The Guardian by Beverly Lewis Read Free Book Online Page A

child in a thick bath towel and lifting her out of the tub.
    When she tried to set her down, the girl clung tenaciously. “It’s all right. I’m just going to help dry you off,” Jodi assured her.
    But the girl wrapped her arms around Jodi’s neck all the tighter, wet hair pressing against her face. Not wanting to frighten her further, Jodi carried her and the damp underwear to the laundry room. She stepped over the bag of clothes Paige’s friend had dropped by earlier as she placed the clean items in the dryer and turned it on.
    Still carrying the child, Jodi headed to the kitchen, where she sat the waif on one of four kitchen chairs situated in a cozy breakfast nook. The girl’s hair formed ringlets over the towel, and her blue, blue eyes scanned the sunny kitchen.
    Jodi removed a banana from the bunch and peeled it, then offered it to her. The girl reached for it quickly and popped the end into her mouth.
    She’s famished!
    “Ba-na-na,” Jodi said slowly, pointing to it.
    The girl smiled faintly. “ Friehschtick. ”
    “Friehschtick means banana in what language?” Jodie asked herself. “Is it German?”
    “ Meh. ” The child stared anxiously at the banana. “ Meh? ”
    “What are you asking for?” Jodi whispered, terribly frustrated. If only she’d taken German instead of French in college. “You must be very hungry,” Jodi said, getting up to go to the fridge to pour a glass of milk. She set the glass in front of the child and sat across the table, inching her chair closer.
    “Mamma …”
    Jodi grimaced. “Honey, do you speak any English?”
    “ Ich habb mei Mamma falossa … un Kaylee. ”
    “Ich habb,” Jodi repeated. “Has to be German.”
    From the intensity of the girl’s tone, Jodi assumed she was asking where her mother was—and something about a person named Kaylee. The worrisome thoughts nagged Jodi again. Was the girl a victim of kidnapping? Abuse?
    If so, might I be implicated?
    She refused to wait a second longer. Jodi yanked her cell phone off her waist clip and dialed Scott’s number again. This time, she left a voice mail. “It’s Jodi, and I’m really sorry to bother you, but this is an emergency,” she said. “Please call me ASAP.”

    Maryanna could stand it no longer—she simply had to do something. She tugged at the dainty white handkerchiefbeneath her sleeve and wiped her clammy forehead and cheeks. Sighing, she set aside a good half of the greenhouse orders and abandoned the potting bench, determined to put her faith into action.
    She hurried to the stable and led Dandy out of her stall and down to the carriage, where she’d left it last night. She began the hitching-up process while Benny and Leda were busy with chores in the pigpen. Soon, Tobias wandered out from the chicken coop, looking mighty dejected. “I wanna help,” he said, scarcely able to get the words out, and Maryanna could see that he’d been crying.
    When they finished hitching up, he asked if she’d take him along, wherever she was going, and she agreed. Right away, she called to let Benny and Leda know she was leaving to retrace last night’s journey, taking Tobias with her. “We’ll be back shortly,” she promised before hurrying to the waiting horse and carriage. Lo and behold, Tobias had settled himself in the driver’s seat, already holding the reins.
    He moved over right quick when she climbed up. “Denki, son,” Maryanna said, suddenly glad for his company.
    On the way up Hickory Lane, she told him to keep a keen eye out for Sarah’s little cloth doll. “Ya know, the one she takes almost everywhere. She had it with her last evening. I know she did.”
    “Jah … and she calls it Kaylee,” he said, blinking fast. “That ain’t even an Amish name, is it?”
    “No, that’s right.” This wasn’t the first fancy name little Sarah had chosen for one of her dolls. “Why’d she pick it, Mamma?”
    She looked down at her young boy. His hair was all schlappich and a piece of