreement and Lilly had to suppress a laugh. “No, Matthew. You all know it won’t be so bad.”
“Badder than the dentist,” Matthew suggested.
“Worse.”
Lilly smiled. “
Worse
, Matthew. And, no, it won’t be.
“Now I’d like each of you to take the quilt square you’ve been working on. You should be just about finished. I plan to baste them together this evening. Then, as you may know, some of your mothers have kindly volunteered to put our class quilt together for us.”
Again, there was a chorus of faint groans, this time from the boys of the class, and Lilly had to stifle a smile. Making a class quilt to display at the Christmas program was something that was done in many schools, but the boys were naturally opposed to the idea. In the past, she’d seen more than one boy bring in a square that had obviously been completed by a mother or a
schweschder
, so she’d solved that problem by having them work on the squares only in class. Mothers had donated scraps from their quilting bags, and Lilly had given the option to either glue or hand sew to create a picture on the squares of cotton she’d passed out.
This year’s class quilt theme was “Trees.” Lilly had encouraged her students to think about all aspects of a tree, from seedling beginnings, to the multitude of colors during the fall and the stark beauty of winter. Now, as she walked among the desks, surveying their work, she was surprised and amazed at the variations of colors and patterns that made up the individual trees. The younger students’ work was especially sweet with oddly shaped tree trunks in brown calico and masses of purple and red leaves.
She passed Lucy’s desk, especially impressed by the dozens of tiny hand stitches the girl had used.
“That’s lovely, Lucy.”
The child’s face glowed with the praise and she lifted her head to meet Lilly’s eyes. “Will you have time for a wedding quilting, Miss Lapp?” she whispered.
Lilly paused, trying to think of what to say. She would dearly love a wedding quilting, but there was one secret part of her that questioned whether or not she actually deserved such a joyful celebration. After all, she’d done everything so impulsively with Jacob, upside down and out of order. Wedding quiltings were things of planning and coordination; legacies of a rich past and dear hopes for the future. It was enough, she decided with an inward sigh, if God would bless their life together. A wedding quilting was not necessary for marital happiness. She laid her hand on Lucy’s shoulder.
“I promise to let you know if I do.”
The girl flushed with pleasure and then returned to her stitching as Lilly passed on to the next desk. The idea of a wedding quilt led to other half-formed, tangled thoughts of what it might be like to lie in Jacob’s embrace against a backdrop of imagined patterns. She wondered how often he’d be thinking of Sarah, then snapped her thoughts back ruthlessly to the moment at hand.
J
acob had to suppress a groan as the throbbing in his head increased with Victoria’s chatter. Despite the even pace of the good-minded driving sorrel named Jim, Victoria sought to grab Jacob’s arm with each dip in the road. He felt like shrugging her off like a bug.
But, remembering Seth’s hissed admonition to “behave,” he nodded and murmured at the appropriate times and hoped that the woman’s desire for a lengthy tour would end soon. However, it seemed that she was enchanted with everything Amish, and when the school bell rang clear as crystal across a shallow field, Victoria squealed with delight.
“Oh, is that a real Amish school? I want to see it. I think I’ll find it picturesque.”
He cleared his throat. “Well, Victoria, the teacher likes her privacy and I’m sure that perhaps another time …” Jacob was surprised that he felt a little nervous about seeing his intended.
The woman pouted her red lips and sighed. “I don’t know; the more I experience things the more I think that perhaps another horse to go with Jim here might be nice, but if you’re sure about the teacher … I guess we could just go back.”
Jacob could hear Seth now if he didn’t give in to the infuriating woman’s wishes, so he turned the horse without a word and started down the narrow lane to the school. As he squinted against the winter sunshine, he could see the playing figures in the distance. It had snowed a bit the night before and he realized that Lilly would be out for recess as well, keeping
gut
watch over her charges. The thought did not improve his headache nor his throbbing shoulder any as he considered the recklessness of the day before.
The children swarmed to the roadside when they saw the buggy stop and Victoria again grasped his arm. “Oh, help me down, Jacob. They’re so darling in their outfits.”
He helped her from the buggy then went to hold the head of the horse so that the children could pet it. He did not wish to pay attention to the carrying giggles and whispers of the
kinner
in Pennsylvania Dutch as they remarked upon his upcoming wedding to the schoolteacher and questioned the presence of the
Englisch
woman.
“Oh, Jacob, tell me what they’re saying. It’s so delightful to hear a true backwoods dialect.”
“Perhaps you should speak in
Englisch
, children, as you know you should be doing.”
Jacob glanced up to see Lilly’s slender form come across the
schnee-
dusted school yard. The children shushed themselves with haste.
“Mr. Wyse? Was there something you needed?” Lilly’s tone was pleasant, almost distant, but then he met her eyes and saw the hesitant sparkle in the blue depths.
“
Nee
. I mean, no, Miss Lapp, thank you. I was just showing Mrs. Castleberry—”
“Victoria,” the woman gushed, patting bonnets and hats, despite the odd looks from the students.
Jacob exhaled. “Victoria, the area. She’s interested in purchasing Jim here.”
“Ah,” Lilly said and extended a hand to the woman. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Children, can you say good morning to the lady?” There was a dutiful chorus of greetings.
“Would you both like to come inside? We’re practicing for our Christmas program.”
“Oh, wonderful! I know Jacob will love that too; he’s been absolutely the most perfect host,” Victoria confided, sliding her arm through his once he’d tied Jim to the hitching post.
He avoided Lilly’s gaze and the eyes of the
kinner
.
“Of course. I’m told Mr. Wyse, er, Jacob is always a perfect host,” Lilly said.
Jacob felt amusement bubble along his spine. Lilly Lapp was full of surprises, like being in possession of a quick wit. He tipped his hat. “Why, thank you, Miss Lapp. I know, coming from you, that is high praise.”
He ignored Victoria’s speculative look from him to Lilly as they followed the troop of children onto the back porch of the one-room school.
They all stomped their feet and Victoria giggled, giving her own high-heeled boots a tap or two, then wobbling so that Jacob was forced once more to offer his arm. The class followed Lilly inside to hang up their outer things on nails inside the doorways, while Jacob kept his coat on as did Victoria. Once inside the warm room, the students found their desks with a subdued quiet, due no doubt to the
Englisch
visitor. Although Jacob knew that teachers usually drew students inside the school at the arrival of an overly interested tourist, he imagined Lilly allowed the guest because he accompanied her. He swallowed at the thought and wondered if she was the jealous type of girl, although what engaged woman wouldn’t be jealous? He sighed to himself and let the thought drift away.