Free Judith Miller - [Daughters of Amana 01] by Somewhere to Belong Page A

“You’re as eager as the children.”
    “I admit I’m looking forward to a few hours of fun tomorrow afternoon. I hope it won’t rain.” Sister Muhlbach and Sister Nusser had both predicted bad weather.
    “Either way, the children will have fun. We can hide the eggs inside if it rains. One year when I was a little girl, it snowed on Easter. But it didn’t dampen our spirits. It’s the tradition that matters. We brought these customs with us when we came to this country.”
    I liked both of the customs, especially the soft, sugary cookies that had been cut into the shape of rabbits, squirrels, chickens, lambs, or deer. Sister Muhlbach had given permission for each of us to sample one of the treats yesterday. Today we would color the remaining eggs with dye from the woolen mill’s dye works.
    Yesterday’s eggs had been quite lovely, with the onion skins providing a rich honey color to the white shells. Sister Hillmer had shown me how to make patterns by tying string around the eggs before dropping them into the tinted water. I’d even used a wax stylus made by the beekeeper to write names on some of the eggs. Still, I was eager to see what today’s eggs would look like when they were completed.
    It was fear of being banned from the kitchen during egg dying that caused me to complete my morning chores without complaint. I didn’t want to risk being relegated to cleaning out the chicken coop or some other horrid task while the others enjoyed coloring eggs.
    My excitement mounted when Sister Muhlbach motioned me to the stove. “You can help me prepare the dye since you’ve never done this before.”
    Her willingness to include me came as a surprise, especially because I’d been responsible for the bowl of broken eggs. Pots of boiling water sat atop the stove.
    “Put one color of dye in each of these smaller pots. We will mix in the glue from the woodshop, then set the smaller pan on top of the boiling water, and you must stir.”
    “How will I know when it’s ready?” My stomach lurched at the thought of making a mistake on such an important task.
    “Ach! You are always rushing. Before you finish one step, you must know what is next.” She placed the bowl of red dye and glue over the boiling water and handed me a long-handled spoon. “Stir until it bubbles. Then pour it into the custard bowls and let it cool and thicken.”
    Her explanation evoked more questions, but I doubted Sister Muhlbach wanted to hear them at the moment. Besides, I was now stirring the blue dye with my right hand and the red with my left. Never before had I considered the difficulty of keeping both hands moving at the same time.
    Soon the older children arrived to help color the eggs. The little ones would have their fun hunting for the eggs tomorrow. Sister Muhlbach pointed them to their places at the tables and gave them explicit instructions. “You color one egg at a time, and you will move from one table to the next. There is a different color at each table.” With exaggerated motions, she rolled the egg in the jellied substance and lifted it for all to see. To my amazement, the color held fast and the egg turned a brilliant red.
    “You can make some, too,” Johanna said. “I’ll show you how to make a rainbow egg.”
    When all the eggs had been colored, they were aligned on the table in a stunning display of bright colors. If only for this brief time, I was pleased to be in Amana.

    Easter morning I fastened my pink silk before topping it with dark calico. To me, it seemed perfectly fitting to wear a bright color on this morning when Christians celebrated the risen Savior. After tucking my hair beneath my cap and grabbing my shawl from the foot of the bed, I hastened to meet Johanna. Even on Easter, we were expected to cook. Unless you were ill, there was no day of rest for the kitchen workers.
    Sister Muhlbach had ordered us to be at the kitchen even earlier than usual. Today we would serve the special Easter meal. Much