Rose seemed to sense my approach. Turning her head suddenly toward me, her eyes caught mine and immediately she relaxed, a bright smile spreading across her face.
The man bent near her and asked, “Are you here alone?”
Before she could say a thing, I was by her side, answering for her. “She’s with me.” I shot a hostile look at him, bringing a snort and a crooked smile from his lips at the same time. He tipped his hat in an exaggerated way to Rose and walked away.
Before I risked talking, I surveyed the people around us. Finding none of my kind nearby, I leaned in close to her, only inches from her face, to whisper darkly, the tumult I was feeling clearly in my voice, “What do you think you’re doing, Rose?”
She looked up at me, puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
Sighing, I stated the obvious. “You shouldn’t be wandering around here by yourself. Imagine what could have happened with that cowboy if I hadn’t found you when I did. You should have stayed with your brother,” I said forcefully, realizing that I didn’t have any authority over her. That really troubled me more than I cared to admit.
“I was just trying to do what you said and stay away from you in front of your people,” she said sulkily, pouting out her lower lip in defiance.
The expression brought a smile to my lips, even though I tried to stop it. And in a milder tone, I said, “I know, you’re doing a good job at ignoring me—almost too good, in fact.” I took another quick look around. “But I didn’t mean for you to go off by yourself. It’s not safe.”
She lifted her eyebrows and smiled tightly. “You’re kidding…right?” Seeing my smile disappear, she said in a quiet voice that held a hint of threat in it, “Really, I can take care of myself.”
“That’s what your brother said,” I answered coolly.
I watched the expression change on her face from annoyed, squinting eyes, to softer, flirting ones. I wondered at the change until she said, “What do you want me to do, Noah?” For a second I was at a loss for words. Was she sincere? That this beautiful girl was willing to ask what I wanted, and hopefully listen to me, sent a tingle through my body, and I chose to take her at her word, realizing how important she was to me now. Maybe she would be more receptive to our ways than I originally thought. Quickly, I came up with a plan.
“I’m going to follow behind you, close enough to keep an eye on you, but far enough that we won’t look like we’re together. Then when we find Sam, you should stay with him for the rest of the day,” I told her. I was shocked when after several seconds of staring at me, she lowered her eyes and nodded her head in agreement.
That was almost too easy, I thought, watching her stroll away very leisurely. It soon became apparent to me that she may not have objected, but she wasn’t in a hurry to find her brother either. She was very clever. The worst part was that she obviously had a lot of practice getting her way. That she was able to make my brain fizzle with a sultry look was not going to help me take charge of her either.
After she stopped for several minutes, staring into the same pen, I impatiently ventured up behind her to whisper, “You really need to go faster, Rose, so I can get back to Jacob and my uncle.”
“Isn’t he pretty?” She ignored what I said, squeezing her hand through the gate. She began petting a nicely built black-and-white paint colt, murmuring soft words to him as she did so.
“Yes, he is,” I agreed, still slightly upset with her but more so with our circumstances. What I really wished for at the moment was that the two of us could walk around the sale together, looking at all the horses, and actually have fun. We could if we were officially courting. And she was Amish. Then I wouldn’t have to boss her around and risk making her angry with me.
“I wish I could buy him,” she said, gazing up at me with the look I imagined she used on her father when she wanted something. Then she said worriedly, “What if someone bad gets him?”
I sighed. “Would your father let you keep him?”
“I doubt it,” she admitted.
While I was considering the colt, and checking to see if there were any of my people around, I spotted Sam a few pens down. To my amusement, he was leaning up against the wall talking to two cowgirls. Each had bleach-blond hair, and they were almost identical to each other, from the tight jeans they wore, to their tan straw hats.
“Found your brother.” I pointed at him for Rose to see. When she did, she rolled her eyes at his companions with extreme flourish.
“Oh, great, now I’m stuck hanging around for the rest of the day with the bimbos Sam picks up. Thanks a lot, Noah.” She met my eyes with a seething look and began to stalk away toward her brother.
The worry of someone catching us momentarily forgotten, I reached out and snatched her arm, pulling her back to me. “I’m sorry, Rose. This is just the way it has to be for now,” I said in a whisper, but firmly, hoping she’d get over her anger with me quickly.
Holding my gaze, she muttered, “It’s okay, I’ll probably survive.” Then she lowered her eyes to my hand still clutching her arm. I let go. She pressed her lips together, giving me a half smile before leaving.
I made sure she met up with her brother and his friends, silently wishing that Sam had chosen nicer girls to hang out with. But at least I wouldn’t have to worry about her safety now.
Turning, I joined the mass of people and horses, in search of Jacob and Uncle Reuben. Finally, after a few minutes of wandering the stock pens, I found them, along with several other men from our community. As I made my way toward the group, I felt suddenly weary from the stress of looking for Rose and the lack of sleep the night before. All the sneaking around was tiring. I wondered how long I could keep it up before faltering and getting caught.
The sale ring was smoke filled and crowded, with barely an empty seat. The cigarette fumes were stinging my eyes, and dust clung to my pants, having rubbed off from the dirty seat I was sitting on. Actually, every object in the room was covered with the thick, dusty substance, dulling the red color of the seats to pink and even causing me to sneeze a couple times. I’d been sitting midway up the bleachers for the past several hours, all the time scanning the room hoping to catch sight of Rose.
Where could she be? Why hadn’t she come in to watch the horses selling? Maybe she didn’t like the smoggy dirtiness of the room. I would completely understand that, but interest in the sale would surely have brought her in here by now, I reckoned.
I was beginning to worry, and was just about to tell Jacob that I was going to grab a bite to eat as an excuse to see where she was, when I caught sight of Sam’s big body pushing through the crowd near the sale ring. The two cowgirls were closely shadowing him. Rose, wearing a frown, was following farther behind.
I waved my hand at Sam, who saw me and headed up the narrow steps to the few vacant seats beside me. Rose sulked up the stairs behind them. Probably for the better, Sam sat next to me, with Rose finally settling into the chair four seats down. I would have liked her closer, but at least I knew where she was now. If she were sitting next to me, it would be too much of a temptation to talk to her. And with practically the entire Meadow View community in the seats around us, we’d be caught for sure.
The frisky black-and-white colt, entering the ring, caught my eye and swiftly I made a decision, probably a dumb one, but I only considered Rose’s happiness. Leaning over, I whispered to Jacob my intentions and he responded, “Are you sure, Noah?”
“Yes—definitely,” I replied firmly.
“We’ll see how it goes, then,” Jacob said and, listening to the auctioneer, held up his bidding number.
The spotter in the ring noticed and his hand shot up. “Yep!”
With a sideways glance, I saw Rose bounce forward and gawk in my direction, openmouthed. Her expression sent a jolt to my senses, exhilarating me. That one look was worth the money I’d spend on the colt.
There were a couple of other hands shooting up as the auctioneer raised the price by fifty-dollar increments. Jacob anxio
usly looked my way, and with my nod, he raised his card up and another “Yep!” was shouted from the ring.
The colt was spirited, and the yells from the ring were inciting him to pull against the green lead rope that bound him to a skinny little man who resembled a weasel wearing a cowboy hat. The cowboy was having a real time with the colt, being mowed over at one point and ending up on his backside in the soiled shavings littering the ring floor.
I had to smirk when the man was dragged back to his feet as the colt burst across the thirty-foot ring in a mad dash to escape. When it reached the metal fence, it stopped and stood motionless, except for a slight quiver, regarding its handler with a look of annoyance. The now-red-faced cowboy gave the colt some room while he brushed the pieces of wood chips from his fancy Western shirt. I liked the colt’s spunk. It made me think of Rose.
The bidding slowed and then stopped at five hundred and seventy-five dollars. The auctioneer said, “Going once, twice…sold to number 1029.” That was our number. I’d just bought a wild paint colt I really didn’t need but, twisting subtly to see Rose was immediately thrilled with my purchase when she rewarded me with a dazzling smile. That smile was irresistible. Flashing a grin back at her, I straightened up and continued to give the illusion of watching the horse sale.
Two more hours passed and it was dark outside. The team of Belgians Jacob was interested in were just coming up now. Buttercup and Sally had already sold to an elderly English man for a decent price. I’d been pleased that the man seemed like a nice fellow, especially with the amount of interest Rose had showed in the workhorses. I had watched her stand up to get a better view of the buyer and then sit down appeased by what she’d seen.
Sam’s friends had left a while ago, and right now Rose was leaning against him with her head on his shoulder, apparently asleep. I wish I could trade places with him. I spent the next few minutes staring at the action in the ring but not really seeing the horses. I was fantasizing about Rose. Sometimes the images heated my face, until Jacob finally bought his new team and we were loading them up in the trailer, along with my spunky colt.
The drive back home was very interesting. With the truck engine rumbling, Jacob immediately fell asleep, leaving me without a chaperone in the shadowy light of the backseat. Unable to resist the temptation, and careful not to startle Rose, I slipped my hand over and took hers between both of mine. She tensed at first and then relaxed when I started trailing my finger over the inside of her wrist softly.
Just touching her like that, with my brother and uncle only inches away, gave me a quiet thrill. She responded to my hands by sliding closer to me until our sides were pressing into each other from shoulder to foot. It felt incredibly right, sitting beside her, touching her skin and feeling her softness. And the fact that she was English didn’t matter at all right then. I was beginning to think that she already belonged to me.
While I sat there in the dark, my body was getting fired up, keeping me fully awake the entire drive. Rose let me know she wasn’t sleepy either when she took her free hand and began touching my arm in the same way I was touching her. That sent a bolt of pleasure rippling through me. My brain started to cloud over with recklessness and I boldly leaned deeper into her, not caring about Jacob or Uncle. I guessed she was feeling the same desire that was igniting my body when her warm fingers caressed my arm lightly at first, then started to press harder—nearly pushing me over the edge. We touched each other like that, secretly in the darkness for the entire trip, until I felt certain that I knew her hands and arms as well as my own.
I was so wrapped up in the pleasurable sensations coming to life inside me that I completely lost track of time. All too soon, the trip ended and I had to release her and sit back up, pulling my body away from her. The places where she had been tucked against me were warm and relaxed. When we separated, my body responded as if it were losing a part of itself, becoming chilled.
In the back of my mind, I had hoped spending more time with Rose might dampen my interest for her. Only it had the opposite effect on me. After all, it would be much easier if I fell for a pretty Amish girl. I figured God was playing a cruel joke on me for bringing such a lovely temptation into my life. Because I knew it would take all my strength to resist Rose now—if I even could.
With disgust, I realized I couldn’t even say goodbye to her or make plans for a next meeting while Jacob hovered around. And with Father marching toward us through the yard, I had to avoid even looking in her direction.
But rebelliousness gripped my soul, and I stole a glance at Rose anyway. My heart raced when her eyes met mine.
In that instant, I knew she belonged with me.
7
Rose
Amish Grace
THE CLIP-CLOP, CLIP-CLOP woke me from a dreamless sleep. After stretching, I crawled along the floor to the open window. Propping my arms up on the windowsill and feeling as if I was in a time warp, I watched the line of buggies go down the road.
Two, three, five…they just kept coming. The solid-black covered buggies with large narrow wheels, all being pulled by bay or black horses, moved along the road with speed, looking like a bizarre funeral parade from the 1800s. Clip-clop, clip-clop. The sound was mesmerizing, pulling at some deeply hidden subconscious part of my brain that remembered back to the days when it was the only form of travel.
Stranger yet was the car passing the buggy parade—what a juxtaposition that was. I wished I could go and see what it was all about. But that was probably not allowed. The Amish people had so many rules. I could hardly believe they could keep up with them all.
Reluctantly leaving the window, I dressed in my most comfortable hanging-around-the-house gray sweats and oversize T-shirt, and headed down to the kitchen, where Dad was already scrambling some eggs.
“Do you have your room unpacked, Rosie?”
Only Dad called me that, and I cringed at the sound of it. I’d just about had him trained to only call me Rose. Sometimes he slipped up, though.
“Yeah, I’m almost done,” I replied, pouring two glasses of orange juice.
“Did you have fun at the horse sale yesterday?” he asked, dropping bread in the toaster.
“It was interesting,” I said tentatively.
“Why, what happened, honey?” He actually stopped his chef duties and looked at me.
“Well, the Amish people are so strict. I mean, Noah can’t even talk to me or he’ll get in big trouble, not only with his parents but his whole community.” I took a sip of the juice, swallowed hard and said with force, “Can you believe that?”
He went back to stirring the eggs with the hint of a smile on his mouth. Dad was a handsome guy, I had to admit, even though he was my dad.
“And…do you like Noah?” He got right to the point. It was a doctor thing.
Without hesitation I answered, “Yeah, Dad, I like him. But why bother? We could never date. Heck, he says he can’t even look at me.” I was disgruntled and it showed.
“So you’ve actually discussed this with him? We’ve only lived here a few days. How’d you manage that?” he asked pleasantly.
He was a cool dad, not the type to get uptight about me liking a boy. In fact, he’d even tried to get me to go to the spring dance with Sam’s friend Tyler. Tyler was cute, but I knew if I went to a dance with him, we’d be hooked up, and I wasn’t that into him.
“We went riding together on Friday. He told me all sorts of things about being Amish.” Dad handed me a plate of eggs and after a big bite I told him, “And, you know what? I don’t think I’d be very good at being one of ’em. I would hate having a group of people telling me what to do all the time,” I grumbled.
“I’m really glad to hear that. I was beginning to worry that you’d convert and run away with the handsome neighbor boy.” He laughed.
“Oh, don’t worry about that, Dad…but do you really think he’s handsome?” I teased.
Throwing the dish towel at my head, he said, “Not as handsome as me.” r />
After breakfast we went and sat on the front porch together while the vampire boys slept in. Dad read his newspaper and I stared at the road waiting for more buggies to pass. But no more came. The road was very quiet now, almost eerily so.
“Dad…”
“Hmm?”
“Did you see all those buggies go by this morning?”
“Ah, a few of them. It was pretty neat, wasn’t it?” Dad said, half-distracted with whatever he was reading.
“I was wondering…do regular people ever get to go to Amish church?”
He looked up then, abruptly, fully focused on our conversation, replying, “I don’t really know about that, but from what Mr. Miller told me, the morning service lasts several hours, and then they all have lunch together and fellowship throughout the afternoon until the evening supper.” He took a breath and went on, “After supper, the youth sing hymns, and following that, they play games like volleyball or basketball into the night.”