Plain Proposal Read Online Free Page A

growled. Aside from the meat loaf and potatoes, the rest was unfamiliar.
    Rebecca placed the last two glasses of tea in front of Ben and John, then took a seat at the opposite end of the table from her husband.
    “Shelby, we pray silently before and after a meal.” Rebecca smiled before she bowed her head along with the rest of the family. Shelby followed suit, but she didn’t have anything to say to God. She lifted her head when she heard movement around her.
    Miriam passed her a bowl first. “This is creamed celery.”
    Shelby spooned a generous helping onto her plate, trying to remember the last time she’d sat down for a family meal like this. She tried to recall when the problems had started between her parents. When had the two most important people in her life stopped loving each other and started screaming at each other?
    “Do you like to cook, Shelby?” Rebecca passed a tray with bread toward Shelby, and Shelby nodded. She could remember spending hours in the kitchen with her mother when she was young. Mom would set her up on the counter, and together they would bake a variety of cookies. Shelby’s job was to lick the beaters clean and be the tester for each warm batch that came from the oven.
    She sat quietly, listening to the family talk about their day. The oldest boy, Ben, told a story about running into someone named Big Jake in a place called Bird-In-Hand. “He ain’t ever gonna sell that cow now that everyone knows it birthed a calf with two heads.” Ben laughed, then squinted as he leaned forward a bit. “I heard he even took the animal to Ida King, and—”
    “Ben!” Rebecca sat taller in her chair and scowled at her oldest son. “We will not speak of such things at supper—or any time.” She turned to Shelby and spoke in a whisper. “Ida King practices powwowing.”
    Shelby laid a fork full of creamed celery on her plate. “What’s that?”
    Rebecca shook her head. “Her practices are not something the Lord would approve of.”
    “She’s like a witch doctor,” Miriam whispered to Shelby.
    “Enough.” Aaron didn’t look up as he spoke, but everyone adhered to his wishes and ate silently for a moment, then Elam commented that he saw a raccoon trying to climb the fence to his mother’s garden. Shelby had noticed the large garden on the side of the house when the van first pulled into the driveway.
    “I put a bowl of freshly cut vegetables right outside the fence for that fellow, hoping he wouldn’t get greedy,” Rebecca said with a laugh.
    The youngest boy—John—chuckled as he told a tale about chasing their rooster around the barn. Shelby saw the boy’s father grimace, but he didn’t say anything.
    “And what about you, Miriam?” Rebecca pinched a piece of bread and held it in her hand as she waited for her daughter to answer. “How was your time at the creek?”
    Shelby wondered what they did for fun here. She used to love to swim. She turned slightly toward her cousin and waited.
    “It was fine,” Miriam said.
    “She only goes there to see Saul Fisher.” Ben reached across his brother and pulled back a slice of bread. Shelby was sure this was the best bread she’d had in her life, warm and dripping with butter. She took another bite of her own slice as Ben went on. “But you’re wasting your time. I’ve heard it told that he ain’t gonna be baptized.”
    “You don’t know that, Ben.” Miriam’s tone was sharp as she frowned at her brother.
    Ben’s glare challenged her as he leaned forward in his chair. “That’s what folks are saying.”
    “No talk of rumors, Ben.” Once again Aaron didn’t look up from his plate, but the conversation ceased immediately, and Rebecca started to talk about a new schoolteacher named Sarah who would be taking over when school started up again in September. When she was done, she spoke directly to Shelby.
    “Will you be attending college next year, Shelby?”
    Shelby took a deep breath as she shifted her weight. That had