The Calling of Emily Evans by Janette Oke Read Free Book Online Page A

reading course was demanding, and she knew her father would be carefully watching her to see that she didn’t overdo.
    There was just enough time before the train wheezed in for Emily to take Ruth’s hand and bow for a quick prayer. Then the two friends parted—Ruth excitedly boarding the train to her first mission work, and Emily reluctantly returning to the dorm to wait for her train home.
    More preparation, Lord? Emily prayed wistfully. But then she resolutely set her mind to the task at hand.
    But rather than the two or three weeks Emily had anticipated, it was a full seven weeks before she had her books read, papers of approval, and was ready for her first assignment. By then her health was improved, her walk more steady, her face less strained.
    Emily would not be boarding. A small living accommodation was available, she was informed by the superintendent in his letter assigning her to the small community of Wesson Creek. It was a two-day drive away from home by horse and buggy. Her father himself was providing her with a steady team of grays and a secondhand buggy.
    Emily was relieved yet anxious about her assignment, for she had never lived alone before. She would be glad for the solitude, which would help her in studying and prayer time. But at times it would be lonely, too, she reminded herself.
    She felt thoroughly confused and strangely agitated as she saw her father reluctantly load the buggy for the trip, occasionally giving her long, questioning glances. She was both excited and fearful, exuberant and solemn, eager to be off and doubtful about leaving the home she had known and loved.
    But she would not let the doubts and fears show. She kept the smile on her face, the spring in her step, and indicated that she was perfectly at ease with the path her life was taking.
    Emily didn’t know what all her father was piling into the already heavily loaded buggy. Gunny sack after gunny sack and box after box were stacked beneath the seat, spilling into the back of the democrat. She remembered that Ruth had set off to her assignment with just her two worn suitcases. But Ruth is boarding, she reminded herself. I’ll need to set up housekeeping on my own.
    At last the final trunk and small valise were settled into the packed buggy.“I do hope the weather holds,” her father remarked with an eye on the cloudless sky.“Will Darin borrowed my only canvas tarp, and when I went over there this morning to collect it, his missus said he won’t be home until next week.”
    Emily was totally unconcerned. With a sky as clear as the one that stretched above them, she was sure she could make a two-day trip without mishap.
    Hugs and goodbyes were exchanged with her sisters and father, and Emily was off down the dusty road. A hand-drawn map from her father was tucked securely in her coat pocket.
    The tears did not spill over until Emily was well hidden by the stands of poplar lining the country road.Then she allowed all the deep emotion to run down her cheeks and drip from her quivering chin.
    This totally new venture—one she had been called to—was something she had to do, but it was not without some trepidation, some tearing away of old and dear bonds.
    Emily made no effort to control her tears until she spotted a team approaching. She sniffed, took a handkerchief from her pocket, and hoped that she was successful in repairing the damage. A neighbor merely nodded and tipped his hat as they passed.
    The sun was hot overhead, and Emily was glad her father had insisted she bring her everyday bonnet. She wore it now in place of the brand-new dark bonnet that was required to identify her as a churchapproved deaconess. That treasured piece of headgear was protected from dust and sun in the small box at her feet.
    Her father had picked a gentle team. Though Emily was by no means a horse-woman, she had often driven her father’s well-disciplined team of bays. Shadow and Star, her new horses, needed little attention except to