Miriam and the Stranger (4 page)

As Miriam approached the other end of the married men’s table, Deacon Phillips looked up to say, “Well, if it isn’t Miriam Yoder, our schoolteacher, serving the tables today. What a blessing you are.”

“Don’t say that so loudly,” Miriam whispered back. Heat crept up her neck. The visiting minister was sitting right beside Deacon Phillips.

Deacon Phillips chuckled, and the minister turned around to look up at Miriam. The tender look from earlier in the day filled the man’s face. “So this is Miriam. I thought she might be the woman I was told about.”

“
Yah
, our very own Miriam,” Deacon Phillips said with a grin. “And Miriam, this is Mose Stoll, from near your area in Possum Valley. He’s visiting us for a while.”

“Hello.” Miriam choked on the word. What was she supposed to say?

“
Gut
to meet you,” Mose said, the tender look still on his face.

Deacon Phillips continued as if Miriam wasn’t present. “She’s
as faithful a member of the community as one could wish for, Mose, and a
gut
schoolteacher on top of that. I don’t know what we’d do without her.”

The bowl of peanut butter slipped from Miriam’s fingers and dropped to the table with a loud bang. Her face must be blazing. What on earth was Deacon Phillips up to? Why was he singing her praises to this strange man?

Mose regarded Miriam with a steady gaze. “The Lord guards the hearts of men and maidens alike,” he said. “It’s
gut
to know His work produces such comely results.”

Deacon Phillips chuckled again. “
Yah
, like my own
frau,
Katie, Miriam is a jewel. Any man who can capture her heart has done well.”

“I can see that,” Mose said with a nod. “This Miriam has been blessed by the Lord indeed.”

Miriam fumbled with the last peanut butter bowl and nearly dumped the contents into Mose’s lap. What had gotten into Deacon Phillips? In a quick motion, Miriam pushed the bowl away from the two men. It slid across the table and stopped with a clink against the red beet dish. Splashes of red juice went airborne and then landed on the tablecloth and spread out in a slow stain. Several bearded men looked up with surprised expressions on their faces. They had been involved in their own conversations and hadn’t heard the flattery about her. Well, they would have to think her a clumsy klutz. She was not about to explain. With quick steps Miriam fled back to the kitchen and slipped into a corner to calm her nerves.

This wasn’t like Deacon Phillips at all. Nor was it like a visiting minister to pay so much attention to an unmarried woman—unless the man was here on a search for a
frau
. Miriam’s hands tingled. Could this be true? Was the minister on a search for a
frau
to replace one who had passed away? He was too old to have never
been married. And he didn’t appear nervous around women. That could mean only one thing. He had been married before to a godly
frau
who had honored and obeyed him.

Miriam tried to breathe deeply. The married men’s table still needed attention, and she was in no condition to help. But surely she was wrong about the visiting minister. No Amish man of such high regard would simply appear in a community and pick her out of the crowd.

“Get a grip,” Miriam whispered out loud. Thankfully none of the other women heard her in the loud bustle of the kitchen, but she would have to go back. Miriam filled her hands with bowls again and headed for the married men’s table—at the other end this time.

“We could use some more bread,” a man’s soft voice spoke. Miriam jumped.

She gave John Kuntz, the father of one of her students, a nervous smile. “
Yah
, of course. I’ll be right back.” After a quick dash to the kitchen, Miriam handed the plate of thick homemade bread to John.

“How’s Carrie doing in school?” John asked.

Miriam tried to relax. “Carrie’s doing
gut.
She tries hard and thinks she has to get one hundreds on her papers all the time. That’s not necessary, of course.”

John’s laugh was soft. “Her
mamm
and I have told Carrie that, but the girl is driven to succeed. I think she takes you as her example.”

“Now, don’t say that,” Miriam scolded. What was this? Compliment the schoolteacher day?

“It’s true, nonetheless,” John said. “We’re blessed to have you in the community, Miriam.”

“Thanks,” Miriam managed as she turned to flee once more to the kitchen. How could the men of the community say such
wunderbah
things about her? They certainly didn’t know about her starstruck moments with an
Englisha
man. Thankfully the married men’s table now had all the food it needed. Miriam stayed in the corner of the kitchen until Bishop Mullet announced the closing prayer of thanks. Silence fell among the women, and Miriam bowed her head as the bishop’s clear voice led out in the benediction.

When Miriam opened her eyes, Aunt Fannie approached her with a tense look on her face and clutched Miriam’s elbow. “Katie just spoke with me. That visiting minister wants to stop by our place this afternoon.”

Miriam froze. “Who? Mose Stoll?”

Aunt Fannie stared at Miriam. “You know his name?”

“Well,
yah
, it’s no secret. Deacon Phillips just introduced us. But why is he coming to our place?” Miriam managed.

“I’m not exactly sure why. All I know is, he’s coming,” Aunt Fannie said, and moved on.

Miriam took several deep breaths and pinched herself. She would soon wake up from this dream and find herself the community’s schoolteacher with no visiting minister showing her interest and, most especially, no thoughts of a handsome
Englisha
man!

Chapter Four

L
ater that afternoon Miriam stood at the stove churning the popcorn popper with one hand while holding on to the handle with the other. Heat from the stove rose around her and flushed her face. Behind her, the low murmur of the men’s voices rose and fell in the living room as Deacon Phillips and the visiting minister, Mose Stoll, spoke with Uncle William. Aunt Fannie was squeezing oranges at the kitchen table while Katie, Deacon Phillips’s wife, stirred the mixture into a large pitcher.

Miriam could feel the frequent glances both women sent her way. Her suspicions at the Sunday service must have been correct. The visiting minister was interested in her attentions, and Aunt Fannie must have approved. But that wasn’t a great surprise. Aunt Fannie would accept any Amish man as her husband, even if he wasn’t a minister. The question was how Mose Stoll had learned so much about her that he would travel all this way in search of a
frau
. Or had Mose noticed her for the first time this morning?
That seemed unlikely, but obviously Mose Stoll was interested in her now. Perhaps this was the blessing
Mamm
had referred to in her letter. But how had
Mamm
known?

She had tried to stay out of sight when Mose arrived an hour ago with Deacon Phillips and Katie by slipping out of the washroom door with Jonathon and playing with the neighbor children in the yard. That had lasted until Aunt Fannie had called her in on the pretense that they needed someone to make popcorn.

Now Katie’s whisper grew louder. “Don’t you think we had best tell Miriam?”

Miriam didn’t turn around. She wouldn’t act as if she knew a thing until Katie volunteered the information.

“I think we should,” Aunt Fannie answered in the same tone.

Clearly she would have to respond now, Miriam told herself. Above the sound of the popping popcorn, she asked, “What is it you think I should know?” Her arm slowed, and the white kernels pushed against the lid, spilling some out of the popper. Miriam quickly dumped the contents into the large bowl Aunt Fannie had placed on the counter.

Katie stood to her feet before she answered. “I don’t want this to come too suddenly, Miriam, as I know you are perfectly happy in the work the Lord has given you as the community’s schoolteacher.”

Miriam pasted on a bright smile. “
Yah
, I am.” Perhaps the less said, the better.

Neither Katie nor Aunt Fannie had a hint of a smile. Katie clasped and unclasped her hands as she stepped closer, “This is
gut
news, Miriam, of the very best kind, but of course it may come as a shock. I know I still haven’t gotten over my own surprise once I heard why Mose was here.”

“Why
is
he here?” Miriam tried to keep her pasted smile in place.

Katie’s face appeared tense. “Mose Stoll has taken a serious interest in you, Miriam, though I know you don’t know the man at all.”

Aunt Fannie spoke up. “I know what you’re probably thinking.
What in the world?
Or
how is this possible?
But you shouldn’t say no at once. It’s perfectly explainable… and so exciting!”

“Maybe you should start explaining then.” Miriam leaned against the counter, her smile gone now.

Aunt Fannie’s face brightened. “She’s considering it, Katie. I knew she would.”

“I don’t know about that,” Katie said as she sat down again and took a deep breath. “But let’s see. How did this all happen? First of all, Mose arrived at our place last week with a letter of recommendation from your bishop in Possum Valley—Bishop Wagler, I believe?” Katie paused and Miriam nodded. “Anyway,” Katie continued, “Bishop Wagler said all the usual things about how Minister Stoll is an upstanding member in his own district in Wayne County and has impeccable personal standards. All that stuff…” Katie’s voice trailed off for a moment. “We wondered at once why an Amish minister would be traveling by himself all the way out here. That he was looking for a
frau
was our guess. So we made him feel welcome but dropped hints that there weren’t that many unmarried women in the community his age. Mose didn’t respond until later the next morning when he enlightened us that his
frau
, Rachel, had passed this spring and that he had someone very specific in mind—
you
, Miriam. He proceeded to ask us all kinds of questions about you, which we answered in the most glowing manner possible. I mean, what else could we say with your
wunderbah
character?”

“But… I… shouldn’t someone have told me? Why should I be the last one to know about all this?” Miriam sputtered. She covered her face with both hands.

Katie reached toward Miriam to stroke her arm. “The truth is that Mose already knew quite a lot, and in fact he has spoken to your
daett
about a relationship with you.”

“Isn’t this just so exciting!” Aunt Fannie interrupted. “I’d say this is almost straight out of heaven. Just when we had all given up hope!”

“Who says I had given up hope?” Miriam protested.

Aunt Fannie ignored the question and continued, “Isn’t this just something? In your heart, Miriam, you must know this is right.”

Miriam opened her mouth to object, but Katie was already speaking. “I’m very sorry about the suddenness of this, but sometimes these miracles do happen out of the blue.”

Miriam’s thoughts spun. Surely this wasn’t already decided! Katie and Aunt Fannie knew she had a say in the matter. And yet did she? If she severely disliked the man, that would change things, but so far it hadn’t. And there was her preoccupation with Tyler Johnson that no one knew about. Maybe the Lord had sent her help in a way she hadn’t expected. An Amish husband would solve her fascination with Mr. Johnson.

“It’s such a miracle,” Aunt Fannie continued. “It’s one of those moments we pray and long for, and then the Lord moves in such clear ways. Think of it, Miriam. Mose had already spoken with your
daett
before he made the trip out here.”

More than likely that was so Mose wouldn’t waste his time, Miriam thought, but this was not a moment for snide observations, and Mose was a godly man. She could do much worse.

“Mose would like to speak with you this afternoon,” Katie added. “In fact, he’s probably been waiting impatiently this past hour.”

“Then we should let him get on with it,” Aunt Fannie declared. “Miriam will gladly speak with the man.”

“Is that okay with you?” Katie asked with a tender glance toward Miriam. “We don’t want to rush you into anything.”

Heat rushed into Miriam’s face, and she lowered her head.

“That’s all the answer we need,” Aunt Fannie said with a broad smile. “The girl’s in love with the man already!”