passing outside their window.
âDoes that mean you donât want to talk about it? Or you have nothing to say?â
Anna laughed. âYou ask more questions than I do, which I didnât know was possible.â
âIâm a reporter. Iâm supposed to ask questions. It helps when youâre trying to get information from folks for an article. Of course, some people I interview actually want to be in the paper. Itâs hard to get them to stop talking.â
âNot so much with the Amish.â
âNot so muchâ¦â The afternoon had turned out better than Chloe could have imagined. She never would have found Amish women who sold quilts for additional income on her own unless sheâd passed their roadside sign by sheer luck.
âExplain to me why there isnât a quilt shop located somewhere central that these women could sell their quilts from. Somewhere Englischers could find.â
Anna shrugged. âIf Gotte wants them to sellâ¦â
âHeâll bring folks down their lane? Come on now.â
Anna only smiled.
Chloe was learning that her new Amish friend wasnât easily offended. She was surprised at how comfortable she felt with Anna. There had been no awkward silences or dead-end topics, though at timesâlike nowâAnna didnât exactly offer volumes of information.
âIf there was a central shopââ
âBut thereâs not.â
âIf there were, it would bring more tourists and more quilts would sell. Mrs. Troyerâ¦â
âOur bishopâs wife.â
âShe had more than a dozen beautiful quilts completed. Iâm sure plenty of woman would love to have those in their home. They would sell quickly if anyone knew about them.â
âWho would work at this shop?â Anna cornered herself in the car seat so she could face Chloe.
She certainly seemed comfortable riding in the car. Chloe had no idea why she had worried that this might be her first time, that she might not know how to work the seat belt. She realized suddenly that many of her thoughts about the Amish were stereotypes. As a reporter, she should have known better.
âThat would depend on how many women you had contributing quilts. If you had at least twelve, I suppose each woman could spend half a dayââ
âAmish women donât work outside the home.â
âNever?â
âThey donât if theyâre married. For one thing, thereâs too much for them to do at home. Thereâs the cooking and cleaning and raising of the younger kinner .â
â Kinner ?â
âChildren.â
âWhat about when theyâre older? When the kinner are gone?â
âStill there is much to doâhelping with the grandkinner . Plus allof the work on a farm remains the same. Look at my aenti . She has no children, and still the work is almost too much for her. At least in big families the children grow older and can help.â
âIs that why you came? To help her?â
Anna shook her head and popped her finger joints one by one. A nervous gesture? Maybe. Chloe turned the subject back to the prospective quilt shop.
âWhat about younger women, like you?â
âMost women my age are married already and expecting their first boppli .â
âReally?â
âYes. Why would you be surprised at that?â
âWell, youâre not so old. Probably younger than I am.â
âTwenty-four.â Anna again popped the index finger on her left hand.
If Chloe didnât stay away from sensitive subjects, the girl was going to have an early case of arthritis. âIâm thirty-two.â
âAnd not married?â As soon as she said that, Anna covered her mouth as if she wanted to snatch the words back.
âItâs okay. My mom says the same thing, often in the same tone of voice.â She immediately regretted the words. There was no use in being angry at her mother,
Anne McCaffrey, Jody Lynn Nye