Katie's Forever Promise (3 page)

“It's
gut
that you can listen,” Ruth remarked. “I guess your
mamm
taught you something after all. Now, will you come out and hold my horse for me? He gets a little skittish when I take off. Albert promised me a decent horse when I move into his house after the wedding. Now that's a decent man, if you ask me.”

Katie held her tongue as she walked outside. She held the bridle of Ruth's horse as the former teacher climbed inside the buggy.

“I hope you remember everything I told you,” Ruth said as she took off with a slap of the reins.

Grinding her teeth, Katie watched Ruth go. That woman was the limit and then some. But Ruth was also a creature
Da Hah
had made, and her elder besides. And the woman had given her some useful advice.

Chapter Two

That evening the whole family was seated for dinner when Katie slid her kitchen chair forward while
Mamm
brought the last of the food to the table. Katie hadn't arrived home from the schoolhouse until a few minutes ago—too late to help. Apparently this would be another privilege of school teaching. When she'd worked as a cashier at Byler's Store, coming home late hadn't been an acceptable practice at all.

“Let us pray,” Jesse said.

They all bowed their heads as Jesse led out in prayer. “Our great and heavenly Father, blessed be Your name. We pause at this evening hour to give You thanks, and to beseech Your continued aid and care over our lives…”

Katie listened to the sound of Jesse's voice. It was soothing after Ruth's harsh tones just a few hours ago. That woman's words had stung more than Katie wished to admit. Still, it wasn't true that her job had been given to her so Enos could influence her to be his future daughter-in-law. How did Ruth dare say such things?
She had to admit that Enos probably hoped she would say
yah
if Norman ever asked to take her home after a hymn sing. But the outcome of that certainly wasn't tied to her hiring in any way. Ruth shouldn't even be thinking such thoughts! If anyone had reason to entertain doubt about someone's character, Katie did. Didn't Ruth give plenty of cause for people to question her character. Yet
Da Hah
required that His people think only the best of others, even when they acted in ways they shouldn't.

“Amen,” Jesse said, interrupting Katie's thoughts.

“Why's the stove still putting out so much heat?” Mabel asked.

Mamm
leaped to her feet with a gasp and rushed over to turn the damper knob.

“Getting forgetful in your old age?” Jesse teased.

Mamm
blushed. “That goes for you too, you know.”

Katie smiled at their light banter.
Mamm
had blossomed since her marriage to Jesse. She actually appeared years younger than she had when they'd lived alone on their farm.

A shadow crossed Katie's face as the table chatter continued around her. She would have been married to Ben Stoll by now if he hadn't done what he did. Or at least they'd be talking of marrying next year. But what
gut
was it mourning what couldn't be helped? Besides, during and after Ben's trial had been a time of purifying for her, and now she felt settled about where
Da Hah
was guiding her. The brief time she'd spent associating with the Mennonite youth group now seemed like a dream, far off and distant—much like Ben himself.

“How did things go at school today?” Leroy asked from his place on the back bench.

Katie jumped. Then she quickly smiled. “Fine.”

The eldest of Jesse's three boys from his marriage to Millie, Leroy had shown the most interest in Katie's work at the school. From the look on his face, the answer seemed to satisfy him. He
nodded as he dipped a huge helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate before passing the bowl to his brother Willis.

Mabel, though, was staring at Katie. “Surely something exciting happened? You didn't sit there all day by yourself with just the books for company, did you?”

Katie shrugged. She really didn't feel like going into the visits by Enos Kuntz and Ruth Troyer.

“Come on, tell us,” Mabel teased. “I can tell you're holding something back. Let's not start with secret things this early in the school year.”

Leroy grinned from ear to ear. “I see what Mabel's after. She wants Katie spilling all the juicy gossip each night. Training her early so she'll have the inside track on what's going on in the community.”

Mabel didn't deny the accusation. “Why shouldn't I know if Katie does?”

They all laughed.

“Katie shouldn't be bringing home news like that,” Leroy said. “Gossip isn't good, so she won't. You might as well get used to the fact.”

Mabel wrinkled up her face but didn't say anything.

Taking a deep breath, Katie began anyway. “Well, Enos Kuntz showed up to give me some words of encouragement. And after that, Ruth Troyer came along to help me with the books and see if I had any questions about teaching. So, nothing really exciting happened.”

“Enos Kuntz?” Leroy was all ears now.

Everyone else laughed, and Leroy lowered his head. They knew Leroy had his eyes focused on Enos's niece, Lizzie Kuntz.

Without missing a beat, Willis piled on. “Of course Leroy finds that interesting. He finds even the passing shadow of Lizzie to be of great interest.”

“You just wait!” Leroy muttered as laughter filled the room again.

Mabel made a face at Willis. “Ha! Someday you'll be the same way,” Mabel said, defending Leroy. Then she dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. “What I want to know is what Ruth came over for.”

“Katie just told you!” Leroy blustered, obviously trying to recapture his dignity.

“That's why you should leave this kind of conversation to the women,” Mabel lectured her brother. “We know how to see below the surface of things—unlike men who only see what they see.”

“Now that's nasty,” Willis said, back on his brother's side in a flash.

“But it's true,” Mabel said. “Am I right, Katie?”

Mabel
was
right, Katie thought as she deliberately kept her face neutral. Mabel knew Ruth Troyer well and had been on Ruth's side back when Ruth had her
kapp
set for Jesse. Mabel had played her part in passing along anything unpleasant she knew about
Mamm
. Still…Katie smiled a little. Mabel had changed since then, and she shouldn't hold the past against her.

“I'm right, am I not?” Mabel persisted.

“Maybe you shouldn't pry into Katie's business,” Jesse said. “Katie might not wish to share everything she and Ruth spoke about. Perhaps it was information Ruth had about some of the children. That's a private matter between teachers, unless it involves Carolyn or Joel.”

Carolyn sat up straight at her place at the table. “I didn't do anything wrong—
ever
! Plus I'm no longer in school. I graduated!”

“Neither did I!” eight-year-old Joel added. “And I'm still going to school.”

“I doubt that either of you were trouble free,” Mabel shot their way.

Katie struggled to speak. “I…really…Ruth had nothing bad to say about any of the children. I think she liked all of them very well.”

“See, I told you!” Carolyn looked quite vindicated. “Ruth was a
gut
teacher.”

“I'm sure she was,” Katie agreed. “And Ruth wanted to share some of her wisdom with me. So she drove all the way over on her own time to help me out—even though she's busy with wedding preparations.”

“I think you'll also make a great teacher,” Joel piped up.

“I hope so.” Katie said, lowering her head. That was the one uncomfortable thing about teaching in your own district. How would she handle giving orders to her brother?
Mamm
always did that at home.

“You'll be great!” Carolyn agreed.

Mabel turned to Carolyn. “Remember to keep thinking that when you hear that Katie has to boss Joel around. I believe in discipline, and I don't want to hear any reports floating around the community that my baby brother is getting special treatment.”

“That's a
gut
attitude to have,” Jesse said. “I'm hoping for the best for Joel this year again. And don't be all that hard on Katie. She's new at this and might need some time to learn the ropes.”

“You can say that again,” Katie murmured. Suddenly she was very glad she'd listened to everything Ruth had told her. The woman had a surprisingly large amount of wisdom behind that wagging tongue of hers.

“Guess what I heard today?” Willis spoke up. “You won't believe it!”

“That some girl consented to drive home with you?” Mabel shot at him.

Everyone laughed good-naturedly, but Willis looked undeterred.

“Ben Stoll will be out of jail next week.”

Katie gasped, and everyone turned to look at her.

Jesse spoke up at once. “That wasn't a nice thing for you to be saying at the supper table, Willis. Katie didn't need to hear the news dropped on her like that.”

“I'm sorry,” Willis said.

Katie caught her breath and tried to smile. “It's okay. That just came as a surprise, although I knew the time was getting close.”

Leroy cleared his throat. “I'm surprised Ben's out so soon with all the charges that had been brought against him.”

“We shouldn't talk about this at the table,” Jesse warned.

Leroy shrugged. “The subject was brought up, and I'm curious, that's all.”

“Willis can tell you later what else he knows,” Jesse told him. “We shouldn't talk about this in front of Katie. She's suffered enough already.”

“Thank you,” Katie whispered, keeping her head down as the meal continued. She didn't join in the chatter when the subject changed to the day's events on the farm. She shouldn't have reacted like that when the subject of Ben Stoll came up.
Da Hah
had healed her, and she'd moved on. Perhaps next time she would do better.

When supper was over, they bowed their heads in silent prayer. Then the menfolk scattered to the living room. Jesse would be calling for evening devotions before long, but in the meantime the womenfolk would clean the kitchen.

Katie went to run water in the sink for dishes.

“Mabel and Carolyn, Katie and I will take care of the kitchen tonight. Both of you helped me prepare the food, so you've done enough,”
Mamm
said.

“Are you sure?” Mabel asked. “We can help.”

“Get on now, and I mean it!”
Mamm
gave both girls a sweet smile that softened the order.

Mamm
is being quite wise, Katie thought. This way no resentment would fester between them over her working late at the school. Katie hadn't thought of how this could be best handled, but
Mamm
was already finding a solution. And
Mamm
probably wished to talk, if Katie didn't miss her guess. Both matters would be taken care of this evening at the same time.

Mabel and Carolyn were no more out of the kitchen before
Mamm
asked her first question. “So what did Ruth Troyer really want today, Katie? I know she didn't drive all that way just to ‘help' you.”

“
Mamm
, please. The woman did offer some helpful advice.”

“But that wasn't everything, was it?”

Katie looked down as she continued to wash dishes. “Well, no. She claims Enos Kuntz only gave me the job with the understanding that I'd be his daughter-in-law. And she rubbed in the fact that she's marrying again—and marrying rich at that. And she said something about you stealing Jesse from her.”

Mamm
smiled. “Some people are the limit, that's all I can say.”

“You don't think Enos really gave me the job for that reason, do you? I know he'd like me to be open to Norman's attention, but hiring me would be going kind of far…”

“Of course he wouldn't do something like that.”
Mamm
didn't hesitate. “Enos isn't that kind of man. And the entire school board had to approve your hiring.”

“That's what I thought.”

“I do approve of Norman.”
Mamm
had a touch of teasing in her voice. “And Enos and his
frau
apparently approve of you. So on that point, Ruth is correct. All of us like the potential match.”

“Oh,
Mamm
,” Katie whispered, “do you think I can ever love again?”

“Love is a gift from
Da Hah
.”
Mamm
looked pensive. “I was given it again, long after I gave up all hope. And twice at that—first
for your
daett
and then Jesse.
Yah
, you can love again.
Da Hah
will see to that.”