LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Three

      By the time Sunday rolled around, Susannah’s feelings regarding Micah had grown even more complicated. He’d shown up the second day with a fresh haircut but the same born-to-be-wild attitude. Her dat was happy with his work, but Susannah was growing increasingly uneasy around him. Micah reminded her of a wild horse temporarily corralled. It was only a matter of time before he broke out and then his grandparents would be heartbroken and her dat would be in need of another helper.

      She spent much of the service praying that God would forgive her uncharitable feelings and clear the confusion in her mind. Since her dat was the bishop, she was aware that she was scrutinized more closely than others.

      So even as her mind wandered toward Micah, she kept her attention on the person preaching.

      When it was time to pray, she closed her eyes and petitioned her heavenly Father for clarity.

      When it was time to sing, she stood and raised her voice with the others around her.

      And as soon as the service ended, she hurried toward the serving area, not pausing to give their new neighbor a second glance. She worked at filling cups with water and lemonade. When she saw Micah walking toward her, she quickly changed tables to help with salads. It wasn’t that she was avoiding him, but he would simply want to tell her more about Maine, a subject she’d heard quite enough about. When she finally had a few free moments, she snagged Deborah.

      “Care to walk out into the pasture?”

      “I can think of nothing I’d rather do.” Deborah jumped up from her seat and grabbed her sweater from the big bag she carried around. Deborah was the only Amish person Susannah knew who carried what amounted to a baby bag though she had no baby. It was sometimes quite amazing what Deborah could pull out of that bag.

      “Tell me about Micah,” Deborah said as soon as they were out of earshot of the others.

      “What’s to tell?”

      “Does he seem to be behaving himself?”

      “Dat hasn’t complained.”

      “I’m not surprised. Your father is the bishop. Of course Micah would be on his best behavior around him.”

      “Ya, I suppose.”

      “Betty heard that Micah had an alcohol problem when he was living in Maine. That’s why his parents sent him here.”

      “Alcohol?”

      “Or maybe it was drugs... She wasn’t really sure.”

      Susannah sighed and pressed her lips together.

      “You might as well say it,” Deborah teased.

      “Then I would be as bad as Betty.”

      “Oh. So you don’t want to be a gossip, which you would be if you pointed out that Betty is a gossip.”

      That was such a convoluted statement that it made Susannah laugh, which helped her relax a little. “I guess I was thinking that Betty has been somewhat bitter since Joshua left the faith.”

      “And left her for an Englisch girl. I saw them in South Bend the other day.”

      “At the college?”

      “Ya. They looked...um...close. Arms wrapped around each other. Kissing in public.” Deborah made a wide-eyed, somewhat disgusted expression.

      “Your dat is still consulting at the college?”

      “He is. Their agriculture students want to know all about our Plain and simple ways.”

      Which caused them both to laugh.

      “Perhaps they should come help in the fields—then they’d really understand.”

      “They’re actually going to do that sometime in the next few weeks.”

      “Seriously?”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “You’re going to have Englischers traipsing around in your fields?”

      “We are.”

      “Maybe we should send Micah over. He seems to speak their language.”

      They’d made it to the corner of the property where Mose King had made a bench out of a felled tree. After checking that there were no critters hiding beneath it, they both sat down and studied the scene in front of them.

      Most of the women and a good number of the men were spread out in chairs under the trees.

      Boys of all ages were playing baseball, with a few of the men standing on the edge of the ball field, providing sideline advice.

      The younger children were in a play area that Mose had made for his own children. It looked like a school playground. There was a seesaw, a swing set and even a sandbox that he kept covered with a tarp when it wasn’t being used.

      Susannah thought that playground was a sign of something—thoughtfulness, adoration, maybe devotion. “Mamm thinks Mose would make a gut husband.”

      “I’m sure he would...for someone his own age.”

      “Ya, my sentiments exactly.”

      “That’s another thing I heard about Micah. He was apparently dating an older woman—who he dumped, and according to the grapevine, that wasn’t the first relationship that he broke off for no reason.”

      “There’s always a reason.”

      “I suppose.”

      “It’s kind of sad that we’re so interested in everything he did wrong there.”

      “Are you defending him?”

      “Not at all. It’s only that... Well, Mamm reminded me that everyone deserves a fresh start. Don’t they?”

      Deborah pulled her skirt up an inch or so and proceeded to pull stickers from her socks. “I guess. The only thing is that I’d rather these people who need a fresh start get it somewhere else.”

      Which pretty accurately mirrored Susannah’s thoughts, though somehow, spoken out loud, they sounded rather judgmental and unfair.

      “What do you mean?”

      “I guess I was thinking that what Micah Fisher does in Maine is his own business, but what he does here... Well, here he stands to hurt other people with his actions.”

      “Meaning what?”

      Deborah shrugged and pretended to look for something in her purse. Susannah put her hand on top of the bag and left it there until her friend looked up.

      “What aren’t you telling me?”

      “Apparently Micah sneaked out of his house on Friday night and met up with Caroline Byers.”

      “I have trouble believing that’s true. He’s been here less than a week. How could he—”

      “I heard it from Caroline herself. She said it was harmless. Said they just happened to be downtown at the same time to hear a local band, but Betty heard them talk about meeting up again on Thursday.”

      Susannah

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