Kate's Song Read Online Free PDF

behind what seemed like a hundred buggies parked in the lane.
    Elmer secured the reins and straightened his bow tie. “How else are you going to find a husband if you don’t go to youth group?”
    “The girls are so much younger,” Kate protested, “and many of the boys too. I feel like an old mule among the colts.”
    Elmer made a face. “You have the strangest notions.” He jumped from the buggy and came to the other side to help Kate down. “There are many boys and girls your age. Don’t think you will stand out. You are just another girl come to the singeon , like everybody else.”
    Even at three years younger, her brother was often more sensible than Kate in the Amish ways. At the academy, Kate was accustomed to fighting for the attention of the instructors, making sure they noticed her above all other students. But the Plain People frowned on uniqueness and self-promotion. Individuals were discouraged from attracting attention. That is why, after much pondering and prayer, Kate had decided to leave home for the academy. In an Amish community, her voice would never be heard.
    Kate adjusted her kapp while Elmer threw her shawl over her shoulders.
    “The cousins might be here,” Elmer added, draping his arm around Kate’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. It will be fun.”
    She saw the warmth in his eyes and tucked herself under his arm. “I’ll stick with you. You are all the entertainment I need.”
    “I want to take Ellie Zook home tonight. Can you find another ride?”
    Kate pushed away from Elmer. “I thought you were going to watch out for me.”
    “Why would I want to hang around you? You look like someone who gets in a lot of fights.”
    Kate cuffed her brother on the shoulder.
    Almost two weeks had passed since her homecoming, and her lip had gradually shrunk to its normal size. The black around her eye had faded to a light yellow and would be barely noticeable in the dim light of the Yoders’ barn.
    Word of her violent encounter had spread throughout the community like a stiff breeze spreading dandelion seeds. Kate’s first days home were filled with a variety of visitors who stopped by with pies or breads or embroidered hankies to help Kate feel better. The Plain People sought always to be compassionate. Two or three of the families were bound to say unkind things out of Kate’s hearing, but most people avoided gossip and tried to be charitable.
    John Yoder’s barn was the largest in the district, perfect for singings and wedding parties. Young people in buggies arrived from every direction, the boys in vibrantly colored cotton shirts with black bow ties and suspenders and the girls in dazzling white kapps and black aprons. The floor was swept clean and the lanterns turned up their brightest.
    As she ambled into the barn with her brother, Kate studied the hopeful faces of the wide-eyed teenage girls and the nervous, stoic young men. She recognized many of them but knew that few close friends would be there. Kate’s two best friends from the one-room school were now married with families of their own.
    Elmer scanned the eager faces. “Ah, there he is,” he said. “Wait here, Katie. I will be back.”
    Elmer strode away, leaving Kate standing in the middle of the barn all by herself. As she surveyed her surroundings, she became aware of many of the boys staring at her. She put her hand to her forehead. Was the fading bruise around her eye that noticeable?
    Looking to retreat to an inconspicuous corner, Kate noticed Sarah Schwartz, the bishop’s daughter and Aaron’s sister-in-law, standing with some friends. Sarah, a tall, pretty girl of nineteen, had never been un-neighborly to Kate, but neither had she gone out of her way to be a friend. Kate caught her eye, and Sarah acknowledged her with a plastered smile before she whispered something to her companions and they turned and walked in the opposite direction.
    “Kate!” Two girls, wide-eyed and beaming, practically tackled her in their