An Amish Christmas Quilt Read Online Free PDF Page A

rose, but he didn’t answer immediately. In the week since Mary and her little brood had come to town, he’d not seen them or heard anything more of their plans. What should he believe? Their immediate departure might be wishful thinking on Sol’s part.
    â€œWe all need a safe, warm place to call home,” Seth mused aloud. “My brothers and I built this barn, along with Miriam and Ben’s house, ya know. We built the Sweet Seasons and the furniture in it, too, and some of the other newer buildings hereabouts.”
    â€œOh, jah ?” Sol retorted. “Well, my dat ran a sawmill. How do ya suppose you’ll be gettin’ any more lumber, now that it’s burnt down?”
    Seth gritted his teeth. He’d heard about Elmer Kauffman’s fatal fire, and he felt bad that this family had lost their anchor to such a tragic accident. He also understood how a seven-year-old’s worldview would center around his father’s workplace to the exclusion of other sawmills. It was beside the point that the Kauffman mill had produced wooden pallets rather than lumber that went into cabinetry or residential construction.
    Should he correct the youngster? Set him straight about his attitude, just as Miriam had the other day? Or should he be more tolerant and patient, knowing how Sol’s world had been turned upside down when his dat had died? Since Sol was shooting questions at him, maybe he should do the same . . . to take the edge off the conversation and gather a little information in a roundabout way. “I’m really sorry about your dat dyin’ in that fire, Sol,” Seth said in a low voice. Then, before the boy could get huffy again, he said, “How’s your baby brother doin’?”
    The boy grimaced. “Emmanuel? He spends most of his time sleepin’ or cryin’ or stinkin’ up our room.”
    Emmanuel. A strong, stalwart name—one a boy can grow into.
    Seth chuckled as he rummaged in his sack for more long screws. “He’ll get past that. We all started out the same way, ya know.”
    â€œMary’s up at all hours of the night with him, too,” Sol groused. “I hardly get any sleep. Nodded off at school today, and Teacher Alberta screeched at me.”
    And what of poor Mary? She must be exhausted, even with Miriam’s help . . .
    Seth held his comments, both about the boy calling his step- mamm by her first name and about his constant complaining. Sol was a very good reason not to let his thoughts wax romantic when it came to Mary Kauffman. “And how’s it goin’ in your new school?” he asked, thinking that was a safer subject. “I bet you’re makin’ lots of new friends.”
    â€œPuh! Cyrus and Levi Zook are the only other scholars—unless ya count their little sister, Amelia.” A sly smile flickered on the boy’s face. “We boys’re keepin’ the teacher busy. She says she’s got eyes in the back of her head, so she sees every little thing we’re doin’, but most times—even with her big ol’ glasses—Teacher Alberta’s as blind as a bat.”
    Seth stifled a laugh. More than one fellow in Willow Ridge had noticed how, with her black-rimmed glasses, her large nose, and her thick eyebrows, Alberta Zook looked like she was wearing one of those gag masks Henry sold in the toy aisle of his market.
    â€œYou’d best behave yourselves,” he warned. “If Ben and the Zooks’ dat get word you’re causin’ her trouble, they’ll be payin’ ya a visit in class—and givin’ ya extra chores after school to work some of that mischief out of ya.”
    Sol shrugged. “We’ll be goin’ home soon. I don’t know why you and Ben think we need this new stable.”
    As the boy turned and found a stick to throw for his dog, Seth considered what he’d just heard. He’d had no idea that the Willow