Miriam and the Stranger (16 page)

And she couldn’t blame them. She was a part of the community. They had a right to know the basics of what had transpired. But what was she supposed to say?
I’m being dated by an Amish minister
? They already knew that. Maybe,
We’re writing
? But Mose’s decision to write sounded a little weak, coming from a widower who no doubt wanted a
frau
as soon as possible. Everyone would assume
she already had wedding plans. Still, Mose deserved to court her in his own way, and she shouldn’t spill his secrets.

At least Tyler was no longer a secret. Her spur-of-the-moment invitation on Monday had been an inspiration. Everything was aboveboard now, and Tyler hadn’t shown his face at the schoolhouse again.

Miriam climbed down to unhitch Star from the buggy. She didn’t want to think about Tyler, so maybe an evening spent with the community’s young people would clear her mind. In hindsight she shouldn’t have worked late at the schoolhouse. She needed the company of people her own age.

Miriam left Star in the barn and walked along the line of buggies. She stopped short at the sight of a familiar rental car parked behind the buggies. Her head began to throb at the sight. Tyler was
here
? Why? She hadn’t invited him. Maybe Deacon Phillips had. But why would Deacon Phillips invite Tyler? Now her haven for the evening was the most dangerous spot in the community. She should go home, but she couldn’t. She’d have to do too much explaining if she harnessed Star to the buggy again and drove out of the lane.

Miriam forced her feet forward. She would live through this somehow. She’d have to remember that none of this was her fault. She had invited Tyler to supper at Aunt Fannie’s, but not this.

“Howdy there,” Deacon Phillips’s oldest daughter, Ruth, called out as she stepped away from the game to run toward Miriam.

“Hi,” Miriam greeted her, trying to keep her wits about her.

Ruth reached out for Miriam’s hand as she exclaimed, “You must be late from working at the schoolhouse! We’re glad you made it.”

“Well, I’m here,” Miriam managed. She glanced down the line of buggies. “Why is the
Englisha
car here?”

“Oh, that.” Ruth’s face lit up. “
Daett
invited Tyler Johnson to
attend a youth function. He’s very interested in the Amish community,
Daett
said. But come.” Ruth pulled on Miriam’s hand. “We have a spot still open for you right beside me.” Ruth’s voice dropped to a whisper. “And the
Englisha
man is playing on the other side of me. Isn’t that exciting?”

Miriam nodded and followed Ruth across the field. She couldn’t blame Ruth for her excitement. The community didn’t believe in
rumspringa
, so Ruth rarely spoke with handsome
Englisha
men. And look how her own feelings responded to Tyler’s attentions. She was the one who should be ashamed, not Ruth.

“Hi, Miriam.” A chorus of voices greeted her as the two approached the group.

“Hi, everyone,” Miriam managed.

“Right over here.” Ruth pulled on Miriam’s hand again.

Miriam kept her gaze averted, but she had to look up when Tyler called out, “Look who’s here. The pretty Amish schoolteacher herself.”

Smiles spread on the faces around them. No one seemed to wonder how Tyler knew her sufficiently for such an intimate greeting. Shame gripped Miriam. These people trusted her, while her heart wasn’t pure.

“Hi, Tyler.” Miriam got the words out, wishing at once she had called him Mr. Johnson instead of Tyler. She looked away at once and placed Ruth between them.

“Did you have to spank one of the children? Is that why you look so disturbed?” Tyler leaned around Ruth to tease.

Several of the youth chuckled as the ball was served. Miriam concentrated on its flight and didn’t answer.

But Ruth had no compunctions about a talk with Tyler. “Miriam is such a
gut
teacher, she’s never had to spank any of the children in the three years she’s taught here.”

“I see,” Tyler mused. “Has she overwhelmed the evil with her holy presence?”

Ruth seemed puzzled by the statement. “I suppose so,” Ruth allowed.

Tyler hid his grin, Miriam noticed. Amish young people obviously had a different sense of humor from what he was used to. That she had understood was to her own discredit. The ability must have come from the years she had taken care of the elderly Mr. Bland. What would Mose say when he took her as his
frau
and found out she had picked up
Englisha
ways?

“Did you ever spank a scholar?” Tyler interrupted Miriam’s thoughts to ask. Ruth had stepped forward to set the volleyball up for the front row, and their view of each other was unobstructed.

Miriam answered without looking at him. “Maybe I’m shirking my duty.”

Tyler laughed. “I doubt that. I’ll stick with my theory. And thanks for the supper invitation the other night.”

“Shhhhh,” Miriam said, and wished at once she hadn’t. Ruth had returned from the successful play with her face flushed but with her ears obviously wide open. “That was very
gut
,” Miriam encouraged. She hoped that would distract the girl.

“Thanks,” Ruth responded. She glanced between the two of them. “You invited Tyler to supper, Miriam?”

“At Aunt Fannie’s,
yah
, he…” Miriam stopped. Excuses wouldn’t help. Ruth might be young, but she wouldn’t be fooled.

“Tyler was at our place for supper too, but
Daett
invited him,” Ruth said.

Miriam tried again to make her innocence known. “Uncle William invited him the first time, and he had an article I wanted to show Aunt Fannie, so…” It was no use, Miriam decided. Ruth would have to think what she wanted to.

“It was a very good supper,” Tyler offered. “I had a long conversation with Mr. Byler afterward. He’s going to get some information I need.”

Thank you
, Miriam almost said aloud. Ruth appeared satisfied, but how had Tyler known he should help her out?

Tyler had a big grin on his face when she glanced at him. The man knew way too much, that was for sure. And it was no use protesting. Her face had betrayed her.

“Are you going back again for supper?” Ruth asked Tyler.

Tyler kept the grin on his face. “I haven’t received an invitation from Mr. Byler, but maybe you could give me one. Your mother served excellent cherry pie… or was that your handiwork?”

Ruth appeared puzzled for a moment. “Oh, you mean, did I make the pie?” Ruth laughed. “I’m afraid not. But I’m going to learn soon. Piecrust in an art all to itself,
Mamm
says.”

“I’m sure it is.” Tyler gave Ruth a smile. “You’ll have to let me know when you’ve learned.”

Ruth turned bright red but nodded with vigor. “I will if you’re still around. Are you staying long in the community?”

“I don’t know.” Tyler focused on the ball that was flying in a high arch above his head. A moment later he stepped forward to whack the ball back to the other side of the net.

“You should have set it up,” Ruth reprimanded him, her earlier question apparently forgotten.

Tyler chuckled. “I suppose I should have. You’ll have to teach me how. I didn’t play much volleyball in school.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Ruth said. “We just learn what little we know in the youth group. And I think you already know how.”

Tyler reached over to squeeze Ruth’s arm. “Thanks for the confidence.”

Ruth smiled but said nothing more as the game continued.

Surely she wasn’t jealous of Ruth, was she? Miriam thought. This had become completely ridiculous. What was wrong with her? Beside her Ruth kept up a friendly chatter with Tyler. From the sounds of things, the two had spoken freely with each other when Tyler had been in Deacon Phillips’s home. Their conversation was innocent, though, unlike her thoughts. Several of the other girls joined in with Ruth’s easy banter. Miriam tried to stay a step back whenever the ball came her way. Ruth seemed more than happy to take the play. That was fine with Miriam. It helped keep the focus off her.

Darkness soon crept across the horizon, and gas lanterns were lit. Ruth’s
mamm,
Katie, appeared around the corner of the barn near the end of the third game. She called, “The ice cream is out. Come before it all melts.”

This brought the game to an end and produced a stampede from the boys toward the house. The girls followed at a more dignified pace. Miriam hung even further back but quickened her steps when she noticed that Tyler wasn’t in front with the other young men.

Before Miriam got too far, Tyler’s voice called out from behind her. “Growing older, are we?”

“Speak for yourself,” Miriam snapped. “I don’t see you in the front of the pack.”

“That’s because I want to speak with you.”

Miriam rolled her eyes. He apparently didn’t understand her predicament as well as she hoped he had.

“You heard right,” Tyler said. “I can’t stay quiet about this. Surely you’re not marrying that man from out of town—the minister. How can a lovely girl like you do something like that? Tell me I didn’t hear something right the other night.”

Miriam didn’t know what to say. What if the others heard her conversation? Oh, this was so wrong!

“Is he handsome perhaps?” Tyler probed. “Or does he come with tons of money? Is that what’s driving this?”

“This is none of your business,” Miriam squeaked. “And shhhh!”

“Let’s say I’m making it my business,” Tyler shot back. “Maybe I can do one good thing for you before I leave. Because this isn’t right, you know.”

“Tyler…
Mister
Johnson… this is really none of your business!” No further words would come out, and Miriam focused on breathing.

Tyler regarded her for a moment before he continued. “I asked your uncle some questions and also Deacon Phillips, all in the guise of my admiration for how the community does things, and I don’t like what I’m hearing. This man arrives and spends all week investigating you. Does the man even
love
you, Miriam? Or you him for that matter?”

Miriam’s face blazed red. Was it embarrassment or anger? Probably both, she thought as she turned to face Tyler. “How we do our marriages is none of your business. I think I made that clear already.”

Tyler’s hand waved in the air as he exclaimed, “But this is so medieval! So feudal! So archaic! And hello… so very
wrong
. You must know this is true, Miriam. You’re a teacher. You can’t be completely uneducated.”

“We live as the Lord decrees,” Miriam barely whispered. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Answer my question, then,” Tyler demanded. “Do you love the man?”

When Miriam remained silent, he continued. “That’s what I thought. You’ll just marry him in cold blood. How can you do something so chilling when you have such a warm personality?”

Miriam gathered herself together and took a deep breath. “What I am is also none of your business, Tyler. Now can we stop this conversation before someone hears us?”

A look of triumph filled his face. “See what I mean. You are a captive. That’s why you can’t talk with me.”

“I just did talk to you,” Miriam said. “I have been more than free with you. But this has gone far enough.”

He studied her face for a second. “Well, I don’t like any of this. You can’t marry a man you don’t love… and who doesn’t love you.”

“Would you
please
go away and leave all of us alone?” Miriam pleaded.

Tyler sobered but shook his head. “I’ve heard that line before, and it doesn’t work on me.”

“But I beg of you.” Miriam reached out to grasp Tyler’s arm. “My future is my own to choose. Isn’t that what you
Englisha
say? Why won’t you let me choose mine?”

“But marriage to an old fogy? Do you really want this, Miriam?”

“Mose is not old,” Miriam’s voice trembled.

“But do you want this? Really
want
this?” Tyler stepped closer. “Tell me the truth, and I’ll leave you alone.”

Miriam met his blue eyes as they pierced hers. She tried to speak but failed.

“Aha! That’s what I thought,” Tyler mumbled. “God help us all.”

Miriam struggled to get a protest out, but Ruth cut off her efforts as she raced around the corner of the barn. “Oh, there you two are. Are you coming?”

“Right away.” Tyler smiled in Ruth’s direction.

Miriam fell in step behind him. Thankfully, Tyler didn’t take her arm. That was what he wanted to do, she was sure. Still, Ruth looked suspiciously at them.

Miriam forced a laugh instead. “Tyler and I were just having a disagreement about a matter. I think he should conclude his investigation of the community pretty soon and move on. Don’t you think so?”

Ruth wrinkled up her face. “I don’t know,” she said. “I think it’s nice to have him around.”

“Thatta girl!” Tyler reached over to squeeze Ruth’s arm, and the two walked on ahead of Miriam. She hung back as the thought struck her. Once more she had a secret, and the shame burned deep inside of her.

Chapter Sixteen