“Put on your shoes and stockings. I will wait for you outside.”
Lia retrieved her bag from her bedroom and walked out into the pleasant summer night. The chirp of crickets amplified the stillness. Moses fed Sammy a few oats from the palm of his hand.
“Is she coming?” he said, taking Lia’s bag.
“Any minute.”
“I don’t think this is her idea of a fun outing.”
Lia tried not to grin.
Clutching her scarf just below her chin, Rachel stumbled out of the house as if her feet weighed a hundred pounds each.
Moses was especially chipper and ignored her resistance. “It’s so gute to see you, Rachel. I’m glad your dat insisted you come.”
Lia tried to suppress the nagging feeling that Moses actually meant what he said. Surely he just wanted to humor Rachel.
Rachel perked up a bit when she saw him. “I wanted to come.”
Moses slid the buggy door open. “Rachel, you’ll want the backseat so you can sleep.”
Rachel looked as if she would protest. The front seat next to Moses was a prime spot. Instead, she opened her mouth wide for a tremendous yawn and nodded. “I need my sleep. I told Lia I need my sleep. She wouldn’t listen.”
Moses actually winked at Lia. She thought her heart would leap out of her chest. “You have a delicate constitution. This must be hard for you.”
“I try not to complain.”
Rachel curled up in the backseat as Moses helped Lia into the front. He squeezed her hand. “This will be fun.”
“Denki for giving up your sleep for me.”
“Don’t mention it. I want you to have the experience.”
They descended the lane and pulled out onto the main road. Not a car in sight. Moses prompted the horse into a trot. “I don’t want you to miss the whole thing.”
“What time did Sarah call you?”
“About thirty minutes ago. This time we are going halfway to Marion. I am glad for my new buggy. The lights make it safer on the dark roads.” Moses pointed to the floor at Lia’s feet. “I brought something for you.”
Lia leaned over and felt around the floor until her fingers encountered a thick book with lots of papers sticking out the top. She lifted it onto her lap. “The midwife book. Does Sarah want me to read it again?”
Moses glanced at Lia and curled his lips. “Nae. I saw how reluctant you were to part with that book. I bought Sarah a new copy, and she says you can keep this one.”
“Oh, Moses, you shouldn’t have.” Lia sighed, hugging the book to her like an old friend. A cheery fire glowed inside her even as she knew she couldn’t keep the book. “I can’t accept this. I wanted to order my own until I found out how much it cost, and I refuse to let you put out your hard-earned money just so I can have my own book.”
“I like it when you’re happy. You must keep that book or I will be in the depths of despair.”
“You’ll get over it. Take the book back and bring me a tub of shortening, and that will be gift enough.”
Moses chuckled. “You’re the easiest girl to please I’ve ever met. Barbara used to . . .” He stopped laughing and twisted his lips into a slight frown, but the momentary chill didn’t last long. “Shortening is not on my list of good gifts.”
“Good enough for me.”
“Keep the book. It’s too much trouble to lug back to the bookstore.”
“You will manage.”
Moses’s feathers didn’t seem to be ruffled at all. “Why are we talking about this in the middle of the night when you are clearly not thinking straight? We’ll discuss it in the morning when I have more energy to persuade you of my point of view.”
Lia pursed her lips and gave him the look she would have given a naughty schoolboy. “You won’t persuade me. I’m stubborn when I want to be.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Only when you want to be? That trait seems pretty consistent to me.”
Lia flashed a sickly-sweet smile, nibbled on a fingernail, and batted her eyes at Moses. The gesture only made him laugh. With that, the debate was decidedly over, but Lia couldn’t figure out who had won.
The road stretched on before them, and Lia didn’t resist the rhythmic
clip-clop
of Sammy’s hooves against the blacktop. The sound lulled her into a sleepy daze where dreams and reality jumbled together in her head.
The buggy lurched to a halt, and Lia awoke with her cheek resting quite comfortably into Moses’s shoulder. She snapped her head up as Moses secured the reins. He looked into her eyes with a guarded expression. Was he annoyed or simply tired?
Clearing his throat, he appeared very interested in the knobs on his dashboard. “We’re here.”
Lia smoothed an imaginary piece of hair from her face and scooted a few inches away from his warmth. Why hadn’t he nudged her away earlier?
She studied his face in the dim light. Had she made him feel uncomfortable sleeping so peacefully like that? He was definitely uncomfortable about something.
“What shall we do with Rachel?”
“She’ll have to go in with you,” Moses said, “even if Sarah resists. I’m going to unhitch Sammy and sleep out here in the buggy.”
Lia reached back and shook Rachel’s shoulder. “Rachel, wake up. We’re here.”
Rachel sat up with a start. “What time is it?”
“Cum. Let’s go.”
Lia climbed out of the buggy and helped a groggy Rachel to the ground. Moses carried the bag to the front porch of the two-story red-brick house where a light burned in an upstairs window. Lia knocked softly as Rachel trudged up the steps behind her. No answer. She cracked the door open. If everyone in the house was busy bringing the baby into the world, there would be no one available to answer the door.
Rachel turned to Moses and mustered a little enthusiasm. “What shall we do while Lia’s in there?”
Moses took off his hat. “You should get some rest. I am going to catch some sleep in the buggy.”
“Lia shouldn’t have woke me up.”
Moses smiled at Rachel as if she were a toddler who had just taken her first step. “I’m glad Lia woke you so you could be with us.”
Moses was certainly being considerate of Rachel’s mood. Lia pursed her lips and ignored the prick in her heart. It was too early in the morning to make any sense of what Moses did or did not mean by his kindness. He always treated others kindly. Why should Lia feel threatened by that?
Lia took Rachel’s arm. “Come in the house. We will find you a place to lie down.”
“Wake me if you need anything,” Moses said.
Lia peeked inside the house. All quiet downstairs. The front door opened to a spacious family room with two sofas facing each other. The rhythmic ticking of a grandfather clock punctuated the silence.
Lia pointed to one of the sofas. “You can sleep here while I am upstairs.” Lord willing, Sarah would not discover Rachel until it was time to leave.
“I need a blanket.”
Lia felt around in the shadows until she found an afghan sitting in a basket next to the end table. Rachel made herself comfortable on the sofa, and Lia spread the afghan over her. “Sleep well.”
“I won’t be able to sleep a wink.”
Lia followed the faint light up the stairs and down a long hallway. She passed three closed doors where the family most likely slept. Light seeped from under the fourth door. Lia tapped lightly and cracked the door open. A propane floor lantern hissed as it cast its white light around the room. Sarah bent over the expectant mother, who sat in a straight-backed chair next to the bed.
Two open windows met at one corner of the room and a cool breeze teased the curtains back and forth.
Sarah wiped her hands on a towel and nodded to Lia. “Gute. You are here. Close the door. The time is almost come. Did Moses have trouble finding the place?”
Lia shook her head and felt her face get warm. She wasn’t entirely sure how they got there. She had slept very comfortably on Moses’s shoulder most of the trip.
Sarah pointed to the soon-to-be mother, who must have been between contractions. She breathed heavily but looked relatively comfortable. “This is Diane.”
“Sarah says you have skill at getting women through their pain,” Diane said.
Lia smiled. “I’m glad I can help. I am sorry I couldn’t be here sooner.”
“This is Diane’s sixth,” Sarah said.
“You sit up for labor?” Lia asked.
“Jah. Let gravity do the work.”
Sarah rubbed her hand up and down Diane’s arm. “I’ve been here two hours yet, and she’s almost ready to push.”
“I try not to make too much noise,” Diane said, panting as new pain seized her. “The kinner are fast asleep, and Elijah is in the barn getting a head start on his chores.”
“You’re in transition,” Sarah said. “Now the hard work begins.”
An hour later, Diane held a bouncing baby boy in her arms while Sarah and Lia cleaned up the linens. Sarah, who could guess any baby’s weight within an ounce, declared him to be a nine pounder, a healthy baby, with a full head of curly brown hair and a double chin.
Lia felt completely drained of energy but couldn’t have been more satisfied. Sarah had let her catch the baby this time. “Don’t drop it,” she had whispered before the head popped out. New babies were slippery.
The sun peeked over the horizon as Lia and Sarah finished tidying the room. Sarah slipped a tiny knitted hat onto the baby’s head. “I’ll go fetch Elijah.”
Diane smiled as only a relieved mother after delivery can smile. “Denki. That one wasn’t as hard as the last.”
“You did a wonderful-gute job. It comes natural to some.” Sarah gathered up the soiled sheets. “Would you like me to stay until your sister comes?”
“Nae, she will be here soon. Both of you go home and get some sleep. You did good work.”
“Nae, you did good work,” Sarah said.
Lia took up her bag and trudged down the stairs. Sarah followed close behind with her armload of laundry. She caught sight of Rachel snoring softly on the sofa and pursed her lips.
“It’s a long story,” Lia said.
“Write me a letter. I’m too weary for explanations.” Sarah turned down the hallway to the washroom. “I will get Elijah. Tell Moses he is to come to dinner on Wednesday. We will have pot roast.”
Lia nudged Rachel several times without a response. She resorted to poking her sister in the ribs. Rachel finally stirred and opened her eyes. “Where’s Moses?”
“Come on, before the whole house wakes up.”
Rachel sat up and cradled her head in her hands. “Oy anyhow, what a headache.”
Lia and Rachel walked outside where Moses’s horse was already hitched to the buggy and waiting patiently for them. Rachel peered in the buggy window. “I don’t see Moses.”
As if conjured by Rachel’s voice, Moses appeared around the side of the house with a sack of flour slung over his back. Lia could see the straining muscles of his shoulders and arms. That bag couldn’t weigh less than a hundred pounds.
His countenance put the sunrise to shame. “Sarah says you’re ready to go.”
Rachel sighed and massaged her neck. “Ach, please take us home. I hurt all over from sleeping on that lumpy sofa.”
Moses stood there as if the flour weighed nothing and he had all the time in the world to chat. “How did it go?”
Lia loved the warmth that spread over her whenever she saw Moses. “I got to catch the baby and cut the cord. Sarah said I did well.”
“I’m sure you did. She probably wonders how she got along without you.”
Rachel stomped her foot weakly. “Can we go?”
Moses patted the bag of flour. “Let me dump this in the bin, and I’ll be right out.”
He strode into the house with his flour sack, and Lia and Rachel climbed into the buggy.
“I’m sitting in the front this time,” Rachel said. “It’s a long ride home, and I want to be close to Moses.”
Lia dutifully climbed in the back. She could sleep while Rachel flirted with Moses.
“I’ve been thinking,” Rachel said as she settled into her seat of honor. “Moses will never be able to speak freely if you are always with us.”
“But you can be alone when he drops me off for midwifing.”
Rachel batted her eyelashes as if she had something very irritating in her eye. “Well, we saw how well that worked out today, didn’t we? I want to have a picnic. With just Moses and me. Will you help me make fried chicken? Men love fried chicken, and I don’t make it because I don’t want to get burned when the oil pops out of the pan.”
“I can show you how to avoid that.”
“And a pie. Moses loves pie. He told me so himself. Will you make a pie for our picnic?”
Lia couldn’t think of anything less appealing than putting together a picnic lunch for Moses and Rachel. If Rachel wanted Moses, she should make her own hay. But Lia already knew that she would help her sister. Dat would demand it, and Rachel truly was helpless in the kitchen. Lia would rather Rachel didn’t burn down the Helmuths’ house.
It wasn’t as if Moses would fall in love with Rachel simply because of the delicious food. Lia wasn’t that good a cook.
Moses jogged out of the house like a man who had a good eight hours of sleep. He leaped into the buggy, paused for a moment when he saw that Rachel sat in the front seat, and took up the reins. “Elijah’s got his work cut out for him. Six little ones, cattle to feed, crops to tend to. They pulled up roots from Lancaster four years ago. Land is less expensive here.”
“Did you sleep okay?” Lia asked.
Rachel propped her elbow against the window. “I didn’t sleep one minute.”
Moses joggled the reins and got Sammy moving forward. “I slept like a baby. I can sleep anywhere, but I can’t sleep past the light.”
“So you got up and helped Elijah with his chores,” Lia said.
“He’s got a nice little place here, but he still has to work at the packing plant to support his family.” Moses pulled a small watch from his pocket. “If we hurry, we’ll have time to get back to Huckleberry Hill to help Mammi and Dawdi get ready for gmay.”