The Amish Teacher's Dilemma and Healing Their Amish Hearts by Patricia Davids (all ebook reader .txt) 📕

“She has to be pretty,” Harley said. “That’s my only suggestion.”

“And not old,” Otto added.

Eva tipped her head to the side. “What do you consider old?”

The kids exchanged looks. “A hundred,” Maddie offered.

“That’s really old,” Harley said. “Maybe fifty. Like you.”

Eva bit down on her upper lip. “Under fifty. What else, Harley?”

“That was my only suggestion. Ask them.”

“Well?” She looked at Maddie and Otto.

Maddie held the list out like she was reading it. “She has to be a good cook. She has to smell nice. She has to have a dog. What else did we say, Harley?”

“She needs to sew and not make us take too many baths,” Otto finished.

Eva took the list from Maddie. “This is a tall order. It may take me a while to matchmake someone with all these qualifications. What happens if Willis doesn’t like the woman I find?”

Maddie scrunched her face in deep thought. She brightened suddenly. “We could get our own dog.”

Eva folded the list and put it in her apron pocket. “Let’s not tell Willis about this. He has a lot on his mind today.” Someday she would share the note with him and they would both laugh about it. Now wasn’t that time.

Harley came into the barn as Willis was finishing feeding and grooming the horses that evening. He let himself out of Dodger’s stall. “Where have you been?”

“The Arnett place.”

Willis hung up his brush and currycomb. “What are you doing over there every day?”

“Chores mostly. Lilly always has a list of things for me to do.”

“You’ve been gone so much I was beginning to think you had a girlfriend.”

Harley blushed bright red. “I don’t and I don’t want one.”

Willis snatched off his brother’s hat and ruffled his hair. “Goot. You’re growing up too fast as it is.”

“I didn’t get much choice in the matter.”

“No, you didn’t.” Willis slipped his arm around his brother’s shoulders. Otto and Maddie came out of the house. Willis gestured for them to come over. They gathered in front of him. Maybe the children would be better off with someone else. He had to at least consider the possibility.

He could give them the choice. “The bishop came to see me today.”

“What did he want?” Otto asked.

“He’s concerned that I’m not raising the three of you properly. What do you think?”

Harley hooked his thumbs in his suspenders and stared at the ground. “You’re doing okay.”

“All that praise will go to my head.” Willis bent sideways to see his brother’s face. “How about the truth?”

Harley shrugged. “There are things you could improve.”

“Enlighten me,” Willis said, choosing one of Eva’s words. He sat down on a bale of hay beside the barn door.

“I guess we want to feel like a family again. We can take on more chores. We aren’t babies.” Harley’s voice trailed away.

Willis looked around at three unhappy faces. “The bishop could find you another family to live with if that’s what you want.” He barely got the words out of his tight throat.

Otto glared at him. “Is that what you want?”

Willis wanted his old life back, didn’t he? Where he didn’t have to be concerned about anyone but himself. Where he was never a disappointment to anyone else. He cleared his throat. “I love you. I want what’s best for you.”

Maddie climbed onto the bale beside him and rested her head against his arm. “Bubble doesn’t want to live anywhere else.”

Harley glanced at Otto. “Neither do we.”

“I miss the things Mamm and Daed used to do with us,” Maddie said.

“What things?” Willis asked.

“Mamm used to read us Bible stories at night. And she used to tuck me in real tight. You don’t tuck very well.”

“I can learn to do better. Why haven’t you said anything before?”

They looked at each other. Maddie sighed deeply. “I was scared you wouldn’t like me and you might send me away.”

He put his arm around her. “Nope. Not going to happen. I’m not sending Otto away. I’m not sending Harley away and I’m not sending Bubble or you away. You are my family and you can stay with me until you have families of your own. Okay?”

They all nodded and smiled. Willis swallowed the lump in his throat. “Otto, you’re in charge of Dodger, my buggy horse and the draft horses. Feed them and make sure they have water. Keep them groomed, keep their stalls clean and make sure Dodger gets plenty of exercise. We don’t want him to act up when the teacher is driving him.”

“Can I drive him?” Otto asked hopefully.

“Okay. You’re old enough to handle the reins. Maddie, you will feed the chickens and geese every morning and gather the eggs. Plus, you will sweep the kitchen every day after breakfast. Got it?”

She nodded. “Got it.”

Willis looked at Harley. Maybe this was the time he should confess how dimwitted he was but his insecurity ran deep down into his bones. “Harley, I’m putting you in charge of bringing in the mail, reading it and letting me know what things are important.”

“Eva needs our enrollment forms filled out,” Harley said. “I can do that.”

“I almost forgot about those forms. It would be great if you could do that for me.” He wanted to hug the boy.

“It will be up to you to find stories and prayers to read to us in the evening. Eva has lots of books. She’s offered to loan us some and I think we should take her up on that.”

Maddie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, do you think she has Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?”

“I’m not sure. You should ask her. Eva also needs some help learning to be a teacher. She’s never done it before. She would like you, Maddie, and you, Otto, to be her first students.”

Otto scowled. “I don’t want to go to school. School is stupid.”

“I felt that way about school when I was your age and my opinion has never changed, but I didn’t have a teacher as nice as Eva. I