Free On Her Own by Wanda E. Brunstetter Page A

tomorrow.” John gripped the reins tightly as a car zipped past, tooting its horn. “Sure wish the Englishers wouldn’t drive so fast on this narrow road,” he muttered. “No wonder there have been so many accidents along here.”
    “I’m hungry,” Mary complained. “I was hoping Barbara might give us something to eat, but she didn’t offer a thing.”
    “And we never got to see the boppli, either,” Hannah complained.
    “Barbara’s tired, and she’s probably not feeling up to baking,” John said. “Maybe she needs a couple of girls to help her.”
    “You volunteered me or Nadine,” Hannah reminded him. “But Barbara said she was getting along fine.”
    He nodded. “That’s true, but I don’t think Barbara knows what she needs right now.”
    Mary nudged his shoulder. “What do you mean, Papa?”
    He glanced back at her and smiled. “I believe she could use some girls of her own.”
    Mary’s eyebrows furrowed. “But she’s gotta have a husband for that, doesn’t she?”
    “Jah, and I’ve been thinking. . . .” John’s voice trailed off. Should he tell the girls that he was hoping to give them a mother and him a wife, and that he hoped that wife and mother would be Barbara Zook? Better wait awhile , he decided. In the meantime, I’ll keep visiting Barbara and trying to gain her approval .
    “What are you thinking, Papa?” Hannah asked.
    “Nothing important.”
    John pulled into Margaret Hilty’s place a short time later.
    “Can we wait in the buggy?” Hannah asked when John came around to help them down.
    He shook his head. “I think it would be better if you came up to the house with me.”
    “How come, Papa?” Mary wanted to know.
    “Because it wouldn’t be proper for me to call on a recently widowed woman alone.”
    Mary opened her mouth as if she might argue, but he shook his head.
    Both girls trudged up the path leading to the home Margaret now shared with her daughter and son-in-law, and John followed. When they stepped onto the porch, Margaret came out the back door dressed in her black mourning clothes.
    “Wie geht’s, Bishop John?” she asked.
    “I’m doing all right.”
    “What brings you out my way on this warm afternoon?”
    “We came to see how you’re doing.” He motioned first toHannah and then to Mary. “Isn’t that right, girls?”
    “Jah,” they said in unison.
    John smiled at Margaret. “How are you getting along?”
    “Oh, fair to middlin’.” She yawned. “I miss Dan something awful, and I’m still not sleeping so well, but I’m grateful that Karen and Jacob were willing to move in here with me. Otherwise, I’d be even lonelier.”
    “I understand. If I didn’t have my girls to keep me company, I’d miss Peggy a lot more than I do.”
    John shifted from one foot to the other. “Say, I was wondering if I might make a suggestion.”
    “What’s that?”
    “We were over at Barbara Zook’s a short time ago, and I noticed how overgrown her garden’s become.”
    “I suppose with a new boppli and three young buwe to look after, she doesn’t have much time for gardening,” Margaret said.
    He nodded. “I was thinking it might be good if a group of ladies got together and went over to Barbara’s to work on her flower beds.”
    “I’m sure she would appreciate that.”
    He turned toward Margaret’s garden and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Since you’ve done such a fine job with your own yard, I was thinking you’d be the perfect one to help Barbara get her yard looking good again.”
    “I do need something to keep my hands and mind busy, and there’s only so much work I can do here.” She nodded. “I’d be happy to help Barbara.”
    “That’s good. I’ll speak to a few other women and see what day would work best for them, and then I’ll let Barbara knowthere’s going to be a work frolic in her garden plot soon.”
    Margaret looked at the girls. “Would you two care for some peanut brittle? My daughter Karen