Big Decisions by Linda Byler Read Free Book Online Page A

recess, knowing this sledding was a rare opportunity for some exciting thrills.
    Lizzie joined in the fun, flying down the hill with her students until one of Lizzie’s knee socks slid down, and the back of her leg scraped on the ice during a wild ride across the snow. She didn’t notice that she was injured until the children pointed, shrieking, to a large brush burn that ran down the entire back of Lizzie’s leg. She looked and gasped, stunned by the deep scrape. The cold had already numbed her leg, and she wasn’t in any pain. She limped back to the warmth of the schoolroom, bandaged her leg, rang the bell, and resumed classes.
    That evening, Mam fussed and clucked over the size of the scrape, saying it looked more like a burn.
    “Soak it in Epsom salt and put Union Salve on it,” she said, her usual, never-fail cure for every ache and injury.
    “Now just how am I supposed to soak the back of my leg in Epsom salt?” Lizzie asked, a bit upset because Mam wouldn’t help her more.
    Mandy glared at her, as if to tell her without words what an absolute baby she was.
    “Just fill a dishpan almost full and hang your lower leg over it,” she said sternly.
    So with a great deal of snorting and displays of her foul mood, Lizzie managed to wet the injured area, spread the dark brown salve painfully across it, and slap a paper towel on top, because, as usual, there was no gauze bandage in the bathroom cupboard.
    But now it was only a week before the wedding, and her leg still had not healed. At night, she tossed fitfully, the throbbing pain keeping her awake as she resolved not to make a fuss to anyone. She had actually reached the point where she was truly happy for John and Mandy. Her jealousy had finally dispersed like storm clouds on a sunny day. She had wanted desperately to stop feeling so jealous of Mandy and even prayed earnestly about it. Once she really, really wanted to overcome this, she actually had.
    Mandy was so sweet, so easy to like, and so in love with her tall, handsome John that she made everyone else happy, too. Little bursts of happiness shone from her green eyes, and Lizzie told her she reminded her of a fairy scattering stardust.
    “Oh, Lizzie,” Mandy said sincerely. “I want the same thing for you. I hope with all my heart your turn will be in November.”
    “I’m about 100 percent sure he’ll ask me. I mean, why wouldn’t he? Look how long we’ve been dating.”
    “Sure he will, Lizzie.”
    “Look at this, Mandy.” Lizzie turned the back of her leg to show her the now-infected wound, and Mandy gasped as she peeled off the bandage. It was clearly a bad infection, and at Mandy’s yelp, Mam came to see what all the commotion was about. She took one look at Lizzie’s leg and immediately bundled her off to see the doctor.
    Armed with antibiotics, salve, gauze, cloth tape, hot and cold compresses, and orders to keep her leg elevated, Lizzie returned to the hubbub of preparing for Mandy’s wedding.
    By the time the relatives came the next week on the risht-dawg , the day of preparation for Mandy’s wedding, Lizzie’s leg felt much better, and she was able to help get the house ready for the big day. There was the usual happy banter as the food was prepared. Lizzie’s aunts baked pies, cooked tapioca pudding, washed the celery, and baked bread until the whole house was a regular beehive of activity. In the living room, the men set up rows of benches and tables.
    “When Amish people have a wedding, they even wash their barn windows,” Lizzie commented.
    “Oh, yes, of course. The cow stable is whitewashed, and everything that isn’t painted gets a fresh coat,” her aunt laughed.
    “Our cow stable isn’t in use anymore, so it didn’t get whitewashed, just cleaned,” Lizzie laughed.
    Joshua and Emma arrived, all smiles and happy to be waiting on the eck . The married sisters and brothers of the bride had the special job of waiting on John and Mandy and the other members of the bridal