Then he spotted Phoebe, who seemed to be walking about aimlessly, and a moment later just happened upon Jesse. She paused to speak to him and the two of them moved to the porch, where they sat side by side on one of the benches.
Curious, Seth moved closer where he could see what she was up to without interfering.
Phoebe pulled a couple of sheets of paper from her tote bag and handed one to Jesse. “Now,” she said, “fold your paper just the way I do.”
Seth watched as she carefully made a number of complicated folds, pausing after each one to give Jesse time to copy her. If the boy made a mistake, she patiently showed him what he did wrong and let him make the correction himself. When at last she was done, the two each had a very sleek-looking paper airplane.
“Let’s see how far these things will fly, what do you say?” And with that she counted down to three and the two of them tossed their paper projectiles.
Seth’s eyebrows shot up as the airplanes traveled an astounding distance—hers went at least sixty feet, maybe more.
“Did you see that!” Jesse’s voice had an enthusiastic edge that Seth had never heard from him before.
“I did,” Phoebe answered calmly. “Why don’t you fetch them and we’ll try again and see if we can make them go farther.”
With a nod Jesse took off to retrieve them.
Seth saw the satisfied smile on Phoebe’s face. It was wonderful kind of her to look out for Jesse. Too bad this did nothing to help him engage with the other kids.
The two of them tossed the planes again, but this time Phoebe spent a bit of time coaching Jesse on how to aim and why it mattered. Seth was actually impressed with her understanding of aerodynamics. This time when they flung the planes, each gained several more feet.
By now they’d attracted the attention of several of the other children of various ages. Daniel Glick, a boy about Kish’s age, approached Phoebe. “Can you show me how to do that too?”
Several other children echoed the request.
Phoebe stood. “Actually, there’s something I need to take care of inside.”
At their disappointed reactions, she turned to Jesse. “If I leave these sheets of paper with you, do you think you could teach them how to fold it to make a plane like ours?”
Jesse seemed to shrink inside himself for a moment.
Then Phoebe smiled. “I have faith in you.”
Jesse straightened and met her gaze. “Jah, I can do that.”
“Gut. I’ll leave you to it then.” And with that she turned to go inside the house.
Seth stood where he was a little longer, watching Jesse teach the other kinner and youngie who crowded around him. He saw how even the older ones took direction from him.
Did this mean Phoebe had been right about Jesse? Or was this merely proof that he’d been right, that Jesse was okay, just quiet by nature?
Whatever the case, she’d done something to help build his little bruder’s confidence and for that he was grateful.
Chapter 18
Seth set the buggy in motion. Phoebe’s first outing seemed to have gone very well. It appeared she’d made some friends, and he’d even had a few of his own friends congratulate him on having found such a pleasant housekeeper.
“I heard something interesting today.” Phoebe’s words brought him back to the present.
“Oh?” He sent a quick smile her way. If she was bringing up community news then it appeared she truly was settling into her role here.
“It seems your familye is hosting the next church service.”
“Jah.” Then something in her tone caught his attention. He straightened and cut her a sideways glance. “Didn’t I mention that to you already?”
“Nee.” This time he heard the steel underlying her mild tone.
He turned his gaze forward again. How upset was she? “There’s still two weeks, plenty of time to prepare.”
“Of course. Now that I know about it.”
It sounded like he was in trouble. “We’ll all help with the preparations of course.” Though he and his older brieder would need to focus on the grounds and outbuildings.
“I’m familiar with what’s required. I helped my mamm get our home ready for a church service several times before. I just need to make sure I have enough notice.”
“Is two weeks not enough?”
“It’s more than enough, now that I have that notice.”
“Gut. And I’ll help you make a list and a schedule to keep things on track.”
“That’s not really necessary.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble. I’ll be doing the same thing for all the work we need to do on the grounds and outbuildings.”
Phoebe didn’t protest further. Seth and his lists. What would he think if he knew she couldn’t read well enough for them to be of help to her? Would it change the way he viewed her, the way he gave her free rein to run the household?
