A Wedding Quilt for Ella (Little Valley 1) Read online

  A

  WEDDING

  QUILT

  FOR ELLA

  JERRY S. EICHER

  HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

  EUGENE, OREGON

  Cover by Garborg Design Works, Savage, Minnesota

  All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  A WEDDING QUILT FOR ELLA

  Copyright © 2011 by Jerry S. Eicher

  Published by Harvest House Publishers

  Eugene, Oregon 97402

  www.harvesthousepublishers.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Eicher, Jerry S.

  A wedding quilt for Ella / Jerry Eicher.

  p. cm.—(Little Valley series ; bk. 1)

  ISBN 978-0-7369-2804-5 (pbk)

  1. Amish—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3605.I34W43 2011

  813’.6—dc22

  2010021563

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Printed in the United States of America

  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 / BP-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Twenty-two

  Twenty-three

  Twenty-four

  Twenty-five

  Twenty-six

  Twenty-seven

  Twenty-eight

  Twenty-nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-one

  Thirty-two

  Thirty-three

  Thirty-four

  Thirty-five

  Thirty-six

  Thirty-seven

  Thirty-eight

  Thirty-nine

  Forty

  Forty-one

  Forty-two

  Discussion Questions

  About Jerry Eicher…

  Other fine Harvest House Amish fiction from Jerry Eicher…

  AmishReader.com

  One

  The wedding was in June, and Ella Yoder smiled at the thought as she stood at the kitchen sink looking out over the long sweep of Little Valley’s rolling hills. Low mountains lay to the west, and the scattered Amish farms of Cattaraugus County spread all around her. This was where she felt at home. Here on Seager Hill, her heart was secure, her love was found, and she had no plans to leave—ever. She and Aden would be so happy here.

  Ella rinsed the last of the dishes, pausing to consider all the preparations for the wedding. In the months ahead, the house would bustle in an uproar of activity as the family pitched in to get ready for the big day. The extra work wasn’t something the family needed right now. Still, they understood even if they didn’t know Aden was quite the wonderful man that Ella knew him to be.

  “It’s the way of the Lord,” her father had said, “when a man and a woman come together in marriage and pledge their lives together in His holy will.”

  He had stroked his long beard gravely, but Ella saw his eyes twinkling. She remembered the pleasure that came from his words and thought again of Aden. How good it was to have her dad’s approval of her husband-to-be.

  Her mother also seemed content with the choice of Aden, and so surely after the work of the wedding, life would quickly settle back to normal for everyone and continue on as it always had.

  The clock on the kitchen wall showed a little past three as Ella put the last of the dried dishes away. Her sister Clara would be home from school at any moment. Her mom and other sister must be on their way back from town by now. In the fields behind the barn, her dad and brothers would soon be ready to call it a day. It would fall on Ella and Clara to prepare supper for the whole hungry family.

  Ella glanced out the window toward the schoolhouse. A neighbor’s buggy lumbered slowly up the long hill on its way home, the sun behind it casting wild shadows on the road as the horse shook its head. Farther back Ella could see Clara and some of her school friends walking briskly along, lunch buckets swinging in their hands. As they passed the houses on Seager Hill, they broke off from the group one by one. Clara was her best sister, the sweet one, but that was something best not said out loud.

  Ella quickly returned to the kitchen table, grabbing the potatoes. She would peel them, and Clara could take over when she arrived. They needed to make the fire in the kitchen stove, bring the flour out for the gravy, and fry the hamburger patties.

  “Hi,” Ella hollered when the door slammed. “Did you have a good day in school?”

  Clara looked through the kitchen doorway. “Not gut,” she said.

  Ella gave her a knowing smile. “Test blues perhaps? I used to have those.”

  Clara shook her head and marched quickly upstairs, muttering over her shoulder, “I’m going to change, and then I’ll be down to help.”

  Ella drew in her breath. She would carry on with the conversation when Clara returned. A nice sisterly chat might be all the girl needed. She continued with the potatoes until moments later when Clara came into the kitchen, her face still dark.

  “So, now,” Ella said with older sister sympathy. “Sit yourself down here, and you can work on the potatoes while we talk. You can tell me about your day.”

  Clara plopped down in the chair and stared at the potatoes. “Why must everything come in one day?”

  Ella waited. It might not be good to push too hard.

  “Teacher asked us to draw a picture for social studies class,” Clara went on. “Then we were to write a story about it.”

  “Yah,” Ella said, nodding.

  “Teacher Katie doesn’t do that usually. At least it’s the first time she has ever done it for us.”

  “This is Katie’s first year, right?”

  “Katie didn’t do anything wrong. She’s a good teacher,” Clara said, meeting Ella’s eyes.

  “So it wasn’t from too much work?”

  “Nee,” Clara said, sighing. “I can do the work.”

  “Then…what?”

  “Well, I started to draw my picture. At first I didn’t know what to draw, but then I saw Amanda’s picture. She sits in the seat in front of me.”

  “You didn’t cheat?” Ella asked firmly. “You know that’s not right.”

  Clara shook her head. “Of course not. Amanda’s picture didn’t even give me an idea, really. Amanda’s picture was of a clothesline. And besides, I finished before Amanda did.”

  “You shouldn’t be proud about that,” Ella said quickly, thankful this wasn’t about copying someone else’s work.

  “I don’t think I was proud. Anyway, that wasn’t the problem. The trouble started when Amanda turned in her seat and saw my picture of the house. She gasped out loud. I was sure Katie would look up and see us, but she didn’t.”

  “So it was a nice picture?” Ella said, thinking none of this sounded
too serious yet.

  “Yah, but I didn’t know it was nice then. I thought Amanda didn’t like it, and so I drew in some more things…so she would like it. Things like a horse and buggy, a fence, cows, and a bull like Dad just got. Then when I was done, I finished my story.”

  Ella motioned with her hand for Clara to wait as she lit the kindling in the woodstove. The little stream of smoke swirled out of the lid, and Ella waved it back in with her hand. Slowly the flame grew, and the smoke circled up backwards in the stove. Ella added heavier wood and closed the lid. “Phew,” she said, turning her attention back to Clara. “So you wrote a good story and made a nice drawing?”

  “Yah, but I didn’t know that yet. Amanda asked to look at my picture and story at recess. I gave it to her, and she took them both up to Katie. I could hear Amanda whisper that it wasn’t fair I could draw and write so well and that she couldn’t. Katie told her something I couldn’t hear, but Amanda seemed happy about whatever Katie said to her.”

  “So what did Katie tell you? I hope she liked it.”

  “She said that I have to be careful about such things,” Clara said, “that our people don’t try to be good at drawing and writing stories, and that such things belong just to the Englisha.” Clara paused. “Is that true, Ella?”

  Ella opened the oven and placed another piece of wood inside. What should I say to Clara? I certainly don’t want to encourage Clara in disobedience to the faith. After all, Daett always says, “Destructive seeds are planted when the heart is still young.” Is this a destructive seed?

  “Maybe…sometimes,” was all Ella could muster up as an answer.

  Clara looked distressed. “I wasn’t trying to be good or even better than Amanda. It just happened.”

  “Then no one can blame you,” Ella said, thinking that was surely safe advice.

  “Katie didn’t look happy,” Clara said. “I could tell.”

  “I know what we can do,” Ella said, turning quickly to face her sister. “Bring the drawing home with you from school so I can see it.”

  “But if it’s wrong, why would you want to see it?”

  Ella considered her answer. “Well, maybe we can make it right by what we do with it. Yah, that’s what we can do. Your picture of a house may be what I’ve been looking for.”

  “For what?” Clara asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “I can use the picture for my quilt. Bring it home. I expect it’s going to be exactly what I need for my wedding quilt in the basement.”

  “Really?” Clara said, the faint hint of a smile crossing her face.

  “It can be the centerpiece,” Ella said. “I’m certain of it. I’ve been looking for a centerpiece for some time and found nothing that’s just right. This might be exactly what I’ve been waiting for.”

  “I doubt if it will work,” Clara said, her voice sinking.

  “But it’s nice, isn’t it? Yah, you just said so.”

  Clara nodded. “But you haven’t seen it yet.”

  “That’s true,” Ella said, pausing to slide a hamburger patty into the pan. “But you bring it home, and if I like it, we can pencil it in straight from your picture. What do think about that?”

  Clara shrugged. “That might be nice, I guess.”

  “Aden will love it,” Ella said, her voice soft. “We can use it on our bed—once we’re married.”

  “But it still makes no sense,” Clara said, unconvinced. “Katie said this was all wrong. How will using it in your quilt make it right?”

  “Not everything in life makes sense,” Ella said, “but I’m sure Katie wouldn’t mind if we use your drawing for my quilt.”

  Clara met her eyes. “Then you think I can draw again…if it’s for the right thing?”

  Ella nodded, smiling.

  “After this, I thought I never should try to draw anymore.”

  “Of course you may. You just can’t do it when you might be…well, thought of as showing off. Prideful,” Ella said, adding another piece of wood to the fire. When the flame looked satisfactory, she reached for a kettle, filled it with water from the water bucket, and gently set it on the stove to heat.

  “There’s something else I should be telling you,” Clara said, her eyes focused on the floor.

  Ella glanced at her. “Now what’s wrong?”

  “Paul…” Clara began and then hesitated. “He’s in my class and sits right behind me.”

  “Has he been bothering you?” Ella asked, remembering her own days at school. That one boy—what was his name?—always used to kick his shoes against the underside of her desk even when she repeatedly told him not to.

  “Not so much bothering,” Clara said, “just looking. Whenever I turned around in my seat today, he was looking at me.”

  Ella waited.

  Clara focused on her potatoes as she continued, “I never noticed before, but I did today. And, Ella…I liked that he was looking at me. Is that wrong? Wrong like my drawing?”

  “Ach,” Ella said, reaching an arm across to Clara’s thin shoulders. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a gut thing to feel, Clara. It’s the life that our people get ready for—like what Aden and I are getting ready for with our wedding.”

  “Me…marry Paul?” Clara said, dropping her potato on the kitchen table.

  Ella laughed. “Not now, you silly. You’re still a girl. When you get older. There’s plenty of time then to marry.”

  “Then why do I feel like this now?”

  “It’s just a feeling, that’s all. You grow up and make choices about those feelings. Yah, I should know.”

  “That’s what you and Aden feel?”

  “That and a lot more,” Ella said. “Love can start with a feeling…And then it grows until you become man and wife. That’s how Da Hah made it to be.”

  “I saw Ezra look at me like that once. Except I didn’t feel anything like I did today.”

  “Who’s Ezra?” Ella asked.

  “He’s in the seventh grade and sits across the aisle from me. He was held back once. I think it was in the fifth grade.”

  “Ach, he’s still probably a nice boy.”

  “Maybe,” Clara said, shrugging, “but not as nice as Paul.”

  “Clara, slow people, like maybe Ezra, are not to be looked down on. You must always remember that. Yah, all you can see of Ezra is his schoolwork. What he does at home on the farm may be much better than what Paul does.”

  “Only Paul made me feel what I did,” Clara said. “Ezra didn’t.”

  “I’m not saying that’s wrong,” Ella said. “Some girl will like Ezra. There’s someone for everyone.”

  “Like Aden is for you?”

  A smile filled Ella’s entire face. “Especially for me, Clara, there couldn’t be anyone better.”

  Two

  The sisters heard the sound of buggy wheels rattling up the driveway, quickly followed by the chattering of familiar voices.

  “Mamm’s here,” Ella said. “They’re finally back from town.”

  The front screen door slammed, and Dora appeared, her arms full of groceries. Their mother, Lizzie, and three younger sisters followed.

  “Is supper done yet?” Lizzie asked as she bustled in, set the groceries down, and surveyed the kitchen.

  “Just about,” Ella said. “Did you have a good trip?”

  The three youngest sisters nodded in unison with big smiles on their faces. They each carried a small bag of groceries into the house—except the youngest, Martha, who carried a single can of soup.

  “It was a good trip,” Mamm said. “The traffic was light for this time of the day. For that we can thank Da Hah. The way things are down-town sometimes is an outright fright. You’d think all the earth was on fire, the way people rush about.”

  Ella’s laugh filled the kitchen.

  Clara glanced up from digging through the bags of groceries. “Did you bring any corn candy, Mamm?” she asked after searching the first three bags and finding none.

  “Now, wh
y would I buy something like that?” Lizzie asked, keeping a straight face. “Your teeth are already in enough danger of rotting out. You have a dentist appointment as soon as school is out.”

  “Ach. Please?” Clara said, digging deeper into another bag, her eyes hungry.

  “Why don’t you help unpack those bags, Clara,” Ella said. “Mamm might find what you want while you work.”

  “Now, that sounds like a good idea,” Mamm said.

  “You’re just tricking me,” Clara said but stopped emptying the contents of the grocery bags onto the kitchen table. Instead, she lifted a few items and set them in the cupboards. Mamm then acted like she would walk away but stepped back to the last bag, and with a flourish, she brought out what was left of the corn candy.

  “There’s not much here,” Clara said, holding the half-empty bag aloft.

  “You have more than I had,” Dora said, her arms full of groceries and ready to go down the basement steps.

  “They left enough for you,” Mamm said. “You’re not a child anymore.”

  “I’m not to be married like Ella,” Clara said, “so I’m still very young.”

  Mamm laughed. “Now that’s some logic. I have to raise all of you children right. Eating less candy is part of growing up—that and a lot of other things. Neither your daett or I want you to reach marrying age with us having to hang our heads in shame over the way we raised you.”

  “Clara helped me real well today,” Ella said quickly. “She peeled the potatoes like a gut woman, I’d say. And Clara has her first time at chores tonight.”

  “Yah,” Lizzie replied, nodding, “and it is high time too.”

  “So why did no one tell me?” Clara protested. “Tonight I have to milk cows?”

  “I didn’t decide this,” Ella said. “Mamm and Daett decided last night after supper, and I just overheard. Don’t worry, though. We’ll start you in slow and give your hands a little time to get toughened up. But I can’t say I don’t feel sorry for you.”

  “Ach, then don’t feel sorry,” Mamm said. “Clara’s a big girl now—almost out of the eighth grade. With the wedding coming up and you leaving us, Ella, we thought it was time Clara started evening choring. Dora had to learn even earlier. So, really, Clara’s been having an easy time of it.”