The Hope of Refuge Read Online Free PDF

you’ve got to trust me. Remember?”
    Lori wrapped her little hands around the back of Cara’s neck, whimpering. Within seconds her daughter fell asleep again, deaf to the sound of the rain beating a pattern against her backpack like a tapping on a door.

Through the window behind the kitchen sink, Deborah watched as broad streaks of sunlight broke through the remaining thick clouds. She continued slicing large hunks of stew meat into bite-size pieces—all the while her mind on Mahlon.
    Since her birthday the day before yesterday, she and Mahlon had made the rounds throughout the district, telling their family and friends about their plans to marry in the fall. She didn’t think she’d ever had so much fun as they’d had Thursday night, popping into homes to share good news. Nothing would be announced officially until October when the bishop “published” all the couples who were to be married. He’d make a declaration of everyone who would marry that wedding season, but they had to make plans long before then. And she’d ordered an engagement present for Mahlon—one she’d spent a year saving for. She’d give it to him just as soon as her order arrived at the dry goods store.
    Her heart raced with anticipation of the coming months. She tossed the freshly cut stew meat into a skillet to brown before she began washing the breakfast dishes. The desire to get done with her morning chores and go to Mahlon’s pushed her to hurry. Beds were made, laundry washed and hung out to dry, and she and Becca had cooked breakfast for the family. The items left on her to-do list grew smaller by the hour. Mahlon had taken off work until after lunchtime today so they could start on their plans, and she didn’t want to waste a minute of it.

    Becca walked into the kitchen, carrying a twin on each hip. Her round, rosy cheeks gave her an appearance of sturdy health. As her brown hair gave way to more and more gray and she picked up a few extra pounds with each pregnancy she no longer looked like the much-younger second wife of twelve years ago. She looked like and felt like a mom to a large, ever-growing family.
    “How many houses do you and Mahlon have lined up to look at today?” Becca placed Sadie and Sally behind the safety gate of their playroom before moving to the stove.
    “There are only two inside Dry Lake. Maybe three, because there’s one that belongs to Englischers that might fall inside our district lines.”
    She lifted the lid off the meat and stirred it with a spatula. “Ya? Where’s that one?”
    “About half a mile from Mahlon’s place.”
    “On the right or left?”
    “Left. Their last name is Everson.”
    She shrugged. “That might be Yoder’s district. If it is, they have their church Sundays on our between Sundays. It’ll make finding time to visit with your family harder. Your Daed won’t like that.”
    “Ya, I know. Mahlon’s determined to find a place in Dry Lake, but he said we may have to settle for something in Yoder’s district.”
    “Do you like that home more than the others?”
    Deborah dried her hands. “It doesn’t matter to me where we live.” She went to the refrigerator and pulled out carrots, onions, and potatoes. “I’d be perfectly content to move into the home where he and Ada live now.”
    “It’s small, but it seems like that’d be a great place to start out.” Becca turned the eye to the stove to low, poured a quart of water over the meat, and replaced the lid on the skillet.
    Deborah rinsed the carrots and potatoes before placing them on the chopping block. “Ya, but Mahlon says the landlord wants his daughter to live there. He has for nearly a year.”

    “Oh, that’s right. I remember now. They rent their place. It was a shame the way Ada had to sell their house after Mahlon’s Daed died.” Becca grabbed a dry dishtowel and began emptying the dish drainer. “The community wanted to keep that from happening, but too many of us were dealing with our own