Free Sarah's Christmas Miracle by Mary Ellis Page A

would crawl to investigate the wonders of the pump house or the chicken coop.
    But Sarah? That girl had been as predictable as robins in the spring. Shy, soft-spoken, and easily pleased, Sarah stayed where she was put, never sassed, and usually confided every hope or fear to her mother…until lately. Elizabeth knew that change comes to all women. They leave childhood and step into the adult world without a firm understanding of what they want or what’s expected of them, yet she had always felt confident that steadfast Sarah would set a good example for her younger, more impetuous sisters.
    So Elizabeth was uncomfortable when apprehension tickled the back of her mind.
    For the past few days, Sarah had been dreamy and secretive, spending time holed up in her room when she wasn’t at the inn. Tomorrow was the Lord’s day. There would be no work at the B and B. All her kinner would be home, but Elizabeth chose not to wait for an overdue conversation. With a sigh she set down her sewing and climbed the stairs to her daughters’ room.
    “Sarah?” she called, knocking firmly. “I’d like a word with you.”
    After a moment the door swung wide, and a chilling sight greeted Elizabeth. Across Sarah’s narrow bed lay every garment of clothing she owned. Dresses, skirts, aprons, kapps , socks, and underclothes had been scattered. Some of the items Sarah had outgrown and should have been handed down to Rebekah. Little bottles of lotion and shampoo sat in a heap next to her brush, comb, and toothbrush.
    “Going on a trip?” Elizabeth asked, expecting a logical explanation, such as closet cleaning or drawer reorganization.
    The girl glanced up with her honey brown eyes shining. “ Jah. Do you know where the small suitcase is, mamm ? The one I used when we traveled to Pennsylvania for cousin Susan’s wedding a couple years ago? I’ve looked everywhere!” She shut her bottom drawer with a toe.
    “It’s up in the attic with the rest of them. Where do you think you’re going?” Elizabeth closed the bedroom door, not wishing their conversation to be overheard.
    Sarah, the child without an ounce of drama, calmly replied, “Cleveland,” and then began folding her strewn blouses.
    “Cleveland? What in the world for?” asked Elizabeth, but deep in her heart she knew.
    “I’m going to find my brother. I wish to speak with him.” Sarah didn’t look at her mother as she smoothed wrinkles from her longest winter skirt.
    “You’re not making any sense, daughter. Nobody knows where he is.”
    “I know where he lives.” The girl looked up and met Elizabeth’s eye with the assurance of a ninety-year-old sage. “Albert Sidley gave me his most recent address.”
    Albert Sidley—Caleb’s old pal from their days of softball and riding horses up into the hills? Elizabeth hadn’t thought of that boy in a long time. Suddenly her knees felt weak, and she sat down hard on Rebekah’s neatly made bed. “Your bruder wrote to Albert?” she asked hoarsely.
    “ Jah , a couple times.” Sarah filled a plastic bag with her toiletries. “I don’t mean to upset you, mamm, but I have a few questions for Caleb.”
    “What kinds of questions? After all these years, what could he possibly tell you that would be this important? He chose to leave us, Sarah. It was his decision to leave the Order and become English.”
    Sarah stopped organizing her small wardrobe. “Are you forbidding me from going? I’m nineteen years old—an adult, not a child. I’ve saved my own money. And these are my years to sample the English world before making up my mind.”
    Elizabeth thought she might be sick as her stomach took a nasty churn. Maybe she shouldn’t have spread the hot pepper relish so generously on her sandwich. “So you’ve decided to take a Rumschpringe after all? Is this why you haven’t taken classes in preparation of baptism? Is this why you’ve been dancing Adam Troyer around like a puppet on a string—changing the subject each