LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter One

      LaGrange County, Indiana

      February 1938

      “You’re sure you want to do this?”

      Judith Lapp grinned at her brother-in-law, Matthew Beachey, as she climbed into the buggy. “I’ve been looking forward to going to a Youth Singing for years. Why would I refuse this chance now?”

      Matthew’s grin echoed hers as he turned the buggy onto the road leading to the Stoltzfus family’s farm. “That’s just what your sister would say.”

      As the horse trotted down the snowy road, the cold February air pressed close inside the buggy. Judith pulled her shawl more tightly around herself and tucked the heavy lap robe under her legs. A shiver made her teeth chatter, but she didn’t care. All those years growing up on the farm near Shipshewana, she had never gone to a Singing. Of course, she hadn’t been old enough to go until the last few years. Even so, she and Esther would never have gone if their older brother, Samuel, had had his way. Living at the edge of the Amish community, just like she had when their father had been alive, Judith had never felt welcome among the young people her own age.

      But then, last fall, their lives had changed. Samuel had met Mary. The couple had wed in September, and Esther had moved next door to live with Mary’s sister and their aunt. Judith had joined them until she moved to Matthew and Annie’s home last week to help care for their growing family. Not only was she delighted to become reacquainted with Annie after their years of separation, her oldest brother, Bram, lived in the same community, and she was learning to know him again, also.

      A tingling started in Judith’s toes and she tapped them on the buggy floor to warm them. Matthew’s shoulders were hunched, and he had pulled his chin into the collar of his coat like a turtle.

      Dear Matthew. It had been his idea for her to live with him and Annie after the twins were born. Such wiggly, red, crying babies! Judith’s job was to fix meals and care for Eli, her eighteen-month-old nephew. She shivered again, but whether it was from the cold or happiness, she couldn’t tell. She had to pinch herself every morning to convince herself that her new life wasn’t just a dream.

      Matthew turned the horse into the Stoltzfus farm lane and Judith leaned forward as they approached the large white farmhouse. A dozen or more buggies were lined up along the edge of the lane in front of the barn, the buggy shafts resting on the ground. Lights from the house shone onto the snow, and through the windows Judith could see a crowd of young people milling around inside the Stoltzfuses’ big front room.

      Her grin grew wider. These girls would be her new friends. And, perhaps, some evening a young man would ask to drive her home from the Singing. A fine, upstanding Amish man who was looking

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