A Cowboy at Heart (33 page)

When Jesse rode up to the Miller place, a little girl he recognized from the church meeting ran from a chicken coop to gape at him, a basket half full of eggs clutched in her hands. He smiled a greeting but didn’t stop, instead steering Rex toward the figure he spotted in a distant field.

The bishop heard his approach and straightened from his inspection of a row of bean plants. Jesse halted Rex on the grassy strip of land between one field and the next, and then he swung out of the saddle. Instead of coming toward him, Bishop Miller stood waiting while Jesse walked carefully between straight lines of six-inch plants, his expression stern.

“Hello, sir.” Jesse greeted him when he drew near enough for conversation.

His answer was silence accompanied by a slight nod.

“I wanted to share something I learned today.” He related his conversation with Reynolds, concluding with, “So I figure you might want to let people know they need to get down to the land office as soon as they can.”

He avoided mentioning Jonas or the deal he’d struck with Littlefield. Let Jonas handle his business with the bishop.

“
Danki
.”

For someone who’d had a mouthful to say the other night, he was quiet today. Jesse waited for him to say something else, but the man merely continued to stare at him.

“All right, then.” He waved at the plants. “I’ll leave you to it.” He turned to go.

The bishop cleared his throat. “I would speak with you on a different matter.”

Here it comes
.

He turned back and, though he knew the answer, asked, “What would that be?”

Thin, tight lips parted enough to squeeze out a comment. “Our Katie is Amish.”

Jesse almost laughed. Like that was big news? Instead of a sarcastic response, he controlled his tone. “Yes, sir. I know.”

The man’s rigid spine stiffened even more. “I have seen you watch her, but your eyes behold what you cannot have. She is not for you.”

Jesse wanted to argue, to challenge the man’s right to control Katie’s life, but what would be the point? Katie herself had said the same thing.

Swallowing his words, Jesse merely nodded before turning away.

Katie isn’t for you. Get used to it, Montgomery
.

When Jesse returned to the Switzers’, he found Jonas closing the goats into their makeshift pen for the night. This, at least, was one discussion he would enjoy.

Hearing his friend’s approach, Jonas turned and waited. He wore the same placid expression Jesse had learned to identify as his trademark. Were there new depths of peace lurking in those kind eyes tonight? The decision to leave Apple Grove must have been weighing on the man, and now that the burden was lifted, his entire countenance was more relaxed.

When he drew near, Jonas spoke first. “Was Mr. Littlefield happy with my decision to give him my farm?”

Jesse pulled up short. “How’d you know I was heading over to Littlefield’s place?”

Jonas actually laughed. “Your ways are not as mysterious as you seem to think, my
Englisch
friend.”

“I guess not.” Jesse joined in with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t say Littlefield was exactly
happy
when I left, but it was a good visit. He agreed to our terms.”

The man paused in the act of looping the twine barrier around a post. “Our terms?”

“That’s right. Once I explained how you’d decided to sell your land, he—”

“But I do not intend to sell my farm. I told you I would give it as a gift.”

Jesse held up a hand. “I know what you said, and I admire you for wanting to find a peaceful way out, but like I’ve been trying to tell you all along, men like Littlefield don’t understand peaceful ways. So I talked to him in his own language.”

Apprehensive lines appeared on Jonas’s forehead beneath his round hat. “What language is that?”

Jesse almost said “Intimidation” but decided on a better word. “Business. Littlefield and I reached a business agreement. He’s prepared to buy your land, all of it, for five dollars an acre.”

Jonas’s jaw dropped open wide enough to toss an apple inside.

“But…but…” He snatched the straw hat from his head and scrubbed at the sparse hair beneath it. “That’s eight hundred dollars!”

“Yep. That’s what it comes out to.” Jesse held up a hand. “And before you say something stupid, like you won’t take the money, think a minute. You and Amos are going to have a lot of expenses when you make this move. You’ll have houses to build and land to lay claim to and barns to raise. Plus, you’ll probably have to buy supplies to help you over the first year or so till you get your fields plowed and crops going.”

“
Ja
, what you say is true.”

But despite his agreement, hesitancy still weighed heavy in his voice. Jesse had saved the most convincing argument for last. “And if you decide you don’t need all eight hundred dollars, you can always make a donation to your new Amish district. Once the church gets going, I have a feeling other Amish folks will want to come too. You’ll be able to put the money to good use.”

“A district has many needs.” The struggle twisting Jonas’s features faded, replaced by a slow smile. “Perhaps this money is the Lord’s way of blessing our plans.”

Jesse answered with a grin of his own. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

Grateful tears sparkled in the eyes Jonas lifted. In a rare display of emotion, he gripped Jesse’s shoulder—the good one—and squeezed. “
Gott
has used you to bless me beyond what I deserve, my friend.
Danki
. I am grateful to Him and to you.”

God used a broken-down cowpoke like
him
? The thought was so foreign Jesse couldn’t grasp it. Embarrassed, he lowered his eyes and scuffed at the dirt with a boot heel. “I’m glad I could help. I owe you and Miz Switzer a lot.”

“You owe us nothing. Friends help friends.” A playful tone entered his words and lightened the moment. “Even
Englisch
friends.”

Jesse returned his grin. At that moment the door to the house opened and
Maummi
Switzer’s voice carried across the distance, calling them in to supper. With a lighter heart than he’d had all day, Jesse fell in step beside his friend.

EIGHTEEN

W
hen the eighth Amish buggy arrived on Sunday afternoon, Jesse and Butch had to start a second row in which to park them. Jonas and Amos stood in front of the house to greet those who arrived and to help the women climb down. Both wore stunned expressions. Earlier in the day Jonas had confessed that he expected three or maybe four families to show up for their discussion about starting a new community.

“Here comes another one.” Butch took the horse’s lead from Zacharias Schrock and led him past the row of buggies toward the makeshift corral they had erected that afternoon.

Zacharias straightened from his inspection of one of the wheel spokes. “That is Levi Beachy.”

Katie’s brother? Jesse turned and watched as Levi’s buggy rolled to a stop in front of the house, and Amos helped the young
woman seated on the front bench to the ground. When her footing was secure, he turned to help the girl on the second bench.

Katie.

She joined the other woman, and together the two of them headed for the house. Before she stepped onto the porch, she turned. His throat constricted as he watched her scan the fields. Was there a lovelier woman anywhere in the world? Then her gaze came to rest on him. He couldn’t be sure because of the distance, but he thought he saw a smile, and his pulse stuttered. Then she disappeared inside.

Jesse hadn’t planned on attending the meeting. It wasn’t his business, after all. He was an outsider. But if Katie was going to be there, maybe he’d change his mind.

When the twelfth family had arrived and their horses and buggies were tended, the meeting began. Jonas’s house was big enough to accommodate a large crowd, as it apparently did when his turn came to host church meetings, but tonight there were no backless benches to sit on because no one had anticipated a gathering big enough to require them. Jesse was amused to see that the attendees still arranged themselves as they did for church, with the men on one side of the room and the women on the other. Every chair in the house had been brought in and offered to the women in order of age. The men and younger women either stood along the wall or sat on the floor.

Jesse did not enter, but hovered in the doorway, an observer only. He scanned the room for Katie but did not see her. That’s
when he noticed that the door to
Maummi
Switzer’s bedroom was cracked open, no doubt so she and Sarah could listen to the proceedings.

Most of the conversation unfolded exactly as Jesse expected. Jonas began by announcing his decision to sell his farm and move away from Apple Grove. Then Amos spoke, his voice steady as he described how the Lord had urged him, independently of Jonas, to also consider moving away. The men and women listened, many of them nodding as though in agreement.

Not a single word of accusation against Bishop Miller or anyone else in Apple Grove was uttered, with one exception. When discussion was invited, a young man whose name Jesse did not know got to his feet.

“What explanation will be given to Bishop Miller?” He glanced around the room, and went on in a sharp tone. “I think he should be told what his actions have wrought.”

Amos cleared his throat before he spoke. “My decision came from the Lord, not from the actions of any man.” He fixed an almost tender look on the young man. “We are commanded to respect authority, not to speak against our brothers and sisters. I will not participate in any discussion that is not governed by that edict. That is not why we are here.”

There were nods all around, and Jesse saw several approving glances exchanged. He looked at Amos, a new respect blossoming inside him. Once he’d thought the man staid and dull. How wrong could he have been?

“Where will we settle?” asked one of the women. “We will not go west, into the territory of the wild savages, will we?”

Jonas gave the answer. “We will pray to the Lord for guidance.”
He glanced at Amos, who nodded for him to continue. “There is a place only two hours from here, east of Hays City, where the land is fertile and plentiful. A small
Englisch
church was built there not long ago, but there is little besides that.”