Ella Finds Love Again (Little Valley 3) Read online

  It was Friday, and Ivan would be coming for the girls. But Ella had a better idea—one that had her rushing around her basement kitchen packing food for the supper she would take to him. She’d best hurry though. Otherwise he would be on his way to her place. Just as she packed the last of the food, Mary announced that she couldn’t find her shoes and Sarah, out on the basement steps, began to bawl like a wounded calf.

  Ella opened the basement door and asked, “What happened, dear? We’re tryin’ to rush.”

  “I slipped and fell,” Sarah said through tears as she clasped her knee.

  “Let me see,” Ella said. “Pull your hand away so I can see.”

  Ella saw no blood, just a little white scuff where the concrete had rubbed.

  “It hurts!” Sarah said, pulling in sharp sniffles.

  Ella puckered her lips and blew a long breath on the scraped knee. A look of delight crept over Sarah’s face and she laughed.

  “There we go. All better now?” Ella asked.

  Sarah nodded vigorously.

  How strange that real pain could be fixed simply by blowing air on it. Did Da Hah not know the secret? If He did, she had hurts He could blow on anytime now. But perhaps He was too busy?

  “Somebody hurt herself?” Ronda asked, raising the upstairs window and peering down through the screen. “I thought I heard cries.”

  “I hurt my knee,” Sarah said, pointing.

  “Tsk tsk,” Ronda cooed.

  Ella smiled. Ronda already had the air of a young mother, even though the birth of her first bobli was still months away.

  “Stay right there…don’t move,” Ella said in Sarah’s direction, as she looked back for Mary, who was proudly holding up her shoes.

  “That’s good!” Ella said, rushing to her. “Let me help you put them on. We have to go. And do you think you can carry something out to the buggy for me?”

  “Yah, something big,” Mary said without hesitation.

  Ella looked over her small body. “I think I’ll make extra trips. You can save time by putting your shoes on by yourself. Can you do that?”

  Mary nodded. “But I can’t tie them.”

  “Then we’ll have to practice that later. I’ll tie them when you’re ready.”

  Mary sat down on the concrete floor, grabbing her shoes. She stuck her right foot into one. Thankfully, she knew how to place the right shoe on the right foot.

  Ella turned to go load the food into the buggy. There was so much though. Perhaps Ronda could help her? That might entail questions, but right now she wasn’t afraid of questions. She was taking supper to Ivan, and that was nothing to be ashamed of.

  “Ronda!” she called up the stairs.

  “Is Ronda going to our house?” Mary asked.

  “No,” Ella said. “I need her help with the food.”

  The front door opened, and Ronda appeared. “Yah?”

  “Will you help me carry some things out to the buggy? Please? I may be late already. Getting ready took longer than I expected.”

  Ronda laughed. “Sure, I’d be glad to.”

  She came downstairs quickly, and the questions started just as fast.

  “Isn’t Ivan comin’ for the girls? Are you leavin’ for the evening? Runnin’ away with his little ones?”

  Ella laughed. Ronda was a dear.

  “Come on now,” Ronda said, teasing. “Spill the beans with me. You know I won’t tell! Or do you want me to tell him where you have taken them?”

  “Ronda, I’m goin’ to his place and takin’ supper in,” Ella said. “I got the idea sudden like, and that’s what’s throwing me behind. Still, I thought I had plenty of time, but I don’t want him drivin’ all the way over here for nothin’.”

  “Ach…you are serious,” Ronda beamed. “But surely you won’t be by yourself in the house with him and the girls. You know how that could look since you’re not married yet.”

  “I’ve already thought of that,” Ella said. “Susanna and her daett will be invited over. That’s another reason I have to hurry. I need to get there before they make supper. And if they can’t come over, I’ll leave the food with Ivan and come home.”

  “I’ll give you something to eat, if you have to come back,” Ronda said with a short laugh. “I won’t let you go hungry, but my guess is Susanna will jump at the chance not to cook. And I heard she really appreciated how you helped out at her mamm’s funeral.”

  “I was only helpin’,” Ella said, lifting the heavy casserole container, as Ronda grabbed a salad and two pies. “It was nothing special.”

  “Being part of the family…that’s what it’s all about,” Ronda said, holding the basement door for Ella. “Aren’t you takin’ bread, jam, and butter? You know how men like hot food. It works your way right into his heart.”

  “Yah,” Ella said laughing.

  If Ronda only knew. She already was in Ivan’s heart. It was her own heart that was the problem. Hopefully this meal would help. Maybe it would bring her into the routine of Ivan’s life…or something like that.

  When they got to the buggy, Sarah following along behind, Ella placed the food in the back and reached for what Ronda carried.

  “Your horse ready?” Ronda asked with a glance toward the barn.

  “I harnessed him earlier and gave him a half bucket of grain to keep him happy.”

  “You spoil Moonbeam, you do know that?”

  “I like to use him well,” Ella said. “If he’s spoiled…well, it won’t kill him.”

  “Ivan’s gettin’ a good wife…you know that too. He’ll be so spoiled, he’ll get so fat, he won’t be able to preach over his stomach on Sundays.”

  Ella laughed. Ivan kept himself in shape, not too thin, but sized down. The image of a bulge around his stomach while preaching was hilarious. He hadn’t preached in a while, but she hadn’t forgotten.

  “You will spoil him,” Ronda said. “Even if it seems impossible to you, you will. I know you.”

  “Can you watch Sarah for a minute?” Ella asked, swinging the child onto the buggy seat. “I’ll be right back with Mary and the baby.”

  “I’m right…” Ronda said. “And you’d better remember I said so when it happens.”

  Ella smiled and hurried back to the basement door. Mary sat beside the baby waiting.

  “You sweet darlings,” she said, bending over to tie Mary’s shoes before she picked up Barbara. “Okay, let’s go. We have to get over to your daett’s place.”

  Mary held the basement door open and pulled it shut behind them.

  Ella took her hand going up the steps. She loved these girls, and her love for Ivan needed to grow. And there was no reason it couldn’t. Da Hah had already planted the seed with her love for Ivan’s girls, and a little water added to the soil should do wonders. By summertime the garden would be growing into a fruitful crop.

  Ronda was trying to bridle Moonbeam when Ella arrived back at the buggy, but she was struggling.

  “He won’t open his mouth,” Ronda said.

  Ella set Barbara on the buggy seat and asked Sarah to hold her, and then helped Mary up before she went to help Ronda.

  “Open up!” Ella commanded, slapping the horse on his neck. Moonbeam promptly popped his mouth open and the bit slid in.

  “The spoiled rascal,” Ronda said. “That’s what comes from too many oats.”

  “He just does that for strangers now,” Ella said. “He doesn’t like my whacks on his neck. Other than that little trick, he’s one of the easiest horses I’ve ever had to harness.”

  “Well,” Ronda said, still glaring, “I don’t like horses taking advantage of me.”

  “Just whack him on the neck if it ever happens again,” Ella said, leading Moonbeam outside.

  Ronda lifted the shafts as Ella swung the horse under. They both pulled on the tugs, snapping them in place. Ella tossed the lines into the buggy, leaving Ronda holding the bridle while she climbed in.

  As Ronda let go, Ella slapped the reins and headed
down the drive. With a backward wave, she turned onto the main road, hanging on to the lines as the horse pulled hard. He was a little ornery tonight. Perhaps he was a little spoiled. Maybe Ronda was right, and she had better cut back on the oats.

  “Whee!” Mary sang beside her, the wind streaming past her little bonnet.

  Ella pulled to a stop at the corner and turned right. With a gentle slap of the reins she urged the horse on, pulling up the wool buggy blanket tight under the girls’ chins. Moonbeam was still tugging at the bit.

  Well, she was in a hurry, so why not? Her horse sensed her desire. He picked up the pace and loped down the gravel road.

  Several Englisha cars passed her, the drivers turning to look back with strange expressions on their faces at her speed. Ella laughed. They could think what they wanted—that she was a young Amish woman out with her children for a fast ride or that she had simply taken leave of her senses. Mary and Sarah were thrilled and laughed at the ride.

  The girls deserved to get out more. They needed a taste of life. Before long they would be grown with sweethearts calling for them. When the time came, their boyfriends would drive fast to impress them, but she would already have placed the girls one step ahead of the game.

  Ella threw her head back, laughing cheerily along with Mary and Sarah. Going fast was still fun, even for her as a grown woman. She just hoped no one could see her getting so much enjoyment out of speed. A turn came up ahead, and she pulled back on the lines. There was no sense in causing an accident. An overturned buggy in a snowy ditch wouldn’t be a pretty sight. That would be just what she needed on her conscience. Ella pulled back harder on the reins.

  “Fast ride over,” she said, even with another stretch of open snowy road in front of her. Perhaps it would be best to leave fast rides for the boys to impress them after all.

  “We like to go fast,” Mary said. “That was really fun.”

  “Well, it’s enough fun for today,” Ella said, her voice firm.

  They settled slowly back into the seat. She couldn’t see their faces under the bonnets. The little dears. Perhaps she should humor them, but no, she wouldn’t. Ivan’s place lay just ahead. He would think she had lost her mind if she drove dashing into his lane with their bonnet strings flying.

  She laughed when she thought of the look on his face. How unlike her, and yet how like her. It had been a long time since she had done anything like this. Would Ivan love this side of her? The side Aden used to bring out when he let out the lines on warm Sunday evenings on their way home from the hymn sing? Aden often let her drive, and his horse was one of the fastest among the young people. She could drive his horse almost as well as he could—a fact Aden knew and didn’t seem bothered by. That was one of the wonderful things about him.

  They would sit close together, her hands clutching the lines, as the land went speeding past the buggy door. If another buggy came up, she would turn out for it. No ditch was too scary or night too dark as they raced past. They went over the roads, moving at times as if the buggies ahead of them were standing still.

  What had brought such thoughts to her as she was on her way to the man who would surely be her future husband? This was not the time or place to think of days gone by. She now had another life to live—one that didn’t include fast buggy rides.

  “It’s Daett’s house!” Mary hollered.

  “Yah,” Ella said, with a catch in her voice. “We’re almost there.”

  Fourteen

  The snow had gathered in the yard since the funeral—a foot deep in places. Ivan was keeping the path open from the barn to the houses and a large area in front of the barn. Ella pulled back on the lines as they bounced into the lane. The place looked deserted. Several horse tracks went around to the back of the barn, as if Ivan had driven them across the yard. Perhaps they had broken out, and that was the closest way to the pasture. She glanced toward the ditch by the road. Human footprints circled around, and then went up the back to the fence line.

  Ella pulled to a stop by the barn door, stepping carefully down into the snow.

  “Mary, can you get down by yourself?” she asked the older girl, who had followed her, bravely placing both feet on the buggy step. “The steps are slippery.”

  Ella held back on her instinct to grab the girl. Mary had tried this before and always called for help. Perhaps tonight she would take the plunge and get down herself. Each girl needed her own rite of passage when it came to buggy steps. She remembered well her own surge of delight when her mamm no longer helped her down.

  “I want down too,” Sarah said, calling from the seat, holding baby Barbara beside her. Ella left Mary standing on the buggy steps, wavering as to whether to attempt the long step down, while she tied the horse to the hitching post. She walked around to the other side of the buggy and reached up to help Sarah down.

  “Now, just wait here,” Ella said, motioning toward a spot in the snow, “while I get Barbara down.”

  She reached up for Barbara and pulled her into her arms. She looked around. Still there was no sign of anyone. Likely Ivan was in the barn, as it was already chore time. She heard Mary pull in her breath from the other side of the buggy, followed by a soft thud in the snow.

  “I got down by myself!” Mary yelled, her voice triumphant.

  “Wow! You’re a big girl now,” Ella praised. “But just remember, you still have to be careful. Take things slowly so you don’t fall.”

  Mary looked back up at the buggy step, letting her breath out slowly. “At least I did it once, and now I can practice some more.”

  “That’s the idea,” Ella said. “Come around now, and I’ll take all of you into the house. Then I’ll come back for the food.”

  Mary trudged along behind as they made their way up the shoveled path toward the dawdy haus. She might as well try there first, since there was no sign of Ivan near the main house. She looked around the yard, remembering that just days ago it had been full of buggies and men and women dressed in black. Now few signs were left from the occasion and some were, no doubt, hidden under the freshly fallen snow. How like life, the endless move forward even in the face of death.

  Ella pushed her dark thoughts aside and knocked on the dawdy haus door. Quick steps came across the floor.

  Susanna opened the door, a surprised look crossed her face. “I thought someone drove in, but I figured they’d come to help Ivan.”

  “It’s just me,” Ella said. “I’ve brought supper over, and I thought you and your daett might want to join us.”

  “How wonderful!” Susanna said. “We’d love to.”

  “Have you made supper yet?”

  “A little soup, but that I can save till tomorrow. This is so gut of you.”

  “Did I hear you say Ivan needed help?” Ella asked.

  “Yah,” Susanna said. “The poor man. He’s been having all kinds of trouble today. Young Bishop Miller was here earlier and talked with him for the longest time out in the barn. Then that young colt of his broke down the fence. It must have pushed the gate out with his chest. He took all the horses with him down the road for a joy run.”

  “Young Bishop Miller was here?” Ella asked, unable to disguise her shock.

  “You act surprised? Do you know anything about it?” Susanna asked, looking strangely at her.

  Ella’s mind whirled. What was she to say? She really didn’t know anything—she only had suspicions.

  “Not really. Well, no…I don’t.”

  “Well, if you do, you don’t have to tell me,” Susanna said with a laugh. “I thought it was probably church business. But it must be serious to have Ivan involved instead of the deacon.”

  “He didn’t tell me anything.” Ella took a deep breath. “It’s just…well…you know how things go…I thought perhaps…”

  “Oh, they’ll get it worked out,” Susanna said, tickling baby Barbara under the chin till the babe broke into a big smile. “So what’s the occasion for supper? Did you think to save Ivan from the trip over
to pick the girls up?”

  “Yes. And I just wanted to bring supper. And from the sounds of it, I’m glad I did.”

  “Already reading each other’s troubles,” Susanna commented. “I like that. I think it’s a gut sign. A hot supper hits the spot for me, and certainly for Ivan, after his day.”

  “Then I’ll take the girls over to the main house and get them settled in. I still have to bring in the food and warm the casserole.”

  “Do you need help?” Susanna glanced out toward the buggy. “You still have your horse tied up, and Ivan’s probably just starting with the milking.”

  “Well, help would be nice,” Ella said. “Ronda helped with the loading, and we still had to make several trips.”

  Ella waited while Susanna pulled her heavy coat on.

  “We’re going over to the main house,” Susanna hollered toward the living room. For the first time, Ella saw the old man in the rocker. He was sitting in silence, his feet planted on the floor.

  “Oh, hello,” Ella said. “I didn’t see you.”

  He nodded but said nothing.

  “I’ll help Daett over later,” Susanna said, gathering baby Barbara up. “He needs to get out more. He misses Mamm a lot.”

  “I can imagine,” Ella said, holding open the door as Mary ran ahead on the snowy path, Sarah’s hand in hers. A few moments later, Susanna opened the front door at the main house, and they settled the girls in the living room.

  “We’ll be right back,” Ella told them. “Mary, you keep the baby happy. You can see us through the window.”

  Mary didn’t looked concerned and spread out on the floor. Sarah followed suit. Baby Barbara laughed out loud with both of her sisters at eye level. Ella quickly shut the door and ran to catch up with Susanna.

  “So what’s troubling Ivan?” she asked, gasping to catch her breath in the chilly air.

  “I don’t know for sure,” Susanna said. “He’s always been the tender one of the family. I suppose that’s hard to believe what with the way he used to preach Sundays. It’s still strange that he should stop that now, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  “Yes, I have noticed, but I thought that was gut. Don’t you?”