The Lopsided Christmas Cake Read online

  Elma placed the lunch meat on the counter and opened the packages. “You know, Thelma, I’ve been thinking that it’s good for us to be on our own. After all, we’re not kinner anymore. We need to prove to ourselves, and also to Mom and Dad, that we can make a go of things.”

  “You’re right.” Thelma gave Elma’s arm a tender squeeze. “With the Lord’s help, we can handle most anything.”

  Chapter 2

  I wonder if we’ll ever get this yard in shape.” Elma kicked some scattered leaves as they walked past a dead bush. “There’s so much to do here; I feel overwhelmed by it all.”

  Thelma clasped her sister’s arm. “Don’t worry so much. It’ll get done in good time.”

  “I hope so, but that’s our first priority.” Elma motioned to the general store, several feet behind the house. According to Grandpa, with the help of his friends, he built the store a few years after he and Grandma were married.

  When Thelma heard chickens clucking, she glanced to the left. “I just remembered, we didn’t check for eggs last night. Think I’d better do that right now.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll head over to the store and start organizing some of the shelves.” Elma took a few steps in that direction but turned around. “Don’t be long. There’s lots of work, and it’s going to take both of us.”

  “Don’t worry. It won’t take much time to gather a few eggs. I’ll join you shortly.”

  After Elma walked away, Thelma headed for the chicken coop. My sister worries too much. People shopped at Grandpa and Grandma’s store when it wasn’t perfectly organized. If we don’t have everything just so, I’m sure it won’t affect our business.

  Thelma thought about her folks’ store back home and how, between Mom and Elma, everything was kept neat and tidy. One or both of them seemed to be constantly cleaning and organizing. Thelma had never enjoyed cleaning that much. Organizing was definitely not her thing. She’d rather wait on customers so she could visit.

  When Thelma opened the door to the coop, she was greeted by several cackling hens. She remembered collecting eggs with Grandpa when she was a little girl. He would talk about a few of his favorite chickens and had even given them names.

  Thelma fed the chickens first and gave them fresh water. When that was done, she grabbed a basket and filled it with eggs. It was fun to see the different colors. Not all the chickens were the same, and not all of the eggs were white. Some hens laid eggs in various colors. She was surprised to see any eggs at all, since one of Grandma’s neighbors had been taking care of the animals. Perhaps, since they knew Thelma and Elma would arrive yesterday, they hadn’t collected any more eggs.

  Thelma hummed, reaching under a stubborn hen that wouldn’t move off its nest. Bawk! Bawk! The chicken ruffled her feathers and hopped to the floor, looking back at Thelma as if to say, “How dare you steal my egg.”

  Thelma looked out the small window facing the corral. She saw Rusty, the horse Grandpa bought a few months before he died. His old horse, Cutter, had been pulling their rig the day of the accident and was killed. That left only Rusty available to the twins. Unfortunately, he was still a bit green and would be a challenge. One more problem, she thought.

  Satisfied that she’d gotten all the eggs, Thelma moved toward the door. “Oh, great,” she chided herself when she realized that she’d left it open. “Sure hope none of the chickens got out.”

  Thelma’s brows furrowed as she stepped outside and saw chickens roaming all over the yard. “Good grief! Now I have chickens to round up.”

  She set the basket on the ground and moved toward the nearest chicken. Apparently, the hen didn’t want to be caught, because it took off like a flash. The other chickens scattered, too.

  The chickens really didn’t need to be in the coop all day. She’d wait until nightfall, when they would be subject to predators, to put the birds back in their coop. They’d be easier to catch when it started getting dark, and she’d have Elma’s help.

  Thelma grabbed the basket and hurried into the house. She took care of the eggs first then paused for a drink of water. After working in the kitchen most of the morning, Thelma was tired. Too bad Elma wanted to work at the store right now. Thelma wanted to sit outside and work on the gloves she’d begun knitting for Mom’s Christmas gift.

  Maybe I’ll get my knitting out now and do a couple of rows, she decided. If I sit a few minutes, I’ll have more energy to help Elma clean the store.

  Elma swiped a trickle of sweat on her forehead and pushed a wayward hair under her scarf. If the store had been open for business today she would have worn her stiff white head covering. But with all the sweeping and dusting she’d been doing, her normal covering would have gotten dirty.

  Elma glanced at the battery-operated clocks near the door. She’d been in the store over an hour already. Where was Thelma?

  “She probably got distracted, like she often does,” Elma mumbled. “Guess I’d better find her.” She set her broom aside and hurried from the store, leaving the door open to air the place out. Glancing toward the chicken coop, she noticed the door was open. Surely, Thelma couldn’t still be gathering eggs.

  Elma stepped into the coop. No sign of her sister there—only a couple of hens on their nests. Thelma must be in the house. Doing what, I can’t imagine.

  When Elma entered the house, she was surprised to see Thelma sitting in Grandma’s rocking chair, clicking away with her knitting needles.

  “What are you doing?” Elma stepped in front of Thelma.

  Thelma blinked rapidly, her cheeks turning pink. “I—I was tired and sat down with my knitting to relax a few minutes.”

  Elma’s hands went straight to her hips. “I thought you were coming out to the store to help me. If we don’t get the place cleaned and organized, we’ll never be ready to open for business.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”

  “I don’t see how this is going to work if you get distracted so easily and leave me to manage things by myself.”

  “I’ll try to do better.” Thelma set her knitting aside. “Let’s head to the store.”

  Elma opened the door and squealed when Tiger brushed her ankles as he darted into the house. “Oh great, now we have a katz to catch.”

  “Let’s leave him here while we’re at the store,” Thelma suggested. “If there’s another maus, he might catch it and we won’t have to worry about setting any traps.”

  Elma shook her head. “We can’t leave the cat in the house unattended. After what he did earlier, who knows what kind of mess he could make. Besides, he’s shedding. I don’t want cat hair in the house.”

  “I could stay and catch the cat.”

  “Oh, sure, and leave me to do all the work? No way! We’ll both try to capture the cat.”

  Elma and Thelma went through the house, calling for Tiger, but he seemed to have disappeared.

  “Now what?” Elma frowned.

  Thelma shrugged. “Tiger’s bound to come out sometime. He can’t stay hidden forever. I suppose we could stay here and work in the store later.”

  “The longer we put that off, the longer it’ll be till we can hang the OPEN sign in the front window.” Elma released a frustrated sigh. “As much as I dislike the idea, I think we’d better leave the cat in the house. Hopefully, he’s found a place to sleep and won’t wake up for a while.”

  “If that’s what you want to do.” Thelma turned toward the door. “I promise, the first chance I get I’ll look for a brush and go over his coat real good. And don’t worry, I’ll do that outside.”

  Elma followed her, making sure to close the door. The last thing they needed was another cat getting in—or a bunch of chickens.

  As they neared the store, Elma halted. “Look, Thelma, there are two horse and buggies at the hitching rail.”

  “Oh, good, we have company!” Thelma grinned. “Maybe some of our neighbors have come to get acquainted.”

  Elma groaned. “More than likely we have customers w
ho think the store is open. This is not what we needed today, Sister.”

  Chapter 3

  When Thelma entered the store, she was excited to see four women and five young children. She recognized Sadie Yoder from Grandma and Grandpa’s funeral. Perhaps she’d met the other women, too, but the day of the funeral had been such a blur. She’d been introduced to so many people she couldn’t remember them all.

  “Hello, everyone.” Thelma smiled, and her voice grew louder. “It’s nice to see you.” She glanced at Elma and noticed that her smile appeared to be forced. Wasn’t she happy to see all these people?

  “As soon as we saw the store’s open door, we figured you were open.” Sadie held a cardboard box. “When we heard you were coming, we decided to bring you some food. It’s our way of welcoming you to the area.”

  “That’s right,” another woman, who introduced herself as Doris Miller, spoke up. “Mine is still in my buggy, and so are the boxes Clara Lehman and Mary Lambright brought.” She gestured to the other two friends. One of them had two small boys with her, and the other had two girls and a boy. The children all appeared to be under the age of six, which meant they hadn’t started school yet.

  Looking at their cute little faces, Thelma couldn’t help feeling a bit envious. She loved children and longed to be a wife and mother, but as the years slipped by, she’d begun to lose hope. She’d had a few suitors, and so had Elma, but none of the men had seemed quite right for them. And they’d never been courted at the same time. Thelma still remembered as a little girl promising her sister that she would never get married unless Elma was getting married, too.

  Glancing back at her sister, Thelma was relieved to see Elma’s relaxed expression. “Danki. That’s so kind of you,” Elma said. “If you’d like to bring your food items to the house, I’ll get them put away.”

  “That’s fine,” Sadie replied. “We’ll see that everything is taken in.” She and Doris followed Elma outside, but the other two women and their children remained in the store. Thelma wondered if they wanted to visit or planned to do some shopping. She hoped that wasn’t the case, because Elma had made it clear this morning that they wouldn’t open until the cleaning and organizing was done.

  Thelma turned to Clara and asked, “Do you live nearby?”

  Clara shook her head. “Our home is several miles away. Having three little ones, I don’t make trips to the store as often as I’d like.” She glanced toward the stacked material. “I need some fabric. Is it all right if my kinner look at your children’s books while I choose the cloth?”

  Thelma nodded. What else could she do? It wouldn’t be right to turn the woman down.

  “Do you still carry vitamins here?” Mary asked.

  “Umm… I’m not sure. We haven’t had a chance to take inventory yet, but you’re welcome to look around.”

  “I’ll do that.” Mary motioned to her boys. “Is it okay if Philip and Richard look at the children’s books, too?”

  “That’s fine with me,” Thelma replied. “In fact, I’ll take a book off the shelf and read them a story.”

  As Mary and Clara started shopping, Thelma placed a braided throw rug on the floor. After the children took a seat, she found an appropriate book and sat beside them. “Solomon Lapp was a very smart boy,” she began reading in Pennsylvania Dutch, so the children would understand. “He always got the best grades in school. He fed the cows faster than his five brothers. He gathered eggs quicker than his three sisters.”

  The children giggled when Thelma showed them a picture of Solomon riding his scooter. She loved to see them enjoying the story and wished she could sit with these sweet children the rest of the day.

  “You can set the boxes on the table,” Elma said when she entered the kitchen with Sadie and Doris. “Again, it was so thoughtful of you to think of me and my sister this way.”

  Sadie, the older woman, touched Elma’s arm. “We were all saddened when your grandparents passed away, but we’re glad you and your sister have taken over their place.” Her hazel eyes clouded, and she wiped a tear that had dribbled down her cheek.

  “Jah,” Doris agreed. “We are so glad you’re here.” She pushed her metal-framed glasses back in place. “I didn’t know your grandparents as well as some of the others, because my husband and I are new to the area. But from what we’ve heard, they were both a blessing to this community.”

  Elma’s throat tightened. She had to fight to control her emotions. The kind things these women said about Grandma and Grandpa made her miss them even more.

  Refocusing her thoughts, she unloaded the boxes. They held everything from home-canned fruits and vegetables to casserole dishes, packages of meat, and several kinds of desserts.

  Sadie passed Elma another item. “If there’s anything we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Danki,” Elma said. “We’ll let you know if we need any help.”

  She had put the last item in the refrigerator, when Tiger darted into the room—chasing a mouse of all things. Oh no, not now! Not wanting to embarrass herself, Elma fought the urge to scream and hop onto a chair.

  As though this was an everyday occurrence, Doris chuckled. “Would you look at that?”

  Sadie laughed, too, and Elma sighed with relief. Either these ladies were very kind or had dealt with mouse issues before.

  By this time, Tiger had run the mouse into the utility room. Elma cringed when she heard a thud. A few seconds later, the cat appeared, carrying the rodent in his mouth. The women giggled as the cat sat before them, apparently waiting for their approval. Even Elma thought it was rather cute.

  “Good work, kitty.” Sadie jerked the back door open. “Now take your prize outside.”

  As if he understood, Tiger bounded out the door.

  “Don’t worry,” Sadie assured Elma. “We get mice at our place from time to time, too. That’s why we keep a few katze around.”

  Desperate for a change of subject, Elma said, “Maybe we should head back to the store and see what the others are doing.”

  When they entered the store, Elma saw Thelma on the floor reading to the children. They seemed to be totally engrossed as she read about a young boy named Solomon. Even the children’s mothers, who stood nearby, listened. This was nothing new. Elma remembered how many times in their store back home, her sister had entertained some of the little ones while their mothers shopped. It was a nice gesture, but Elma hoped Thelma wouldn’t get into the habit of doing that here. They had only the two of them running the store, so they both needed to wait on people.

  That evening, after the supper dishes were done, the twins built a fire in the fireplace and settled into the living room to relax. Thelma picked up her knitting to work on Mom’s gloves, when Elma suggested they try one of the desserts they’d been given today. She went to the kitchen and returned with a bunch of peanut butter cookies on a crystal platter Grandma had often used when the twins had come to visit. Thelma remembered it well because of a small chip on one corner.

  “I have some water heating on the stove for tea.” Elma placed the platter on the coffee table. “Is the gas lamp giving you enough light?”

  “Jah, it’s plenty.”

  “It looks like you’re squinting. Would you like to borrow my reading glasses?”

  Thelma shook her head. “No, I’m fine.”

  The teakettle whistled, and Elma returned to the kitchen.

  “Do you need any help?” Thelma called.

  “I can manage.”

  While her sister was getting the tea, Thelma put her knitting down and glanced around. With the exception of the linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom, the rooms in this house had hardwood floors.

  Her gaze came to rest on the small table beside her chair, draped with one of Grandma’s handmade doilies. This old house had a story to tell—their grandparents’ story. Each piece of furniture and every room held a special memory. To Thelma it felt like a second home. She was anxious to see what new memories s
he and Elma would make here.

  When Elma returned with two cups, she handed one to Thelma and took a seat on the sofa. “I’d like to discuss something with you.”

  Thelma tilted her head. “What’s that?”

  “Remember how at our folks’ store, you often entertained the kinner who came in with their parents?”

  “Like I did today. Those children were so cute. I think they really enjoyed the story.”

  “I’m sure they did, but there are only two of us running the store.” Elma leaned slightly forward. “I think it would be best if we both stick to waiting on customers and let the parents deal with their children.”

  Thelma’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to remember that.” Her sister was right, but oh, how she would miss spending time with the children. Taking over Grandma and Grandpa’s store meant more responsibilities for her and Elma. Things would be different from now on. Back home in their parents’ store, Thelma had always mixed a bit of fun with work. She hoped, even though it was only the two of them now, that the fun wouldn’t be completely lost.

  “I appreciate that,” Elma said. “So how would you like to go shopping tomorrow in Shipshe?”

  Thelma smiled, remembering how often Grandpa had used that shortened version of the name Shipshewana. The town had several good places to shop and eat. “That’s a good idea.” She reached for a cookie. “Maybe I’ll look for the paint we need.”

  Elma smiled. “I could use a new pair of shoes. Of course, they’ll have to be on sale.”

  Thelma took a sip of tea. “There’s one thing we need to consider.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Shipshe’s ten miles away. It’s a bit far to ride our bikes. That means we’ll have to get out Grandma and Grandpa’s old buggy and take—”

  “Rusty,” they said in unison.

  Elma frowned. “We haven’t used him yet. I hope that horse behaves himself.”

  Chapter 4