Second Chances (9 page)

“What ailed you, Anna?”

As expected, there had been no escape from Kate's harsh reprimands. With her pinched
nose and down-turned mouth, Kate always appeared angry. She wore stern black dresses,
even when it wasn't worship Sunday. The dark color of the fabric drained her already
pale face and made her appear even more austere. Despite her reputation for being
righteous and hardworking, suitors never offered to bring her home after the singings
in the evening. Instead, she could often be seen walking, alone, down the road in
the gentle evening hours while all of the other young women rode by in a buggy, sharing
the company of a single young man or tagging along with a group of friends.

Kate's astute eye and sharp tongue offended many and, as such, rather than be subject
to them, others chose merely to avoid her.

Anna, however, was not so fortunate.

“I'm just feeling poorly,” Anna offered as a way of excuse. “
Danke
for telling me
to kneel.”

“You sat there like you were in another world!” Kate's voice carried and, to Anna's
dismay, caught the attention
of Mary and her two sisters-in-law. “And during worship!
My word, I thought you weren't even paying attention, Anna Eicher!”

Anna lowered her eyes, withdrawing into herself as she listened to Kate remind her
of her inadequacies.

Fortunately, Leah and Hannah hurried over to join them, leaving Mary behind as the
two boys hung onto her hands.

Laughing at something Hannah must have said, Leah smiled as she stood before Anna
and Kate. “Good day, Kate!” she said as she reached out and shook Kate's hand.

“Didn't see you before the service,” Kate replied, referring to the greeting, a
kiss on the mouth, that the women always gave each other in the quarter-hour before
worship started.

Hannah nudged her sister. “We'd have been here on time if you weren't so concerned
with your new
kapp
strings.”

Leah frowned at her sister's teasing.

From the expression on Kate's face, she wasn't impressed with either woman's excuse.
When she turned away, the two younger girls leaned their heads together and tittered.
There was solidarity in their unity, a closeness that was foreign to the Eicher sisters.

Anna remained silent, too aware that, on the other side of the room, Freman stood
with the men, meeting new people and reuniting with old acquaintances. It took all
of her willpower to not let her eyes wander in that direction. When she had heard
that George and Sara Coblentz would rent her father's home, she wondered if Freman
would come visiting. Such a possibility clearly existed since, in fact, they had
grown up in a nearby community.
With such knowledge, Anna had prayed for the strength
to see him again.

Now it is done, she told herself. The worst is over, I reckon.

“Girls, Anna,” a voice said from behind her. Anna turned around, and upon recognizing
Salome, she smiled. The woman accompanying Salome, however, was unfamiliar to Anna.
From the strange head cover that the woman wore, far more flexible and finer in material,
Anna immediately suspected that she was about to meet Freman's sister. “I want you
to meet Sara,” Salome said as she introduced her daughters, her daughter-in-law,
and Anna.

“
Ach
, Anna!” Sara shook her hand in a friendly, warm manner. “I'm so pleased to meet
you! Your
daed
's
haus
is just lovely! We cannot tell you how inviting it is!”

“You've
found comfort there, then,
ja
?”

Sara's smile, so soft and gentle, warmed Anna's heart. “Most definitely!” the older
woman said. “George did not want to infringe on his sister's family. Their place
is rather crowded already.” She didn't need to explain; Anna could only imagine how
many people resided there. “The peace that greets us after visiting with his sister
is a welcome time for reflection and prayer.” She gave a slight laugh. “No doubt
we'd have lacked that elsewhere!”

Salome regained Sara's attention. “You must come visiting then,” she said firmly.
Beside her, both Hannah and Leah glanced at each other and beamed as they listened
to their mother's invitation. “We
insist
on sharing fellowship at our
haus
!”

With a pleasant nod of her head, Sara accepted the invitation. “George will be grateful,
I'm sure, to get to know your husband better as I will you and your
dochders
.”
She
glanced at Hannah and Leah as if contemplating something. “His company has been limited
to my
bruder
, Freman, as of late . . . at least after he tends his
schwester
. Freman
will be staying with us for some time, you see.”

Salome immediately glanced in his direction, giving away the fact that she already
had noticed Freman's presence. “I wondered when I saw him,” she said, although she
had clearly connected the tall, unmarried Amish man with the Coblentzes. “He must
come visit too.
Mayhaps
for Monday dinner?” She looked at Leah and Hannah. “The girls
don't work on Monday.”

With the visitation scheduled, Salome and Sara began to talk about other things while
Leah and Hannah preened themselves as they tried to catch Freman's attention. Not
once did he look in Anna's direction, but rather seemed intent on the conversation
in which he was engaged.

While no one watched, Anna slipped out the door and wandered down the lane past the
long line of black buggies parked on the grass.

There would be no escaping the fact that she would be in Freman's presence sooner
or later. If she had thought she was prepared to face him, she realized how wrong
she had been. She took some deep breaths as she moved away from the house, wondering
how he would respond to being in her company once again. That thought stayed with
her long after she found herself wandering down the road, ignoring the rumble of
her empty stomach as her feet led her swiftly toward Mary's home. If her sister were
to ask her why she left before the
g
'
may
meal, she would plead a headache, knowing
that Mary—oft ill with headaches herself—would have to accept such an explanation
without complaint.

Chapter Four

O
F ALL THE
days to be ill!” Mary plopped onto the sofa, jostling little Cris far too
much for Anna's liking. It was Monday, the day of the much-anticipated visit with
the Coblentzes, and the poor boy lay ill with a fever. Cris Junior deserved better
treatment from his mother. Still, Anna knew better than to speak her mind. Anything
construed as criticism, no matter whether or not it was intended that way, would
set off her sister, spiraling Mary into the depths of her moods.

That was happening quite often lately. Already, Anna could tell that her sister was
teetering on the edge: every little detail in her daily life seemed to set her off,
as if everyone in the
g
'
may
, family included, even her young son, were all conspiring
together to make her life miserable.

With a loud sigh, Mary tucked a quilt along the child's small body. He rested on
the sofa, his eyes shut and his cheeks pale. Despite the way that Mary pushed the
quilt under him, he gave no response to his mother's distressed comment or less-than-compassionate
touch. “I'll have to stay home now, won't I?” Mary complained. They had been invited
to dinner at the Mussers in order to meet the Coblentzes, an appointment that Mary
clearly had anticipated.

Mary stood up and stared down at her son, frustration etched on her face. Unlike
her sister Anna, Mary was not the subdued type, her personality neither restrained
nor repressed. She was resonant and boisterous, and, to Anna's constant mortification,
thrived on being the center of attention as well as conversation. It did not make
her a bad person; it just made her a loud person. Missing out on an early visit with
the newcomers was definitely not something that sat well with her.

Earlier in the day, Lydia Rothberger had stopped by, spending a few hours visiting
with both Anna and Mary. They sat outside, Anna working on her quilting while the
other two women crocheted, as the boys played on the rusty swing set near the garden.
Despite being autumn, the weather remained pleasant enough, cool during the nights
and warm during the days. With the sun on the back of her neck, Anna sighed, content
with both the day and the company.

However, that changed rapidly.

Walter began to fight with his older brother. Earlier in the day, little Cris had
complained that he felt poorly, his lack of energy a testament to his claim. Now,
no matter how much his younger brother tried to encourage him to play, Cris Junior
refused. Mary set down the blanket she was crocheting and glanced in their direction.

“Whatever are they fussing about now?” When she made no move in their direction,
Anna rose from her seat and walked over to the playset.

Little Cris sat on the swing, his head pressed against the chain as his legs barely
pushed himself back and forth. Walter, however, tugged on the other side, eager to
encourage his brother to go down the slide with him.

“What's wrong?” Anna asked as she knelt before him. When she reached out to touch
his forehead, she realized that he had a fever. “Best get you inside, Cris,” she
said, taking his hand and leading her willing patient into the house where she situated
him on the sofa. He hadn't stirred since.

Now Mary rose from the sofa and stomped back to the kitchen area. She rummaged through
the cabinets, found a glass, and filled it with water from the faucet for her son.
Her thoughts, however, were clearly not focused on the child's well-being but rather
on her own disappointment. She sipped from the glass before heading back to the
sofa. “And I was so looking forward to meeting and visiting with the Coblentz family!”
she repeated.

“Now, now, Mary,” Cris said as he stood in the doorway. He had just come in from
his evening chores and still needed to wash up. His dirty boots stood by the doorway
and there was dirt on his clothing. He looked tired and evidently not in the mood
for an emotional outburst from his wife. Still, he patiently tried to reason with
her. “You'll have plenty of opportunities to visit with them while they are staying
here. It isn't as if they are leaving anytime soon.”

His comment reminded Anna that the Coblentz family, and apparently Freman, were not
going anywhere. The latest update about Irma, George's sister, was that her health
was quickly deteriorating and the family needed his support. Since George and Sara
had sold their home, they had nowhere else to live; George had made clear his intention
to stay near his sister's family throughout their ordeal.

As for Freman, while Anna had thought long and hard about his sudden reappearance
to Charm and completely understood that he wanted to visit with his sister, the implied
duration of his stay simply did not make sense. While she knew that he had been raised
north of Berlin, a larger town just ten miles away from Charm, it was her understanding
that the rest of his family had moved away five years ago to the distant state of
Montana. So why did it look as if he were here to stay for a while?

With a slight tremor in her heart, she focused on busying herself with washing the
dishes from earlier in the day, something that Mary had said she would take care
of but conveniently had forgotten when, to use her own words, a wave of fatigue had
stricken her.

Handing the glass of water to her son, Mary didn't offer the child any further help
as she turned to face her husband, hand upon her hip and a frown upon her face. “
Ja
vell
,” she snapped. “Easy enough for you to say since you are never forced to miss
social engagements!”