A Time to Heal(39)

The bishop folded his arms across his chest and stared at it."It's not a good time for it to have happened," he said finally."Matthew can't really afford the time to fix it while he's finishing up the harvest. We'll have to talk."

"He's not home. He and Jenny went to the hospital to see about Eli."

"I knew that," the man said mildly.

"Oh, of course." The Amish grapevine was working as usual.

"I also heard about the young man who's staying here. The one I just met that you said is a friend of Jenny's."

"Heard about him?"

"Josiah said he came running toward his buggy, waving his arms, fussing about him not taking you. Said he didn't know what all that was about."

Hannah sighed. "Chris just misunderstood something."

When the bishop continued to stare at her, she realized she'd have to give him some kind of explanation or things might look worse for Chris.

"He served overseas in the military and saw bad things. He had a kind of stress flashback."

"He was a soldier?" The bishop stroked his beard and looked thoughtful. "I hope he's not talking about it, glorifying what he did there with the kinner. They're at an impressionable age."

"No, of course not."

"Gut. We're a peaceful people. We don't believe in making war."

"Chris knows that. And I don't think Chris went into the military with the idea of making war."

She felt compelled somehow to defend him although she wasn't entirely sure why. "His family has a tradition of serving to defend the country."

"Seems like the two of you were being friendly just now."

Hannah felt her cheeks warm at what she felt was a mild rebuke. She hadn't done anything inappropriate. "He came to ask if there was anything else he could do since Matthew is at the hospital," she told him, trying to keep her voice level.

Don't be defensive, she told herself. If you do, it'll just seem as if you're feeling guilty. And she wasn't guilty of anything.Well, okay, if she was honest with herself she had to admit that she thought he was attractive but . . . "Matthew was lucky Chris was here when he needed someone, especially someone who's worked on a farm the way he has."

"Gut." He scanned the bright blue, cloudless sky. "Well, let's hope the rain holds off until all the crops are in."

She walked him back to his buggy and watched it pull out of the drive and proceed down the road.

Annie came out onto the porch. "Hannah! The pan is making funny noises!"

Hannah's hand flew to her throat. "I forgot! I put it on to boil the green beans!"

Gathering up her skirt, she flew up the steps and ran inside, calling to Annie to stay on the porch. The pan on the stove had nearly boiled dry and was, indeed, making "funny" noises, sputtering as the last drops of water danced on the surface.

"I didn't go near it," Annie told her.

Hannah bent to kiss the top of her head. "Danki, liebschen. It's important to stay safe."

The safety games were paying off, thought Hannah as she took the pan to the sink and refilled it. Farm living could be dangerous for children, with farm equipment moving around, animals being raised, kinner doing chores alongside their eldre. During the time she'd come to live with Matthew after his wife died, she played the safety games that were taught to Plain children so they'd be more careful.

Today, she'd forgotten the pan of water, but Annie had stayed away from it. Annie had remembered what she'd taught her.

As Hannah stood at the sink refilling the pan with water, she looked out at the barn. The day had been sobering enough without something else happening.





Chris had seen the way the bishop looked at him when he walked up. The man had behaved much like a suspicious father—he knew there was a strict code of conduct, more propriety than in the Englisch world. Something called the Ordnung. He wasn't going to do anything that caused the family more problems.

Without Matthew and Jenny here, maybe he shouldn't expect to eat supper in the kitchen as usual.

When he and Joshua finished feeding the horses and they had returned to the house, he asked the boy to have Hannah come to the front door.

She wiped her hands on a dishtowel as she stepped outside."Did you need something?"

"Is there any place to get something to eat around here?"

"You don't want to eat with us? I made pot roast. I know you'll like it."

"With the way the bishop was looking at me, I figured he was trying to tell me that I shouldn't be here without my hosts."

She smiled. "You were perceptive. I got that message too.But it wouldn't be right to tell you to go get supper elsewhere.Besides, I solved the problem—Phoebe will be joining us."