Patricia Davids - An Amish Wife For Christmas

“We Amish are newcomers here,” he continued. “We can’t afford to stir ill will among our Englisch neighbors. Don’t you agree?”

Bethany glanced up and met his intense gaze. She nodded slightly. An imposing man in his midfifties, the bishop had a shaggy gray-and-black beard that reached to the middle of his chest. A potato farmer and owner of a shed building business, he was known for his long and often rambling sermons, but he was a fair man and well liked in their small Amish community. Bethany didn’t take his visit lightly. She prepared to defend her brother.

“Ivan isn’t a bad boy. It’s just that he misses his grandfather. He’s angry that God took Elijah from us and he feels guilty. The two of them were very close.” Her heart ached for her troubled brother.

“Time will heal this,” Gemma added.

The bishop sighed. “Your grandfather Elijah was a fine man, Bethany. I have no doubt that he kept the boy’s high spirits in check, but Ivan has quickly put one foot on the slippery slope that leads to serious trouble. He needs a firm hand to guide him and mold him into an upstanding and righteous man.”

“I can do that,” Bethany assured him. “I’ve raised Ivan from the time he was five and our sister, Jenny, wasn’t much more than a newborn babe.” She might be their sister, but she was also the only mother they had ever known. Both mother and father to them after the man who bore that title left his family for the fourth and final time. Bethany’s anger surged to the surface but she quickly brought it under control. At least her mother had been spared knowing about his final betrayal. She had been positive he would return to care for his children after she was gone. He hadn’t. Bethany brought her attention back to the matter at hand.

Gemma waved one hand. “Ivan is almost fourteen. Boys that age get into mischief.”

It was a weak argument and Bethany knew it. Her brother’s recent behavior was more than mischief, but she didn’t know what to do about it. He seemed to be done listening to her.

The bishop’s expression softened. “Bethany, your grandfather was concerned that you have sacrificed your chance to have a family of your own in order to care for your siblings.”

She drew herself up straight. “I don’t feel that way. Ivan and Jenny are my family.”

The bishop laced his fingers together on the table. “I am the spiritual leader of this community and as such I have a duty to oversee the welfare of all my flock. Normally I would leave the discipline of children to their parents. In this case I feel duty bound to step in. Elijah was my dear friend. It was his vision that founded our new community here. It was his desire to see it grow. For that we need the goodwill of our Englisch neighbors.”

“I’m aware of that. I spent many months helping him search for the best place to settle. New Covenant is as much my dream as it was his.” She didn’t like the direction the bishop seemed to be going.

“Then you agree that we can’t let the reckless actions of one boy ruin what has been created.”

“He isn’t trying to spoil anything.” Bethany was compelled to defend Ivan, but the truth was she didn’t know what was wrong with him. Was he acting out because of his grief or was something else going on?

His schoolwork had suffered in the past weeks. His teacher had complained of behavior issues in class. He had been in several scuffles with non-Amish boys earlier in the year but they weren’t anything serious. It was his recent secrecy and withdrawal that bothered Bethany the most. How could she help him if she didn’t understand what was amiss?

She lifted her chin. “There is no proof that he damaged Greg Janson’s tractor or that he is responsible for letting Robert Morris’s cattle loose.”

Bishop Schultz leveled a stern look at her. “He was seen near both farms at the time and he’d been in fights with both the Janson and Morris boys.”

“That’s not proof,” she insisted.

The bishop pushed back from the table. “I have written to your uncle in Bird-in-Hand.”

She frowned. “To Onkel Harvey? Why?”

“Elijah mentioned that Harvey and his family plan to visit you this Christmas.”

“That’s true. We are expecting them to stay a week as they were unable to come to the funeral.”

The bishop rose to his feet. “I have asked your uncle to take Ivan with him when the family returns to Pennsylvania.”

Bethany’s mouth dropped open. “ Nee , you can’t send Ivan away. This isn’t right.”

“It was not an easy decision. I know your intentions are goot but the boy needs the firm guidance of a man. You are too easy on him.”

“Because he’s still a little boy.” The situation was quickly slipping out of her control. They couldn’t take her brother from her. Fear sent her pulse pounding in her temples. “Please, Bishop, you must reconsider.”

“I will not.”

Bethany pressed both hands to her heart. “I promised my mother before she died that I would keep the family together. I promised her. Don’t do this.”

The bishop’s expression didn’t change. Her plea had fallen on deaf ears. Men were the decision makers in her Amish community. The bishop had the last word even in this family matter.

He took his coat and hat from the pegs by the door and put them on. “Bethany, if you were married I wouldn’t have to take this course of action. Your husband would be the one to make such decisions and discipline the boy. With Elijah gone, I see no other choice. I must think of what is best for all, not just for one.”

He nodded to her and left. Bethany wanted to cry, to shout at him, to run after him and beg him to change his mind, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“I’m sorry.” Gemma laid a hand on Bethany’s shoulder.

“What am I going to do? There has to be a way to change the bishop’s mind.”

“Why don’t I make us some toast and a cup of coffee. Then we’ll put our heads together and come up with a plan.”

“We’re out of bread and I don’t want any coffee.”

“What Amish woman runs out of bread?”

“This one. There has been so much to do since Daadi’s passing I haven’t had time to bake. If Ivan straightens up and starts behaving, if he apologizes to the bishop maybe he’ll be allowed to stay. It’s five weeks until Christmas. That’s enough time to prove he has changed.”

“Or you can get married. That will fix everything.”

Bethany gave her friend an exasperated look. Gemma knew Bethany’s feeling about marriage. It wasn’t for her. “It’s unlikely that I could find someone to wed me before Christmas, Gemma.”

“If you weren’t so particular, maybe not. Jesse Crump holds you in high regard.”

Bethany wrinkled her nose. “Having a conversation with Jesse is like pulling teeth. He’s a nice enough fellow, but he never has anything to say.”

“Ack, you’re too fussy by far.”

“You marry him.”

Both Gemma’s eyebrows shot up. “Me? Not a chance. Besides, it isn’t my brother that is being sent away.”

Bethany battled her rising panic. “I wish Daadi were still here. I don’t know what to do.”

Gemma slipped an arm around Bethany’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “If your grandfather was still alive we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“I know.”

Ivan’s troubling behavior had started when their grandfather became ill early in the fall but it had gotten much worse since his death. Her gaze moved to the closed door leading to her grandfather’s workroom. Their grandfather had happily spent hours repairing clocks and antique watches during the long winter months in his tiny shop. With the door open she used to hear him humming or muttering depending on how a particular project was progressing.