Rebecca's Promise (22 page)

As Rebecca served up little Leroy’s portion, he wrinkled his face and said he wanted more. Leona told him he could have more when he had finished his serving. Not totally satisfied or convinced that his mom knew what she was doing, he waited with his spoon in the air while Rebecca mixed in the milk and sugar. The moment she was done, he was dipping the porridge hungrily into his mouth.

W
hen breakfast was finished, Rebecca simply stacked the dishes before going to her room to change into Sunday clothes. By the time she returned, the children were seated in the living room waiting. Stephen was already outside, and Leona was in bed resting.

“Ready to go?” she asked the children. They answered by rising as one and silently following her out the door.

She took a backseat with two of the girls, two others got in front with Stephen, and Elmo stood behind her, between the backseat and the end of the buggy, with another of his brothers.

With Stephen slapping the reins to get the horse going, they silently drove out of the driveway and turned right onto the state road. Looking out of her side window, Rebecca caught another glimpse of the school across the fields. It looked lonely on a Sunday morning, as if its bustle of children was seriously missed. The roof was worn, she noticed, surprised that it had not been repaired yet.

“Are they going to fix the roof on the school anytime soon?” she asked Elmo, who was watching with his chin on the backseat.

“There was talk of doing it last fall,” he said. “They decided to get through another winter.”

“It looks worn,” she said, taking one last look.

Elmo shrugged, offering as explanation, “It doesn’t leak.” He then added, “Church is at Raymond Yoder’s place.”

Rebecca nodded. She knew where that was—only a little way up 400.
Close enough,
she thought,
where Stephen could be reached easily if Leona went into labor.

Hopefully that would not happen. Leona seemed fine in the kitchen this morning, so surely labor wouldn’t set in suddenly. Then again, babies had their own minds concerning these things. She leaned back on the seat, listening to the sound of the horses hooves on the pavement and relaxed.

After pulling into the driveway at the Yoder’s, Stephen stopped to unload the female passengers at the sidewalk. When Rebecca climbed out with the two girls, Elmo hopped over the backseat and sat down for the short ride out to the barn.

The house was as Rebecca had remembered it, a simple two-story house, built in a style long since gone by the wayside. Its slate roof spoke of age and expense no Amish person would go to with present-day prices. The whole place had a feel of long ago and a slower pace of life.

The barn had received a new coat of red paint last summer, from the looks of it. Its upright barn siding looked refreshed, as if it appreciated another chance at this age. Hay hung out of the corners of the second-story double doors, making the mow appear full and overflowing.

Leading the way, Rebecca went into the washroom. There they left their shawls and bonnets. Surrounded by other women who had just arrived, the group slowly moved into the main part of the house, where the greeting began.

Finding a place against the wall, Rebecca stood among a group of young women she knew from her years growing up. This morning she was receiving a considerable amount of attention from her friends who had missed her.

Looking out the window, a van pulling into the driveway caught Rebecca’s eye. She recognized it as the one Mary drove yesterday. A feeling of delight filled her at the thought of seeing Mary again.

Five minutes later, Mary worked her way slowly into the kitchen with Elsie and Esther in front of her. Rebecca was reluctant to show Mary too much enthusiasm right there in front of everyone. Being obvious friends with Mennonites, unless they were your immediate
relatives, was not a good idea. So she took care to give Mary the same smile she gave the two Amish women.

It was Mary, though, who stayed beside her and whispered, “How are you this morning? You get settled in?”

“Ya. But Leona’s not here today. The baby’s too close to coming.”

Mary nodded, pulling the sleeve of her dress up to glance at her wristwatch. Rebecca saw its gold face shine before Mary quickly drew the sleeve back over it, obviously aware of Amish sentiments about anything resembling jewelry.

“When does the church service start?”

“Nine.”

“That’s what I thought. And lasts three hours.”

Rebecca nodded.

“Hard benches?”

Rebecca raised her eyebrows.

“Just as I remembered, but it’s been awhile.”

“You can’t speak German, can you?”

“No.”

“Then you won’t understand much either.”

“I thought that too.”

Women were looking their way, so Rebecca knew that this conversation was going on too long. Even with her visitor status, there were limits, and one limit involved long conversations prior to the church service.

“Sit with me,” Rebecca whispered, seeing the men already filing past the outside window heading for the living room door.

Mary readily agreed by following her when the girls got in line behind the women to file in. Rebecca felt the eyes of the boys on her, as she and Mary took a seat on the second bench back. A glance at Mary’s face almost made her break into a smile, but she caught it in time. It was obvious that Mary enjoyed the male attention.

Three hours later, Mary stuck tightly to Rebecca on the way out. When Rebecca volunteered to help serve tables, Mary followed suit. So
it wasn’t until the third change of tables that they finally got a chance to sit down and eat. The now nearly empty tables stretched into the living room and the main bedroom—a few young boys sat on the other side of the room at the men’s table, several girls further down from them.

A few women were taking care of the last ones to eat, but no one was paying much attention to this visiting Mennonite and Amish girl, who seemed to know each other well. Surrounded by a sense of privacy, they got down to the business of preparing their peanut butter sandwiches.

“So what was it with the boys this morning?” Mary asked Rebecca, grinning. “Makes me glad I’m single. Do you think that blond boy, about twenty-five or so, might ask me out? He had nice blue eyes.”

“I doubt it,” Rebecca chuckled. “You’re Mennonite.”

“Does that make me sinful?”

“No. Just undatable.”

“Well!” Mary, in mock indignation, lifted her nose in the air.

Rebecca would have giggled if she were at home, but she wasn’t. She was a visiting Amish girl, sitting at the table after church and eating, so she simply shook in silent laughter.

“Well!” Mary repeated, having to smile herself.

“I thought your eye was on the native in Haiti.”

“It is. I was just looking.”

“Is Marcus better than this Amish boy?”

“At least he would dare to date me.”

“I guess you’d need to date to get married.”

Mary made a face. “Not always in Haiti. They have spiritual marriages with their spirits.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s part of their custom—voodoo.”

“But the church people don’t, surely?”

“No, not the church people.”

“Have you ever seen these spiritual marriages?”

“No. I wouldn’t go to one of the meetings. It’s said that they have
a service of some sort. Then the person who is to be married to the spirit has convulsions. I guess they don’t know any better. They really do need the gospel message.”

“Is that why you go down there?”

Mary nodded. “There’s just so much need. You can work all day and still feel like you just started.”

“This native…Marcus. Aren’t you afraid he might fall back into his old ways?”

“No, he’s been a Christian for quite a long time. He and his wife were married in a civil ceremony even before they became Christians. That’s unusual down there. He’s a pretty upstanding fellow.”

“Sounds pretty unusual,” Rebecca said, pulling back from the table as one of the older women with a coffeepot offered them refills. They both accepted.

“So, do you know yet when you’re going back to Ohio?” Mary asked.

“No,” Rebecca said, “just after the baby comes.”

Rebecca noticed Stephen heading out to the barn for his horse. “I have to go soon,” she said, nodding in the direction of the retreating Stephen. “I sure hope Leona was okay today.”

“I’m sure she was. Rebecca, it’s been nice talking to you again. If I’m around I’ll give you a ride back home.”

“What are the chances of that?”

“Not much.” Mary laughed as Rebecca rose to her feet.

“When are you going back?” she asked, seeing Stephen bring his horse out from the barn.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Have a safe trip.”

“Goodbye, then,” Mary said as she turned to leave.

Rebecca gathered up the two girls and helped them find their bonnets and shawls. They came out just as Stephen pulled up. Elmo was in the front this time, with two of his brothers standing behind the seat.

Leona was seated in the recliner when they walked in the door.

“Are you okay?” Rebecca asked.

“Yes, nothing has happened yet.”

“You want anything special? Can I make you lunch?”

“No. I’ll just nibble on whatever you have for supper.”

“That would be the casserole from last night unless you want me to make something fresh.”

“No,” Leona said, “tomorrow will be a big enough day. I’m afraid you’ll have to do the wash.”

“I was expecting to,” Rebecca said.

“I haven’t gotten things caught up very well, I’m afraid,” Leona said apologetically.

“That’s what I’m here for,” Rebecca replied, assuring her. “We’ll just keep you as comfortable as we can and have a nice quiet evening.”

“I’ll be glad when this is over,” Leona groaned, her hands on her stomach, glancing around to see if any of her children were in ear-shot before she said it. None were, and so she groaned again for good measure.

“I’ll be right back,” Rebecca said, heading toward her bedroom to change into work clothing. When she came back, she brought Leona another pillow from the hall closet and then went into the kitchen to make popcorn and warm the casserole in the oven.

“Oh, Rebecca?” Leona’s voice came to her. “Did you want to go to the singing?”

“No. I’m fine,” Rebecca assured her. “No problem at all.”

It would be as comfortable an evening as she could make it for the family, even though she was missing Wheat Ridge and her own room at home. But to her surprise and horror, she realized she was not missing John. That discovery left her cold.