it’s the countryside he’s looking at. No, Silas can go with you.”
“Me!”
“And Amanda, too, if you want. You girls can fight over who will sit up front with him.”
This was not funny. It was even less so when Amanda came out into the yard with her and saw how the seating arrangements had been set up. Or not set up, to be more precise.
“I’ll go with Zeke and Fannie, Sarah,” she said—but the only reply she got was a cheery wave as Zeke shook the reins and clattered off with his wife—and without anyone else.
“Never mind. You can ride back with them,” Sarah said. Before Amanda could protest, Sarah had climbed into the back of her own buggy, leaving Amanda no choice but to take the seat on Silas’s left.
“I’m a lucky man this morning.” He untied Dulcie and got in on the driver’s side as if he was completely unaware that the next best thing to a game of musical chairs had just occurred. “Sarah, you’ll have to give me directions. It seems Zeke is in such a hurry to see Ruth and Isaac Lehman that he’s left us behind.”
Maybe this was better anyway. Sarah comforted herself with the thought that Amanda might not have liked being forced to be alone with Silas. Fifteen miles was a long way when you were as shy as she was. As it was, the three of them could talk as friends, and there was enough conversational fodder in the ups and downs of the road past the farms of the Gmee that there would be no uncomfortable silences.
It took a good five miles, though, before Amanda recovered from her embarrassment at being in the front seat enough to make any contribution to the conversation. Though her comments were short and soft, at least she was talking. Sarah sometimes had to chime in when the silences got too long, but Silas was good about supporting anything she said.
All in all, Sarah thought as he finally drew the buggy up in the Lehman yard and they all got out, it had been a good ride. Silas would see how womanly and modest Amanda was, and she herself would have the satisfaction of knowing she’d been there to witness the beginning of their romance.
Ruth Lehman was not a demonstrative woman, but her pleasure in seeing Zeke and Fannie so unexpectedly cracked even her self-control, and she threw her arms around Fannie in joy. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” she exclaimed. “Oh my, I’m not going to get a bit of work done today—Sarah, you should have sent me a note!”
“Maybe,” Sarah said with a smile that held more than a little mischief. “But when else would I ever get a chance to see you all verhuddelt like this?”
“Never you mind, I have a recipe for you to make up whether there are folks come to visit or not. Come on inside, everyone, and we’ll have a snack. Oh, and Silas, maybe you could go out to the barn and tell Isaac to come in. He won’t want to miss a minute.”
It soon became clear that, whether Zeke was the family prankster or not, he was also Ruth’s favorite. Sarah had never seen her face so animated or heard her laugh so much as she did this morning, and it was difficult, after coffee and then after lunch, to settle down to anything approaching a lesson in herbs.
“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Ruth confessed out in her compounding room when Sarah let herself in to see the recipe she was to make. “It’s wonderful to see them, but I do feel bad that you and I haven’t had our usual time together.”
“There will be other times for us, but not for Zeke and Fannie. You go and enjoy yourself with them, and I’ll ask Amanda to help me.”
“You’ll need to wait—I think she and Silas went out to the barn to see the little pigs.”
“You have pigs?” This was new. And it wasn’t even farrowing season.
“Yes, have you ever seen them? They’re the potbellied kind. I don’t see the use in them, myself, but the Englisch folks seem to love them. It’s Christopher’s youngest boy’s project—but I think his Daed has as much fun with
“Me!”
“And Amanda, too, if you want. You girls can fight over who will sit up front with him.”
This was not funny. It was even less so when Amanda came out into the yard with her and saw how the seating arrangements had been set up. Or not set up, to be more precise.
“I’ll go with Zeke and Fannie, Sarah,” she said—but the only reply she got was a cheery wave as Zeke shook the reins and clattered off with his wife—and without anyone else.
“Never mind. You can ride back with them,” Sarah said. Before Amanda could protest, Sarah had climbed into the back of her own buggy, leaving Amanda no choice but to take the seat on Silas’s left.
“I’m a lucky man this morning.” He untied Dulcie and got in on the driver’s side as if he was completely unaware that the next best thing to a game of musical chairs had just occurred. “Sarah, you’ll have to give me directions. It seems Zeke is in such a hurry to see Ruth and Isaac Lehman that he’s left us behind.”
Maybe this was better anyway. Sarah comforted herself with the thought that Amanda might not have liked being forced to be alone with Silas. Fifteen miles was a long way when you were as shy as she was. As it was, the three of them could talk as friends, and there was enough conversational fodder in the ups and downs of the road past the farms of the Gmee that there would be no uncomfortable silences.
It took a good five miles, though, before Amanda recovered from her embarrassment at being in the front seat enough to make any contribution to the conversation. Though her comments were short and soft, at least she was talking. Sarah sometimes had to chime in when the silences got too long, but Silas was good about supporting anything she said.
All in all, Sarah thought as he finally drew the buggy up in the Lehman yard and they all got out, it had been a good ride. Silas would see how womanly and modest Amanda was, and she herself would have the satisfaction of knowing she’d been there to witness the beginning of their romance.
Ruth Lehman was not a demonstrative woman, but her pleasure in seeing Zeke and Fannie so unexpectedly cracked even her self-control, and she threw her arms around Fannie in joy. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” she exclaimed. “Oh my, I’m not going to get a bit of work done today—Sarah, you should have sent me a note!”
“Maybe,” Sarah said with a smile that held more than a little mischief. “But when else would I ever get a chance to see you all verhuddelt like this?”
“Never you mind, I have a recipe for you to make up whether there are folks come to visit or not. Come on inside, everyone, and we’ll have a snack. Oh, and Silas, maybe you could go out to the barn and tell Isaac to come in. He won’t want to miss a minute.”
It soon became clear that, whether Zeke was the family prankster or not, he was also Ruth’s favorite. Sarah had never seen her face so animated or heard her laugh so much as she did this morning, and it was difficult, after coffee and then after lunch, to settle down to anything approaching a lesson in herbs.
“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Ruth confessed out in her compounding room when Sarah let herself in to see the recipe she was to make. “It’s wonderful to see them, but I do feel bad that you and I haven’t had our usual time together.”
“There will be other times for us, but not for Zeke and Fannie. You go and enjoy yourself with them, and I’ll ask Amanda to help me.”
“You’ll need to wait—I think she and Silas went out to the barn to see the little pigs.”
“You have pigs?” This was new. And it wasn’t even farrowing season.
“Yes, have you ever seen them? They’re the potbellied kind. I don’t see the use in them, myself, but the Englisch folks seem to love them. It’s Christopher’s youngest boy’s project—but I think his Daed has as much fun with
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