[M] Maybe Katie (A Schnell&Balloch Adventure)

[The Lifted Lorax]

[Rated M mostly just in case; alcohol brewing and consumption, violence, possible mature themes]

The Adventures of Little John and the Siblings Balloch Chapter One, Part I
The Adventures of Little John and the Siblings Balloch Chapter One, Part II
The Adventures of Little John and the Siblings Balloch Chapter Two
The Adventures of Little John and the Siblings Balloch, Chapter Three

The sun was bright and warm which, though he should have been glad that the day he had to walk was one of the few English spring day without rain, only made Jacob grumpier. It was as though the weather was mocking him. It should be raining, he strongly felt, to reflect the feeling in his heart. But no, God insisted on mocking his plight further by making it sunny and gorgeous out.

The previous night, Jacob Melnick had been forced to leave the land of his childhood by the king's inquisitors. It wasn't easy, but the alternative was death. He was grateful that it was at least the beginning of spring, which meant people would be willing to hire farmhands to help plow, plant, and harvest. Once the harvest was over, he didn't know what he'd do. Hopefully he'd have a plan by then.

As he crested a hill, a little hamlet lay before Jacob. It was a sweet-looking farming village, which meant there was probably at least one family looking for help. He loped downhill, his eyes set on the two homes before him. They were on either side of a little stream, though one was bigger than the other and with a cobbled-together look. Still, it looked friendly and was as good a place as any to start. Jacob knew the larger house probably meant they already had farmhands, but they were also likely to be richer. Even if they said no, perhaps they would introduce him to their neighbors across the stream so it would be less awkward to knock on their door.

As he neared, a diminutive woman with a curly mess of fiery hair came out of the house with a gaggle of children of varying ages behind her. She was an attractive woman in her early forties, clearly the lady of the house, but Jacob wanted the man. Usually if the man of the house agreed to something the wife would fall in line. He slowed his pace, therefore, until she and the four children with her disappeared into the barn. Hurrying toward the door, Jacob knocked firmly and hoped the husband was still in the house to answer the door.

[EvelynWillows]

Two decades ago the big house near the stream had burned down to the ground, and Johan Gunterweiller Schnell the third, known affectionately as "Little John", had had his life turned upside down by a fiery Scottish lass and her brother Hamish. Since that day his life had never been the same and he wouldn't have had it any other way. He had been back and forth to Scotland several times with his family, once to escape inquisitors who dubbed him a heretic for speaking against the selling of indulgences and the baptism of the dead. His third eldest son, Duncan, was born there in Fenny's childhood home.

Their lives had since calmed down significantly and their brood grown to fill their home to overflowing. Now they enjoyed an abundance of children, a few grandchildren, and a great gaggle of nieces and nephews in their home at any given time, and darned if it didn't seem like John's bride grew more and more beautiful with each new arrival to their ever-expanding family.

A few of his sons grew taller than his six foot frame and his daughters more lovely each day, and like any father he was fiercely protective of them. It didn't help the children any that John had taken on much of the pastorship of the community. It had been nearly eight years since Father Braun had passed on to his eternal reward, and though the congregation was still officially searching for a new senior pastor it seemed as if they weren't in any hurry to replace John as their interim pastor. So even though he had taken off the collar of the church long ago, Little John found himself the shepherd of a growing flock.

Yesterday had been the first day of the week in the first warm week of the spring. Sundays were normally a busy day for the Schnell family, and Monday found them hurrying to catch up with chores and to get started on the fields. John had just kissed his wife and sent her out to her errands as he gathered up his things to go tend the new shoots in the hops' fields and the vineyard when a firm knock came to the door.

Little John narrowed his eyes; he knew the knocks of all the people in town who might normally visit, and this one wasn't familiar. He opened the door and saw a young man standing before, him, looking to all the world as if he'd misplaced his compass. "Well, Stranger. How can I help you?"

[The Lifted Lorax]

When someone finally answered the door, it took Jacob a moment to recover from surprise and, to be perfectly honest, fear. The man was huge! Jacob wasn't a short man, but this man before him must have been at least six feet tall. He briefly considered saying he had the wrong house...but they had a farm and he needed work.

"Good morning, sir," Jacob said finally after clearing his throat. "My name is Jacob. Circumstances have forced me from my home and--"

"Ach! John!" The lady of the house came marching out of the barn with a mangled chicken in one hand and a little girl clinging to her skirt. "I sweer ef I e'er see tha' fox Imma use ets fur ta line my boots!" She pounded up the steps before seeming to see Jacob.

"Who're ye?" she demanded. Jacob hastily removed his hat before speaking to her.

"Jacob, ma'am. Jacob Melnick. I was just about to ask yer husband here if you had any use for an extra hand on your farm." He turned to the husband. "You see, sir, circumstances beyond my control have forced me from my home just the other side of Hamline. I'm in need of honest work, so if you aren't in need of another hand I'd appreciate it if you'd point me to someone who does." He smiled politely.

"Jacob Melnick, eh?" She gave Little John a look; after all these years, Fenny was still mistrustful of strangers. "I'll le' ye handle et. I'll save wha' I can o' thess afore et tairns. God ken as she were setten oot half th' nigh'. Getcher thumb oot yer mooth Elaine." The girl who had been staring shyly at Jacob pulled her thumb out of her mouth with a pop as her mother slid past John into the kitchen, tugging her along on her skirts.

[EvelynWillows]

John crossed his massive arms in front of his chest and watched the stranger's reaction to Fenny. Clearly the lad wasn't blind; even at over forty Fenny was a bright poppy in a field of green. She was lovelier even than when John first met her. "Well, Jacb Melnick, I'm John Schnell. That lovely lass is my wife, Fenny. There are a few other lasses around the farm and the other yonder," he said, nodding towards Hamish's home across the stream "who are as equally off-limits to you as she is."

He narrowed his gaze. "I don't suppose you've eaten today?" Already guessing the answer he reached back into the kitchen and brought out two of Fenny's wondrous pocket pies filled with chicken and vegetables from the garden. He handed one to Jacob. "Come on, then. Let's talk in the field." He swept his hat onto his head and strode past the newcomer and down the porch steps. John picked up a few tools and put them in the back of the small work cart hitched to one of their little sturdy ponies. The cart was made to haul their tools rather than to be ridden on, and the sturdy northern bred ponies were a good work partner.

John paused at the well to fill their bucket of water and then walked with Jacob to the field. He ate his breakfast in silent contemplation until they were far enough away to speak openly with each other. "So you mentioned that you were forced to leave your homeland. May I ask why?"

[The Lifted Lorax]

Jacob's eyes widened when John Schnell put an emphasis on "wife" and mentioned that there were other girls about who were off-limits. Jamming his hat back onto his head, afraid he'd caused offense, he shook his head vigorously. It seemed at any moment a pretty girl would jump into his line of view to give the mountain of a man an excuse to rip his head off.

"Oh no sir! I'm sorry if I--! I didn't mean--! My mother raised a gentleman, sir; it's just polite to take your hat off for a lady. I wouldn't dream of looking at another man's wife! Not that she isn't pretty! I mean..." Jacob flushed as his tongue tripped over itself to apologize and try not to offend the man's wife at the same time. He could've sworn he heard a few giggles coming from the kitchen behind John, and it wasn't the little girl.

"He thinks yer pretty, Mama." A four-year-old trying and failing to whisper is always cute, but only flustered Jacob more.

"Shush lamb; et's rude ta eavesdrop." Fenny answered in the same sort of stage whisper, still giggling a little at Jacob's frustration.

"What's eavesdrop?" The little girl, Elaine, rose her voice back to a normal volume and swung her arms side to side, still clinging to her mother's skirt.

"Sshh! Et's lessnen en on wha' other folk're talken boot."

Jacob was incredibly grateful when John led him out into the fields. They passed by a boy of about eight playing with a few other children around his age. Two were his cousins, and one was his youngest niece who was more of a cousin to him, being a year older. This was Johan Gunterweiller Schnell IV, though his mother had jokingly called him "Medium John" and the name had stuck. His father was Little John and his grandfather Big John, so it only seemed fitting.

After Medium John were sixteen- and fourteen-year-olds Duncan and Alastair, named after a grandfather and uncle they never knew, working in the barn. They raised their hands in greeting to their father--they were clearly John's sons, being as tall or taller than he--from the door of the big barn before going back to work. The barn, too, had burned down twenty years ago with the house, and like the house had a cobbled-together look as the Schnells expanded it to make more room for more animals on which to support their ever-growing family. Absent in Jacob's site were any of the daughters, of which there were four including little Elaine.

Once they were out where they could talk privately, however, Jacob almost instantly wished to be back enduring the awkwardness in the kitchen doorway. Thinking over how best to answer, he bit into the handheld pie. His eyes widened and he groaned through the mouthful of flakey crust.

"I hope you'll have me, sir," he said after swallowing, "if I can eat your wife's cooking." He smiled before clearing his throat and rubbing his face. "Mr. Schnell...I'm a Jew. I won't hide that from you, and if it's a problem then with all due respect sir I'll move on. I'm a natural-born English citizen; my grandparents came here from Poland to escape persecution. But I'm sure you've heard there's an inquisition on, sir. All the Jews have to leave England."

Jacob took another bite to give himself time to think. He wanted to assure Mr. Schnell that he wasn't here to cause trouble. Honestly, this was the biggest problem he'd had in finding work so far.

"England is my home. I don't know if you've ever been forced from your home Mr. Schnell, or if your wife was, but it leaves you feeling like there's a hope in your heart, like you don't belong anywhere." He sighed and looked at John. "I'm not here to cause any trouble, Mr. Schnell. If somebody gives me up I'll go quietly and won't put your family in danger by asking for help or telling them you knew I was a Jew. I just don't want to leave my home, sir, and my mother didn't raise a thief or a cheat." He looked up at John with pleading eyes. All he wanted was a job to put food in his mouth, clothes on his back, and a roof over his head. It wasn't much to ask for.

[EvelynWillows]

John wished he had a tankard of ale to quaff down the flaky crust. But all he had out there was water. He dipped a cup of the cool liquid and offered it first to Jacob. "You're preaching to the choir son." At Jacob's silence John decided to explain. "Aye, we know about being forced from our homes and having to flee because of our beliefs. Are you Jew by birth or faith, lad? Or both?" He considered quietly the polite mannerisms of his potential farm hand. Already he could tell that the lad would turn a few heads with his foreign accent and solid features. John already wondered how many hearts the newcomer was going to affect. His 'father sense' were on full alert.

He listened to Jacob's answer as he took a long drink of the cool water. "I should tell you, son, that I'm the pastor of this Hamlet. That little church yonder is where we worship Sundays. The Christ. I preach from the Book and that includes the Torah as well." He nodded. "I'd prefer it if my farm hands attended with our family but out of respect for the people of Abraham I'll let you make your own mind up about that. Faith's not a gift to be forced on anyone. As for denying that we know who you are, well that'd be a lie. Once we take you in you're family." He rubbed the scruff on his chin and considered the young man before him.

"I can't pay you anything." There it was. "You can have the loft in the barn and your meals, and when we make our sales you'll get a part same as any grown son would." He crossed his arms again, a posture that Little John had taken to in the last decade when he had nothing to do with his hands. "Other than food for the family we brew biers and wine here. I hope you don't have a problem working that trade. If you'd like to look around the hamlet for something that might suit you more I'll hold the same offer open if you find nothing else available."

John couldn't help but think about his own adopted sons, Charles and Harry. Wasn't Jacob just like them, only older? He hoped that if any of his boys ever needed a new start someone would give them a similar chance.

[The Lifted Lorax]

Jacob took the dipper, sipping the water and quietly thanking him. "Both, Mr. Schnell," he answered. "I was born into a Jewish home and though my faith has been tested before, as it's being tested now, I've never had any reason to doubt that I'm on the right path." He gave John a small smile.

At the sudden revelation that he was the local preacher, however, the young man paled. He regained color as the worship situation was explained, but still it was odd. His lifestyle seemed very liberal for what Jacob knew of the Catholic church.

"I believe that we both worship the one true God, sir, just in different ways," he said with a small smile. "I don't know your prayers, but I'll pray with you. All I ask in return is you allow me to observe the holidays of my people. But you don't have to worry about me trying to convert your children, either." He was trying to add levity to the serious topic, but his chuckle came out more nervous than light-hearted.

Jacob's heart fell upon being told he wouldn't be paid anything. Couldn't be. He started to consider moving on, but then John started listing the things he would get for his work. It sounded like...home.

"Mr. Schnell, food in my belly and a roof over my head is all I desire," he answered honestly. "As for brews, I think you might have more of a problem with me at that sort of work than I will. Being drunk on the job isn't exactly a good impression." Jacob's chuckle was much more natural this time. He finished off his pie, carefully considering how to word his next question.

"Forgive me, sir...but I didn't think such a lifestyle was allowed for a priest," he said cautiously. "I thought priests were supposed to live chaste, sober lives and remain unmarried?" Mentally Jacob made a note. Even for his age John Schnell looked fit and strong, and his warning had been enough, but even if he did have any pretty daughters or nieces the farmhand would be sure to steer well clear; trying to woo a preacher's daughter could surely be nothing but trouble.

[EvelynWillows]

John grinned at Jacob's boldness. It was good; it was honest. "It's not allowed for a priest. I gave up that title over twenty years ago." He looked up at several men walking towards them through the fields. These fields were different in that they were criss-crossed with tall poles. Strung between the poles were long ropes meant to support the growing hop vines, and even now the sturdy rhizomes were sending up their green shoots.

"I walked away from the Catholic Church when I was twenty-one, Jacob. Two years before I met my wife." He tilted his head at the lad and decided to give him a synopsis so he could make a fair assessment of whether he wanted to remain on the Schnell homestead or not. "See, I got a hold of the Bible translated into German. Once it was out of the Latin God's words came alive to me, and I found that what was written wasn't necessarily what was done by those calling themselves God's people." He smirked to himself. "Eventually I helped out here at the church a bit, then was asked to preach a time or two. Eventually the church got wind I was preaching heresy and sent a few men to hunt me down..." he thought of brother Timothy. "We had to leave for a while. A good man died protecting us."

He reached up and waved at trio headed their way. "So...I'm not a priest. I'm more of a shepherd. The church calls us 'protestants', but we simply call ourselves believers in the Christ." He looked steadily at Jacob. "So see? You're in as much danger living in this Hamlet and attending church with us as we'd be housing a Jew. In the end you and I worship the same God; you just haven't met His Son yet." John grinned.

"Come on, let me introduce you to my family." He waved the men over. Two looked to be in their thirties; surely they were too old to be his sons. Perhaps John's brothers or cousins?

John put his hand on the oldest of the three, a man nearly six feet tall with blond hair and a short beard. The man nodded. "Jacob Melnick, meet my eldest son, Charles." He waved at the other man who stood about five foot eight and had a stockier build. This man was darker toned and had dark brown hair and green eyes. "My second son, Harry. And that lanky boy over there," he said, pointing to a ruddy blond lad of about twelve, "is my eldest grandson, Albert. He's Charles' son."

"This is Jacob. He's going to be staying with us and..." he looked at the newcomer for confirmation, "apprenticing for a while."

[The Lifted Lorax]

Jacob grinned at how things had turned out, that they were both just as bad off together or alone. "Well I think if it's between mutual danger and starving or mutual danger and your wife's cooking, I think I'll stay if it's all the same to you."

He had taken note of John pointing out that Jacob hadn't met God's Son yet. He had politely endured far too many "come to Jesus" speeches to be made uncomfortable by it. They were well-meaning Christians concerned for his soul most of the time, and Jacob believed this man to be among that lot. He just wished he could tell them that his soul was just fine as it is.

Jacob was surprised when two of the men who had come out to meet them were introduced as John's sons. They both had at least ten years on him! They looked almost nothing like either of their parents and were too old, unless one of them had gotten themselves into trouble as a teenager.

Nevertheless, he shook their hands and greeted them warmly. In the back of his mind Jacob wondered just how many children there were in the Schnell brood, if the two lads in the barn who strongly resembled their father weren't the two oldest and the youngest was still little enough to have a thumb-sucking habit.

"Forgive me, Mr. Schnell, but either you and Mrs. Schnell started very early or you carry you ages incredibly well," he joked lightly. "Neither of you look old enough to be grandparents of a grown lad!"

[EvelynWillows]

Albert beamed at being called a 'grown lad'. His eyes twinkled until they met his father's stern gaze. "Enough of that lad. Go unload the cart and leave the adults to our talk." Charles waited until his boy was out of easy earshot before chuckling and watching Little John for his reaction. "I guess you got found out Pa. Time to pack up and move out of town again."

The Patriarch narrowed his eyes and snorted at his eldest. "One of these days your jokes will backfire Charles."

"I think he's just nervous now that Irma's thinking that she feels like she might have twins on the way." Harry quipped. He went to the back of the cart and raised an eyebrow at his brother before helping Albert unload more spools of rope.

Charles scowled and sighed. "There's no such thing as privacy in this family."

"Well, got a better one to go to?" His brother couldn't resist a final jab.

"Boys." John Schnell's tone told them that the teasing was over. "Lay out the rope. Daylight's burning." It was apparent that no matter their age, Charles and Harry would always be 'boys' to him. He shook his head in amusement and answered Jacob's question. "These two rug-a-muffins are my sons to be sure, but Frau Schnell and I adopted them soon after we were married. Harry was about Albert's age and Charles a bit older when our daughters were born. God worked it out for all of us."

He pointed to the tall poles. Most were already strung with strong rope, but a few were bare and needed new lines put up. "Are you afraid of heights?"