The Bridge of Peace Read Online Free PDF Page B

two of his best buddies. While still kneeling on the lush grass, she turned to see him walking toward her. “Ya?”
    “I guess you didn’t hear me calling you. Is it noisy out here today?”
    She wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist. “Extremely so inside my head. Did you want something?”
    “No. Just checkin’ on you.”
    “I’m good, thanks.”
    “Wow, are these from your greenhouse?”
    She cleared her throat, refusing to laugh at her brother. He always meant well, but the man noticed almost nothing about her flower beds. It’d be her best guess that this was the first time he’d seen her asters, and she’d planted them here as seedlings two springs ago. “At one time they were from my greenhouse, ya.”
    “I dropped by to visit you and Daed and was surprised you weren’t eating supper with him. If I cooked a meal, I’d eat it.”
    “You sure about that? Because if you cooked a meal …”
    He chuckled. “Okay, fine, Teacher Lena. If I were you and cooked a meal, I’d eat it.”
    As sisters went, Lena had cooked a lot of meals for Allen over the years. After their Mamm died when Lena was ten, she began learning from her older sisters how to cook and run the house. Their community was never the same after that day—her brother most of all.
    The day after their mother was killed, Lena heard odd noises coming from the attic. When she climbed the stairs, she found her big brother sobbing. He looked up and saw her, and she expected him to usher out threats and throw things at her. But there Allen was, sixteen years old, sitting on the floor of the attic, crying uncontrollably. When he caught his breath, he stammered through an apology for all his years of being mean to her, and then they cried together. Slowly he’d grown into a man worth having around, but like all her siblings, he had a family of his own now.

    A rig turned into their driveway and ambled toward the house. Just the sight of Deborah Mast refreshed Lena’s spirits. Cara sat beside her. Lena hadn’t had much chance to get to know her yet.
    Allen grabbed his suspenders. “Mahlon bailed on Deborah, and Ephraim broke up with Anna Mary for an outsider. For a while I feared all your closest friends would marry off, leaving you feeling like an outcast, but with all that heartache going on, maybe never dating isn’t such a bad thing.”
    With soil covering Lena’s hands, she stood. “I know you were trying to say something nice, but …” She wiped her hands down the front of Allen’s shirt, pressing hard as she did so. “That’s all I have to say on the matter.”
    “Lennie, Emily’s going to shake the rafters when she sees this,” Allen complained as he brushed off his shirt, taking extra time on the ground-in dirt.
    Lena chuckled and walked toward the buggy, Nicky quietly shadowing every step she took. “Now this is a pleasant surprise.”
    Deborah brought the horse to a halt, got out, and hugged Lena. Cara climbed out, holding on to a cake box.
    “Hi, Cara.” Lena wasn’t sure whether to hug Cara or offer to shake her hand or just speak. No one but Ephraim really knew Cara. Since she now lived in Hope Crossing with Deborah and Ada, they were getting to know her. The rest of the Amish community was still grappling, trying to get past the awkwardness of Ephraim breaking up with one of their own to welcome an Englischer stranger into the fold. People left the Amish faith to join the world, but she’d never seen it work in reverse—although she’d heard of a few Englischers who’d spent months or a couple of years aiming to join, only to change their minds.
    “Hey, Lena.” Cara passed the box to Deborah.
    “We brought you something.” Deborah gave it to Lena. “I made two cakes with that recipe you gave me and brought you one.”

    “Well, that’s very sweet and thoughtful. Denki.”
    “Yep, that’s me.” Deborah placed her arm around Lena’s shoulder. “Let’s go in and share a bite. I want your