A Courtship on Huckleberry Hill Page 5

  She scooped up the ball and threw a bullet to Johnny. Johnny was almost surprised as the ball landed in his mitt. Without mercy, the teacher had just thrown Wally Sensenig out.

  Wally wasn’t just out. He was decisively out—out before he’d made it five feet from home plate.

  At the sound of the ball striking Johnny Wengerd’s mitt, Wally seemed to lose all sense of balance. He tripped over his own foot and hit the ground hard, sending a cloud of dirt into the air. Some of the children gasped; others cried out. Wally had fallen. The boy with one leg had hurt himself trying to play softball. It was the most terrible day in the history of the school.

  Dust swirled around Wally like a swarm of angry mosquitoes. He glanced up at Elsie, and a look of deep hurt flashed in his eyes—as if he’d trusted her and she’d somehow betrayed him. The hurt disappeared as quickly as it had come, to be replaced with frustration, pain, anger, and despair. He buried his face in his elbow and growled like a bear in a steel trap.

  Elsie’s heart fell, and she very nearly ran to his side to help him up. Wally was helpless and lost, like a puppy abandoned on the side of the road. But she bit her lip and stood her ground. He was also a manipulative, spoiled bully, and people had been making excuses for him for far too long. This was for Wally’s own good. He’d been handed the easier way out for years.

  Wally swiped his arm across his eyes as if to banish any thought of tears. “Stop laughing,” he yelled, even though no one was making a peep. “Quit staring at me.”

  Ida Mae grabbed Wally’s crutches and ran to him. She knelt down, hooked her elbow with his, and tried to help him up. “It’s okay. Come on, Wally.”

  Wally untangled his elbow from Ida Mae’s and nudged her away from him. “Leave me alone. Everybody just leave me alone.” He snatched his crutches from Ida Mae’s hand and stood up. “You all hate me, and I hate you. Just leave me alone.”

  That was what Elsie was looking for. Wally needed to get good and mad. Down deep, Wally was a fighter. He just needed a reason to fight.

  He leaned heavily on his crutches, as if he’d die without them, and hobbled as fast as he could toward the little pony cart that he drove to school every morning. Was he going to leave? She couldn’t allow him to retreat to the safety of his basement and his video games. His brother had insulated Wally from his feelings, any feelings, and it was time for Wally to feel more than just the dull ache of loss and the numbness of a wasted life. Even pain was better than nothingness.

  Elsie slapped her hand against her mitt as if nothing were amiss. “Gute game. Gute game. You all played hard. Please gather up your mitts and bats and return to the classroom. Ida Mae will supervise singing time until I get back.”

  Elsie handed her mitt to Johnny and ran toward the far side of the school. Wally had already fetched his pony and was leading it toward his cart. Despite what he wanted people to think, Wally could move very well with those crutches, and he had almost made it to his pony cart and freedom. “Wally Sensenig,” she said, in her most rigid teacher voice. She hated to use it, but Wally needed to know that at least one person felt neither pity nor contempt for him. He needed to be reassured of her determination and her strength. And her faithfulness. She was on his side, even if right now he considered her an enemy.

  He didn’t even pause when she called his name.

  She raced past him and planted herself on the seat of his pony cart. “Wally Sensenig, where do you think you are going?”

  “Home to tell my bruder what you did.”

  If he hoped to scare her, he’d have to do a lot better than that. “And what did I do?”

  “You embarrassed me in front of the whole school.”

  “You embarrassed yourself,” she said, with a mildness to her voice she hoped he recognized.

  His eyes nearly popped out of his head. “I embarrassed myself ? I’m a cripple, and I can’t run. I can’t help it.”

  “You’re not a cripple, and your embarrassment had nothing to do with how you run. You embarrassed yourself because you threw a temper tantrum.”

  Wally glared at her. “You got me out.”

  She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. “I treated you just like all the other children.”

  “I’m not like the others,” he snapped. “I’m a cripple. You’re supposed to let me get on base.”

  “You’re not a cripple,” Elsie snapped.

  With one hand holding the reins of the pony, Wally jabbed a finger in her direction. “You dropped Linda Sue’s ball so she could get to first base.”

  Elsie laced her fingers together. “Linda Sue is six years old, and this is the first time she’s played softball at school. Of course I let her get on base. You’re a big boy, Wally. I’m not going to treat you like a baby—and I don’t think you want me to.”

  “I only have one leg. You should be nicer to me.”

  “I’m nice to all my scholars.”

  “Everyone except me,” he said.

  Elsie stood and hopped off the pony cart. “I don’t have favorites, Wally. You will always get a fair shake from me.” She turned and walked back toward the schoolhouse. “Come back to class, or even the little kids are going to say you’re a baby. I don’t think you’d like that.” She kept up a brisk pace, hoping against hope that he’d follow.

  “You’ll be sorry,” he mumbled under his breath.

  She glanced behind her to see Wally lead the pony back to the little corral and then head toward the school. Elsie smiled. It took guts to come back to class after he’d stormed off that way. He’d passed his first test.

  Chapter Five

  Rose Mast had an uncanny sense for when Sam was out in the pasture. He’d only just got out here to inspect the cows’ hooves, and there was Rose, skipping toward him as if she were on her way to a picnic. “Hallo, Sam,” she said, waving and carrying on as if she hadn’t seen him for months.

  He set his bucket of tools on the ground. “Hallo, Rose. Wie bischt du heit?”

  “How am I?” She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “You didn’t come to the singeon last night.”

  “Mamm wasn’t feeling well.”

  Rose hopped up the steps of the nearby stile then down to Sam’s side of the pasture. “You should come to the singeons, Sam. The bishop doesn’t like it when people miss.”

  Sam scrunched his lips to one side of his face. “I don’t think the bishop cares if I’m there or not.”

  Rose ran her finger along the top of the fence until a barbed wire stopped her progress. “The new teacher was there. She acted nice, but I saw right through her. You and I know what she’s really like. And then she . . . well, she’s a snob, that’s what she is.”

  Of course she was a snob. She spoke her mind as if she was smarter than everyone in the county. Just another reason to dislike her. Sam glanced at Rose. “What did she do?”

  Rose stuck the tip of her ring finger in her mouth and chewed on the nail. “The boys gathered around her like cows to a shade tree. I couldn’t get a word in.”

  Sam could well believe it. The new teacher was as pretty as a field of daisies. Prettier. Every unattached boy in Bonduel was probably circling. Too bad they didn’t know how unpleasant she was.

  “I don’t like her,” Rose said. “What she did to Wally was shameful.”

  Sam’s heart swelled. Rose was loyal to a fault. “Denki for sticking up for my bruder. But don’t worry yet. The boys will find out what she’s really like, then they’ll avoid her.”

  “She said about four words to me all night, even though she sat two people down from me during the singing.” Rose scrunched her lips together. “She said it was nice to meet me, and she hoped to get to know me better. Then we talked about my sisters. She says Lizzy is growing into a fine young woman.”

  That sounded like a little more than four words, but Sam wasn’t inclined to argue. Rose was on his side. That was all that mattered.

  “Davie Bontreger heard that she got fired from her last school.”


  Sam’s ears perked up. “Does he know why?”

  “Nae, but he said it was a big secret, and she left Charm, Ohio, the very next day and came straight up here to teach at our school.”

  Not only was the new teacher unkind to students, but she had more than a few secrets. The school board would want to know. He pressed his lips together. He’d never been one to spread gossip. The school board would hear nothing from him but what he knew of himself. “Did you tell your dat about what happened with Wally?”

  “Of course,” Rose said, nodding like a scholar who hoped to win her teacher’s favor.

  “What did he say?”

  Rose leaned in and pumped her eyebrows up and down. “He says he is concerned.”

  Concerned? He should be more than concerned. At least Rose’s dat was aware that there could be a problem with the new teacher. Lord willing, the teacher had taken Sam seriously and wouldn’t cause any more trouble. If she was willing to repent, Sam was willing to give her another chance.

  “Are you coming to the barn raising on Friday?” Rose asked.

  The barn raising. He’d completely forgotten about the barn raising. This was gute news indeed. He had reluctantly agreed to bring his family to Anna Helmuth’s for dinner on Friday so he could meet her granddaughter, but now he’d have to cancel because of the barn raising. What a wonderful-gute excuse. He bloomed into a smile. “Of course I’m coming.”

  Rose returned his smile with an even wider one of her own. “I’m bringing sticky buns.”

  Even better. No toothless granddaughters and Rose Mast’s sticky buns. “I really like sticky buns.”

  “You do?” She looked down at her hands and played with one of her apron strings. “My mamm says I’ll make a gute fraa someday because all men want a wife who can cook.”

  Sam smiled. “I know you will. He’ll be fat and happy, whoever he is. I saw Vernon Schmucker making eyes at you at gmay last week.”

  She groaned. “He’s already fat, and he’s almost forty.”

  “He’s not that old,” Sam protested with a tease in his voice. “He can’t be more than thirty.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin as if deep in thought. “But Vernon isn’t good enough for you. You could have your pick of any boy in either district.”

  Her eyes sparkled even though she tried to frown in mock dismay. “Nae, I’ll be an old maid for sure and certain.”

  “Of course you won’t. All the boys think you’re pretty. All you have to do is pick one and give him some encouragement. What boy is even going to try to resist those brown eyes?”

  Rose’s whole face seemed to light up. “You really think so?”

  Sam turned around at the sound of thudding footsteps to see Danny and Perry tearing across the pasture. The younger boys always walked home from school, while Wally drove the little pony cart. “Sam! Sam! Wally is in the basement yelling and throwing bottles,” Perry said.

  Danny bent over to catch his breath. “He put a hole in the wall with his crutches.”

  Sam froze, afraid of what he would hear. “What happened?”

  “Teacher made him play softball, and he fell.”

  The teacher made a one-legged kid play softball? What kind of a monster was she?

  “He thinks all the kids laughed at him, but we didn’t. Nobody laughed, but he’s still mad.”

  Sam glanced at Rose. “I need to go.”

  Rose laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Jah. Wally needs you.”

  Sam ran across the field and into the house. Even from upstairs he could hear glass breaking and the sound of Wally’s pitiful wailing. He bounded down the stairs. Three bottles of canned peaches lay in broken pieces on the floor, the peach juice oozing across the cement toward the floor drain. Wally stood with his face against the wall, slapping the cement with his open hand. He was howling and hollering, even though Sam didn’t see any tears.

  “Wally! What’s the matter?”

  Wally seemed to notice Sam for the first time. He moaned and threw himself into Sam’s arms. “The teacher made me play softball. She said if I didn’t play I’d have to be one of the bases.”

  Sam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “She said you had to be one of the bases?”

  “She made fun of me because I couldn’t hit the ball, and then when I did, I tripped when I was trying to hop to first base. The kids laughed at me because I’m crippled.” Sam pulled Wally closer, and Wally buried his face in Sam’s chest. “Please, Sam, don’t make me go back there. I never want to go back.”

  Sam was so angry he thought his skin might fall off. No one should have to suffer the humiliation that teacher had inflicted on one little boy.

  “You’re suffocating me,” Wally said.

  Sam let out a tortured breath and relaxed his grip around his brother. “I’m sorry. I’ll go over there right now.”

  Wally pulled from Sam’s grasp and wiped at his eyes. “Denki. I want her to get what’s coming to her.”

  Sam placed his hands on Wally’s shoulders. “I’ll do everything to make sure that teacher is gone by the end of the week. I warned her to be nice to you. Now she’s going to see that I don’t make idle threats.”

  “Okay,” Wally said, cheering up considerably. His brother would always protect him. He could be sure of that. He looked down at the broken bottles of peaches. “I’m sorry I made a mess.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You were upset. I’ll send Maggie and the boys down to clean it up. I’m glad you didn’t get carried away and break the TV.”

  “Me too. Can I play Halo until you get back?”

  “What is Halo?”

  Wally shrugged. “Just a new game I got.”

  “Okay, but it has to go off as soon as I get home.”

  Wally pumped his fist in the air. “Woo-hoo! This is the best day ever.”

  Sam nodded gravely. A gute day for Wally. The worst day for his teacher.

  Chapter Six

  Elsie’s heart betrayed her, even though she was determined to be calm. It felt as if an Englisch teenager with a drum set had taken to practicing on her ribs. When school got out, she had been tempted to lock the doors and drive the buggy home as fast as she could, but that was the coward’s way out, and she knew it. Sam Sensenig would eventually catch up to her, and she’d rather face him head-on than hide in the shadows. She refused to appear weak.

  She was weak. Weak and timid and prone to getting her feelings hurt—but as long as nobody knew that, she would be okay.

  There was no doubt in her mind that Sam Sensenig would be stomping up her stairs as soon as his horse could get him there. Wally had endured the rest of the school day in silence, shooting daggers with his eyes whenever she looked his way. When she’d dismissed the children, he had sauntered up to her desk as best as he could on crutches and told her that he was going to have his revenge.

  She huffed out a breath. Wally was determined to make it hard for her to love him.

  Elsie took off her kapp, smoothed her hair into place, and re-pinned the kapp on her head. She splashed some cold water on her face, which she was sure was bright red, and sprayed a little lavender oil on her neck. Lavender was supposed to be calming to the nerves, but short of spraying the whole bottle in Sam Sensenig’s face, she didn’t see how it was going to help much.

  She sat at her desk and willed her heart to beat normally. Sam Sensenig was going to come in shooting fire out of his mouth, hoping to intimidate her with his size and brute strength, but she had a few tricks of her own. He would underestimate her, and that might keep him off balance long enough for her to try to reason with him. She could only hope. Either that or she’d be back in Ohio before she had a chance to eat the jalapeño banana bread Mammi had made for dinner.

  Elsie smiled in spite of herself. All things considered, going back to Ohio, or even Greenwood, had its advantages.

  She was wound so tightly that she jumped out of her skin at the sound of the door at the bottom of the stairs. Ach, vell, Sam had sl
ammed the door, so it wasn’t altogether unreasonable to think she would have jumped.

  He clomped up the stairs in those heavy boots he’d worn last time. He meant to intimidate her. Well, it was working. She was scared out of her mind, but she wouldn’t back down. For Wally’s sake, she couldn’t back down.

  He reached the top of the stairs, and Elsie caught her breath at the sight of him. So handsome . . . so unpleasant. She didn’t think it was possible, but Sam Sensenig was scowling with his whole body.

  She made a check mark on the paper in front of her and gave Sam the most dazzling smile she could muster. It would make him doubt his power to intimidate her. “I see Wally told you I wanted to speak with you. Denki for coming so quickly.”

  That pulled him up short, but not for long. He strode toward her like a cougar stalking its prey. “You wanted to speak to me? Gute, because I would have words with you.” He came around the desk and stood above her, no doubt hoping to make her a nervous wreck. He’d stood over her the last time he’d come. This time, she was ready.

  She stayed put, so that if he insisted on standing there, he’d have to look way down and talk to the top of her head. It made him seem ridiculous, and gave her a little more power. Many Amish men were used to having the final say, being the law in their homes, and weren’t accustomed to being contradicted by a woman. Sam was not going to enjoy this conversation.

  Elsie was determined to stay calm—even though she didn’t have much hope for it. If she didn’t go on the offensive, she’d end up cowering in the corner. She looked up and widened her smile until it hurt her face. “You first,” she said, giving her voice a little lilt. Another sign to Sam Sensenig that she wasn’t afraid in the least, even if she was. “Why don’t you sit down?”

  He hesitated for a moment, but must have decided he’d like to have the conversation face-to-face instead of mouth to head. He went around to the other side of her desk and pulled one desk forward from the front row to sit on top of. He had to brace his feet on the floor to keep the small child’s desk from toppling over. Once he was situated, he leaned forward and glared at her with those icy blue eyes.