Miriam's Quilt by Jennifer Beckstrand Read Free Book Online Page A

home for the baby and then you can come home and no one here would ever have to know about the pregnancy. We can tell folks you went to Canada to work for a few months.”
    Susie turned pale, and for the hundredth time, Miriam wondered if Mamm and Dat might be wiser in this than she.
    But how could she ask them for help? Not only had Susie sworn her to secrecy, but Miriam feared that the more people who knew, the more likely the secret would get out.
    No one would ever have to know. Not Mamm and Dat, not Ephraim. Susie’s reputation would be safe.
    Susie slumped her shoulders and lowered her eyes. “I would be away from Apple Lake until January. Away from the family.”
    “It is only eight months, Susie. It will be a great adventure.”
    Tears pooled in Susie’s eyes. “You won’t be there. What if I am frightened? What if the people don’t like me? We don’t even know if they are good Amish folk.”
    “Don’t think about that. Think about the people who love you. The ones, Lord willing, who will never discover the secret. Don’t you think eight months is worth your reputation? Once you come home, you can start your life anew without fear that people will judge you. Or think cruel things about you.”
    “I will be lonely. What if they don’t like me?”
    “Hannah knows them, and she says they are happy to take you in. They will love you.”
    Susie wiped her eyes and sniffed. “When would I have to leave?”
    “We must make the travel arrangements and explain to Mamm and Dat without bearing false witness. I have money to pay for the bus fare.” She thought of the quilt she’d sold at the auction. The Haitian Fund would have to wait. “We need to come up with a good reason for your departure. With all the letters that have to travel back and forth, it might be four or five weeks yet before you can leave.”
    “Four or five weeks?” Susie burst into tears and buried her face in the crook of her elbow on the table. “I don’t want to go.”
    Miriam pulled a handkerchief from her apron and reached over the table to nudge Susie’s chin up. “Don’t cry. It is silly to worry about such things. I don’t know what else to do.”
    “Do you really want me to go?”
    “What other choice do we have? Like as not, you will have a wonderful-gute time and want to stay forever.”
    Susie searched Miriam’s face. “Do you want me to stay forever?”
    “Nae, of course not.”
    Susie wiped leftover tears from her face and grabbed Miriam’s hand. “If you think I should go, I will go. I don’t want to hurt our family.”
    “It is for the best.”
    “Can you help me buy a bus ticket?”
    “Don’t you worry. I will take care of everything. Your job is to stay healthy and happy for the trip.”
    Susie didn’t shake her despondent air. “Jah, okay. You know what is best.” She stood, gave Miriam a terse hug, and practically ran back to the pretzel booth. She pressed the hem of her apron to her eyes before opening the small door and disappearing inside.
    A twinge of guilt nagged at Miriam like a fly buzzing in the corner of a room.
    It is for the best.
    Surely it would be better for Susie if no one in Apple Lake knew about this. She could return home after the baby’s birth and no one would be the wiser that she had fallen. Still, the tortured look on Susie’s face forced Miriam to second-guess herself and her motives.
    If this was the right thing, why did she feel so uneasy about it?
    * * * * *
    “It’s time. Now,” Miriam whispered to Susie.
    Mamm sat in the great room crocheting an edge on a blanket for baby Rudy, her second grandchild, born four months ago. Miriam’s oldest brother, Marvin, and his wife, Ruth, now had two little ones.
    Dat propped his stocking feet on the footrest while he read the newspaper. The three little boys had been tucked into bed and Yost was with Joe Bieler, probably riding around in Joe’s car and wishing he had one of his own.
    The propane lantern standing between Mamm and