Promised to Another (6 page)

Then, he hesitated. What if she thought Luke had been the one who’d left the gifts?

Nein, he couldn’t wait. He’d promised her daed he’d be there to help with the bees, in the machine shop, or with whatever else was needed, as soon as he could.

A promise he intended to keep, if only to stay on her daed’s good side.

Annie hesitated outside the schoolhaus when she saw that the door was ajar. She was positive she’d shut and locked it when she’d left yesterday. After all, she’d begged for a lock after vandals had broken in and destroyed her classroom several months ago. Her stomach roiled as she remembered the ruined books, shredded papers, overturned desks and chairs, and broken windows.
Ach, Lord. Please, don’t let the schoolhaus have been ransacked again.

With the barest touch, the door opened about twelve inches, and she peeked inside. The room appeared to be just as she’d left it.

But that didn’t necessarily mean she wouldn’t open her desk drawer to find a garter snake or a tarantula or something else equally unpleasant, planted there by a scholar who wanted to make her the butt of a bad joke. She’d had that happen before—firecrackers thrown in the wood stove, wild creatures stashed inside her desk, and even a tack positioned pointy-side-up on her chair.

That student, whoever it was, should have been more careful, because now she was on the alert. She pushed the door open wider and inched inside, looked around, and listened for any unusual sounds.

Hearing nothing, she walked toward her desk, but then she hesitated when she spotted the autumn leaf bouquet and the shiny red delicious apple waiting for her. So, it hadn’t been a vandal or a mischievous student. Someone had wanted to cheer her up. Still, to be sure, she yanked open one desk drawer after another to check for anything that might jump out at her. Instead, the items inside looked neatly arranged, just as she’d left them. And no tack waited on her seat for her unsuspecting backend.

Annie slid the bouquet to the right edge of her desk, checking for a note. But there was nothing. Whoever had left her this surprise wanted to keep the right hand from knowing what the left hand was doing. Biblical. And sweet.

She went over to the wood stove to fill it with firewood. Bending over, she gathered a few small wood pieces, then opened the doors. Another surprise: kindling and crumpled papers had already been arranged inside, tepee-style. Still, she checked the pile for firecrackers, buried deep beneath the kindling. Nothing.

A secret admirer? Joshua? For a second, her heart lifted. Then, it crashed down to her toes. She had no such admirer, secret or otherwise. Especially not Joshua.

It must have been a student. She couldn’t think of anyone else who might have done this. And she must have forgotten to lock the door on the previous school day, or she hadn’t shut it tight, as stressed as she’d been by the imminent school board meeting. She would make sure to close it and fasten the lock tonight.

Unless Luke had left the gifts. His daed was on the board, and he would have access to a key. But Luke had never done anything as sweet as this before.

Her thoughts went back to Joshua. Living with Luke’s family, he would have access to the same key. Her heart lifted again. But why would he…? Unless, maybe he’d noticed her in that way, too.

The school day went by without any unexpected visitors, and the kinner all went home with artwork they’d made with leaves, each type painstakingly identified and labeled. Even the littlest scholars had carefully traced all the letters.

With school finished, Annie swept the floor and washed the chalkboard. She was straightening the rows of desks when she heard heavy footfalls clomping up the front steps. She froze and straightened as the door opened. Samuel Brunstettler stood in the doorway, pulling at his long, grayish beard as he surveyed the room. Finally, his pale blue eyes rested on her. “Annie Beiler. We’ve reached a decision.”

She waited, her heart now lodged in her throat. She was afraid to breathe, or even move, for what felt like an eternity.

Samuel Brunstettler didn’t smile or do anything to ease her worry. He took a few more steps forward, his heavy work boots leaving dirt on her freshly swept floor. If she was about to be fired, she’d leave the dirt for the next teacher to clean up.

Okay, that wouldn’t be very nice of her. She would clean it up, but only grudgingly.

Still not nice.
Lord, help my attitude.

She swallowed hard but couldn’t dislodge the lump.

Samuel Brunstettler cleared his throat. “We talked with Bishop Sol. He said to practice grace. So, we will allow you to stay on, under probation. With nein more field trips of any sort. If you want to take the scholars to see something special, you must notify the school board in advance about the trip, where you are going and what you plan to see, and we will decide if it is acceptable or not.”

So, no more trips, even into the woods? Good thing she’d taken the class on an outing today, before knowing the verdict. She would have had a hard time convincing the school board of its instructional value. She was glad to be allowed to keep her job, but knowing that field trips were next to off-limits was almost too much to bear. Clutching the edge of her desk, she struggled to get oxygen into her lungs. She couldn’t compel her voice box to cooperate enough to form even the simplest word.
Danki, Lord. Danki for grace.

Samuel Brunstettler stared at her a few more seconds and then chortled. Annie jumped at the unexpected sound.

“A dumbstruck woman,” he muttered to himself, still chuckling. “Never thought I’d see such a thing.”

Still unable to respond, she simply watched him clomp back outside and down the steps to his buggy, chuckling all the way.

***

Joshua’s job that morning was to lift the honeycomb out of the hives and lower it into the blank frames. He was grateful for the thick layers of extra clothing that Annie’s daed, Isaac, had given him to wear. The bees were riled, but he was protected from their angry stings—an occupational hazard he hadn’t had to deal with in the sugar bush.

“This is usually done in late summer,” Isaac said. He stood beside Joshua, supervising. “Now, we have to be careful to leave enough for the bees to feed on to make it through the winter, so we won’t take as much honey as we normally would. Three strings per comb will be enough to secure it. Then, you put it in the box. You probably didn’t know that the bees must visit two million flowers to produce just one pound of honey. They work hard, ain’t so?”

Joshua nodded. “Interesting.” He looked up and saw Annie crossing the fields on her way home from school. Did her way of walking betray her reaction to the school board’s decision? Joshua was not yet aware of the conclusion they’d reached, but he’d seen Samuel Brunstettler driving his buggy toward the schoolhaus after the scholars had started for home, and he’d assumed he was going to deliver the news. Yet her posture told him nothing.

Beside him, he sensed Isaac stiffen. The older man put down the frame he’d been holding and looked in Joshua’s direction, but their eyes didn’t meet. “She’s worried about her job.”

Joshua nodded. “Jah.”

“You were at the meeting last nacht?”

“Nein.” He studied the ground at his feet. “Well, jah, I eavesdropped a little. Just long enough to find out what she’d done to get everyone so upset. None of my teachers was ever put on probation.” Though some of them probably should have been.

“Ach. Silly stuff, really. People, they just like to complain about something, anything. Annie joined the church without taking much time for a rumschpringe. She knew she wanted to be a church member, so she passed up a lot of opportunities the other teens took advantage of. Her mamm and I were thrilled at the time. But, in hindsight, she should have taken a longer rumschpringe—experienced the world a little—because, when she went running around with her friends to Englisch places after joining the church, she disobeyed the Ordnung, and so she had to kneel and confess before the church. Some parents with school-age kinner were worried that such a ‘worldly’ teacher would be a bad influence. That field trip was not such a gut idea. You see how protective bees are of their honey. Parents are the same way with their young kinner.”

“Have you ever been there? To the battlefield?”

Isaac shook his head. “Nein, but she told me about it.”

Joshua turned to the haus and watched Annie climb the porch steps.

“Care for some tea or koffee?”

Joshua attempted a nonchalant shrug. “Jah. Sounds gut.”

“We might even get something sweet. Think my frau mentioned wanting to make custard today.”

Joshua’s stomach rumbled in response, and the older man chuckled. “Let’s finish up here so we can enjoy it.”

***

Annie washed up at the kitchen sink and then got out five potatoes to peel for supper. Preparing for the evening meal had fallen on her shoulders ever since Mamm’s accident in early September, when she’d been thrown from the buggy. Her recovery had been steady but slow, and she was still in a lot of pain and tired quickly, especially as the afternoons wore on. After working with the home therapists, nurses, and aide, usually right after lunch, Mamm took to her bed, worn out. She’d nap awhile, or sit in the living room and alternate between sleeping and sewing, mending, or reading.

In the mornings, Annie’s sister, Cathy, did the laundry and helped with the baking before fixing herself a light lunch and going to work at the Amish grocery store for the afternoon. She came home about the time Annie was ready to serve dinner.

Annie spread out the daily newspaper on the countertop nearby and then reached for the peeler. She’d made just one cut in the first potato when the door opened. Daed and Joshua came in.

Annie stepped aside so that Daed and then Joshua could wash up at the sink. While Joshua scrubbed his hands, Daed cut two generous slices of the custard pie Mamm had made and set them on the table. “Care for a slice, Annie?” he asked.

“Nein, danki.” She tried not to stare at Joshua. “You’re going to ruin your appetite.” She hoped neither one noticed the slight breathiness in her scolding voice.

Daed chuckled. “Ach, Joshua and I are just having dessert first, ain’t so? Is there any hot water for tea?” He looked over his shoulder at Joshua. “Or do you prefer koffee?”

“Tea would be gut.”

“I’ll get it.” Annie put the peeler down and pulled two mugs out of the cabinet, followed by a selection of tea bags and the sugar bowl, all of which she brought to the table. “Have a seat.”

“You’ll join us, ain’t so?” Daed’s chair scraped on the floor.

“I need to get supper ready.”

“That’ll wait a few minutes. Get a mug for yourself.”

Annie shrugged and retrieved another one. With the other hand, she carried the teakettle. She filled each mug with steaming water, set the teakettle back on the stove, and returned to sit down.

Joshua and Daed had already selected their tea. Annie chose her favorite, a black tea flavored with ginger and peach, and ripped the package open. She dipped the teabag into the water and studied Daed. It was unusual for him to come inside the haus for a break, especially just before supper. “What’s up?”

Daed leaned back in his chair. “Does something have to be ‘up’ for a man to have a slice of pie and a cup of tea?”

A grin played at the corner of Joshua’s mouth. He pulled his teabag out of the darkened water in his mug and laid it on the edge of his plate.

Annie studied them both, confused. Then, she threw up her hands. “You saw Samuel Brunstettler drive by, jah? And you want to know what happened, ain’t so?” When she lowered her arms, she hit the funny bone of her left arm on the edge of the chair. Her eyes watered from the sharp pain.

Daed shrugged and set his teabag on the side of his plate, too, then picked up his fork. “Ach, he came by?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “You know he did.” She inhaled deeply and rubbed the tingling spot on her elbow. “I’m not allowed to take the scholars on any field trips without prior approval. I’m still under probation. They decided to show grace.”

Daed nodded as he sliced into the flaky crust. “Gut. Glad to hear that.”

“Me, too.” Joshua followed her daed’s example. He slid a piece of pie into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully for a few moments. Then, he swallowed and glanced at Annie. “Ser gut. Did you make this?”