Amish Redemption. Patricia Davids

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СКАЧАТЬ came to join the group, tugging on Mary’s skirt and lifting her arms for a hug, too. Mary set her bowl on the counter and picked up her daughter. “You are the sun and the stars, aren’t you?”

      “Ja, I am.” Hannah gave a big nod.

      “You are indeed.” Ada kissed Hannah’s cheek and Mary’s cheek in turn. “You had better hurry or you will be late for the quilting bee. I’ll finish that batter. Are you taking Hannah?”

      “I am. She enjoys playing with Katie Sutter’s little ones.” Mary glanced at the clock in the corner. It was nearly four. The quilting bee was being held at Katie’s home. They were finishing a quilt as a wedding gift for Katie’s friend Sally Yoder. Sally planned to wed in the fall.

      “Who else is coming?”

      “Rebecca Troyer, Faith Lapp, Joann Weaver and Sarah Beachy. Betsy Barkman will be there, of course, and I think all her sisters will be, too.”

      Betsy Barkman was Mary’s dearest friend. They were both still single and neither of them was in a hurry to marry—something few people in their Amish community of Hope Springs understood. Especially Betsy’s sisters. Lizzie, Clara and Greta had all found husbands. They were impatiently waiting for their youngest sister to do the same. Betsy had been going out with Alvin Stutzman for over a year, but she wasn’t ready to be tied down.

      “Sounds like you’ll have a wonderful time. Make sure you bring me all the latest gossip.”

      “We don’t gossip.” Mary winked at her grandmother.

      “Ja, and a rooster doesn’t crow.”

      Shifting her daughter to her hip, Mary crossed the room and gathered their traveling bonnets from beside the door. She stood Hannah on a chair to tie the large black hat over her daughter’s silky blond crown of braids. As she did, she heard the distant rumble of thunder.

      Ada leaned toward the kitchen window to peer out. “There’s a storm brewing, from the looks of those clouds. The paper said we should expect strong storms today. You’d better hurry. If it’s bad, stay with the Sutters until it passes.”

      “I will.”

      “And you will be nice to Delbert when he visits.”

      “I’ll be nice to him. Unless he squashes any of our chickens,” Mary said with a cheeky grin.

      “Bothersome child. Get before I take a switch to your backside.” Ada shook the spoon at Mary. Speckles of batter went everywhere much to Bella’s delight. The dog quickly licked the floor clean and sat with her hopeful gaze fixed on Ada.

      Laughing, Mary scooped up her daughter and headed out the door. Bella tried to follow, but Mary shook her head. “You stay with Mammi. We’ll be back soon.”

      Bella gave her a reproachful look, but turned around and headed to her favorite spot beside the stove.

      Mary soon had her good-natured mare harnessed and climbed in the buggy with Hannah. She glanced at the rapidly approaching storm clouds. They did look threatening. The sky held an odd greenish cast that usually meant hail. Should she go, or should she stay home? She hated to miss an afternoon of fun with her friends.

      She decided to go. She would be traveling ahead of it on her way to the Sutter farm and Tilly was a fast trotter.

      Mary wasted no time getting the mare up to speed once they reached the highway at the end of her grandmother’s lane. She glanced back several times in the small rearview mirror on the side of her buggy. The clouds had become an ominous dark shroud, turning the May afternoon sky into twilight. Streaks of lightning were followed by growing rumbles of thunder.

      Hannah edged closer to her. “I don’t like storms.”

      She slipped an arm around her daughter. “Don’t worry. We’ll be at Katie’s house before the rain catches us.”

      It turned out she was wrong. Big raindrops began hitting her windshield a few minutes later. A strong gust of wind shook the buggy and blew dust across the road. The sky grew darker by the minute. Mary urged Tilly to a faster pace. She should have stayed home.

      A red car flew past her with the driver laying on the horn. Tilly shied and nearly dragged the buggy into the fence along the side of the road. Mary managed to right her. “Foolish Englischers. Have they no sense? We are over as far as we can get.”

      The rumble of thunder became a steady roar behind them. Tilly broke into a run. Startled, Mary tried to pull her back but the mare struggled against the bit.

      “Tilly, what’s wrong with you?” She sawed on the reins, trying to slow the animal.

      Hannah began screaming. Mary glanced back and her heart stopped. A tornado had dropped from the clouds and was bearing down on them, chewing up everything in its path. Dust and debris flew out from the wide base as the roar grew louder. Mary loosened the reins and gave Tilly her head, but she knew even the former racehorse wouldn’t be able to outrun it. They had to find cover.

      The lessons she learned at school came tumbling back into her mind: get underground in a cellar or lie flat in a ditch.

      There weren’t any houses nearby. She scanned the fences lining each side of the road. The ditches were shallow to nonexistent. The roar grew louder. Hannah kept screaming.

       Dear God, help me save my baby. What do I do?

      She saw an intersection up ahead.

       Travel away from a tornado at a right angle. Don’t try to outrun it.

      Bracing her legs against the dash, she pulled back on the lines, trying to slow Tilly enough to make the corner without overturning. The mare seemed to sense the plan. She slowed and made the turn with the buggy tilting on two wheels. Mary grabbed Hannah and held on to her. Swerving wildly behind the horse, the buggy finally came back onto all four wheels. Before the mare could gather speed again, a man jumped into the road, waving his arms. He grabbed Tilly’s bridle as she plunged past and pulled her to a stop.

      Shouting, he pointed toward an abandoned farmhouse that Mary hadn’t seen back in the trees. “There’s a cellar on the south side.”

      Mary jumped out of the buggy and pulled Hannah into her arms. The man was already unhitching Tilly, so Mary ran toward the ramshackle structure with boarded-over windows and overgrown trees hugging the walls. The wind threatened to pull her off her feet. The trees and even the grass were straining toward the approaching tornado. Dirt and leaves pelted her face, but fear for Hannah pushed her forward. She reached the old cellar door, but couldn’t lift it against the force of the wind. She was about to lie on the ground on top of Hannah when the man appeared at her side. Together, they were able to lift the door.

      Mary glanced back and saw her buggy flying up into the air in slow motion. The sight was so mesmerizing that she froze.

      A second later, she was pushed down the steps into darkness.

Chapter Two

      Pummeled by debris in the wind, Joshua hustled the woman and her child down the old stone steps in the hope of finding safety below. He СКАЧАТЬ