Chapter 17
E LLIE
After I thank the driver, she waits patiently while I snatch my tote bag filled with all the handmade items I managed to make since the last time I brought inventory to Trinkets and Treasures. I ask her to wait while I go inside and speak with Missy about possible employment opportunities.
“Hi, Ellie!” Her eyes light up when she spots my tote bag. “Ooh, let’s see what you brought me today!” Missy rubs her hands together as she reaches into my tote bag and pulls out various items, oohing and aahing over each one.
“Missy, I was wondering something else.” I suddenly felt nervous. I know most Englischer jobs require at the minimum a high school diploma. Since I only completed eighth grade in Amish school, I probably wasn’t anybody’s first choice for an employee. “Could I get a job here?”
Missy’s eyes widen. “Oh. You’d want to work here ? And that would be okay with your Amish church and all that?”
I nod. “We are permitted to work outside the home if needed. My brother works at the RV factory.”
“Well, let me see. I’d have to train you. Unless you already know how to use one of these.” She holds up an electronic device that is larger than a cell phone, but smaller than a computer. “My tablet.”
I shake my head. “I’ve seen those, but I’ve never used one. But I can learn. I’ve used a smartphone before.” Only once, to make a call to my dat when Mamm and I went to a doctor’s appointment for the twins, little Andy and Alvin, and Mamm needed to ask Dat about purchasing new medications. But Missy didn’t need to know that.
“Okay, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you, then.” She glanced around the shop. “I don’t have a lot of extra work to keep us both busy full time, but I suppose I can use some extra help now and then. When would you be able to start?”
“I can start as soon as possible. If I begin right now, though, I will need to let my driver know.” I glance out the window to be sure my driver is still waiting.
“Would starting tomorrow work for you? That way, I can figure out what I want you to do. We open up at nine, so if you could be here by ten, that would be great.”
I feel my cheeks tighten as I smile. “Thank you so much.” I turn to go.
“Oh, and Ellie? I think your new items are going to sell just fine.” Missy’s kind grin warms my insides.
I thank Missy again, then rush out of the store. I can’t wait to tell Elijah the moment he returns home. I got a job!
After making a couple of other stops, the driver finally pulls into our driveway.
Since Mamm needed to use the family buggy today, I had to hire a ride. I would have asked Eli to use his courting buggy, but he tends to be particular about loaning it out. He treats it like a boppli , actually. “I want to keep it as nice as possible, because I never know if the maedel I’m taking home on Sunday might be my future fraa ,” he says. “Besides, we don’t have money to fix it if something happens to it.”
Part of me is surprised that Dat hasn’t sold off Elijah’s buggy yet. Who knows? At the rate things are going, it could be next.
Since it was colder out today, I didn’t even ask. Besides, a warm enclosed car with the heater blowing is way more comfortable than having to pile on the quilts when the air is frigid.
The moment I step into the house, I know something is wrong.
“Isaac, where’s Mamm ?” I ask my fifteen-year-old brother, who is holding our youngest brother, Oscar. After Elijah, then me, Isaac is next in line. He’s usually not in the house during the day, but out in the barn or in the field working with the animals. He’s certainly not the one who is put in charge of the youngest siblings, but our thirteen-year-old sister Anna is nowhere in sight.
Isaac’s eyes are wide. “It’s Anna. Mamm and the boppli had to go with her in the ambulance.”
Oh, no. Now there is something wrong with Anna too? My heartbeat quickens. This is the last thing our family needs. We can’t afford to pay for a ride in an ambulance. Dat says it’s better to hire a driver, but the situation must’ve been urgent.
“What happened? Tell me everything.” I demand.
“I don’t know exactly. I was outside in the barn when David came in to use the phone to call 911. Anna couldn’t breathe, is what he told them. He said her lips were turning blue and she had red bumps all over.” Poor Isaac looks terrified.
I take a squirming Oscar, our two-year-old brother, from Isaac’s arms. “It sounds like she had an allergic reaction. Did she eat something with peanuts in it?”
“I don’t know. Must be, though. Mamm thought she grew out of it.”
I open the pantry, then hand Oscar a cookie to calm him down. “Did they say anything else? Did you see Anna before they left? Did she look better?”
“ Jah , a little. They gave her a shot. But they insisted on taking her to the hospital.”
“Poor Anna.” No doubt, she’ll probably need expensive medicines now too.
Mamm and Dat just can’t seem to get a break. At church last week, the deacon said the community fund has been getting low. When he made the announcement, I could feel the eyes of the g’may move to our family. Jah , we’d required a lot when Emma needed her open-heart surgery, and Mamm and Dat still make regular payments to the hospital and would continue to for quite some time. But insurance is too expensive for my folks to afford, and the leaders forbid the use of government assistance. What else was my family to do?
“It’s going to cost a lot of money, ain’t so?” Isaac voices my thoughts.
“Do you think they’ll have another dinner and auction soon?” Ten-year-old David joins in the conversation.
Isaac shrugs. “I don’t know, but now that Ellie’s here to watch the kinner , we best get back out to the barn and finish putting the hay up before Dat gets home.”
David turns pitiful pleading eyes on me. “I was hoping Ellie would make us a snack first.”
“What would you like?” I quiz.
“A sandwich?” He bounces on his toes.
I look at the loaf of bread and sigh. Since Mamm and Anna aren’t home, it looks like I’ll need to make more tomorrow morning. Which means I won’t be able to work at Trinkets and Treasures.
“We’re running low on bread, so you and Isaac can have a half sandwich each.”
“Okay.” I hear the disappointment in David’s tone, and my heart hurts just a little. Our family has never starved, but we’re used to going without.
Which was why the whole lunch thing with Henry was such a big deal to me.
“Why don’t you each take half a banana too?” I know bananas aren’t David’s favorite, but if he’s hungry he won’t reject it.
“Okay.” He reaches for a banana and gives Isaac half while I make up their sandwich.
“We need to eat quick, David. Dat and Eli might be coming home early if Mamm called him.” Isaac barely chews his half of the banana before I hand each of them their half of the ham sandwich.
David peeks inside. “No cheese?”
I shrug. “Sorry, we’re all out.” Another item that will need to be added to our growing shopping list.
As the boys head outside, I bow my head and say a prayer for Anna and Mamm and Dat and the rest of our family. Somehow, with Der Herr’s help, we will make it through yet another trial. But I can’t help but wonder. When will the trials end? Will we ever find reprieve from these financial burdens?