Chapter Eight
On Wednesday, walking through town, Sadie took her time getting to Troyers’ store. The past few days had been terrible. Rachel remained cranky and quick-tempered, taking out most of her frustration on Sadie. No matter how hard Sadie tried, it seemed nothing she did was good enough to satisfy her stepmother.
Earlier that morning, her father had asked her to go on a few errands for him. Sadie half suspected that he wanted to give her a break from Rachel’s constant berating. Regardless, she could hardly contain her relief when her father requested her help.
The first place she visited was Troyers’ General Store. The bell over the door jingled when she entered, and as soon as she stepped inside, she scanned the store to see if Ella was working that day.
Linda Troyer glanced up from a notepad she was writing figures in as Sadie approached the counter.
“Gut martiye, Sadie!”
“Morning, Linda.” Sadie smiled at Ella’s stepmother and waited for the older woman to finish what she was doing.
Shutting the cover, Linda set down the pencil. “What can I help you with today?”
Sadie withdrew the list her father had given her. “Daed sent me for some things.” She handed it to Linda.
The older woman glanced at the slip of paper. “I’ll check in the back to see if we have these. What’s happened? Another cow break through the fence?”
“I reckon. Happens from time to time.”
Linda disappeared through a doorway behind the counter and Sadie wandered over to one of the aisles. She looked at the sewing section, her eyes appraising some bolts of pale yellow and green fabric that she knew would be wonderful for a summer quilt.
“Sadie!”
She turned around in time to see Ella hurrying toward her.
“Maem said you were here.” Ella grabbed her hands and pulled her over to an empty aisle. “Have you been to see Belle?”
Sadie shook her head. It was Wednesday, and she hadn’t left the house all week. “Not since Sunday last. At worship. Why? Has something happened?”
Ella’s blue eyes filled with tears. “Nee, but I can still hardly believe that Belle’s to marry Adam Hershberger! She barely knows him, much less cares for him.”
“Oh, the poor girl.” Sadie could hardly imagine anything worse. “I’d never marry someone I didn’t love, never mind barely knew.”
Ella nodded her head in agreement and a mournful look clouded her eyes. “You know,” she said, “the wedding’s just a week from tomorrow.”
Sadie paled. With all the turmoil in her own life, she hadn’t given much thought to her friend Belle’s plight. A wave of shame washed over her. How could she have forgotten about Belle? “She must be a nervous wreck. I’d run away rather than be forced to marry!” she stated in a low voice so Ella’s stepmother couldn’t overhear. “Even for my family!”
Ella nodded. “I agree.”
Upon hearing Linda’s approaching footsteps, Sadie whispered, “You will be going to the wedding, ja?”
“Of course!”
“I wish I had time to go visit her,” Sadie said, “but Rachel’s not been feeling well.”
“And Linda always keeps me so busy with chores,” Ella added before their conversation ended abruptly.
“Here’s two rolls of that wire for repairing the breaks in the fence and a new wire cutter,” Linda told her as she placed the items on the counter. She glanced at Ella and her expression seemed to darken. Ella lowered her eyes and said a quick goodbye to Sadie before she retreated into the stockroom from which she had come.
Linda turned her attention back to Sadie and smiled. “Now, anything else that you’ll need today, Sadie?”
Outside the store, Sadie shifted the bag of items her father had requested in her arms, then made her way down the front steps. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the conversation she had just had with Ella. And Belle? She was far too special a young woman to live life in a loveless marriage.
“Sadie!”
Startled from her thoughts, Sadie looked up in time to see Frederick driving by in his buggy. For a moment, she thought something must be terribly wrong. What would he be doing back in Echo Creek? Why, it had only been three days since the weekend.
Frederick pulled back on the reins to stop the buggy. “That bag looks heavy,” he said with a bright smile lighting up his face. “Let me give you a ride home.”
For a moment, she thought about refusing his offer. Too many people might see her get into his buggy, and she didn’t want anyone having cause to gossip. The last thing she needed was the community thinking they were courting. Despite their two meetings, she reminded herself that two outings did not a marriage make. She needed to get to know Frederick better, at least before tongues started wagging.
However, the bag was heavy, she reasoned. And what better way to get to know him than by accepting his invitation?
“Danke, Frederick. I normally don’t mind walking,” she said, “but I’d be much obliged to accept.” She walked over to the buggy, then handed Frederick the bag through the open door before climbing up and sitting beside him. “It’s a bit warm out, isn’t it?”
Frederick waited until she was settled before he released the brake and slapped the reins, urging the horse to walk on. “Ja, it is. Looks like autumn isn’t arriving anytime soon.”
“It was sure cold the other night.”
He laughed. “Quite true.”
She noticed that he held the reins taut in his hands, as if holding back the horse so that it walked, rather than trotted, down the road. “You’re becoming a regular in Echo Creek,” she pointed out, curious to know why he was back so soon but too afraid to ask. She didn’t want to appear too forward, especially if he was here for a personal reason.
“I am that!” he answered, then smiled and Sadie knew that he was teasing her. “I had to visit my cousins who live south of Echo Creek—”
“The Grimm brothers?”
He nodded. “Ja, those fellows. Maem asked me to bring them some canned food. Too heavy to carry that, so since I was close by, I thought I’d ride up to Echo Creek.”
Sadie frowned. She had never been to the forest where the Grimm brothers lived, but she knew that it was a far distance from Echo Creek. “Were you visiting with Anna Rose then?”
Frederick shook his head.
“Elizabeth? She’s teaching today, you know.”
He nodded. “Ja, I know that.”
Sadie couldn’t help but wonder why he would have made the detour to Echo Creek, especially since he had just been there earlier that week. Suddenly, she worried that she was putting him out of his way.
“I enjoyed the singing at the Riehls’ the other night,” Frederick said at last, breaking the silence and interrupting Sadie’s thoughts. “It was a nice change of pace. We don’t have such a large youth group as yours.”
“Oh?” Sadie turned to look at him. During their drive home the other night, they had talked about so many things, but, embarrassed, Sadie suddenly realized that she hadn’t inquired about his church district. “Your town must be very small, indeed, then.”
He tilted his head as if contemplating what she had just said. “Nee, not so small. Certainly, it’s the size of Echo Creek, but we’ve fewer young folk than you do, I reckon. And when we go visiting, we usually head to Blue Springs.”
“Blue Springs?” She’d never heard of that town before.
“Ja, Blue Springs. It’s farther south from us, but the road is easier to travel, especially at night.”
That made sense. Sadie nestled into the seat and stared out the window. They passed the schoolhouse and she could see inside the windows along the side of the building, recognizing Elizabeth, Anna Rose’s cousin—and therefore Frederick’s, too—as she stood in front of the class, talking to her students.
As Frederick drove farther, she looked at the clothesline that was hanging from a nearby house. On the line were white sheets and several blue quilts, which reminded her of something.
“Oh!” Turning to face Frederick, she noticed he had been watching her out of the corner of his eye. His attention made her heart race. “I almost forgot to tell you that you left your blanket with me the other night. Mayhaps I can run inside to fetch it when you drop me off.”
But he shook his head. “Nee, Sadie. You keep that.”
Sadie raised her eyebrows in confusion. “Keep it? With winter coming up? Surely you will need it in the buggy to help stay warm.”
“I’d much prefer to know that it’s keeping you warm this winter, Sadie.”
The heat rose to her neck and she knew that her cheeks were flushing red.
For a few minutes, they remained silent until, in the distance, Sadie spotted the mailbox of her father’s farm.
“Well, danke again for the ride,” she said as they neared it.
Frederick cleared his throat as if he wanted to say something more. But then, as if on second thought, he changed his mind. “My pleasure, Sadie Whitaker.”
As the buggy made its way down the driveway, Sadie could see Rachel sitting upon one of the rocking chairs on the front porch, a blue blanket covering her knees.
Frederick’s blanket.
Sadie’s blanket.
A wave of anger washed over her. Why would her stepmother have gone into her bedroom? And an even better question was why would Rachel take something that didn’t belong to her?
But then, Sadie’s irritation turned into fear as she watched Rachel’s eyes follow the buggy as it approached the house. Her expression seemed to be growing darker with each passing moment. Sadie found herself shrinking inside the buggy, wondering what Rachel would say about her accepting a ride from Frederick. She was certain that Rachel would demand to know where the mysterious blue blanket had come from.
“You can stop here,” Sadie said in a small voice. She only hoped that Frederick hadn’t noticed the blanket covering Rachel’s legs and put two and two together. “My stepmother hasn’t been feeling well. I don’t want to disturb her.”
Sadie was relieved when Frederick slowed down the horse and buggy and stopped halfway down the driveway. He turned and faced her.
“It was right gut to see you, Sadie,” he said as she reached for the door handle and started to get out of the buggy.
Sadie could barely reply. Her nerves were taut with tension. She reached for the bag and felt Frederick’s hand touch hers. Looking up, she couldn’t help but lose herself in the moment, in the dark eyes that stared back at her with such tenderness.
“I hope to see you again soon,” he said softly.
She felt her cheeks grow hot. Surely, she was blushing. “Danke, Frederick,” she whispered, hoisting the bag onto her hip and backing away from the buggy. She raised her free hand and waved. Frederick leaned out the open window and tipped his hat, then continued down the road, traveling south.
Away from Echo Creek, she thought.
It dawned on Sadie that, perhaps, Frederick Keim had traveled all that way from his little Amish community just to see her. The thought made her insides grow warm and she felt gloriously happy. Did this mean that he intended to come call on her?
The sound of a door shutting interrupted her happy thoughts. She turned in time to notice that the rocking chair was still moving, but empty now. Sadie walked up the front steps, wondering why Rachel had disappeared so abruptly. But then she stopped, because the second thing she noticed was the blue blanket, the one that Frederick had given to her, lying in a crumpled heap on the floorboards.
With a sigh, Sadie reached down and lifted the blanket off the dirty floor and hung it on the back of the rocking chair. She was so disturbed she decided to go to the barn, instead of the house. She would give her father the bag of items from town and see if he needed any help with the livestock. Anything to avoid being alone with Rachel.