An Amish Gift by Cynthia Keller Read Free Book Online Page A

mother, looking abashed.
    Jennie didn’t understand what had just transpired but sensed she had somehow caused the discord. “Perhaps I’ll come by one day when you’re on your tricycle, and I’ll see you riding.”
    They were interrupted by the arrival of Mattie’s husband and the boy, who did turn out to be their oldest son, Peter. Further introductions were made. Abraham had a beard but no mustache, and his hair was in the long bowl cut Jenniehad seen on other Amish men, with bangs across the forehead.
    “You and your family are in Bert Howland’s house, yes? My wife tells me you walk here with your dog. You didn’t bring him today?” Abraham asked, setting down several empty buckets.
    In her haste to get away, Jennie realized she hadn’t thought to bring Scout. “No, but he would be delighted to come by anytime. He loves meeting new people.”
    Abraham let out a piercing whistle, and from behind the barn, a large dark brown dog appeared, racing across the grass until he reached them. Abraham made a clicking sound, and the dog immediately sat down, panting but otherwise immobile. “This is Hunter.”
    Jennie laughed. “I can’t imagine my dog being half as obedient as that. He would no more come when I whistled or sit like that than he would fly to the moon.”
    “He spends time with me, and I teach him. It’s not hard,” Abraham said with a smile.
    “Can you teach me to do that with my children?” Jennie said it without thinking, then froze, afraid she had gone too far.
    Both Mattie and Abraham laughed. “If only it were that easy, yes?” Mattie said.
    Relieved, Jennie turned to Peter, who had been standing quietly. He was tall, and slightly darker than his parents in skin tone and hair, but his eyes were identical to his mother’s.
    “Do you work with your father on the farm after school?” she asked.
    “I’m finished with school.” His words held no trace of hisparents’ accents. “We’re done in our regular school after eighth grade. Then we have some regular meetings until we’re fourteen, but it’s more about our work and what we do with our time. I’m sixteen. And yes, I help on the farm.”
    “One day this will be his farm, and I will help him,” Abraham added.
    Peter didn’t say anything, and Jennie wondered if she saw something in his eyes that didn’t look happy. She admonished herself to stop reading into things about which she knew nothing.
    “Well, I don’t mean to interrupt your day. I just wanted some fresh air, really.”
    “I am about to go into the vegetable garden. If you have time, I will show it to you,” Mattie said.
    Jennie brightened. “I’d love that. Maybe I could learn how to plant a few vegetables myself. I’ve always wanted to.”
    She said good-bye to the men. As they turned away, she heard Abraham say something to his son in another language, and Peter responded in kind.
    “Does your family normally speak in”—she hesitated—“is it German?”
    “It is our language, called Pennsylvania Dutch. You would say a dialect of German. Our Bible and songbook are in German, though.”
    “And you all speak English as well. Wow.”
    She followed Mattie around to the back of the house. They passed another large white barn, and Jennie saw through its open doors that it was, for the most part, dedicated to thehorses, with multiple stalls and a wide-open area where two horses were nuzzling; a walled-off section acted as a garage for two closed buggies and a smaller, open one.
    When they reached the garden, Jennie’s eyes widened. “This is huge. Do you do all this yourself?”
    “My older daughter, Sarah, and the little ones help.”
    “What are you growing?”
    They walked up and down the neat rows, Mattie pointing as she spoke. “Many things are done for the season, and the garden is cleaned out. Over there are lettuce and string beans. We grow many herbs. Here we have parsley, dill, mint, and some watercress. Here is where we had cucumbers,