The school was less than a mile away, and when we arrived, I was surprised. It didn’t look much like the cute little schoolhouse I had been anticipating. Actually, it more resembled a giant garage than a school. It was just a rectangular white building situated a little ways off the road in a grassy field, with some large windows on one end and two big sliding doors on the other. The open doorway was where all the action was. There was a bunch of people there meandering about. Most of them were Amish, but quite a few English people were also mingling in the crowd.
There were so many long-bearded men that I suddenly felt a little awkward with my hair down, thinking about the whole “cover the hair” conversation I’d had with Noah. Self-consciously, I smoothed my hair down the best I could with my hands to make it less noticeable as I got out of the truck, but Mother Nature had been generous to me in that department. I don’t think my attempt helped much.
Walking into the building with Sam and Justin, I quickly scanned the room for Noah. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen and I sighed in disappointment. All the girls from the youth service were there, though. They were serving food from behind a long counter overflowing with pots and casserole dishes. The inside of the building was larger than I expected, and the same torture benches were set up in rows facing a raised deck where all the items to be auctioned off were on display.
My eyes wandered briefly over the beautiful quilts in a rainbow of colors hanging on the walls. They were the bright spot in the otherwise boring interior. There were also crates full of jarred preserves, wooden furniture of all kinds and even a few cages that appeared to contain doves.
I searched the room for Noah again. No luck. But Sarah saw me this time. With a big smile, she waved across the room. I waved back at her, and then at Suzanna when she spotted me, from a little farther down the work line.
I noticed that men and women were mixed into the line together. What was that about? Maybe since this wasn’t a purely Amish event, they let up a bit on the rules. They were trying to raise money for their school after all.
My stomach was hungry as usual, and my heart skipped a beat in sheer joy that I wouldn’t have to wait for all the manly people to get their food first. Grabbing Sam’s arm, I pulled him through the crowd to the beginning of the line, happy as a duck on a rainy day. Seeing the donation barrel, I poked Sam’s arm and made the money sign with my fingers, pointing at it. He rolled his eyes but stuck a twenty-dollar bill into it anyway.
I thought I was in heaven. Everything was breakfast food. Eggs, biscuits, pancakes, sausage and the same cinnamon rolls that Noah’s mom had sent over. This was my favorite kind of meal. And I let the world know it when the girls filled my doubled plastic plate with as much food as could fit onto it while I worked my way down the line. I was surprised at the warm greetings from everyone. Suzanna even said she’d come join me when the line thinned out.
Well, everyone except Ella, who glared at me the same way she did the last time I’d had the misfortune of seeing her. She was dishing out the sausage patties, and I couldn’t resist holding my plate out for extra helpings just to bug her. It worked pretty well if the huffing sound she made was any indication.
Just as I started to slide down the table away from Ella, I heard her mumble something under her breath that sounded like “Hure.” I just knew that wasn’t a compliment. When I faced her again, her eyes were squinted at me and her mouth held a smug smile. If I’d been a nicer person, I probably would have felt sorry for her. After all, she had it as bad for Noah as I did. The difference was that he wanted me and not her. Even though it tickled my insides, I took the high road and walked away, suppressing the wicked urge to stick my tongue out at her.
I followed Sam and Justin through the mass of long beards, dresses and caps. We worked our way around all the little groups gathered and conversing, until we finally broke free, entering the big canopy set up outside the school. It was filled from end to end with tables and benches—most of which were already taken. I continued to look around for Noah, and as my eyes roamed the tent, I got the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. Once the feeling stuck, it only took an instant to find the source.
A redheaded boy with black eyes was staring rudely at me. And I knew he was being rude because when my eyes found him, he didn’t look away, instead eyeing me up and down as if I was a pole dancer. I didn’t like the looks of him at all. I gave him my meanest face before I sat down next to Sam. Justin abandoned us to go sit with the little rebel boys, which suited me just fine. It was nice that he’d made friends.
I was tripping a little bit from the encounter with the redheaded guy, though. There was something disturbing about the way he had looked at me. And it wasn’t just that he was checking me out either. His smile had been sinister. I shuddered, remembering it while I poured maple syrup over my pancakes from the jug on the table.
“This food is awesome. Amish women do know how to cook. Hey, Rose, maybe if you went Amish it wouldn’t be so bad after all,” Sam joked, winking at me. Creep.
The food was delicious, but I was having a difficult time enjoying it. Where the heck was Noah? After all, he’s the one who invited me, and now he’s nowhere to be seen. I sat tensely, just picking at my food while I peered around the tent for him.
As if I had summoned him by sheer will, he suddenly appeared on the other side of the table, sitting down across from Sam. The boy who hit the volleyball into my chest sat on the other side of him. Noah didn’t even glance in my direction, but still my belly was abruptly full of the familiar little flutters. My heart sped up, beating erratically. I did my best to ignore him and swirled the food around on my plate, occasionally taking a bite. I was gloomily in my own little world, hardly even aware of all the activity around me, when Sam jabbed me in the ribs.
“Sorry again about the ball.” I wouldn’t even have known the boy was talking to me, except for Sam’s well-placed elbow.
After a little yelp from the pain in my side, I looked up to see the boy had the same apologetic expression he’d worn the last time he’d been begging for my forgiveness. I didn’t even know his name.
“Really, it wasn’t a big deal at all. I’m great.” When my eyes met his, he quickly glanced away, proving that my theory about the carrottop creep was accurate. He was being rude not only by English standards, but by Amish standards, too.
Before I returned my attention to my food, I caught a glimpse of Noah’s face, and he looked upset about something. His eyes had lingered on me just long enough for me to see them scrunched in frustration. What was with him? Okay, I was becoming ticked off. What really sucked was that I wouldn’t even get a chance to ask him.
Sam broke the strained silence, asking Noah, “Is there going to be some kind of auction tonight?”
“Yes, there are hundreds of different items consigned. It’ll go late into the night.” I detected a roughness to Noah’s voice that I doubted Sam would pick up on.
“I saw the nets set up out behind the school. Will you guys be playing volleyball later?” Sam continued the conversation. I wasn’t sure if he was really interested or just making small talk. With him, it was hard to tell.
“Yeah, do you want to play?” volleyball boy responded.
“Sure, for a while. We need to leave here around nine-thirty to go to a party,” Sam said, checking the time on his phone, completely unaware of what he had just said.
Even though I wasn’t looking directly at him, I couldn’t miss the fast swivel of Noah’s head in my direction. His eyes had narrowed, and they were piercing into me. His mouth wasn’t smiling.
Okay, Sam’s big mouth strikes again. I couldn’t even chew him out—at least not here in front of the crowd. I decided to focus on playing with my food, trying to calm myself. I attempted to remind myself that my brother couldn’t help being so stupid with a brain the size of a walnut. Or maybe he wasn’t that stupid at all. Maybe he’d said it on purpose to cause trouble. I certainly wouldn’t put it past the mop-headed schemer.
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Meanwhile, after a couple of minutes of trying to ignore Noah’s frowning looks, I decided he really was annoying me; enough that I got up and left the table. Dropping the plastic plate with my uneaten food into a trash can, I made my way back to the serving line. The Amish women were starting to cover some of the dishes of food on the counter, and there were only a few people left in line. Suzanna met me cheerfully, moving around the counter to join me. She had three pancakes stacked neatly on her plate.
“Do you want to sit with me?” she asked brightly.
“Sure.” We went back out to the tent.
Luckily, she sat at the nearest table, which was a few down from the one I had vacated. I couldn’t help catching a glimpse of Noah still sitting there with Sam and volleyball boy.
Noah was facing me. Even with the limited vision between everyone’s heads, he saw me sit down with Suzanna, and our eyes met briefly. Great, he still wore a scowl on his handsome face. I fidgeted with my hands under the table, letting my hair fall over my face in an attempt to avoid his unhappy stare. What was wrong with him anyway? I certainly wasn’t a stranger to anger being directed at me, usually from my brothers, but I always knew what I’d done to provoke them. This was just plain weird.
A minute later, Sarah and Maretta joined us with their dinners.
“Did you get enough to eat, Rose?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah,” I lied.
The other girls talked quietly, mostly about playing ball after they ate. I wasn’t really paying attention, trying to figure out in my head why Noah seemed upset before he even knew I was going to a party. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, until I heard Noah’s name. I popped my head up, suddenly attentive.
“Do you really think Noah’s going to ask her?” Suzanna asked with round eyes.
First, glancing around to make sure the coast was clear, Sarah whispered, “Well, my parents want him to. I haven’t seen him show interest in any of the other girls.”
“I wish he’d ask me.” Maretta sighed dreamily.
Sarah ignored Maretta’s comment entirely and said, “I heard Mother and Father talking about sending him to go live with my grandparents in Pennsylvania for a little while if he doesn’t pick someone soon.”
“Why would they do that?” I nearly shrieked.
Sarah smiled at my ignorance. “So he can meet someone he likes there.” She went on to explain, “Sometimes a young man just can’t find the right person to marry in his own community. Then he’ll go to live with relatives in another community to meet new girls, and hopefully his future wife.”
“But what if he just doesn’t want to marry at all? Would he be forced to?” I inquired with extreme agitation. I was too mad at the moment to worry about what the girls might think of my concern over Noah’s romantic life.
“Oh—no, we aren’t forced to marry, but most everyone wants to get married at some time. Don’t you think so?” Sarah turned the tables on me.
Without thinking, I said, “I think marriage is overrated.”
Seeing the girls’ shocked faces, I instantly regretted saying it. I was just in a sour mood and being negative. “I’m just kidding,” I said, nervously twirling the end of my hair around my finger.
I decided to change the subject. “Sarah, I don’t know if I’m saying this correctly, but what does the word hure mean?”
Like lightning, she grabbed my hands, pulling me closer to her, nearly in her lap. “Hushhhh, Rose.” She nervously glanced around to see if anyone else heard, then turned her attention back to me with a slight frown on her face. Suzanna was giggling into her napkin and Maretta stared at her sausage patty.
“Where did you hear such a word?” Sarah asked as sternly as she could manage in a whisper.
Quickly I came to the conclusion that the less Sarah knew about Ella not liking me—and the reason why—the better.
“Aw, I think it was, hmm, a German movie I saw on the…the foreign station the other night.” Phew. I handled that okay. I guess.
Sarah exhaled and, looking me straight in the eyes, said, “It’s not a nice word, Rose. Just don’t say it again. Okay?”
I nodded vigorously.
“It looks like ball time,” Maretta said, shooting into a standing position.
All the Amish teens were charging away from the tables in separate squadrons of guys and girls. I continued to sit, and Sarah looked questioningly at me. “You’re coming, aren’t you?”
“I’ll probably just watch you guys play tonight. I’m not really in the right frame of mind for it,” I informed her, standing up much slower than they had.
“Darn it, you’re so good, though. Maybe you’ll change your mind later,” Suzanna said hopefully.
“Maybe” was all I could muster as I absently ran my hand through my hair, searching for Noah with my shifting eyes; I tried not to be obvious about it.
Before I got too far from the table, Sam sneaked up behind me, giving me a little fright when his finger poked me in the back. I had hoped it would be Noah and when I saw it was only Sam, I huffed and put my hands on my hips. I was about to “quietly” give him a piece of my mind, but before I could, he leaned forward as if to whisper in my ear.
I felt him stuff something crinkly into my hand. He held his finger to his lips to shush me and grinned, walking away with a group of guys, minus Noah. The girls had already left me. I glanced around to see if anyone had noticed Sam’s bizarre behavior. When I was convinced that no one was paying any attention to me at all, I smoothed out the small piece of paper. Quickly I scanned the note.
Rose—Please meet me in my buggy. It’s the last one parked behind the school—look for Rumor.
Don’t let anyone see you! Noah
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart pounded so wildly I thought I’d have a heart attack as I read it. Sticking the note into my pocket, I made my way through the school, heading to the back door. Unfortunately, the door was guarded by a group of old, scary-looking Amish men who stood rigidly, with not the hint of a smile on any of their tight, lined lips.
The rattle of the auctioneer’s fast-moving and unintelligible words began, and I paused for a minute to watch as hands shot up to purchase a blue-and-burgundy quilt. The material was beautiful, but that’s not really what stalled me. Instead, I needed time to work up the nerve to walk through the throng of long beards ahead of me. The auctioneer was a middle-aged man with a chestnut beard. He was a cheery-looking man, and he was speaking English. Yeah, I wished the group of men at the doorway looked as friendly.
The bidding was still going on for the quilt when I started to move again, determined to get through the bearded obstacles to reach the door. Before I got far, though, I was stunned when Noah’s mom appeared at my side and gently touched my arm. She was a little shorter than me and had dark hair and eyes, like Noah. I could definitely see the resemblance between the two. She was an attractive woman, except that her forest-green frumpy dress made her look older than I figured she actually was. She also had a nervous twitter about her, reminding me of a rabbit.
“Rose, isn’t your father here with you tonight?” she asked kindly, with the words rolling out of her mouth slowly, almost as if she was translating in her head before speaking.
“No, he’s working a shift at the hospital,” I replied timidly, wanting desperately for her to like me but terrified of her at the same time.
“I worry that you’re all alone there in that big house, and without a mother to care for you. Are you doing all right, dear?” she said.
As I gazed up into her dark eyes that looked so much like Noah’s, I saw that they were glistening with moisture. She pitied me. The realization that Mrs. Miller wasn’t the judgmental woman I’d first thought her to be rolled over me in a wave of understanding.
“I’m doing okay” was all I could get out of my mouth before a stupid teardrop formed in my right eye; I rushed to wipe it away before she saw it.
“Oh, I’m sorry, child. Have I upset you?” she ask
ed, putting her arm around me.
I knew I had to get out of there before I started crying in front of the entire community. The mother-hen behavior coming from Mrs. Miller was too much for me to handle right then. I think I liked her better when she was scaring the crap out of me.
“No, I’m just an emotional kind of person. Thanks for your concern, though. Really, I’m fine. I was just going out to play volleyball with the girls, so I’ll see you later,” I said, starting to pull away from her, but before I could escape, she pulled me into a tight embrace, really freaking me out.
“If you ever need anything, please call me. And do watch out for the ball this time.” She smiled, letting go of me.