Читать книгу Ten Days - John Sheppard - Страница 20

Jackie gave a couple of quick honks of the horn as she sat in her car in her driveway. She was giving her signal to Mandy that she was ready to leave. Both Mandy’s house and Jackie’s sat on large tracts of land, considering the fact that they were within city limits. Since Jackie’s home had always been on its site, dating back to when all this was farmland, Jackie assumed Mandy’s home had been built sometime later. With more than an acre of land on which to build, the original owner of Mandy’s house had chosen to build within a few yards of Jackie’s. The close proximity of the two homes had made for neighbors who were also close friends, and Jackie treasured her relationship with Mandy.

As Jackie waited for Mandy to join her, she once again checked her list of fruits and vegetables. Ah, this is what summer is all about, thought Jackie, sunshine, warm days, hours in the gardens, family meals outside, and fresh produce from the farmers’ market.

Mandy soon joined her, and they greeted each other with the usual warm smiles and hugs. Jackie took note that Mandy was acting more like her old self, and decided not to bring up their conversation of the day before.

“Okay, got your list, money, shopping bags, are we ready to roll out?” inquired Jackie.

“Ready to roll!” responded Mandy cheerfully. Jackie dropped the gearshift into drive and they were off. The farmers’ market was less than three miles away, so the mothers felt comfortable leaving the older children to watch the younger ones for an hour or two.

The farmers’ market was held at the high school’s expansive athletic field. As Jackie and Mandy approached the high school, Jackie thought, Now this has changed. The Enemy’s spring offensive had ended any planning for the upcoming school year in the capital. In past years, there would have been several shopping trips just to find new clothing for the upcoming year, other trips for books and school supplies. Not to mention the banter between siblings concerning which faculty had what faults or which of the faculty was preferred and why. Jackie wondered to herself if all those things would ever come back.

Right this moment, Jackie knew she had to dismiss all those glum thoughts and enjoy her time with Mandy, enjoying shopping. As always, the market was packed with fresh vegetables, fruit, homemade baked goods, and people.

Most of the vendors were farmers from the Dutch Brown Friends. Their name was actually Deutsche Bruder des Friedens, or German Brethren of Peace, but over the years, the English term had become Dutch Brown Friends. The same thing had happened to the Pennsylvania Deutsche, they had become the Pennsylvania Dutch in the USA.

The Deutsche Bruder des Friedens were of Mennonite background and had come to these shores centuries before, seeking refuge from religious persecution in Europe. They had settled into the rich, flat ground which lay between the capital and Stonecrest.

They wore clothing which was very plain, and either dark grey or dark brown in color. The women always wore flat shoes, dresses to their ankles, and a lace bonnet. The men wore wide-brimmed hats, either coveralls or pants held up with suspenders, and dark long-sleeved shirts. The only item of color other than brown or grey was worn by the men. All the men wore a bright red and white-checkered handkerchief tied around their necks. The handkerchiefs had become acceptable to these otherwise conservative-dressing people because it helped them easily find each other when harvesting amid the browns and tans of the fall crops.

Despite the military conditions, the gathering had an almost festive flair. Jackie guessed that there were at least one hundred vendors present, and easily two to three hundred or more citizens of the capital, looking to find just the right produce. She and Mandy parted ways, as they normally did, allowing each to search for their favorite foods and vendors. They agreed to meet back at the car at ten.

Jackie was looking for her favorite farmer in the middle of this crowd. Where are Herr and Frau Swartz? she thought. After scanning the farmers for a few minutes, Jackie found him close to the high school, almost on the outside fringe of the crowd.

As Jackie drew close to Herr Swartz’s old red pickup truck, she heard his booming voice call out, “Frau Whitman, I thought maybe you weren’t coming.” He maintained the expected formality with which all the Dutch Browns greeted each other in public. While formal, there was genuine warmth to his greeting. His ear-to-ear smile and twinkling grey-blue eyes made Jackie feel like she was Herr Swartz’s only granddaughter, instead of a customer.

“I couldn’t find you at first, and thought perhaps you weren’t here,” Jackie cheerfully replied.

She saw the smile quickly fade from the big man’s face. “It’s my Gladys,” he said, the formality suddenly gone from the conversation. “She’s not doing too well today. I couldn’t find her this morning, until I looked in the pantry. It caused us to be late.”

“May I speak to her, Herb?” ask Jackie gently.

“Certainly, Frau Whitman. She is in the cab, but she will not know you today. Her mind is very addled.”

Gladys Swartz was in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. Once a woman of sharp wit, a bright smile, and the same twinkling grey-blue eyes as her husband’s, her eyes instead were filled with fear. The woman’s hair was snow white, and she looked every bit of the mid to late seventies Jackie guessed her to be.

Jackie approached the passenger side of the pickup truck slowly, so as not to scare the elderly woman. Once getting a full view of Gladys, Jackie was shocked. In less than a week since Jackie had seen her last, the woman looked at least another ten years older.

“Frau Swartz? Gladys?” said Jackie in a very soft voice, trying not to scare the woman.

Only blank, frightened eyes stared back at Jackie. “It’s me, Frau Whitman. Jackie.” The blank stare continued. She tried a soft touch to Gladys’s hand, which was resting on the window. Gladys quickly withdrew her hand, but said nothing. “We miss you, dear Gladys,” Jackie mumbled as she withdrew in defeat.

“It’s okay, Frau Whitman, you tried. Let’s see what I brought you,” said Herb, wanting to change the subject.

He always kept a paper bag of his best vegetables for Jackie, stashed in his truck bed. The bag was filled with tomatoes, late-summer squash, and fresh head-lettuce. As Jackie gazed in the bag, she replied, “Herr Swartz ,you grow the very best. Thank you so much.”

Herb blushed at her compliment.

After paying her friend for the produce, Jackie asked, “So, Herr Swartz, what will you bring me on Thursday?”

The farmer took a thoughtful moment to reply, then said, “I have some more tomatoes, which should be ready by then, some carrots, and maybe a surprise or two. Also, maybe my Gladys will be doing better.”

As they parted ways, Jackie wondered if their faith provided any comfort. She had been reminded since childhood that it was considered very improper to discuss religion. Since religion had been at the core of all major wars, and religious tenets could not be proven, there was no place for discussion of religion in a truly secular society. Little did she know that, for the most part, the Dutch Browns had accepted the same line of thought. Most of them followed the outward expressions of their heritage out of a sense of community rather than any deeply held conviction.