Chapter Fifteen
“Someone’s here to see you,” Rachel called up the stairs the next morning.
Sadie had been lying down. Even though she hadn’t returned home from the youth picnic until almost ten o’clock at night, she was far from tired. Instead, her mind whirled with thoughts of Frederick.
The previous afternoon, after she had cleared the air about the gossip regarding her and John Rabor, Frederick had barely left her side.
To Sadie, it had felt as if no one else was even there at the picnic. True to her word, she had forgiven—and forgotten—the incident about Frederick believing the idle gossip that she was to marry John Rabor. After all, stranger things sometimes happened. She had only to remind herself once again about her friend Belle marrying Adam Hershberger so suddenly.
Toward the evening, some of the young men had started a bonfire. With the flames stretching to the heavens, several young women began to sing. Sadie joined them, lifting up her voice to praise God. She had many things to be thankful for, Frederick being one of them.
When the embers began to die down, Frederick had whispered to her that he’d like to take her home. She was only too willing to leave the picnic with him.
As Frederick had done after the youth singing two weeks before, he took the longest route, just so they could spend more time together.
And when she finally said goodbye to him on the porch of her father’s house, he had held her hand and stared into her face in silence.
No words were needed.
Now, the following morning, when she heard Rachel call upstairs to her with eagerness in her voice, Sadie knew that Frederick must have come calling! He had said that he wouldn’t be able to see her until the end of the week. He needed to bale hay with his father and then stack it in the barn for the winter. With so much acreage, he wouldn’t finish until Thursday or Friday at the latest.
But today was Sunday. No one worked on Sunday. Surely Frederick had decided that he couldn’t wait that long and had come to visit before his week of hard work began.
Sadie jumped up and immediately straightened her prayer kapp. She didn’t want to appear too excited, so she tried to catch her breath. If Frederick had come calling at the house, her father and stepmother would know of his intentions. And then it was only a matter of time . . .
But she didn’t want to jump too far ahead. For now, she needed to focus on the moment. She pinched her cheeks, hoping she didn’t look pale from not having slept all night. It would do no good for Frederick to realize how much of an effect he had on her.
Satisfied that enough time had passed so that she wouldn’t appear overly anxious, Sadie took a deep breath and exited her room. Slowly she descended the staircase.
But, to Sadie’s surprise, when she emerged at the bottom of the stairs and glanced over to the sitting area near the windows, the man seated on the sofa, talking with Jacob, was not Frederick Keim but John Rabor.
Rachel must be mistaken, Sadie thought and stopped on the last step. Why would John be there to see her?
“There you are!” Rachel was the perfect picture of a happy stepmother. She bustled over to where Sadie stood, frozen in place on the bottom step, and gestured toward the sofa. “Go sit and visit a spell while I fetch some water and pretzels for your guest.”
Visit? With John Rabor? And why had Rachel referred to him as her guest? Sadie had nothing in common with the man and even less to talk about with him. Besides, wasn’t he engaged to someone? That was what had started all the gossip.
Hesitantly, she took a few steps toward the sitting area.
“Sadie.”
That was all John said when he saw her. In fact, he barely looked in her direction as she approached.
Uncertain what to say, she merely sat down in the wooden rocking chair near the sofa.
To her further surprise, her father only acknowledged her presence with an abrupt nod and avoided meeting her eyes.
“As I was saying,” John Rabor continued, returning his attention to Jacob, “the increased price of hay more than makes up for the decreased price in milk. You should consider switching next spring and grow more hay while culling your herd.”
John’s words made Sadie cringe. Cull the herd? Her father only sent his cows to slaughter when they were too old for breeding. He would never send his herd off for slaughter.
But her father appeared to be listening intently to John Rabor’s suggestion. He tugged at his beard and nodded. “You make a right gut point, John. Given the times, growing hay does make sense. And I don’t have to feed hay or clean up after it. Much more economical, ja?”
John Rabor made a noise that, if Sadie didn’t know better, might have been an attempt at laughing.
Horrified that her father had agreed with John’s alarming suggestion, Sadie leaned forward. “Daed,” Sadie said in a low voice, “you aren’t seriously considering that, are you?”
Jacob ran his hands through his hair, causing the front to stand up just a bit. “There’s sense to what John says, Sadie.”
John scoffed. “Does your dochder run your business, Jacob?” He chortled in an unkind way.
Sadie whispered, “You promised you’d never send the cows to slaughter. Not unless it was for our personal need for food at home.”
Her father ignored her comment.
Carrying a tray with mugs of hot coffee on it, Rachel walked in between Sadie and the two men. Clearly she had been eavesdropping. “Oh, Sadie, what do you know of such things? Silly girl.” She shook her head as if what Sadie had just said was the most ridiculous thing ever. “Times are changing.” Rachel looked at her husband. “Isn’t that so, Jacob?”
“Ja, they are.” Despite his former promises to live close to the land and not slaughter his cows, Jacob now seemed resigned to the fact that going against his word was a real possibility. “Corporate farming, especially in the dairy industry, sure does seem to make it next to impossible for small dairy farmers to survive. People no longer care about having healthy milk; they just buy cheap milk from those large farms where cows don’t free-graze and are fed hormones. Might be time to rethink some things around here.”
Sadie couldn’t believe her father had said those words. How many times had he told her that having enough was more than plenty? Only the Englischers continually wanted more and more, their insatiable greed causing them to work away from their families and homes.
“We live just fine, Daed,” Sadie said, bewildered by this conversation. “You always say so.”
John made a face and scowled at her. “Such opinions for a young woman with little experience of the real world,” he commented unkindly. His words belittled her as if she knew nothing about farming, even though she had grown up on a farm.
Inwardly, Sadie rolled her eyes. However, she knew better than to actually do that. “Other Amish folks need milk just as much as they need hay,” she said sharply, unwilling to let a man like John Rabor denigrate her. “Perhaps we should market our dairy products differently. Perhaps we should promote the care given to the dairy cows who graze in pastures instead of living unhappy lives chained up in large, dirty barns as they do with those big Englische farms. We could command a higher price for our products rather than trying to compete with the corporate dairy farms.”
The expression on her father’s face shifted, changing from indifference to curiosity. For a moment, she thought that her father might comment on her suggestion, praising her for such a creative idea.
But John Rabor ruined the moment. He made a face of mockery, staring at Sadie as if she were crazed. “Whoever heard of raising dairy prices when we can hardly sell milk for lower ones?” He shook his head. “Who has been filling your head with such nonsense, Sadie?” He looked at Jacob. “And this is why womenfolk belong in the haus and must leave the important farmwork to us men.”
Stunned that her father didn’t jump to her defense, she pressed her lips together and leaned back in the rocking chair. She stopped listening to their conversation, which really was one-sided, with John talking and her father merely nodding his head.
Oh, how she detested that John Rabor! And while she knew that she’d have to pray forgiveness later that evening for thinking horrible things about John, she knew that he was far too vain to even consider doing the same for having actually spoken his horrible ideas.
Hurt and bored, Sadie stared out the window. How she wished that it wasn’t a Sunday so she could work on a quilt while she sat there during John Rabor’s visit. As no one was permitted to work on Sundays, unless it was essential work like caring for livestock or tending to the family, the bishop would surely hear if she took a needle and thread to her latest quilting project. So, instead, Sadie was forced to sit there, listening to John Rabor’s bluster about the benefits of giving up dairy farming, unable to politely leave or to make productive use of her time.
Finally, almost thirty minutes later, to Sadie’s relief, she saw that John was preparing to leave. She said a silent prayer of thanks to God for the short visit. Still, she felt frustrated that she had been forced to sit there in the first place.
“Sadie,” John said, turning to speak directly to her for the first time since she had come downstairs. He peered at her with cold, steely eyes. “I need to cut wood for the winter this week. Not only for myself, but also for my neighbors. Would you . . .”
Sadie cringed, for she knew what was coming. Another request for help.
“. . . help with the kinner again?”
Before she could speak, Rachel replied, “Of course she will.” Rachel turned toward her, a sweet smile plastered to her face. “Right, Sadie?”
Sadie’s heart pounded and she felt sweat form on the back of her neck as she realized that all three pairs of eyes were upon her.
I can’t. I can’t. I simply can’t. While the words screamed inside her head, she couldn’t form them on her tongue. She couldn’t imagine having to spend any more time in the presence of John Rabor or his kinner. Nothing would make Sadie feel more miserable. And yet she could tell that she was expected to acquiesce and agree to do just that.
Swallowing, Sadie tried to think of the most graceful way to escape such a fate.
“I . . .”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed.
“I . . . I really cannot.”
“Sadie!” Rachel glared at her, appalled at her response. “The good Lord tells us to help our neighbors.”
Sadie pressed her lips together. “Nee, he said to love one another as he loved us.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” Rachel snapped.
“Nee, it’s not. Besides, even if it were, haven’t I already helped enough?”
Rachel shut her eyes and took a deep breath, clearly displeased with Sadie’s response.
Sadie lifted her chin. “Mayhaps you could watch his kinner and I’ll stay here to tend the haus.”
Rachel gasped and John stood up, the abruptness of his movement causing him to knock over his almost empty coffee mug. “Such insolence!” He faced Rachel. “And I thought you said—”
Just as quickly, Rachel jumped to her feet. “Let me walk you to the door,” she said, interrupting him before he could finish his sentence. She placed her hand on his arm and started guiding him away from the sitting area. As they walked away, Sadie thought she heard Rachel whisper, “Let me talk to her. I’m sure she’ll come to her senses.”
John grunted in response.
They disappeared outside, leaving Sadie to sit there, wondering what mischief Rachel was up to. Why would Rachel be championing John Rabor of all people? She barely knew the man. She wondered if Rachel had been behind John’s visit, and she suspected the answer was yes.
Sadie turned toward her father, eager to ask if he knew why, exactly, John had come visiting, but he had already returned his attention to the Bible. There was no sense in disturbing him, for the matter clearly was of little concern or interest to her father.
Frustrated, Sadie turned her attention toward the window. She knew that her stepmother was scheming something. Whatever it was, Sadie would have to keep up her guard. There was something about the new Rachel she could not trust.