After she had put her things back in order, Lena headed down the hall and around to the kitchen. There, she offered to help Clara roll out dough for two pies, and Clara gladly handed her a work apron.
“Thought I’d take a pie over to your Dawdi and Mammi later,” Clara remarked.
“Well, that’s perfect—custard is Dawdi’s favorite.”
“I remember your Mamma’s delicious custard pie recipe,” Clara said. “In fact, I memorized it some years ago.”
Lena nodded. “How I miss her and Dat.”
Clara smiled thoughtfully. “Undoubtedly, it will take time to get used to bein’ back, yet still living apart from your siblings.”
“Jah, feels a little like I’m walkin’ in a daze,” Lena admitted. “It’s strange not to return to the house where we were all born and grew up.” She sighed. “I keep thinking that if I just stopped by, I’d find Mamma and Dat there.”
“I’m sure so.” Clara beat the eggs and then added brown sugar and vanilla before carefully adding scalded milk and cream.
Lena filled one of the pie shells with the mixture, and both pies went into the cookstove that looked very much like Mimi’s.
Lena assumed the two Yoder children who still lived at home would be present for supper that evening, and she looked forward to being one of several young people in the house, for a change. Lena had made plans to meet Emma after the meal to surprise Wilbur once he was home from work. I can only imagine his expression! Lena thought, ever so happy.
An hour later, Lena stood at the edge of the school yard, waiting for the closing bell to ring. Mammi Schwartz’s remarks continued to echo in her head, and it pained her to think that her grandparents were in decline, and that Chris still missed his siblings. Maybe now that I’m back, he’ll be more content, knowing I’m close by. She took heart from that. This summer, she would encourage Chris to visit her often, and of course, she’d be over frequently to do things for Dawdi and Mammi, too. She hoped to try to line up some sewing work, too, once Uncle Noah took Mamma’s treadle sewing machine out of storage.
Yet it was fall and teaching that she most looked forward to. To think, she would see her school-age siblings every weekday! After being apart all this time, it would be an ideal situation.
The bell rang loudly three times, and the older scholars came bursting through the doorway. The first few boys leaped off the steps and ran through the school yard toward the road.
Lena Rose watched carefully and wondered which of her brothers she’d spot first. Inching forward, she caught herself, knowing she should hang back and try not to be in anyone’s way.
Mose and Sam walked out together, so tall and slender—goodness, had they grown several inches since she’d last seen them?
When they looked her way, she raised her hand to get their attention, and just like that, they tore down the steps. “When did ya get back?” Mose asked, his face flushed, his smile big.
“This mornin’, but you were in school, so I tried very hard to be patient.”
Sam, the quieter of the two, kept grinning. “Chris will prob’ly cry when he sees ya,” he said softly.
Mose made a face. “Puh! He’s not a baby!”
Benjamin and Timothy jumped down the steps, then stopped in their tracks and stared. Unexpectedly, they turned around and called for Chris. “Come quick—see who’s here!” Ben said, waiting for his youngest brother to shyly walk to the doorway and look out, his eyes squinting into the sunlight.
Stepping aside, Ben and Tim let Chris dash ahead, straight to Lena Rose, who greeted him exuberantly. Even he had sprouted up like a dandelion over the school year. His cheekbones were more defined, too—the baby fat gone. But he was the same darling boy she’d practically raised.
Chris stared up at her, his hand shielding his eyes. “You were gone mighty long, ain’t?”
“Well, I’m home now.” She refused to cry at the joy of being with all of them again.
Chris was working his lips as Ben and Tim came to stand by him, all of them beaming at Lena Rose, love on their faces. “This is the best day in a long time,” Tim said quietly.
“I second that,” Ben said.
“It’s gut to see ya, Lena Rose,” Chris said, walking beside her as together they headed across the school yard for the road.
“Chris thought you’d never get home,” Mose said, swinging his lunch bucket.
“We all thought that,” Ben said, poking Mose and laughing.
“I knew she’d come back,” Chris said as he looked up at her. “I really did.” His voice broke a little, and he snapped his suspenders.
“Let’s walk Chris over to Dawdi and Mammi’s,” Mose suggested, eyebrows high.
“Jah. Dawdi should be wide-awake after his nap,” Chris said. “And Mammi will give us all a snack.”
Lena couldn’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon. And there was still one more wonderful sibling to greet!
I’m back where I belong, she thought, keeping up with her energetic brothers, their matching straw hats bobbing on blond heads as they walked, the twins leading the way.
The hoped-for reunion with Wilbur didn’t take place after supper that evening because he’d run an errand to the Truckenmiller hardware store, and the family he lived with said they weren’t sure when he was due back. Lena Rose and Emma had walked over there together, passing greening wheat and barley fields, but instead of saying they’d return later, Lena left a note for Wilbur, telling him that she was in Centreville and would love to see him when it suited.
So they headed to where Emma lived, slowing their pace, and Emma mentioned that Hans Bontrager was engaged to be married this November. “I thought you might wanna know.”
“Such a relief,” Lena said, and it was. She was happy Hans had found a good match. “And
