A Sister's Test (5 page)

W
hen Martin pulled his buggy into a grassy area near the pond, Sadie and Toby were already there. He and Ruth hadn’t planned to meet them until noon. According to his pocket watch, it was just a little past eleven thirty. So much for spending time alone with his girlfriend.

Ruth looked over at Martin and smiled. “Looks like they beat us here.”

“Jah.” Martin halted the horse, climbed down, and secured the animal to the nearest tree. He hurried back to the buggy to help Ruth down, but by the time he got there, she had climbed out on her own.

“Hey, you two,” Sadie hollered with a wave. “Looks like we’ve got the perfect day for a picnic.”

Ruth lifted her face toward the sun. “Jah, it’s a beautiful spring day. Much better than the low-hanging clouds and gusty winds we had earlier in the week.”

“Let’s hope the fish are biting today.” Toby thumped Martin’s shoulder. “I’d like to catch a couple of big ones. How about you?”

“That’d be fine with me.” Martin scooted around to the back of his buggy and withdrew his fishing pole.

“No fishing until we’ve had our lunch,” Sadie said with a shake of her head. “If you fellows put your lines in the water now, we’ll never get to eat, and I’m hungry.”

“Aren’t you the bossy one today?” Toby tweaked Sadie’s freckled nose. “Sadie Esh, my bossy little
aldi
.”

She pushed his hand away, and her blue eyes flashed indignantly.
“I may be your girlfriend, but I’m not bossy.”

“Are so.” Toby whipped off his straw hat, revealing a thick crop of reddish-blond hair, and plunked the hat on Sadie’s head.

“Hey, you’re crushing my kapp!” Sadie lifted Toby’s hat and sent it sailing through the air.

Ruth looked over at Martin and rolled her eyes skyward. “Shall I get the picnic food?”

“Might as well,” he replied with a nod.

Ruth and Martin spread a quilt on the ground and retrieved their ice chest from the buggy while Sadie and Toby did the same.

Once everyone was seated on the quilt, all heads bowed for silent prayer. Afterward, Ruth and Sadie passed out golden brown chicken, macaroni salad, coleslaw, carrot sticks, dill pickles, and lemonade.

“Everything looks good,” Toby said, smacking his lips. He reached for a drumstick and took a bite. “Jah, it’s
appeditlich
.”

“If you think the chicken’s delicious, wait until you taste some of Ruth’s strawberry-rhubarb pie,” Martin said. “I had some at her house last Sunday when I brought her home from Abe Wengerd’s place.”

“What were you doing at Abe’s?” Toby asked, looking at Ruth.

“We took one of Martha’s little shelties over to Esta, hoping it might help her deal with the grief of losing her mother,” she replied.

“It was nice of Martha to give away one of her pups,” Toby said as he reached for another piece of chicken.

Sadie swatted his hand. “You haven’t finished the first piece you took, and already you’re taking another?”

“Actually, giving Esta a puppy was Ruth’s idea,” Martin said. “Ruth even paid for the hundli.”

Toby set the chicken leg down and licked his fingers. “Is that a fact?”

“Sure is.” Martin smiled at Ruth. “My aldi’s real kindhearted and generous.”

Ruth blushed a crimson red, and he figured he’d probably embarrassed her. At least she hadn’t denied being his girlfriend.

“You’re right about Ruth being kindhearted,” Sadie said, touching Ruth’s arm. “My good friend is the nicest person I know.”

The color in Ruth’s cheeks deepened. “I’m not perfect, you know.”

Sadie shook her head. “Never said you were. Just meant you’re a good friend, and a nice one at that.”

Ruth finished her lunch in quiet as she mulled over what Martin and Sadie had said about her. She did care about others who were hurting, which was why she’d been concerned for Esta Wengerd. She’d always tried to be an obedient daughter, a helpful sister, and a trustworthy friend. But at times, Ruth felt as if she were being tested—always trying to do what was right, yet struggling with feelings of discontent. Her feelings of frustration over the break-ins at their home and Dad’s shop were examples of how imperfect she was. Then there was the anger she’d felt toward Luke when he had refused to be honest with her.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Martin said, nudging Ruth. “Are you bored with being here?”

“Not at all. I was just thinking.”

“I’ve been thinking, too.” Toby grabbed Sadie’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “I’ve been thinking it might be a good idea to take a walk in the woods and work off some of the food I ate so I don’t fall asleep while I fish.” He glanced down at Ruth and Martin. “You two want to join us?”

Ruth looked over at Martin to get his opinion and was pleased when he said, “I’d rather stay here and enjoy the sunshine.”

Ruth nodded. “Me, too.”

“Suit yourself,” Toby said as he and Sadie hurried away.

Martin leaned close to Ruth, and she could feel his warm breath caress her cheek. “I enjoy being with you,” he murmured.

She swallowed a couple of times, hoping she could speak without stammering. “I enjoy being with you, too.”

He reached for her hand, and they remained on the quilt, visiting and watching the ducks float on the pond until Toby and Sadie finally returned.

“You’ll never guess what we found in the woods,” Toby said as they plunked down on the quilt.

“A big black bear?” Martin asked in a teasing tone.

Toby snorted. “Jah, right. We found a big black pickup truck
covered with a layer of dust. But no one was in sight.” He squinted at Ruth. “Sadie says she’s seen it before, and so have you.”

Ruth nodded slowly. “Jah, that’s true. We spotted it there one day when we were taking a walk.”

“Do you know who it belongs to?” Toby questioned.

Ruth merely shrugged in reply. “It’s not important. Let’s talk about something else, okay?”

“No way!” Toby got right in her face. “If you know who owns that truck, then tell us.
Raus mit—
out with it!”

Ruth curled her fingers into the palms of her hands, remembering the day Luke had told her about the truck he’d hidden in the woods so his folks wouldn’t know. She had promised she wouldn’t tell anyone, and until now, she’d never been tempted.

“I’ll bet it belongs to one of those rowdy English fellows who have been seen pulling some pranks in our area.” Toby grunted. “I heard that a couple of ’em were caught throwing dirt clods at some buggies going down the road near Sugarcreek the other day.”

Ruth gave a nonchalant shrug.

“I say we drop this subject,” Sadie said, squeezing Toby’s arm.

Toby turned his hands palms up and grunted. “Whatever.”

“Why don’t you and I do some fishing while the women visit?” Martin poked Toby’s arm. “That’s what we’d planned to do in the first place, right?”

Toby nodded and rose to his feet.

Martin glanced over at Ruth and smiled, then headed for the buggy to get his fishing pole.

Sadie nudged Ruth with her elbow. “I’ve been thinking about that truck in the woods.”

“What about it?”

“You sure acted funny when Toby mentioned it. Do you know who owns the truck?”

“Do we have to talk about this? Can’t we just enjoy our day?”

“Does that mean you know who owns the truck and just won’t say?”

Ruth clenched her teeth. “I do know, but it’s not for me to say.”

“How come?”

“Because the person who owns the truck asked me not to say anything.”

“You can tell me. I won’t tell anyone else, I promise.”

“Sure is a beautiful day. Just listen to the birds twittering in the trees overhead.”

Sadie sighed. “All right, then, don’t tell me who owns the truck.”

Ruth leaned back on the quilt and closed her eyes. “Ah, that warm sun feels so good on my face.”

“Remember last spring, when the two of us were here with our boyfriends?”

Apparently Sadie had given up on learning who owned the truck, and Ruth was glad. Sadie was her friend, but she was also being courted by Toby, who tended to be a blabbermouth. If Ruth told Sadie that the truck belonged to Luke, and Sadie repeated it to Toby, the word would soon get out to everyone in their community, including Luke’s parents. If Dad was right about Luke, and he
was
trying to get even with Ruth for breaking up with him, he might think up even more malicious things to do in retaliation.

“Did you hear what I said about last spring?”

“Jah, I heard, and I do remember coming here.”

“Only you were being courted by Luke instead of Martin.” Sadie nudged Ruth’s arm, and Ruth’s eyes popped open. “I think Martin’s a better match for you than Luke.”

“Martin and I have been getting along pretty well,” Ruth admitted. “The only thing is. . .
sis mer bang
.”

“You’re afraid?”

“Jah.”

“Why are you afraid?”

Ruth swallowed hard, refusing to give in to her swirling emotions. “Whenever things are going well, it seems as if they suddenly turn bad.”

“Are you talking about the way things went with you and Luke?”

“That and all the things that have happened at our place over the last year.”

“The break-ins and vandalism, you mean?”

“Jah, and also the fire at Cleon and Grace’s house. Just when we thought things had settled down, something else happened to test our
faith. It makes me afraid of being happy for fear something will go wrong and spoil it.”

“Guess there will always be things in life that test our faith,” Sadie said. “But we can’t let it keep us from falling in love or finding joy in things.”

Ruth smiled. “When did you get so schmaert, anyway?”

“I’ve always been smart; you’ve just been too busy to notice.” Sadie motioned to the fellows. “Sure is nice to see how well they get along, isn’t it?”

Ruth nodded. “Toby seems to have a better relationship with Martin than he does with Luke.”

“You’re right. For some time now, I’ve noticed tension between Toby and Luke, but I’ve never figured out the reason for it.”

“Guess there doesn’t have to be a reason,” Ruth said. “Some folks just get along better with certain people than they do others.”

“Maybe so, but it’s like there’s some kind of competition going on between Toby and Luke. Almost seems as if Toby wants to make Luke look bad.”

“Why would he do that?”

Sadie shrugged. “Beats me, but the other day I heard Toby speaking with his daed about Luke. He said he knows that Luke’s been running around with some rowdy English fellows.”

“What’d the bishop say about that?”

“Said he was aware that Luke had been keeping company with some Englishers, but there wasn’t much he could do about it since Luke’s still going through his
rumschpringe
.”

Ruth sighed. “I had hoped he would get that out of his system, settle down, and join the church while we were courting, but he seems bent on kicking up his heels.”

Sadie patted Ruth’s arm. “You’re better off without him.”

Ruth nodded. “I know.”

“That lunch Ruth and Sadie fixed sure was tasty,” Toby said as he baited his hook with a plump worm. “Made me almost wish I was married.”

Martin cast his line into the water and took a seat near the edge of
the pond. “Why aren’t you, then?”