The Photograph (30 page)

J
ED
'
S
DRIVER
TURNED
CAUTIOUSLY
onto Kidron Road, mindful of the many cars and buggies. And as they crept along, Jed felt reluctant to leave the area for home, though he couldn't put a finger on why.

A few blocks up, Jed noticed the same blond girl he'd seen earlier walking alone wearing sunglasses, barefoot now as she dangled her white sandals. Oddly, her young man was hurrying down the street in the opposite direction with a determined gait, as if angry.

Wait a minute,
Jed thought.

“Could ya pull over and park here, George?” he blurted.

The driver looked askance at him.

“This shouldn't take long.” Jed opened the van door and got out. He waved to the young woman, feeling mighty awkward as he tried to catch her attention.

She glanced toward him and then turned away, heading up the sidewalk.

Jed continued briskly and did the only thing that made sense. He called her name, hoping she'd respond. “Lily!”

The young woman stopped walking and turned to face him, clearly startled.

Jed was a few yards away, hoping not to spook her any more than he already had, when she removed her sunglasses and squinted. “Lily Esch?” he called to her. He suppressed his smile, having stared at her photograph long enough to know this was, in fact, Eva's sister. “It
is
you.”

Her mouth dropped open. “How do ya know me?”

Jed was close enough to smell her perfume. Her face was made up, her lips bright red. Jed had already mentally rehearsed what to say to her, aware that he had only so long to win her over. “I know your sister Eva,” he said hastily.

A worried look crossed her countenance. “Did something happen to her? Is that why you're—”

Jed shook his head. “Eva's fine.”

Lily seemed relieved, then scowled again. “Did she send you here to look for me?”

“
Nee,
but she's very worried.”

Lily's eyes suddenly clouded.

“Can we talk?” Jed asked.

She glanced back at the retreating man, now more than a block away. “I'm not sure, I
 . . .”
Fidgeting with the hem of her top, she stared at her feet.

Jed sensed his moment slipping away. “It's not too late to go home, Lily, if that's what you want.”

Her head came up at the suggestion, and for a moment, he expected her to laugh at the notion, or to become angry at his presumption that she would
want
to return home.

He waited for her reply as she stared back at him, as though debating her reply. Once again, she glanced up the street, then back at Jed, her expression riddled with indecision.

I spoke too soon.
“Listen, you don't have to decide this minute,” he said now. “You can think about it.”

“
Ach
, what a dumb thing I've done.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

“Are you okay?”

“Not at all.” She brushed away her tears, smearing her makeup so that she had dark smudges under her eyes. She looked at him curiously. “I'm sorry
 . . .
who did ya say you are?” she asked in
Deitsch
.

“Jed Stutzman, from Berlin
 . . .
not far from here.”

“And you know Eva?”

She's not convinced.

“Eva gave me a look around her candy shop after we met at an auction near Quarryville a few weeks ago.” He described the glass case filled with candies, naming some of Eva's favorites. “She loaded me up with her famous truffles for my trip home.”

“How are they doin'—my sisters?” Lily struggled to ask.

“They're terribly concerned. Eva was distracted the whole time we were together, frettin' over you.”

“And I'm stuck out here, trying to be something I'm not.” She groaned as she fiddled with a heart-shaped necklace. “I could kick myself.”

“There's only one way to fix a mistake,” Jed said gently, looking back at George in the van. “Just don't keep goin' forward with it.”

“Poor, dear Eva, what I've put her through! How can my family forgive me?”

The sight of this fragile yet beautiful girl crying right there on the street made him want to take care of her somehow.
But I'm a stranger to her
. . . .

“I guarantee they'll welcome you with open arms,” he said quickly.

Lily shook her head. “I can't just go home as if nothin' happened.”

“They love you. You're their sister.”

“But I have no money, not even to make a phone call.”

He saw his chance and took it. “Leave that to me. I'll get ya home, Lily.”

———

At first, Lily was hesitant to get into the van with two men she didn't know.

George saved the day when Lily gave him the address of the Mennonite family with whom she had been staying. He lit up, saying they were his relatives. “That's one of my father's many brothers. You can call him if you want to double-check,” he offered Lily.

Everyone's related round here,
Jed thought, grateful for another divinely ordered facet to his search.
And to think I
nearly gave up looking!

Clearly reassured by this happenstance, Lily wasted no time in getting into the van. George drove them directly to the redbrick farmhouse surrounded by cornfields, where Lily quickly gathered up the few articles of clothing she'd brought, as well as thanked her kind host and hostess. It was time to say good-bye.

As they neared Jed's parents' farmhouse in Berlin, George pointed out the neighbors, who were putting on a new roof. A half-dozen Amishmen were crawling around high on the pitch of the roof, nailing down shingles. “A fine day for such a big chore,” George said.

It was so quiet behind Jed that he wondered if Lily had fallen asleep. She'd said very little once they'd left Hank Garver's place.

By the time they were turning into the familiar lane, Jed had
decided how he would tell his family about Lily's need to spend the night. He hoped to leave for Lancaster before dawn tomorrow, a visiting day for Jed's church district.
We'll
arrive in Eden Valley a little after noon, perfect for
a surprise reunion with the Esch girls.

Jed hadn't thought much farther ahead than that. The whole thing was in God's hands—He alone had arranged Jed's every step thus far.

George had already consented to drive Jed and Lily to Lancaster County.
I'll run up
quite the bill with this driver,
he thought.

He paid George in cash, then helped carry Lily's small suitcase to the back porch, where he asked if she'd mind waiting in one of the hickory chairs there. “Don't worry,” he assured her. “You'll like my family.”

This is a first,
he thought.
I've never brought
home a fancy-looking girl before!

“I'm sorry to put you out like this, Jed,” said Lily, sounding chagrined.

“Believe me, no bother.”

His mother was kindly accommodating when he mentioned he was helping a young woman return to her Amish community.

“Your father mentioned this to me last evening,” Mamm said, her dish towel slung over her left arm. “I'll warm up some supper for the two of yous, all right?”

Just then, Bettina walked downstairs and into the kitchen. “There's a girl in shorts sittin' out on the porch,” she said quietly. “Is this—”

“
Jah,
her name's Lily Esch,” Jed said. “I'm taking her home to Pennsylvania tomorrow.”

“You found her that quick?”

“It's a long story, and it all started with finding a photo of her in a book on the train. She's a sister of the girl I met back in Lancaster,” Jed explained. “And I don't know what happened to
change Lily's mind, but something definitely has. I guess I was in the right place at the right time—glory be.” He wondered how ridiculous this must sound. “Honestly, I was ready to give up and head home when I felt prompted to stay the course.”

“Kinda like a miracle?” Bettina asked.

“
Jah
, I'd say so.”
Beginning with the
book and the photograph.

Bettina grinned at Jed. “Surely George can get Lily home without you tagging along, ain't so?”

“Why, sure, but . . .” Jed stammered. “I just want to make sure . . .”

Bettina's face shone with delight. “And you say she's the
sister
of the girl back in Lancaster?”

Jed sighed. Bettina was going to have fun with this. “
Jah,
” he confirmed, crossing his arms, waiting for further grilling.

“You're gonna look like quite the hero, I'll say.”

Jed nodded. “That's the goal.”

“Plus, you'll see your friend again . . . uh . . . what's her name?”

Mamm spoke up at last, eyeing Bettina. “All right, young lady. Leave your brother be.”

She laughed, and Jed couldn't help laughing with her.

Eyes dancing with humor, Mamm snapped her fingers at Bettina. “Hurry now. Go up an' make sure there's fresh bedding on the spare bed, won't ya, and stop being such a troublemaker!”

Bettina nodded, but before she left, she grabbed her mother's tea towel and snapped Jed's knee.

“Daughter!” Mamm exclaimed. “Behave yourself!”

But Bettina was already gone, scampering upstairs to finish her chore, leaving an echo of giggles trailing behind her.

Jed smiled at Mamm and headed outside to get Lily, who looked quite relaxed in her chair.

Lily glanced up and smiled. “I'll need to do something 'bout these clothes.”

Jed pulled up another chair and sat, appreciating her concern. “Did ya bring along a change?” he asked, thinking also about tomorrow. Her attire would disappoint her sisters.

“Unfortunately, I got rid of everything Plain.” Lily pulled on her hair and looked glum. “And this curly mop.” She moaned. “How will I ever get it under a
Kapp
?” She confided in him, saying that the first thing she'd done upon arriving in Kidron was to get her waist-length hair cut. “Got a permanent wave in it, too, but it turned out too curly.”

Jed smiled encouragingly. She looked beautiful to him, but he could see how it would be mighty tricky to get her hair into a bun.
Nee,
he thought,
impossible for many months. She must've been
determined to be English.

“Why am I tellin' you all this?” she laughed, blushing.

“It's okay, really. I have a sister who tells me strange things. Well, a few sisters, actually.”

She smiled and covered her legs with her hands. “I wonder if one of your sisters might have a dress I could borrow. I look so, um, worldly.”

To her credit, her shorts weren't short shorts like some fancy women strutted around in, but Daed wouldn't know what to think. Such attire simply wasn't respectful.

“It's just Mamm and my youngest sister inside, so now's a
gut
time to meet them and find out if Bettina has something for you.”

Lily offered a relieved smile and gushed her thanks.

He picked up her suitcase and held the screen door for her. Tomorrow was another day, and hopefully it, too, would prove to be providential.

B
ETTINA
JOINED
J
ED
AND
L
ILY
when they sat down to the reheated leftovers, something Jed assumed Mamm had privately asked his sister to do. Bettina had managed to work wonders with Lily upstairs. With the help of many bobby pins, Bettina had plastered Lily's hair down on both sides around her middle part. Bettina's lavender dress and black apron were equally transforming on Lily, who'd washed the makeup from her face, as well scrubbed as any rosy-cheeked Amish teenager.

While they enjoyed Mamm's leftover pork chops and onions, and mashed potatoes and gravy, Bettina kept the conversation going, and it appeared that Lily liked her rather well.
She
spared Lily further embarrassment,
Jed thought, watching the two of them interact so comfortably across the table.

Lily glanced over her shoulder and must have noticed that Jed's mother had slipped outdoors. Leaning forward, Lily lowered her voice. “I've never known any fella to be so
ferhoodled
as my boyfriend,” she said, eyes sad.

Bettina covered Lily's hand, her manner warm and gentle. “How did you meet him, Lily?”

Lily took a small breath and sighed. “I met him a year ago, when I was in Kidron with my friend Fannie Ebersol and her family. Mark was at the Thursday hay and cattle auction, where Fannie and I had gone for fun. Mark came right over while I was looking at some of the craftware. He said he was a horse trainer, and a very
gut
one. I guess I should've picked up on his bluster even then.” She went on, reliving the relationship aloud, explaining how Mark had been eager to seek her out despite her Plain appearance. He'd even urged her to give a mailing address where he could write to her. “With Fannie's permission, I gave him her address, and he began writing to me there twice a week. For nearly a year, he never missed.”

Jed couldn't get over how trusting Lily had been of an outsider, and as she described their quickly developing romance, she admitted that reading Mark's expressive letters had made her yearn for modern life.

“I mistakenly believed that if I could just live closer to Mark, I'd learn how to put my Plainness behind me,” Lily told them. “But as it turned out, he became upset, even angry—that's what happened again earlier today, when he stormed away—and denied that I was givin' my all to be English, like him. ‘You're more Amish than you know!' he hollered at me.” Her chin trembled, and she bowed her head.

Bettina put her arm around Lily's shoulders. “Aw, Lily, it seems to me it was a
gut
thing he lost control of his temper and left ya. Don't you?”

“I never dreamed things would go downhill so quick.” Lily was crying now.

Hearing Eva's sister talk about the futile relationship, Jed recalled her notes in the book.
More than anything, I long for a
love that makes
my heart sing,
she'd written on one of its final pages. He felt truly sorry for Lily. Her dreams and romantic wishes, all thought to have been found in Mark, had not been fulfilled in the least.
A young
woman who was sadly misguided in looking for
true love—enough to give up her family and faith.

———

Jed made a call to Uncle Ervin's shop phone and left a message on the answering machine about his sudden trip to Lancaster County tomorrow. “Depending on how it goes, I may not be back till sometime Monday.”

Later, alone in his room, Jed reread one of the highlighted passages that had popped out at him earlier in
Little
Women
:
“Love will make you show your heart someday.
 . . .
”

He let the words flow through his mind, knowing he must return the novel to Lily tomorrow. It had been an enlightening journey in many ways, but it was winding down and coming to an end.

That Lord's Day morning, Eva read aloud the first half of Psalm 139. “‘O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; thou understandest my thought afar off.'” She continued through verse twelve, then passed the Bible to Frona, after which they had their silent prayers. Following their family worship, they discussed which relatives to visit today, an off-Sunday from Preaching service.

Frona mentioned two aunts they hadn't seen in some time. “But I'd like to be home for the noon meal, even if it's a bit later than usual,” she said. “Honestly, I'm tired, and some peace and quiet might be in order.”

Eva agreed, thinking Frona looked a bit peaked.
Being apart from Lily makes us both
feel off beam.

“I wouldn't mind if we just stayed put at home resting and reading,” she said, her heart going out to Frona.

“Well, what if we made just one stop to Mamm's aunt Rose Anna down on Groff Road? In fact,” Frona said, rising from her spot on the front room settee, “what if we took our time and walked over there?”

Eva liked the idea, considering the amount of time it would take to hitch up the horse and all. The sunshine and fresh air would feel ever so good.

“We'll leave midmornin', then,” Frona said.

“And I'll take along some candies to spread cheer.”

Naomi sat outside with Abner on the front porch that late June Lord's Day, rocking on their chairs and enjoying each other's company. As was sometimes the case, neither said much, content as they were.

They'd had their devotions together after breakfast, and presently Naomi took her rest in the words of their Lord in the Gospel of Luke.
Take heed to
yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and
if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against
thee seven times in a day, and seven times in
a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou
shalt forgive him.

Closing her eyes, she prayed again for Omar.
May he find his peace in Thee, O Lord.

She breathed the fragrance of nearby honeysuckle blossoms.
Sweet as
Eva's candies.
And, lo and behold, across the way, Frona and Eva herself were strolling down their driveway toward the road. Eva was carrying a small white box with a pretty pink bow perched on top.
Must be some
of her delicious
concoctions,
Naomi assumed, waving to them.

Abner called, “A blessed Lord's Day to ya both!”

Frona merely nodded, but Eva smiled. “Same to you,” she answered.

“Such a thorny road they must walk,” said Naomi. “I pray the Lord God comforts their dear hearts.”

Abner reached for her hand. “'Tis my constant prayer.”

“Just look at them,” she said.

“Last year at this time, they seemed so happy, remember?” Abner remarked. “All of them
 . . .
”

Naomi refrained from saying what was on her mind. Seeing the Esch girls, just two of them now, made her heart ache so.

“Ain't possible to put a price tag on the love of family,
jah
?” Abner raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

The van was heading into the populated retail and restaurant sector of Route 30, approaching the turnoff onto Route 896 to Strasburg. Jed's pulse beat a little faster as he recalled his first trip there by train. He reached behind him for the novel packed in his duffel bag on the seat opposite Lily but couldn't quite get it.

“Would ya mind handing that bag to me?” he asked, leaning around the front seat. “There's something I've been meaning to return.”

Lily lifted the bag forward.

“I found this book on the train to Lancaster.” He removed it from the bag and handed it to her. “It was stuck between the wall and the seat.”

She accepted it with a puzzled frown. “You
found
this?”

“I was on the same train you must've taken to Ohio.”

Lily's eyes widened.

“You left your picture in it,” he added.

“
Ach
no,” she muttered.

“Far as I know, Eva has the photograph now.”

Lily shook her head, clearly embarrassed. “I'm sure she destroyed it, which is all right with me.”

Jed recalled the words on the back of the picture but didn't want to open old wounds, considering all she'd been through. But his curiosity got the best of him. “Lily, I couldn't help noticing what you wrote: ‘The best and worst day
 . . .
'”

Lily smiled wistfully. She was quiet for a moment, as if gathering courage. “
Jah
, I was giddy with happiness, eager to please Mark.
 . . .
I thought I loved him,” Lily said softly, glancing at their driver, who didn't flinch. “I had a strip of pictures made for my boyfriend and kept one for myself. It was an impulsive thing to do
 . . .
and terribly wrong.”

Jed waited for her to say something about what she meant by the worst day, but he guessed it meant all that she was giving up for Mark in Ohio—her Amish life, her family, too. Besides, he didn't want to make her feel any more self-conscious than she already was.

“You must've thought I was shameless to have a picture made while wearing my
Kapp
.”

“It was a bold move.”

She reclined against her seat with a sigh. “I have so much to make up for.”

They were deep into farmland now, whizzing past bank barns and giant silos and herds of grazing cattle. Often, Amishmen waved to them at the yield signs on the road.
Everyone waves,
Jed thought.

He was about to turn back in his seat when Lily spoke again. “So now
I'm
curious. How'd ya happen to meet Eva?” She was thumbing through the front pages of the novel. “There's certainly no address in here.”

Jed considered that and told his story, leaving out the part about his fascination with the margin notes and underlined
passages. “It was while I was in town to meet Jonas Byler that I ran into Eva at an auction. I thought she was
you
.”