Free A Time for Peace by Barbara Cameron Page A

be of some help."
    That was when Jenny noticed that Naomi didn't carry a container of food but instead, wielded a plastic bucket filled with cleaning supplies.
    Lydia patted Jenny's shoulder. "You look ready to fall over."
    "I've been so tired lately," Jenny admitted.
    Fannie Mae glanced at Lydia, then Naomi. "Maybe you're . . ."she trailed off as she glanced at Lydia, then Naomi.
    "Maybe I'm what?"
    "You know, maybe you're . . ."
    Jenny knew she was tired and her brain felt dull but she just didn't get it.
    "Maybe you're pregnant?"
    Pain lanced through her heart. Having just had her period, Jenny knew for certain that she wasn't. "No," she said firmly and she shook her head.
    "Taking care of someone who's sick is very tiring," Naomi said. "I remember what it was like to be up day and night taking care of Isaac, my brother, last year."
    Lydia nodded. "If you'll tell us what you need done we'll be happy to do it or you can just leave it up to us what to do."
    "I—" Jenny spread her hands in a helpless gesture. "I don't know what to say."
    "Say you're going to go take a nap," Naomi suggested. "We'll be quiet as mice."
    "But what if Phoebe wakes up?"
    "We'll come get you if we need you," Naomi said firmly.
    A nap sounded so good. But there was so much to do.
    "Shoo, shoo," Lydia said. "I'll bring you up a nice cup of tea in a minute and I want to find you lying down. Possibly already snoring."
    The women giggled like girls.
    Jenny wanted to refuse but just didn't know how she was going to keep going. Matthew did what he could after his own long, hard day, as did the children after school. But Phoebe's care fell on her and sitting up at night when Phoebe was having a bad spell was wearing her down.
    Smiling and laughing in spite of herself, Jenny caved. "Twist my arm," she muttered. She stifled a yawn. "Okay, okay, you win. I'll lie down for an hour. And then we'll have a nice visit and you ladies will go home. I'm sure you have enough to do for your own families without being so generous with mine."
    "Now you know we all help each other out. You go on to bed before you fall down."
    " Danki," she said fervently and beat it up the stairs before she could change her mind.
    When she came downstairs two hours later the kitchen floor was spotless. A pot of soup simmered on the stove. The breakfast dishes had been washed and put away. And her friends sat at the big kitchen table sipping tea and chatting quietly.
    "Well, you look refreshed," Lydia said with a smile.
    Jenny took a seat. "That was wonderful. I didn't mean to sleep so long."
    Naomi got up to fix Jenny a cup of tea and pushed the plate of cookies closer to her. "I peeked in on Phoebe and she's still asleep but she didn't feel like she had a fever. We've got the soup simmering for when she wakes up. She loves my chicken corn soup with rivvels."
    "There's a scalloped potato and ham casserole in the oven for supper," Lydia said. "Just warm up some canned vegetables to go with it and you're done."
    The women rose in a group and left in a flurry of goodbyes and requests for Jenny to give Phoebe a hug for them.
    "Remember to tell her the quilting circle is getting together in two weeks. We're contributing quilts for the auction to raise money for Haiti. You'll come too, won't you?"
    "My quilting's not very good," she demurred.
    "It just takes practice like anything else," Lydia assured her. "You're getting better."
    "Slowly, just like my cooking," Jenny said with a selfdeprecating laugh.
    "You're a fine Amish fraa," Fannie Mae told her. "Why, sometimes it's hard to remember that you weren't born here."
    Jenny gave her an impulsive hug, then turned to do the same with Lydia and Naomi. "And sometimes it's hard for me to remember I had a life before. This is home."
     

     
    Joshua answered the front door after supper and came to report that Hannah wanted Jenny to come to the door of the dawdi haus.
    Curious, Jenny walked back there and when she opened the door, she found Hannah and