Free A Simple Hope: A Lancaster Crossroads Novel by Rosalind Lauer Page A

Amish woman slid down from the stool, Shandell saw that she was barely three feet tall. A little person. Still, she moved with authority as she led Shandell past an aisle of wooden plaques and quaint paintings of green fields and Amish quilts.
    “You can stay in here,” Elsie said, pulling the curtain back on a doorway.
    Shandell quickly scanned the dim, windowless storeroom, its walls lined with shelves of neatly arranged boxes, jars, and fabric. “Thanks, but there’s no door. Gary could just walk right in here, and he probably will. Maybe I should go out the back way …”
    Elsie stepped behind Shandell, her compact body blocking her from backing away. “What’s your name?”
    “Shandell Darby. I live in Baltimore, and I don’t know how I ended up here with Gary, but I just want to get away from him and go home.” Shandell didn’t mean to blurt out her life story, but there it was, bald and true.
    “Then get away, you will.” Elsie nodded at the storeroom. “But for now, you’re better off in here. We’ll cover you up right good. Put your pack in there and sit on the floor by this wall.”
    Shandell followed Elsie’s instructions. First she stashed her backpack inside a wooden love chest with a seat that opened. Then she huddled up against the wall by the shelves holding bolts of fabric.
    “Now, this is thin muslin cloth, so I reckon you’ll be able to breathe through it,” Elsie said as she unwound a bolt of tan cloth. She opened the material and doubled it up so that it would cover Shandell. Then she slid the bolt onto the shelf just above Shandell’s head. “There. How’s that?” Elsie asked.
    “I feel like a mummy. Can you see me?”
    “No.” Elsie patted Shandell’s head gently, then adjusted the cloth again. “Are you good under there?”
    “Fine.”
    “Okay, then. I’ll be out front, but you just sit tight.”
    She was about to thank Elsie, but the Amish shopkeeper’s footsteps were already receding. Shandell pressed against the wall. If she closed her eyes and melted into the floor and wall, maybe she would be invisible to Gary.
    Shandell took comfort in the voices from the main shop. Elsie seemed to know how to please customers, and the Amish guy had a deep, low voice that complemented Elsie’s high-pitched tone.
    The place had a peaceful atmosphere, like one of the scenes in the paintings by the storeroom door, with patchwork fields lined by purple hills, black hats on hooks, a horse and buggy silhouetted by a brilliant orange sunset. For a few minutes, Shandell let herself float in the good memories of the past few days.
    Then, with a jingle of the door bells, she felt him enter the shop.
    “I’m looking for my girlfriend.” Gary’s voice chilled the air. “We were just on our way home, and we stopped in town.”
    Liar
. She wasn’t his girlfriend. And he wasn’t going to take her home. It was all an act.
    Tears of frustration and anger sprang from her eyes. How did she get into this mess?
    “Did you see a girl with black hair?” Gary asked.
    “Lots of girls like that around here,” Elsie answered.
    “Yeah, but hers is sort of tinted blue.”
    “You can take a look.”
    “I figure she went off to browse in a shop and lost track of time,” Gary said. “You know how women are.”
    His voice was growing louder, a sign that he was creeping closer. Shandell clenched her jaw, fighting to remain very still. She held her breath as she sensed him closing in on her.
    Was he in the storeroom?
    Go away! Leave me alone
.
    To keep from quivering, she imagined herself floating away from him on a thick white cloud.
    “All right. Whatever.” His voice, coming from the shop once again, let her breathe again. He talked with Elsie a minute more, turning on the charm. Then, at last, he said good-bye.
    Shandell’s heartbeat began to steady as the bells jingled. A minute later, she heard Elsie’s voice.
    “He’s gone, but you best stay put for a few minutes, in case he pops back