Chapter 1

 

That Sunday morning's worship service was at Elmo Zook's house. Bishop Elton Bontrager read resolution seven of The Dordrecht Confession of Faith to Emma Lapp and twelve others joining the church. “Concerning holy baptism, we confess that penitent believers, who, through faith, regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, are made one with God, and are written in heaven, must, upon such Scriptural confession of faith, and renewing of life, be baptized with water. In the most worthy name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, according to the command of Christ, and the teaching, example, and practice of the apostles, to the burying of their sins. Thus be incorporated into the communion of the saints; henceforth to learn to observe all things which the Son of God has taught, left, and commanded His disciples.”

Emma sighed, thinking about how happy she felt now. She'd finally committed herself to be a member of the Amish faith for the rest of her life. This June day was a momentous one for her. She'd made it through her conversion ceremony. Now another big life changing moment was coming, her wedding. Adam Keim and she could make plans now that she was truly Amish forever.

The day's heated breeze hadn't cooled off much after dark. Emma leaned against the buggy seat and pushed a few sweaty, light brown curls back under her prayer cap. Before her glowed the buggy headlights, Behind her, red lights reflected on the road from the tail lights. She fanned her face with her hand as she tried to relax. Sophie's soft hoof beats and the crunch of rock under the wheels filled the moonlit silence.

She was dying to discuss their wedding with Adam, but she hadn't worked up the nerve yet. This change in her life would be as serious as joining the church. She'd move from her family home with a familiar routine. Until she got used to her new life living with Adam was the unknown. She'd dreamed of making a home with this man for several years, but now that the time was closing in on her, she was uneasy.

Her gray-green eyes warmed as she studied her husband-to-be. He was only an inch or two taller than her, strong as an ox, with a round, pleasant face, a stocky body and work worn hands. An industrious man, Adam had his own carpentry business complete with a shop. He made a good enough income to support a family.

She considered it a blessing that her father, John Lapp, and Adam were very much alike. Nothing ruffled either man for long since they were filled with a God given calmness she'd never have.

Emma admired Adam's steely resolve when he quietly took what life threw at him and found his way through the problems. Perhaps, that purpose filled demeanor came from the fact he was born with what was considered a big set back for most people. Adam couldn't talk.

Emma hadn't seen his speechlessness as a problem between them while she was growing up around him. He communicated volumes with a look or hand gesture. If that didn't work, he always had a writing pad and pen in his shirt pocket.

She smiled and put her hand on Adam's arm. “Did you hear how off key Freda Manwiller was tonight at the singing?”

Emma was glad for the full moon. The glow helped her see Adam's responses. He shook his head no.

Emma giggled. “Take it from me. Freda could not carry a tune in an empty milk pail. Gute thing the rest of us sang loud enough to cover her voice.”

Adam focused on her with narrowed eyes.

Emma sobered up quickly. “What is it?” They had been together so long she usually read what was on his mind. “Ach, you are thinking I am making fun of Freda.”

Adam gave a slight nod.

Emma turned serious. “I am sorry. I did not mean to be hurtful. If you do not want me to, I will not bring Freda's singing up again.”

Adam's brown eyes held a flicker of amusement before he nodded yes.

Emma took a deep breath and folded her hands together. She might as well take the plunge. No better time than this while they were alone to get the subject she really needed to discuss out in the open. “Gute! We do have more important things to discuss than the singing. Since I am a member of the church now, we can plan our wedding if you are ready.”

Adam gave her a loving glance and an emphatic yes shake of his head.

What a relief this was. Adam made talking about the wedding easier for Emma. She laughed as she slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “Gute! I am glad I finally picked a conversation you liked.”

Adam pulled back on the lines to slow Sophie and turned off on Bender Creek Road. He stopped around the bend in the dirt road and flipped off the headlights. With his attention on Emma, he waited.

“Well, I have given this much thought already. The first thing is tell our families we are ready to marry. My parents need to be told so they can start planning the wedding for September.”

Adam stared straight ahead, bunching and unbunching the lines in his hands.

“Why are you suddenly so nervous already? Will that be too soon to marry? It is only a little over three months away. Is setting the wedding in September too soon for you?”

This time Adam didn't look at her when he nodded no.

“All recht. Is it that you are scared of the details that have to be worked out?”

Adam smiled at her weakly as he held out his hand with an exaggerated tremor.

“And do you think I am not nervous? This is a big step we are taking, but we have been ready for a long time. Talking to our families will be easy. They are eager for us to announce our marriage,” Emma said.

Adam nodded in agreement.

“Gute! We can talk to my parents tonight when we get to my house,” Emma suggested.

Adam's face scrunched up like a dried prune.

“There you go again, looking like you are in pain. Relax. This will be the easiest part of the next few months,” Emma warned.

Adam wavered his hand as a question.

“You know it will be.”

Adam pulled the pad and pen out of his shirt pocket. He held them close to him so he could see in the dark as he wrote, “We do not have to say anything tonight. I will get Deacon Yutzy to be my Schteckliman. He can go talk to your parents.”

“Nah, alls you are doing is getting out of facing my daed and Hallie. We are not a shy young couple. You do not need a go-between for this like most couples use.

Maybe we could marry on September fifteenth. That is my twentieth birthday. Hallie and I should have the details done by then. But we should wait until you and I talk to Daed and Hallie. If that date does not work for them, any day close to it will be all recht. Ain't so?”

Adam nodded, giving her a wide smile.

Emma scooted close and wrapped her arm around his. “I know. The sooner the better as long as you do not have to do the planning. That way you might just barely manage to make it through the next few months and through the wedding ceremony.”

He nodded emphatically, hugged Emma and turned on the buggy lights. Emma laid her head on his shoulder. Sophie poked along the back road beside Bender Creek to the intersection with the main road.

As Adam turned Sophie into the Lapp driveway, Emma teased, “Gute thing you decided the sooner we get the talk to my parents over with the better for our nerves. We will be standing before my parents in two minutes.”

Adam's shoulders sagged as he turned a dispirited, puppy face on Emma. After he climbed out of the buggy, he stared toward the house and gave a deep, silent sigh. Giggling as nervously as a school girl, Emma grabbed Adam's hand and pulled him toward the house. “You will live through this moment. I promise.”

The Lapp farm was dark and sleepy. Milk cows were silhouetted mounds bedded down in the pen by the milk room. The horses, black blobs, slept on their feet. The only bright spot was the living room window's warm, welcoming glow.

Emma opened the screen door, stepped in and glanced around the quiet room. Daed sat in his rocker, reading his bible. It occurred to Emma that her father's dark hair had a few streaks of gray in it these days. Hallie's head was bent over her sewing. Her red hair showed through the black prayer cap she wore, making for a bright combination. Hallie was putting a patch on a trouser knee for sixteen years old Daniel. That was a never ending job. No sight of her brothers, but they couldn't be too far behind. Her little sisters, Redbird and Beth, must be in bed. This was a good time to talk to her parents while they were by themselves.

“You're back already. My, the night has passed fast. Where are Noah and Daniel?” Hal laid the trousers in the wicker basket on top the other clothes to be mended.

“Close behind us, ain't so?” Emma glanced over her shoulder at Adam.

He nodded an agreement.

“You have a gute evening?” Hal stuck her needle in the black thread spool and nestled the spool beside the scissors in the basket.

“We did,” Emma said, clasping her hands in front of her.

Hal patted the couch beside her. “For goodness sakes, don't just stand there. Come over here and sit by me. I want to hear how the singing went tonight. Many kids there?”

They sat down, but Emma didn't answer. She was too busy biting her lower lip as she looked at Adam.

Hal leaned forward and smiled at Adam. He gave her a trembling, return smile. Something definitely was amiss. Hal could sense it. She studied Emma's usually tan face. Her complexion paled enough that the freckles popped out around her nose. Adam held his midsection tightly like he had a queasy stomach.

Hal gave John a concerned look. He frowned as he nodded in agreement. He felt it, too. Hal twisted toward the quiet couple. “You are worrying me. Something must be wrong. Was ist letz?”

Emma licked her lips and turned to Adam for support. “Nothing is wrong. We had a talk on the way home, Adam and me.”

Adam put his finger to her lips to stop her. He took the notepad and pen out of his pocket. They waited while he wrote on it. Adam turned the pad to Emma and raised an eyebrow for approval. Then he pointed at John. Emma smiled sheepishly as she nodded agreement.

Adam got up from the couch, tore off the paper and handed it to John. After reading the note, John gave Adam a wide grin. “Jah, Adam.”

Now that the moment was over, a huge weight lifted off his sagging shoulders. Adam stood taller and straighter.

“Will someone please tell me what's going on?” Hal barked, looking from the men to Emma and back.

“Daed, read Hallie Adam's note,” Emma instructed.

“John Lapp, I, Adam Keim, want to ask you for permission to marry your daughter, Emma Lapp.” He smiled at Emma. “You have Hal and my permission to marry. We very much want this man as our son-in-law.” John held out his hand to shake hands with Adam.

Hal brought her hands up to the sides of her face. “Oh my! Emma, it seemed to me this day was slow in coming. And again, I figured it would be soon after you joined the church. Not the very day though. That I didn't see coming.” Hal laughed as she hugged Emma. She went to Adam and give him a sturdy hug. When she stepped back, she looked at him earnestly. “You're like a member of this family already. It will be great to finally make you officially part of the Lapp family, sealed with a wedding.”

Adam gave a silent laugh and wrote, “You do understand I am not becoming a Lapp. Emma is becoming a Keim.”

Hal laughed as she read the note to John. With a teasing warning in her voice, she said, “Silly, I know that, but you once said we hadn't adopted you. Seems to me, marrying into this family is just as gute. Take my word for it, we will have plans for you, Adam Keim.”

Adam gave Emma a nonplussed glance.

“Ach, Adam, Hallie is teasing, ain't so, Hallie?” Emma asked tentatively.

Hal clasped her hands together and winked at Adam. “Well, maybe to start with. Adam is safe for now, because we'll be busy with far too many plans for this wedding. Have you picked a date yet?”

Emma said, “September fifteenth is my twentieth birthday. I wondered if we could get married on that day, but if that is not possible, we can pick another date that works for you.”

“John, what do you think?” Hal asked.

“What Emma and Adam wants is all recht with me,” John said agreeably.

“Gute, then the date is agreed on if it works for the bishop. You should talk to him soon so another couple doesn't get that date.” Hal went silent and stared off into space.

Emma imagined wheels turning in her stepmother's mind, like those in the alarm clock. “Hallie, what are you thinking?”

“I'm counting up the days in my head. This is the first of June. Lots of details to work out by mid September. Oh dear, I hope I'm up to this task.”

“I will help you, Hallie. We will do this together,” Emma encouraged.

“We need to make a list so we can mark the details off as we finish them,” Hal said, starting for the kitchen. “I'll get a pad and pen.”

Emma grabbed her arm. “We will do that but not until tomorrow. It is too late tonight to think about wedding details. We need to be rested so we have clear heads.”

 

Hal's parents, Jim and Nora Lindstrom, received a letter a few days later about Emma and Adam's fall wedding. They were eager to drive from Titonka to the Lapp farm as soon as possible.

Nora asked her sister, Tootie, if she wanted to go with them again. Tootie hesitated while she gave traveling south into Amish country some thought. She had sad memories from the last time she visited the Lapps.

For some reason, these days she didn't always have a lot of energy. She knew the stay at the Lapp farm would be a long one. All summer from the sounds of things, and that would be tiring. Then again, she liked Emma and Adam an awful lot. She felt as if she should be at their wedding, and she'd like to be there. So in the end, Tootie talked herself into going with Jim and Nora.

As soon as they finished packing, Jim headed Nora and Tootie to the car, and they were on the road. They stopped for lunch at a roadside diner. Jim stopped twice to gas the car at Casey Stores where they could use the restroom and get a bottle of pop. By late afternoon, they were near Wickenburg.

“Tootie, you've been quiet for miles. Are you asleep back there?” Nora Lindstrom twisted in the seat to look over her shoulder at her sister.

Tootie's curly, short hair had less gray in it than her straight, feathered cut. Nora suspected Tootie colored her hair, but Tootie wouldn't tell. Most people commented they looked a lot alike, but Nora couldn't see it. Tootie was shorter than her by a head.

“I'm not asleep. Just don't have a reason to talk. Haven't seen anything interesting out my window to mention that I didn't see when we made the trip the last time,” groused Tootie. “How much longer until we get to the Lapp Farm?”

“Maybe an hour,” Jim Lindstrom said, pressing his aching, broad shoulders against the seat and massaging the back of his neck just below his white hair with his left hand.

“Tootie, you better relax while you can. Hallie's letter says she's going to need a lot of help, preparing for Emma's wedding. She intends to put us to work as soon as we get there,” Nora forewarned.

“You said you'd read her letter to me. You never did,” Tootie said in a pouting tone.

“Sorry, I forgot. I brought the letter with me.” Nora rifled through her purse. “Ah, here it is.” She unfolded the letter and underscored each line with a fingertip as she read out loud.

 

Dear Mom and Dad,

Greeting to you on this lovely summer day.

We want to share our wonderful news from the Lapp farm. Emma and Adam are getting married. You know how delighted we are. Finally, this young man is going to be part of our family. Of course, he has seemed like family for a long time already. That's the good news.

Not so good news is, Emma and I have so much to do to prepare for the wedding we don't know where to start. I can't remember when I've been so nervous about the success of any one event. I'm afraid we're going to need lots of help if you two are willing to come lend a hand. We will be expecting two hundred plus guests.

If the wedding preparations weren't enough to keep me busy, taking care of Redbird and Beth is a challenge. They're quite a pair of mischievous, energetic three year olds but better than when they were in their terrible twos.

What a difference six months makes. One afternoon, Emma set the egg basket too close to the edge of the table and went back outside to water the chickens. She was gone longer than she meant to be. She had to break up a squabble between Tom Turkey and the dog. They were both after the same cold biscuit.

While we weren't looking, the girls pulled the basket off the table onto the floor. What eggs didn't break, I'm sure the girls helped crack by playing ball with them.

It took Emma and me both to clean up the mess and the girls. By the time I bathed the girls, Emma had the kitchen floor spotless again. You know how particular Emma is about her clean floors. It took her a little while to get her sense of humor back about the mess and the loss of all those good eggs. We're very glad to see Redbird and Beth are passed that stage.

John plans to butcher the fattened hog just before the wedding day. Pulled pork sandwiches are on the menu for the wedding lunch. That's a big project and mean hours of cooking pork. Emma will pick women in the community to help cook the other food, including fried chicken. I understand that's the way it works. We will be glad for all their help.

Now that I've shared our news, I must get busy. We want you to be here for the wedding and please pass our invitation on to Aunt Tootie. We want her to share this special day with us, the Lord willing and if she is up to it.

Keep Emma and me in your prayers that all goes well as we plan this wonderful event. Emma and I agree there isn't a need for us or you to worry about praying for John and Adam. As with most men, Emma says the men are mistakenly going on the premise what will be will be. That means they assume Emma and I will handle everything important so that lets them off the hook. Ha!

 

With All Our Love and Christ's Blessing On Both Of You,

 

Hallie and the Lapp family

 

Nora grinned at Jim. “Isn't that a funny story about Redbird and Beth getting into the eggs?”

Jim chuckled. “Sounds like the little girls are starting out just like Hallie did at that age. Remember what a handful she was?”

“Indeed I do, and I'll remind her when I get a chance. Help me think of some of the mischievous things she did. I'm sure I won't remember them all,” Nora said.

Tootie huffed. “Are we going to hear a bunch more of these cute baby stories while we're at the farm?”

“Ah, Tootie! Don't you like cute baby stories?” Nora asked.

“Well, maybe one now and then is okay, but too many of them aren't cute anymore. After awhile, they're just plain tiresome,” Tootie complained.

“You shouldn't be that way. Those girls are your great nieces,” scolded Nora.

“All I'm saying is cute baby stories should be short and told very infrequently as far as I'm concerned,” Tootie declared.

“Don't worry about it. Hal will be too busy to tell many stories. She's going to be planning the wedding,” Jim said.

“That's very true. That's why I want to get to the farm as quickly as we can so we can help,” Nora said.

“If John figures on butchering a hog for the meal, he and the boys will need help. I haven't helped butcher since I was a young man. I sure want to get in on that,” Jim said eagerly.