Free Missing with Bonus Material: The Secrets of Crittenden County, Book One by Shelley Shepard Gray Page A

kinner of your own.”
    “What was she like? What was my mother like? Was she young? Old? Married? Unmarried?”
    After exchanging glances, her father answered. “We never asked.”
    “We didn’t want to know, Lydia. You were all that mattered to us. And you were wunderbaar .”
    “Were they Amish? Or were they Englischers ?”
    “I don’t know,” her mother said. “It wasn’t important.”
    Lydia had never heard of an Amish couple giving up a baby. Therefore, it was highly likely that her birth parents were English. Which meant . . . what? “If my parents were English, am I even Amish?”
    “You were raised by Amish parents. You were brought up Amish. Of course you are Amish.”
    “But I have not yet professed my faith,” she pointed out.
    “That is only a matter of time, though, jah ? In no time, when you are courting again, I’m sure you will be ready to be baptized.”
    Now Lydia wasn’t so sure of that. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
    “But this is your heritage.”
    “ Nee, I thought I knew my heritage by birth,” she corrected. “Things are different now.” Her voice drifted off as she realized now there were so many holes and blanks in her past, it was as if half of her life had gone missing.
    Before her eyes, her parents’ attitudes hardened. With a glare, her father said, “You are making this more complicated than it is.”
    “You’ve kept a secret about my part in this family for twenty years. It’s pretty complicated to me.”
    Her father crossed his arms over his chest. “But nothing has changed, Lydia.” After a pause he added, “And there’s no reason for you to talk to your brothers and sister about it, either.”
    “You want me to keep the secret now?” She felt completely betrayed. Here they’d tossed this information in her lap and now didn’t want her to mention it again.
    Her mother’s chin lifted. “It is for the best. Your siblings might not understand, you know.”
    Oh, she knew. Feeling like her whole world was spinning, she stumbled to her feet. “I think I’m going to go for a walk now.”
    “Now? You can’t. You have work today.”
    “I am not going into the greenhouse. Reuben can work for me instead. Or you two can.”
    Her mother leapt to her feet. “That’s it? That is all you have to say?”
    What could she say? For some reason, her parents expected her to take their news, smile, and then go walk to the nursery and work by their side until dark. It was far better to get some space between them before she said something she would regret. “ Jah. I’m going to go for a walk. I might be a few hours.”
    “If you are not going to go to work, you need to do your chores. You have obligations to our home.”
    It had been that way all her life. Her mother talked about God and how He guided their lives. She talked about how each person in the family had a special place where he or she belonged, and how they all needed to do their part to keep the house and business running.
    But at the moment, she didn’t feel as if she belonged anywhere. Lydia straightened up and with a determined voice answered. “I don’t think I’ll be doing my chores today.”
    “Lydia, you must! You are still a member of the family.”
    Unable to hold her tongue any longer, she spoke. “Am I? Am I really? As far as I’m concerned, I’m the girl you’ve lied to for years. Years!”
    And with that, she ran inside and grabbed her purse from the top of the kitchen table. Her parents followed on her heels, but then stopped when she pulled open the front door.
    “Lydia? Please come back and talk to us about this!” her mother called out.
    Refusing to answer, Lydia pulled the screen door shut and let it slam behind her. As she heard her parents voices rise, she kept walking. Within seconds, she reached the end of their property. Taking a left, she passed the Yoders’ herd of cows, and heard the faint roar of the waters running in Crooked Creek.
    In the weak morning light, the dark