Noah's Sweetheart Read Online Free PDF Page A

Rachel. “John is mei kinskind. He is your cousin Sarah’s son. He is five.”
    Rachel blinked. “Sarah? Sarah is here?”
    Aunt Mae nodded. “She and Eli live on the other side of Bird-in-Hand. They have been away to Delaware. They were due back late yesterday.” She smiled as the boys approached slowly, eyeing Rachel with cautious curiosity.
    Rachel hadn’t realized that Sarah had had children. Sarah was the eldest of the Amos Kings. She had married when Rachel and Charlotte were young children, so it was natural that she now had one or more daughters or sons. She studied John, Sarah’s son. He was a handsome boy with blond hair and brown eyes. Did he look like his vadder or Sarah? Rachel could barely remember what her cousin Sarah looked like.
    “Rachel,” her aunt said, “these boys will be your students. John, Jacob, this is your new schoolteacher. John, Rachel is also your cousin. Jacob belongs to Abram Peachy. Abram is deacon.” And then to Rachel, she whispered, “and a widower.” The boys had started to turn away, ready to play again.
    She called after them. “Boys! What do you say to your new schoolteacher?”
    “ Gut day to you, Rachel. We are pleased to meet you.” It was Jacob Peachy who spoke.
    John stared at her. “What do I need school for? I like working on the farm.”
    “You must learn English,” Rachel said, “so that you can do farm business in town.”
    Jacob was nodding as if he understood. “ Ja, John. You don’t want to be a bad farmer, do you?”
    “I will be a gut farmer! I know a lot about plowing and planting…and harvesting!”
    “I’m sure you do, John,” his grandmother said. “But Rachel is right, it is important for you to learn things to help you someday when you are big and can take over your father’s farm.”
    “We will both come,” Jacob added.
    Rachel gazed at his sweet face and thought how unfortunate it was that this poor boy had lost his mother. “I will see you in class in two months.”
    The boys nodded before they ran off to finish their barnyard play.
    Rachel became aware of several things at once as she entered the Lapp family home. First was that the house was filled with women she didn’t know. Then she saw Charlotte greet another woman warmly with a hug. She heard “Sarah” and she realized that this was the cousin she had met only once when she was barely old enough to remember.
    Charlotte came back and grabbed Rachel’s hand, leading her toward her older sister. “Sarah, this is cousin Rachel.”
    Sarah smiled. She looked so much like Aunt Mae that Rachel had to keep herself from staring. “You were young when we met.”
    Rachel nodded. “ Ja. You took me for a walk to see the barn animals.”
    “That’s right.” Her eldest cousin looked surprised. “You were three.”
    Rachel studied her cousin’s face carefully. “You have the look of your mudder. ”
    “We all do,” Sarah said, referring to her sisters. She turned to softly scold a little girl who was trying to put her fingers into a freshly baked chocolate-cream pie. It was one of Rachel’s pies brought from Aunt Mae’s, which hadn’t been put in a cool place yet. “Rose Ann!” she exclaimed. “You must not touch that pie.” Seeing the little girl’s face begin to crumple, Sarah bent to scoop up the child into her arms. “You can have a piece of pie when we get home.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead and turned back to Rachel. “This is my youngest—Rose Ann. She is three and she likes chocolate.”
    Little Rose Ann nodded vigorously. “Chocolate.”
    Rachel felt her heart melting as she stared into her little cousin’s hazel eyes. Rose Ann’s hair had a hint of red highlights. She was a beautiful child with an inner glow.
    “Ah, pie!” Noah was suddenly near the pie, ready to do what little Rose Ann was forbidden to.
    “Nay!” Rachel exclaimed. She had sensed immediately when he’d come in. “That is for Sunday. You must not touch it