The Dawn of Christmas by Cindy Woodsmall Read Free Book Online Page B

I’ll save my strength to carry or drag you as needed.”
    She chuckled. “Are you saying I’m stubborn?”
    “No way I would say such a thing”—he kissed her—“out loud to my expectant wife.”

With Levi and last night still fresh in her mind, Sadie put her bag into the car, said an awkward good-bye to her parents, and got into the vehicle.
    Whitney put the car in reverse. “Did you have a nice visit?”
    “It had some interesting moments.”
    Like meeting a stranger who saw life as she did. She’d like to know how Levi was doing. She’d used the phone in Mammi Lee’s shanty last night to call Levi’s brother. The phone had rung for a while before a groggy voice answered. At least it was summer, and the windows of the house were open, making a phone ringing in a shanty a couple hundred feet away easily heard.
    “Whitney, would you mind taking me by a house about five miles from here and give me a few minutes to visit?” She pulled Levi’s address out of her purse and handed it to her.
    Whitney looked at the address. “Not at all.”
    Rumors had begun to swirl through the community about Levi’s injury. Mammi had received three phone calls, and an Amish neighbor stopped by to tell her about it. The reports said “a woman” called an ambulance for him. That meant Levi had kept his word. He hadn’t revealed who’d helped him, or at least it appeared that way.
    Neither Mammi nor Sadie’s parents had been home when she’dreturned last night, so they didn’t know she’d gone out. This morning Sadie tended to the animals in the barn before Mammi Lee or Daed could. When her Daed wanted to go to the barn to hitch Bay to a rig, she volunteered to do that too. Anything to avoid answering questions about the strange thoroughbred in Mammi’s barn. She didn’t mind avoiding telling the truth. Adults had few people they told everything to. Even Jesus didn’t tell everything to everyone. And she didn’t have a problem trying to get her way when she felt God had given her the right to do so. But answering dishonestly wasn’t something she could justify.
    When Daed, Mamm, and Mammi had left today to visit Mammi’s sister for the afternoon, Sadie had ridden Bay to Levi’s and led Amigo home. But no one was there, so she put Amigo out to pasture and left.
    As they continued toward Levi’s, Sadie pondered all that had taken place last night. When the car braked, it pulled her from her thoughts.
    “If you’re going to be a few minutes, I have an errand I’d like to run.”
    “Sure. I’ll be ready when you return.”
    Sadie went to the front door and knocked. Through the screen door she saw a young boy running toward her. He had silky blond hair and was wearing dark blue pants, a bright green shirt, red suspenders, and white socks with no shoes. For an Amish boy, he was wearing quite a mix of colors.
    “Are you here to see Uncle Levi?” He skidded to a stop at the door. “Did he meet you at last night’s singing? He didn’t want to go, and I’m not sure he likes girls.” The boy crossed his arms. “You look okay to me.”
    “Denki.”
    “Tobias.” A thin man with curly brown hair and a beard walked up behind him. “That’s not what you say to someone at the door, Son.”
    Tobias unfolded his arms. “What, that she looks okay or that Uncle Levi ain’t fond of girls?”
    “Both.” The man opened the door. “
Kumm rei
. I’m Andy, and this is my son, Tobias.”
    “I’m Sadie, and I wanted—”
    “You ain’t from around here, are you?”
    “Tobias.” Andy put an index finger over his son’s mouth before looking at Sadie with an apology. “He’s very observant and feels the need to voice all his thoughts, however off-center they are.”
    “I like that.” She grinned at Tobias. “I would like to see your uncle Levi.”
    Tobias frowned. “Are you the woman who helped him, the one who called last night and woke us up?”
    “Of course not.” Andy laughed. “Your uncle would have