Plain Again Read Online Free PDF

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    The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when she heard the sound of an approaching buggy driving down the lane toward the house. She stood up and tried to peer out the open door, but the driver had stopped the buggy just on the other side. She looked over at Harvey. “Need to see who that is, I reckon.”
    “I can finish up,” was his simple reply.
    The bishop and the deacon were standing together by the buggy when she emerged from the dairy barn. It hadn’t really surprised her that they would visit, just that it had taken so long.
    “Gut mariye,” she called out, trying to sound friendly. She knew that the visit was not going to be pleasant, but she had been bracing for this moment since her return to the farm.
    The bishop leveled his gaze at her, a stern look on his face. She had never realized how austere he looked prior to that moment, an awareness that took her by surprise, especially when she realized that she was not intimidated. With his long white beard and dark clothing, there was a suggestion of authority to the man. Yet, she had always been taught that God was the true authority for all humankind. The sudden and unexpected awareness of how his image conflicted with what she had been taught all of her life shocked her. Only time and distance could have shown her the truth behind the impression that he presented.
    Whatever happened to And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant? she found herself wondering, too aware of the sarcasm within her thought process.
    “Amanda,” the bishop said as acknowledgment, his eyes cold and piercing. “I trust your mother is inside?”
    “Ja,” Amanda replied, trying not to sound too unaffected by his presence. Humility, she told herself. Even if forced, it was better to be perceived as humble with the bishop standing before her and inquiring about her mamm . “She’ll be leaving for the hospital to visit with Daed later. They say he’s to come home soon.”
    The fact that he did not frighten her, at least not for her sake, would not bode well for her parents. She remembered only too well how it was not that long ago that the bishop had insisted that she leave the community. He had wanted her to relocate the problem of the paparazzi to Ohio, far too willing to let another community deal with the stress of sudden fame for one of their members, a fame that had neither been sought nor wanted.
    Now that she had returned, what would the bishop demand this time? She couldn’t help but wonder why he had come to visit. She had been home almost two weeks now without any hint of support from the g’may . While that had surprised her, she had come to realize that the safety and protection of the community as a whole outweighed the needs of any individual.
    As she gestured toward the house, indicating that they should follow her there in order to speak with her mamm , the two men nodded but did not speak. They shared no words expressing relief that Elias was going to be all right or that he was well enough to return to the farm. No hints of gratitude that Amanda had returned to help her family or that her husband had hired a local man to work the dairy. Instead, the cold looks on their faces told Amanda all that she needed to know: once again, this was not a social visit.
    Inside the house, Lizzie was bustling about the kitchen, cleaning the morning dishes before her hired driver would arrive as scheduled each morning to pick her up for the twenty-minute drive to Lancaster General Hospital. With such a distance between the hospital and the farm, she wouldn’t be returning until later that evening and wanted to finish her morning chores before leaving.
    Amanda knew, however, that her mamm was really just trying to keep busy while she waited for the driver. Most of the chores would fall on Amanda’s shoulders while her mamm stayed by her husband’s side, holding his hand or reading from the Budget , while they waited for doctors to complete