Whispers of a New Dawn (5 page)

“The women sit over here,” her mother told Becky when they entered the barn for the morning of worship.

Becky made a face. “All right.”

“It is the custom among the Amish. You remember that.”

“I said all right.”

Becky didn’t know any of the slow hymns or understand the sermons given in Pennsylvania Dutch but she sat in respectful silence, head down, deliberately avoiding looking toward Moses and Joshua. She could feel their eyes on her, though, and decided the sensation was not unpleasant.

After the service, the meal tables were brought from a few wagons and placed between the benches. Becky found herself seated with Moses on one side of her and Joshua on the other.

“I remember the last time you were here,” said Moses as they ate.

“So do I.” Joshua swallowed a mouthful of ham and spoke again. “I think you were sixteen then,
ja
?”

Becky poked at her peas with a fork, liking all the male attention but not sure what to do with it. “Fifteen or sixteen, I’m not sure.”

“And where were you coming from?” asked Moses, who wanted to be sure he stayed in the conversation.

“And where did you go to?” added Joshua as he carved up a baked potato, refusing to give his friend any advantage.

Becky suddenly laughed even though inside she felt tense and unsure of herself. “So many questions! I’ll die of starvation if I try to answer them all.”

Moses smiled. “Well, eat a bit and talk a bit and then eat some more.”

Becky finished a piece of her grandmother’s ham and wiped the corners of her mouth with a white napkin. “Okay. Before we visited here the last time we were in Africa.”

“Africa.” Moses thought about that. “I know about the amazing animals. Did you see any of them?”

“The animals? Yes. Lions, zebras, elephants, rhinoceroses. You must be careful, but they are beautiful.”

“But what were you doing there?” Joshua drank from a glass of water. “What was the purpose of your visit?”

“It was more than a visit, Joshua. We were there five years. In Kenya. We helped start a church—Mother, Father, my brother, and I.”

“Who is your brother?” asked Joshua.

“Nate. You didn’t see him last time because he joined a missionary organization and went to China.”

“China!” Joshua bit into a thick heel of bread. “Was he also helping with a church there?”

“Yes.”

“What kind?”

“A Christian kind.”

“Not Amish.”

“Not Amish. But he taught them to follow the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.”

Joshua shook his head. “We Amish don’t do that. The bishop has told us many times—and my father has also said it—that it’s not for us to go around the world chasing people and asking them to believe in God. There is the Bible. They can pick it up and read it. That’s all that’s needed. We must be about our life here. That’s how we serve God.”

Becky put down her fork and knife and looked at him. “You read a German Bible.”

“
Ja
, sure, though I don’t read it for myself, I listen to the pastors reading it on the Sundays.”

“But the Bible was not written in German. Someone had to translate it into German from Hebrew and Greek. What would you do if they hadn’t done that? How could you understand it?”

Joshua shrugged. “My English is okay.”

“The Bible had to be translated into English too. Men and women were killed for doing that. Joshua, people are needed who will travel to a country, learn the language, and translate the Bible into that language. Otherwise people can’t know the story of God’s love. That’s what we were doing in Africa and the Caribbean. Finding their words for the story and then using those words to tell them how much God cared for their families and friends. Talking to them about the Cross. Plopping a German Bible down in front of most people won’t help them at all.”

Joshua stared at her.

Aware that a touch of fire had come into her voice, Becky dropped her head and went at her cabbage salad. Moses and Joshua watched her for a moment, realized that something had fallen between them and her, and said nothing. Finally Moses tapped her lightly on the sleeve of her dress.

“Hey. We take nothing away from what you’re doing. You have served the Lord in the manner you felt was most fitting. We’re taught differently, that’s all.”

Becky didn’t lift her head. “If you respect the Bible so much, what do you do about Paul’s missionary journeys? All over the Roman world. Shipwrecks. Beatings. Mobs. All because he wanted to tell people God was love, not hate—that he was light, not darkness.”

Moses nodded. “Of course we know those stories of his sailing trips.”

“What if he had stayed home and said, ‘Well, the world can read the Bible and that is all they need?’ Especially if the world didn’t have a Bible?”

Moses held up a hand. “All right. Tell us what happened before Africa.”

“Why?”

“I’d like to know. We both would.”

“Why?”

“Please. We’re interested.”

Becky kept on eating. “There was a lot of flying. We are a flying family. All of us are pilots. I was born in ’22 and went up for the first time when I was five, strapped into my mother’s lap. I was eight when I first handled the controls by myself, still in my mom’s lap. The family became an act at shows all across America. The Whetstone Family Fliers. We did barnstorming, air shows, stunts of all kinds. It’s how we made a living for years.”

Joshua hadn’t returned to his plate of food. “That sounds reckless.”

“We took every precaution.”

“But what good did it all do?”

“The crowds loved it. They cheered so loudly everywhere we went. It gave them joy for a few hours.” Becky lifted her head despite herself and the two young men were treated to a dazzling smile that struck right through both of them. “You should have seen the kids. How excited they were when we took them up for a couple of dollars and they saw the world the way an eagle sees it every day.” She looked at Moses. “My dad told me your grandfather went up with him and shouted praises to God.”

Moses was startled. “My grandfather? I never heard of such a thing.”

“He loved it. Dad reckons he would have been a flier too if the Amish hadn’t decided to ban planes at the same time they said no to cars and electricity.”

Moses took this in.

“So then you also learned to fly?” Joshua still hadn’t returned to his food. “You are a pilot? A woman?”

Becky surprised herself by laughing instead of growling. “Yes. A woman. God’s woman. Up there with the angels and the eagles and the swans—I did see a flight of white swans once.” She drank her lemonade, her eyes gleaming over the rim of the glass. “I flew alone for the first time when I was fifteen. It was while we were in Kenya.”

“And the Caribbean?” asked Moses. “What happened there?”

“More flying. Talking to people about the love of God. Medical supplies. Food. Clean water. Such beauty in the Caribbean. Flying over it all like a cloud. Or like the trade winds. That mission was one of the greatest blessings of my life.”

Joshua ran a hand through his straw-colored hair. “Now I know why you are
Ausnahme
.”

Moses grinned. “An exception.
And
exceptional.”

Becky smiled at him. “Thank you, Moses.”

“With all of that you must be ready to settle down now,
ja
? Is that the good news? Becky Whetstone has returned to Paradise for good?”

“Oh, I don’t know anything about that. I’m pretty sure we’re just here for the summer. After that, I have no idea.”

Moses’ eyes settled into a dark green like Becky had often seen in deep water off the coast of Turks and Caicos. “Surely you’re going to stay? Don’t you consider this your real home?”

“My father and mother might, Moses. It’s really more their home than mine. Africa has that part of my heart. And the Caribbean. But mostly Africa.”

“But we are your people. You come from Amish. You belong with Amish.”

“I’ve never taken the vows, Moses. Never been baptized.”

“But you will, won’t you?”

“I—” Before she could finish, her mother approached the table.

It looked as if Moses and Joshua were going to bolt but she smiled at them. “Joshua Miller. Moses Yoder. Good day. How was the meal?”

“Very
gut
, Mrs. Whetstone.”

“Everything was perfect, Mrs. Whetstone.”

“I’m so glad to hear it. You will have to excuse Becky and me. We must help the women clean up. And the men will soon be wanting your help with the benches and tables.” She glanced down at Joshua’s plate. “What’s this? Were your eyes bigger than your stomach?”

“Oh. I forgot.” Joshua quickly attacked the food that he had left. “We were all talking so much.”

“I see that. Well, perhaps you can visit again after the singing tonight. Good afternoon.”

Joshua dipped his head. “
Guten Tag
.”

Becky stood to leave with her mother and Moses got to his feet. “Good afternoon, Rebecca, Mrs. Whetstone.”

A few minutes later as the two women walked toward the house carrying dirty dishes, Lyyndaya asked, “So how are you?”

“Oh, I’m all right. But things got awkward when they asked about our family being missionaries and flying planes. They don’t seem to understand why we would do either of those things.”

“No, of course not. They’ve been taught that missions aren’t necessary and that airplanes are to be shunned. You’ll just have to be patient and find other things to chat about.”

“Mom, how much school do they take?”

“Usually up to grade eight.”

“Grade eight? That’s it?”

“They don’t feel that any more than that is required. You know much more about the world than they do. Keep that in mind and don’t push them too far.”

“How…how can I talk with them? That’s like being with kids who are fourteen.”

“But they aren’t fourteen, are they? They are strapping young men in their early twenties with all sorts of farming know-how and a great deal of common sense and Christian faith. And both are very good-looking. There are plenty of things to talk about that you don’t need a grade-twelve education for.”

Becky pouted, her lower lip fattening. “You made me finish grade twelve. And that was a hard year.”

“So you are
Ausnahme
. That’s why.”

“Ha. I wonder if they will let us be
Ausnahme
forever?”

Lyyndaya shook her head. “They won’t. I’m sure they’ll speak with us about the matter before the summer is over. And they will certainly want to talk to you.”

“To try to make me Amish?”

They climbed the steps into the house where women bustled about washing and drying and stacking dishes. “They won’t make you do
anything. It will be your decision. But Bishop Zook and the pastors will want to know what you’re thinking. Hush now. We can talk later.”

Long before the singing was to begin at seven o’clock, Becky wandered around the farmyard and eventually sat down alone in the barn. It held within it now not only the scent of the fresh hay she had pitched the day before, but the aroma of the food eaten. As she sat there thinking and praying she was certain she could smell the soap Moses used, which reminded her of long green fields and clover.

“Ah. Rebecca. May I?”

Becky half rose at the sight of Moses. “Oh. I didn’t hear you come in.” She sat back down and he took a seat next to her on the bench. “They won’t let us sit together when the singing starts.”

“I’ll move when I must. How are you?”

“Much the same as I was a few hours ago.”

“Listen. I’ve been turning over everything that was said during the meal. Joshua, myself, you, all our words. I’m certain we troubled you.”

“No, Moses, it’s just—”

“
Nein, nein
. We don’t understand the world as you understand it. That’s not your problem. It’s Joshua’s and it’s mine. As you say, you haven’t taken your vows. It’s only right you should explore, travel, wonder about other ways. I’m twenty-one now and I didn’t have my baptism until last year. So why should I be pushing you?”

“I didn’t think you were pushing me.”

“But I was. Because I…I find you intriguing. So different. So…beautiful…”

Becky felt the blood come swiftly to her face. “Moses—”

“And because of this I want you to stay. I want to see more of you. Want to listen to you talk. I want to hear what it’s like to fly. How a person like Rebecca Whetstone feels when she sees lions in the great African fields. How alive a man may become if he swims in water the color of your—”

Moses stopped and looked away. He got to his feet. “I’m sorry. I rush ahead. So often this is my greatest fault. Words come tumbling
out
. I mean them, but they’re not always appropriate. I’m saying to you things that are too soon.”

“Moses. Please sit back down. You didn’t do anything wrong. A woman doesn’t mind being told she’s beautiful. Please sit back down.”