Ella's Wish by Jerry S. Eicher Read Free Book Online Page B

known before—should be the one to break the news to her father.
    “Not now.” Her mom stood. “There is hay to put up, and we have the wash to do.”
    “But I have to get home,” Ella said, the words sounding strange in her mouth. This had been her home, and now it wasn’t.
    “We must speak of this…as a family,” her mom said, “but it cannot be done now. Not with the hay in the field. Could you stay for the day and help out? Perhaps stay for supper? Then we could talk afterward. You can even stay for the night if you want to.”
    Ella considered the question with surprise. I really am grown up. Only last week Mamm would not have asked .
    “It would help out…a lot,” her mom added with a worried look on her face.
    “Then I will,” Ella agreed with a weak smile. “The house can just wait.”
    “Is the place locked up? Did you bank the stove before you left?” Mamm asked.
    Ella nodded. “Things will be okay.”
    “Then it’s decided, and you’re staying. There is something I needed to tell you, but I had forgotten, what with the news of Eli’s doin’s. Sarah also said Joe and Ronda are lookin’ for a place to rent.”
    “They’re getting married soon,” Dora said loudly from the kitchen.
    “But what’s that got to do with me?” Ella asked.
    “Well, I was thinking. With you in that big house—why, it’s big enough for three families—they could live upstairs, and you could make some extra money. I know you’ll be needing money since you’re living on your own now.”
    “For how long?” Ella asked, trying to imagine another family in her house. She did need the money, so she was slow to express her concern.
    “Think about it,” Mamm said, “but you do need to let Ronda know soon. I expect they could live in her mamm and daett’s dawdy haus for a while if they have to, but this would be much better.”
    “They’re startin’ to bale,” Dora hollered from the kitchen. “It’s time to go. Are you comin’?”
    “I sure do appreciate this,” Mamm said as Ella and Dora left the house together.
    “This was nice of you,” Dora added once they were outside, walking quickly up the long lane where their dad had the baler parked.
    “I couldn’t say no,” Ella replied. “It’s not like I have much to do at home other than sit around and think about how to live my life.”
    “Looks like Eli’s got our evening taken care of,” Dora said, glancing across the knee-high grass in the center of the lane.
    “I sure was wrong on that one,” Ella confessed. The words felt good to say. Not that they changed the situation, but confession did benefit the soul.
    “I suppose I was too,” Dora agreed.
    “I shouldn’t have tried to straighten him out by myself like Mamm said. It wasn’t my place.”
    “You know she does the same.” Dora bent over and caught a long stem of grass in her fingers. The piece refused to tear, and she refused to let go or break her stride. With a jerk the grass came up by the roots. The heavy end snapped forward, and Dora stepped sideways without even a backward glance so that it missed her legs. She let go on the upward arch, and the whole thing flew over the fence.
    Ella watched the grassy missile land with a thud and wished she could get rid of her troubles that easily, to just sidestep them and let them go.
    “She does,” Dora repeated.
    “I know. I suppose we all do, but it still doesn’t make it right.”
    “I’m thinkin’ of quitting Norman,” Dora said, her voice quiet. “There are too many things I want to change about him.”
    “Just because of what Mamm said this morning?”
    “Maybe in part.” Dora shrugged. “I’ve been thinkin’ about all his faults lately anyway.”
    “That’s just the dark side of you speaking,” Ella said, trying to sound hopeful. With Dora it was hard. “You’ll get over those feelings. Norman’s a nice match for you.”
    “He asked to marry me. He asked on Sunday night.”
    “Then why are you