The Amish Doll: Amish Knitting Novel (Bonus Knitting Pattern Included) (18 page)

“Well, Bud and I made it our code word. We watch Lottie like a hawk. Get it? Anyhow, she just got in the car with Bruce.”

“Now? Are you sure?”

“
Jah
, I mean yes! Will you follow?”

“I suppose, but there’s a blizzard warning, right?”

“Mr. Miller said he smells snow, is watching his barometer and looking at clouds. No TV, remember?”

“Chuckey, this is Joshua. Raven told me about your plan and it’s
goot
, but I don’t want Raven driving tonight. It could be dangerous. If those two are going out, it’ll happen again, when the roads are better.”

“Alright. Don’t really feel like I’m on a mission if my orders aren’t carried out.”

“Chuckey, this is Miss Meadows. Can you see if they’re still in the car? Is it parked?”

“Bud gave me a thumbs up. They’re still there.”

“Exactly where?”

“Corner of Willow and Stotler.”

“I’m coming.”

~*~

Raven felt her hands shake as she drove. She didn’t mind the winter weather, but when a warning came out, she figured there was good reason. Since the Millers lived so close, she was sure she could get Joshua’s name cleared tonight.

She gripped the steering wheel tighter as snow slowly started to come down. She’d promised Eb to come straight home. Since the roads were still clear, she accelerated faster, hoping to complete her mission and get home. She passed the Millers’ house and soon saw Bruce’s car but it was pulling out. Oh no! Should I turn back or follow them? I’ll follow them. Raven thought of Joshua and the constant undercurrent of disapproval he was feeling from the Millers and even his Aunt Hannah and Uncle
David. Like he was hiding something…Susanna would be home in two weeks and she wanted the whole bizarre situation resolved.

As she followed Bruce, she thought of what it would be like to be part of the Yoder family. Being Joshua’s wife was the greatest joy, but having Susanna for a mom would be too good to be true. And the many Amish women she’d met who’d been coming in and out of the Yoder house having their work frolics, washing down walls and painting. Making the house sparkle as a surprise for Susanna. She was growing fonder of these dear women.

Raven noticed Bruce was slowing down as the Grainery appeared. Many sweethearts would be having dinner tonight there. But how could Lottie go out somewhere in Cherry Creek with an
Englisher
? She thought back to when she saw her with Joshua when she was there with Lawrence. No other Amish in the restaurant but them and they looked so uncomfortable.

She saw through the falling snow Bruce get out of the car, and a girl that didn’t have Amish clothes on. Bud! Chuckey! This wasn’t Lottie. How could they get this mixed up? But when the girl turned, she looked like Lottie. Surely not!

Raven got out her camera and got out of the car, praying she was doing the right thing. She felt like a spy and it wasn’t a good feeling. She felt immature, but so much was at stake. Raven put her scarf around her mouth, and her hat covered much of her face. Only her eyes could be seen. She decided to keep it that way when she got into the restaurant. If Lottie saw her she might panic and run, and she needed proof.

When she opened the oak doors to the Grainery she saw Bruce and Lottie ahead of her, and a hostess seating them. So far so good. When the hostess came back to seat her, Raven said she was coming in from out of the storm, but said she’d like a hot chocolate. Raven noticed wooden lattice could make a barrier between her and Lottie, and asked for a table on the other side of them. When seated, she still kept her wool hat on and her gloved hands to her face.

She peered through the lattice. Lottie was indeed in English clothes, and so immodest. She had on make-up, too. She and Bruce held hands and talked, playing footsies under the table. Raven felt the urge to just go over and tell Lottie off.  How dare her try to trap Joshua into a marriage? No. She needed to calm down, take the picture and leave. Raven got her camera, focused through the hole in the lattice, and got a few pictures. One with Lottie looking right into the camera.

When Raven pulled into the Yoder’s driveway she could barely see an inch in front of her. She couldn’t even really see the house. Raven pulled into what she assumed was the driveway and grabbed her camera, and got out of the car. But when she did she lost her orientation, not knowing which way to walk. Surely she would reach the house, even if she walked into it. So she walked forward, for what seemed like an eternity, not knowing where she was. Then she ran into a wall. The house! She wouldn’t let go of the wooden structure until she found the door, but when she did, she realized she was in the barn.

Raven walked over to a chair and plunked herself down out of sheer exhaustion. Driving in what turned so quickly into a blizzard and seeing Lottie with Bruce was too much. She thought of Eb and how worried he must be. She always wanted a dad who would worry about her, and now she had one, and was thankful. She pulled out her cell phone to call him, but he didn’t pick up. The phone was disconnected? He must have turned it off as one more step to returning to the Amish. Raven searched through her purse
for a walkie-talkie, but didn’t find it. She must have left it at the Yoder’s.

As the temperatures dipped she felt the chill go through her. She remembered as a little girl having to milk the cow in freezing weather, and nestling up against the cow for warmth. But the last time she was near that cow too many flashbacks came rushing in. Stiffening her arms in resolve, she made her way over to the large black and white animal and hugged it, and only memories of Eb finding her and helping her flooded her mind. How awesome God was, to orchestrate such a plan, to find her father. 

Thank you Lord for bringing me to my wonderful dad. I’m finding a home, the home I’ve always dreamed of. The next logical step is to live among my family…my Amish family….and be Amish.

When she felt warm enough, Raven got one of the lanterns and hung it by the window. If Joshua could see it, he’d know she was alright. She lit another lantern as the darkness of night set in, and looked around at all the animals. She’d always wanted to live on a farm again. It was her secret dream. If she turned Amish, she’d have a rural life like she had on the reservation. She’d always found peace among farm animals.

Why was she feeling like she was coming back to her true self? Was it genetic? Was this the Amish blood in her crying out? She’d gone through life so aimlessly, taking the next logical step.  Needing an income at eighteen, she enlisted in the army. But it was against her grain, shooting at targets, being told she’d have to possibly kill someone someday. She never fit in. But she did among the Amish…

But could she live with the same outfits every day? No jewelry? Were these things the most important things in life though? No, love was. Too many years of feeling like a pearl locked up in a clam had to come to an end. Who cared if you had what society said was important, if you didn’t have someone to love?

Her grandparents had love in their marriage, even though poor. They were rural farmers and had a dress code of sorts, out of necessity, usually clad in denim for durability. Was it any different with the Amish? They wore their traditional garb to be self-sufficient, making their own clothes out of simple patterns. Susanna Yoder was a gorgeous woman, no matter what she wore, but it was her inner beauty that first struck Raven. A beauty that was evident even though pale and sickly.

She looked out as some of the ice melted on the window where the lantern was hung. Her resistance to becoming Amish was all but melted away too. She heard someone pull the barn door open.

“Raven! Are you in here?” Joshua yelled.

She took the lantern down near the window and made her way to Joshua. “You found me.”

He took her hand. “I have a rope attached to the house. There’s a break in the storm so we need to get over there now.”

Grasping his hand, she closed the barn door and they started for the house. So much snow had fallen in such a short time. Midway, the wind picked up fiercely and she could barely see Joshua in front of her, but she held on to his hand and the rope. The wind threatened to blow her over, but Joshua gripped her tighter and steadied her. He yelled that they reached the house and soon heard Cliffy and Timmy, worry in their voices.

“I’m fine boys,” she yelled as she was almost into the house.

Cliffy and Timmy hugged her as soon as she stepped inside. “We thought you had an accident and died,” Cliffy said, face red.

Timmy clung to her arm. “Glad you’re safe.”

Raven didn’t realize the concern she caused, but couldn’t deny that her heart was warmed when all three kept saying the same
thing. “We were worried.” It was nice to be worried about. For a moment the image of the four of them being a family, Joshua’s dream, flashed before her. Was this God’s plan?

So much concern was etched on their faces, that she unzipped her ski jacket pocket to reveal a camera. “I think it was all worth it.” She turned to Joshua. “I have the evidence you need to clear your name…”

~*~

Raven sat knitting a shawl she thought was for her aunt, but the more she knew what love was, the more she grieved for the little girl whose aunt was so cruel. Through the morning light, the colors of mint and red played well off each other. No, she would be making this shawl for Marilyn Rowe. Jim told her Marilyn blamed herself for Appleton burning down, and along with the cloud coverage in February, was feeling depressed.  The group meeting she had with all the boys over at the Yoders, a couple days after the blizzard, went well and they were all making something for Marilyn as well.

The more she thought of what lay ahead of her this day, the faster she knit. Together with Joshua, they would be having lunch with the bishop, and showing him the picture of Lottie in English clothes together with Bruce. Joshua was so shocked when he saw her picture, and calculated the time when she broke off their engagement; when Bruce had become a regular driver for the Amish. It appeared she didn’t break off the courtship because of Susanna’s health, but she’d fallen for someone else.

When she heard Eb mosey down the step, she looked up. “Morning, Dad.”

“Morning, dear one.”

“Lots of pancakes on the griddle. Help yourself. Coffee’s warm, too.”

Eb yawned. “What’s the occasion? I usually make breakfast since you English get up so late.”

“I have a lot on my mind…”

“Want to talk?”

“Joshua and I will be showing the bishop the picture of Lottie and Bruce today. I don’t know. I feel really sad about it and don’t know why.”

Eb poured coffee from the blue speckle ware pot. “It needs to be done, though. Look at it like justice is being done. The truth has come out and you just helped a little.” He cocked his head down to meet her eyes. “It’s something else, too. What?”

Raven started to knit again. “Well, it’s a secret but I can trust you. Joshua wants me to take baptismal classes. He’s going to ask the bishop to give me one-on-one instruction.”

Eb clapped his hands. “Ach, Joshua wants to marry you, and my daughter will be Amish?”

Raven put the knitting down. “I love Joshua and you, but some of the Amish ways seem so hard.”

“Don’t like living with no electricity? Is that it?”

“It even surprises me, but no. I don’t mind it. It’s being so confined to a small place, living so close to everyone in your church. I mean, we all make mistakes, but here everyone knows.”

“So they can help you out. You have it backwards. We Amish don’t condemn someone for sinning or making mistakes. We’re human, made from the dust. It’s when we refuse help and turn on God is where you’ll get in trouble, like I did.”

Raven sighed. “But it looked too harsh.”

Eb took a swig of coffee. “The English want things done fast-like. We move in pace with nature, more slowly. I was shunned for two years, but all along the People were praying and sending notes of encouragement.”

“But you were shunned…”

“I refused any help or counsel. I went to the bottle and cursed God. It was a dangerous path to be on, and I knew it. Every day I’d compare my life to the Amish around me, knowing I was off track. It was their steadfastness that brought me back.”

“I thought it was finding me and realizing God wasn’t mad at you.”

Eb smiled. “Finding you was like getting an extra scoop of ice cream. Lawrence helped me understand God, and AA did help with my addiction, but all along I yearned for my Amish life. Problem was, I had no wife and daughter anymore to share it with. Now I have you.”

Raven looked at Eb’s misty green eyes. “Pray for me, okay? I want to do the right thing.”

“Like I said. The English want things done too fast. Why not take the baptismal classes and as you do, over the next few months, ask God to show you his path. You act like you’re going to get all your answers today.”

Raven looked out the window and remembered how dark it was an hour ago. Now she could clearly see the blue birds at the bird feeder. That all took time, and maybe a lot could be learned from nature. The sun slowly comes up, and slowly reveals the
landscape. “Eb, in my Native American upbringing, there was lots of talk about learning from nature. When did I forget it all?”

“That’s something you’ll have to figure out. I don’t know how fast paced you really lived as an
Englisher
.” He got up and stacked pancakes high on his plate and drizzled them with maple syrup. “Got a letter from Rueben. He’s so happy I’m back with the Amish and can help him make maple syrup. I’ve missed that.”

“The boys can’t believe they’re allowed to help. Did he say anything about when Susanna will be home?”

“She’s coming home with him. Everything’s set. Her sister, Hannah, has people lined up to help her in recovery. So, in a week, she’ll be home. Praise be.”

“Yes…I can’t wait to see her.”

~*~

Joshua squeezed Raven’s hand as he knocked on the bishop’s door. “He’s a
goot
man. Don’t worry.”

But she couldn’t help it. So much was at stake. How could Joshua not be unnerved? When a man with a long black beard, speckled with gray, came to the door, his eyes seemed to look beady when they fell on her and narrowed when they landed on her and Joshua holding hands. “Come in.”

He escorted them into the kitchen, where his wife had lunch spread out on the long oak table. “This is Elma. Elma, this is Raven, the one who brought all the foster
kinner
up here from Appleton.”

Elma nodded and a warm smile spread across her face. “I think it’s nice you care so much for orphans. Nice to meet you.”

Raven was immediately drawn to Elma. She was as loving as Susanna.

Elma named all the items on the table as if Raven didn’t know the names of their foods. “Cold ham, homemade bread, mustard, mayonnaise, pickled eggs and chow chow.”

Well chow chow was new to her, but it appeared to be a mixture of vegetables. “Thank you so much, Elma.”

She nodded and met Raven’s eyes. “I’m so glad to have you come.”

They each made a sandwich and filled their plates. Elma brought a teapot full of tea over. “I even sat out my good China tea cups.”

Raven put her hand on her heart. “Elma, I feel like the Queen of England. Thank you.”

They all took their seats at the table and everyone bowed their heads. Raven assumed this was the silent grace. She thanked God for Elma. What a pleasant surprise. She expected the bishop’s wife to be always hovering under her husband’s stern hand, but she saw a woman who appeared to admire her husband.

The bishop took the teapot and poured some into his cup. “Joshua, you said you have something to show me. Let me see.”

Raven got the picture out of her purse and gave it to Joshua, who handed it to the bishop. “Moses, this is very sad, and I want you to know I take no pleasure in showing you this.”

Joshua called the bishop by his first name? And his name was Moses? She noticed the bishop look closely at the picture. “Who took this?”

“I did. I was in the same restaurant.”

Moses looked at her sternly. “Do you always carry a camera with you?”

Joshua put his hand on Raven’s back. “The boys who live with Lottie, Bud and Chuckey, have seen Bruce with Lottie. They used their walkie-talkies to contact Raven when they saw Lottie and Bruce together so she could take a picture. She was trying to clear my name.”