Abram's Daughters 01 The Covenant by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

a grass fire, and next thing she'd know, both Dat and Mamma would be talking straight to her, in front of Preacher Yoder, maybe. Or worse, the bishop.
    "Things change." She was glad her friend stayed put at the end of the lane, Naomi's bare toes curled, digging hard into the dirt.
    "Are you goin' to start attending singings again?" Naomi asked.
    "We'll see." She turned to leave.
    "Sadie . . . wait!" Naomi hollered, stumbling after Sadie as if her life depended on it somehow.
    She kept walking. "Mamma's expectin' me home now," Sadie said without looking back. No, she'd keep on walking
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    o v e n a n I
    nlnne this time, her knapsack close to her heart. No sense in
    1'iolonging Naomi's disappointment. No sense lying outright, ' H Her,
    I 'tiring the hottest' hour of the afternoon, while Sadie ivi-iH out for a walk, Leah crept up to their bedroom, closed f lie door behind her, wishing for a lock for the first time ever. I ike a curious kitten, she hurried to Sadie's hope chest and
    'I'tfncd the lid. All day she'd thought of nothing more than
    inling to have a closer look at the modern skirt and blouse
    iiIII* had worn last night, and even the white-and-black
    ' vo toned shoes. She couldn't imagine wearing anything on
    I li t feet at all, not till the first hard freeze, for goodness' sake, itch things as shoes, of any kind, were much too confining.
    Pushing down into the depths of the trunk, Leah felt for ilie shoes. She moved sheets and pillowcases, enough for
    111 ree beds as was customary. There were towels and wash-
    loths, too, along with tablecloths, hand-hooked rugs, and
    u.shion tops. At last her hands bumped the shoes, and she pulled first one, then the next out, peering at each one, hold-
    I1 ik I hem gingerly"by their white shoestrings the way Dat held
    li-:ul mice he found in the barn by their tails. So peculiar li iking they were. Ach, she felt almost sinful just touching
    1111*111, studying the fancy shoes with disdain, knowing who hail walked in them, and wondering all of a sudden who niight've worn them even before Sadie. The cotton blouse
    nil smelled of cologne and the forest. The skirt was a light
    11 isset color, cut with a flair at the hem. Not so worn that she inlght've suspected someone else of having owned the garnient before Sadie. Not the blouse, either. So then, did this mean Sadie had actually gone into an English dress shop
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    lu t
    somewhere and purchased these clothes? And if not, how had the fancy outfit landed in her possession? Through one of Sadie's former high school chums, maybe?
    She thought of Sadie's Plain girlfriends, those who were testing the waters, having their one and only chance to experience the outside world before deciding whether or not to become a full-fledged member of the Amish church. There were any number of girls who might influence Sadie in such a manner. Or, then again, maybe it was Sadie who was influencing them. Come to think of it, that was probably more likely . . . Sadie being the stubborn sort she was. Sometimes Leah felt sorry for her.
    Leah recalled the time when Sadie had wanted to stay home and nurse a sick puppy back to health, missing Preaching service to do so. Mamma had said "Nothing doin'," but in the end, Sadie got her way. Leah, at the time, wasn't at all so sure her sister was actually going to sit at home and care for their new puppy dog. She had a feeling what Sadie really wanted was to hop in the pony cart and take herself out to the far meadow, spending time gathering wild daisies on the Lord's Day, yet. And Leah was perty sure that's just what Sadie had done, too, because she found a clump of limp buttercups in Sadie's top drawer later on. Besides all that, the sick puppy died that night. Hadn't been tended to at all.
    Put out with herself, Leah honestly didn't know why she was thinking such things just now. She oughta be on her knees, praying for her willful sister, she knew, asking God to spare His judgment on dear Sadie.
    Stuffing