The Heart's Frontier by Lori Copeland Read Free Book Online Page A

It’s slow and shallow, so crossing won’t be a problem. I’ll see you on the other side.”



FIVE

     
    E mma sat in one of the rockers on the porch of the boardinghouse and watched Papa pace in the dusty street. Beside her, Maummi and Rebecca rocked in silence, their gazes also fixed on Papa. The fourth rocker sat empty. A brilliant sun peeked above the general store at the far end of the settlement, and she squinted against the dazzling rays.
    “We must move on to Troyer,” Rebecca said for the fourth time. “Aunt Gerda is expecting us. She’ll worry.”
    Frowning, Emma gave her a sideways look. Her sister’s enthusiasm for the journey had more to do with getting out of Apple Grove and into the excitement of a bigger community than concern for Aunt Gerda. Troyer offered far more in the way of frolics and singings and, of course, men, than little Apple Grove could hope to match. From the time Papa had first announced his decision to send Emma to Aunt Gerda, Rebecca had wanted to join her, and not necessarily due to sibling affection.
    “‘Hard it is to wait on the Lord,’” Maummi quoted from her immense store of Amish proverbs. “‘But worse to wish you had.’”
    They rocked in silence for a moment.
    “’Tis the Lord’s judgment, to my mind.” Maummi gave a decisive nod. “He never wanted us in Troyer to begin with.”
    Rebecca responded with a pout and an increase in the speed of her rocking. Emma hid a smile. Maummi had not been in agreement with the move to Troyer since the beginning. If it weren’t for the loss of her precious hutch, Emma would almost suspect her of arranging the disaster in hopes that Papa would forget the plan and return home.
    Her gaze still fixed on Papa, Emma tried to comfort her sister. “If we go home now, Rebecca, maybe that will give you time to convince Papa to let you live with Aunt Gerda instead of me.”
    “If you’re set on returning home, Emma, have you decided in favor of Amos Beiler, then?” Maummi ’s voice, though carefully even, held a barely concealed laugh.
    “No!” Emma replied, too quickly.
    The laughter came out, and Rebecca joined in. Emma refused to respond. They would forever tease her about Amos. She sank further into the soft wolly covering of her chair and rocked in silence. It would serve Maummi right if she married Amos and filled the house with cross-eyed children for her to tend.
    A movement down the street drew their attention. The doors of the saloon opened, and a woman stepped into the street. The morning sunshine caught in an untidy tangle of curls that hung down her back and brightened the abundant lace around the hem of her dress. Emma drew in a gasp when she realized the woman wore nothing but a thin chemise on top, right out in the open for the whole town to see. She raised bare arms and stretched in the sun, and then she called a cheery greeting to a man across the way, standing in the doorway of the general store.
    Emma turned to see Maummi ’s shocked eyes wide, her lips parted. On her left, Rebecca stared with undisguised delight.
    “Look at the color of her hair,” the girl whispered. “It’s like a field of yellow buttercups.”
    “Don’t stare.” Maummi accompanied her sharp retort by snapping her fingers in front of Rebecca’s eyes. “Where the eyes go, the mind follows.”
    After a moment of standing in the sun, the woman disappeared into the saloon again. With growing dismay, Emma saw that Rebecca watched the doors for another glimpse. Though it was natural to be curious about different lifestyles, Emma worried that her sister’s interest in the Englisch they had encountered bordered on fascination. The sooner they left Gorham, the better.
    The odor of freshly baked bread from the morning’s breakfast clung to the air wafting through the boardinghouse’s open window. From down the street, the metallic ring of a blacksmith’s hammer echoed off the buildings. Papa paced away from them to the end of the