the visit was kept short.
89
Mamma’s faltering manner made Katie wonder if her mother was hesitant about a face-to-face meeting. And, too, it was clear that Clan wasn’t invited. Not a’tall.
Katie, of course, didn’t promise anything definite, saying she didn’t know how soon she could visit them. She would talk things over with Clan first, wanted to get his opinion on the matter, whether or not he thought Katie oughta be singled out. Not that she was too timid to go alone, wasn’t that. Clan just might think her parents were working on her, trying to get her “to see the light,” according to the Old Ways.
Practicing hymns and gospel songs on their guitars, then leading worship at two different home groups during the past week had taken up much of her and Dan’s time, so she hadn’t shared Mam’s phone call with him. But she would.
For now she plumped her pillow and lay quietly. Then, gently, she reached over and laid her hand on his shoulder, waiting for dawn’s light . and for the alarm clock. So strong was Clan, both physically and in the faith. She could lean on him if need be when things troubled her. He was her shelter in the one and only howling gale of her life, because he fully understood the pain of shunning. Clan was under the
90
Bann, too, from the same bishop, the man she’d nearly married. How strange that her dearest friend, Mary, had become John Beiler’s young bride. Well, she was right happy for them both. Truly, she was.
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if Mary would go on missing her and telling Mamma so, who in turn would relay the information to Katie. Was it an attempt to get to Katie, make her feel sorrowful for leaving? To make her regret abandoning her Amish roots for her newfound faith?
Sitting up, she pushed back the covers, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet groped about for slippers, and, finding them, she tiptoed across the room. At the window, she stood silently and parted the curtains, looking out. The dawn was as cold and gray as any she’d witnessed lately. An enormous cloud mass hovered over the horizon, blocking out the sun. No wonder the room had seemed so dark upon her first awakening.
She stared down at black tree trunks, mere etchings against a yellowing, now-dormant front lawn. In the distance, not a flicker of sunlight escaped from the gloom as the day began over wooded hills.
During breakfast Katie thought of telling
91
Clan of her phone chat with Mam. But she was reluctant to do so. She couldn’t bring herself to tell her beloved that Mamma wasn’t much interested in includinghimin the invitation. So she decided to let it be, put off mentioning anything this morning. Instead, she would pray for the right timing. No need hurting her darling, who sat across the table, looking cheerful in his bathrobe, blond hair disheveled a bit, enjoying his bacon and eggs, glancing every so often outside at the drizzle coming from mournful skies. No, this could wait.
After Clan left the house for work, she spent the morning redding up the front room, a sunny living space, not large but ample enough for entertaining several couples at a time. Wiping down the white wall paneling, she paid special attention to the section that ran up alongside the stairway, where handprints seemed to show up most often. That done, she moved the brown wicker chests off the wide landing below and damp-mopped the hardwood flooring, checking in the corners for dust bunnies, as she’d heard them called as a teenager, when she used to clean house for English folk.
She smiled at the memory of a story she’d heard of a young boy who’d learned
92
in church that all of us come from dust and will return to dust. At home he peered beneath his bed and said, “Well, someone’s either coming or going under my bed!”
Standing back, she took in the informal room, its garden-like cane table and sofa blending easily with the oak pressed-back chairs, the sheer lace
89
Mamma’s faltering manner made Katie wonder if her mother was hesitant about a face-to-face meeting. And, too, it was clear that Clan wasn’t invited. Not a’tall.
Katie, of course, didn’t promise anything definite, saying she didn’t know how soon she could visit them. She would talk things over with Clan first, wanted to get his opinion on the matter, whether or not he thought Katie oughta be singled out. Not that she was too timid to go alone, wasn’t that. Clan just might think her parents were working on her, trying to get her “to see the light,” according to the Old Ways.
Practicing hymns and gospel songs on their guitars, then leading worship at two different home groups during the past week had taken up much of her and Dan’s time, so she hadn’t shared Mam’s phone call with him. But she would.
For now she plumped her pillow and lay quietly. Then, gently, she reached over and laid her hand on his shoulder, waiting for dawn’s light . and for the alarm clock. So strong was Clan, both physically and in the faith. She could lean on him if need be when things troubled her. He was her shelter in the one and only howling gale of her life, because he fully understood the pain of shunning. Clan was under the
90
Bann, too, from the same bishop, the man she’d nearly married. How strange that her dearest friend, Mary, had become John Beiler’s young bride. Well, she was right happy for them both. Truly, she was.
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if Mary would go on missing her and telling Mamma so, who in turn would relay the information to Katie. Was it an attempt to get to Katie, make her feel sorrowful for leaving? To make her regret abandoning her Amish roots for her newfound faith?
Sitting up, she pushed back the covers, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet groped about for slippers, and, finding them, she tiptoed across the room. At the window, she stood silently and parted the curtains, looking out. The dawn was as cold and gray as any she’d witnessed lately. An enormous cloud mass hovered over the horizon, blocking out the sun. No wonder the room had seemed so dark upon her first awakening.
She stared down at black tree trunks, mere etchings against a yellowing, now-dormant front lawn. In the distance, not a flicker of sunlight escaped from the gloom as the day began over wooded hills.
During breakfast Katie thought of telling
91
Clan of her phone chat with Mam. But she was reluctant to do so. She couldn’t bring herself to tell her beloved that Mamma wasn’t much interested in includinghimin the invitation. So she decided to let it be, put off mentioning anything this morning. Instead, she would pray for the right timing. No need hurting her darling, who sat across the table, looking cheerful in his bathrobe, blond hair disheveled a bit, enjoying his bacon and eggs, glancing every so often outside at the drizzle coming from mournful skies. No, this could wait.
After Clan left the house for work, she spent the morning redding up the front room, a sunny living space, not large but ample enough for entertaining several couples at a time. Wiping down the white wall paneling, she paid special attention to the section that ran up alongside the stairway, where handprints seemed to show up most often. That done, she moved the brown wicker chests off the wide landing below and damp-mopped the hardwood flooring, checking in the corners for dust bunnies, as she’d heard them called as a teenager, when she used to clean house for English folk.
She smiled at the memory of a story she’d heard of a young boy who’d learned
92
in church that all of us come from dust and will return to dust. At home he peered beneath his bed and said, “Well, someone’s either coming or going under my bed!”
Standing back, she took in the informal room, its garden-like cane table and sofa blending easily with the oak pressed-back chairs, the sheer lace
Similar Books
