Healing Their Amish Hearts. Leigh Bale

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СКАЧАТЬ a baseball field. Although the school possibly needed a couple of swings and teeter-totter, Becca couldn’t ask for more and wished this was a permanent position. But the regular teacher would return next fall, after she healed from the buggy accident that had crushed her pelvis and broken both her legs. The young woman was blessed to still be alive.

      As she waited for the students to settle themselves, Becca glanced out the wide windows. The afternoon sun sparkled against the dusting of snow they’d received early that morning. The azure sky looked crystal clear but the February temperatures were downright frigid. Becca added another piece of wood to the fire, then called on a student to begin.

      “Samuel King, would you please read out loud for us?” she asked with a kind smile.

      Sam’s soft brown eyes widened in panic, then he looked down at his book, his hands folded tightly in his lap. Becca waited patiently but the six-year-old boy didn’t speak. Not a single word.

      “Excuse me, Teacher Becca.” Andy Yoder, the bishop’s youngest son and another first-grader, held up his hand.

      “Yes, Andy?” Becca asked.

      “Sam don’t talk, teacher. Not ever,” Andy said.

      “Sam doesn’t talk,” she said, correcting the boy’s grammar.

      And she wasn’t willing to accept that. But first things first. She reached for a piece of chalk so she could write the correct sentence on the board. Finding no chalk, she pulled open the drawer to her desk...and quickly jerked back as a shrill cry escaped her throat.

      A snake! In her desk drawer.

      She stepped back so fast that her chair toppled to the floor. All the scholars gaped at her in surprise. A few snickered. Becca blinked, expecting the snake to move. But it didn’t. And after closer inspection, she realized it was made of rubber.

      A toy snake! In her desk drawer.

      With a quick twist of her hand, she flipped it out onto the floor. It landed near Caleb Yoder, the bishop’s eleven-year-old son. He scooped it up before shoving it into one of the girls’ faces. Absolute pandemonium erupted. The girl reared back and screamed as Caleb tossed the fake reptile to Enos Albrecht, who laughed and waved it in the air.

      “Enos! Stop that,” Becca called in a stern voice, trying to restore order.

      Screeching madly, little Fannie Albrecht jumped up on her chair, her fisted hands pulled to her face in absolute terror. Shrieks and shouts filled the air.

      “Stop that!” Reuben Fisher cried.

      Reuben was the son of Becca’s cousin and lived in the same house with her and her aunt Naomi. He tried to snatch the toy away from Enos but wasn’t tall enough. In the struggle, the fake serpent bounced against the boy’s hand and landed on the wooden floor in front of the door.

      There was a loud gasp and the room went absolutely still.

      Jesse King, Sam’s father, stood in front of the open door, holding his black felt hat in his hands. His gaze swept the room, his shrewd eyes showing that he understood exactly what had transpired. A corner of his mouth twitched and Becca thought he might laugh. But no. He looked too stern to find any humor in the moment. A chilly gust of wind accompanied his entrance and he pushed the portal closed with the point of his black work boot. Becca stared, thinking she imagined the man. When had he come inside? Probably during the chaos.

      Oh, no! Why did he have to show up now? What must he think of her?

      A moment of confusion fogged Becca’s mind. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. She watched as if in slow motion as Mr. King leaned down and picked up the rubber snake. It dangled from his large hand and Becca couldn’t contain a shiver of revulsion.

      “Is this yours?” Looking directly at Becca, Mr. King spoke in Deitsch, the German dialect their Amish people used among themselves. His voice sounded low and calm and he seemed completely unruffled by the horrible snake.

      Mortified beyond words, Becca hurried toward him. Her face heated up like road flares. The fact that one of the fathers of her scholars had witnessed this shameful moment almost undid her.

      “No, but I’ll take care of it.” She spoke in perfect English, the language they used in the classroom.

      She forced herself to take the toy snake between two trembling fingers. With disgust, she returned it to the front of the room and shut it up in her desk drawer again. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Lenore Schwartz help little Fannie climb down off her chair and the children all took their seats. And just like that, order was restored.

      Gathering her composure, Becca patted her white organdy prayer kapp and smoothed her lavender skirts before she faced Sam’s father again.

      “Mr. King, was there something you wanted?” She lifted her chin higher, forcing herself to meet Jesse King’s solid gaze. For just a moment, she thought his eyes looked sad and...haunted.

      This was the first time she’d met him, though she’d seen him from afar on several occasions. Since she’d only arrived in Riverton eight days earlier, she hadn’t had the opportunity to attend church yet but she’d tried to speak with him yesterday when he’d picked up Sam from school. He’d driven away before she could catch him and, if she didn’t know better, she’d think he’d been trying to avoid her.

      Up close, she realized he was a tall man with dark brooding eyes, high cheekbones and a narrow chin. His black hair was overly long for an Amish man and curled against the sides of his face. His beard indicated he was married, though Becca had been told by a member of the school board that he was a widower. Becca figured there was no one at home to cut his hair for him. If only he would smile, she might find him ruggedly handsome. But just now, his angular face showed no emotion whatsoever and only his eyes indicated an active mind hidden beneath his tranquil exterior.

      “I’ve come to pick up Sam,” Jesse said. His voice sounded low, his dark eyes unwavering.

      Like her, Jesse and Sam were newcomers to this Gmay, their Amish community. They had moved here from Lancaster County in Pennsylvania just two months earlier. Apparently Jesse had lost his wife and two young daughters in a house fire a year earlier. The poor man. No wonder he looked so sad. And since that time, little Samuel hadn’t spoken a single word. Becca knew no more than that. But she kept giving Sam opportunities and hoping that one day he would surprise her and finally read out loud.

      Trying to be professional, she glanced at the clock on the wall. “But school isn’t out for another twenty minutes. If you’d like to wait, perhaps I can speak with you afterward.”

      Jesse inclined his head. “Ne, I’m afraid I don’t have time to wait. This afternoon, I need to move a boulder from my south field and won’t be finished before it’s time to return and pick him up from school. I’ll have to take him home now.”

      Becca blinked. She was trying to be understanding. Trying to be a good teacher. But the truth was, she was highly inexperienced. Though she’d served four months as a teacher’s apprentice in Ohio, this was her first time teaching solo. It was bad enough to come into a classroom full of scholars she didn’t know but she had also entered this class midway through the school year. She wanted to do a good job. She really did. In fact, her future depended on it.

      “Of course.” She glanced at Sam, СКАЧАТЬ