Huckleberry Summer (7 page)

It wasn’t until her head was bowed for silent grace that Lily realized what had dampened Aden’s mood. He couldn’t eat the sandwiches. How could she have forgotten?

Lily groaned inwardly. Evie and Rose’s feelings would be hurt when Aden didn’t eat their carefully made sandwich. It didn’t even matter if he tried to explain himself. The word “vegetarian” meant nothing to a nine-year-old. Lily didn’t understand it well herself.

As soon as they all lifted their heads, Lily scooped Amanda up in one arm—she couldn’t very well risk a fall—and grabbed the pitcher of milk with her free hand. “Milk, Aden?”

She reached across the table. With Amanda in her arms, it proved quite a feat. “Yilly, put down,” Amanda complained as she reached futilely for her dinner.

Aden barely had time to say, “Nae, thank you,” before Lily made a show of aiming for Aden’s glass. She bumped it with the pitcher and proceeded to pour milk all over his plate, soaking his sandwich and rendering it inedible.

“Oh no!” exclaimed Rose. She jumped from the table and ran to the sink. “I’ll get a towel.”

Aden sat mute while Lily caught his eye with a sly look and poured a few extra drops on his soggy bread for good measure. He gave her the most brilliant, breathtaking smile Lily had ever seen. Her heart galloped like a horse, and she felt as if she could jump into the air and fly away. She’d never experienced anything quite like that sensation before.

Slightly dazed, Lily placed the pitcher of milk back on the table, sank to her chair, and deposited Amanda back on her pot.

Evie examined Aden’s plate and a look of sympathy overspread her face. “Your sandwich is ruined, Aden.”

Aden made a show of profound disappointment. “That was probably the best sandwich I would have ever eaten.”

“I am extra clumsy today. I’m so sorry,” Lily said, which when she looked at Aden meant,
You’re welcome.

Junior held out his sandwich to Aden. It had one bite taken out of it. “Here. You can have mine.”

Aden shook his head. “You are a growing boy, and you worked hard this morning. You need that whole sandwich.”

“You can eat mine,” Rose said, as she came back to the table and handed Aden a towel. “I haven’t touched it.”

Aden stood and carefully picked up his plate, making sure the milk didn’t slosh everywhere. “Uriah, will you open the door for me?”

Uriah jumped to do Aden’s bidding, and Aden slowly walked out the door with his brimming plate. He returned empty handed. “Pilot loves turkey sandwiches smothered in milk. It’s like a piece of birthday cake to him.”

“They were chicken,” Rose said.

“What are you going to eat?” Uriah wanted to know.

“I will make him peanut butter and huckleberry jelly,” Lily said. “Rose, keep a hand on Amanda, please.” She looked to Aden for confirmation that peanut butter and jelly were acceptable dinner items. He winked and nodded.

Boys should not wink at girls. It left them short of breath.

After dinner and the best cookies Aden said he had ever tasted in his whole life, everyone pitched in with the dishes. Before they got back to work, Aden suggested a game of Frisbee on the lawn, which consisted of Aden throwing the Frisbee and the children, including Amanda, and the dogs trying to catch it. Aden’s dog wanted to catch every throw, and he knocked children out from under him in an attempt to do it. The children thought it was great fun to be plowed over by an eighty-pound dog, so Lily didn’t scold him even though she wanted to.

The first few times the dog came near Amanda, Lily held her breath. Amanda was no match for those giant paws. But Lily soon relaxed when she saw that the dog seemed to have a sense of Amanda’s whereabouts at all times. He never knocked her over, but he would occasionally bend down and let her pull his ears.

Not eager to be trampled by the dog, Lily was content to watch the game from her perch on the porch steps.

“Lily, come on,” Aden called and motioned for her to join them. “I’ll bet you’re as good with a Frisbee as you are with a pitcher of milk.”

Lily grinned and tentatively stepped off the porch. She’d probably stub her toe or jam her finger, but they looked like they were having so much fun.

She stood at the opposite end of the yard from Aden, and he floated the Frisbee to her with a gentle toss. She caught it with ease, and Aden and the children cheered.

“I knew you’d be a natural,” Aden called.

Aden’s dog trotted toward her, no doubt in an attempt to kidnap her Frisbee. She held up her hand as she had done before. “No, Pie Dog. Stay.” The dog obediently halted a few inches from her and sat down. “Good dog,” she said as she scratched behind his ears, but she quickly pulled back her hand as he stuck out his tongue and tried to lick her fingers.

The dog stationed himself next to her as she threw the Frisbee to Aden. It sliced through the air and veered several feet to Aden’s left. He sprinted and dove and made an amazing catch. Lily laughed and clapped her hands. “You are truly an expert.”

He chuckled and threw the Frisbee back to her. This time it sailed over her head and landed in a tree at the edge of the yard. The children groaned and cheered and giggled all at the same time.

“I can get a broom, if you need it,” Junior said.

Lily assessed the height of the tree. She was entirely too puny to retrieve the Frisbee, but Aden could reach it. He probably wouldn’t even have to stand on his tippy-toes. Grinning widely, he jogged to Lily. His smile, coupled with his bright green eyes, prompted more heart gallops. “Sorry,” he said. “I don’t know my own strength.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Lily gathered her wits about her. She trained her eyes on the dog and cleared her throat. “Don’t apologize. You’re the one who has to get it.”

As she predicted, Aden didn’t have to stand on his tippy-toes to retrieve the Frisbee. He pulled the Frisbee from the tree and tossed it to the dog, who caught it in his mouth and ran full speed around the yard while the children chased him.

Lily and Aden stood together and laughed as the Frisbee fell out of Pie Dog’s mouth when he barked at Junior. Their eyes met, and then Aden took four steps away from her. “Four feet,” he said with a tease in his voice.

Lily felt her face get warm. “I’m sorry about what I said. Only he who is without sin should cast the first stone.”

“Please don’t let it trouble you. I would think less of your fater if he weren’t concerned about you spending time with me. He has no idea what kind of person I am. He only knows I’ve spent some time in jail—not a boy good enough to associate with his daughter. It’s okay to be careful.”

“I do want to understand. You seem like a godly man. What did you do that got you into so much trouble?”

Aden laughed as the dog snatched the hat off Uriah’s head and ran away with it. “My mamm calls me a busybody. I stick my nose into other people’s business when I shouldn’t.” The smile faded from his lips. “But I can’t stand by and watch an animal suffer.”

“What happened?”

“I used to ride my bike by my Englisch neighbor’s house every day after work. He kept this old horse in a tiny little fenced area, with no room to run, and didn’t feed the poor animal a thing.”

“Oh,” Lily said, “That’s too bad.”

“That horse got thinner and thinner. I know it isn’t the Amish way, but I called the Animal Control people to report him. I thought they would at least make the man feed his horse. Three weeks went by with no sign of Animal Control, so I started sneaking onto the Englischer’s property every night to feed the horse. I brought a little hay and sometimes a bucket of oats when I could afford it. My neighbor caught me one night and had me arrested for trespassing. But with my arrest, the police got onto the man’s property and found three starving horses. He got fined for animal cruelty, and the horses were taken away from him.”

“Were you in jail long?”

“One night. A local reporter heard about it and wrote a story for the paper. The judge couldn’t very well sentence me to jail after the whole town called me a hero.”

“That was brave. Just thinking about sneaking onto someone’s property makes me feel like I am going to have a heart attack.”

“Jamal Drake contacted me after that. He works for an environmental group, and he thought it would be fly to have an Amish guy helping out.”

“Fly?”

“It means wonderful gute.”

“You shouldn’t have been arrested for that.”

“I only spent one night in jail, and all charges were dropped, but my bishop had words for me. Good Amish men do not get involved in other people’s business. He thought my behavior was not in keeping with
Gelassenheit
, or the yielding to a higher authority.”

“I would have been too frightened to do it, even if I’d seen the need.”

Aden gave her a half smile. “There are some things worth taking the risk for. You can be brave when it’s important enough.”

Could she? She didn’t know. She always felt so comfortable in her own little world. It was the way she had been raised, always encouraged to be content with where God had placed her.

The dog leveled Junior to the ground, and Junior gave him a squeeze. “The children adore Pilot,” Aden said. “I look at him and think,
what’s not to love?
” His lips twitched into a teasing grin. “But you barely tolerate him. Is it because he ruined your cookies?”

Lily coughed as if a bee had flown down her throat. “I like him.”

“Don’t be so polite. You practically bathe in hand sanitizer after you touch him.”

Lily didn’t know what to say. A confession might send Aden running in the opposite direction. She slumped her shoulders. “Don’t hate me, but I don’t especially love dogs.”

“Are you afraid of them? I saw how shaken you were on that first day. I guess I just assumed you were angry.”

She stared at the ground. “I know. I’m a big chicken. Estee is always reminding me.”

Aden risked standing closer and laid a hand on her arm. It felt warm and strong. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of people are afraid of dogs, especially Pilot. He’s kind of intimidating.”

“Kind of?”

“But I can work with that.” Aden’s eyes danced with excitement. “You just need to get to know Pilot. You won’t be so afraid anymore.”

Lily couldn’t match his enthusiasm. “I guess so.” If she truly wanted Aden to stay away from her, this would be the perfect time to tell him the whole truth. He’d run away as fast as he could if he knew she was responsible for the death of a dog.

Aden grinned sheepishly and took two steps back. “Sorry. Four feet.”

Lily felt a little silly at his strict adherence to Dat’s directions. She turned her face away and watched as the children found themselves in a pileup with the dog. “Where is Amanda?”

Aden looked to the children and then swept his gaze around the yard. “I don’t see her. Junior,” he called, “where’s Amanda?”

Junior and Rose stopped wrestling with the dog and stood up. “She was right here,” Junior said, sweeping his gaze around the yard.

Aden furrowed his brow. “Go check behind the barn. Rose, go around the other side of the house. And be careful. There are some thorny bushes over there.”

Aden and Lily called Amanda’s name and looked behind every tree and bush in the front yard. She had disappeared.

Junior came running from the barn at the same time that Rose came around the other side of the house. “She’s not over there,” Junior said. “And not inside the barn either.”

Rose shook her head. “I didn’t find her.”

Lily’s heart hammered inside her chest and panic rose like bile in her throat. “She was here two minutes ago. Where could she have gone?”

Aden took her by the shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. Take Uriah and the girls and go check the house.”

“She couldn’t have gone in there without any of us seeing,” Lily said, half talking, half sobbing.

Aden pinned her with a look insisting she calm down. “Go look, Lily.”

Lily grabbed Evie’s and Uriah’s hands as if they might disappear if she didn’t take them with her. With Rose, they ran into the house and the four of them went through every room calling Amanda’s name. Lily checked the cellar even though Amanda wasn’t tall enough to reach the doorknob to open the cellar door.

All Lily’s worst fears about babysitting were coming true. What if they never found Amanda? What if she had an accident and died?

The children stood in the kitchen when she came up from the cellar. “Stay here,” she said, not wanting to risk losing any of the other ones. She ran outside where Aden waited for her. “She’s not there, Aden.”

Aden pressed his lips into a hard line. “You stay here and keep an eye out for her. I’ll take Junior down the path into the woods. Maybe she wandered off that way.” He snapped his fingers. “Come here, Pilot.”

The dog bounded toward Aden as if ready to play a game of tag.

Aden took Pilot’s face in his hands. “Pilot, go find Amanda. Go find her.”

Pilot took off like a shot, crossed the gravel driveway, and dove into a thick stand of bushes on the edge of the woods. He wasn’t going to find her in that direction. Amanda wouldn’t have been able to push through the thick undergrowth.

“Amanda!” Aden called as he and Junior took the path that led to the other side of Huckleberry Hill and disappeared into the woods.

Lily’s legs shook violently. She went to the porch steps, sat down, and promptly burst into tears. She buried her face in her hands and started praying.

Rose, Uriah, and Evie startled her from her solitude when they came out onto the porch and started banging wooden spoons on metal pots from Anna’s kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Lily said, raising her voice above the din.

“If Amanda is in the woods,” Rose said, “she might not know which way to go. If we make noise, maybe she will come to the noise.”