Gabriel's Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

read.
You are going to love it here in Ohio. We have the largest settlement in America. It’s so exciting to be a part of such a big community. (Well, we are on the fringes, but it is still exciting.) Of course some families here are large enough to be a church district within themselves.
Our bishop’s name is Andrew Stoltzfus. He is very young for a bishop, just twenty-eight years old. Isn’t it amazing what God’s will can do? All the elders were a bit concerned when he was chosen. I think they felt that he would be a little too liberal with cell phones and other Englisch luxuries. But to their surprise (and delight) Bishop Andrew has turned out to be one of the most conservative bishops we have ever had. He has us wearing the most demur colors—gray, brown, and the darkest plum. At first I thought it would be a trial, but it has turned out to be a greater blessing than I imagined. Wearing subdued colors makes me so appreciate the colors that God has displayed for us instead of trying to reproduce them on my person.
Oh, and did I tell you that Andrew is the brother of my intended, Matthew? They are both such gut men. I can hardly wait for you to meet them.
I must close this letter for now. Taking care of eleven little ones doesn’t leave a lot of time left over for things like letter writing. But you’ll find that out for yourself in a few weeks.
Be safe as you travel and go with our Lord.
Your cousin,
Amanda
    Rachel crumpled the letter in one hand and dropped her head back against the wall of the post office. It was all so much to take in.
    No goats. No colors. Eleven children.
    Her mind swam with the changes that would be expected from her. How would she ever be able to leave her entire life behind and move hundreds of miles away? It was more than an adventure—it was an impossibility.
    She closed her eyes against the negative thoughts. Her aenti would not approve of such an attitude, but she couldn’t help it. The prospect was overwhelming.
    Yet what choice did she have?
    None.
    If she stayed in Clover Ridge, she would have almost no money and no place to live. She could sell her goats, but what good would it do to have money for a place to stay if she sold her means of a livelihood? Clover Ridge might not be as conservative as Ohio, but she felt certain the bishop would frown on her taking up living alone. She was too old to get married and too young to be an old maid.
    With a sigh, she smoothed her cousin’s letter and folded it to rights, then slipped it back into its envelope. She had a few more days before she had to start collecting her belongings and head for Ohio. A few more days before she had to find a buyer for her precious goats. Maybe in those few days, God would show her His will. With any luck and lots of prayer maybe—just maybe—she would find a way to stay in Oklahoma.

    “I’m looking for a housekeeper,” Gabriel told Coln Anderson the next day. He’d driven his buggy into town just after Joseph, Simon, and David had left for school. He needed to be in the fields. The back twenty still had to be plowed and planted. Thankfully the wheat was coming along nicely, but he needed to get his corn in the ground soon. Yet this chore took priority. He’d instructed Matthew to start cleaning out the stalls. At fifteen he could handle a plow on his own, but Gabriel hadn’t wanted to leave the bu alone in the fields. Instead he’d left him in the barn with Samuel, who begged to tag along.
    Gabriel felt a twinge of guilt at leaving the child with his oldest brother. He had been through so many changes over the last couple of months. But Gabriel wasn’t accustomed to the child dogging his heels. He wasn’t sure how a housekeeper could help him with this problem, but at least he’d have warm meals when he came home each evening.
    “A housekeeper, eh?” Coln Anderson, owner and operator of Anderson’s General, Store wiped his glasses on the tail of his white butcher’s apron. He inspected the