Huckleberry Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

gute care of Dat. Lily wanted that for her own marriage. She wanted to take gute care of a man so that he would adore her the way Dat adored Mama. Lily loved the way her dat looked at Mama, like she was the only good woman in the whole world.
    “Dat,” Lily said, “Anna Helmuth wants me to work for her this summer. Three days a week. What do you think?”
    Dat spread a thick pat of butter over his bread and looked doubtfully at Lily. “That is a generous offer, but I know how you like to be at home.”
    “Jah, but I want to earn some money. I’ve never had a job before.”
    “She’s so timid, Dat,” Estee said. “It would do her good to have a job.”
    A worry line made a furrow between Dat’s eyebrows. “And she’d be working for one of the Plain people. It’s too easy to get pulled to the world working out for an Englischer .”
    “I work out,” Estee protested.
    Dat reached over and pinched Estee’s cheek. “It’s only Mrs. Deforest, and I keep a close eye on you.”
    “Oh, Dat, you do not.”
    Dat studied Lily’s face. “Estee is right. It would be good for you. Can you spare her here at home, Mary? Estee is already gone so much working full-time.”
    “Jah, it is only three days a week. We can do the canning and cleaning the other days.”
    “Can you be home every night for suppertime?” Dat asked.
    “I think so,” said Lily. “Anna wants me to help cook fancy meals, but she didn’t say anything about eating supper with them.”
    “You have my permission,” Dat said. “You will do a gute job for them. This is delicious, Mary.”
    Estee blew on her stew. “Why does Anna want fancy meals? I wouldn’t know where to begin to cook a fancy meal.”
    Lily didn’t know why her face suddenly got warm. “They have to fix special food for their grandson Aden. He is staying with them over the summer, and he only eats vegetables.”
    “Does he have a disease?” Mama asked.
    “Nae. I think he doesn’t like meat.”
    Mama buttered a slice of bread. “Is he a special child, like Treva Schrock? You have such a way with special children, Lily. Maybe that is why the Helmuths want your help.”
    “No, he isn’t special.”
    “Then he must be an odd young man not to like meat,” Mama said.
    “You don’t know the half of it,” Estee volunteered. “He’s been in jail before.”
    The other three stopped eating and stared at Estee. “How do you know that?” Dat asked.
    “Floyd has a cousin.”
    “We all have a cousin.”
    Estee laid her fork on the table and leaned closer to her family to prepare them for the shocking details. “Floyd’s cousin, Arty, lives in Sugarcreek, Ohio. He’s in the same district as the new boy.”
    “Aden Helmuth,” Lily said.
    Estee nodded. “He’s been in jail dozens of times, Floyd’s cousin says. He came to live with his grandparents because his folks are beside themselves.”
    Lily caught her breath. Aden, with those irresistible green eyes, had been in jail? “I would die if I got arrested.”
    “You aren’t even brave enough to cross the street without being in the crosswalk,” Estee said.
    “There’s nothing wrong with that,” Lily said. “I don’t like getting in trouble.”
    “I thank the Lord that you are an obedient child,” Dat said.
    Of course she was. Lily would never, ever want to disappoint her father.
    “And I’m not obedient?” Estee said in mock indignation. Lily giggled. Estee didn’t mind that Lily was the compliant child. According to Estee, Lily was afraid to have any fun.
    Lily wasn’t afraid, exactly. Just cautious. If Estee participated in too many footraces with the boys, she was sure to twist an ankle.
    Estee had more news. “They say the new boy chained himself to a tree once.”
    Dat reacted as if he’d bitten into a sour pickle. “Chained himself to a tree? Why would anyone chain himself to a tree? Are you sure he’s not special?”
    Lily didn’t know why, but she felt the need to defend Aden even though she