The Miting (7 page)

“Get your lunch, Benny, now hurry!”
Maem
prompted.

The commotion of the departing siblings kept Leah’s mind occupied while she slathered apple butter on the toast and poured herself a cup of hot tea. The kitchen quieted.
Maem
stood, waving her children down the drive, and then she came back in, shaking her head.

“That Benny,” she chuckled. “He asked if he could take his rabbits to school because they’re studying farm animals. He thought it would be fine to keep them in his desk all day. Poor bunnies. It’s a good thing I caught him trying to stuff them in a paper bag before he left for class.”

Leah chuckled, smothering the laugh with a big bite of spicy apple and crunchy toast.
Maem
puttered back and forth between the table and sink before Leah finally got the nerve to bring up what was on her mind. “
Maem
, could I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. Let me finish these dishes and get the counter wiped up. I need a second cup of coffee this morning, anyway.”

Leah sat silently while
Maem
quickly did the chores, poured herself a hot cup of coffee, and plopped down with a sigh across from her. “I think Benny being a late baby shows my age more.” She grinned.
Maem
’s rosy cheeks and soft brown eyes glowed with love and contentment. “Now, I’m ready. What’s bothering you?”

“Someone told me something a few days ago that really shocked me.”

“Ja?”

“This person told me … um … they have a problem at home.” She glanced up as worry passed over
Maem
’s face.

Maem
set down her cup of coffee. “Who is this person, Leah?”

“I promised I wouldn’t tell, but this is a bad thing, so I don’t know if I should keep the promise.”

Maem
picked up her coffee, sipped, and winced as she swallowed the hot brew. She fumbled for the cream pitcher and poured liberally, creating a billowing cloud across the black-brown surface.

Leah watched as she stirred the coffee to a light caramel color and then took another careful sip. “Tell me what this person said, Leah.”

“She, I mean
they
, said someone in their home is doing things to them that aren’t right.”

“What kinds of things?” Her eyes widened as she guessed Leah’s meaning. “Is this person Martha?”

“Yes. It was Martha.”

“Was it some kind of abuse?”

Leah nodded.

“Abuse by beating? Or … other things?”

Again, Leah nodded. “And I saw her stepbrother, Abner, hitting her. He was awful,
Maem.
It scared me. He’s the one who is—abusing her—in other ways, too.”

Maem
stopped talking and looked out the window toward
Daet
’s shop. In the silence, Leah heard the tick-tick of the wooden clock hanging over the sink. A faint rustle from trees scraping the window reached her ears, and she turned toward the sound. The tree’s shadow created a pattern of leaves on the clean floor. “Maem, was I wrong to tell you?”

Maem
shook her head slightly but kept her eyes on the window. Finally, she faced her. “Why don’t you get your inside chores finished so you can be ready to help
Daet
in the shop today? He has a lot of customers scheduled to pick up their furniture.
Ja?
”

“Shouldn’t I do something? About Martha, I mean?”

Maem
thought for a minute but shook her head. “I know it’s not what you want, but we have to let someone know who can help her.”

Maem
motioned for her to get on with her chores.

As Leah reached the stairs,
Maem
added, “We must always be careful when accusing another, Leah. I’ll talk this over with
Daet
, and we’ll decide together what we should do next.”

From the bottom of the staircase, she watched
Maem
as she stirred her coffee over and over, and then closed her eyes.

She wasn’t sure
Maem
believed her. Leah knew many in the community didn’t believe a thing Martha said anymore, but her word—and what Leah herself had witnessed—was evidence enough for Leah about how Abner treated his stepsister.

Maem
sighed and rose to rinse her cup at the sink. Leah went up to her room, walked to the window, and waited for
Maem
to hurry across the yard to the shop. Her pulse hammered at the thought of how
Daet
would react.

One afternoon a few days later, Benny begged Ada and Leah to play Duck, Duck, Goose in the soft grass where the sun warmed the fallen leaves. As the children’s steps crushed the dry leaves, they released a spicy, pungent aroma of autumn into the air.

Leah’s attention was caught by a passing car. A teen girl waved from inside the shiny red auto. What would it be like to be inside with the
Englishers
? Would she love the freedom they seemed to enjoy? If she left her family and the Amish, their times together would be limited, maybe even forbidden. She plopped down in the grass and watched her siblings taunt each other, gazing also at the yard, shop, and house. The familiar corners of
Daet
’s shop, the golden swell of the fields behind the house, the barn sitting so solemnly and importantly at the end of the lane—they all became dear and comforting to her in that moment. The thought of leaving them behind grew unbearable. She wondered if her doubts about the
Ordnung
could compare to the comfort of knowing this familiar world would be here now, tomorrow, and into the future. If she wanted it to be.

Leah’s thoughts were interrupted when
Daet
came out of the shop, stopping on the threshold to turn back and lock the door for the day. He crossed the yard, greeted his younger son and daughter with a smile, and then turned to her. His smile faded, he clenched his jaw, and a shadow of resentment lit his eyes.

Her heart twisted, the disappointment on her
daet
’s countenance dredging sorrow from her very bones. But as quickly as sorrow grew, her own flame of resentment sparked, swelling until it mirrored his.

So this is how it will be? From now on, failure will always be the first thing he thinks of when he sees my face?

“Leah, please come with me to find
Maem
. We have things to discuss.” He walked ahead with assurance that she would follow along behind. And she did.

Leah glanced at his cold back and realized that the smiles she’d received from
Daet
in the past were all earned by her dutiful obedience. For the still-obedient Benny and Ada, he had smiles, but for her, only disdain. Apparently his one desire was for her to become a good Amish girl. As her brother had done before her, she was expected to accept her Amish role of church member. Then, as she matured, she would become a supportive wife and mother.
Daet
had never spoken to her of anything else, and indeed, his role as father did not require much more from him than to provide for her, show her the way to Amish spiritual acceptance, and be the final authority for her decisions.

Leah swallowed and hoped
Maem
would intervene. She had always been more attentive to Leah’s emotional well-being.

Maem
relaxed in the swing on the front porch, a mug of tea in one hand, and the Amish newspaper,
The Budget
, in the other. She looked up as they approached the porch, scooting over to make room for
Daet
to sit beside her. Leah took a seat in one of the two wicker chairs facing the swing.

Daet
didn’t waste any time. He tented his fingers and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Leah, these accusations Martha is making; who does it involve?”

“She told me a name, but should I tell,
Daet
? She asked me to keep her confidence.”

“I just need to know this: is she accusing her
stepdaet
?”

“No. Not her
stepdaet.
”

His face relaxed a bit, and she noted his mouth softened, too. “These kinds of things have to be handled privately. First,
Maem
and I will talk with Bishop Miller. We’ll ask his advice about what to do next, but I expect he and the elders will take it from there.” His eyes squinted against the late afternoon sun slanting its way under the porch eaves. “Now, don’t get upset with my next question, but you know Martha’s behavior hasn’t made her a very reliable source for this story.”

She shivered at his words. Could it be that no one would believe Martha’s account?

Daet
cleared his throat. “Did you know she’s been seen with a light in her bedroom window? Inviting boys up to her room?”

Leah shook her head, surprised and confused.

He nodded, smug to see he had surprised her and perhaps relieved she didn’t know about
that
part of Martha’s activities. “Yes. Evidently she had Abe up there.”

“Abe? Why put her lamp in the window for Abe? She could just tell him to come by. Were they—bed courting?”

“No. Well, I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think so. From what I’ve heard, I think they sat at the little window seat she has in there. But it’s not a good practice. I wouldn’t allow
my
daughters to do that.”
Daet
glanced at
Maem
and raised his eyebrows slightly.
Maem
momentarily turned her gaze away, her eyes scanning the fields across the road. A pink splotch flushed her neck at the top of her collar.

Leah knew a discussion like this was not something a good Amish mother expected to have in front of her husband. The girls usually learned about that part of life from whispered conversations with each other. Or worse, from the boys eager to teach them what to do. Leah had heard rumors for years about that, and about male family members who sometimes crossed lines with their sisters. Her stomach lurched. This entire conversation made her sweat. Suddenly, she thought of the advice one of her friends in school had been given by her mother about bed dating: keep your dress in place.

“We’re hoping the bishop can get to the bottom of this,”
Daet
continued. “If it’s true, then something needs to be done. But if she’s lying about this, Leah, it’ll not go well for her with the church.” His eyes held a glimmer of suspicion and disbelief.

So, what else is new?
Leah squelched the ever-rising flame of anger in her. Why did she even bother telling
Maem
? She
knew
Martha wasn’t lying, and if she added to Martha’s burdens, Leah would feel awful.

She stood, stressed and tense. “I have a lot to do in my room. I’d better get to it.”

As she went in the house, all she could think about was Martha. The possibility her friend might find out Leah had told her secret weighed heavy. And if Bishop Miller came down too hard on Martha or blamed her for the trouble, Leah doubted she’d be able to forgive herself. She wrung her hands, wondering if she’d done the right thing after all.

After supper, Leah went directly to her room to search for the pocket-sized New Testament the Gideons had given to each student in the Amish school. After much digging, she finally discovered it in the bottom of a box in her closet, alongside sixth-grade papers and books.

She stretched out on her bed and opened the book to the first page.

“Matthew 1:1. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ …” She soon grew tired of reading the lengthy genealogy of Christ, and skipped to verse 18. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph …”

Halfway into reading through the book of Matthew, the life of Christ took on new meaning. She didn’t fully understand everything and wondered what it would be like to attend a Bible study where she could sit with others to discuss her questions.

Her eyes were gritty from reading in the dim light, so she lay the book aside and turned down the lamp.

As she closed her eyes, she wished the house had electric light to keep reading. She wanted to learn more, but mostly, Leah wanted to block out thoughts of Martha and what the bishop might or might not do.