A Simple Christmas Wish by Melody Carlson

in the barn, Aunt Rachel. It was so fun.”
    Rachel nodded. “Sounds like fun.” She squeezed the water out of the dishrag and looked at Lydia. “Are we done with this dishwater now?”

    “Yes.” Lydia rinsed the last pot. “You can dump it.”
    Rachel reached into the deep sink to grasp the large plastic dishpan, lifting the heavy tub and thinking she was going to pour the dishwater down the drain. She had it about chest level when the greasy, soapy plastic edge slipped in her hands and the whole mess tipped toward her and poured right down her front, soaking her sweater and jeans with nasty, greasy, gray soapy dishwater. She let out a shriek and stepped back, but it was too late. Whatever didn’t soak her wound up all over the kitchen floor in a slippery, grimy gray puddle. “I’m sorry,” she gasped, seeing Lydia’s sickened look. “I can clean that up.”
    “No.” Lydia handed her a dish towel to blot herself with. “You go and change out of those clothes. I will take care of this.”
    “Poor Aunt Rachel,” Holly said with sympathy. “I’ll go up with you.” Then, taking Rachel’s hand as if she were a wounded child, Holly led her up the stairs. Once in the bathroom, Rachel carefully peeled off her soggy, messy clothes, piling them in the corner, and suddenly realized she had just ruined her only pair of jeans.
    “Can you take those down to Aunt Lydia?” Rachel asked Holly as she wrapped the sodden bundle in a towel to keep it from getting on Holly. “See if she can wash them for me.”
    “Okay.” Holly nodded.
    “And when you come back up, can you bring me my pajamas? They’re under my pillow on my bed.”
    “You’re going to bed already?” Holly looked surprised.
    Rachel shook her head. “I don’t have any other clothes to wear.” She pointed to the damp bundle. “Those were my only pants.”

    “Oh.” Holly’s eyes grew big.
    “So take that to Aunt Lydia, okay?”
    “And bring back your pajamas?”
    “Yes.”
    After taking a quick bath and getting into her pajamas and into bed, Rachel opened her e-book and decided to make the most of her “early” bedtime. In a way it was a relief to be up here and away from the curious members of the Miller family. She knew she was the misfit in this house. Even Holly, who was just a child, had managed to meld almost seamlessly into the Amish way of life.
    Tomorrow, Rachel decided, she would put on her clean clothes and pack her bags, and even if Lydia refused to hand over Holly, Rachel would go and get herself a room in the hotel in town. At least that would give her a place to figure things out. If there was any way to figure this out. Mostly, she wanted to get away from here. The sooner the better. In the meantime, she would enjoy this brief break up here in Sarah’s room.
    “Aunt Rachel,” Holly said as she returned to the room, “you don’t have to go to bed now.”
    Rachel smiled at her. “It’s okay. I think this is my punishment for making a mess in the kitchen. An early bedtime.” She held up her e-reader. “Besides, I can catch up on my reading. So, really, it’s all right.”
    “But Aunt Lydia found some clothes for you to wear,” Holly explained as she played with Rachel’s hair.
    Sarah came in carrying a bundle of what looked suspiciously like Amish clothing. “Mamm said to give you these,” she said quietly.

    “Oh, Sarah, that’s okay,” Rachel told her. “I don’t need to wear your mother’s clothes. Besides, they’d be too big for me.”
    “They’re not Mamm’s clothes,” Sarah said. “Noah went over to Mammi’s to get them. They used to belong to Aunt Miriam.”
    “Miri?” Rachel reached over to touch the blue dress.
    “Mamm says you are about the same size.”
    Rachel nodded. “Miri and I used to swap clothes sometimes.”
    “This was my mommy’s?” Holly said as the realization sank in. “When she was Amish?”
    “Mamm told me that Mammi saved them,” Sarah confided to Holly. “She