Called to Order Read Online Free PDF Page B

his fate. He slid the last of his personal items into his suitcase and turned to her, gently tipping up her chin with his knuckle.
    “What’s this now, Gracie? Tears? We will have none of that.” She threw her arms around his neck and burst into hysterics.
    “Oh, Adam, I’m so sorry. I never meant to expose your secret. I was just shocked when I overheard your thoughts. I would have never betrayed you had I been expecting such a revelation. I could have controlled my reaction better.”
    “Hush now, child . You have not wronged me. It is not you who has placed this burden on my shoulders, it was fate.”
    “But you’re leaving so soon.”
    “Yes, and when I return I will have a new sister for you.”
    She seemed to smile at that. “Oh, Adam, perhaps all will go well and you will find your ainsicht and fall madly in love. I know she will love you the moment she sets eyes on you.” Adam chuckled at his little sister’s romantic notions, but it was Cain’s snort of laughter she reacted to. “What are you laughing at, toad?”
    “How am I a toad and Adam is a stunning prince? That is unfershtendich, we are identical twins, runt . ”
    “It is not absurd, you unmannered hog, and I am not a runt!”
    “ Ganoonk! Enough. The two of you stop it,” Adam said, standing between the two. “Gracie, how is Mother doing?”
    His sister frowned. “She is resting. I put some brandy in her glass to help her sleep. She is so sad, Adam. I am afraid she will cry the entire time you’re gone.”
    Cain groaned. “This is going to be worse than when Silus chose Larissa.” Their mother had been devastated when the elders agreed upon Silus’s request for a union so quickly. Typically there was a period for the parents of a female to petition for more time. With Larissa there seemed no such period. It seemed only weeks after Silus’s request to court her that she was moving out of their family home and relocating on the western territory of the farm where the Hostetler’s properties existed.
    “It will not be that bad,” Adam assured his brother and sister and hoped he was not telling a lie. Finding a woman he had never seen nor knew the proper name of was destined to be a challenge. As if it was not complicated enough, he would also have to introduce her to a species the rest of the world assumed was nothing more than folklore. This would all have to be done delicately in order to persuade the girl to sacrifice everything she has ever trusted and known based on an intangible promise of kismet. He had his own apprehensions and promised, “I will move as swift as my legs will carry me, and before you know it we will be sitting here once more calling Cain a toad while discussing my more admirable traits.”
    Later that evening, they sat at the kitchen table, listening to Ezekiel’s instructions for Adam. Gracie stood by the door, keeping watch over their mother who slept peacefully in the next room. Jonas sat next to Adam’s grandfather, his posture tense and worried. Cain stood by the counter, finishing off the leftovers from supper.
    “It is important you maintain a low profile,” his grandfather was saying. “The fewer mortals you speak to, the fewer questions you will have to answer. If anyone asks, you are on Rumspringa and plan on returning to your Amish roots by month’s end to be baptized into your faith. Do not allow yourself to be photographed and keep yourself well fed.”
    Although there were some exceptions, their kind typically followed the traditional Amish ways of life. The Order seldom deviated from the laws of their faith. The elders especially found it easier to follow a simpler way of life without having to keep up with the ever-changing outside world. Living as Amish also provided the added benefit of privacy. The English had learned, over time, to ignore their presence, which was in their favor.
    “If you are caught poaching from another farm, erase the mortal’s memory of you ever being there.”