Amish Christmas Twins. Patricia Davids

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      He checked the floorboards first. They were rotten. That was to be expected. Three of the ornate lantern holders were missing, but he could duplicate them from the one remaining. The runners looked sound. They must have been repaired at some time in the past. The upholstery definitely needed replacing, but the wooden frames of the seats looked in good shape. “I can have it ready in three weeks, maybe less.”

      He could finish it in two weeks, but he didn’t want to lock himself into a shorter time frame. More pressing work might come up. Better to finish earlier than promised rather than later.

      “Awesome. To have it finished before Christmas, that will be great. Let’s hope for plenty of snow.” They agreed on the price and the men shook hands.

      “Shall I ship it to you?” Melvin asked as they walked toward the door.

      “I figured the cost of transporting it home and bringing it back myself in my estimate. If I have to hire someone to ship it back, that will be an additional charge.”

      “Agreed. I’ll help you get the other one unloaded and this one strapped on, and then we can have a cup of coffee. The missus put on a fresh pot when she saw you drive in.” The two men walked toward the house.

      Unbidden, the thought of the young mother he’d met earlier entered John’s mind. He should have asked her name. Melvin might know. Although her business was none of his, John’s curiosity got the better of him. He glanced at Melvin. “I met someone on my way here who said she knew you.”

      “Oh? Who might that be?”

      John unstrapped one side of the sleigh and tossed the lines to Melvin. “She said Ezekiel Lapp is her grandfather. I gave her a lift to his place.”

      Melvin’s bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Willa Lapp has come home?”

      “She didn’t give her name.”

      “It has to be Willa. Ezekiel only had one son and one grandchild. I haven’t seen that sweet girl in years. How is she?”

      So her name was Willa. “She looked fine. She had two daughters with her. Twins about three years old.” He and Melvin lifted the sleigh down and carried it to the shed.

      Melvin put down his end and leaned on the upholstered back. “Little Willa is a mother, if that don’t beat all. I sure can’t imagine her grown and married with kids. I hope Ezekiel has the good sense to let bygones be bygones. He’s a lonely old man. His wife passed on years ago. Then his son left the Amish and took his wife and Willa with him. I heard Ezekiel’s church shunned them, so I reckon he had to, as well.”

      That brought John up short. Was Willa an excommunicated member of the Amish church? If so, her relationship with her grandfather was much more complicated than a non-Amish person like Melvin realized. To willingly take the vow of baptism and then break that vow was a serious offense. John started to wish he hadn’t asked about her.

      “It broke the old man’s heart. He wouldn’t even speak his son’s name. I thought the Amish forgave everyone. Don’t they forgive their own for leaving?”

      “If a person leaves before they are baptized, they are not shunned. If a baptized member repents and confesses their sins, they will be forgiven and welcomed back into the church.” Perhaps that was why Willa had returned after so many years.

      “And if they don’t repent, they have to be shunned forever?”

      “That is our belief.”

      Melvin shook his head. “The Amish folks around here are fine people and good neighbors, but I don’t expect I’ll ever really understand them.”

      Embarrassed that he had pried into Willa’s personal life when she hadn’t shared anything, he decided to dismiss her from his mind and changed the subject. “How did you get into collecting sleighs?”

      Melvin happily shared the story of his passion while the men loaded the vis-à-vis.

      An hour later, John left Melvin’s farm with his thermos full of coffee and a dozen oatmeal cookies in a box under his seat. He would spend the night again with his cousins near Berlin and be home by late afternoon on Monday. As the mailbox for Ezekiel Lapp came into view, John slowed his team and looked toward the house.

      His own sister hadn’t joined the faith, choosing instead to marry a non-Amish fellow. Many Amish families had Englisch children and grandchildren who were accepted and cherished. He prayed that Willa and her daughters would find kindness and acceptance, too.

      He slapped the reins to get his team moving faster. It was a long way to Bowmans Crossing. He had no cause to worry about a stranger and her family. He would never see them again. They were in God’s hands.

      * * *

      Willa raised her head and saw it was almost dark outside. She must have fallen asleep. Her head hurt from crying. She rose stiffly and stretched her aching back, then wiped her damp cheeks as she looked around. Were the girls still sleeping? That would be unusual.

      She checked in the living room. The sofa was empty. She called their names, but neither of them answered. Where were they? Panic uncoiled inside her. Their coats were gone from the pegs where she had hung them. She yanked open the front door and saw them come out of the barn walking beside her grandfather.

      Lucy saw her first and came running. “Mama, I saw a cow.”

      Willa’s pounding heart slowed with relief. She dropped to one knee and hugged Lucy. “Did you? Was she a nice cow?”

      Lucy nodded. “She licked her nose like this.” Lucy stuck her tongue out and tried to touch it to her nose.

      “Cows poo in the dirt,” Megan said with a look of disgust.

      Willa held back a chuckle as she rose to her feet. She stepped aside as her grandfather carried a red pail of fresh milk up the steps. From under the porch, half a dozen kittens came out meowing for their supper. Her grandfather handed Megan the pail. “Pour this in the pan for the kittens.”

      “I help.” Lucy grabbed the side of the pail. The two girls poured out the milk while the kittens tumbled around their feet and into the aluminum pie pan.

      She left Megan and Lucy to play with the cats and followed her grandfather inside.

      “Thank you for watching the girls and letting me sleep.”

      “You were worn-out.”

      “I was. It has been a long time since I’ve had a peaceful night’s rest.”

      He was silent for a long moment, then he glanced toward the porch. The girls were still playing with the kittens. “Out in the barn Megan told me that bad people are looking for her and Lucy. What did she mean?”

      Willa decided to tell him and took a seat at the table. After all, what did she have to lose? “My husband, Glen, had a falling-out with his parents before he met me. He would never talk about it except to say that they wanted to lock him up. He was a good man. I can’t believe he did anything wrong.”

      Even as she defended him, she knew it wasn’t entirely true. Glen found it easy to assume new identities and fabricate stories about where they СКАЧАТЬ