Huckleberry Summer (27 page)

“Pilot, leave the squirrels alone.”

Pilot quit barking up the tree, skipped through the shallow water, and planted himself obediently at Aden’s side, as if he wouldn’t dream of chasing squirrels. “If you want me to take you places, you’ve got to quit harassing the wildlife.”

Aden patted Pilot’s head and tromped along the edge of the stream looking for litter to collect in his big black garbage bag. He and Pilot didn’t really constitute a cleaning crew, but an hour of litter control was better than nothing. He’d been working until every muscle ached to get Mammi and Dawdi ready for winter and for the time when he would no longer be on Huckleberry Hill. He worried about them. They weren’t getting any younger, and winter was bound to be harsh. Frost had formed on the blades of grass in their front yard every morning this week. Soon there would be snow.

After he’d pushed himself hard all morning chopping wood, loading coal, milking, and pitching hay, Mammi had warned Aden he would work himself to death and ordered him to go somewhere outdoorsy and relax.

She didn’t realize that Aden couldn’t relax. If he sat still for more than a few seconds, his mind would inevitably wander to Lily and render him completely and utterly miserable. To keep himself from crumbling to dust, he worked himself to a stub.

So when Mammi refused to let him tote another bucket of coal, he’d borrowed Dawdi’s buggy, driven down the hill, and located the nearest streambed he hadn’t picked up yet. He hadn’t found a body of water yet that wasn’t littered with trash, and enough garbage cluttered the roads to keep him busy for several lifetimes.

He shrugged the collar of his coat around his neck. October was halfway over. Aden had served four weeks of his shunning “sentence.” It hadn’t been too bad, really, except for the fact that he’d forever lost the girl he loved and wouldn’t be able to breathe properly for the rest of his life. Tyler still had a little time to spare for Aden, even though he spent most of his energy courting Lily. Most people went about their lives, ignoring Aden altogether or gifting him with unbearable pity. But Aden wanted all of it—every sideways glance, every click of the tongue, every disapproving look they heaped on him. He wanted full and complete justice. He deserved no less.

He heard someone tromp through the tall grass that grew near the stream and looked to see Floyd making his way to the water. Pilot lost all sense of propriety and jumped on Floyd, barking and licking Floyd’s face like an old friend.

“Aden,” Floyd called while trying to fend off Pilot’s attack. “How good to see you!”

Aden exploded into a smile. Floyd was one of the few people who still treated him as if nothing had happened. “What are you doing here? Pilot, get down.”

Floyd finally pushed himself free of Pilot and pointed in the direction of the road. “I was riding my bike from work and saw your buggy. Is everything okay?”

“Of course. I had an hour to spare, so I decided to do something useful.”

“I will help. Estee and I filled three trash bags with junk at the pond. My back never gets tired.”

“Thanks,” Aden said, more than a little grateful. Floyd didn’t have to give him the time of day, let alone a helping hand. “There are more garbage bags by that rock.”

Floyd found a bag and wasted no time getting to work. “I know what to do if I find any cans. I’ve been trained by the best.”

“Any garbage company would be proud to hire you.”

Floyd picked up a muddy plastic water bottle and stuffed it into his bag. “How is the shunning going?” His cheeks turned an odd shade of pink. “Oh, I mean, that sounded bad. I didn’t mean it to sound like, ‘Hey, Aden, nice weather we’re having. How’s the shunning going?’ I know it’s serious, and you probably feel horrible about it.”

“It’s okay, Floyd. I don’t feel horrible about the shunning. I’m really enjoying the instruction classes from the bishop.”

Floyd shrugged. “I guess the only place it’s horrible is at Eichers’ house. David refuses to let anyone speak of the incident, and the mention of your name is strictly forbidden. I honestly don’t think Lily will ever recover from the humiliation of being arrested, but Estee and I talk about you all the time.”

Aden’s chest tightened painfully. Lily still suffered. He should go to the bishop and ask for six more weeks of shunning.

Floyd turned a darker shade of red. “I mean, not that we gossip about you behind your back. We would never do that. She says you broke your nose.”

“Jah. The bruises are mostly gone.”

“Estee says Lily is ruined forever. Going with you was probably the first brave thing she’s ever done, but it ended in disaster, and now she’ll never even dare to sing loud in church.”

Aden let the regret wash over him. “I’m sorry it happened. I have always admired Lily for her devotion to the church and her family. I hope I haven’t ruined that.”

Floyd shook his head and backpedaled once again. “Well, I didn’t mean she is ruined. Estee used that word. I think Lily’s as good a girl as ever.”

“Me too.”

Aden didn’t want to talk about Lily. Fresh thoughts of her only served to widen the hole in his heart until it yawned bigger than the Grand Canyon. He searched desperately for a change of subject.

“Have the McCann boys tried to take your bike lately?”

“Every day.”

“What do you do?”

Floyd smiled as if he were the smartest person in the world. “Right before I unlock my lock, I spit on both handlebars.”

Aden raised an eyebrow. “You . . . you spit?”

“Even the McCanns think that’s disgusting. They won’t touch my bike after that, and I can ride it home.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t mind touching my own spit. So far it’s worked out. Although yesterday I heard Randy say something to his brother about wet wipes, so I might have to come up with something even more distasteful than that.”

Aden stifled a grin. “Why don’t you talk to a supervisor at the factory? The McCanns are adults, for goodness sake.”

“Oh, they’ll get over it. Randy’s mom is sick, and he needs someone to take his frustration out on.”

Aden curled up one corner of his mouth and chuckled. “You’re a good man, Floyd. Estee is blessed to have you.”

Floyd’s face lit up like a propane lantern. “Here is a wonderful-gute piece of news. Estee and I are published, as of yesterday.”

Aden would have been overjoyed if he didn’t ache for a wedding of his own with Estee’s sister, but still, he rejoiced at the news. “Oy anyhow, I am happy to hear it. When is the wedding?”

“Three weeks, November fifth. Estee and Lily are planning a double wedding.”

As if he’d had the wind knocked out of him, Aden dropped his garbage bag and stumbled to a dry spot at the edge of the stream. Feeling dizzy, he sat down hard in the dirt and buried his face in his hands as grief flooded his entire being.

“Aden, are you okay?”

Why did he feel as if he’d been blindsided by an angry bull, when he’d been expecting it for weeks? Maybe deep down he’d been hoping that Lily couldn’t discard him as easily as a candy wrapper. She hadn’t even waited for Aden to leave Huckleberry Hill before getting serious with Tyler Yoder. He felt the sting of rejection as if she had slapped him in the face.

“Aden?”

Why was Floyd still here when Aden’s heart had stopped beating? He wiped his hand across his mouth and didn’t even try to steady his voice. “I think I’ve worked myself a little too hard today.”

Floyd walked over, took a piece of gum from his pocket, and handed it to Aden. Aden didn’t want to take it. He knew where Floyd’s hands had been—specifically, gripping the handlebars of his bike. “Gum will help if it’s vertigo,” Floyd said. “It clears out your inner ear.”

Aden took the gum and slipped it into his pocket. “Denki. I’m feeling better now.”

Floyd sat next to Aden. “It’s pretty cold out here. You might have to quit the rest of your cleanup projects until spring. You’ll catch pneumonia or something.”

Aden tried to breathe normally even though the pain would not release him. “So, Lily is published too?”

Floyd’s face colored once again. “I shouldn’t have told you that. I mean, jah, they are planning a double wedding, but Lily and Tyler are not going to announce it until Sunday. Don’t tell anyone. Lily’s dat won’t be happy if I ruin the surprise.”

“I’ll try to keep it to myself.”

Floyd smiled gratefully. “Denki, Aden. Sometimes my mouth says things before my brain catches up.”

Aden thought he might drown with grief. “I’m very happy for all of you.”

“Estee’s dat is happy too. He whistles all the time and can’t stop talking about his blessings.” The corners of his lips quirked upward. “Tyler is going to be the favorite son-in-law. David praises Tyler all the time, as if Lily needs convincing of something she already knows.”

“David knows what a gute husband you’ll be, Floyd.”

Floyd glanced at Aden out of the corner of his eye. “I’m okay with it, really. Tyler has that dairy and all. I just work at the RV factory. Nothing special.”

“You’re special to Estee. That’s more important than what her dat thinks.”

“I guess so.”

Floyd stood and offered Aden a hand. “Go home and eat some supper. You don’t look so good. A thick piece of red meat will put some iron in your blood. You’re pale as a sheet. Oh, no. You don’t eat meat, do you? Sorry if that offended you.”

“The mention of meat does not offend me.”

Floyd furrowed his brow. “I don’t care what you say. The bann is taking its toll on you. You’ve looked absolutely miserable since they shunned you.”

“Isn’t that the point?”

“They want you to repent, but I don’t think misery helps anybody. I mean, not that you look terrible, like death walking around or anything. I didn’t mean to say that. In fact, you look fine.”

Floyd carried both garbage bags to Aden’s buggy. “You’ll come to the wedding, of course. We’ll be sure to couple you up with the prettiest girl we can think of. How about Erla Glick?”

Aden shrugged before climbing into the buggy.

He would not be attending the Eicher wedding. David Eicher need not worry about Aden harassing his family. He would make himself invisible to them. They would all like it better that way.

“I’ve had just about enough of David Eicher,” Mammi said as she dropped the letter into her lap.

Aden stood at the sink up to his elbows in dishwater. He had no idea what Mammi meant by that, and he didn’t want to. The Eichers were none of his concern anymore. Or rather, he wished they were none of his concern. He thought about one particular Eicher every minute of every day.

“We ain’t seen hide nor hair of David for a month, Banannie. How could you have enough of him?”

“My ears are still ringing from the set-down he gave us. Just because we’re old doesn’t mean we’re deaf.”

Would Aden ever remember that night without the stabbing pang of guilt? Even his grandparents had suffered the consequences. He scrubbed Mammi’s frying pan vigorously.

The frying pan. He couldn’t even do dishes without being reminded of Lily.

“I’m sorry about that, Mammi. I wish I would have been here so he could have yelled at me instead of you.”

Mammi waved off his apology. “David Eicher can howl like the wind for all I care. I’m like the mountain. He can’t budge me.”

In the past four weeks, Aden hadn’t ever been as grateful to anybody as he had been to his grandparents. They proved fiercely loyal, defending him against gossipy neighbors, cooking vegetarian meals, and saying uncomplimentary things about David Eicher whenever Aden felt especially blue. They even insisted on taking meals in the living room on the sofa so Aden didn’t have to eat alone. That was their way around the no-eating-together-at-the-table rule.

Dawdi put down his paper, took off his glasses, and wiped them with his handkerchief. “Did David write you a letter, Annie?”

Mammi picked up the note in her lap and held it up for Dawdi to see. His glasses were off so he didn’t see much. “I wrote a letter to Lily, and David replied to it. I expect he didn’t even let her read it. I don’t care if he has a shiny new mailbox. That doesn’t give him the right to open other people’s mail.”

Aden’s heart sank. “You wrote Lily a letter?”

Mammi couldn’t face the painful truth. She still had her heart set on Lily for Aden’s future companion in life. He’d given up explaining to her how hopeless it was.

Mammi never gave up hope.

Lily would probably be married with three babies before Mammi admitted defeat.

“We’ve got lots of huckleberry jam to sell this year for Christmas. I invited Lily to help me with the labels. David thinks we’re some heathen group of people up here. He ain’t seen a problem yet that he didn’t overreact to.”

Aden dried the shiny clean frying pan. “It’s my fault, Mammi. When I’m gone, things will get better.”

“Now, dear, don’t you apologize for David Eicher’s bad temper. And if that’s why you want to go back to Ohio, there ain’t no cause for it. David will come around when you and Lily marry.”

“But, Banannie, do you really want to afflict Aden with such a father-in-law?”

“David Eicher ain’t the worst I’ve seen. He’ll soften when he sees the cover I knitted for his new mailbox.”

Aden pulled the drain stopper from the sink and wiped his hands on the nearest towel. He sat on the sofa next to Mammi’s rocking chair. “Mammi, I want to tell you a secret, but you mustn’t tell anyone until Sunday. Lily is engaged to Tyler Yoder.”

Mammi looked genuinely puzzled. “What’s she doing that for when she’s going to marry you?”

Aden raked his fingers through his hair. Did he really believe this would do any good? “She’s not going to marry me, Mammi.” He took her hands in his and pinned her with a serious look. “Matching us up was a good idea, but some things don’t work out.” He felt horrible just saying the words.

Dawdi smiled sympathetically. “If you weren’t leaving, we could couple you with Erla Glick. She’s a nice little thing.”

Mammi’s jaw dropped to the floor and her eyes flamed with indignation. “Felty, how could you say such a thing? Aden is meant for Lily and no one else. I’m saving Erla Glick for somebody else.”

“Who?”

Mammi folded her arms. “I’m not telling. I can only work on one match at a time. I leave the miracles to God.”

Aden looked to Dawdi for help, but Dawdi shrugged his shoulders and looked up as if the ceiling held all the answers. He obviously knew from sixty years of experience not to argue with Mammi.

“Margaret Schrock is having a quilting bee at her house next week. Lily is bound to be there since she and Treva are such good friends. I think I’ll invite myself.”

Aden shook his head in resignation. No use trying to convince Mammi. Mammi and Dawdi were the only people in Bonduel who loved him. He wouldn’t alienate them just because Mammi held on to a fantasy.

He would have liked to hold on to that fantasy himself. “Do you have to go back to Ohio so soon?” Dawdi asked. “If you stay until January, you can help us collect sap from the sugar maples.”

“I’m sorry, Dawdi, but I’m leaving in three weeks.” Three days after they lifted the bann and the day of Lily’s wedding. “But I’ve chopped enough wood to last through spring, and the coal is in the basement, and the potato cellar is full of potatoes and pumpkins. Moses will be here once a week too, and some of the other cousins.”

“You’ve been busy as a bee,” Dawdi said. “And that’s just the work you done on our farm. You’ve been buzzing about doing all sorts of good works.”

“Everybody went to the barn raising, Dawdi.”

“But not everybody helped with Enos Kanagy’s fence.”

Mammi patted his arm. “Then you’d better get busy with Lily. You don’t have time to lollygag.”

Aden gave Mammi his most affectionate smile even as he cried inside. His time for lollygagging had completely run out.

 

 

Treva watched as Lily’s needle bobbed up and down through the fabric, securing the top of the quilt to the bottom with tiny, even stitches. Treva seldom attempted a stitch. She had pricked a finger or tangled her thread often enough that quilting held no pleasure for her. Instead, she contented herself sitting next to Lily, talking about kittens and thunderstorms while Lily quilted.

Treva could talk about kittens for hours. She loved animals, especially piglets, puppies, and kittens. She and Aden had that in common.

Lily sighed. If she had a penny for every time Aden crossed her mind during the day, she’d be a wealthy girl.

She didn’t love Tyler—that much she could freely admit to herself. She’d practically confessed that fact to Estee the night she got engaged. But couldn’t she at least turn her thoughts to her future groom once in a while? Tyler would be concerned at how little she thought of him. Would he cancel the wedding if he knew that she didn’t return his affection? Why couldn’t she muster more tenderness? Tyler was everything any girl in her right mind could want.

“You bleeding,” Treva said.

Lily examined the small triangle of fabric she had been working on. A spot of blood marred the clean white shape. “Oh, dear. I didn’t even notice.”

Always prepared, Treva’s mother Margaret handed Lily a bandage and a damp cloth. “It’s not a true quilt unless there is a little blood on it.”

“That’s right,” said Millie Burkholder, who sat opposite Lily and Treva. “Even with a thimble, there will always be a little blood.”

Lily dabbed at the bloodstain with the damp cloth until it disappeared. “Look, Treva. All better.”

Treva smiled and leaned her head on Lily’s shoulder.

Someone knocked at the door and opened it before anyone had a chance to answer it. Lily’s heart thumped on her rib cage as Anna Helmuth glided into the room.

The women sitting around the quilt greeted Anna as if she were their long-lost cousin they hadn’t seen in ages.

“Anna,” Margaret said, “how nice of you to come such a long way for our quilting bee.”

Anna’s eyes twinkled and her cheeks, pinched by the cold outside, glowed rosy red. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. My grandson Aden drove me over. I don’t know what we’d do without him.”

Lily’s heartbeat pounded in her ears. Aden was outside in Anna’s buggy, almost close enough to touch. Holding her breath, she sat with her needle halfway through the fabric and didn’t move a muscle. If she sat perfectly still, the overwhelming longing in her chest was sure to pass.

Anna reached in her bag and handed Margaret a bottle of huckleberry jam. “This is for you. Lily helped me put it up.”

“Denki,” Margaret said. “Lily said you had a bumper crop this year.”

“Lily and Aden were such a help. We never could have done it on our own.”

Lily couldn’t be comfortable. Every mention of Aden’s name felt like a prick at her heart.

Anna plunged her hand into her bag again and retrieved a thimble. She deposited the bag in a corner, hung her coat on the stand, and made a beeline for Lily’s side of the quilt. Grinning with her entire face, Anna pulled a chair next to Lily and threaded a needle. “Oh, my, Lily dear. How we have missed you! Aden is so mopey, I think he’s shrunk three inches from all the slouching.”

“I’m . . . I’ve missed you too.”

“Tell me about your wedding plans. Will you be visiting faraway relatives on your honeymoon trip?”

“We are going to La Crosse and Cashton.”

“Are you excited?”

“Um, very excited.”

“I saw Estee at the market. I expected her to float off the ground. She was like to burst with happiness.”

In Lily’s mind, Estee behaved like a true bride. She talked of nothing but Floyd and wedding plans. She’d taken way too much time making her dress because she’d redesigned and measured and picked until she felt satisfied. The family had eaten celery stuffing every night for a week because Estee wanted to get the recipe just right before the wedding.

Anna cut herself a length of thread and lowered her voice. “Estee doesn’t stop smiling, but your frown is better suited to a funeral. Are you that unhappy?”

“I didn’t realize I was frowning.”

Anna started working on a burgundy square. “Do you know why the Amish don’t arrange marriages?”

Lily jabbed the needle into the quilt. “Nae, I don’t.”

“Neither do I, but whoever decided against arranged marriages was very wise. Marriage is hard work. If you’re not crazy in love with the boy before the wedding, afterward can be rough. I remember a spat Felty and I had three weeks after our wedding day. I was so angry, I refused to even look at him. He gave me a big hug and said, ‘Annie, I’m mad as a hornet right now, but I love you, and that’s all we got.’ I hugged him back after that.”

Lily couldn’t speak. How did Anna know so much?

Lily thought she might disintegrate into a pile of dust with all the confusion swirling about her head. Could she marry Tyler when she didn’t love him? Was she making the biggest mistake of her life? Her vision blurred, and she gave up on her needle altogether.

Anna lowered her voice further so no one but Lily could hear. “I know that Tyler is your dat’s choice. Such a nice young man from a gute family, but Lily, if he isn’t your choice, you won’t be truly happy.”

Treva patted Lily’s hand. “She love Ayen.” An attack from both sides.

Anna’s face lit up. “That’s right, Treva,” she whispered. “She loves Aden. But how long is she going to wait before she sets everything to rights?”

Anna’s gaze pierced Lily’s skull and rendered her speechless. Lily lowered her eyes to the quilt and tried to stitch in a straight line.

Anna slid her arm around Lily and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Oh, Lily. You are a wonderful-gute girl. I know why Aden loves you so much.” She stabbed her needle through the fabric and left it there. Rising to her feet, she said, “Margaret, this has been a lovely afternoon.”

Margaret raised an eyebrow. “You’re going?”

“Aden is waiting outside, and I must get home to fix Felty his supper. Please invite me again, and I promise to stay longer.”

Lily felt as if she balanced on a cliff and one movement would send her tumbling to the rocky bottom. She thought of Aden, just outside, and became as stiff as a statue.

“Oh, okay,” Margaret stuttered. “It was kind of you to come.”

Anna shrugged off the compliment and shrugged on her coat. “My pleasure. I always enjoy seeing friends. Good-bye, Lily. I hope we’ll see you very soon. Huckleberry Hill is not as sweet without you.”

Anna blew out the door like a whirlwind, leaving all the quilters in her wake.

Lily stiffly fingered the thread Anna had left behind. Anna had come to the bee to make three stitches in the quilt and an impression on Lily.

She had accomplished both tasks.

 

 

Aden pressed the buttons on Moses’s phone. Jamal answered in one ring.

“Hello?”

“Jamal, I got your message. What’s the emergency?”

“The emergency is that you need to get a phone immediately, Aden. This primitive way of getting in touch with you is starting to get on my nerves.”

“It doesn’t seem that primitive to me.”

Jamal huffed loudly. Aden could practically see his frustration over the phone. “Oh yeah? I need to talk to you, so I spend an hour trying to track down the number for your cousin’s cheese factory. Then I call your cousin, who says he’ll give you the message. Then I wait two days for you to return my call. You’re still living in the nineteenth century. It drives me crazy.”

“What’s the emergency?”

“Trout Lake is my emergency. They’re dumping stuff there again, and I’ve got proof. Amish farms surround that whole area. I need someone to testify. I need someone to picket the company, and you’re my guy. I want you to put a face on the suffering of all the Amish people who don’t have a voice in this fight. You’ve always generated a lot of sympathy. We can use you to shut them down.”

Aden rubbed the back of his neck and prepared himself for the headache that was sure to come. “Jamal, I can’t.”