The Amish Teacher's Gift Page 4

  Josiah ran a gentle hand over her withers and whispered, “It’s all right, girl. Calm down now. You’re safe,” until she stopped snorting and tossing her head. Then he guided the pony and small cart back up the hill.

  To his relief, Nathan’s yells had subsided as his own horse stepped forward and back, rolling the cart in the gentle motion Josiah had often used to calm his son as an infant. But beside the wagon, a crowd had gathered. And in the center stood Ada, frown lines etched into her forehead, one hand on the shoulder of each younger girl standing beside her.

  Chapter Five

  Leah’s scream echoed across the parking lot, and Ada jumped up. Her chair overturned and crashed onto the floor behind her. Will moaned and rocked harder, but Ada’s only thought was to get to Leah. Ada started toward the door, but jerked to a stop. Mary Elizabeth stood frozen in place, her hands still gripping Ada’s skirt and apron.

  “Let me go,” she snapped, and her sister’s eyes flooded with tears again.

  David looked up from his drawing and studied them with worried eyes.

  Ada softened her tone. “I need to see what’s wrong.”

  Mary Elizabeth loosened her grip on the skirt, and Ada rushed outside, with her sister dogging her heels. David jumped up from his desk and trailed behind. Across the school yard, Leah stood at the edge of the slope, and Ada arrived in time to see Josiah make a flying leap through the air to snatch the back of the pony cart. She pressed her hands against her heart, hoping to slow its ragged beating as the pony dragged him for several yards before he pulled the cart to a halt.

  Once he’d grasped the reins and had the pony under control, Ada released the breath she’d been holding. She told herself her shaky breathing came from concern for his safety, but an inner voice taunted her that she’d been equally as enamored by his rippling muscles and show of strength as he stopped the runaway pony. She brushed aside those distracting thoughts, along with her guilt at being attracted to a married man, as Josiah steered the cart up the hill. She hurried over to take the reins.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. Then, afraid her breathy voice might betray her feelings, she paused and inhaled to calm herself before continuing. “I have no idea why the pony took off like that. She’s normally quite docile.”

  Josiah, his chest heaving, flipped a hand toward his buggy. “Nathan…startled…her,” he gasped out.

  Ada turned in the direction he’d indicated. The buggy was still and quiet. “Where’s Nathan?” She searched the slope and the parking lot.

  Josiah, bent over, hands on his knees, sucked in a deep breath before answering. “In the…wagon.”

  “He’s quiet?” Oh, no. She hadn’t meant it as a criticism, but it might sound that way to Josiah. She studied his face to see if she’d upset him, but then had trouble tearing her gaze away.

  He didn’t seem perturbed, though, when he answered. “Jah, finally.” His laugh ended in a wheeze and a cough. “The rocking…soothes him.”

  “That’s nice.” She forced herself to look elsewhere and added hastily, “About Nathan, I mean.”

  Pressing his hands against his knees, Josiah pushed himself to a standing position. “Sorry, clearly I’m not…as in shape…as I like to think.”

  “Anyone would be out of breath after chasing a runaway horse.” She stopped herself before she added he didn’t look out of shape at all, in fact…Her face burned, and she lowered her eyes so he couldn’t see her admiration. She had no business entertaining thoughts like that about a married man. Yet her feelings were harder to rein in than an out-of-control pony cart.

  Sadie hung her head. “It’s my fault. I was in a rush…”

  “Ach, Sadie, you still should have tied Rosie.” Embarrassment added a sharp edge to Ada’s words.

  Sadie bit her lip. “I won’t forget again, but I was so upset about Mary Elizabeth.” She lifted her head to glare at her younger sister.

  “Enough,” Ada warned. Turning to Josiah, she said, “We’re grateful to you for…” She stumbled to a halt as she met his intense gaze. A gaze that made her heart flutter, her thoughts scatter. “I, umm…” What? What did I—?

  A wagon rattling into the school yard jerked her focus from the green eyes fixed on hers. Had Will’s mom arrived? Ach, she’d left Will alone in the schoolroom!

  “Sadie, tie up Rosie,” she ordered as she sprinted toward the building. How could she have left a scholar unattended on the first day of school? What would his mother think? Even worse, what if something had happened to him?

  But the person emerging from the buggy was Rebecca Zook.

  Ada stopped so abruptly Mary Elizabeth plowed into her. Ach, Sadie had said Rebecca wanted to talk to her, but she hadn’t realized she meant today.

  The bishop’s wife pulled in beside Rebecca. Martha, the miracle worker, had managed to calm her brother. Then Martha and Betty turned and waved before driving off.

  Ada released a tiny sigh. At least Betty hadn’t seen Will in the classroom alone. If she had, perhaps Ada would no longer have a teaching job. A few days ago, Ada might have welcomed that news, but today she’d had a few glimmers of hope, and now she wanted to see if she could help some of these students. It would be a challenge, but she was eager to try.

  Suddenly realizing her other siblings weren’t on the playground, Ada checked behind her. She’d assumed they’d come with Sadie and were playing outside.

  “Mary Elizabeth, where are the twins and Noah and Hannah?”

  Rebecca came up behind them. “Don’t worry. My brother Jakob offered to take them so we could talk.”

  Mary Elizabeth tugged at Ada’s skirt. “I wanted to go with them to see Sarah’s new baby, but I missed you too much.” With that, she burst into a fresh spate of tears.

  “Oh, Mary Elizabeth.” How was she going to handle her sister’s clinginess? Right now, though, she needed to be sure Will was safe.

  Motioning for Rebecca to follow her, Ada scurried into the schoolhouse with her sister glued behind her like a shadow. To her relief, Will was sitting quietly, staring off into space and flicking the brim of his hat.

  Although Rebecca said nothing critical, her look of surprise when she spotted Will added to Ada’s shame. No doubt, Rebecca would never run out of the schoolhouse, leaving a child alone.

  Ada didn’t want her to think she was totally careless. “I, um, heard a scream, and…”

  “Ach, these things happen sometimes.” Rebecca crossed the room and settled into a chair in front of Ada’s desk.

  Ada made her way around the desk and sank into the teacher’s chair, feeling awkward and off balance, even though she and Rebecca had been friends for years. They’d been in the same buddy bunch at church as teens during Rumschpringa, and they all joined the church together a few years later. Friendships like that lasted a lifetime, so Ada hoped Mary Elizabeth’s behavior wouldn’t cause major problems for Rebecca.

  Scooting a wide distance from Rebecca, Mary Elizabeth followed Ada and crawled into her lap. She wound her arms around Ada’s neck and hid her face against Ada’s shoulder. Ada shifted to make herself more comfortable, but she couldn’t ease the discomfort inside.

  Despite the tightening in her jaw as she glanced at Mary Elizabeth, Rebecca’s words came out calm and polite. “I hope your first day went well.”

  Ada had no idea how to respond to that. Surely Rebecca had seen the cards scattered across the floor and Ada’s lack of judgment in leaving a student in the classroom alone, not to mention the commotion of the runaway pony. It was kind of her to ignore all the obvious mistakes. The few moments Ada had actually spent teaching had gone well, but most of the day…“Martha was a big help, but as much as I’d like to, I’m not sure I will make a gut teacher.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Rebecca’s sympathetic look made Ada squirm.

  The last thing she wanted was pity. “I hope I’ll learn to handle the students.”

  Rebecca sighed. “That can be an ongoing problem, even when you’
ve been teaching for years. Every year, even every day, can bring new challenges.”

  Ada bit back a sigh. If Sadie had not been exaggerating, Ada could guess the challenges Rebecca had faced today. “I suppose you’re referring to Mary Elizabeth.”

  Rebecca evaded her eyes. Instead, she drew circles on the desktop with her forefinger. “Yes, we did have some difficulties.”

  Ada had always appreciated Rebecca’s forthrightness. For her friend to hesitate this way, Mary Elizabeth must have been a major schnickelfritz.

  Josiah peeked his head around the doorjamb, and Ada’s heart tripped faster. No matter how often she reminded herself he was married, she couldn’t control her reaction to his presence.

  “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I wanted you to know the pony is tied up.” He smiled down at Sadie, who beamed back at him before entering the doorway, followed by David. “Sadie did a fine job of securing the reins.”

  “She usually does,” Ada said. “I’m sorry for what happened today.”

  “I’m the one who should be apologizing. If it weren’t for my son—”

  Ada cut him off. “Nathan isn’t to blame for an untied horse.”

  “But he did manage to scare the pony into bolting. Had another buggy been parked beside Rosie, that never would have happened.” Josiah made a rueful face. “But that’s not all I’m sorry for.”

  Rebecca’s glance bounced back and forth between them, and her eyebrows rose.

  Josiah’s face colored. “Forgive me for interrupting.” He bobbed his head slightly as a good-bye. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Ada lowered her eyes to avoid Rebecca’s curious stare, hoping her eyes hadn’t revealed the excitement that filled her whenever Josiah appeared.

  “You and he aren’t—?” Rebecca gestured toward the door.

  Not trusting herself to speak, Ada only shook her head. Rebecca must have sensed her interest.

  “I hope not, because he’s—”

  “I know,” Ada interrupted. She didn’t need to hear her friend say the dreaded word married. Josiah’s beard made that for sure and certain. Does she think I have no eyes in my head?

  Rebecca’s skeptical look made it clear she didn’t believe Ada’s denial, but she continued their discussion as if they hadn’t been interrupted. “So, as I was saying, I—” She broke off abruptly and glanced at Mary Elizabeth.

  Ada nodded. “Sadie, you and Mary Elizabeth need to rub down Rosie. She’s all lathered up.” She motioned toward the cloakroom. “I keep a basket of rags on the shelf in there. I’m sure there’s some clean toweling you can use. And take David with you.”

  “I don’t want to go,” Mary Elizabeth howled when Ada set her on the floor.

  Turning to Sadie, Ada said, “When you’re done, you can take David and Mary Elizabeth home. I’ll be there shortly.”

  Mary Elizabeth set her lips mutinously and planted her feet. “I want to ride home with you.”

  Sadie beckoned to her sister. “Want to hear a secret?”

  “What is it?” Mary Elizabeth gave her a suspicious look.

  “I can only tell you if you come here.” Sadie put a finger to her lips and beckoned again.

  Mary Elizabeth stomped over to her sister, but when Sadie whispered in her ear, her eyes grew round, and she clapped. “Guess what we’re going to do?” she announced.

  Sadie put a hand over her mouth. “If you tell, it won’t be a surprise.”

  Looking as if she were about to burst, Mary Elizabeth nodded. Then bouncing along behind Sadie, she headed to the cloakroom. When they came out again, Sadie was carrying the toweling, and Mary Elizabeth handed David his safety vest. The two girls still had theirs on. Her back to Ada, Sadie signed something to David, and he hopped up and went outside with them.

  Ada shook her head. Leave it to Sadie to convince Mary Elizabeth to cooperate. She turned back to Rebecca. “I’m sorry for all the interruptions.”

  Rebecca swiveled to look at Will. “Perhaps we should wait until Miriam comes to pick him up.”

  Once again, Ada’s cheeks heated. She’d not only left Will alone in the classroom, now she was ignoring him. Rebecca had only meant to be kind, not point out Ada’s mistake, but it still made Ada feel inadequate. “Of course. Thank you for being so understanding.”

  Rebecca followed her over as she pulled a chair close to Will’s desk. Ada faced him across the desk, careful not to get too close. She’d already discovered what distances made him nervous. “You did a good job today, Will. Would you like a toy to play with?”

  A few times that morning, Will had repeated parts of sentences, but now he was silent. Perhaps Rebecca looming over them was making him as nervous as it was making her. She motioned to one of the desks. “You can use one of those chairs if you’d like, Rebecca.”

  “I’m fine standing,” Rebecca said, but when Ada turned pleading eyes toward her, she pulled over a chair.

  “I’ll get the windmill,” Ada told Will. “I know you like that.”

  She walked to the shelves along the wall and brought back the toy. She set it close to her on the desk and demonstrated pushing the button to make it spin. Then she slowly slid it across to Will.

  He cringed away as it came closer, but once she let go and moved back, he reached out a tentative finger and pressed the button. Once he was engrossed in the activity, she bent to pick up the cards that were scattered across the floor, and Rebecca joined her.

  “He really seems to enjoy that,” she remarked as she handed Ada a stack of cards.

  Ada nodded. “I hoped he would. I chose it because it’s good for his fine motor coordination, and he likes the repetitive motion.”

  Rebecca appeared impressed. “You seem to know a lot about how to help him.”

  “Not as much as I’d like, but I’ve been reading as much as I can.” One thing books couldn’t do, though, was to prepare you for the actual classroom. In practical experience with special students, Martha was far ahead of her.

  “You’ve really had a time of it, haven’t you?” Rebecca said sympathetically. “Aren’t you supposed to have aides?”

  “I have Martha, and she does a wonderful job.”

  “Yes, but shouldn’t you have a helper for each student?”

  “With the school being new this year, they may still be looking for aides.”

  “I hope you get more help soon. It’s a lot for one person and Martha—no matter how good she is—to handle.”

  Will’s mother dashed through the doorway, looking frazzled. “Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to be so late.” Miriam headed toward her son. “There was an accident on the main road, so they detoured everyone around. It added several miles to the trip.”

  Ada sucked in a breath. “It wasn’t a buggy, was it?”

  Miriam turned toward her. “Neh, a big truck overturned, blocking both sides of the road.”

  So not Josiah, then. Or any of her students. “Ach, I hope all is well.”

  “The driver was not hurt, but the spill is not cleaned up yet.”

  “I see.” Ada started to get up. “Did Sadie leave?”

  “Jah, the girls and David were just heading down the drive when I pulled in.” Miriam gave her a sympathetic glance. “They’ll be all right. The detour is well marked, but I can follow them, if you like.”

  Ada shook her head. “No need for you to go out of your way. Sadie will figure it out.” She hoped. She tried not to imagine her sisters lost on the back roads.

  “Of course she will.” Miriam glanced at her son and then back at Ada. “And how was Will today?”

  “He did gut.” Aside from banging his chair legs and flicking his hat brim, Will had not had any outbursts. Unlike two of the others.

  “He’s usually quiet in new situations, but once he warms up, then you must watch out.”

  Ada cringed, picturing all three of the boys acting out at once. Martha had coped with two today. How would they manage one more?

  Miriam knelt beside Will
and took one of his hands. He didn’t look at her, just continued to push the windmill button with the other hand.

  “Come, Will,” she said.

  He pushed the button several more times, but when his mamm rose, he struggled up from his chair. “Come, Will,” he repeated, shuffling along beside her. At the doorway, he stopped and blinked in the sunlight, then flicked his hat brim.

  “It’s all right,” his mamm said.

  “All right,” Will echoed, and followed her out the door.

  The words all right stayed in Ada’s mind. If only someone could reassure her everything would be all right. She should trust God, but so often she worried instead. And once she heard what Rebecca had to say, she’d have one more worry to add to her growing list.

  Chapter Six

  Still hot and sweaty from chasing the pony cart, Josiah was grateful for the slight breeze as he headed down the road. Fields filled with cornstalks rose beside him and touched the pale blue sky, calming his nerves and spirit. He had no idea how his son had wedged himself into the narrow space on the buggy floor behind the front seat, but Nathan was sleeping peacefully, so Josiah left him there. It had been a long time since he could enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and a rare afternoon off.

  The buggy rounded a bend in the road, and blinking lights up ahead warned of an accident. He tugged on the reins to slow the horse. No point in going any farther; the police would be diverting traffic onto the back roads. It would be faster to turn here and veer off onto the dirt road that ran past Zook’s farm.

  He clucked to the horse and pulled the reins to head left, but Silver balked. She knew her way home. A car zoomed up behind them, and Josiah quickly steered Silver to the side of the road. It puzzled him why the Englisch drove so fast when they’d only need to slam on their brakes up ahead. But sitting by the side of the road gave him time to think.

  The teacher’s sister, Sadie, would be coming this way with the pony cart. Would the children wait at the schoolhouse to follow Ada, or would they come alone? Maybe he should wait to see. If they were alone, he could show the little ones the shortcut he planned to use. Then they wouldn’t have to follow the detour and take a chance of getting lost. If they were following their sister, he’d turn off here and head home. Of course, he wasn’t hoping for another chance to see Nathan’s teacher. He was only being neighborly.