Hungry as a horse, Harley Stoltzfus smelled the bacon cooking in the kitchen that Saturday as he removed his black work boots in the utility room and hung his straw hat on its designated peg. He had gotten up at three-thirty to check on Jennie, one of his mares. The animal struggled with arthritis, and Harley had made a point of going out to rub liniment on her joints twice a day, treating her like a family member. He took special care when grooming her, too, and talked to the gentle horse when no one was around, as had been the case this morning before Eli came out to the barn when the farmhands arrived for the milking.
As they were finishing up, Preacher Elam King had dropped by to see if Harley wanted to go deer hunting next Friday, the first day of bow-hunting season. Tall, lanky Elam King was one of the two preachers in the district and lived just three farms down from the Stoltzfus homestead. For as long as Harley could remember, the man of God had always been neighborly, even years before Elam was chosen by divine lot to help shepherd the flock of People overseen by their bishop, Amos Lapp.
Harley would have been hesitant about leaving Mimi alone all day if Lena Rose hadn’t come to stay. After their younger daughter, Tessa, married outside their church district and moved with her husband, Emmanuel Beiler, down near Bart Township, Mimi had missed her something awful, close as they had always been. Till Manny started courtin’ Tessa, anyway.
Mimi had also missed having someone to help her share the workload. Harley had watched her struggle these past two years without Tessa, and his concern had been great enough that he’d prayed for the Lord to lead his wife through this challenging time. Some of Harley’s best praying for Mimi and their family took place when he was lying in bed, when the rest of the world was sound asleep and his heart was still and the cares of life could be set aside. In those moments, he believed he was in touch with something powerful—Someone who heard his prayers.
And then, all these months later, it had suddenly come up that Jacob and Elizabeth Schwartz’s children were in need of a home. Even though Harley and Jacob had been brought up states apart, it was hard to think of his cousin being gone. For many years now, Harley and Jacob had enjoyed keeping in touch through letters.
So it had been easy for Harley to open his heart to Lena Rose, orphan that she was. And he felt a powerful responsibility to Jacob to look after her for the time being. She needs space to grieve and get back on her feet.
Harley turned on the faucet in the utility room and waited for the water to warm before soaping up his hands and forearms. He couldn’t help wondering if Lena might be the answer to his prayers for Mimi, too. A daily companion for my wife. And the extra money the two women would bring in, even after Lena’s weekly pay, would be another added blessing.
Lena Rose is surely an answer from heaven. No matter the situation with Tessa, Mimi does seem more content again, Harley thought now as he reached to dry his hands on a towel. It was for that reason that he had agreed to go deer hunting with the preacher next week. He would let Mimi know so that she could plan accordingly when it came to meals. Lord willing, I’ll get us a nice buck.
Harley caught another whiff of the frying bacon, which drew him like a magnet into the kitchen.
Three weeks later, on a lonely October evening, Lena went out to walk through Harley’s pastureland, knowing the dairy cattle were already in the barn for the night. She had taken her flashlight, shining the circle of light on the dirt road as she headed for the field lanes where the mules pulled the hay baler and other farm equipment. All the while, she recalled Mammi Schwartz’s recent letters, in which Chris had eagerly dictated messages for Lena Rose. So sweet, she thought as she recalled the precious letters. By now, she nearly had them memorized. But one thing nagged at her: It sounds like he’s beginning to think I’m not coming home.
Lena wished for all the world that her grandparents could take him to one of the English neighbors and dial her up someplace on a telephone. Oh, to hear his little voice again!
Alas, with no Englischers that she knew of near Harley and Mimi’s farmhouse, the whole notion would take some doing.
I’ll try to arrange something by mail with Emma, decided Lena, knowing her sister could surely line up a phone call. And in the meantime, I’ll locate an Englischer family here on West Eby Road, she thought, determined to keep her plan between herself and Emma for now.
The stillness of the night closed in around her, and Lena wondered whether she ought to pray about something so minor. Cousin Mimi likely would. She talks to God about practically everything. . . .
CHAPTER
5
It was a bright and sunny morning, the first Saturday in November, when Lena got up the nerve to ask Cousin Harley if she could take the family buggy for an errand, intending to place her phone call to Chris. While Lena had only had occasion to make a few calls during her lifetime, she felt that talking to her youngest brother, who still couldn’t write a letter of his own, was important enough not to wait till she saw him at Christmas. Both Mammi Schwartz and Emma had written a number of times about the struggle young Chris was having adjusting to life without his parents and siblings. Maybe hearing directly from you will help him settle in better, Emma had suggested when she
