Pennsylvania Patchwork Read Online Free PDF Page B

thought of it.
    â€œNot even a cookie or more Kaffi ?” Esther said.
    â€œNee, I must be on my way.” He shot to his feet, strode to the back door, and grabbed his hat. Esther listened to his footsteps on the stoop.
    â€œDo you think something’s wrong, Mamm?” Esther asked. “Seemed like Nathaniel couldn’t wait to get out of here.”
    â€œHe’s got an afternoon of labor ahead of him,” Mamm said. “You don’t expect Nathaniel to sit around and yak with the womenfolk all afternoon, do ya?” Mamm straightened her wire-rimmed spectacles, which had slipped down on her nose. “Esther,” Mamm said, “you have a faraway look in your eyes.”
    â€œJust thinking about Holly and Armin.” Esther glanced around the spacious kitchen, not an electrical appliance in sight, although the gas-generated refrigerator looked like one. And she didn’t miss them. Well, maybe the blender. “You don’t really think there’s a possibility, do you?”
    â€œI prayed every day you’d come home, and here you are.” Her eyes glistened with moisture. “So yes, I think anything is possible.”
    â€œBut they’d have to wait so long for children.” They’d have to attend baptism classes before they could wed, and Esther knew full well how long that took. “If she marries Zach, they could start trying for a family right away.” Esther felt awkward speaking of such personal matters with her mother, or anyone. Old customs from her childhood clung to her like moss on the shady side of a pine tree.
    â€œThere are no easy answers in life. If only your brother Isaac were here. He’d know what to do, being a preacher and all.” Using her hands, Esther’s mamm pushed herself halfway up. She tried again, without success.
    Esther rushed around the table and supported her mother at the waist. “Let me help you.”
    â€œI’ve been a little dizzy for the last couple days. Nothing serious.”
    â€œ Was fehlt dir denn ? Why didn’t you say something?” Esther could feel her mother’s ribs. ”Have you lost weight?”
    â€œWhat does it matter?” Mamm sank back onto the chair. “Ya say I’m going to the doctor’s soon. Yah? Maybe she’ll have the answer. Or maybe my time has come. Although I don’t want to meet our Maker until I see both you and Holly baptized and married—to Amishmen.”
    Esther didn’t want to disappoint her mamm, so it was best to agree, at least in part. “I’d hoped Holly would be married by now, while she’s still young enough to bear children,” Esther said.
    â€œShe is young enough. Why, I was her age or even older when I had your brother Isaac.” A look of confusion crossed Mamm’s face. “And I had another child after him, didn’t I?”
    â€œNot that I know about.”
    â€œI guess I don’t remember much of anything anymore.” Mamm knocked a spoon off the table with her elbow. “Ach, I’m clumsy as a chicken up a tree.” She leaned down to retrieve it and her gaze landed on the FedEx carton. “Are ya going to open the box, Essie? Aren’t ya curious?”
    Esther envisioned her mother’s letters inside; Mamm had sent numerous entreaties over the decades pleading for Esther to return. Rehashing old grievances would most likely make her faithful mamm melancholy.
    â€œI’ll open it later,” Esther said, and hoped Mamm would forget she’d ever seen it. With her toe, Esther prodded the carton farther under the table.

CHAPTER FIVE
    My fingertips luxuriated through Rascal’s silky fur as the dog sniffed my pant legs, then licked my hand. He did look to be mostly collie, but darker and with a black muzzle. Maybe some Labrador retriever mixed in.
    â€œHave you had him since he was a puppy?” I asked Armin as we stood at the bottom of the back