Spring's Gentle Promise Read Online Free PDF

did allow myself one fleeting mental picture of me purring down our country road at the wheel. I laid aside a few more as well. As the pile of discarded pamphlets grew, a bit of the pride and envy of Joshua Jones was also cast aside. At last I was left with a plain, simple car made by the Ford company. There was plenty of money for the Ford—with a good deal left for other things we needed. I would get the Ford. My conscience could live with that.
    I breathed a sigh of relief, laid aside the pamphlet and blew out my light. In the darkness of my room I knelt by my bed to pray. With the decision finally made with the seeming approval of my Father, I welcomed a sense of peace. I slept that night like I hadn’t slept in weeks.
    The next morning at the breakfast table I cleared my throat to get the family’s attention. “I decided to get a car,” I announced, and before I could go further there was a squeal from Matilda, a smile from Mary, and a nod from Grandpa. Uncle Charlie just grinned a bit. The long, jarring buggy rides were hard on his arthritic bones.
    “Now wait. Now wait,” I protested, holding up my hand and directing my words to Matilda. “We can afford a motor car—no problem. But I decided that it won’t be a fancy one. No need for that, and it would just set us back. We’ll get a simple, practical Ford—none of the gadgets and gizmos.”
    Matilda sobered.
    “But it will have wheels—and get us to where we need to go,” I assured them.
    Matilda’s face brightened again.
    “When?” asked Grandpa, and though he tried hard to hide it, I caught the excitement in his voice.
    “I’m goin’ to town to order it today,” I answered, and I had a hard time controlling my own excitement.
    Matilda squealed. “Oh, Josh. It’s so-o exciting!” she bubbled.
    Uncle Charlie’s smile widened.
    I looked at Mary. Her face was flushed, her eyes shining. Then she did a most unexpected thing. She reached over and gave my hand a squeeze.
    If Matilda had done it, I would have thought nothing of it. In fact, I would have thought nothing of it if Matilda had thrown herself wildly into my arms or flung her arms about my neck and squeezed with all her might—that was just Matilda. But Mary? That quiet little gesture of shared excitement somehow set my pulse to racing.
    I flushed slightly as I pulled my eyes back to the other members at the breakfast table and rose slowly to my feet. It was a moment before I found my thoughts, my tongue.
    “I—I’ll order it—today, but—but I have no idea how long it might be before it comes.”
    Matilda brought things back to normal. “Oh, I hope it arrives soon !” she exclaimed, bouncing up from her chair. “I hope it hurries. We don’t have much time. We need it before winter so we can learn to drive it before the snow—”
    Matilda caught herself and stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes met mine and she looked like a small child coaxing for a treat. She had been using a lot of “we’s,” which was rather presumptuous on her part, but I just smiled and gave her a quick wink. I understood.
    After we shared our morning devotions together around the breakfast table, I went back to my room and folded the Ford pamphlet and slipped it into my pocket. As soon as I had finished the last of the morning chores, I would saddle Chester and head for town.

C HAPTER 5

The Ford
    L IKE M ATILDA, I was hoping the car would arrive before snowfall. I wanted the chance to learn to drive it while the roads were still clear.
    I managed to keep myself busy with no problem. I must admit I made a few more trips to town than normal. I pretended that I needed things or wanted the mail, but in fact I stopped in to check—with regularity—if there had been any word on the car.
    On one such trip to town I found a long, newsy letter from Camellia. She had received word from the Mission Society that she would be leaving for Africa in the spring. She was so excited that her penmanship, usually in