Anna's Healing Read Online Free Page B

and each day she wrote a letter to a different family member, always inviting them to visit Oklahoma.
    Why had Anna taken Mammi up on the offer? Why had she left so many relatives to live with this small family of three in the middle of northeastern Oklahoma?
    She supposed there were several reasons for her decision to move south—and she’d explained all of them to her family several times. Although large families could be a blessing, Anna often felt smothered by hers. Everywhere she went there were family members, and always they asked the same thing—“When are you marrying, Anna?” This would be followed by a smile and a hug. No one meant any harm by the inquiry. Still, each time she would clench her teeth and dream of living in another place.
    Also, she wanted to see more of the world than Goshen, Indiana. Was that such a sin? She didn’t know, but even with Samuel and Erin’s gloomy dispositions she was glad she had come. Though she often found herself bored on the farm, she was determined to remain in Oklahoma the twelve months she had committed to staying.
    But the single biggest reason that Anna was glad to have taken Mammi up on her offer was sitting across from her, smiling behind her oversized glasses as she looked up from the chicken leg she was holding.
    â€œ Gotte can use that article in the paper. Perhaps more of the Englisch will bring their children to the maze, Samuel. That would be gut . Children need a chance to run through the fields.” She took a bite and then chewed thoughtfully before adding, “Even though we live in a rural area, it seems that many of the Englisch children know nothing about farming. They should learn how food is grown and harvested.”
    Samuel grunted, Mammi chewed, and Erin pushed the platter filled with chicken she had battered and fried toward Anna.
    Anna had passed on the chicken the first time her aenti had put the plate in her hands. It seemed to her that no matter how carefully shewatched what she ate, the waistline of her dresses grew tighter. She’d settled for one spoonful of potatoes, some of the baked carrots, and a slice of Erin’s homemade bread.
    She nearly passed a second time on the chicken, but decided a single piece couldn’t hurt. Her aenti ’s cooking was nearly as good as her mother’s, and the smell of the chicken frying had reached out to the front porch when Anna had returned to the house. She’d been envisioning it for hours. Taking the first bite, she closed her eyes and savored the rich, crisp taste of the batter.
    Mammi laughed and shook her finger at Anna. “You look as if you’ve met your new best friend. Erin is a gut cook, ya ?”
    Anna nodded.
    â€œThere was no use trying to teach my boys to cook. Eight boys and not a single one of them could break an egg correctly. So when my kinner married, I thanked the Lord I would finally have a chance to pass on the skills of the kitchen.”
    Mammi grinned and pushed back at the white hair that had escaped from her kapp . Samuel continued eating without comment, and Erin, as usual, remained silent.
    â€œI can teach you too, Anna. You will want to be able to feed a young man one day.”
    â€œAre you going to Sunday’s singing, Anna?” Erin finally appeared interested in the conversation.
    Anna wanted to say no. What she’d like to do Sunday was enjoy their time of family worship, rest, relish her time out of the produce booth, and maybe take a long walk. On the Sundays they didn’t meet for church, most Amish families visited friends or kinfolk. But since she’d been in Oklahoma, that hadn’t happened with her onkel and aenti . They had no family to visit, though they were welcome at any of their neighbors’ homes.
    The look of hope on Erin’s face caused Anna to reconsider her answer. There was little she seemed to do that actually pleased her aenti . Would it be such a burden for her to agree