The Amish Doll: Amish Knitting Novel (Bonus Knitting Pattern Included) Read Online Free

why?
    She started combing her hair, and thought of Joshua.  Yes, he seemed sweet, but why did he seem familiar to her? She’d never been to Cherry Creek or Ellington, thinking both towns were small, so why bother? She spent most of her growing up years in Salamanca or Jamestown.
    When her hair was detangled enough, she clipped it back and dressed quickly. Raven looked in her closet and grinned to think the boys wanted to help unpack her things, even women’s clothing.  She was fond of them already, but of course children were easy to get close to. She scanned her wardrobe and grabbed black pants and a blue blouse, Amish colors. Why did they so freely wear black? She was always told as a child it was a color of magical power and to be feared if misused.
    Raven tip-toed down the hallway and steps, not to disturb the boys, and was soon driving down Main Street out toward Cherry Creek. She looked at her GPS. It was only five miles away. She turned on the radio to light jazz and soon started to see some Amish houses. They were all white with navy blue curtains peeping out. Large red barns were built close to the houses. The morning sun shot beams through the thick clouds.  Was it a good sign?
    She pulled into the Yoder’s driveway that was to the right of their house. She saw a man staggering to a large maple tree behind the barn. Was this Mr. Yoder and was he drunk? She saw him reach up into a birdhouse to pull something out. He smiled as he counted money. What on earth? She opened her car door and he turned to look at her, and tears filled his eyes. She heard him call out to her with outstretched arms, “My love.” He looked at her as if something from a vision. She ran up the steps onto the Yoder front porch and knocked hard on the door.
    Joshua opened the door. “Are you alright, Raven?”
    She didn’t know what to say, but blurted out, “Is that man out there in the yard your dad?”
    “My Daed’s washing up for breakfast in the utility room.” Joshua stepped out on the porch to look across the yard. “I don’t see anyone.”
    “Maybe he was a helper, then,” she gasped, her heart in her throat. Her eyes met Joshua’s and she felt everything come into focus again and then felt oddly at ease. Stepping inside the house, she looked over the large living room. It was so sparse. No stuffed chairs or couch, only two wooden benches with spindled backs faced each other, separated by a chest-type coffee table. Two Amish rockers were placed in the corners of the room. Oil lamps hung from oak sconces. She found the simplicity charming.  
    Joshua led her into the kitchen, but when her eyes met Susanna’s, she was not prepared. The woman sat in an Amish rocker in the corner next to the wood burning stove. Her light hair was the color of her skin. Her eyelids looked like window shades, half down, but no doubt, the light in her eyes shone through. She went over to shake her hand. “Hello, Mrs. Yoder. My name is Raven Meadows.”
    “Call me Susanna. We Amish aren’t real proper, going by Mr. and Mrs.” She shook her hand warmly.
    “I love your shawl.” Raven noticed the blue yarn looked homespun.
    Susanna pulled the shawl closer around her. “It’s called a prayer shawl. A friend in Pennsylvania made it. Said that with each stitch, a prayer was said for me. It makes me feel like someone’s hugging me all the time.”
    Raven had seen books in craft stores for prayer shawls, but didn’t realize they really helped anyone. But Susanna seemed to feel special; remembered in her illness. “I knit. Do you?”
    “ Jah, on my knitting loom. Some days I get one row done, and feel like it’s an accomplishment. Would love to learn to knit with needles, though. Something different.”
    “I’ve taught others to knit. It’s so easy. Maybe I can teach you.”
    “I’d like that.”
    Raven saw a man come in from a room off the kitchen. He came over and shook her hand, green eyes twinkling. “I’m Rueben, Susanna’s