reminding them that they needed to settle their disputes without violence. He wondered if they’d listen and what she’d have to do if they didn’t heed her.
As she closed the door, she looked at him and mouthed, See you tonight.
“Gut!” he said as he walked to where he’d left his wagon on the road. He smiled. He’d been wanting to stop by the Stoltzfus farm, so her invitation offered the perfect excuse. It would be a fun evening, and for the first time since he’d seen the alpacas, he dared to believe that with what Esther could teach him about the odd creatures, he might be able to make a go of the farm.
The Stoltzfus family farm was an easy walk from the school. Esther went across a field, along two different country roads, and then up the long lane to the only house she’d ever lived in. She’d been born there. Her daed had been as well, and his daed before him.
After Daed had passed away, her mamm had moved into the attached dawdi haus while Esther managed the main house. She’d hand over those duties when her older brother Ezra married, which she guessed would be before October was over, because he spent every bit of his free time with their neighbor Leah Beiler. Their wedding day was sure to be a joyous one.
Though she never would have admitted it, Esther was looking forward to giving the responsibilities of a household with five bachelor brothers to Leah. Even with one of her older brothers married, another widowed and her older sister off tending a family of her own, the housework was never-ending. Esther enjoyed cooking and keeping the house neat, but she was tired of mending a mountain of work clothes while trying to prepare lesson plans for the next day. Her brothers worked hard, whether on the farm or in construction or at the grocery store, and their clothes reflected that. She and Mamm never caught up.
Everything in her life had been in proper order...until Nathaniel Zook came to her school that afternoon. She was amazed she hadn’t heard he was in Paradise Springs. If she’d known, maybe she’d have been better prepared. He’d grown up, but it didn’t sound as if he’d changed. He still liked adventures if he intended to keep alpacas instead of the usual cows or sheep or goats on his farm. That made him a man she needed to steer clear of, so she could avoid the mistakes she’d made with Alvin Lee.
But how could she turn her back on helping him? It was the Amish way to give assistance when it was requested. She couldn’t mess up Nathaniel’s life because she was appalled by how she’d nearly ruined her own by chasing excitement.
His suggestion that she bring the scholars to his farm would focus attention on the kinder. She’d give them a fun day while they learned about something new, something that might be of use to them in the future. Who could guess now which one of them would someday have alpacas of his or her own?
That thought eased her disquiet enough that Esther could admire the trees in the front yard. They displayed their autumnal glory. Dried leaves were already skittering across the ground on the gentle breeze. Ezra’s Brown Swiss cows grazed near the white barn. The sun was heading for the horizon, a sure sign milking would start soon. Dinner for her hungry brothers needed to be on the table by the time chores were done and the barn tidied up for the night.
When she entered the comfortable kitchen with its pale blue walls and dark wood cabinets, Esther was surprised to see her twin brothers there. They were almost five years older than she was, and they’d teased her, when they were kinder, of being an afterthought. She’d fired back with jests of her own, and they’d spent their childhoods laughing. No one took offense while they’d been climbing trees, fishing in the creek and doing tasks to help keep the farm and the house running.
Her twin brothers weren’t identical. Daniel had a cleft in his chin and Micah didn’t. There were other differences in the way they talked and how they used their hands to emphasize words. Micah asserted he was a half inch taller than his twin, but Esther couldn’t see it. They were unusual in one important way—they didn’t share a birthday. Micah had been born ten minutes before midnight, and Daniel a half hour later, a fact Micah never allowed his “baby” brother to forget.
Both twins had a glass of milk in one hand and a stack of snickerdoodles in the other. Their bare feet stuck out from where they sat at the large table in the middle of the kitchen.
“You’re home early,” she said as she hung her bonnet and satchel on pegs by the back door. The twins’ straw hats hung among the empty pegs, which would all be in use by the time the family sat down for dinner.
“We’re finished at the project in Lititz,” Daniel said. He was a carpenter, as was Micah, but the older twin specialized in building windmills and installing solar panels. However, the two men were equally skilled with a hammer. “Time to hand it over to the electricians and plumbers. Micah already went over what needed to be done to connect the roof panels to the main electrical box.”
“You’ve been working on that house a long time,” she said as she opened the refrigerator door and took out the leftover ham she planned to reheat for dinner. “It must be a big one.”
“You know how Englischers are.” Micah chuckled. “They move out to Lancaster County to live the simple life and then decide they need lots of gadgets and rooms to store them in. This house has a real movie theater.”
She began cutting the ham into thick slices. “You’re joking.”
“Would we do that?” Daniel asked with fake innocence before he took the final bite of his last cookie.
“Ja.”
“Ja,” echoed Micah, folding his arms on the table. “We’re being honest. The house is as big as our barn.”
Esther tried to imagine why anyone would need a house that size, but she couldn’t. At one point, there had been eleven of them living in the Stoltzfus farmhouse along with her grandparents in the small dawdi haus, and there had been plenty of room.
Daniel stretched before he yawned. “Sorry. It was an early morning.”
“You’ll want to stay awake. An old friend of yours is stopping by tonight.”
“Who?” Micah asked.
She could tell them, but it served her brothers right to let their curiosity stew a bit longer. Smiling, she said, “Someone who inherited a farm on Zook Road.”
The twins exchanged a disbelieving glance before Daniel asked, “Are you talking about Nate Zook?”
“He calls himself Nathaniel now.”
“He’s back in Paradise Springs?” he asked.
“Ja.”
“It’s been almost ten years since the last time we saw him.” With a pensive expression, Micah rubbed his chin between his forefinger and thumb. “Remember, Daniel? He came out from Indiana to spend the summer with his grandparents the year after his family moved.”
Daniel chuckled. “His grossmammi made us chocolate shoo-fly pie the day before he left. One of the best things I’ve ever tasted. Do you remember, Esther?”
“No.” She was glad she had her back to them as she placed ham slices in the cast-iron fry pan. Her face was growing warm as she thought again of Nathaniel’s visit and how she’d made a complete
