The Forbidden Read Online Free PDF Page A

entered Mamma’s kitchen ahead of her sister. Being she was not scheduled to work today, she would attempt to help as much as possible in her father’s house . . . her home for the time being. Today she would simply go through the motions again, just as she’d done since first starting to work for Mrs. Kraybill. Preparing breakfast there was a joy, what with such appealing and thoroughly modern appliances. Mamma and her sisters would surely succumb, too, if they had the opportunity to see such wonderful-good things as blenders and electric mixers in action.
    Jah, they’re missing out something awful.
    Her thoughts swirled back to yesterday, when Mrs. Kray-bill had caught her paging through one of the several family picture albums. Rhoda had closed it right quick, apologizing, but the still-youthful Mrs. Kraybill had not been at all displeased and had even encouraged her to “enjoy whatever you see.” Rhoda had relished the look of kindness and even pleasure on her employer’s sympathetic face. That moment she turned a corner in her thinking about what she’d always been told was sinful.
    What would Mamma think? Rhoda was torn between wanting to shield her parents from her longings and moving forward with her secret plans.
    Truth be told, she was itching to immerse herself as much as possible in the Kraybills’ wonderfully enticing world—full of not just fancy items but lovely ones. Rhoda craved beauty; she craved travel, too. She dreamed of owning a car and of seeing the country someday, especially the ocean. Other than pinching her pennies, which she was quite happy to do, it might not take much effort at all to realize her dream.
    First chance she got Monday, she’d have another look at the Kraybills’ newspaper to see how much money a used car might cost her. She didn’t feel comfortable going to a used car lot by herself to look around, like some boys in their Rumschpringe were known to do, but she could easily read the classified ads. Who knows? If she had enough gumption to ask, perhaps sometime Mrs. Kraybill would take her car shopping.
    Monday’s the day after Preaching, Rhoda thought, not knowing why she should plan such outright wickedness after the goodness of the Lord’s Day. When did willful disobedience ever pay off?
    She shuddered, thinking of Preacher Manny’s urgent calls to the youth for repentance . . . and Suzy’s drowning came to mind. No matter what Nellie Mae had shown them in Suzy’s diary about her surprising turnaround, Rhoda still assumed the Lord God had allowed her youngest sister’s death. Might her own disobedience come to a similar bad end?
    Rhoda shrugged. With so many opinions about which way was right flying around Honey Brook, it was up to her to find her own way. Right now that meant letting her enthusiasm for experiencing what she’d been deprived of all these years guide her. No, I’m not at all ready to join the old nor the new church, neither one.
    Part of Rhoda’s hope was to catch a man, fancy or otherwise. A shiny blue—or even green—car might do the trick, she thought. Hiding her yearning for a beau had not been easy, but she’d managed to conceal from Mamma and her sisters her dire disappointment at being passed over at Singings and other gatherings. What good were such finicky fellows? She would gladly leave them in the dust and make her own future. She refused to die a Maidel . She pictured herself driving along dressed fancy, her long, uncovered hair flowing in the breeze. She’d find herself some pretty new glasses, too, though she would not stoop to wearing those sleeveless tent dresses or silly-looking halter-top blouses she’d seen in the catalogs on Mrs. Kraybill’s coffee table.
    She laughed with glee at the Rhoda of her imagination, a Rhoda who would not remain lonely for long. Fact was, if she made the jump soon, she could be married within the year.
    Still, I must keep my plan a secret, Rhoda thought. And I best be careful. . . .

C HAPTER