Crossing Read Online Free PDF

She wore the dress of Amish women. They wore plain dark dresses with collarless high necks. Over their shoulders they wore a holsz duch, a triangular shawl pinned to their apron in front. All of their fastenings were straight pins, for buttons were forbidden. All Amish women wore prayer caps, usually made of white organza. “So you’ve finally come home, Daniel,” she breathed. Then she held out her arms.
    Daniel rushed to her, and they held each other for a long time. Then he held her out at arm’s length and said, “You’re looking well, Mother. I’ve missed you.”
    “I am well,” she answered, “and I’ve missed you, too, Daniel. So this is Yancy?”
    “Yes, this is your grandson. Yancy, this is your grandmother, Zemira.”
    “Hello, ma’am,” Yancy said awkwardly, dismounting and taking off his slouch hat.
    Zemira Tremayne smiled. “He favors you, Daniel.”
    “Maybe, but he favors his mother more.” Daniel looked toward the house and asked, “Is Father inside?”
    “No, son, he’s over there.” Zemira gestured toward a grove of oak trees, adding, “He went to be with the Lord two years ago.”
    Daniel glanced at the small cemetery then dropped his gaze, unable to meet his mother’s eyes. He had left home because he’d been unable to live within the
Ordnung
, the set of rules and regulations that define the Amish lifestyle. He remembered how he had never fit into the strict confines demanded by the community. He remembered and regretted the heated arguments he had with his father, and now he burned with shame. “I’m so sorry about the way I treated you and Father. I wanted to ask his forgiveness for running away like I did.”
    “He forgave you without being asked,” Zemira said. “Your father was never a man to hold a grudge. You hurt him badly when you left, saying hard words to him, Daniel. I was afraid he’d not be able to deal with it, but he did. He came to me one day about six months after you left and told me, ‘If you ever see Daniel again and I’m not here, tell him I loved him even if we didn’t agree.’”
    “I was wrong to leave that way, Mother, and I want to make it up to you any way that I can. If you’ll let us come back, I’ll try and be a good son to you.”
    Zemira grasped both of his hands in hers, lifted her head, and looked straight into Daniel’s eyes. “Of course you are welcome, Daniel. You are my son, and you are my family.” Then she turned to Yancy, saying, “I expect you’re hungry, Yancy. Come in the house, and I’ll see what we’ve got to eat.”
    Daniel and Yancy followed her into the house, and Daniel ran his eyes over the front parlor as she led them through to the kitchen. “Nothing has changed, Mother. It’s just like it was the day I left.”
    The Amish made all of their furniture, and like everything about them, it was simple and plain. Two settees, facing each other from either side of the fireplace, had straight backs with thin cushions. There were two straight chairs and two rocking chairs. One round table in the corner served as a tea table.
    Daniel got a small lump in his throat when they passed through the dining room. The dining table was fine, made of maple, long enough to seat twelve. All of the chairs were handmade, ladderback, and Daniel’s father, Jacob, had even indulged in a small scroll on the topmost crosspiece.
    Daniel had helped him make this furniture. Or at least Jacob had pretended that Daniel was helping. He had been small, maybe five or six years old. Jacob had given him a piece of sandpaper and had told him to sand small pieces of wood. Now Daniel wondered if anything he had sanded was actually included in the furniture. In the crosspieces of the chairs, perhaps.
    They went into the kitchen, where there was an oak worktable with four stools. “Here, Yancy, Daniel, you sit down. I have some leftovers from dinner today. Sol Raber and Shadrach Braun were here today, helping with the farm, and I fixed this for