The Amish Nanny (22 page)

Thanks to my last trip, I was ready this time. When Daniel ended and gave his “amen,” I was right there with him, calling it out loudly just as everyone had done at Lexie's wedding reception. Strangely, George did not do the same, which made it a chorus of two.

We all opened our eyes, and though Daniel gave me a smile, I could see that both Christy and Alice were more than a little startled by my outburst.

“I guess that's it, then,” George said happily, looking to Daniel. “Is there anything else to say before we go?”

“Just…” Daniel said dramatically, turning to sweep his arm wide toward the gangplank, “‘Welcome aboard!'”

We all cheered. Christy surprised me by leading the way, marching ahead with a quick step up the narrow, metal ramp. I let the others, including Daniel and George, go ahead of me so that I could bring up the rear more slowly. I planned to savor every moment of this journey, starting now.

Stepping onto the ramp, I thought of a man Silas had told me about named Jonathan Fisher. Though Plain, he had managed to travel broadly in his time. A native of Lancaster County, Fisher had visited Europe as a young man in the early nineteen hundreds and later sailed around the world during the 1930s. In the 1950s, when he was in his old age, he had even gone back to Europe again. Somehow, I felt a kinship with him, with his adventuresome spirit. I, too, knew the feeling that propelled such travel, especially since I'd taken the trip out West.

Halfway up the ramp I paused, taking in the scene in front of me. Fog swirled around the harbor. A horn blasted in the distance. I tried to imagine where all the ships in the harbor would go, but the idea of it was more than I could comprehend. The world was so wide, so vast. All those places. All those people. All those experiences. One could travel for a lifetime and still not manage to see everything.

“Come on, Ada!” Christy called from a distance. I looked up to see her and Alice standing down a ways, at the rail, beaming at me.

Giving them a wave, I twirled in a tight circle, my head tilted upward toward the startling blue sky. Then I continued on up the ramp, my heart full of gratefulness for this opportunity. This trip would most likely be my last, and I vowed to make as much of it as I possibly could.

At the top of the gangplank, as I stepped onto the deck, I thought I could feel a loosening of something, an unbinding of sorts. Nearby, a sailor was untying a knot, and as I watched him, I realized exactly what that feeling was: my mother's tight grip, slowly slipping away.

A
fter checking us in, the steward led us to our cabins. On the way, he showed us the dining hall and the recreation room, explaining the schedules for both. When Christy asked him about the other passengers, he said that only one other person would be coming along. Otherwise, it was all crew—forty of them, to be exact.

When we reached our cabin, I was pleased to see that it had two rooms—a dayroom with a couch and small table, and a bedroom with two beds. Though the bedroom had no windows, there was a large porthole in the dayroom. Looking through the thick glass to the outside, we could see several vessels, a tugboat, and a ferry, which I pointed out to Christy.

“We'll set sail in about an hour,” the steward told us as he was leaving, “so be sure you're up on deck by then. It's always exciting to watch.”

Once he was gone, Christy sat down at the table and said, matter-of-factly, that there didn't seem to be very much to do here.

“Sure there is,” Alice told her. “We'll visit. Read. Walk on deck.”

“And do schoolwork,” I added.

Christy groaned.

“And we can check out the recreation room.” I turned around on the couch to face her. “The steward said it's always open, and we're free to use it any time.”

Moving into the bedroom, we unpacked our things quickly and then decided to explore the ship. The three of us put on our capes and off we went. First we checked out the recreation room more thoroughly, which had some exercise equipment, including a treadmill, a game table with padded chairs, and a shelf full of much-used board games. In the back was a large Ping-Pong table with plenty of room around it for play.

Next we headed up to the deck and watched as the huge, spiderlike machines continued to load containers onto the ship, and then the longshoremen secured them in place. Daniel joined us there, and he seemed happy to answer our many questions and explain the various sights to us.

“What's a satellite phone?” Christy asked him after a while, referring to the earlier exchange between Daniel and George. I was glad she asked, because I'd been wondering the same thing myself.

Daniel explained that it worked just like a regular cell phone except that it connected through satellites instead of land-based cell towers. “That makes it a lot cheaper for overseas use,” he added. “I'm glad he got it, because once we reach Europe I'll have to keep my regular cell turned off. Can't afford to use it over there.”

I was about to reply that I had left mine at home for the very same reason when Daniel's eyes widened slightly and he gestured behind us, toward the gangplank. Christy and I turned to see a young woman just coming on board. She had long, chestnut hair hanging loose around her shoulders and was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Around her neck was a camera, on her back a pack.

She was cute, with an air of confidence, and as the steward greeted her and led her off to check in, I realized something about her reminded me of Leah Fisher. Great. That was just what I needed, a constant reminder of the woman who had stolen my true love and my job.
At least Leah wasn't able to steal this trip from me
, I thought. Then again, as Silas had said, it was because of this very trip that Will was now home and available, free for the taking.

The sun was growing warmer, but a chill was rising up from the water, so I tucked my hands inside my cape as we continued to explore. Off to our right was Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I pointed them out to Christy, adding that our family had come to America so long ago that neither structure had even been built yet.

Daniel seemed impressed that I knew that. “Your ancestors arrived when the port of immigration was at the Castle Clinton in Battery Park,” he said. “I was doing some research on that too.” He pointed to the New York City skyline. “That's where the ferry to Lady Liberty departs from, but it's hard to see it from here.”

Christy stared at Daniel with admiring eyes as he continued to point out various landmarks along the shore. As they talked, Alice stood next to them with her hands shoved under her cape, the wind whipping the ties of her
kapp
to the side.

Eventually, she interrupted to ask Daniel if he had received any updates from Herr Lauten.

Daniel said he had. The man had invited all of us to stay at Amielbach even though he was a couple of weeks away from his grand opening of the inn. Unfortunately, the agreement still hadn't been located, but Lauten was optimistic that we would find it before the township's deadline.

Alice nodded, and looking at her I realized she didn't seem worried about the contract or the deadline at all. I wasn't sure if that was because she was being unrealistic or because she had faith the needed document would be found in time.

Soon the longshoremen began to leave the ship, and the sailors started untying the thick ropes that had been holding us to the dock. Once they were done, and a truck had rolled the gangplank away, we were finally adrift.

After that Daniel brought us to the other side to show us the tugboats that would be pushing us out of the harbor. We watched the crew attach steel cables from the tugs to the ships.

“How can they move us?” Christy asked. “They're so small.”

“Oh, you'll see,” he replied sagely.

The ship's horn blew, startling us all. Christy's hands flew to her ears even as she grinned. My heart warmed at the sight of how animated she'd become.

The ship began to move as the tugboats pulled, slowly at first and then picking up speed. The red bricks of the buildings on Ellis Island contrasted against the blue sky, as did the vibrant green of the Statue of Liberty and the gold of her flame. She grew bigger and bigger as the ship moved across the bay. A helicopter whirred past overhead. Boats bobbed on the water on every side. Seagulls screeched as they soared. Grinning, I took it all in, my spirit soaring as well.

Daniel pulled out his camera, snapped some photos, and then he asked me to take a picture of him with Lady Liberty in the background. I complied, though I had to press the button several times before I finally got it right.

Taking the camera back from me, Daniel slid it into his pocket and then surprised and touched us all by raising his arms and declaring loudly: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me!”

Swallowing down the lump that had risen in my throat, I prayed suddenly that during this trip Christy would come to realize the value of the most important thing America had given to our ancestors and to us: the freedom to worship.

Far down the railing, I spotted the young
Englisch
woman standing by herself, her long hair blowing out behind. I decided to walk down to her and introduce myself, but just as I started that way, she began moving in the opposite direction. Thinking she planned to walk all the way around the ship, I decided to wait until the curve of the rail brought her back to us again. But when time passed and she never reappeared, I realized I'd been mistaken. No matter. Lunch was only an hour away. We could introduce ourselves then.

The vessel picked up speed, and as it did the wind began to whip against my face and
kapp
. Soon, Christy complained of being cold.

“Let's stay put until we're out of the harbor,” Alice said, placing her arm around the girl. I stepped closer too, trying to create a shield. We stayed that way for quite a while, not talking much but simply gazing at the rays of the sun shimmering on the surface of the water. Speaking loudly so she could hear me over the wind, I reminded Christy that we were retracing, in reverse, the route that our ancestors had taken so long ago. She nodded but did not reply.

A little later, as the ship left the bay and moved into open water, Alice offered to take Christy back down to the cabin. Although I was reluctant to leave the deck, I said I would come along as well. Christy was primarily in my care, after all. Beyond that, I wasn't sure I should be alone with Daniel, unchaperoned, even if we were out on deck in full view of anyone who happened to look our way.

At lunch we finally met the other passenger, though she seemed a little wary as she joined our group and sat down. The cook had already placed on the table a pot of beef barley soup, a platter of meat and cheese, a basket of bread, and a plate of vegetables, and we'd said our silent grace. We introduced ourselves as we served up the food and began to eat, explaining where we were from. By her expression she seemed slightly amused by our clothing, but she didn't actually say anything about us being Plain.

In response, she said she was from California and her name was Morgan McAllister.

“Like the horses?” Christy blurted out. When we all laughed, she blushed and covered her mouth.

“Morgan horses,” I explained, patting my young charge on the arm, “are common in Lancaster County.”

“I see,” Morgan replied, looking at Christy. “I thought you meant McAllister horses, which are common in California.”

Her face was so serious that we all thought it was true. Then she smiled and told us she was kidding, that there was no such thing as a McAllister horse. We laughed again, Christy the hardest of all.

“I decided to take a year off and travel,” Morgan went on, relaxing a bit. “But only by train or ship. Airplanes use up way too many carbon points.”

Before any of us could respond to that, she asked why we were traveling by ship.

“It fits our simple lifestyle,” George answered.

“Same reason then,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact.

Alice and I exchanged glances, knowing it really wasn't the same at all.

There was a silence around the table for a minute, and then Morgan asked if any of us had heard an update on the weather.