Second Chances (7 page)

Anna laughed, mostly because she knew that Mary spoke the truth.

“She does it on purpose, you know!” Lifting her head, Mary stared at her sister with
a serious look. “Gives them lemonade and cookies before sending them back to me,
making them sugar high, knowing how afflicted I am with headaches!”

“Oh, Mary . .
. ”

Sinking back into the pillow on the sofa, Mary sighed, ignoring the objection, no
matter how soft, from her sister. “Then they'll come back here and run around, making
all sorts of noise. This
haus
is too small for all these people!” Rubbing her fingers
along her temples, Mary made a soft noise, like a wounded animal in the underbrush.
“If only Hannah would marry that Caleb Wagler! Salome would have no choice but to
move out at last!”

Shaking her head, Anna frowned. “It's their home, Mary. One day it will be yours,
ja
, but for now, it is theirs. What does it matter if the boys run about in the evening?
They'll fall asleep soon enough.”

At this comment, Mary dismissed her with a wave of her hand. “What would you know,
anyway?” A single laugh escaped her lips. “I suppose you would have been just as
content here as anywhere. Although I don't see where you had many options: Pinecraft
or here,
ja
? It's a wonder that you are not more appreciative of that!”

The reminder, regardless of whether or not it was spoken with the intention of stinging,
cut through Anna, especially since she had been so emotionally jarred by the recent
reflections on Freman. After all, for eight long years,
she had purposefully, and
unsuccessfully, tried to suppress her feelings for him. Hurt filled her heart at
Mary's not-so-gentle words, a bitter reminder that not only had Anna lost Freman
to the whims of her father and Lydia, but she had also turned down any other subsequent
suitors, including the timid attentions of her now brother-in-law, Cris.

Taking a deep breath, Anna tried to focus on her breathing. Inhale, exhale. She felt
a new sense of calm wash over her. The tremors in her heart slowly ceased and she
felt herself relax.

A cool September breeze blew through the window. Shutting her eyes, Anna inhaled
the fresh air, her eyes shut and a hint of a smile on her lips. Autumn was her favorite
season and she was particularly pleased that she did not have to travel to Pinecraft
with her father and Elizabeth. She'd have missed the beautiful colors of the trees
changing on the rolling hills and along the back roads. While she had not been one
to travel very far or too often, she had never seen a place as spiritually beautiful
as the landscape of her community in Charm, Ohio.

“Let's go for a walk,” she announced, standing up abruptly. “It'll do you good, Mary,
and we can stop to visit the Mussers on our way back.” The senior Mussers, Salome
and Raymond, resided on the same property as Cris and Mary. As was common among the
Amish, particularly those who were fortunate enough to still have large farms, multiple
dwellings housed generations of the family, passing down from the parents to a married
child as the years went on. At the Musser farm Cris's parents still resided in the
main house that was set farther back on the property while Cris and his small family
resided
in a cramped dwelling that faced the road, a bone of continual contention
with Mary.

“
Nee, schwester
.”

Good-naturedly, Anna went to the sofa and pulled gently at Mary's hands, forcing
her sister to get to her feet. “
Kum
, Mary! Such a beautiful day,
ja
? Let's enjoy
the weather while we can.”

With great reluctance, Mary got to her feet and let Anna lead her to the door. She
did, however, do so with a few more complaints, all of which fell on deaf ears.

They walked down the winding road lined with alternating white picket and wire fences,
a subtle way to define property lines in a friendly manner. In the distance, a small
herd of Guernsey cows lingered in the dirt paddock outside of a red barn with white
roof and silo. As the two women approached it, a man wearing black trousers, a dirty
white shirt, and a battered straw hat leaned out a window of the barn and waved.
Anna waved back while Mary ducked her head.

“Mary!” she scolded.

Her sister fussed and turned on her heel, heading back toward her home. “Oh, Anna,”
she said sharply. “You know how private I am!”

Without a word, Anna fell into step with Mary, knowing full well that it wasn't privacy
that her sister sought. The man distributed fertilizer and, as such, the farm had
a reputation of smelling less than pleasant. In fact, despite the man's good nature,
he hadn't married until he was almost in his forties, an age that caused many wagging
tongues in the
g
'
may.

By the time they arrived at the elder Mussers' home, Cris was already starting the
late afternoon chores. When
he saw them, he lifted his hand and waved, a smile of
appreciation as well as happiness on his face. Anna was only too glad to return the
gesture while Mary was more than happy to disregard her husband's salutations.

“Oh, Anna!” Salome Musser smiled when they walked into the room. “How dear you are
to visit us!” Her two unmarried daughters, Leah and Hannah, sat in the kitchen nearby,
working.

The two young boys were playing with an alphabet puzzle on the floor, barely looking
up when their mother entered the room. Anna noticed their distance, both physical
and emotional, from Mary and quickly positioned herself in between her nephews and
her sister in the hopes of quelling any bad feelings.

“Mary insisted!” Anna said, smiling at the older woman as she stepped forward to
shake her hand in greeting. “It is Mary you should praise!”

Looking unconvinced, Salome looked over the rim of her glasses at her only daughter-in-law
and pursed her lips. “Indeed, I'm sure.”

“
Aendi
!” her five-year-old nephew, Cris Junior, cried out when he saw Anna. Both
boys looked alike, with straight brown hair and dark brown eyes that sparkled with
mischief and curiosity. For as much as they did not respond to Mary's lack of affection,
they doted on Anna's abundance of it. “
Das is een
zebra!” he said as he pointed
to the puzzle piece shaped like a Z.

“It
is
a zebra! How clever you are!”

The boy beamed and nudged his younger brother who, just shy of three years of age,
fell over at the slight. Immediately, they began to tussle, wrestling on the floor.
Mary grabbed Cris Junior's arm and pulled him aside.

“I knew you'd have too much sugar,” she scolded, dragging her son out of the kitchen
by his elbow and toward the side door. Young Walter began to cry but, true to his
nature of solemn loyalty to his brother, followed them.

The wails of young Cris faded away, overshadowed only by Mary's harsh words, half
in Dutch and half in English.

From her seat on the sofa, Salome pursed her lips, her eyes watching as her two grandsons
and daughter-in-law disappeared. Leah and Hannah both shook their heads but remained
silent. Feeling uncomfortable, Anna was uncertain whether or not she should leave
with Mary. However, leaving after just arriving seemed almost as discourteous as
her sister's departure, so she quickly opted to stay.

“It's right
gut
to see you,” Anna managed to say with a small smile. “I wanted to
visit before the supper hour.”

The tension lifted. Sitting at the kitchen table, Leah's arms were stained a reddish-purple,
almost matching the color of her work dress, as she stirred the contents of a large
metal pot with her hands. Without having to ask, Anna knew that she was pickling
beets to be canned for the winter months. The sweet smell of vinegar mixed with raw
cane sugar and pickling spices began to fill the room, overcoming the scent of baked
cookies, most of which the boys had eaten long ago. Cookies never lasted long in
any kitchen when Cris Junior and Walter were around.

“You should stay for supper then,” Leah said, a genuine smile on her face. Her straw-blonde
hair framed her face and her pretty cornflower-blue eyes sparkled when she spoke.
“It'll be a welcome change for all of us, I'm sure.”

Hannah agreed and looked at her mother. “We have plenty, ain't so,
Maem
?”

There was no need to nod her head. Instead, Salome smiled and patted a spot on the
sofa, indicating that Anna should sit down beside her. “
Kum, kum
, Anna,” she said.
“Amuse me with your clever stories.”

The compliment, unexpected and, in Anna's eyes, unwarranted, brought a flush to her
cheeks. “I dare say that I don't have any stories, and if I did, I certainly wouldn't
know if they were clever or not!” But she joined the older woman, pleased for the
joyful reception from the Musser family.

“The boys are keeping you busy, then?”

Anna nodded. “The boys are a refreshing change from the everyday,
ja
? I'm not certain
which one makes me laugh more! Little Cris with his mischief or Walter with his ability
to attract dirt to his face, even just after he's had his bath!”

“Bless him, that child!” Salome said, a smile on her lips but some pain showing in
her eyes. She lifted her hand to her cheek, gently touching her own skin as if to
remember the soft touch of another, from years long gone. “Surely he reminds me so
much of my dear Rodney.”

A moment of silence blanketed the room at the mention of her deceased son who, almost
ten years ago, had been called home to walk with Jesus. Anna remembered the news
of Rodney's passing. What had started out as a severe headache quickly escalated
into something much worse: a malignant brain tumor. He had only been twenty when
he died.

Clearing her throat, Salome lowered her hand and took a deep breath. As she exhaled,
she looked at Anna, studying her for a long moment. Finally, she asked, “You are
faring well at Mary's, then?”

The shift in conversation, while welcomed by all, startled Anna, mostly because
of the curious tone of the question which hinted at more than just polite inquisitiveness.

“Quite well,
danke
,” she responded.

“Your calming nature must be a pleasant addition to the household,” Hannah quipped.
“For sure and certain,
ja
?”

“Perhaps it will linger after you have left,” Leah was quick to add, to which Salome
cast a stern look in the direction of her daughters.

Anna laughed, uncomfortable with the hidden complaint in the compliment. “One sure
does learn to appreciate moments of quiet, that's for sure and certain. But I wouldn't
change it for anything in the world. I enjoy those
kinner
so much, I'm afraid I'll
be hesitant to leave.”

Salome nodded her head, approving of Anna's tact in responding.

“You must miss your
daed
and
schwester
,
ja
?” Without waiting for Anna to answer,
she caught her breath and leaned forward, another thought having just occurred to
her. “Have you been to meet George and Sara Coblentz yet?”

“
Nee
,” Anna confessed. “I have not.”

Salome smiled, understanding written on her face. “In due time, I reckon. That must
be a disconcerting feeling, to move from your
daed
's
haus
!”

With all of her being, Anna wished she could speak her mind and tell them that it
wasn't a disconcerting feeling to leave her father's house;
that
she could bear just
fine,
danke
. And it didn't bother her that someone else enjoyed it now.
Nee
, neither
of those two reasons struck her as remotely troublesome. What created unease for
Anna was the idea that, should she call upon the Coblentz family,
she might run into
her past. Instead of speaking, Anna merely lowered her eyes.

Salome hesitated, after glancing at Leah and Hannah, then spoke once again: “We would
have come to visit you yesterday, Anna. But we went to welcome them with Bishop Troyer's
fraa
.”

This news brightened Anna's mood: a welcome diversion from her thoughts of Freman.
Looking up, she smiled. “
Ja
? And how did you find them, then? Were they to your liking?
Are they godly people?”

“Oh, heavens!” Salome clapped her hands together and laughed. “Godly? Why, I've never
met such a fine woman! That Sara . . . why! . . . she'll be the perfect caretaker
of your
daed
's
haus
! She's quite fastidious, you see. Everything is so clean that
it shines!”

Hannah dried her hands on a towel and walked over to the sitting area. “They have
a visitor coming next week,” she said, a light growing in her eyes. At eighteen,
Hannah was young and pretty, the slight up curve of her nose giving her face a playful
look. Since both sisters were younger than Anna, they ran with a different set of
friends. But Anna always had thought kindly of both young women, even if they were
more animated and lively than most Amish women.

From the kitchen, Leah called out, “
Ja
, her
bruder
!”

“Her . . .
bruder
?”

Anna felt her heart skipping a beat as she held her breath for a few seconds and
forced herself to remain calm. The last thing she wanted was to appear curious. Surely
they didn't mean Freman, for he had left Charm, Ohio, almost immediately after Anna
refused his offer of marriage. The grapevine did not speak of his sudden departure,
at least
not in the presence of Anna. And, given the rest of the Eicher family's
tendency to focus on themselves, and not on other individuals that they deemed less
interesting, she heard of no scuttlebutt in the community divulging his whereabouts.