A Miracle of Hope (The Amish Wonders Series) Read Online Free Page A

members ask a lot of questions. Getting married without a formal announcement will raise some brows,” Josiah said, guiding the horse.
    She’d seen her share of raised brows lately from the members of her home district. Ones from strangers wouldn’t cut as much.
    Josiah’s face contorted. “I ask that you nett tell anyone we married for convenience.” He dropped his line of vision to her belly. “So when is your boppli due?”
    “May tenth.”
    He opened his mouth, looked again at her belly, then focused on the road.
    Perhaps he now regretted his request to conceal the arranged marriage. At three months, she wasn’t showing—yet. Her body wouldn’t stay this size much longer. Tongues would wag, but they’d be directed just as much at him.
    A few moments of silence passed. “ Mei dochder doesn’t respond well to strangers. She’s unpredictable. It might take her awhile to get used to you.”
    His daughter wasn’t the only one who needed time to adjust.
    She gripped the edge of the bench to keep from jostling around as they traversed the hills. At least her stomach wasn’t rolling like it had earlier. She had eaten a sandwich on the bus hours ago but had lost any vestiges of it. Lindie didn’t want to think about food.She peered out the window opening, but the tall pines and dense clouds hid the sun and made the surroundings look gloomy.
    “How large is your settlement?” She’d only counted two farms with buggies in the driveway and they were separated by Englisch homes. In her district, several Amish houses shared the same acreage and dozens were clustered within a few miles radius.
    “It started with ten families. Nau we have eight.”
    “We have over a hundred families in Middlefield.” Due to her district’s growth, they’d divided, then divided again. It made staying in touch with people difficult. Besides the massive attendance for weddings and funerals, she hadn’t seen some members in years.
    In the clearing ahead, the bishop’s house came into view. But before reaching the Troyer farm, Josiah slowed the horse and turned right onto a narrow road. Shadowed by thick woods on both sides, daylight disappeared. She tightened her grasp on the bench as they approached a wooden bridge. The buggy wheel took a little dip and she bumped into Josiah.
    Her face heated. “Sorry.” She slid away from him and clutched the edge even tighter.
    “I should’ve warned you. This bridge could use some repairs.”
    The road wasn’t in much better shape. The mixture of dirt and crushed stones gave it a washboard texture. When the lane ended, the horse veered left without any reining from Josiah. Once the buggy cleared the patch of spruce pines, a log home came into view.
    “It’s small,” he said, sounding apologetic.
    “It’s very nice.” She especially liked the idea of sitting under the covered porch while she shucked corn or shelled peas.
    “ Denki . I like it back here. It’s peaceful.”

    Isolated is how she would describe it. That would take some getting used to. Fellowship was the glue that kept her settlement together. Then again, maybe she would welcome the isolation.
    “Whoa, Molly.” Josiah stopped the horse next to the house and jumped out. He went to the back of the buggy and opened the hatch.
    She surveyed the homestead as she climbed out. A small slat-board barn and horse corral stood to the left. On the right were two long barns. They reminded her of the chicken barns on some Englischers’ farms back home, but instead of aluminum siding, Josiah’s were constructed of wood. Smoke curled up from a stovepipe on the barn roof.
    “You heat your chicken coop?”
    He shook his head. “That’s mei wood shop.” He pointed to the barn without a smokestack. “And that one is the lumber storage barn.” She supposed it made sense to have a heated barn to work in, but it seemed strange he would keep a fire burning while he was away.
    Mud sucked her shoe into the earth. She jerked her foot