Katie Opens Her Heart by Jerry S. Eicher Page B

retreating back. “I’m going to next time myself.”
    “ Nee , Mabel,” Jesse said. He repeated his standing instructions that Mabel wasn’t to discipline her siblings. Having her spank the younger children was a bridge he didn’t wish to cross.
    “He doesn’t get spanked enough,” Mabel asserted. “He saves all his misbehaving for when you aren’t around.”
    Mabel was probably right, Jesse figured. Children were that way. They caught on quickly regarding when they could get away with things.
    “I’ll talk with him on the way to school,” Jesse said.
    Mabel nodded and retreated to the kitchen.
    Jesse looked out the window toward the back fields while he waited for Joel to come back downstairs. Leroy was busy cutting the hay pasture, and Willis was spreading manure. He should be helping with both projects, he thought. Instead he was playing mamm right now and suitor less than an hour ago at Emma Raber’s place. Everything seemed to be turned upside down since Millie had passed. And he hadn’t gotten them turned right side up again.
    “Please help me, dear Hah ,” he whispered. He heard the sound of Joel’s footsteps approaching and walked over to open the stair door. He took a quick look at what Joel was wearing.
    “They’re clean!” Joel announced, his face beaming. “They’re the cleanest ones I have.”
    “He has lots of clean ones!” Mabel hollered from the kitchen. “Don’t let him start blaming me for his naughtiness.”
    “No one is blaming you,” Jesse responded as he paused at the kitchen door. “You do much better than anyone else could hope to do, Mabel.”
    His daughter didn’t turn around to look at him. Her hands were deep in the soapy dishwater.
    Jesse hesitated. Mabel was obviously troubled about something since she didn’t at least look up. But what was he supposed to do? He guessed he should ask her what was wrong. He walked up to her and slipped an arm around her thin shoulders. “I’m sorry for the load our situation is placing on you,” he said. “I really do think you’re doing a great job.”
    She looked up at him, her eyes sorrowful. “You went to see that woman again this morning, didn’t you?”
    “ Yah . But it’s not ‘that woman,’ Mabel. Her name is Emma.”
    Mabel rinsed the dish in her hand. “I wish you wouldn’t see her, Daett . But I guess what happened with Joel this morning will make you want to marry her even sooner.”
    “Mabel, listen to me,” Jesse said, his hand now on her shoulder. “You’re not responsible for this household of children. You’re still young yourself. You’re only sixteen years old! It’s time you go with Leroy and Willis to the young folk gatherings. You’re taking way too much responsibility on yourself.”
    “I’ll gladly take all the responsibility on my shoulders if you don’t marry that woman,” Mabel said. “Emma’s weird, and so is her daughter. I don’t want a mamm like that or a sister like Katie.”
    Jesse took a deep breath. After the discussion with the children the other night, he had no stomach for more arguments. There should be a mamm here to deal with these things. If Mabel didn’t begin attending the young folk gatherings, to say nothing of going through rumspringa , she would be considered strange herself. He didn’t want his daughter to be stuck with such a label. She was a wonderful girl, and the misfortunes of his life shouldn’t take such a toll on her or the other children.
    “Please, Hah ,” he whispered.
    “What did you say?” Mabel asked as she looked up at him.
    Jesse ignored the question. “This thing with Emma is not what you think. I want you to have as normal a life as possible. I want you to be able to be young as long as possible.”
    “My life is just fine,” she said.
    “Mabel, look at me.” He waited until she glanced up. “I can’t explain things to you like your mamm did, but you’re taking way too much on yourself. And it’s not because you’re not