Chapter II
The sun was a red ball sinking off to the west by the time that Johann returned to the farm. The farmhouse in which he had lived all his life was a simple home that had been occupied by generations of his family, though the additions that had been made to it over the years likely caused it to little resemble the original structure.
All around the farmhouse stretched the plot of land he and his father worked all week long with the exception of Sunday. His family's holdings were not large, but they were not trifling either. Plenty of families in the area made do with less. Then, of course, there were those who had far more- the Huber family coming to mind. The Hubers, like many rich peasant families throughout the empire had risen to their present state thanks to Emperor Joseph II and his agricultural reforms. He had freed the empire's peasant class from a state a serfdom, but had at the same time protected their right to the land by decreeing that the land that they owned could only be transferred among their own class. In short, the nobility could not own peasant land and if a farmer wanted to sell out, he had to sell to another farmer. The Huber family, already very successful at that time, had quickly bought up the land of their poorer neighbors and the family was now as rich or richer than some nobles. Johann often wondered if he could ever work hard enough and save enough to be as rich as they were. The answer he usually came up with was: probably not.
As Johann approached the front door to the farmhouse he found his sister sitting on the edge of the porch with her legs extended down the few stairs leading up. He stopped in front of her, put his hands on his hips and said, "Don't let Mother catch you doing that. If you dirty your Sunday dress she'll have a fit."
Alise gave him and annoyed look, but climbed to her feet and anxiously checked her dress for stains. Satisfied that there were none, she turned her attention to her brother and asked, "Catch any fish today?"
Johann held empty hands out to either side of him and replied, "Does it look like I caught any fish?"
Alise sniffed, folded her arms across her chest and said, "I was just asking. If I had known that you were going to be so irritable about it, I wouldn't have bothered."
"Me? Irritable?", asked Johann. At her nod to the affirmative he said, "This from the person who threw a tantrum at church."
Anger flashed in her eyes for a moment before she put her head down as if embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry. I must have made such a fool of myself. I'm sure that you and Artur had a big laugh about it later."
"No, Alise, we didn't.", said Johann in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. "In fact, Artur didn't even mention it. All he really talked about was-"
Alise interrupted him by saying in a voice dripping with venom, "Let me guess: Elsa Huber."
Johann nodded and asked, "What is your problem with her anyway?"
"I don't have a problem with Elsa.", replied Alise. "I just don't like her."
Johann snickered and shook his head. Alise and Elsa had very little interaction with one another and he couldn't imagine what could have caused such dislike, especially on the part of his sister who usually seemed to like everybody. Slowly, though, some things began coming together. No one had ever accused Johann Bauer of being a genius, but no one had ever accused him of being slow either. He locked his eyes onto his sister's and asked, "You not liking her and that little fit at the church wouldn't have something to do with Artur, would it?"
Alise's mouth dropped open and she looked as if she couldn't have been more surprised if he had slapped her. With a visible effort she collected herself and replied, "I don't know. Maybe. I...I spend all week thinking about talking to him after church on Sunday and when I do all I hear about is Elsa Huber. It makes me feel so angry."
Hearing his sister say that she spent her week thinking about his best friend made Johann feel a bit uncomfortable to say the least and he coughed nervously into his hand. His sister seemed to be waiting for him to say something and he finally advised, "Maybe you should talk to Mother about this."
"She'll just tell me that I'm acting childish. Her and Father treat me like I'm still a little kid."
"You are a little kid, Alise."
Anger twisted up her features and she leaned in close so that she could shout without being heard inside, "I'm not a kid anymore, Johann! I'm more than sixteen years old now. Mother was my age when she got married."
"Married?", Johann cried out in shock. "Are you telling me that you've thought of marrying Artur?"
Alise took a step back and began stammering, "I...well... Maybe I have. So what?"
Johann could think of no way to reply to that. He looked at her closely and perhaps really saw her for the first time. Like he did, she had their father's brown hair and eyes, though both were of a softer shade in her case. That was, however, the extent of her resemblance to him. Her features she got from their mother, and though he found it very hard to admit, she was an attractive young woman. For the first time he asked himself how long it would be before boys from town came sniffing around the farm after his sister, and how he would feel if one of them was Artur. The only answers he could come up with were all too soon to the first one, and that he wasn't sure to the second.
Alise was looking at him as if expecting some kind of reply, but he was saved from having to make further comment by his father who opened the front door and said, "Come on inside you two. Your Mother says that dinner is ready."
Alise quickly turned to obey and followed their father inside. Johann remained outside, still wrestling with some of the things that his conversation with Alise had dredged up. He knew that this was going to bother him for some time and he didn't know what to do about it. Normally, when he had a problem, he would just talk to Artur about it, but how could he do that now that Artur was part of the problem? Finally, not wanted to earn a scolding for failing to come to the table promptly, he climbed the steps and went inside. He would have to resolve this some other time.
