The Memory Jar (11 page)

Thirteen-year-old Sarah studied the notes she’d scribbled down. It was a recipe from one of those baking magazines she’d been reading at the doctor’s office in Eureka. Her baby brother, Andy, had become awful sick like. Sarah hadn’t liked seeing the worry on
Mem’
s face. She hadn’t liked hearing Andy crying as their driver took them all the way down the mountain, but she had liked the waiting room, especially after she’d found the magazine lying on the table for all to look at
.

She’d never seen anything like that baking magazine
.
Unlike
Mem
’s old cookbooks that were put together by Amish friends and photocopied at the office-supply store, the magazines in the doctor’s office had color
.

Sarah’s mouth had dropped open when she’d turned the page and spotted the maple cupcake. It looked so real, she could almost taste it. She’d even lifted up the magazine and smelled the page. Sadly, it only smelled like paper and ink — at least it had then. But now …
Now all types of good smells filled the kitchen of the West Kootenai Kraft and Grocery. Sarah had come with
Mem.
Annie, the owner, was on vacation, and
Mem
was supposed to be filling in baking. Sarah thought “supposed to be,” because
Mem
really wasn’t able to do much. Andy still wasn’t feeling well
.

Sarah wasn’t allowed to help with the bread
. Mem
said she could bake bread at home but not for the restaurant customers. But
Mem had
allowed her to bake cupcakes. Maybe it was because
Mem
had seen that photo in the magazine too
.

The kitchen smelled of the maple batter as well as the brown-sugar topping Sarah had made and added to the top. The recipe hadn’t called for the topping, but when Sarah looked at the plain beige batter in the pan, she knew exactly what it needed. She couldn’t wait to see if the cupcakes tasted as good as she imagined
.

Andy slept nearby in a car seat that someone had loaned
Mem.
Sarah’s family didn’t have a car to use it in. They didn’t even use the buggy much, seeing as how both the store and the school were less than a mile from their house. But the car seat had a rounded bottom, and
Mem
was able to keep Andy rocking in it with her foot while she baked
.

That only worked for so long though, and just as Sarah was taking her cupcakes out of the oven, Andy’s whimpers transformed into wails
.

“Sarah,”
Mem
breathed out her name with a big sigh. “Will you watch this milk fer my bread? Don’t take yer eyes off it. Jest let it scald and then turn it off and remove it from the heat.”

“Ja, ja.”
Sarah set down the cupcake tray on the cooling rack and pressed down on one of the cupcakes ever so gently with her finger. It pushed down just enough, and then bounced back, letting her know it was done
.

“Remember, don’t let that milk boil over. It’ll cause a horrible mess and this isn’t our kitchen.”

Sarah nodded as an idea struck her. What if, before the cupcakes cooled completely, she plopped a half teaspoon of butter on each cupcake where it would melt? She licked her lips and hurried to the fridge
. Mem
carried Andy on her hip as she passed by
.

“Did you hear me, Sarah?”

“
Ja, Mem,
sorry.” She offered a coy smile. “I’ll watch yer milk.”

Satisfied
, Mem
hurried into the small bathroom to nurse, and Sarah grabbed the butter from the fridge and returned to the kitchen. Before topping the cupcakes, she peeked at the milk. Steam rose, but Sarah knew it needed a minute more
.

She’d just plopped the first scoop of butter onto a cupcake when the double jingle of the bell on the front door told Sarah her friend had stopped by. The bell jingled with each customer who entered and exited, but only Patty waited until the door shut to jingle it again
.

“I know who’s cooking today,” Patty’s voice called from the restaurant area as she neared. “That smells too sweet to be ordinary bread. I knew from the moment I walked in that it was my friend in the kitchen. ‘Sarah’s experimenting again,’ I told myself.”

Sarah narrowed her gaze and placed her free hand on her hip. “Don’t you try to be extra nice now. You know you got me in trouble fer copying off my school paper. I’m still mad.” Yet even as she said the words, a smile threatened to break out
.

“Fine then.” Patty took the plastic bag in her hand and tucked it behind her back. “I’m not gonna show you what I got fer you then.”

“Fer me?” Sarah jabbed the spoon in the tub of butter and then hurried over to her friend. Instead of opening the bag and showing her what was inside, Patty moved to the closest table in the restaurant area and sat
.

“Close yer eyes,” Patty demanded as Sarah sat beside her
.

Sarah was too excited to argue, and she immediately closed them
.

She heard the sounds of shuffling plastic, obviously from the bag, and something else too. Paper maybe?

“
Ja
, open them!”

Sarah opened her eyes to find not one, but three magazines. The array of food on the covers took away her breath. These weren’t ordinary magazines, but baking ones
.

“Where did you get them?” Sarah asked
.

“In Eureka at the old bookstore. My
oma
sent me birthday money …”

“
Ne,
you didn’t. You spent yer birthday money on me? I can’t accept that.”

Patty laughed. “I did it fer myself. Purely selfish reasons. When you bake, I get to try yer creations. It’s the best present I’ve ever gotten. I can already taste it.” She licked her lips
.

Sarah spread her hands over the magazines, and her eyes widened. One cover showed a fancy cake. The other a perfectly made cherry pie, and the third …

“Cupcakes!” Sarah grabbed up the magazine and flipped through the pages. Some cupcakes were decorated like monkey faces, others like bumblebees. Sarah stopped on one page that showed a cupcake that looked like a flower. If she hadn’t been looking at a baking magazine, she would have been sure the cupcake had just been plucked out of a garden
.

Sarah held up the magazine. “Patty, look.”

Just then a loud hiss sounded. Sarah turned to see the flames from the gas stove shooting up
.

“The milk!” It bubbled over onto the flames, causing the fire to stretch and grow, engulfing everything in its path
.

In an instant
, Mem
’s cookbook that had been sitting on the counter next to the stove burst into flames
.

Sarah gasped and ran into the kitchen, reaching her hand out, not knowing whether to grab the pan or brush the book to the floor and try to stomp out the fire
.

“No! Wait!” A deep voice called from behind. Sarah recognized Edgar’s voice. In one smooth motion, he ran to the cabinet under the sink, pulled out a fire extinguisher, and pointed the fire extinguisher’s hose at the stove
.

“Sarah, move!”

She quickly jumped to the side, but not quickly enough
.

A white cloud filled the air, covering everything. Sarah too
.

Just then, the smoke alarm went off, and everyone in the place rushed to the kitchen to see what was the matter, including
Mem.
She hurried from the bathroom with a wailing Andy in her arms. He didn’t seem too happy about having his lunch interrupted
. Mem
didn’t seem too happy about the mess
.

Edgar shook his head and returned to the front register with a “Humph.” The restaurant guests returned to their tables, seemingly disappointed the ordeal was over so soon
.

Without a word
, Mem
took the baby back to the bathroom to finish feeding, and Sarah set to work cleaning up the mess. White powder covered everything. Sarah would have to throw out all the ingredients
Mem
had out for the bread. She looked at her cupcakes on the cooling tray. She’d have to throw them out, too, as well as the tub of butter she’d had sitting out on the kitchen countertop. All the pots and pans were coated with the dust, as were the cooking utensils, walls, and floors. Sarah guessed what she’d be doing for the next week
.

With a heavy sigh, she picked up the cupcake tray and dumped her creations in the trash one by one
.

Footsteps shuffled behind her, and Sarah didn’t have to turn to know Patty stood there
.

Just when Sarah thought things couldn’t get worse, she heard what sounded like a soft snickering behind her. The snickering grew until it turned into a laugh that radiated from Patty’s gut
.

“I don’t know what yer laughing at,” Sarah hissed, brushing white powder from her
kapp.
She crossed her arms over her chest. She held a cupcake in her hand and seriously considered throwing it as hard as she could at her friend. Or
who she used to call a friend. No friend of Sarah’s would ever think something as horrible as this was funny
.

Between gasps, Patty held up the cupcake magazine. “I’m so sorry, Sarah.” She gasped for air. “But you look like this.” She pointed. On the page was a white bunny cupcake with large, blue-gumdrop eyes
.

Sarah touched her face and arm, knowing she was covered with the white powder. What a sight she must be! She would have laughed along with Patty if her mother hadn’t walked into the kitchen at just that moment
.

Mem
didn’t scold Sarah. She didn’t need to. Sarah glanced at
Mem.
Anger flashed in her eyes. Then, seeing Patty and the magazines
, Mem
’s brow furrowed. She no doubt figured out what had distracted Sarah from the pan of milk
.

Mem
marched over to Patty and pointed. “These yer magazines?”

Patty shook her head
. “Ne.”

“Whose are they then?”

“I bought them fer Sarah.”

Mem
picked them up, turned toward her daughter, and then stalked over to the trash, tossing them in
.

“You need to keep yer mind on the task you’ve been called to.”
Mem
’s voice was low with the slightest quiver. “Sarah Shelter, you don’t need to get yer mind filled with fancy things, do ya hear? You don’t need to let what’s pretty fill yer heart, pushing out all that’s obedient and
gut.”

Sarah nodded. She didn’t have the heart to look at her friend. Patty had given her the best gift ever. And now those beautiful, colorful magazines sat in the trash
.

Sarah’s heart felt as if it had cracked in two, like an
eggshell, with all her hopes spilling out. It wasn’t just the magazines — no, it was more than that
. Mem
thought the very things Sarah wanted to make were rubbish
.

No fancy cupcakes for Sarah
.

Not now
.

Not ever
.