Amish Circle Letters by Sarah Price Page A

about?”
    Steve slowed the horse down as a car sped past on his left. “That Eleanor is boarding some ponies at Gideon’s farm for a while and Katie wants to care for one. Isaac and Anna think it will help calm her spirit a bit to take on that responsibility. If it works, they will keep the pony at our farm.”
    “Gideon’s farm is just on the other side of the Yoders’ place, ain’t so?” The wheels in her mind were turning, an idea forming that gave her hope on how to get the Yoder family in shape so that she could finally return home.
    Steve nodded. “Ja,” he said. “Oh and that Shep…crazy dog! Seems to like sleeping in the buggy. Isaac keeps finding him curled up in the back. The other day, he was halfway to the market when the dog woke up and jumped onto the seat next to him. Scared Isaac half to death!”
    They both laughed.
    It was half an hour before he managed to escape Leah’s chaotic house. It always amazed him how Leah could be so very different from his other sisters. Unorganized, frantic and more than a little self-absorbed. He just shook his head thinking about how Mary Ruth had been forced to stay there. He knew that they had she had her work cut out for her at Leah’s. He wondered how her husband, Jonah, could put up with the chaos and mess in the house.
    As the horse drove down the road, he began to think about Mimi. He couldn’t imagine her being like Leah. No, he thought. Mimi was certainly a tidy housekeeper and hard-worker. If he had learned anything about her, he had learned that.
    Today, he was picking her up for a nice long buggy ride and a stroll in the park. It would be the third time that they had spent time together. He smiled to himself, remembering their picnic last week. She had been delightful company. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had smiled and laughed so much. She had a funny way of looking at things and saying what she meant. And her energy! She was full of it.
    When he pulled up to the Hostetler’s farm, he was glad that she was already outside. He wasn’t ready to have to talk to her parents or deal with the suspicions from the community. Ideal minds meant overactive tongues, his mamm had always said. For that reason, he was especially grateful that she lived in a different church district. That would help keep the questions at bay. But it sure was difficult dealing with the questions at home whenever he needed to borrow a buggy.
    “Well hello there, Steve Fisher ,” she said jovially as she slid open the door to the buggy and peered inside. Her eyes flashed and she smiled brightly at him. “What brings you here, today?”
    For a moment, he looked confused and quickly reached into his memory. Today was the day that he had mentioned going for a buggy ride, wasn’t it? “I..I thought that…”
    Mimi laughed and climbed into the buggy, settling down next to him. “I’m teasing you,” she said, nudging him gently with her elbow. “Did you think I forgot?”
    His heart swelled. She was so very different from other girls, full of surprises and joy. He liked that very much. Other girls were not as confident and tended to be quiet and shy. He had always dreaded those types of girls and avoided them when he was younger. On the few occasions that he had taken a girl home from a singing, the rides had been quiet and subdued. It was as if the girls were afraid to open their mouths and speak.
    Not Mimi Hostetler.
    “Where shall we go today, then?” he asked.
    Pursing her lips, she appeared deep in thought. Then, smiling, she said, “How about some ice cream? It’s a nice day for it, ja?”
    The horse walked slowly down the road. Steve made certain to purposefully keep some tension in the reins, willing the horse to keep the slow and steady pace. He listened to her tell him about her week at the store. She laughed about the Englischer customers who pretended to peruse the aisles when all they really wanted was to talk with an Amish person. She told