A Mother For His Children. Jan Drexler

exchanged with his new housekeeper from Lancaster County had been all business, but the letter of recommendation he received from the bishop in Bird-in-Hand had held the description he hoped for. The bishop had used words like competent, faithful and dedicated, all qualities he welcomed in a housekeeper. He could picture her in his mind: slightly plump, eager to please, gray hair and a face lined with comfortable wrinkles. A grandmotherly type who could teach his daughters the way to keep house.

      His youngest son, five-year-old Sam, bounced on his toes in anticipation when he heard the train blow its whistle at the edge of town. Clouds of steam rose in the air above the stark, black tree limbs as the train slowed. All four boys pressed forward to be the first to see the engine as it rounded the last curve before arriving at the Shipshewana depot.

      A good half foot taller than the crowd of people on the platform, Levi watched the train rumble over the crossing at Morton Street. Three passenger cars followed the tender. Behind them, freight car doors slid open as furtive figures jumped from the train to disappear between the grain elevator and Smith’s machine shop. Hobos. Tramps. Even on such a frozen day as this. Levi hunched his shoulders at the thought of how cold those men must be as they searched for food and shelter for the night. He doubted if any of them would make it as far as his farm. In weather like this, the men looked for handouts or jobs closer to town.

      The squeal of metal grinding on metal brought him back to the passenger cars. He ducked to see into the windows, but all he could see were Englischer faces. No Amish bonnet.

      Jesse tugged at Levi’s sleeve as he pointed a mittened hand toward the last of the passenger cars.

      “Is that her, Dat?”

      A tall Amish woman appeared in the doorway of the far train car. Levi watched as she scanned the crowded platform. Could this be her? Ne, she was much too young. She couldn’t be very far into her twenties. Her blue eyes met his, then passed him by before she stepped off the train and onto the platform.

      Levi continued watching each person alight from the train until no more appeared. There were no other Amish women, certainly not the middle-aged spinster he was expecting.

      “She’s the only one left, Dat. Could she be the one?”

      The lone Amish woman stood in the middle of the platform with a suitcase at her feet as the people around her made their way to waiting automobiles, trucks and wagons.

      “I don’t think so, Sam.” Levi looked at the young woman again. She glanced their way once, her face uncertain. She looked a bit lost, as if she had been expecting someone to meet her. Meanwhile, Ruth Mummert, the housekeeper he was expecting, had never shown up. Had they miscommunicated? Did he have the date of her arrival wrong?

      “That isn’t her.” James turned his back on the train and the lone figure on the platform. “She’s too pretty.”

      “Well, boys, we can’t stand here all day. We’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

      David nodded his head at the young woman. “Should we give her a ride?”

      “Ja, son.” Levi herded the boys in the direction of the woman, now standing with her back to them, her eyes on his big family buggy with Champ tied to the rail. “We can’t leave her here by herself.”

      The woman turned to watch him as they approached, her blue eyes deep within the shadows of her black bonnet flashing with hope before dismissing him by turning her head away again.

      “Can we help you?” Levi’s question brought those eyes back to his. “Can we give you a ride somewhere?”

      “I was expecting someone to meet me at the train....” Her accent betrayed her eastern home.

      “We were meeting someone, too,” Sam said.

      Levi laid his hand on the boy’s shoulder to remind him to let his elders speak. “Who were you meeting? I probably know where they live and can take you there.”

      The young woman’s cheeks were red with the cold. Levi wanted to hurry her into his buggy, where the foot warmer was waiting for them. “I was supposed to meet Levi Zook, but he hasn’t shown up. Do you know him?”

      “I should know him. I’m Levi Zook. You aren’t Ruth Mummert, are you?” This young, beautiful woman couldn’t be the spinster he had been writing to.

      “Ja, Ruth Mummert.” She nodded, eyeing him. “But you’re not the Levi Zook who has hired me to be his housekeeper. He’s a much older man than you.”

      The boys stifled giggles while Levi pulled his glove off and dug in his pocket for her latest letter.

      “I am Levi Zook.” He held the paper out to her. “Here’s your letter accepting the job as my housekeeper and telling me which train you’d be on.”

      She took the letter from his hand and unfolded it, nodding quickly when she saw the handwriting.

      “It looks like I assumed wrong, Levi Zook.” She smiled at him as she folded the paper again and gave it to him. “But now that’s cleared up and I’m sure we won’t have any other misunderstandings.”

      Levi’s return smile faded as she turned to greet the boys. What would she say when she met the rest of his children? In all their correspondence, he had never mentioned how many children he had, and she had never asked. He scratched his beard. He had never asked about her age or circumstances, either. Wasn’t she too young for this job? She couldn’t have the experience he had hoped for. They had both made assumptions, but she was here now, and he might as well give her a try.

      “We should start for home. Our buggy is over here.” Levi leaned down to take her bag and led the way, the boys following. Before giving her a hand into the seat, Levi felt the warming pan on the floor. He’d need to replenish it before starting the trip home.

      “I’ll just take this into the station and get some fresh coals. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll be right back.”

      Ruth Mummert made a quick nod at his words, but the glance she gave him was unsure, as if she already regretted her decision to take the job. And then the uncertainty was gone, replaced by a quick smile. When she discovered the extent of the job he had hired her for, would she smile and call that a “misunderstanding,” too?

      * * *

      Ruthy climbed into the front seat of the strange-looking black buggy. The ones at home had gray covers—just one of many differences she would have to adjust to, she decided. Gathering her shawl closely around her, she buried her chin in its folds. Indiana was colder than the winter weather she had left at home in Bird-in-Hand.

      She peered out the front window of the buggy at the man walking into the train station with the warming pan. Levi Zook wasn’t what she had been expecting. When he described himself as a widower and said his daughter had been caring for him since her mother died, she had assumed he would be nearly her father’s age, but this man looked closer to thirty than sixty.

      The boys were a surprise. Her mind skirted around the glaring omission in Levi Zook’s letter. He had mentioned that he expected her to care for his children, but he never said how many children he had. What did it matter? How many could he have? Five, maybe six? After growing up with three brothers, Ruthy knew how to handle boys. Washing muddy trousers and feeding hungry, growing young men was nothing new to her. And then there was his daughter, Waneta. So one girl to help out, at least.

      The back door of the buggy opened and the biggest boy jumped into the middle seat, and then two of his brothers followed. They all wore identical dark coats and navy blue knit caps.

      “I got here first, David. Let me sit by James.”

      “Ne, I want to sit in the middle.”

      “Sam, you sit up front with her.”

      “Ne, ne, I don’t want to!” This last cry came from the smallest of the boys, still standing on the buggy step.

      Ruthy turned her face toward the front of the buggy, trying to stay