“Ordinarily, I take a woman at her word, but this time I have to disagree. Sit still. I’ll be back in a few minutes and you will stay right here. Understood?”
“I will stay,” she repeated, closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. Her color was a little pale. Was she really okay?
Something about her prompt agreement troubled him. He was torn between the need to get the ice and a reluctance to leave her alone.
She opened one eye to peek at him. “I thought you were going to get ice?”
“I’m waiting to see if you plan to obey my orders or if you’ll take off as soon as I’m out of sight.”
Both her eyes opened wide and then narrowed in speculation. “You must have sisters.”
“Just one. She doesn’t like to do as she is told, either.”
“Very well. I promise to stay here until you return.”
“That is exactly what I wanted to hear.”
Willis hurried out the door and down the school steps. His house was only about fifty yards across the way. He barged into his own kitchen, startling his little six-year-old sister Maddie, who was coloring at the kitchen table.
“Willis, you scared us.”
Maddie was the only one in the kitchen. He figured the us referred to her imaginary friend. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“Bubble says that’s okay. She wasn’t really scared. Do you like her picture?” Maddie held up a sheet of white paper.
“It’s a blank page, Maddie.”
His half sister and her two brothers had only been with Willis for a few weeks. He still wasn’t used to sharing a home with them, let alone with Maddie’s imaginary friend who required a place at the table and was always being stepped on or sat on by someone. Had he made a mistake by moving the children so far from everything they had known? He thought living with a family member would be best after losing their parents, but what if he was wrong?
It wouldn’t be the first time. Normally, his mistakes didn’t affect anyone but himself. Now there were others who might be hurt by his failures. The lingering fear that he couldn’t properly care for his siblings often kept him awake at night. He tried to put his trust in the Lord, but he wasn’t good at giving up control.
He grabbed a plastic bag from the box in a drawer beside the propane-powered refrigerator and then pulled the ice tray out of the freezer. He began emptying the cubes into the bag.
“Willis, you hurt Bubble’s feelings. Tell her you like her picture.”
A knock at the door stopped him before he got into another discussion with his sister about the existence of Bubble. He opened the door and saw Craig Johnson, the farmer he had promised the potato digger would be ready for today. The man’s red pickup truck and a black metal trailer were sitting on the road.
“Goot morning, Mr. Johnson. I’m sorry but I’m not quite done with it.”
“I need it now. My farm auction starts at two o’clock and I won’t get any money for a broken digger that’s still at your shop. You’re new here and I took a chance on you instead of using a machine shop in Presque Isle. I won’t pay for something that’s not fixed.”
“I understand.” Willis couldn’t afford to lose business if an unsatisfied customer started telling his friends how unreliable the new Amish blacksmith was. He could only put out one fire at a time. He turned to his sister. “Maddie, where are Otto and Harley?”
“I don’t know.” She held her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered into the empty air. She turned back to him and shrugged. “Bubble says she doesn’t know.”
Neither of his brothers were turning out to be much help. He held out the bag of ice. “Take this and a kitchen towel up to the school and give it to the new teacher.”
Maddie’s face brightened. “My teacher is here?”
“Ja, and she got a bump on her head so hurry. I’ll be there soon.”
Maddie got down from the chair, pulled out the one next to hers and helped her invisible friend out of it. “Let’s go meet our teacher.”
She took the towel and ice bag and rushed out the door. Willis led Mr. Johnson to the potato digger he had been working on. “Once I get the bolts in and check that it is level, I will help you load it.”
“Okay, but make it snappy. I don’t have all day.”
Willis watched his sister long enough to make sure Maddie crossed the road safely and went into the school. He would have to see about the new teacher once he was done here. He hoped Maddie wouldn’t tell Eva Coblentz about her imaginary friend or what a poor job her brother was doing at raising her. He prayed his little sister would be too shy to say a single word, but he knew he was going to regret sending her alone.
Chapter Two
Eva opened her eyes when she heard someone enter the schoolhouse. It wasn’t the man she had been expecting. It was a little Amish girl about six or seven years old wearing a purple dress with a black apron and a black kapp on her bright blond hair. The child stopped inside the door and stared at her.
Eva smiled. “Hello.”
“Are you the new teacher?”
“I am. Who are you?”
“I’m Maddie. This is my friend Bubble.” The child gestured to one side.
Eva didn’t see anyone. “Bubble is very thin.”
Maddie looked up and down. “That’s because my brother Willis is a terrible cook. Mostly he makes dry scrambled eggs and oatmeal. Bubble hates oatmeal.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Eva said, smothering a laugh. What a charming child she was.
Maddie walked forward with a bag of ice cubes and a white kitchen towel. “Willis said to bring this to you.”
Eva took the plastic bag, wrapped the kitchen towel around it and applied it to the side
