A Home for Hannah by Patricia Davids

visit the tent where the quilts are being displayed.”
    Nick frowned at her. “There won’t be any buggies in that area.”
    “I know, but I brought the quilt Hannah was wrapped in. I’m hoping someone will recognize it. I also wanted to say hello to Rebecca and Gideon Troyer. You know Rebecca’s story, don’t you?”
    “Sure. I was one of the people bidding on her quilt last November when she was trying to raise enough money to have her eye surgery. Of course, Gideon outbid us all and ended up with a wife as well as a fine quilt. We are all thankful for God’s mercy in restoring Rebecca’s sight.”
    Ada said, “I think the bigger miracle was Gideon’s return to the Plain life after being out in the world for so many years. It was a blessing to his family and our community.”
    Miriam couldn’t get the strap of the snuggle harness to fit comfortably. Nick said, “Here, let me help you with that.”
    She turned her back to him. He swept aside her hair to see where the strap was twisted. Her hair whispered across his wrist and bunched like the softest silk in his hand. He paused, captivated by the sensation.
    “Can you get it?” she asked.
    “Yup. Just a second.” He straightened the strap and let her hair slide through his fingers. If he lived to be an old, old man, he wouldn’t forget the softness of it.
    “Why don’t we split up? Nick, you can take mother to buy yarn, and I’ll go say hello to Rebecca and Gideon. We can meet back here and start checking buggy wheels.”
    “I think it would be better to stick together,” he said.
    Miriam gave him a funny look. “What difference does that make?”
    “I want to be able to watch the people watching you and Hannah.” He wanted to walk by her side and pretend they were friends again.
    “Okay, alpaca yarn, quilts, once through the market and then buggy wheels?”
    “Sounds fine. It’s too bad it rained. Your lipstick marks will have been washed off all the slow-moving-vehicle signs. We’ll end up rechecking dozens of the same ones.”
    Miriam giggled, a light, free sound that made his heart beat faster. “It’s waterproof lipstick. It should still be there.”
    He shook his head. “Waterproof. A man learns something new every day.”
    Nick kept a close watch on Miriam as she moved through the crowds. There were a number of people who stopped to admire Hannah, but no one seemed overly interested, or out of the ordinary, except for a pair of Amish teenage boys who followed them but never approached her.
    Nick said to Ada, “Do you know those boys?”
    She looked to where he indicated the pair looking at hand-carved pipes. “Do you mean the Beachy twins?”
    “Beachy? Which family do they belong to?” Since almost all Amish were descended from a small group of immigrants, there was very little diversity in their names. There were dozens of families with the same last name in his county.
    “They are Levi Beachy’s younger brothers. He is the carriage maker in Hope Springs. He rented the business from Sarah Wyse’s husband shortly before he passed away.”
    “Yes, I remember that.”
    Nick said to Miriam, “I believe I’ll have a word with the twins. Walk on and I’ll catch up with you.”
    As Miriam and her mother made their way down the row of tents, Nick dropped back and approached the boys from behind, taking care to keep out of their line of sight until he was standing only a step away. “You two seem awfully interested in Miriam Kauffman’s baby. Care to tell me why?”
    The boy spun around, their eyes going wide at the sight of the sheriff towering over them. One stammered, “W-we don’t know what you mean.”
    “I’m asking what is your interest in that baby? Is one of you the father?”
    He doubted they could look more surprised if he’d suggested that they could fly. “ Nee, we’re no one’s daed, ” they exclaimed together.
    “Are you willing to take a DNA test to prove that?”
    The boys looked at each other. One said,