Chapter 1.
“He seems happy,” a deep voice boomed from behind Rose, jolting her from her daydreams.
Rose turned around to see her good friend, Mark. “Who does?”
“Your bruder.” Mark nodded his head while making a forward movement with the glass in his hand, both motions toward the wedding table where Trevor sat with his new wife.
It hadn’t been easy for Trevor to decide on a wife. He’d had many women to choose from. Had it not been for the pressure on him from their parents, Rose was sure that Trevor would’ve happily stayed unmarried into his thirties. He’d made a good choice in Amy, Rose thought.
Even though Amy, her new sister-in-law, was a few years older than she, Amy had always been kind to Rose when she’d experienced trouble during her school years. It hadn’t been easy for Rose being the eldest of four girls with two older brothers. Since her father was a deacon, there had always been pressure on her to be perfect. Rose had feared that she wouldn’t live up to the standards that her older brothers had set.
“I guess he is,” Rose commented, looking back to see Trevor laughing with Amy.
“It might be you soon.”
Rose whipped her head around to look again at Mark. “What, marrying?”
“Jah, wedded bliss, some call it.”
Rose glanced at the newly married pair, frowned, and then turned back to tell Mark exactly what she thought of that idea. “It’ll be a long time before that happens.” She shook her head to reinforce her feelings. Some girls might think Mark was a little bit handsome but he wasn’t someone she would marry. He was slightly taller than she, but she’d always seen herself with a man who was much taller. Reaching five feet ten inches herself, there weren’t that many men around who were taller.
“Don’t you want to be happy, Rosie?” Mark was the only one who called her Rosie rather than Rose.
“I’m happy right now. Do you think a woman needs a man to make her happy?”
“Jah, I do.”
Rose laughed, only because she knew Mark was teasing her. “Mark Schumacher, if I didn’t know you any better I’d walk away right now.”
“You’ll marry me one day, Rosie Yoder. You just wait and see.”
Rose shook her head at him. “Don’t hold your breath waiting.”
He laughed. Mark teasing Rose about marrying him had become an ongoing joke between them ever since Mark had taken the stall right by the one she handled at the farmers market. Rose took his teasing in good humor. Whenever they weren’t busy with customers, they’d talk and laugh to pass the time.
“Rose, there you are. Mamm’s looking for you. She said you promised to help with the food.” Tulip, Rose’s younger sister by one year, looked shaken up and there was good reason. Their mother was helping organize the wedding feast for the three hundred guests. And to their mother, ‘helping’ meant taking over the task and delegating to the other ladies.
“Right now?” Rose asked.
“Jah, of course, right now. The food is being dished into the serving bowls as we speak and she’s asked for you. Come on!” Tulip frowned and her dark eyes fixed upon Rose as though pleading.
“Okay. There’s no need for dramatics.”
Tulip took hold of Rose’s arm and led her away.
“Hello, Tulip,” Mark said as Tulip dragged Rose away.
“Hello, Mark,” Tulip called over her shoulder.
When Mark was out of earshot, Rose said, “That was rude, Tulip. Mark and I were talking.”
“You see him every day. What could you possibly have left to talk about?”
“I dunno—stuff.”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t tell Mamm you were off gossiping somewhere. She’s mighty cranky that you weren’t there to help from the start. Mamm said as her oldest dochder you should’ve stayed right by her side to learn from her.”
Rose nodded as she hurried toward the annex outside Amy’s parents’ kitchen where the food was being prepared. The kitchen in the house was far too small to suffice for the preparation of food for the large number of people who turned out for the Amish wedding.
“Here she is now,” the bride’s mother said to Tulip and Rose’s mother.
“About time, too!” Nancy Yoder glared at her eldest daughter.
“Sorry, Mamm. I helped with the food earlier. I didn’t know you needed me to do it for the whole time.”
“If a job’s worth doing it’s—”
“I know. It’s worth doing well. I know.” Rose nodded, hoping to stop a lecture before it began.
“You stay until the job’s complete!” Nancy shook her head at her and Rose knew if there hadn’t been so many women fussing about, her mother would’ve delivered a lengthy stern lecture. “You’re here now; that’s the important thing.”
“Please take the plates out to the tables, Rose,” Amy’s mother asked.
“Okay.”
“You’ll have to help her, Tulip,” Nancy added.
Together, Rose and Tulip scooped up armfuls of white dinner plates and headed toward the tables spread across the yard. The wedding had taken place in the bride’s home, as was the tradition in their community. Weddings were publicized and spread by word of mouth and there was never any way to tell exactly how many guests would attend. Typically, it was in the hundreds.
When Rose put the plates down on the table, she glanced over to see her two younger sisters, twins, giggling and running around with other girls in the distance. The twins were sixteen, but they still associated with people much younger than themselves. Rose knew that if her mother had been aware of how the twins were behaving, they too would’ve got a stern reprimand. They would’ve been told that they weren’t behaving like young ladies, and since their father was a deacon and part of the oversight, their family had to set an example to others.
The twins, Daisy and Lily, had dark coloring and were pretty. They weren’t as tall as Rose, but neither was Tulip. Rose wasn’t jealous of her sisters, but had often wished she had their dark coloring rather than her red hair and the pale skin that always accompanied her shade of hair.
When she heard one of the twins let out an ear-splitting squeal, her mind drifted back to the lecture she thought the twins might get. It was a lecture that Rose had heard many a time before. She often wished her father hadn’t been selected as part of the church oversight—their lives might be more enjoyable without the constant pressure. Rose always felt as though she were being watched—judged.
She glanced over at her second-eldest brother. Life had been a whole lot easier for her brothers; she was certain of that. Rose considered that life, in general, was easier for men—that was her secret thought. Amish women were restricted in what they could and couldn’t do, more so than the men. Rose kept her rebellious thoughts to herself, apart from her many serious conversations with Mary, her best friend who’d gone on a rumspringa.
A rumspringa wasn’t an option for Rose. Not because she wasn’t allowed; it was just that she didn’t want to live in the Englisch world. Her next best friend was Mark, and although there were many things that she never discussed with him because—being a man—he wouldn’t understand, Mark was always good for someone to laugh with.
Rose turned around and went back for more plates. Each of the girls could only carry about twelve at a time, and there were a great many more plates that needed to be placed on each of the tables.
“We need some people to help us, Mamm,” Rose said to her mother as she heaped some more plates into her arms.
Nancy ordered a few more women to help them with the plates. Nancy had taken over the organization of the food preparation from Amy’s mother. That was Nancy’s way—taking over and being in charge was what she did best.
Within minutes, all the cutlery and plates were on the tables, and now the only thing remaining was for the food to be brought out.
The bishop clapped his hands, causing the hum of the crowd’s conversation to cease. He said a few words and everyone bowed their heads. When the bishop finished his prayer, he gave Nancy a nod, letting her know she could send the ladies out with the food.
When Rose had placed the last of the food onto one of the tables, she glanced at her mother to see her leaning against the house with her arms folded. A hint of a private smile turned the corners of her mother’s lips upward.
Today, her mother was pleased to be getting her second son married off. A year before, the oldest, Peter, had gotten married. Peter and his wife were now expecting their first child. Somehow Nancy had persuaded her quilting bee, who met regularly every Tuesday afternoon, to start knitting baby clothing. It seemed no one was game to say no to Nancy.
“Are you eating, Rosie?”
“Jah, I’ve worked up an appetite.”
“Sit with me?” Mark asked as he handed Rose a plate.
Rose nodded and followed Mark to a table at the far edge of the yard. There were around fifty tables that could each comfortably seat fifteen people, and each table had its own bowls of food in the center. Often there were so many guests that there were three sittings for the one meal. At some weddings, there were long food tables and people served themselves buffet-style before they sat down at the tables. The wedding had started just before midday, so it was a perfect time to eat a large meal.
She and Mark each heaped food onto their plates.
“It’s a nice wedding,” Mark said before he took a large mouthful.
“Aren’t they all the same?” Rose asked.
Mark smiled and finished chewing. “You never agree with anything I say.”
“I do when you’re right.”
“Aren’t I always?”
Rose giggled. “Nee, but you’re welcome to your delusions.”
He shook his head and took another mouthful. Mark then talked to some of their tablemates who were visiting from another community.
Rose liked the way Mark could talk to anyone. She was too nervous to speak to someone new unless they spoke to her first.
The twins sat down at the table with them.
“It’ll be you two next,” Daisy said to Mark and Rose.
Mark laughed, raised his eyebrows, and looked at Rose as though waiting for her to say something.
“Don’t be silly. That’s what people always say at weddings. They look around for who’ll be next.” Rose looked at the other people at the table who were now staring at her. “She’s only joking,” she told them. It was an awkward moment and Rose looked down at her plate and pushed the food around with her fork.
Mark laughed. “I’m always asking her, but she always says no. One day she’ll weaken.”
The twins roared with laughter while digging each other in the ribs.
“You should marry him,” Daisy, the older twin, said to Rose when she’d finished laughing.
“Hush, Daisy!” Rose just wanted the nonsense conversation to end.
“Stop hushing me all the time.”
“Yeah, Rose, let her speak,” Lily added.
Rose stood up and stepped over the bench seat. “Excuse me. I have to help Mamm with something.” As she walked away, she could hear her twin sisters’ faint giggles.
Mark would’ve been her perfect man if he were just a little different—a little taller and a little more mature-minded. She didn’t need her sisters encouraging him. It would only lead to his disappointment.
Rose found her mother in the food annex. “Need some help?”
“Yeah! I’ll need help washing the dishes as they come in.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Denke, Rose. I was going to ask, but weddings are a good opportunity for you to meet people. Don’t you want to mingle and see what new people you can meet? Amy has quite a few relations here you wouldn’t have met.”
Rose knew her mother meant it was a good place to meet potential husbands. Her mother was correct. Weddings were one of the best ways of meeting potential spouses. “I’ve already met quite a few people.” Rose leaned in and whispered, “There are no men my age.”
Her mother nodded. “Well, you might as well help me, then.”
For the remainder of the celebrations, Rose stayed in the annex washing dishes. When the dishes were all nearly done, Rose took her hands out of the hot sudsy water. They were all wrinkled and her nails were pale and unsightly.
“Rose has got dishpan hands,” she heard Daisy say to Lily.
“They’ll come right soon, Rose. Do you want me to take over for a while?” Lily, the kinder of the twins, asked.
“Would you?”
“Jah. Move over.” Lily rolled up her sleeves.
“I’ll dry them,” Daisy said.
Nancy walked up behind the three of them. “Denke, girls. You can go now, Rose. You’ve been enough help. You might be able to go home with your vadder. The girls and I will have someone take us home later.”
“Okay. Are you sure?”
“Jah, now go.”
By now, most of the guests had left. Rose looked around for Tulip and then caught sight of her father and Tulip heading for the buggy. She ran to catch them.
“Wait up.”
They both turned and stopped until she caught up.
“Mamm and the twins are staying on. Mamm said I’d done enough work.”
“I know; that’s your mudder. She always stays late, until the end, at weddings. Let’s go home,” their father said.
“How did you get out of doing any work, Tulip?”
“I kept out of the way. You volunteered, I heard.”
Hezekiah Yoder smiled as he listened quietly to his daughters. He never had much to say, but when he did, everyone listened.
“Jah, I did.” Rose held out her hands.
“They look dreadful.”
“They’re very clean now, at least.”
“We can put some olive oil on them when we get home.”
Rose looked around to see if Mark had already left. She couldn’t see his buggy and his chestnut horse anywhere.
Home was at least a thirty-minute buggy ride away. Rose let Tulip sit in the front while she settled in the back and looked out. She smiled as a rabbit scampered across their buggy’s path and disappeared into the tall grass by the roadside. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the even rhythm of the horse’s hooves as they clip-clopped their way up the dirt-packed road.
After a short rest, she moved closer to the opening so she could watch the cows grazing in the sun-drenched fields. Further up the road, two farmers mending fences straightened up and waved as they passed by. Their happy faces made her feel good and she waved back.
She looked across the patchwork of varying shades of green pastures and distant rolling hills and wondered how her best friend could leave the serenity and beauty of this place to live in the city of New York.
