The fact that he’d held on to the cards he’d received showed that he wasn’t as unconcerned with his birthday as Seth had assumed. Had Seth picked up on that at all?
She glanced toward the head of the table and saw the eldest Beiler watching his youngest bruder with a speculative look on his face.
As Seth helped her string the blue yarn across the kitchen wall that evening, he wondered if Phoebe might be homesick for Bergamot and felt the need to re-create some of her familye traditions here.
He supposed he couldn’t blame her if that was the case. She was young, after all, and home probably represented something safe and comfortable for her. It was likely that her familye and friends had grown accustomed to her inability to read a long time ago and made accommodations for her, sheltering her from any unpleasant consequences. If she wanted to re-create some of that homey feeling here he could give her a little leeway.
After they’d finished attaching the yarn to the wall, Jesse brought out the cards he’d received to date. Phoebe made a big production of positioning them just right and he saw how pleased Jesse looked as he caught sight of the finished banner. Perhaps Phoebe had been correct in her assessment of Jesse actually wanting to celebrate his birthday.
Phoebe stepped back and admired her work with a glowing smile. “Doesn’t that look just wunderbaar! And when you start getting Christmas cards we can hang them up as well.”
Seeing her smile, he thought it looked wunderbaar indeed.
When Seth stepped inside the kitchen at noon the next day he smiled at the sight of the garland of birthday cards. Phoebe had been right—they definitely brightened the room.
She was at the counter working on a dish of some sort—what interesting side would they have to go with their sandwiches today?
He moved to the other end of the counter where the day’s mail was stacked. He spotted a new issue of a wood-carving magazine he subscribed to. Normally he would have dived into it right away while he ate his sandwich. But today he set it aside to read after supper.
There was another card for Jesse and the rest of the mail appeared to be mostly sales flyers. Then he spotted an envelope mixed in with the flyers. Another card for Jesse? He turned it over and paused. It was addressed to him, and the return address indicated it was from his cousin Zilla.
For a moment he froze. It had been just a little over a week since he’d sent those letters out to his cousins, but so much had happened in the time since that he’d completely forgotten about his request. Until now.
Had his cousin identified someone who met the criteria for a fraa that he’d stated in his letter? Or was she writing to tell him she hadn’t been able to find anyone? There was only one way to find out.
He slowly opened the letter, not sure what he hoped Zilla would have to say.
Seth, I received your letter requesting help in finding a possible fraa. I’m so happy you’ve decided that you’re ready to take this step—you deserve to be happy. Having known Dinah and based on the requirements you listed, I think I have the perfect match for you. Fannie Yoder is a fine Gotte-fearing woman. She’s a widow with a sweet five-year-old dochder. Fannie was a schoolteacher before she married Philip, which means she’s used to working with groups of kinner so she won’t be deterred by the number in your household. She keeps a very orderly home and she has a pleasant personality. I know Dinah made baskets to sell in order to supplement your familye income. Fannie can’t do that but she does make very gut goat cheeses that she sells at a local market if goats are something you want to include in your livestock.
Fannie is about three years older than you, closer to my own age, but I assume that won’t be a problem since I know Dinah was a little older than you as well.
She will be accompanying me and my familye when I go back to Sweetbrier Creek to visit Mamm and Daed for Christmas so you will have a chance to meet her and her you. She understands there are no commitments at this point and is viewing this as a pleasant getaway since she has very little familye of her own.
I appreciate you entrusting me with helping you in this way and I know that whatever the outcome, things will work out as Gotte wills.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Zilla
Chapter 24
Seth refolded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. It was the news he’d hoped to receive when he’d sent his letters out and he should be excited at the prospect of meeting this friend of Zilla’s.
So why wasn’t he?
He glanced up and caught Edna watching him with an assessing, speculative look on her face.
Then the sound of Phoebe’s off-key humming caught his attention. She was flitting between the counter and the table and the stove. There wasn’t any kind of economy of motion in her actions, yet there seemed a sort of flighty grace. It was like watching a damselfly darting from here to there.
Zilla’s friend would no doubt have a more calming presence then Phoebe had had. And if Fannie was like Dinah as Zilla had said then she would have no trouble organizing and setting up dependable routines. But would she like to play chess or want to help him work on his chess sets or surprise him with unusual side dishes?
Perhaps he should have added those things as requirements.
All through lunch he found himself turning things over and over in his mind. Finding a new fraa had seemed like a gut idea when Edna had brought it up a week and a half ago but now that things were moving forward it suddenly felt like it was all happening too quickly.
“You’re being very quiet today.” The concerned note in Phoebe’s voice brought him back to the present. “Are you still worried about completing your orders on time?”
He nodded. After all, he had been concerned about that too. “Even with my brieder’s help I’m going to be cutting it close.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “Speaking of which, between that and preparing the house and grounds for the upcoming church service I’m afraid there won’t be any free time for our after-lunch chess matches, at least not until after I complete my orders.”
She leaned back. “I’ll miss our matches but I understand.” Then she smiled. “But once you get your assembly line going I can use that time to do my part on the chess sets.”
She made that sound like something she was going to enjoy doing.
And perhaps she was.
As he’d told Phoebe earlier, Seth had recruited Mark as the first of his brieder to help him in his workshop. When the boy got home from his apprenticeship job, after grabbing a handful of Phoebe’s fresh-baked cookies, he went straight to Seth’s workshop.
Seth showed Mark the planks of wood he used to build the basic box of his chessboards, what he looked for in the grain and what dimensions and angles to use for cutting it. Though he’d written it all down in great detail, Seth demonstrated by cutting the pieces to put together a board. Afterward Mark took over and cut enough wood to use in constructing four more boards.
His bruder also watched him work on assembling the first one, asking questions at various stages of the process that encouraged Seth to consider letting him build the next one while he looked on. Perhaps Phoebe had been right about how much of the work he could delegate.
Over the next few days Seth included his two younger brieder in the process. He also adjusted his own work sequence. Mark was now making the basic box of the chess boards, including the drawer and inserts. And the boy was doing a wonderful gut job—Calvin was training him well.
