The Ebb Tide Read online

  “So what’s your favorite flavor?” Marion asked.

  “Oh, prob’ly something fruity, like peach or raspberry.”

  Gladys confessed to suddenly having a butterscotch craving, while Marion had her heart set on a banana split.

  Gladys turned to look at Sallie. “By the way, Perry said he gave you and Frannie a lift earlier to see your Dawdi Riehl.”

  “Jah” was all Sallie felt comfortable saying. She was aware of the heady scent of lilacs as they passed one farmhouse after another.

  “We wondered if your Dawdi hasn’t been feelin’ so well,” Marion said.

  Sallie explained that her grandfather hadn’t been himself since his wife died. “He’s still grieving awful hard.”

  She remembered Dawdi saying he’d started courting Sallie’s grandmother one summer after she turned seventeen. “By the following November, we were wed,” he’d said, grinning. “She was always aglow. Every time I looked at her, she was filled with light . . . and love.”

  No wonder Dawdi adored her so, Sallie thought sadly.

  “That happened to our aunt Martha when her husband died—she nearly withered up to nothin’,” Gladys said solemnly.

  “She’s some better now, though,” Marion added. “Just lost her will to live for a while.”

  “It’s hard seein’ people you love lose a spouse.”

  All three of them were quiet after that, and Sallie was relieved that nothing more was said of Perry.

  At the ice cream shop, a tall man with a jowly face took their orders. His particularly cordial and engaged manner reminded Sallie of her brother Vernon when he was a bit younger.

  The air-conditioned shop was nearly filled to capacity on this hot, humid evening. Several brave customers were sitting outdoors, Sallie noticed as she slipped into a chair at the only table available. Apparently the sister more in charge, Marion set their order number in the middle just as the amiable man behind the counter had instructed.

  Their order of a banana split, a butterscotch sundae, and two dips of raspberry ice cream had just been served when Perry and two other young men entered the shop. Perry’s friends were the blond and blue-eyed Yoder boys, Henry and his look-alike brother, Jonah, who had recently started seeing Marion and Gladys home from Singings.

  “Imagine meetin’ yous here,” Marion said, turning rosy as the fellows came over to their table. “What a surprise.”

  Sallie smiled wryly to herself. No surprise about it!

  The Yoder boys pulled up chairs from a table nearby, and Perry sat down next to Sallie in the only vacant seat.

  “So . . . looks like all of us were out riding and had a hankerin’ for ice cream,” Perry stated, grinning at Sallie. “Didn’t know you’d be here, too.”

  “Nice to see ya,” Henry spoke up, winking at Marion, who blushed all the more.

  Sallie was amused as Jonah scooted his chair over kitty-corner to Gladys.

  Perry leaned forward and fixed his eyes on Sallie’s ice cream. “What happened to the whipped cream?”

  “I like my ice cream plain,” she said, playing along.

  Perry nodded and quickly asked how Dawdi Riehl was feeling today, to which Sallie replied that her grandfather had taken up whittling again. “A gut sign, I think.”

  Once Perry and his friends put in their orders and returned to join them at the table, Sallie asked about his studying to be an auctioneer. “How do ya practice?”

  “Sometimes when I’m out feeding the livestock, I pretend to sell them off,” he said, setting his straw hat on the table, stacking it on top of Henry’s and Jonah’s. “But only when no one’s within earshot.”

  “Don’t let him fool ya,” Henry said, running a hand through the back of his bowl-shaped haircut. “He’s getting real gut at it.”

  “Now, I wouldn’t say that,” Perry replied, “but I am itchin’ to go solo as soon as I’m ready. There’s a lot to pick up on.” He began to tell them some of the quirky bidding signals certain farmers liked to use to alert auctioneers. “One guy tweaks his ear when uppin’ his bid . . . and another winks his left eye. There’s a young fella in his twenties, a newlywed, who twitches his nose—you really have to watch. But the most interesting of all is an old smithy who sits with his bare foot stuck through a hole in the fence, and every time he wants to bid, he wiggles his big toe.”

  They all had a hearty laugh. And despite her earlier misgivings, Sallie was actually glad Perry and his friends had dropped by.

  When the hour was growing late, and they’d talked and joked long past enjoying their ice cream treats, Henry and Jonah arranged to double up with Marion and Gladys, and Perry offered to take Sallie in his courting carriage. All the while, Sallie guessed this was exactly how Marion and Gladys had envisioned the evening winding down.

  “I really am glad for the chance to talk alone with you like this, but I’m embarrassed at what my sisters cooked up,” Perry said as the horse pulled them along at a slow clip. “I’d rather ask you myself than have them trick us into time together.”

  “Oh, they meant well,” Sallie said quietly.

  He turned to look at her. “It’s hard to believe it’s already been a few months since we last had a chance to talk. A lot has changed,” he observed.

  She silently agreed.

  “After seein’ you at market and then again on the road today, I got to thinkin’ maybe we’re s’posed to run into each other.” He paused thoughtfully. “Maybe we should try meeting on purpose.”

  She hesitated, struggling with her own conflicted feelings. Perry was exactly the kind of young man her parents would like to see her marry. One of the best in our church district.

  “Would ya think ’bout that, Sallie?”

  What if I go to Cape May? she thought, doubting Perry would be half as interested if she didn’t follow through with baptism this year. Still, she didn’t want to put a damper on this fun evening.

  “Jah,” she said softly, “I’ll think on it.”

  Perry fell silent but didn’t hurry the horse, seeming comfortable to just sit by her side in the waning light.

  A moment passed before she spoke. “I’ve been reading ’bout a large group of islands in the Indian Ocean—the Seychelles.”

  “Sounds like a world away.”

  “It is, but I think you might enjoy reading ’bout it, too. God’s creation is full of such interesting places.”

  He seemed to ponder that. “I couldn’t agree more.” He chuckled. “As for me, I like nothin’ better than seein’ the sun come up over my father’s hay field, then go down over the back meadow. Lancaster County is mighty beautiful . . . has a lot to offer.”

  Glancing at her, he tipped his straw hat dramatically, and she had to wonder.

  10

  At home later that night, Sallie filled Frannie in on the surprising turn of events with Perry and the Yoder boys. “Marion and Gladys had it all planned,” she said as they relaxed in Frannie’s room.

  Frannie laughed and tossed a pillow at her where they sat on the double bed. “So you and Perry finally got to spend some time by yourselves . . . and how was that?”

  Sallie shared that it had been rather promising. “The more I talk to him, the more it seems we share nearly everything that’s fundamental—a love for God, the church, and our family and friends.”

  “So there you are.” Frannie beamed. “If ya ask me, the more a couple has in common, the better.” She leaned against her pillow.

  “You’d like me to go out with Perry, ain’t so?”

  “He seems like he’d be real gut to ya. And Jesse speaks highly of him—they’ve been friends many years now, ya know.”

  Sallie nodded. “I could be overthinkin’ it.”

  “Maybe just close your eyes and make the leap to dating him, if that’s what yous both want.”

  “He did ask me to think on it.”

  “Oh?” Frannie leaned forward suddenly, a broad smile on her face.

  “Please don’t make to
o much of it.” Sallie put down her hairbrush and lay on her side. She propped herself up with her arm, looking over at her sister. “I just agreed to consider it.”

  “Well, now.” Frannie looked almost sad as she reached for her Bible on the end table. “Surely you should pray ’bout it, too. I mean, what if Perry is the man Gott has in mind for ya?”

  Sallie considered that. “Then I guess the tide will have to turn.”

  “Speaking of the tide . . . have you decided whether to go to the ocean with the family you told me ’bout?”

  Sallie shook her head. “I haven’t talked to Dat yet. My heart is still in a terrible quandary.”

  When they said good-night, Frannie kissed her cheek, and Sallie headed for her own room, where she closed the door and reached for the flashlight instead of the lantern. She’d have to ponder all that dearest Frannie had said. Even though she’s got a dog in the fight, as Dat would say. Sallie walked to her dresser drawer and pulled out two of the Australia brochures.

  Then, curling up in bed with only the sheet, since the night was still warm, she used her flashlight to gaze at the photographs of all that a trip to Australia had once promised her.

  I wonder if the beaches are as pretty in Cape May . . .

  Sallie put the brochures on the small nightstand next to her bed and switched off the flashlight. She rested her head on her pillow and offered up a prayer for her little nephew Aaron, asking God to heal his damaged heart.

  She recalled something Essie had once told her. “If we prayed as if we believed God heard our pleas, we’d be on our knees all day long.”

  “I do believe . . . and trust,” Sallie whispered, thinking of Perry Zook, who just might be her future husband. Yet the nearer future beckoned, and she knew she must also commit to praying about the possibility of going to New Jersey. Dear Lord, if this is Thy will, may it come to pass.

  Early Monday morning, while helping her mother pin clothes to the line, Sallie recalled what Marion and Gladys had said about their brother’s plans to go to the New Jersey farmers market next weekend, so near the sea. Since Sallie wouldn’t be going along, such notions were idle thoughts, but she let her mind play over them all the same. Maybe there was still a way for her to at least see the ocean without going to Cape May with the Logans.

  Perry could take me, she thought, suspecting he wouldn’t mind.

  The idea was heartening, but as she’d told Perry’s sisters, she could not miss work on a whim if she wanted to keep her job. Besides, I really want to go with the Logans, she thought miserably.

  Her wicker laundry basket was almost empty when Mamm broke into her musing.

  “If ya haven’t spoken with your father yet ’bout nannying, he’s just over yonder workin’,” Mamm said, inclining her head toward the stable. She pinned the end of a white bedsheet to the clothesline.

  “I’ll go the minute I finish.” Sallie reached down for the next dress and hung it up, disliking how all this made her feel. Even so, she wouldn’t dawdle any longer.

  ———

  Sallie made her way across the dirt lane to the stable, where the blended smells of sweet feed and hay, leather, and manure greeted her when she stepped inside. They reminded her once again of the predictable nature of farming life.

  She made her way to her father’s makeshift office in a corner adjacent to the feed room. An old door stretched across a file cabinet on one end and a wooden barrel on the other, forming a sort of desk. On the nearby wall, a fresh spider web hung high over the hayforks and shovels.

  Dat was sitting on a crate filling out a purchase order, crowned by the straw hat he wore around the farm. Sallie could see a hole the size of a pea on this side of the brim.

  She stood in the doorway for longer than a minute, respectfully waiting. At last, he raised his head. “Glad you came by, Sallie. I’m busy ordering a new plow. Can ya wait a few minutes?” he asked, looking over his reading glasses at her.

  “Sure.” She nodded. “I’ll just go an’ help Mamm,” she offered, feeling like a Ping-Pong ball shuttling between her parents.

  “No need to rush off.” He turned to face her again. “Is this about that nanny job?”

  “Mamm wanted me to talk to you.” Inhaling slowly, Sallie braced herself against the impending disappointment.

  “Let’s discuss that.” Dat straightened his old black suspenders, frayed at the shoulders, and placed his glasses on the desk.

  He means well, she thought. He wants the best for me.

  “Cape May is a lot closer than Australia, but there’s the whole question of joining church.” His expression was stern. “I don’t see the sense in putting it off any longer . . . but I also have no reason to pressure you into doing something before it’s time.”

  Sallie’s breath caught. What was he saying?

  “Baptism is a decision you have to come to on your own, with Gott.” Her father sighed and picked up his pen again, clicking it on and off repeatedly. “It seems to me that you can ponder that wherever you are.”

  It took a moment for his words to register. “I don’t understand.”

  “Well, someone’s suggested you’re not only mature enough to handle the nanny position, but the trip might be Gott’s way of repaying your kindness.”

  She swallowed.

  “You have quite an advocate, young lady. ’Tis all right with me if you want to go.” Her father smiled, clearly enjoying her astonished reaction as she tried in vain to rein in an exuberant smile of her own.

  “May I ask who made this suggestion?”

  Dat’s gray eyes twinkled as he motioned toward the lane that ran up to Cousin Essie’s place. “Can’t ya guess?”

  Sallie hadn’t anticipated that her cousin would intervene on her behalf. “Essie?”

  “Indeed it was.”

  Sallie studied her father. “Does Mamm know?”

  He set his jaw. “I’ll be the one to tell her. I think she’ll understand my reasoning. You’ve shown some real maturity here lately.”

  “I hope ya know how much I appreciate this, Dat,” she said. “I’ll make sure ya don’t regret it.”

  Her father shrugged, then said that wasn’t all he and Essie had discussed. “You might as well get used to spending more time at Essie’s, since your room will be needed when Allen and his family move in. How about you plan on moving in up there before ya go?”

  She smiled, mighty pleased. “Oh, Dat.” She reached to hug his neck. “Denki!”

  “I’m guessin’ you’ll be happiest there, ’least till ya marry,” he said, returning his attention to the purchase order. “A young woman doesn’t really belong in a Dawdi Haus, jah?”

  But Sallie wasn’t ready to go just yet. “Would you and Mamm want to meet the Logans?”

  “Ain’t necessary.” Dat was grinning now. “I’ve already talked to Lyman Sullivan about this, and he put me in touch with Len Logan by phone.”

  “So it’s all set?” She was beyond shocked.

  “You’ll be in right gut hands.”

  Delighted, Sallie hurried out of the stable. I’m going to the shore, she thought gleefully. I’m going!

  11

  At noon, during a delicious roast-beef dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, buttered carrots, and chow chow, Sallie was heartened to hear the update from her father about young Aaron.

  “Vernon is encouraged by the outpouring of financial help from our church district and surrounding ones,” Dat said, sipping hot coffee. “It’s taken a real load off him.”

  “Bless his heart,” Mamm said.

  Frannie glanced at Sallie. “I heard the tests are starting sometime this week, but the doctor’s concerned ’bout Aaron’s health . . . seems he’s come down with an awful cold.”

  “Ach, no gut,” Mamm said.

  Frannie nodded, frowning. “Everything might have to be postponed.”

  This caused Sallie alarm. What if his heart can’t wait for the procedure?

  “We’ll just keep beseechin
g the Lord for Aaron,” Dat said, blinking fast as he rubbed his forehead, and Mamm’s eyes welled up, as if she, too, was fighting back tears for their grandson.

  I won’t quit praying till he’s well, Sallie thought.

  Between chores that afternoon, Sallie read a few pages of her latest library book, this one about Cape May, her fingertips tingling as she turned the pages and tried to envision the storied Jersey Shore. The closest she’d ever come to being near a large body of water was the Susquehanna River, where her parents had sometimes taken the family to swim each summer. It had been Dat who had given Frannie, Sallie, and their older sister, Laura, a swimming lesson that first time there, and even though Sallie was only five, she did exactly as her father taught her.

  “You won’t drown when treading water,” her father had declared. From then on, their older brother Daniel had supervised Sallie and her sisters’ swimming instruction in Uncle Rudy’s large pond. And thinking ahead to overseeing Autumn Logan at the beach this summer, Sallie was grateful.

  Setting aside her book with a happy sigh, Sallie tried to focus her attention on folding the sun-dried laundry while Mamm baked three lemon layer cakes to take to a work frolic up the road tomorrow.

  Once she’d done that, Sallie hurried to Essie’s to help with her gardening, thanking her for the part she’d played in changing Dat’s mind.

  “Dat also mentioned that he thinks it’s a gut idea for me to move in with you,” Sallie said.

  “Actually, that was my idea.” Essie’s grin emphasized the fact.

  Sallie had to laugh. “You sure do have a way, don’t ya?”

  “Just usin’ my noggin—it’s common sense,” Essie said, handing the large watering can to Sallie, there where they worked together amongst the cantaloupes. Each plant needed between one and two inches of water per week, and she was careful not to get the leaves wet as Essie had taught her.

  “I’ll give you a hand with your move when you’re ready.”

  “Denki, but ain’t necessary,” Sallie replied, testing the dampness of the soil beneath the plastic mulch. “Besides, you have enough to do, taking care of your place up here.”