An Amish Reunion

In the chaos of yesterday, Hannah hadn’t given the toddler’s mamm much thought. Where was she? Did she know her kind had been left alone on the front porch? Most important, Hannah thought as the little girl leaned her face against her shoulder, would Shelby’s mamm want her back?

All questions she couldn’t answer. What she could do was get Shelby cleaned and fed.

Hannah soon had the little girl, despite Shelby’s attempts to escape, in a fresh diaper and clothes. Another pair of pink overalls. She wondered if those were all Shelby wore. Her white shirt today had pink and blue turtles on it. Hannah needed to make clothes for the little girl, but the pressing matter was diapers. She had only about a half dozen on the dresser.

She came down the stairs with Shelby and saw Grossmammi Ella was awake and in the kitchen waiting for her breakfast. Exactly as she did every morning, but this day was different.

Putting Shelby in the high chair she’d found in the cellar, Hannah handed the toddler some crackers to keep her busy while she scrambled eggs for them. That seemed to quiet the kind who focused her attention on breaking crackers into the tiniest possible pieces.

Hannah gave her great-grandmother a kiss on her wizened cheek. “Gute mariye, Grossmammi Ella,” she said with a smile. “I hope you got some sleep.”

“Some.” She stared at the table.

“Let me get you some kaffi and toast while I make a gut breakfast for us.”

The old woman frowned at Shelby who was dropping minuscule pieces of cracker on the floor. “How long will that kind be here?”

“I told you last night. I’m not sure. I’m sorry she kept you awake.” She went to the stove and pulled a cast-iron frying pan from beneath the oven.

“She doesn’t belong here.”

“What?” Hannah turned, shocked. Grossmammi Ella had always been fond of kinder. Many church Sundays, her great-grandmother was the first to volunteer to hold a fussy boppli on her lap or watch over a little one so older siblings could join in a game after the service. “She may be my sister.”

“I don’t believe you! Your daed would never cast away his daughter like that.”

“He did me.” The words came out before she could halt them.

Her daed was a sore subject between her and Grossmammi Ella. The old woman believed Isaac Lambright would return someday and confess his sins before the congregation. Hannah wondered how her great-grandmother could continue to believe that after fifteen years. Hannah’s anger and grief at being left behind herself had been brought to the forefront by Shelby’s abandonment.

Dear Lord, show me the way to forgive my daed as You taught us. I can’t find a way in my heart to grant him forgiveness after what he’s done.

“Don’t forget what’s in God’s Ten Commandments. A kind should honor her daed and mamm.” Her great-grandmother’s scowl deepened.

“Ja.” She broke eggs into the frying pan and took out her frustration on them by stirring them hard. She did her best to keep the commandments, but her daed’s selfish actions made respecting him difficult.

I’ll try harder, Lord. Help me remember what’s important. She glanced over her shoulder as Shelby flung out her hands. A shower of cracker crumbs went everywhere, into the little girl’s hair, onto the floor, onto the table...onto Grossmammi Ella who abruptly smiled and handed the toddler another cracker. That delighted Shelby who babbled with excitement.

Hannah wanted to wrap her arms around them both and hold them close. The days to come wouldn’t be easy, but for her family, she’d try her hardest.

* * *

“Komm in, young man,” called a wavering voice when Daniel peeked around the front door of the Lambrights’ house after no one responded to his knock. “Don’t just stand there.” The voice took on a reproving tone. “Komm in.”

Daniel did, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the interior after the bright early morning sunshine. Unbuttoning his coat, he didn’t take it off. He doubted he’d be staying long. He shifted his hold on the bag holding the shampoo and diapers he’d bought at his brother’s store.

A very old woman sat by the window. She was almost gaunt, and her white hair was so thin he could see her scalp through her kapp. Her bony fingers looked like talons as she clasped them on her black apron over her dress of the same color. But her eyes drilled through him as if he were a naughty boy standing in front of his teacher.

“I’m Ella Lambright,” she said, “but you can call me Grossmammi Ella. Who are you?”

“Daniel Stoltzfus.”

She eyed him up and down. “You have the look of Paul Stoltzfus about you.”

“He was my daed.”

“No wonder you look like him then. Why are you here? Are you courting our Hannah?”

Before he could reply, he heard a quick intake of breath beyond the old woman. Glancing toward the kitchen, he saw Hannah wiping her hands on a dish towel. Shelby was sitting in a high chair and eating what looked like toast covered with honey. The toddler would need another bath as soon as she was finished, because honey was smeared all over her face.

Hannah flipped the dish towel over the shoulder of her dark purple dress as her gaze locked with his. She didn’t move or look away. He found he couldn’t either when he saw the deep wells of sorrow in her emotive eyes. Had she believed he’d return with her daed this morning? No, she hadn’t believed that, but she’d hoped. How could he fault her for her faith that all would turn out well in the end? Now wasn’t the time to tell her he’d learned that, though God was a loving Father, He didn’t have time to take care of details. Daniel had decided years ago to handle those on his own.

“Gute mariye,” he said into the strained silence. Pulling out the shampoo bottle from among the packages of diapers, he added, “My sister-in-law uses this on her boppli because it’s gentle on little ones’ hair and doesn’t sting their eyes.”

“Danki.” Her hand trembled as she took the bag without letting her fingers brush his. Setting it on the counter by the sink, she said nothing when he came into the kitchen.

Shelby stretched out sticky fingers toward him. She began to chatter in nonsense sounds. She bounced on the hard high chair, excited to see him again. Honey dripped off her chin, and bits of bread were glued to her face and her hands.

He kissed the top of her head. “How are you doing, Shelby?”

Giggling, she offered him a tiny piece of toast. He ate it, pretending he was going to eat her fingers, as well. That made her laugh louder. He was astonished how deep and rich the sound was.

The toddler’s high spirits vanished when Hannah approached her with a washcloth to clean her hands and face. Shelby screwed up her face and opened her mouth to cry.

Daniel yanked the wet cloth from Hannah’s hand. When she protested, he said, “Let me do it. There’s no reason to upset her again.”

“All right.” Resignation filled Hannah’s voice.

As he cleaned honey and bread crumbs off the little girl’s hands, he stole a glance toward her older sister. He almost gasped aloud at the pain and despair on Hannah’s face. Every instinct told him to toss aside the cloth and pull Hannah into his arms and console her. When they were walking out together, he wouldn’t have hesitated, but everything was different since the night he decided he had to be single-minded in the pursuit of his dream of running a construction company.

“While you’re getting the stickiness off her, I’ll get my beekeeping equipment.” Her voice was muffled, and he guessed she was struggling to hold back the tears he’d seen in her eyes when she wasn’t aware he was looking in her direction.

Again he’d had the chance to say something comforting, but he couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t upset her. What a disaster he’d made of what had been a gut friendship! To be honest, he was surprised she even talked to him after he’d avoided her during the past three years.

The back door closed behind her, and Daniel focused his attention on Shelby who slapped the high chair tray, getting her fingers sticky again. Picking her up, he sat her on the edge of the table. He succeeded in getting most the honey off her, but some stuck in her hair.

“She’s a gut girl,” said Grossmammi Ella from her chair by the window.

“Ja, she is.” He grinned at Shelby. “And she’s washed.”

“Not that one! Our Hannah is a gut girl.”

Daniel wasn’t sure what the elderly woman was trying to convey to him. Did she want him to leave her great-granddaughter alone so he didn’t have a chance to hurt her again, or was Grossmammi Ella hoping he’d court Hannah? He thought about assuring her that he had no plans to do either. Nothing had changed for him. He was working toward his goal, and it required every bit of his attention.

The door opening allowed him to avoid answering the old woman. In astonishment, he saw Hannah was dressed as she’d been when she’d left. Didn’t beekeepers wear protective suits to keep from getting stung? She held a small metal container with a spout like an inverted funnel on one side and small bellows on the other. The odor of something burning came from it.

“Is that all you’re bringing?” he asked.

“The smoker is all I need.”