An Amish Christmas With the Bontrager Sisters Read Online Free PDF Page A

after school. I collected these eggs in the barn,” Sarah thrilled at the pride in his voice. She found it incredible that her children still had the will to go on, to feel happy and accomplished when she felt broken.
    “They are wunderbaar ,” Martha said fondly tussling Isaac’s hair. “Now come, finish your breakfast. We are going to be late.”
    Sarah cleared the table while Martha got the children and herself ready for a day of work. Sarah had decided, when she had moved in with her parents after the Ordnung , that her presence around the house would be a boon to Mamm and Daed . Isaac could help Daed around the barn and fields and she could take on the duties of the house to provide Mamm with some rest.
    “Sit Mamm ,” Sarah said gently taking the skillet from her. “I’ll make us some eggs and then you rest with some coffee and I shall start the laundry.”
    “You will do no such thing,” Mamm said, taking a seat. “Not in your condition.”
    Sarah froze. The egg she had cracked against the bowl lay in it, shells and all.  
    “Did you think your Mamm drew these fine lines?” Mamm pointed to the wrinkles abundant on her face, “Or colored her hair with chalk?” she pointed to the streaks of white in her dark hair. “Did you think I would not know that my daughter is with child?”
    Sarah sat down beside her mother, taking her gnarled hands in her own calloused ones.  
    “Or did you not know it yourself?” Mamm asked gently.
    “I did know,” Sarah said blinking furiously at the tears that threatened to brim from her eyes. “I wished… oh Mamm, I wished I was wrong and then I… I hoped Gott would take it away,” she said in a horrified whisper. “I’m a horrible mother,” she sobbed.
    “ Nee ,” Mamm said patting her hands. “You are human. When I was heavy with Martha I prayed every day for a soh . It was Gott’s will that I should have a dochder , but that didn’t mean that for the first few weeks I felt that Gott had abandoned me. It is our human failing that we are unable to see Gott’s great plan for us. You are just being tested at the moment and you feel that this blessing is a curse.”
    “ Gott does work in mysterious ways,” Sarah nodded, brushing away her tears. “That He chose to give me a boppli and not Emma, who has been yearning for one for so long.”
    “Emma has her own tests to go through,” Mamm said, getting up heavily from the chair. “You make breakfast, I’ll gather all the sheets to be cleaned. We’ll do it together,” she said, and in a rare show of affection Mamm kissed Sarah’s head.

CHAPTER SIX
The Family Bontrager
    Martha sneezed. She tried to run but it was useless because she had to stop every few seconds to sneeze in her handkerchief again. The pollen on the summer air made her eyes water. When she had been with her English fiancé he had gotten her allergy medicine but now she had to rely on the season changing to get rid of her allergy.  
    She dabbed at her pink nose and walked briskly towards the street corner where the wagon stopped to take people back to the community. She was late and Mr. Lapp didn’t wait around for people who were late.
    Martha was sure she had missed it.
    “… not be waiting,” Martha heard Jane King’s voice and stopped in her tracks. She leaned her back against the wall of a commercial building selling insurance. She peeked around the corner and saw the wagon, full to the brim with people and Jane King and Jacob Lapp standing outside talking.
    Jane was frowning while Jacob looked around up and down the sidewalk as if waiting for someone.
    “I just don’t want anyone walking home,” Jacob said stuffing his hands in his trouser pockets.
    “She isn’t right for you, you know,” Jane said. “I’m just saying this because I know your family will not approve. No one’s family approves.”
    “None of this is of your concern,” Jacob said gently. He smiled a little to take the sting out of his