Mary Davis - Courting Her Prodigal Heart

“Shouldn’t you make sure they’ll let you before you go to the trouble?”

“I want to show them I have a need and meine work can support a business. I also need to learn about websites and such.”

“You can’t create your own website. They wouldn’t allow that. You’ll need an Englisher to do that.”

“I know. I’m not sure how to go about finding one.”

“Doesn’t every Englisher know about computers?”

Eli shrugged. “I think so. If I know a little, I’ll know how to talk to an Englisher about meine website.”

His attention gravitated toward Rainbow Girl. That was what he called the young woman with rainbow-colored hair. His gaze automatically followed her.

For the past six months, he’d seen this same girl every time he came to town, without fail. Her multicolored hair made her hard to miss, but she held herself differently today. Not the usual bounce in her step. Not the usual head held high. Not the usual carefree swing of her arms. Her head hung low, and her shoulders hunched over. Her fancy black knee boots scuffed the sidewalk, and her body shook as though she was crying.

What drew him to this stranger? An Englisher , no less. It made no sense.

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Ne , this verse didn’t apply.

Not for an Englisher . Therefore, not his responsibility. And none of his business.

“You aren’t going to ask her for help, are you?”

Daniel’s question brought Eli back to his right mind. “Of course not.” He snapped the reins to hurry up Dutch. He had errands to complete and work to do.

“What is it about that Englisher that makes you stare?”

Eli shook his head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“The last three times I’ve ridden into town with you, you’ve watched her. You don’t do that with other Englishers .”

Eli hadn’t realized he’d been so obvious. “Who wouldn’t notice someone with hair like that? You’ve obviously noticed her also.”

“That’s different. You stare like you’re trying to figure her out.” Daniel’s assessment was too accurate.

Eli struggled to figure out what drew him to this one Englisher . He didn’t want to talk about her anymore. “We should get the lumber first, then the feed.”

A while later, with his errands done and the wagon loaded down, Eli drove back through town. Would he see Rainbow Girl once more? He hoped not. He didn’t want Daniel bringing her up again.

But there she sat. Alone. Huddled on the curb in front of a sandwich shop with her arms wrapped around her bent legs.

He guided Dutch into the small strip mall parking lot, pulled the draft horse and wagon through two adjoining spaces and hauled back on the reins.

Daniel elbowed him. “What are you doing?”

“I’ll be right back.” After setting the brake, he jumped down and headed toward Rainbow Girl.

He hesitated a few feet away. What did an Amish man say to such a person?

One side of her hair had been cropped very short while the other side hung down to her shoulder. The short side shone bright red, and her ear had five earrings. Purple bangs swooped across her forehead and partially covered one eye. Then came sections of blue, green, yellow, orange and around to the red again. All of it had about an inch of brown close to her head. Why would anyone do that to her hair?

Her jeans had several large holes up and down the entire fronts in various sizes. With her legs bent, her black-net-covered knees poked out the biggest openings. A green army-style jacket hung loose over a baggy T-shirt.

Englishers were strange.

His heart raced being this close to her after all these months and now contemplating speaking to her. He should leave, but instead, he said, “Are you all right?”

Slowly, her head rose, and she stared at him as though she’d seen something out of the ordinary. Perhaps she had. Amish didn’t normally talk to Englishers like her.

Her lips were purple, similar in color to the hair that covered part of her face. Above her upper lip sat a dot of silver metal. She had a small silver hoop hanging from the one eyebrow he could now see. Heavy black makeup encircled her eyes as though she’d used soot. Below them, the black had run and smeared. Why did Englisher women choose to cover up their beauty with so much paint?

“I’m fine. Leave me alone.”

All her makeup couldn’t disguise the pain in her eyes. Pain that came from deep inside. From her heart and soul. “You don’t look fine.” There must be something he could do. Why he felt a need to help her, he didn’t know. He pointed to his own face. “Your eye... The black stuff... Never mind.”

She wiped her fingers below each eye, further smearing the inky mess. “I’m fine.”

This woman obviously didn’t want anything to do with him. He shouldn’t bother her any longer. He should leave. Instead, he sat on the curb near her, keeping a respectable distance, at least four feet. He glanced toward Daniel, who shook his head.

Eli needed to make sure she was all right. “My name is Eli.” He’d never imagined ever being so close to her. The nerves in his fingers and toes tingled. He clasped his hands together to dull the sensation.

She turned toward him and raked the purple hair from her face with her hand. “What are you doing?”

He wasn’t sure himself. “You’re clearly upset about something. Maybe you need some company.”

“I am, and I don’t.”

Even though she dismissed him, he couldn’t bring himself to sever the tenuous connection with her and stand. “What’s your name?” Something about her struck him as familiar, but he couldn’t imagine what. Probably by seeing her frequently, he’d become accustomed to her.

“If you weren’t Amish, I’d think you were some sort of creepy stalker.” Did she have a lilt of an accent?

He placed his palm on his chest. “I mean you no harm. Won’t you tell me your name?”

She changed her focus to her purple painted nails and picked at them. “Dori. Why did you sit down with me? That’s not very Amish.”

He gave a chuckle. “You probably won’t understand this, but I felt Gott leading me to come over to you.”

She chuffed out a breath. “God? God doesn’t care about me.”

“He does. Very much.”

Her words rushed out. “Then why has my boyfriend kicked me out? I lost my stupid low-paying job. And I have no place to live. Trust me, God does not care about me.”

“What about your family? You could ask them for help.”

She pulled a tight smile. “Trust me, my family doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Have you asked them?”

“There’s no point.”

“You don’t know until you try. Your family may be waiting to hear from you. Waiting for you to come home.”

She shook her head. “It was nice of you to stop and try to help. You’ve done your good deed. You can go now.”

Gut deed? Was that what she thought? If he simply needed to complete a gut deed, he had many neighbors he could help.

This had not been his idea. But had he done all that Gott had in mind for him to do?

She inclined her head toward his wagon. “Your friend is waiting for you.”

“He will wait.” Eli considered her. She had no job and no place to live. That likely meant she had nothing in her stomach. He stood and took a retreating step. “Come.”

She glanced over her shoulder and up at him. “Why?”

He poked his thumb behind him at the sub shop. “I will buy you a sandwich.”