Harley chuckled. “Mimi’s a fine cook, and they know it,” he added, winking at his stout wife.
Lena couldn’t help recalling how Mamma had enjoyed having extras at their large table. With family and friends surrounding them, those meals had been the best of times.
“Let’s get ya settled before we have supper,” Mimi said, offering to show Lena her room upstairs. “You’ll be down the hall from us in our younger daughter’s old room. Tessa moved south of here, near Bart Township, when she married nearly two years ago. . . .” The way Mimi’s voice trailed off caught Lena’s attention, but she just listened. It would take some doing to get herself established here with a strange new family. Such a jolt, really, after living her whole life in one farmhouse, where the creak of every floorboard was familiar.
Thankfully, it’ll only be for a few months. . . .
When Harley and Eli came in for the evening meal, Eli sat at the table with Lena, as cordial and welcoming as his parents. Like many other Amish farmers in the area, Harley relied on the help of his youngest son and a number of farmhands to run the large dairy operation.
Eli reached for two snickerdoodle cookies that Mimi had said she’d baked that morning. “It won’t take long an’ you’ll feel right at home here,” he said.
Aware that his countenance reflected only compassion, Lena took his words to heart despite her own doubts. Mostly, Eli’s comment brought a sense of relief.
“I must try to count my blessings,” she whispered.
That night, as Lena prepared for bed, she prayed again for her brothers and sisters, as well as for her parents’ siblings, knowing that her uncles and aunts were also grieved by the unexpected loss. And she asked the Lord to remember the families that had taken her siblings in, grateful for the big hearts of the People in the Centreville church district.
When Cousin Mimi Stoltzfus knocked gently on the bedroom door, offering to pray for her, Lena struggled to hold back her emotion in the soft light of Mimi’s lantern.
Mimi stayed a bit longer to sit on the edge of the bed and talk quietly with Lena. “If there’s anything at all ya need,” Mimi said, “ya mustn’t hesitate to ask.” Then she began to sweetly quote a psalm. “‘The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. . . .’”
“Denki,” Lena said, having never considered the hope offered in that verse.
Mimi squeezed Lena’s hand. “Harley and I will keep you and your brothers and sisters in our prayers. We’ll do everything we can to help you feel comfortable here.”
“You’re so kind.” Lena felt truly cared for in this house.
“Now, you just try an’ rest, all right?” Mimi rose and tiptoed out of the room.
Lena drew a slow, deep breath and almost wished the kindly woman had kissed her cheek, like Mamma always had when Lena was little. Sighing, she let her tears fall onto the plump feather pillow.
At the first rays of sunlight the next morning, Lena slipped out of bed and went to the window. The view of acres of hay and corn fields, and the expanse of pastureland to accommodate the large Holstein herd there, was a bit different from that in Centreville, where her father’s house had overlooked a vast pumpkin patch and fruit farm. The similarities, though, reminded her of home, and it was jarring to realize yet again that so many miles separated her from her siblings.
Lena noticed Mimi’s rustic bench as she stood at the window, wrapped in sunlight. The pretty rose trellises that surrounded it made the area almost like an outdoor room, and Mimi, as poised and pleasant a woman as Lena had ever known, had shared about her time spent praying on that well-worn bench there beneath the trees. “Those prayers have brought great blessings to my life, and answers from God’s unfailing hand,” Mimi had told Lena shortly after her arrival yesterday. “I miss that spot in the deep of winter,” the lovely woman had added.
According to Mimi, her prayers were not so much about pleading, but more a time to be still in God’s presence. “I like to give Him thanks in my own quiet way,” Mimi had explained.
Lena had never heard of such a prayer bench, though the idea of sitting somewhere so tranquil to beseech her heavenly Father had appeal now that she considered the notion. As for herself, Lena knew the thing that would bring her the greatest joy would be to eventually return home. Surely the deacon or Uncle Noah would locate a place for her to work and live right quick.
Till then, I’ll be content to devour Hans’s letters! she thought, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the first one. Lena dressed for the day, recalling Uncle Noah’s obvious relief when she’d agreed to accept Harley and Mimi’s invitation here, where so many things were unfamiliar, from the closed style of family buggies to even the dialect of Pennsylvania Dutch. The cut and colors of Lena’s Plain dresses and aprons would surely stand out amongst those of the Leacock Township womenfolk, as well. And the hair bun beneath her black head covering with tiny pleats in back was wound of tight braids—far different from Mimi’s smooth bun worn under a white, heart-shaped Kapp. Will they think I’m fancy? she wondered.
Yet despite a natural desire to fit in, Lena thought it wasteful not to wear her customary dresses, capes, and aprons, as well as the Kapp of her church district. In all truth, it wouldn’t matter much, since she wasn’t going to be in Lancaster County for too awful long.
May the time here pass swiftly, Lord.
CHAPTER
4
The following morning, after the breakfast dishes were washed and dried and placed back in the cupboard, Cousin Mimi motioned Lena Rose into the sewing room to offer her the
