An Amish Courtship. Jan Drexler

fancy automobile, and wants the county to pay for it.”

      Samuel chirruped to the horse. “He says it will keep the dust down.” His words were mild, but Mary could see his Adam’s apple bobbing as he tried to keep from laughing.

      Sadie crossed her arms. “There’s nothing wrong with a little dust.”

      Samuel kept his voice calm, not letting the laughter emerge. “You just don’t like to see progress.”

      “Of course not. Progress without wisdom isn’t good for anyone. People like Phillip Jefferson can’t see past the end of their own noses, and he has no thought of what unintended consequences this road of his might bring.” Sadie sat up, her attention on the next farm. “There’s the Zook farm. Good Amish folks, and now we’re in Eden Township.”

      “Is that Levi Zook? I met him at a barn raising last summer,” Samuel said.

      Sadie shook her head. “Ne, his cousin, Caleb. Levi lives a few miles east of here.” She leaned forward. “Matthew Beachey’s place is just past this crossroad. Up there on the right.”

      Mary felt Samuel’s body stiffen at Sadie’s words. What must it be like for him to see Annie again after so long?

      The other girls had been visiting in the back seat, but when Sadie pointed out their destination, Esther and Judith leaned forward to get a look.

      “What a pretty place,” Judith said.

      “Look at all of the flowers. Annie always said gladiolus was her favorite, and she has planted a whole row of them.”

      Esther’s voice sounded strained and Mary turned around as well as she could.

      “Are you all right, Esther?”

      She nodded. “I’m just so happy to see Annie again.” She pointed, her arm extending between Mary and Sadie. “Look, there she is! Samuel, stop the buggy so we can get out.”

      “You can wait until I turn in the drive.” Samuel’s voice held a growl. His face was tense as he drove the horse toward Annie, who was waiting for them next to the gravel lane.

      When he drew the buggy to a stop, Judith and Esther jumped out and into Annie’s arms. The three sisters held each other close, none of them saying a word, until Annie pushed away from the embrace to look at the girls.

      “You’ve both changed so much!” Annie’s happy smile made Mary want to smile back.

      As the girls launched into the story of everything that had happened since they had last been together, Annie looked toward the buggy, then back at her sisters. Samuel remained in his seat, watching the girls, but making no move to get out.

      Sadie reached across Mary to poke his arm. “Samuel, it’s time for you to say hello to Annie.”

      Samuel swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Ja.” He sighed and secured the reins, but he didn’t make a move to get out of the buggy.

      Mary laid her hand on his arm. There must be some way she could help. The poor man looked like he was about to meet his doom.

      “She’s waiting for you.”

      Samuel looked past Mary and Sadie. Annie had glanced his way again, and had pulled her lower lip in between her teeth.

      “Go on,” Mary said. She pushed at his arm. “It’s time.”

      His eyes met hers then, pleading with them as one of her younger brothers would do, but he climbed down from the buggy. Mary followed him and helped Sadie to the ground as she watched him greet his sister.

      “Hello, Annie.”

      He stood back, but his sister reached toward him and grasped his hand.

      “I’m so glad you came.” Her eyes sparkled with tears. “I’ve missed you. All of you.”

      Sadie pulled on Mary’s arm, and she led the way into the house with Ida Mae following.

      “We’ll let the four of them get acquainted again without us interfering.”

      Other buggies had already arrived, and as Mary stepped onto the porch, she could hear the hum of voices from inside the house. She swallowed down the thickness in her throat at the thought of all the strangers on the other side of that door, but she didn’t have time to be nervous as Sadie walked in. They laid their bonnets with the others on a bed in the room off the kitchen, then followed the sound of women visiting.

      The front room was filled with a quilt on a frame, and ten or twelve women sat around it, needles in their hands and all talking at once. Sadie led Ida Mae to three empty chairs on the far side of the quilt, stopping to greet the women they passed on the way.

      “Good morning, Elizabeth.” She grasped an older woman’s shoulder. “These are my nieces from Ohio, Mary and Ida Mae.” She went on to the next woman, a younger image of the first one. “And Ellie, I’m so glad you’re here. Meet my nieces.”

      Mary had hardly had a chance to greet Elizabeth when she met Ellie’s blue eyes. “I’m so happy to meet you. I’m Ellie Lapp.”

      “Lapp? Are you related to Esther and Judith?”

      “Ja, for sure.” Ellie’s smile was relaxed and welcoming. “Their brother Bram is my husband, but I’ve never met the girls.” She stuck her needle in the quilt and half rose from her seat. “Did they come with you? Are they outside?”

      “They’re talking with Annie. Samuel is there, too.”

      Ellie sat back in her chair. “Samuel came?”

      “He said he had some business here in Eden Township, so he drove us down here this morning.”

      A little boy, about two years old, crawled out from under the quilting frame and pulled on Ellie’s skirt. “Memmie, I’m thirsty.”

      Ellie cupped his head in her hand, a worried frown on her face. “Ja, Danny. We’ll go to the kitchen and get a drink.” She smiled at Mary, her brows still knit. “I’m so glad to meet you, Mary, and I hope we’ll be able to get to know each other better.”

      She took the little boy by the hand and led him into the kitchen as Mary made her way to the chair next to Sadie and Ida Mae. For the first time, she wondered what business Samuel had in Eden Township. Whatever it was, it had Ellie worried.

      * * *

      Samuel let Tilly choose her own pace as he set off down the road toward Bram’s farm. Annie’s welcome had bolstered his courage enough to ask for directions to their brother’s home, but when he saw Bram’s wife peering at them through Annie’s kitchen window, doubts began to crowd in again.

      Meeting Bram wouldn’t be as easy as seeing Annie again. His sister had always been quick to forgive and easy to talk to. Bram had never been easy to deal with.

      Samuel stopped at a crossroad. Annie had said he would turn right after he passed over the creek, and he could see the wandering line of trees and bushes that marked the creek’s progress through the fields ahead. Only one more mile before he turned onto Bram’s road. When he clucked to Tilly, she shook her head and started off at a brisk trot.

      He and Bram had never enjoyed the kind of brotherly love he saw in other families. Daed had pushed at them, and Samuel could hear his voice now. “Bram can do it. Why can’t you?”

      And then Bram would look at him with his superior, big-brother look that would spike Samuel’s temper.

      Whether it was pitching hay down from the loft or hauling buckets of slop for the hogs, Bram had always done it better, faster, easier.

      Even after Bram had abandoned the family, Daed had kept goading at Samuel, pushing him to be the man Bram was.

      But he wasn’t Bram. He didn’t leave. He had stayed and absorbed the brunt of Daed’s anger right until the end.

      Samuel