Katie's Journey to Love (23 page)

Katie nodded. “
Yah
, I am thankful for Ben. But for Mabel?” Katie glanced at
Mamm
. “I'm trying, I really am. I understand that we're disturbing her life.”

“That's why we must have lots of patience with the girl.”
Mamm
stood up. “Mabel's going through a hard time right now. She really doesn't want to sneak around with Mose the way she has to.”

So Mamm did know all about Mose and Mabel and was choosing to not say anything. If Mabel knew that, surely she would be easier on
Mamm
.

“Come,”
Mamm
said, “we'd better help Mabel fix supper.”

Katie looked up, her eyes glowing. “
Mamm
, I have some exciting news!” The words spilled out. “I'm going to Europe!
Today
someone gave the money to Esther—to give to me.”

“Someone
gave
you the money?”
Mamm
gasped.

“
Yah!
” Katie allowed the joy to flow. “Isn't that
wunderbah
?”

Mamm
didn't look convinced.

Katie took her arm. “It's true,
Mamm
! Look!” Katie pulled the envelope out of her pocket and gave it to
Mamm
. “Open it!”

Mamm
fingered the envelope Katie handed her. Then she peered inside. “That's a lot of money, Katie! Who gave it to you?”

“The giver wanted to remain anonymous. Esther asked, but the woman just handed her the envelope, told her it was for Katie Raber's trip to Europe, and left. Isn't that amazing?”

“Yes, it is! Oh my.”

“Jesse helped me unhitch when I got home, so I told him about it. And he confirmed that I can go since
Da Hah
has provided the money!”

Mamm
met Katie's excited look. “I'm so happy for you, Katie. Europe is a long ways away though…”

“You'll let me go, won't you,
Mamm
?” Katie asked hesitantly.

“Yes, of course. It sounds like a wonderful trip.”
Mamm
paused, obviously deep in thought. “I wonder what Mabel will say when she finds out. She may find this difficult—especially since she's going through such a hard time right now.”

“I don't know either. Jesse said he would tell the family about my going to Europe after supper.”

Mamm
touched her arm and then gave her a hug. “Jesse
will handle things the right way. We needn't worry about that then.”

Katie smiled. Jesse would, but there might still be an explosion tonight, if she didn't miss her guess.

“Now, we'd better get downstairs and get supper on.” They both stood, and
Mamm
led the way out of the bedroom. They went downstairs, and when they walked into the kitchen Mabel didn't look up. Neither did she speak to them while the three of them prepared supper. Mabel was still carrying around her thundercloud when the men came in from the barn. Carolyn had peeked into the kitchen moments earlier, but she'd probably felt the tension because she'd beaten a hasty retreat to the living room. Now that the men had arrived, she slipped into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Joel followed her cautiously.

“Sit down, everyone! Supper's ready.”
Mamm
was all smiles.

Jesse smiled back at her, and Katie felt her neck grow warm.
Mamm
and Jesse acted like newlyweds, even if they were older than most. They have a right to a little mushiness, Katie figured, though their actions still made her squirm.
Mamm
is acting more love-struck than I do with Ben, Katie thought. But
Mamm
was also married to her love. That made all the difference in the world.

Mabel shoved a bowl of mixed vegetables across the table before sitting down. It clanked against the potato dish and came close to tipping over.

Jesse said nothing, but Leroy had no such inhibitions. “What's gotten into you, Mabel? You look angry enough to eat a bear.”

“Maybe I am!” Mabel snapped, not looking up.

“Everybody calm down,” Jesse said. “Let's have prayer.”

Mabel got off another quick glare in Leroy's direction before she bowed her head.

Katie held her breath for a moment before taking a deep
breath and closing her eyes.
Yah
, this was was going to be quite an evening.

When Jesse said “Amen,” everyone lifted their heads. Leroy immediately grabbed the potato dish.

Mabel reached out and slapped his hand. “Let the younger people go first tonight, Leroy! You don't always have to hog everything.”

Leroy's face grew red. “Mind your manners, Mabel. You're a mess. Are you on Mose withdrawal or what?”

Mabel's eyes blazed. “Wait until you love someone, Leroy. I'll tell her everything bad I know about you.”

Leroy laughed. “A lot of
gut
that will do. I have too many points in my favor for any little twiddle of a thing you say to have an effect.”

Mabel opened her mouth to speak, but Jesse cut in.

“Children! Enough of this! You're embarrassing me. What's Emma going to think about how you're acting?”

Mabel looked like she didn't care one way or the other, but she kept silent.

Leroy lowered his eyes. “I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't mean any harm.”

Mamm
smiled. “I understand. Sisters and brothers sometimes have words, but they still love each other in their hearts.”

Mabel's mouth worked, but she managed to halt any sounds. Apparently she'd decided silence was the better option at the moment.

Everyone quieted down as they ate their fill. When everyone had finished eating, Jesse cleared his throat. “I have some
gut
news I wish to share with the family.”

Katie looked at Jesse. In about a minute Mabel was probably going to explode. A quick sideways glance at Mabel's expression
confirmed Katie's suspicions. Mabel was already upset, and she hadn't even heard what Jesse was going to share. She looked at
Mamm
, who looked pale too. But Jesse was still smiling as he continued. “Katie was gifted today with the money she needs for her trip to Europe—quite a lot of money, in fact. So it looks like we'll have a member of the family traveling to the land of our fathers' faith.”

“What?” Mabel leaped to her feet. “That's what you were talking to
Daett
about, Katie? Talking him into giving you
our
money! How dare you! I knew you were after something all along.”

“Mabel, you will sit down at once!” Jesse commanded sharply.

Mabel grudgingly sat down.

“I didn't give Katie any money for this trip, Mabel,” Jesse said. “And even if I had, that would be
my
choice. Katie is now my daughter too.”

“They're destroying our lives!” Mabel pointed first at Katie and then at
Mamm
. Then she jumped up and raced away from the table. The stair door slammed, the sound echoing through the house. Footsteps thudded on the steps before there was the sound of another door opening and then slamming shut. Silence filled the house.

“Now that was a temper tantrum,” Leroy said, breaking the quiet. His smile was broad. “Wow!”

Jesse rose, his face red. “I will not have such behavior happening in my house.”

Mamm
grabbed his arm. “Let Mabel be, Jesse. It's such a hard time for her. I'll speak with her later.”

“But…” Jesse's eyes were still blazing.

He doesn't look that different from Mabel when he's angry, Katie noted. She watched the exchange curiously to see how it would turn out.

“It's best if a woman handles this,”
Mamm
said gently.

Jesse looked at her for a long moment before nodding his head and sitting back down.

“Let's have our evening devotions,” he said. “There's been enough ruckus for one night. Mabel can stay in her room if she wishes to conduct herself in such an ungodly manner.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Katie hung on to the buggy seat as Longstreet trotted through the night. Ben had picked up Katie, and they were going to another Mennonite youth gathering. Katie couldn't be happier. Christmas and New Year's Day were behind them. Jesse had insisted on a quiet time for his first Christmas married to
Mamm
. After family devotions, which consisted of Jesse reading the Christmas story and everyone singing a few Christmas hymns, family members had been free to spend the day as they wished. Katie had thoroughly enjoyed herself by making Christmas candy in the forenoon and reading a book in her bedroom after lunch.

Mabel's temper fit seemed like a distant memory now.
Mamm
had gone up and spoken with her at length the night Jesse had broken the news that Katie had enough money for the Europe trip. Katie had stayed downstairs and washed the supper dishes with Carolyn's help. Thankfully, Carolyn had shown little sympathy for Mabel. But she hadn't exactly been friendly either, probably reacting out of loyalty to her sister, Katie decided. By the
time evening prayers were over, Mabel had come downstairs with
Mamm
. Both of them had eyes red from crying.

“I'm sorry,
Daett
,” Mabel mumbled before bringing a kitchen chair to the edge of the living room and sitting down. She was as far away from Katie as she could be. The next morning, Mabel hadn't glared or spouted off while they fixed breakfast, but she hadn't looked happy either. And Mabel still looked glum, especially tonight when everyone knew Ben was coming to pick Katie up.

“How are things going?” Ben asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Okay,” Katie said. “I'm still in shock though. I can't believe someone would just anonymously give me all that money. That sort of thing just doesn't happen.”

Ben smiled. “I'm really glad you get to go.”

Silence settled in except for the steady beat of Longstreet's shoes hitting the pavement. Katie let her thoughts go back to when she'd told Ben the news.

“You look happy tonight,” Ben had commented.

“I guess I should look happy! Ben, someone has gifted me enough money to go to Europe!”

“Really? Wow, that's great!”

Ben had sounded happy for her, just as she'd expected he would.

“Who gave it to you?” Ben asked.

“I don't know. The person wanted to keep it a secret, I guess. A woman came into Byler's and gave my friend Esther, who works in the deli, an envelope and told her to give it to me. Esther had never seen her before.”

“A mysterious sort of person,
eh
?” Ben said. Then he'd laughed.

Katie added her joyful laughter to his. “I guess so. I suspect it was one of the Mennonite families or maybe the mission
organization Nancy works for. Someone had mercy on this poor Amish girl. I still can't believe it!”

“So you're really going then?” Ben had asked, sounding quite pleased with the idea.

Coming back to the present, Katie leaned against Ben. “Ben, I'm a little scared about going to Europe when it comes down to it,” Katie admitted. “There are so many things I have to prepare for. I've never traveled far, so this will be quite an adventure. I'm going to ask Sharon and Margaret tonight for a list of things to take along. And I want to let them know how much I appreciate the money someone gave me so I could go. I'm hoping my thanks will get to the
wunderbah
person who helped me out—if it was a Mennonite family.”

“You'll do fine.” Ben pulled back on the reins to slow Longstreet for a corner. “You will need a passport. I'm sure the others will take care of the traveling details.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” she said, hanging on to Ben and the buggy seat at the same time. Ben sure was traveling fast tonight.

His voice broke into her thoughts. “Remember, when you get over there be sure to look around and notice everything. I want a full report about how the Amish were established and how our forefathers lived their faith.”

“Okay.” Katie swallowed hard, a bit surprised. She remembered when Ben had expressed his doubts about the Amish faith. Was he changing his mind? That would be so great if it were true.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight,” Ben said, smiling down at Katie.

Katie's heart pounded. Ben looked like he considered her presence a great favor. “I–I–I'm the one who should be saying that to you, not the other way around.”

Ben glanced at the straight stretch of road ahead of them, and then he moved the lines to his other hand. With his empty hand, he reached for Katie.

Katie thought for sure she'd stop breathing entirely when she felt Ben's hand on hers. She wrapped her fingers around his. How was this possible? Ben Stoll—
the
Ben Stoll—was holding her hand!