The Amish Midwife - By Mindy Starns Clark Page 0,130

that she would be home after she was finished. I think Giselle was eighteen then, on rumschpringe, so Klara and I were not concerned when she hadn’t shown up by the time I left. We both assumed that Giselle had left work and gone directly out with friends, perhaps to a party or two. It was a Friday night, you see, and Giselle often disappeared on the weekends.” Alexander looked over at James and me, pausing to explain. “Some kids tend to… uh… exploit their time of rumschpringe more than others. You might say that Giselle was one of those.”

Klara glanced sharply at Alexander and then returned her gaze to the floor.

“In any event,” he went on, “I had gone over to the Gundy place where I was boarding because I worked for Benjamin. Mammi was a worrier, so when it grew very late and still Giselle had not come home, she woke Klara and asked her to take the buggy over to the nursery to see if she could find out what had happened. She came and got me to go with her. We thought Mammi was concerned over nothing, but she was so agitated by that point that Klara was willing to do as she asked and I was willing to help her.”

At that Mammi’s sobs grew louder still.

“When we reached the nursery, things seemed quiet and empty. But there was a light on in the main building and a single car in the parking lot, so I thought we should take a look inside. I left Klara with the horse, saying I would be right back.”

It wasn’t until that moment that I realized what was coming next. Sure enough, Alexander went on to tell us that when he got up to the office, he discovered that the only ones there were Giselle and her boss, but that they had definitely not been working.

“They had… uh… fallen asleep in each others’ arms,” Alexander said, not needing to elaborate. “I tiptoed away and got myself out of there, rejoined Klara in the buggy, and drove away. Apparently, Giselle was completely unaware that I had been there at all.”

“Did you tell Mammi what you’d seen?” I whispered.

He shook his head.

“No. I simply said that Giselle was still at the office, and that if I were Mammi I would not wait up. Then Klara and I tended to the horse, put away the buggy, and said goodnight. My long walk back to the Gundy place gave me plenty of time for thought and prayer.”

Klara interrupted suddenly, her voice sharp as glass.

“My husband is leaving out an important detail. He chose not to tell me what he had seen either. That was his first big mistake.”

“Klara—”

“If you had been honest with me from the start, Alexander, perhaps none of the rest of it would have happened.”

He shrugged, looking to James.

“Regardless of what my wife is saying,” he explained, two bright blotches of pink appearing on his cheeks as he spoke, “please understand that this is the Amish way. We do not speak openly of private matters, of sexual intimacy. Between a man and his wife as God intended, yes, there is total freedom of words there. But not to others, and not of others. It was not my place to speak of the intimacies of my future sister-in-law. Giselle was an adult. What she did in her more private moments back then was between her and God. The most I could do was pray for her. Which I did after that, regularly and with deep concern. She was going to be my new sister, and though she was a very troubled girl, I loved her.” At Klara’s scowl, he added defiantly, “I loved her very much. As a sister.”

Turning away, Klara recrossed her arms over her chest, set her jaw tightly, and slunk further into her seat.

“If you didn’t tell Mammi about the affair, how did she find out?” I asked, wanting to get back on track.

“Eventually, once Klara and I were married and I was living here as well, Giselle began…showing signs,” Alexander replied. “That is when I knew I had no choice.”

“You mean signs that she was pregnant? Morning sickness? Baggy clothes? Things like that?”

“Yes,” Alexander replied. “Once I realized what was going on, I decided my best course of action was to speak to Giselle directly. So I did, telling her that I knew about her and Bauer, and that I suspected that she was with child. Much to