Amish Faith: An Amish Christian Romance Read online

  Amish Faith

  By Sarah Price

  The Pennsylvania Dutch used in this manuscript is taken from the Pennsylvania Dutch Revised Dictionary (1991) by C. Richard Beam, Brookshire Publications, Inc. in Lancaster, PA.

  Copyright © 2013 by Price Publishing, LLC.

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  Contact the author at on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/fansofsarahprice or

  visit her Web Blog at http://www.sarahpriceauthor.com.

  Price Publishing, LLC.

  Morristown, NJ

  http://www.pricepublishing.org

  Other Books by Sarah Price

  The Amish of Lancaster Series

  #1: Fields of Corn

  #2: Hills of Wheat

  #3: Pastures of Faith

  #4: Valley of Hope

  The Amish of Ephrata Series

  #1: The Tomato Patch

  #2: The Quilting Bee

  #3: The Hope Chest

  #4: The Clothes Line (Summer 2013)

  The Plain Fame Trilogy

  Plain Fame

  Plain Change

  Plain Again (Summer 2013)

  Amish Circle Letters

  Miriam’s Letter: Volume 1

  Rachel’s Letter: Volume 2

  Leah’s Letter: Volume 3

  Anna’s Letter: Volume 4

  Lizzie’s Letter: Volume 5

  Sylvia’s Letter: Volume 6

  Lovina’s Letter: Volume 7

  Ella’s Letter: Volume 8

  Mary Ruth’s Letter: Volume 9

  Miriam’s Package: Volume 10

  The Adventures of a Family Dog Series

  #1: A Small Dog Named Peek-a-boo

  #2: Peek-a-boo Runs Away

  #3: Peek-a-boo’s New Friends

  #4: Peek-a-boo and Daisy Doodle (2013)

  Other Books, Novellas and Short Stories

  Gypsy in Black

  Postcards from Abby (with Ella Stewart)

  Meet Me in Heaven (with Ella Stewart)

  The Prayer Chain Series (with Ella Stewart)

  Mark Miller’s One Volume 11: The Power of Faith

  A Gift of Faith: An Amish Christmas Story

  An Amish Christmas Carol: Amish Christian Classic Series

  A Christmas Gift for Rebecca: An Amish Christian Romance

  Dedication

  To Sparrow.

  …for being the “bestest” friend

  who has brought amazing grace into our home.

  This one’s for you!

  <3

  After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

  I Samuel 18: 1-3

  Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, "May the LORD be between you and me, and your descendants and my descendants, forever." So David got up and departed and Jonathan went to his own city.

  I Samuel 20:42

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  One More Thing…

  About Sarah Price

  Prologue

  Faith stood at the graveyard, the cold wind whipping through her black shawl. She stood with her hand resting protectively upon her stomach as she stared at the tombstone. It was bland. Just a simple, white stone with no special wording: a name, date of birth, date of death. That was it. No designs or markings. No special endearments. The beige colored grass that grew up alongside the stone only bespoke of the time that had already passed. Not enough to forget but just enough to not always remember.

  Death, Faith thought, is as cold as the winter air.

  Indeed, it was cold outside, with the wind whipping through her black cape and skirt. But she barely noticed it. Instead, she was shrouded in the warmth of the memory of her friend: Rebecca Petersheim. The cold winter air that chilled Faith’s bones did nothing to cool the heat of her pounding heart.

  Not a day passed without her thinking about Rebecca. To forget her friend was simply impossible. In truth, Rebecca’s presence surrounded Faith every second of the day. There were days when she imagined Rebecca standing nearby, smiling in approval at Faith’s life, a life that Rebecca had unknowingly created for her with one simple request.

  Yes, it was impossible to forget Rebecca. Her smile was etched in Faith’s memory. Her laughter still rang in her ears. The memories of their friendship seemed to replay like a movie in her mind.

  Yet, despite knowing that she would never forget Rebecca, Faith knew that it was becoming increasingly easy to overlook the fact that everything she had was because of Rebecca and that promise made, oh so many years ago! A promise born from innocence and cemented in a time of grief. A promise that, against all odds, Faith had kept and, despite these odds, realized that it had been more of a gift than a promise after all.

  The sky was overcast and grey. The trees were dark, their bare limbs reaching in unison upward toward the sky. The perfect backdrop to add to the emotion that Faith was feeling. She glanced upward and stared, for just one short moment, at the darkening clouds. It smelled like snow. The year’s last snowfall. She wasn’t looking forward to it, just like she hadn’t been looking forward to visiting Rebecca’s grave either. Perhaps her friend’s death was still too fresh in her memory.

  Turning her attention back to the grey stone, she sighed. It was surrounded by others that looked just like it: A field of identical stones that marked the passing of lives. Some of the stones were old and worn out. A few were fresh, too fresh, attesting of the recent passing of fathers, mothers, and children.

  Her eyes locked onto Rebecca’s stone. The chiseled words seemed cold and unfriendly. No tender words of endearment that might proclaim that Rebecca had been a beloved wife, a loving mother, a cherished daughter and a dear friend.

  Ten months had passed. Ten long months in which entire worlds had shifted. Without Rebecca, life had changed for so many and in so many ways. Oh, Faith knew she should rejoice in the fact that Rebecca walked with the Lord. But the truth was that she missed her friend. She missed her smile and the energy of her youth, her love and adoration of family as a young woman, wife and mother, and her strength and determination in her final years.

  How had it come to this, she pondered.

  Chapter One

  They were six and seven when they first met.

  As Faith’s father needed a new milking machine for his dairy barn, he had taken her to a farm auction. Their neighbor, Jonas Yoder, had encouraged her father to join him at the Amish auction that was being held on the upcoming Saturday at a nearby farm. Public auctions were always a great place to buy inexpensive, if slightly used, farm equipment.

  Faith had stood by her
father’s side, pulling her brown coat closed at the neck and adjusting the blue headscarf that her mother had forced her to wear. She was not used to being in such a large crowd of Amish men. To Faith, all these men looked similar, with their battered straw hats, white shirts, and black pants held up by black suspenders. Most had long, greying beards and stern expressions on their faces. They didn’t look friendly at all.

  For a moment, Faith had wished that she hadn’t agreed to go with her father. It would have been much more fun staying home, playing in the hayloft or even helping her mother with the chores. Anything but being here with all of these men who spoke in a language she didn’t understand and seemed to look right through her as if she didn’t exist.

  “I know you!” someone exclaimed behind her.

  Faith turned around and looked at the girl standing opposite her. She appeared to be about the same age as Faith, despite being a bit taller. She, too, wore a heavy coat and a headscarf but there was something different about her.

  “You live on the farm next to ours! The Landes farm!” the girl said, a big smile lighting her face. “But you don’t go to my school, ain’t so? How come?”

  Faith had only started school that past fall. She went to the public school, a small yellow bus picking her up every day at the end of the driveway. Each morning, her mother would walk with her to the mailbox, waiting with her as they sung a hymn from their church or practiced Faith’s spelling. “Cat? Dog? Bat?” Faith would recite the correct spelling of each word, glorifying in the approval of her mother when she got each one correct. “My smart girl,” her mother would say and give her a big hug before the bus came.

  “I don’t know,” Faith said to the girl who stood so close to her. She wasn’t used to such forwardness from other children, especially strange ones that she didn’t really know.

  “It wonders me,” the girl went on, tapping a dirty finger on the side of her cheek. “Mayhaps you aren’t Amish?”

  Faith shook her head.

  “What are you, then?” the girl asked, the curiosity in her dark eyes more than apparent.

  “Mennonite,” Faith whispered, wondering if the little girl would still want to talk to her.

  “Ja vell,” the girl said. “My name’s Rebecca. We should be friends, don’t you think? We live next to each other and, even if you ain’t Amish, we could still play together!”

  Faith didn’t know how to respond. Rebecca talked funny. Her words sounded like a song with a funny accent. Instead of saying ‘other’, it came out ‘oo-dher’. Instead of saying ‘could’, she said ‘coou-d.’ Faith liked the way Rebecca drew out her words. She wished that she could speak like that. “I guess sooo,” Faith answered, trying to imitate Rebecca’s accent.

  Rebecca laughed, her eyes crinkling into small half-moons, and shook her head. “You don’t sound Amish at all.”

  Faith blushed and lowered her eyes, embarrassed.

  “What’s your name, then?” the girl asked, her eyes sparkling.

  “Faith.”

  For a second, Rebecca frowned. Faith wondered why. Her parents had named her that after years of trying to have a baby. They prayed for a baby, just one. And when her mother had finally learned that she was pregnant, they immediately knew that, if the baby was a girl, they would name her Faith for they had put their faith in God to bring them this one simple request: a healthy, living baby. Faith had never thought twice about her name. Now, however, as Rebecca hesitated and studied Faith, she couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong with her name?

  But, just as quick as the frown had appeared, it vanished. Rebecca shrugged and grabbed Faith’s hand. “Come on, then. Let’s go watch the auction!” Dragging Faith through the sea of Amish men, Rebecca pulled her toward the railing and stood by her side.

  For a while, they watched the different pieces of equipment come to the front of the area set aside for the merchandise, the podium and the auctioneer. His voice was barely understandable as he rambled about each item, calling for bids on each piece, and pointing into the crowd whenever people raised their hands. Faith thought the auctioneer was singing and shut her eyes, listening to the magical voice.

  She felt someone nudge past her and opened her eyes, seeing a large Amish man push her backward, blocking her view. Faith glanced at Rebecca who frowned, not liking the fact that she could no longer see. But, just as quickly, Rebecca raised her eyebrows and her mouth formed a perfect O, something humorous having caught her attention.

  She grabbed at Faith’s arm. “Look at that!” she whispered, pointing toward the man in front of her. “He has a piece of toilet paper on his backside!”

  Faith looked and started giggling.

  Rebecca giggled, too. “Reckon my mamm would want me to tell him but I’m not going to! Serves him right for blocking the view from us!”

  From that moment on, Faith knew that Rebecca was going to be her once-in-a-lifetime friend, that special someone whom she would share everything with…secrets, dreams, and mischievous plans. Staring at her new friend, Faith was amazed. How was it possible that this wonderful girl had lived next to her for all of her life and that only now they had just found each other?

  Faith never quite understood why she went to a different school than Rebecca. After all, they lived right next to each other. Still, almost every day before evening chores, they would meet in the pasture between their houses and explore the fields, hunting for bird nests in the spring, baby bunnies in the early summer, and pretty butterflies in the waning days of August. They would collect wild flowers and bring them home to their mothers.

  Faith was now nine and Rebecca was ten. They spent as much time together as they could, never noticing the differences between them or simply not caring to be bothered by them.

  One day, they sat on a picnic table outside of the Yoder’s house, looking at the flowers they had collected. It was a Saturday afternoon. A buggy pulled into the driveway and two young men got out, nodding in the direction of the two girls. Faith stared and Rebecca waved as she called out, “Hullo Jacob! Hullo Manuel!”

  “Your bruder James around, then?” the older of the two boys said.

  “Ja, ja!” Rebecca responded and looked over her shoulder toward the house. “Mayhaps inside, taking a short nap.”

  The boys walked toward the house, the younger one pausing to peer over Rebecca’s shoulder, his eyes sparkling and an inquisitive look on his face. “What you have there, Rebecca?”

  She smiled, pointing at the flowers that were spread upon the wooden tabletop. “Pretty, ain’t so? Faith and I…well, we’re going to press them so we have them forever.” Pausing, she glanced at Faith. “Faith, this is Manuel,” she said absentmindedly.

  Faith flushed and couldn’t meet his eyes. They were so blue and bright, as if the prettiest summer sky was reflected there. And his smile lit up his face. She thought that he was the most handsome boy she’d ever seen in her life.

  Oblivious to what Faith was thinking, Manuel held out his hand, being a proper young Amish man, and waited until she took it. He shook it and smiled, a brilliant white smile, his blues eyes staring into her brown ones. “Nice to meet you, Faith. Unusual name, that,” he said.

  “Thanks, Manny,” she whispered.

  Rebecca frowned. “Manny? Did you call him Manny?” Annoyed, she shook her head and corrected Faith. “It’s Manuel!”

  Manuel teasingly cuffed Rebecca’s head. “Aw, she can call me Manny. I think I right like that,” he said. Then, winking at Faith to let her know that her blunder was fine by him, he hurried down the path toward the house. She couldn’t help herself from staring after him, surprised at his sparkling blue eyes that had twinkled when she had called him Manny instead of Manuel. And he had winked at her with such a smile on his face, a smile that made her heart flutter.

  Once the door shut behind the two boys, Rebecca lost no time to turn and reprimand Faith. “We don’t use nicknames, Faith.”

  “I’m sorry,” Faith responded, feeling
stupid for the first time in Rebecca’s presence. “I didn’t know.”

  “Ja vell, now you do,” Rebecca said sharply, turning her attention back to the flowers. “Now, you pick one and I’ll pick one. We’ll go back and forth, taking turns. That way it’s fair and we can each keep our favorite flowers forever.” She looked up at Faith and smiled, the nickname incident already forgotten. “Like our friendship, ja?”

  Faith smiled back, feeling better already. “Yes,” she agreed. “We’ll always be friends.”

  Rebecca reached out and placed her hand atop of Faith’s. “I don’t have no same-age sister. But I think you are just as good for that, ain’t so?”

  Without any further words, the two girls began selecting their flowers with Faith picking first because she was younger. When they had their collections sorted, they carried them into the kitchen where Rebecca’s mamm would help the girls press the flowers between small pieces of wax paper in the family Bible.

  “Come on,” Rebecca cried out, waving to Faith as the children ran down the hill toward the pond. “It’s going to be fun!”

  Oh ja, Faith thought. Fun for you. You’re the one that knows how to swim! She dreaded the thought of letting the other children know that her parents had never taught her how to swim. She was already eleven years old, a farmer’s daughter, who knew little else than how to milk a cow and do well in school. Other than that, Faith was lost.

  She was an only child, not for lack of her parents’ trying. They had other children but none of them lived past infancy. Two had died in childbirth, the cords wrapped horrendously around their necks, and one had died six months after birth. Only Faith had survived and that had driven her parents to do very little with her. She was never allowed to do anything that might present a hazard. Swimming? Never. Ice-skating? Out of the question! But having fun with the Amish neighbors’ children? That seemed harmless enough.