Beside Still Waters Read Online Free PDF Page A

Marianna turned to the children. "Helen, Ellie." She called each one by name. "Brush yourself off. We're going to be eating soon, are you hungry?"
    "Ja!" Ellie clapped her hands and then brushed them together to wipe off the sand. Helen did the same, and the other little ones got the idea that play was over.
    Their voices chimed together like little birds squawking. "Eat?"
    Just as the adults had worked hard, the children too had been busy—hard at work with their play. Creating fields in the sandbox, using sticks as teams of horses making rows. Some of the little girls had also made flower gardens, plucking dandelions from the grass and standing the yellow flowers up in their own little plot of sand.
    Watching them, Marianna was reminded of when she was their age and her favorite thing to play had been horse and buggy. She and Levi had done so often. Sometimes they used rocks and sticks. Other times they were the horses. And once . . . Marianna bit her lip. She'd been the buggy and her brother had been the semi truck.
    At the time she'd thought it was her scream, as Levi tackled her to the ground, that had upset her mother. But as she'd grown older, she realized it was the game itself that had caused so much pain. Or rather, it had resurrected a pain that had been there for quite some time. That was the last time she'd played horse and buggy. Her mother's sobs had not calmed the rest of that day, and Marianna never wanted to risk that again.
    "Good children. Are you hungry? Would you like some bread and peanut butter? Maybe some cookies, too?"
    Small heads bobbled and smiles brightened faces.
    Marianna lined up the toddlers, preparing to take them to their mothers, when she spotted Mem serving up large pieces of pie. Her mother's smile lit her face as she handed a plate to Aaron. His smile mirrored Mem's, and then he turned, both of their gazes fixing on Marianna. She waved, not knowing what else to do, and then looked away. She again focused on the small ones, making sure they still followed. And as the bright sun warmed her kapp, a new hope sprang up in her heart. Her mother wouldn't allow them to leave when Aaron's interest was so evident. The goal of every Amish mother was to find a good husband for her daughters. Mem wouldn't risk leaving now, would she? Marianna glanced back again and noticed Mrs. Zook talking to her mother.
    Marianna quickened her pace, urging the little ones to follow, knowing the only proper thing to do was find a way to talk to the older woman before the day's end. Marianna didn't know Mrs. Zook well. They'd exchanged small talk at church and socials, but perhaps she should make an attempt to get to know Aaron's family better.
    Ten minutes later the children were under the care of their mothers, and she held Ellie's hand as she joined the women who were lining up for lunch. The grass was soft under her footsteps as she neared Mrs. Zook. Marianna approached from behind. Mrs. Zook was huddled with a few other older women, and their eyes were fixed at a long table where the men were sitting.
    "Do you wonder why he's returned?" The gray-haired woman from a neighboring community studied the women around her. "Some say he's been spending too much time with the Englisch and they're corrupting his ways."
    Others joined in. "My husband says they saw him reading an English Bible in his buggy. Is he trying to be smart or something? Thinking he knows more than the bishop?"
    "Maybe Ike has come for a wife, but I don't think it's likely."
    Marianna's hand covered her mouth—they were talking about her uncle! She took a step back, preparing to walk away, but not before she heard Mrs. Zook's response.
    "There is not a pot so crooked that there isn't a lid to fit it. There has to be a woman desperate enough."
    Laughter followed the woman's comment, and Marianna no longer felt like eating. Ellie looked up at her, her little brow creased, and she pointed to the long wooden tables laden with hot dishes, salads, the