A Wedding Quilt for Ella Read Online Free PDF Page B

not supposed to get up,” Dora said.
    “I know,” Ella said as she glanced down at her wrinkled dress, “but I can help, and I don’t even have to get dressed. I must have slept in this.”
    “As you wish,” Dora said, shaking her head, “but Mamm will have something to say about this.”
    The three made their way downstairs with Ella in the rear. They walked single file into the kitchen.
    “Why is Ella up?” Mamm asked as if Ella wasn’t there and Dora and Clara were to blame.
    “She must have heard us.” Dora said. “We didn’t make any noise, and I told her not to come down.”
    “Then get right back upstairs,” Mamm said, addressing Ella for the first time.
    “I have to do something, Mamm. I can’t just sit up in my room and think of him.”
    “Didn’t you sleep at all?” Mamm asked.
    “I don’t know,” Ella said. “I don’t remember.”
    “Ach.” Mamm said, relenting. “Well, perhaps that is for the best. Then stay with Clara inside while Dora and I do the barn chores.”
    Ella nodded, standing totally still while Dora and Mamm left. She turned to Clara and said, “You can set the table, Clara, as usual. I’ll need help with the bacon after that.”
    Clara glanced at her sister. So Ella had plans for a full breakfast. Ella had her back turned, intent on the fire in the stove, the shadows of the kerosene lamps playing on her shoulders. Clara whispered the words, “I’m sorry about Aden, Ella.”
    Ella turned around, her face caught in the soft light. “He’s gone, Clara. And I so loved him. I really did.”
    “Maybe Da Hah will send you someone else,” Clara said without much thought, the words just coming out of her mouth.
    Ella smiled gently. “No, Clara. It’s not to be. There was just one Aden—my Aden—and I could never love like that again.”
    “I’m sorry,” Clara said. It did feel like the right thing to say. “He was a gut man.”
    Ella paused at the words, the match in her hand. “He was more than gut, Clara. Aden was wonderful. He was the most wonderful boy I ever laid eyes on. He won my heart, and he loved me, Clara. I was to become his wife. I was to bear his children if Da Hah sent us any. We would have grown old together. Now he’s dead and just gone. And it was Da Hah who took him.”
    “Daett read a real gut Scripture last night. It was about walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Mamm cried a lot.”
    “Yah,” Ella said, her smile weak, “I have a very gut family, and here I am spilling all my tears on you. I’m the one who should be sorry about it. I’ll be okay, Clara, really I will. Other people have gone through this before. Lots of them. It’s just that it’s me this time; me—little Ella Yoder—who has a broken heart.”
    Ella dropped the match on the stove, bent her head over the rusty black stove, and began to cry new tears. Clara felt the sting in her own eyes. She went into the living room where she remembered from last night a spare handkerchief lay folded. She came back and gently pushed the soft cloth into Ella’s hand and then stood back to wait until Ella’s emotion had spent itself. More than that, what was there to do?
    “Ach,” Ella finally said, “now I’ve gone and got the match wet too. It’s wasted.” Then the sobs came again.
    Clara gently nudged Ella away from the stove. She found another match and lit the kindling. The flame flickered, sought fuel and oxygen, and burst into bright light. Carefully she added additional wood and shut the stove lid.
    “You’re gut at that, yah,” Ella said, regaining her composure. “But if we don’t get to work soon, we’ll never have breakfast ready in time.”
    This was true, and Clara returned to the table, set the plates, and then went down to the basement for the bacon. By the time she returned, steam was rising from the heated pan Ella had placed on the stove. She cut the package open, pulled the bacon strips apart, and slid them into the pan. The crackle soon