Promise Lodge (22 page)

“God Himself directed me to come here,” Floyd said in a strained voice. “He said I was to lead you as your bishop—”

“Could be He's leaving our options open,” Preacher Amos insisted as he crossed his arms. “Could be we'll hold a drawing of the lot when other bishops get here—the same process that determined that you and I were to be leaders in our previous districts. The same process used in biblical times, beginning when Christ's disciples replaced Judas with Matthias.”

“Don't get biblical with
me
,” Floyd retorted. “You're the ones breaking the rules by allowing women to own this property and to decide—”

“But Jesus gave women the same attention and respect He gave to men,” Mattie spoke up from the porch. “Our bishop in Coldstream didn't follow the Lord's teachings very closely—which was the main reason my sisters and I felt compelled to find a better place. A better life for our families.”

“And while we're stating our beliefs,” Christine put in, “you should know that Promise Lodge is a place of peace. We'll not tolerate family violence, where a husband believes he can strike his wife or daughters to keep them in line with his way of thinking.”

Frances Lehman sucked in her breath, which gave Rosetta the idea that Floyd was accustomed to controlling her, perhaps with a heavy hand. Deborah licked her lips nervously but she seemed pleased to have this stipulation spelled out.

“Who are
you
to be telling me this?” Floyd challenged. “Why do I sense absolutely no respect or humility from anyone I've met here?”

Rosetta's eyes widened. It wasn't the Plain way to speak so contentiously, nor did she and her sisters intentionally stir things up with men. As Mattie and Christine came down the porch steps, she sincerely hoped they could find a way to dispel the ill will that hung over all of them like a dark cloud.

“I'm Mattie Schwartz and this is my sister, Christine Hershberger,” Mattie began, offering her hand to the bishop. “I'm truly sorry if we seem brash or even sacrilegious, Bishop. Forgiveness is the Plain way, and I forgive you for hollering at my son's dog and for speaking so harshly—so judgmentally—to Rosetta and Amos. I suspect you're tired after your long trip. I hope you'll feel better after we eat the meal our new residents, Beulah and Ruby Kuhn, have cooked for us.”

Floyd looked at Mattie's extended hand as if she'd offered him a branch from a thorn tree. When his gaze shifted to study the women on the porch, Frances cleared her throat.

“
Denki
for inviting us to supper on such short notice,” she said tentatively. “Whatever it is smells awfully
gut,
and we'll be pleased to get better acquainted as we all break bread.”

The tension eased a bit, and Rosetta was glad to see the Kuhn sisters nodding. Ruby turned to go inside. “If you'll all get washed up now—”

“We'll have supper on the table in two shakes of Queenie's tail,” Beulah finished.

“We'll set a couple more places,” Deborah said as she and the Hershberger girls followed the Kuhns back to the kitchen.

“I've had my eye on that apricot cherry slab pie, and I'm ready to try it out!” Noah added with a grin. “Come on, Queenie. Let's put some chow in your bowl so I can head in to my own supper.”

Rosetta was relieved that Bishop Floyd entered the lodge without any further negative proclamations. She noted how Frances gazed around the lobby with an admiring eye and then hurried into the kitchen to help carry food out to the long table in the dining room. After everyone was seated and a silent prayer had been offered, they passed the platters of seasoned meat loaf, potato loaf, and a bowl of fresh salad from the garden.

Rosetta saw Frances smiling at her occasionally from across the table as Amos was introducing the young adults to keep the conversation flowing. Rosetta returned her smiles, wondering if Frances would want to move here . . . wondering what sort of life she led in Sugarcreek, and what sort of marriage she had—not that it was any of her business.

“If I recall correctly from your letter, Frances, you have a couple of daughters,” Rosetta said when there was a break in the conversation. “Will they be coming to Promise Lodge if you decide to make your new home here? Or are they married and staying in Ohio?”

Frances's face lit up at the mention of her girls. Her gaze fluttered in Roman and Noah's direction. “Our Gloria is twenty-two and Mary Kate is eighteen,” she replied. “They've both dated a few fellows—”

“As obedient daughters, they'll come with us wherever we decide to relocate,” Floyd put in. He looked intently at Roman and Noah. “They're looking for industrious husbands who can provide well for them. What trades are you boys engaged in?”

Noah looked up from his supper. “I'm a welder, and I've just gotten a job with the landscaper who lives up the hill,” he replied confidently. “I'm also serious about Deborah, so I won't be dating your girls.”

“I manage Aunt Christine's dairy herd, as well as arranging the milk sales and the tankers that come pick it up,” Roman said before Floyd could comment. “We've received several letters from families with daughters, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to find a wife after I help my
mamm
and my aunts get Promise Lodge off to a solid start.”

Rosetta shared a smile with her sisters. Not so long ago Noah had expressed doubts about coming to Promise Lodge, but he and his brother sounded determined to make the new colony work out now—on their own terms. She was about to ask Frances more about Gloria and Mary Kate when the phone rang.

“I'll get that,” Amos said as he rose from the table. “I'm expecting a call from another one of our potential new families. Excuse me.”

Floyd watched Amos go through the kitchen and pick up the wall phone's receiver. “Why is your phone inside the house?” he asked sternly. “You know full well that we Amish believe it's too tempting to chatter away the day—”

“We've lived here less than a month, so we haven't had the chance to get a phone company fellow to move the phone line for us,” Christine replied.

“There's also a phone upstairs, in the hallway,” Rosetta pointed out. “I thought that with several Plain renters sharing that one, it would be much like neighbors sharing a phone shanty.”

“We want the new bishop of Promise Lodge to decide whether we should remove this phone,” Mattie joined in. “We have a Bender, three Schwartzes, three Hershbergers, and Amos using the one in the kitchen, so it's not like any of us have the luxury of a private line.”

“It also serves as the phone for our dairy,” Roman remarked. “And it won't be long before the produce stand opens, so we'll be getting calls about our eggs and vegetables.”

“We've never shared a phone. We live a ways down the road from our nearest neighbor,” Frances remarked quietly.

Floyd glared at his wife, but he held his tongue as Amos returned to the table.

“Sounds like we'll have another family coming for a visit in a week or two,” the preacher remarked as he picked up his fork. “With so many folks arriving, you and Frances might want to pick out the cabin you'll stay in while your house is being built. We'll hold it for you—unless you've already decided you don't want to move here.”

In the expectant silence that followed, Rosetta's thoughts raced. It wasn't proper to hope the Lehmans would stay in Ohio, even if it seemed clear that Bishop Floyd would constantly find fault with her and her sisters. Should she and Mattie and Christine concoct a policy for not selling land to prospective residents who rubbed them the wrong way?

Lord, forgive me for such an uncharitable thought. We can't exclude Your children from our new colony simply because we disagree with them.
As Rosetta carried dessert to the table, Floyd cleared his throat ceremoniously.

“If you've got so many others coming, perhaps Frances and I should stay in one of the rooms here in the lodge,” the bishop began. “I have a bad back that requires a firm bed. I doubt the mattresses in the cabins will support it.”

“Just so happens we've put a new mattress in number two,” Christine spoke up. “Extra firm. And we've hung new curtains at the windows.”

“You're also welcome to furnish any of the cabins with your own belongings,” Mattie pointed out.

Beulah leaned toward her sister, who sat beside her. “In your own words, Bishop, it might make for a sinfully tempting situation to have a man here in the apartments that are intended for women,” she remarked with a straight face. “All those bedrooms, you know.”

“Oh, temptingly sinful,” Ruby agreed in a serious tone. “We'd no doubt have someone confessing to wayward thoughts after every Sunday service.”

Rosetta bit back laughter as she set the slab pie on the table. Noah and Roman were fighting smiles, as well, while Christine's girls and Deborah nipped their lips and blushed. Floyd appeared ready to deliver a sermon, but as he opened his mouth Beulah raised her hand to silence him.

“My sister and I have crossed the line with our flippant talk,” she began contritely. “It was rude and improper of me to start such a thread of conversation—”

“And we hope you can forgive the disrespectful way we twisted your earlier words, Bishop,” Ruby continued without missing a beat. “It's not our way to have fun at someone else's expense. Honest. We're very sorry.”

Floyd's mouth opened and closed, as though he had no idea how to respond to the gray-haired, bespectacled sisters across the table from him. Rosetta began to cut the slab pie into generous squares, wondering how the conversation would continue.

“You know, this brings up another point,” Amos said. “Now that we have our first tenants, it's improper for
me
to be living here any longer. I'll shift my belongings into that smallest cabin at the end of the row, right after supper.”

Noah kept his eye on the pie Rosetta was slicing, his expression pensive. “I hate to take up another one of the cabins—especially when Deborah would be so close by,” he added, “so I'll bunk in the barn loft. Plenty of space up there until we get a load of hay, and windows on either end to catch the breeze, too.”

“I'll join you there,” Roman said. “As the summer passes, we'll figure out something more permanent—and you'll most likely be building a house soon anyway.”

Noah smiled. “Queenie can stay out there, too. Out of everyone's way.”

Once again the dining room grew quiet. Everyone looked at Floyd, awaiting his response. Rosetta was proud of her nephews and pleased that their three men had set an example of consideration—sacrificing their personal comfort and convenience to maintain proper decorum now that the Kuhn sisters would be living here. Deep down, Rosetta wondered if Floyd was making up excuses to stay in the lodge, where the rooms were more modern.

“I think it'll be
fun
to stay in a cabin,” Frances remarked. “It reminds me of the day we met, Floyd, when our families were holding reunions in the same state park.”

Floyd's eyes widened, suggesting he might launch into another rant, but then he exhaled as though he realized he was outnumbered. “All right then, we'll claim the one with the new mattress for now,” he agreed as he accepted the plate of pie Rosetta had passed down the table to him. “By the time we head back to Ohio on Monday, I'll let you know whether you need to hold it for us.”

Amos nodded. He sat back as Christine picked up his dirty dinner plate, while Deborah and the two other girls began to clear the food from the table. “Any idea how many other families might be coming with you?” he asked. “We've drawn up a rough map of our property, with some lines where a couple of roads might go, along with some possible boundaries for individual plots. Once you look at that, and we show you around, you'll have a better idea if this land is suited for your friends' homes and businesses.”

“It'll be exciting to build a new home and establish a new colony with other folks,” Frances said quietly. “But Missouri's a long way from Ohio, where we've lived our entire lives. I'll be praying about this a lot in the next day or so—and I hope you'll pray for us, as well, Rosetta. You and your sisters know exactly what it's like to leave your lifelong home and your friends.”

Rosetta handed Frances a plate of pie. “Mattie and Christine and I found that leaving our friends has been the hardest part of this venture.”

“But not one of us would turn back,” Mattie insisted.

“We're in it for the long haul, too,” Beulah said, smiling at her sister.

Ruby nodded emphatically. “I keep bees and Beulah plans to open a small cheese factory. What do you folks do?”

Frances cut into her pie before she responded. “The girls and I maintain the household, mostly. It wouldn't be proper for a bishop's wife to operate a business—”

“Don't get any ideas about doing that if we move here, either,” Floyd cut in as he eyed Rosetta and the Kuhn sisters with a hint of disapproval. “My brothers and I own a siding and window installation business. Our ride through the countryside around Promise makes me wonder if that trade would be profitable here, however. I didn't see any residential areas nearby that would provide a customer base.”

Amos raised his eyebrows. “Seems to me you'd be perfectly positioned to work on new houses here at Promise Lodge,” he pointed out. “I build homes and barns, so I plan to be busy at that for a long time as our new residents move in.”

“Maybe our neighbor Truman would connect you with some building contractors, Bishop Floyd,” Noah suggested. “He runs a landscaping business, and he's the fellow who just hired me to make ornamental gates at one of his work sites.”