Authors: Vannetta Chapman
“I don't understand. I know there are plenty of shops in places like Pennsylvania and Indiana and even Ohio. Why not here?”
“Those areas have a bigger Mennonite population, which can help with establishing businesses. For example, Lolly's Fabrics in Shipsheâ”
“Shipshe?”
“Shipshewana. It's near my town of Goshen, in northeast Indiana.”
“Okay.”
“Lolly's is run by a Mennonite woman. That helps, because women working outside of the home is more accepted in the Mennonite culture. She hires Amish girls, but she and her husband run the business.”
Chloe shook her head. She was going to have to resist her urge to fix things, and really, was the Amish way broken? The families they had visited seemed to be doing fine. No one was going hungry because a quilt hadn't sold.
They were driving through Cody's Creek on the way to the next quilter on her list.
Chloe nodded toward the dry goods store. “The owner there is Amish, right? I've been in a few times.”
“
Ya
, Rebecca and Joseph Byler own the store.” Anna glanced out the window as the signal light changed and they passed by. “I hadn't given much thought to the fact that Rebecca works in the store. Maybe, because they live behind the store instead of on a farm, it's natural for her to help her husband.”
“She could carry a few locally made quilts in her store.”
“Perhaps.”
Chloe's stomach rumbled the moment she saw the Dairy Queen sign up ahead. She turned on her right blinker and changed lanes. “Hungry?”
“A little.”
“Let's get some ice cream, then. I'll buy yours since you are giving up your afternoon to show me around.”
“And I'll buy yours since you gave me an excuse to get off the farm for a few hours.”
T
he last home Chloe and Anna visited was in the northern part of the district.
“Naomi Hershberger is one of the best quilters in our area, or so my
aenti
says. I've never seen her work.”
“You moved here just a few months ago. How do you know where everyone lives?”
“I don't. I'm only taking you to the homes I've visited during our church meetings.”
“I read about that. The Amish have church in their homes. How does that work?”
“Each family hosts the meeting twice a year.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”
“
Ya
. It's the same in nearly every Amish community, though some New Order districts have church buildings like the
Englisch
and like the Mennonites.”
“It must be crowded when you meet in a home.”
“It is, but it also assures your house receives a thorough cleaning twice a year.”
Chloe pulled into the drive of a large two-story home. Like the others they had visited, this one had a massive garden to the side and a huge barn to the back. A trampoline adorned the front yard, but no children were on it.
“The older ones are in school today,” Anna explained.
It turned out plenty of younger children were not in school. A woman in her early fifties opened the front door.
“Anna, it's
gut
to see you.”
“And you, Naomi. This is Chloe Roberts. She works for the newspaper and is doing a piece on quilting.”
“Please come inside.” Naomi stepped aside and introduced her daughter-in-law, Sally, who was nursing an infant.
Sally sat quietly. She didn't smile, and she avoided looking directly at them.
Chloe guessed that the younger woman was about her age, probably in her early to mid-thirties. Around her, scattered throughout the sitting room floor, were four youngsters in addition to the one she was holding. The oldest boy proudly proclaimed himself four years old by holding up the corresponding number of fingers. The twins were in the middle at age two and a half, and there was another toddler that looked to be a year, if that.
Five children under five years of age. Chloe couldn't imagine.
Naomi had gray in her hair and a few extra pounds around her middle. She was the quintessential grandmother, and Chloe's fingers itched to pull out her camera and snap a few photos. She didn't, of course. She understood the rules. Naomi had a slow, genuine smile that lit up her face.
But there was a profound sadness about Sally. Her expression was grave, and she only interacted with them if asked a direct question. Her face was drawn tight, perhaps owing to her thinness. Dark circles under her eyes indicated she wasn't receiving nearly enough sleep.
Naomi corralled the twins toward the kitchen table, where she placed crayons and sheets of paper. Bending down, she asked the oldest, the four-year-old, to watch over his baby brothers.
“Don't let them eat the crayons,” she reminded the boy as she turned back toward her guests.
“I apologize if this is a bad time.” Chloe couldn't imagine a good time. Maybe in six years when they were all in school?
“One time is as
gut
as any other,” Naomi assured her, walking her guests to a back porch that had been converted into another sitting area. Two chairs were positioned by the windows with a small table between
them. On the table was a checkerboard. The room was full of sunshine and warmth. Chloe found herself wishing Sally would come out with them, but she'd said she needed to finish nursing the baby.
Naomi was bustling about, opening the back door to let in the breeze and raising one of the shades to allow even more sunshine into the room. “Sally has other
kinner
who are older and in school now. It's a bit busier when they're home, though they are
gut
helpers. When they're gone for the day, the house seems somewhat quiet and empty. Sally and I are ready to see them by the time they return in the afternoon.”
Chloe glanced at Anna, who waved four fingers at her.
They had four more at school? That made for nine.
“You look surprised.” Naomi smiled and patted Chloe's arm. “Nine
kinner
is not unusual for an Amish family.”
“So I'm learning.”
In a corner of the room was a full-sized bed, and Naomi motioned toward it. “Here's where we keep the quilts. We don't have closets in our homes, and this is an easy way to show the quilts to
Englischers
who stop by.”
On the top of the bed was a sheet, which Naomi removed and folded. Under it was a quilt that looked plain until Chloe stepped closer to examine it.
“This is a polished cream double wedding ring quilt,” Naomi explained.
“It's stunning. And this was all done by hand?”
“
Ya
. None of the women in our district use treadle machines, though some Amish do.” Naomi folded back the top quilt, revealing another off-white quilt, but this one was designed with black squares set off diagonally. “This is a black-and-cream nine patch.”
Chloe glanced at Anna, who smiled and turned to Naomi. “Chloe would like to take a picture of the quilt with her phone if that's okay with you.”
Naomi's brow furrowed in concern. “I'm afraid that would be quite prideful of me. Though I enjoy the work Sally and I do, and I'm grateful we are able to do it, I wouldn't want to be bragging about it.”
“We've visited several homes today, and all of the quilts have been
lovely. I'd like to list your address in a sidebar, and perhaps that will bring more people out to see what you have for sale.”
“Listing our address would be all right, I suppose.”
“How about if I include a few photographs but don't put your name beside the photos?”
Sally had finished feeding her youngest and was now standing in the doorway of the little back room. “I saw photos of Rebecca Byler's shop in the paper once. It was a few years ago.”
“I suppose it's okay with our bishop then.” Naomi reached forward and pulled back the next quilt, revealing another of the same pattern, but this one was pastel blue and cream. “All right. As long as you don't mention my nameâonly the family name to the side, where you list our address. That would be allowed, I'm sure. Rather like an ad.”
“
Ya
, except this advertisement will be free,” Anna said brightly.
In all, Naomi and Sally had twenty-two quilts for sale, a staggering number in Chloe's opinion.
She'd taken pictures of three of them and hoped that Eric would agree to run the photos with her piece and the sidebar with driving directions.
Naomi invited them to stay for tea, but it seemed to Chloe the woman had her hands full. Sally had returned to her rocker, still holding her baby and staring off into the distance.
They said their goodbyes, with both Chloe and Anna thanking them.
Though the home had been clean and orderly, Chloe took in a deep breath when they walked outside. There was an oppressive atmosphere in Naomi's home, something Chloe couldn't quite put her finger on. She waited until they were once again on the main road, and then she began to pepper Anna with questions.
A
nna wasn't surprised Chloe had a lot of questions.
“So many children. Is that normal? If so, when do they find the time to quilt?” They were once again traveling through Cody's Creek, headed back to Anna's. “As you said, there's plenty of work to do on a farm, and with all of those babies⦔
“
Ya
, but quilting is one of the ways we relax.” She pulled one of the strings from her prayer
kapp
forward and fiddled with it. “What do you do when you go home in the evening?”
“Microwave a dinner, watch some television, and maybe work a little.”
“We can't bring the field work into the house at night, we don't watch television, and we never microwave dinners.”
“Cooking for all of those people and then doing the dishes by hand?” Chloe gave a fake shudder. “That must take forever.”
“Hardly. Remember, we have lots of little helpers.”
“Huh.”
“But my point is that our evenings are very different from yours. There's not much to do after dinner other than sit on the porch or play a game of checkers. Maybe read a little, though most Amish only read the
Budget
.”
“You read other things. I saw the book you had tucked under the receipt pad at your produce stand.”
Anna's face warmed, but she laughed along with Chloe. “I do like
to read the occasional story, and no one mentions it because I'm relatively young and unmarried. But
Englisch
newspapers? Few Amish read those.”
“I'm offended.”
“
Ya
, I thought you might be.”
“Surely you can sell subscriptions of my paper to your neighbors.”
It seemed funny to Anna that she didn't have to wonder if Chloe was kidding. She knew her that well after only a few times together.
“So quilting is a nice way to rest.”
“It doesn't sound restful.”
“Many Amish women also work on a quilt at odd moments during the day. Remember when we went by Mary Beth's?”
“She's the bishop's wife?”
“
Ya
. She keeps a quilt on a stand in the corner of her sitting room. That way, if she has a free half hour, it's easy enough to take a break and quilt a bit.”
“You're suggesting that if I gave up television, I could learn to quilt?”
“Probably anyone can learn, but not everyone is as talented as Mary Beth or Naomi.”
“And you?”
“My
mamm
taught me well enough, but my mind often wanders. It's not unusual for me to find I've sewn the wrong two pieces together.”
“Great!”
Anna looked at her in surprise. “Great?”
“Yes. There are at least two of us in Mayes County who aren't quilters.”
She pulled into the lane and followed the gravel road to the side of the house. Before Anna could hop out, Chloe reached over and stayed her with a touch to the arm.
“What was wrong with Sally? Why was she so⦠sad?”
Anna removed her hand from the door handle and placed it in her lap. “It happened before I arrived, in June. Sally had the twinsâ”
“Twins?”
“Her second set.
Ya
, but one, a little girl, didn't make it.”
“She died?”
“The doctors assured Sally that it wasn't the midwife's fault. They said
whether Sally had been at a hospital or at home, the baby would not have been born breathing. Apparently, it had not developed correctly.”
Chloe thought about that a minute. “All the children I saw were boys.”