Annie's Truth (Touch of Grace) Read Online Free PDF

me.”
    “Ach, he’s just a man of few words.” Her mamm smiled and handed her a jar of tomato relish. “Will you go to the cellar and fetch two jars of bean salad?” Mamm wiped her cheek with a single finger then poured off the boiling water from the potatoes grumbeere . “Make that three. Thomas will eat a jar all by himself.”
    The damp coolness of the earthen walls gave Annie a chill as she descended the planks leading to the underground storage area. Most of the summer harvest was set aside for winter eating, and because they didn’t use refrigerators, they pickled nearly everything.
    Annie glanced up at one of the many cabinets filled with applesauce, jam, coleslaw, and pickles. They’d gathered an unusually large number of tomatoes, enough to fill four bushels. They’d been salted and stored in white buckets, and after a week’s time the excess water was dumped off, and they were placed in kettles, cooked to the right thickening, and then jarred with spices and sugar.
    She took some tomatoes, along with the bean salad, then turned to make her way up the narrow stairs. She stopped and stared down the short tunnel at the end of the cellar. Nothing was stored there, as it was too narrow, but the darkness captivated her, not only this time but every single trip she made down to this underground hole, and she felt the obscurity there. A vacant part of her connected with the uncertainty of what might be in the darkness.
    Once Annie turned away, she took each step quickly to the top, almost dropping one of the jars. “Here, Mamm,” she said in a breath.
    “Are you running from ghosts again?” Mamm reached for the jars as Annie tried to set them on the counter. One rolled to the edge and fell to the floor with the splintering sound of glass.
    Her daed was at the door within a moment’s time. He held one hand on the door frame, staring at the runny, red tomatoes mixed with shards of glass. Annie’s gaze met his as his eyebrows gathered, drawing lines into his forehead.
    “What’s gotten into you, girl?”
    A name he hadn’t called her since she was young, a reprimand she couldn’t ignore. “I’m sorry, Daed.” She reached for a towel and began to spread the mess into a larger circle of red. Her mind regressed as if she were a young girl instead of a young woman.
    A swell of emotion lurched up in her chest and pushed upward, causing a small cry to expel from her lips. Amos grunted and walked to the table to wait for his meal.
    Mamm brought over the trash bin and began scooping up the larger pieces of the now-mangled tomatoes. “Go wash up.” She patted Annie on the top of one hand and continued to clean the stained floor. Annie stood, looking down at the mess she’d made. She felt disjointed inside as well as out. She couldn’t grasp what she now knew. She had to do something. What, she didn’t know, but something for sure.
    As she washed, her siblings came in one by one and sat down at the table. Feeling the tension, they spoke in low tones, waiting patiently for Annie.
    Her daed eyed her as she sat down right after her mamm. They said a silent prayer, and as the food was passed, his stare returned to her throughout the meal. Annie knew there was a “talk” coming but tried to enjoy her meal in spite of it. Were her actions so obvious that her parents knew her thoughts?
    Mamm asked Amos if he wanted some of the bean salad, but he ignored her. Annie decided right then that her husband would look her in the eyes when she spoke. He’d act interested in what she said, even if he wasn’t.
    When the meal was finished, Annie and Hanna worked beside their mamm, washing dishes as Frieda cleared the table. Amos took the boys out with him to gather wood and check the weather. The wind whipped the sides of the house. The wooden chimes Eli had made that hung on the porch clanged and twisted in the snapping gales.
    Hanna, Annie, and their mother peered out the window as they finished cleaning up. Annie