The Bridge of Peace (16 page)

He scratched his head, looking thoughtful. “Yeah, I know what a maze is. You’re thinking we could use the stalks from those cutout places to meet our real needs, and then you’d pay us for our losses in sales.” He studied her. “How much you figure is reasonable to rent this cornfield?”

“I … I have no clue, and I don’t actually have any money to pay you right now. But I will … at least I think I will, if you could … give me time.”

“Now how can I turn down such a sure thing?” He suppressed a smile.

“I know how I sound, and I might not sleep tonight for feeling like I made a fool of myself asking to rent this field, but my concept for running a pumpkin patch is solid—a maze, hayrides, pumpkins, and baked goods to sell.”

Joan pulled up the sleeves of her sweater past her elbows. “You don’t sound foolish. A little inexperienced maybe.”

Ray rubbed his chin and lower cheek, staring at the field. “Usually by this time I’ve arranged to have most of the stalks removed. It just hasn’t worked out this year. Even today we only have a few who qualify to use machetes, and we only have a few hours to work.” He made a clicking sound with his mouth. “I guess if you harvested the stalks from the swatches you clear and were willing to pay … 
after
you’ve made your money from the pumpkin patch, I can rent this field to you for the difference in sales.”

“The difference between what you sell this year and what you sell when you clear the whole field?”

“Yes. My guess is that will be somewhere between a hundred and a hundred and fifty dollars.”

She liked his willingness to treat her like a businessperson and not a confused girl. “That sounds great to me, although I don’t have anything to base it on. Can I talk to Ada first?”

“Sure.”

Deborah’s heart beat a little faster. “Would you care to come inside and have a slice of pie and some coffee while I talk with her? Everyone can come in.”

“That’s an invite we’d never turn down,” Ray said.

As they followed her into Ada’s, she commanded herself to breathe. She’d just made a step in the right direction, and it’d paid off. Mahlon had broken her, but she’d begun to heal.

The Amish health clinic buzzed with people. Grey rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm to the lab technician. She placed an elastic band around his bicep, swabbed the skin in front of his elbow, and pushed a needle into his arm.

“You’ve got great veins,” the young woman said. “Your wife does too.”

Grey looked to Elsie. Her faint smile reflected cautious optimism, and he winked at her. Whether they received good news or bad when the time came, they’d agreed to make changes so their daily lives could move out of the
miserable
stage. Marriage could be a lot of things and people still be able to make it work, but few survived living in gloom.

The lab technician removed a tube full of his blood from the syringe part and placed another tube inside it. They’d taken three vials of blood from Elsie.

Doctor Stone had set up this clinic because some leaders in Grey’s community had sought him out before he finished his internship. Most Amish shied away from doctors, tests, and hospitals, but because Dr. Stone had been willing to learn about the Plain community and respected them, the people were becoming more open to seeking medical help. Grey trusted the man’s opinion, but the doc had said little about their concerns. He’d asked a lot of questions and then focused on Elsie’s side of the family. He uncovered the main reason why her aunt probably had so many children with birth defects. Her aunt was the fourth generation in a row who’d married a relative. But he’d agreed that it’d be best to run tests and then talk. Every word he said seemed to remove some of Elsie’s fears and inject hope into her.

After snapping the third vial in place, the lab tech loosened the elastic on Grey’s arm. “We’ll send this off to the lab. Did the nurse or doctor tell you that it’ll take about two months to get the results back for this type of test?”

“Ya.”

Two months
. He and Elsie had to wait two months before they’d learn the truth—either she’d been wrong all this time, or they had some tough realities to face.

“Okay.” The woman placed gauze on his arm and removed the needle before securing the gauze with tape. “You’re all done.”

Grabbing his jacket off the coatrack, Grey unrolled his sleeve. He and Elsie walked down the hallway and signed out. After he paid cash for the visit, they went out the back entrance to where he’d parked the buggy. So far the most important discovery they’d made over the last four days was the acknowledgement that they … actually,
he
needed a way to get from his plot of ground to hers. That whole concept felt very foggy right now, but it’d given him a clear goal … sort of. She’d admitted she couldn’t find it within herself to come to him—in any sense of what that might mean. But as they’d talked this week, she’d lowered a few of her walls and spoken more honestly than in the six previous years. If the blood work proved that she’d been right about their having a genetic issue, they would go to the bishop and ask for the right to use birth control. Grey had no idea what their chances were of getting permission, but what they most needed to happen between them had nothing to do with sex. He untied the reins from the hitching post, tossed them through the front open window of the buggy, and climbed inside. He accepted where they were as a couple, even where they might be years down the road.

Acceptance of what couldn’t be changed was what couples did, wasn’t it?

He drove down the side alley and waited until he could turn left. They rode through Shippensburg and kept going until they entered Dry Lake. He’d been so absorbed in his own thoughts, he’d not even tried to get her to talk.

Ahead of them, at the Dry Lake Amish School, children were either getting into buggies or leaving on foot. Lennie stood on the steps, waving and speaking to parents as they picked up their children. He’d been told about the trouble happening at the school. A meeting had been called for next Tuesday, but he’d barely given it a thought. Disgruntled parents were the norm some years. Lennie knew that going in. The school board covered three Amish schools. He knew the goings-on in dozens of other Amish districts as well, and Lennie had more stamina for the difficult parts than any other teacher he’d heard of. But he hadn’t told Elsie about the scrapes happening under Lennie’s watch. He didn’t want her to doubt Lennie more than she already did.

As they approached, the schoolyard cleared out, and Lennie went inside. He knew firsthand that the scholars under Lennie left the eighth grade better educated than most. She’d turn flips through a graveyard if she thought it would help those students learn a reading, writing, or math lesson.

He looked to Elsie. “School’s out. And Ivan’s with Mamm. Do you want to drop by to talk to Lena now?”

Elsie stiffened and then surprised him when she eased her hand over his and nodded.

He pulled onto the graveled circular area and brought the rig to a stop.

She pulled her hand away. “I … I really do want the tests to say I’ve been wrong.”

“I know.” Grey got out of the buggy and tied the horse to the hitching post. “And I know you’re nervous about this, but I think it’ll do us both some good to get Lena’s opinion about Ivan.”

As he looped the reins onto the post, Elsie climbed out of the carriage. Once on the steps of the schoolhouse, Grey opened the screen door for Elsie and walked in behind her.

From behind her desk, Lennie stood.

“Hey, Lennie. You got a few minutes?”

“Ya.
Kummet rei
.” She stacked the papers up in front of her and slid them to the side.

Grey grabbed a couple of foldout chairs that were resting against the back wall. “We came to talk to you about Ivan.”

Lennie shook Elsie’s hand, welcoming her. But she and Grey went too far back for them to use any formalities. He leaned back in his chair and raised their questions about Ivan’s development. Lennie’s blue-green eyes reflected a lot of thoughts, but he knew she’d guard her words carefully.

She folded her hands, looking more like a teacher than his closest friend’s kid sister. “When Ivan has been at my brother’s, I’ve spent time with the children, and we’ve played all sorts of games over the years, and I’ve never once thought he might be slow.” She angled her head, her sincerity shining through. “He’s quite introspective.”

“What’s that mean?” Elsie asked.

“He thinks a lot and talks only a little. He feels deeply, but he’s not one to share his thoughts or feelings easily. Basically he’s the opposite of me, which will keep him out of a lot of trouble in school, probably in life.” Lennie fidgeted with a pencil on her desk. “But don’t let his quietness give you the impression he’s not bright.”

Elsie shifted in her chair. “But what about his arm? The other kids will tease him.”

Lennie set the pencil down and smoothed her fingertips across the table. “I was certainly harassed about my birthmark. I still am some days. And I won’t lie. It’ll hurt him. I’ll do what I can to stop the mockery. If the adults make too big a deal out of trying to control the children on the topic, we’ll make things worse for him. But the best thing for Ivan is already taking place—his Daed believes in him.”

Elsie blinked, looking guilt-ridden. “I … I didn’t mean to not believe in—”

“Oh no.” Lennie glanced to Grey, looking baffled. “That’s not what I meant. Ivan is Grey’s shadow on the weekends; that’s so good for him. When he sees his Daed able to do stuff, I imagine he sees himself as able to do it.”

“Oh, I get what you mean. So can you test him?” Elsie asked.

“Of course. I mean, it’s not anything official like the public schools do, but it’ll let us know what we’d like to know. Why don’t you bring him by the house Saturday around eight and let him stay with me for a couple of hours? Jonathan and I are heading for Hope Crossing around ten.”

Grey laced his fingers and popped his knuckles. “I missed working today, and Ephraim’s really behind, so after I drop Ivan off with you, I’ll go to the cabinetry shop. Can you and Jonathan bring him by there before leaving Dry Lake?”

“Sure.”

“We’ll be glad to pay you for your time,” Elsie offered.

Lennie bit her bottom lip, hiding a smile as she kept her eyes focused on her desk for a moment. “Because your husband is my brother’s friend, he pays quite regularly as it is. But now that you mention it, I do have something I’d like at the top of the list this year.”

Elsie turned to him, a slight smile in place as she silently looked to understand. She stayed so secluded from his life she had no idea what Lena meant.

“She means the spring rounds Allen and I do at our house, his house, and Lena’s house.”

“Oh, ya.”

Lennie pushed back from her desk, drawing the meeting to a close. “Wooden planters under the windows.… I do believe this will be the third year in a row I’ve requested them.”

Grey tipped his hat as he stood. “I’ll make sure they get done in time for your spring planting of flowers. And we’ll have Ivan at your place around eight. Thanks, Lennie.”

“Anytime.”

Grey folded the chairs. “Oh, there’s a school board meeting Tuesday night, and the board would like you to be there.”

Lennie opened a drawer and pulled out a set of keys. “Ya, I figured as much. Dump one dead cat in the ground …”

Her sarcasm caught Grey off guard, and he laughed loudly.

Lennie walked from behind her desk. Grey set the chairs against the wall, and he and Lennie followed Elsie outside.

“I could use a minute to share a school incident privately before that school board meeting begins.”

Since wives were encouraged to attend the board meetings, Lennie’s request had him curious.

“Now’s as good a time as any.” Grey turned to his wife. “Would you wait for me for just a few minutes?”

“Denki, Lena.”

“
Gern gschehne
.”

When Elsie walked off, Lennie turned to him. “I didn’t want to undermine her confidence concerning this school. The cat wasn’t just dead, Grey. Its neck had been slashed, and it probably died a slow death as its blood drained onto my floor. Someone had placed it in my chair.”

“What?” It seemed wrong that while some parents lodged complaints, she had to deal with difficult scholars and then defend every action to the board—and made hardly any money in the process.

“Ya.” She went up the three steps to the door of the school and put a key inside what appeared to be a new lock. The whole mount rattled, and she had to pull and push the door several times to get the bolt to line up with the strike plate.

“Any idea who?”

“I just can’t imagine anyone who’s that angry with me or with the community—past or current schoolboys included.”

“Anyone giving you a hard time in class?”

She finally got the door locked. “Well, ya. Peter Bender has times of being disrespectful and mulish toward assignments, but I don’t believe he’d do such a thing.”

“Because he’s not capable, or because you don’t want to believe he’s capable?”

“Now how could I possibly know the answer to that question?”