AR01 - A Road Unknow Read online

  “It was bad, huh?” Paula looked at her sympathetically. “You hinted at it in your letters but I didn’t want to ask questions. I figured you’d tell me what you wanted to. Needed to.”

  She took a deep breath. “Elizabeth, I have a friend who ran away from her family years ago because her father was molesting her. If something happened and you want to talk about it—”

  “No!” Elizabeth said quickly, interrupting her. “Nothing like that happened. My father wouldn’t—no, it didn’t happen!”

  Paula’s eyes widened. “You’re sure? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It wouldn’t be your fault—”

  “Really, nothing happened.”

  “Okay.” Paula glanced at the kitchen clock. “It’s nearly time for one of my favorite shows. I don’t suppose you’ve seen much TV.”

  Elizabeth smiled and shook her head.

  “Well, you’re welcome to join me if you want. Or there’s all kinds of books as you can see.” She gestured at the shelves lined with books.

  “I love to read, but I didn’t get much time to do it,” she confessed. “But I’d like to see some of your TV.”

  Paula plopped onto the sofa and picked up the remote. “I watch all kinds of stuff. The parents bought me a TiVo so I can record it and watch it around my homework. I used it to tape a couple of shows I couldn’t watch earlier this week because I had that big report to write. I thought we could watch Big Bang Theory and Downton Abbey tonight. I’ll show you how to use it later if you want so you can record some shows. It’s really easy to save the show you want. There’s an instruction manual in the drawer under the TV.”

  Two hours later, Elizabeth didn’t know what to think. They’d watched a show about very smart friends who were teased by a young blond woman about not knowing about real life and then a show about people with British accents who seemed to live in two worlds within the same house—one group acting as servants to others who lived above stairs.

  It gave her a lot to think about.

  “I’m heading to bed,” Paula said. “You’re welcome to stay up if you like. I’ll show you how the remote works.”

  “I’m ready for bed, too.”

  Paula turned off the television and rose. “I don’t have class tomorrow. If you’d like, we can work on looking for a job for you, if you want. Do you have a resumé?”

  “Yes. The job coordinator at the women’s center helped me make one before I got the job at the fabric store.”

  “Well, I think it’ll help you. We’ll update it and check job listings on the Internet.”

  “Wonderful. I appreciate it.”

  “I think you should take a few days to get acclimated but I understand you just want to get started.”

  “I need to find something right away,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t have much money saved.”

  “I understand. I’m lucky my parents are helping me to go to school. I have a scholarship, but they bought the apartment as an investment and don’t want me to work while I attend classes. It was their idea for me to get a roommate to help with expenses.”

  They went to their respective bedrooms and as Elizabeth changed into a nightgown and climbed into bed thought about how different their lives were—hers and Paula’s.

  Her parents were obviously doing well and wanted to help their only child. Elizabeth’s parents weren’t poor, but they certainly didn’t have the money to buy a home for their daughter.And Paula’s parents were helping her attend college. The Amish didn’t attend college. The way they helped their children was to teach them how to do the jobs they did, whether on a farm or in carpentry or whatever and encourage them to find apprenticeships or other ways to train for a job.

  Well, mostly this happened for the young men. Elizabeth lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling and worried if she’d find a job in her new town with her limited education and experience. She’d been impulsive; she hoped she wasn’t going to be sorry she’d left the job she had back in Goshen. She’d hated giving it up. Going there hadn’t felt like work in spite of Angela not being the easiest to work with. As a matter of fact, her job had been the highlight of her day. But she’d had to make a break from her family, her church—even her hometown.

  Saul had mentioned Stitches in Time. Maybe she’d look into it tomorrow. She reached over and turned off the lamp on the bedside table. The room was dark and she felt a momentary panic. She’d been a little afraid of the dark when she was a child. Now, as her anxiety about a job and her future threatened to overwhelm her, she remembered what her father had said to her: “There’s nothing there that isn’t there in the daylight.”

  Thinking of what he’d said made her miss him. She turned on her bedside lamp, slipped from the bed and found some notepaper and a pen in the drawer of the small desk. Climbing back in bed, she started a short note to both her parents, telling them she was sorry she’d had to leave. After a moment’s hesitation, she included her new address and then slipped the note into an envelope and sealed it. She’d mail it tomorrow.

  Reassured, she set it on the bedside table, turned off the light, and lay back down. The darkness didn’t bother her this time. She took a long, calming breath and felt herself drifting off.

  Saul walked into his store feeling pretty pleased about his work that morning. The bell over the door jangled, announcing his entrance.

  “Hi, Saul! Wait, let me help you with that!” Miriam, one of the store clerks, exclaimed. “Why didn’t you ask for help?”

  Saul bent down to let her take the top box of the two he carried. “Not heavy,” he said.

  They set the boxes on the counter and Saul used a pocketknife to open them. He lifted out a quilt and handed it to her.

  “I’d recognize Barbie Yoder’s quilts anywhere,” she said, stroking it.

  “It also helps that you knew I was going to talk to her this morning.”

  She laughed and humor lit her austere face. “True. So she’s going to be letting us sell her quilts, instead of Isaac Stoltzfus.”

  “I didn’t have to say much about how we could do better for her,” Saul said, taking out another quilt and placing it on the counter. “She came to the same conclusion he wasn’t doing well for her. So, here’s the first consignment. I’d like to hang the biggest one on the wall, there, to spotlight it. Then let’s do the display window with some of the wall hangings and put the rest on a display table near the front of the store.”

  “Good plan. And while you were gone, you got a delivery from Amos Zook. I put the boxes in the storeroom.”

  “Guess I know what I’ll be doing this afternoon. Why don’t you go for your lunch break?”

  “I will. Did you eat?”

  “You know Barbie. She insisted I eat before I left.”

  “It’s been a little slow this morning. Maybe it’ll pick up this afternoon.”

  “You know it will if I start working on stocking the deliveries.”

  “True. See you after lunch.” She glanced at the window. “You know, it’s looking nice outside. I think I’ll take a walk after I eat.” She walked into the storeroom where they had a small kitchen setup and shut the door.

  Saul couldn’t wait to open one of the boxes Amos had delivered. The man did beautiful work carving small symbols of Amish life: little wooden buggies, cradles, figures of Amish adults and children.

  Another box held the first of the very popular wooden toys Amos and his oldest sohn carved: waddling ducks and chickens on a string. Often, older Englisch customers said they reminded them of toys they’d played with as children. They bought them saying they’d be giving them to their children or grandchildren, and it made Saul happy to think of the toys reminding the buyers of happy childhood memories and creating new ones as they played with their grandchildren.

  This was why he loved working here. People in his community didn’t always see themselves as creative and seek attention for their craft. Hochmut—pride—wasn’t encouraged. Most saw it as just something they did, they enjoyed it, an
d could earn some always-needed cash. Saul enjoyed searching out special products and helping ease the way by finding a market so the craftsperson could focus on work, not worrying about selling.

  Selling was his second best skill. He’d learned from the best, after all—his dat. Samuel had been one of the first to see farming was becoming harder because of rising land prices and declining crop prices. He’d seen the increase in tourism as Englischers fascinated with the Amish flocked here for quiet vacations, shopping, and sometimes, a chance to learn how to take home some of tranquility they found.

  If he could bottle tranquility, he’d be a rich store owner, he thought.

  Katie and Rosie, part-time helpers and twin sisters in their early twenties, arrived and began helping straighten the simple wooden shelves holding the crafts. Saul listened with good-natured patience as they gossiped and settled down only when a customer came in and began looking over the handmade candles and soaps.

  Katie and Rosie spoke English—sometimes they sounded more like Englischers than Amish maedels—stopped chattering when the door to the shop opened and the bell jangled.

  “Guder mariye!” they sang out in unison.

  Katie helped the customer find the handmade soap she wanted to take back home as a gift. Rosie refolded some quilts and stacked them neatly on a shelf. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the new wooden carvings by Amos. She repositioned them on the shelves—apparently Saul’s display hadn’t been creative enough—but it was better than his, so he nodded his approval and left her to it.

  He poured himself a cup of coffee in the break room and carried it out to the counter. There, he found Katie and Rosie both ringing up sales and sending customers off happy with their purchases.

  They were natural born saleswomen. Nearly a year ago they’d come to him with a proposal to sell their jams and jellies in the store. They’d not only sold him on the idea of carrying their home-canned goods but working here several afternoons a week as well. The little jars flew out of the store with the twins’ clever labels and packaging—they called their line Two Peas in a Pod after the way they said people always referred to them—and Saul suspected that he’d lose them soon to a store of their own.

  Traffic picked up in the afternoon. Miriam had returned from her break and it took the four of them to handle all the visitors to the store. Quite a number of pieces by Amos left the store and a woman who said she collected quilts raved about Barbie’s and snapped up two of them.

  “You know, I’d have paid more,” she said, giving Saul a mischievous smile.

  “Oh, how much more?” he asked casually as he wrapped them carefully and placed them in a shopping bag with the store logo.

  “Twenty-five percent,” she said and she picked up the bag. “No raising the price now that I’ve paid.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he told her and waited for her to leave the store.

  Then he searched through the drawer on the counter, found several blank tags and changed the prices on Barbie’s remaining quilts.

  A store owner used everything he learned to price his goods for the best of the craftspeople he represented.

  An hour later, a light rain began falling. As quickly as customers had swarmed into the store, it was empty again and the sidewalk outside deserted.

  Saul sighed. “I guess I should get back to the inventory I started this morning.”

  Miriam laughed. “How you dread it. Tell you what. Before Katie and Rosie leave for the day I’ll get us both a pastry from the bakery on the corner. ”

  “A reward?”

  She laughed. “Why not? I don’t like the job any more than you do.” She glanced at the door, then at Saul. “Well, well, this is your lucky day. Look who’s here.”

  “Sohn, how’s business?” his father boomed.

  His father’s voice was as big as he was. Saul had inherited his height but not his big, barrel-chested frame. When Samuel Miller entered the room, he seemed to fill it. When they were out together in the community, his huge presence made people think he was Saul’s brother instead of his father.

  “Business was good until a few minutes ago, when the rain started,” Saul told him. “We sold two of Barbie Yoder’s quilts less than an hour after I unpacked them and several of Amos Zook’s new pieces.”

  “So you got Barbie to agree to let us sell her quilts for her. Gut, gut. You’ll do better for her than Isaac.” He strode over to look at the carved wooden pieces Saul had arranged on shelves. “I like this new direction Amos is taking. This is his best work yet.”

  He studied Saul. “I always thought you would pursue your interest in wood carving,” Samuel said, setting down the piece he’d been studying.

  Saul shrugged. “I didn’t have the skill others do.”

  “You didn’t give it a chance. You’re too hard on yourself.” Samuel was silent for a moment and then he shook his head. “But until you’re ready to believe in what you do, you won’t hear what anyone else says about it.”

  “I believe I’m good at representing the work of those God has given the gift of talent.”

  “God gives us all a gift,” Samuel said. “It’s up to us to discover it and use it.”

  Something caught Saul’s eye. Was that? He moved to the window to get a better look.

  “I can see what I’m saying is going in one ear and out the other,” his father complained.

  “Sorry. I see someone—” He opened the door. “Elizabeth!”

  Elizabeth turned when she heard her name called and her eyes widened when she saw Saul standing in the doorway of a store a few feet from her.

  “Saul?”

  “Come in out of the rain,” he invited, holding the door open.

  She ducked under the roof overhang and collapsed her umbrella, then shook the water from it before entering and wiping her feet. Saul took the umbrella and set it in a holder near the door.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m out looking for a job,” she said simply. “Paula helped me update my resumé and I’ve been going around and dropping it off.”

  “Well, Saul, who’s this?”

  He turned and saw his father staring curiously at Elizabeth.

  “Elizabeth, this is my father, Samuel.”

  “A job, you say?” Samuel tucked his thumbs in his suspenders and studied her. “What sort of a job are you looking for?”

  “I thought I’d try for one in a store first,” she said. “It’s what I did back in Goshen. I worked in a fabric store.”

  “So, let’s see this resumé you spoke of.”

  Elizabeth glanced at Saul and after a moment, he nodded. She withdrew one from the folder she carried, frowned when she saw one edge was damp and handed it over.

  “Saul, maybe you could offer Elizabeth some coffee to warm her up on a cold, damp day while I peruse this.”

  She saw Saul struggle to keep from grinning as he led the way to a break room just off a storage room.

  “Is there some joke?”

  Saul laughed and nodded. “Don’t think I’ve ever heard him use the word ‘peruse’ in my life.” He poured her a cup of coffee and added a packet of sugar.

  He remembered how she took her coffee.

  “Have a seat. Who knows how long this perusing will take.”

  “It’s a short resumé,” she told him but she took a seat. “I don’t have much experience.”

  Sure enough, Samuel walked in a few minutes later. He pulled out a chair and sat. “Saul has probably told you Miriam is going to be going on maternity leave soon.”

  She glanced at him. “No, uh, he hasn’t.”

  Samuel raised his bushy eyebrows at Saul. “No, well maybe it was one of the very few times Saul’s mind wasn’t on business.” He turned his attention back to her. “How long have you been in the area?”

  “Just a few days.”

  “I see. How do the two of you know each other?”

  “We met on the bus,” Saul told him.

  “
Well, Elizabeth, we have a position coming available, but I don’t know if you’d be interested in a temporary job.”

  Elizabeth bit her lip. Her innate honesty warred with the necessity of finding work to help her take care of herself.

  “Temporary would be helpful,” she said carefully. “I don’t know how things are here, but jobs weren’t easy to come by in Goshen.”

  “Bird-in-hand, eh?” he asked, chuckling at the joke he’d made.

  It took Elizabeth a moment to remember it was the name of a nearby town. She smiled. “Ya,” she said, using the Pennsylvania Dietsch she’d been picking up since she’d been here.

  Samuel nodded, then he looked at Saul. The two men seemed to communicate something without speaking.

  “Maybe we can help each other out, then,” Samuel said.

  He named a salary a bit better than what she’d earned in Goshen and it was full-time. Temporary, but full-time. When she nodded, he thumped the table with one hand. “Gut. Can you start day after tomorrow?”

  She nodded and he rose.

  “Well then, Elizabeth Bontrager. I hope you enjoy working here. Saul, I’m going to go pick your mother up from the doctor’s.”

  “Is she allrecht?” Saul frowned and his fingers tightened on his mug of coffee.

  “Just a checkup. Last time they did the labs she was still in remission.”

  He left them and Elizabeth heard him saying good-bye to the staff as he left the store.

  “Well,” she said. “I have a job.”

  “Ya,” he said. “You have a job. Like Daed said, I hope you like working here.”

  “I’m sure I will.”

  Silence stretched between them. Where did they go from here? she wondered, remembering how when she’d first met Saul she’d thought about how it would be to work with someone you were attracted to.

  “I—are there some forms or something I need to fill out?”

  “I’ll get them.”

  She filled out the forms while he helped a customer then handed them to him. “Could I use your phone to call my roommate?”

  “Of course.” He handed her the cordless phone from a nearby counter and left the room.