Oh my, she sounds content.
Samuel dismounted in one easy motion. “Elnora, I’m back.”
Without any tell-tale sign on his tanned face, he strode to where Elnora sat with Rebekah. His black felt hat seemed to loom over her, threatening to unleash its gloomy news all over the both of them. Samuel squatted down beside her.
Never one to mince words, he spoke plainly. “I met the Englishman who owns the livery in Montgomery. He gave me good news and bad news.”
Elnora resisted the urge to look down at the angelic girl in her lap and instead, focused solely on Samuel. “Let us have the good news first.”
“I took a wooden wheel and the owner agreed to buy my woodwork.”
The sides of her eyes crinkled as her lips thinned into a smile of the most genuine sort. “Ja, that is wonderful, Samuel!”
“After business was discussed, I asked if he knew of any suitable English families looking to take in a baby.”
The comfortable sounds of home that had hummed about them faded to silence with Samuel’s words.
Elnora’s voice came out in a squeak. “What did the shopkeeper say?”
Samuel glanced at the child in his wife’s arms. With one large finger, he stroked her tiny cheek. At his touch, Rebekah cooed and began sucking in her sleep. Samuel smiled.
“He said there are no families willing to take in a child. What families there are have all pulled up stakes and headed west. Gold fever, he called it.”
Elnora’s eyes widened, and she began to sway ever so slightly, dancing with the idea of this perfect baby becoming theirs. Forever.
Samuel’s eyes never wavered from Rebekah. “He said if we happened upon an unwanted child, there are places called orphanages where these children are kept.”
Elnora stopped swaying.
“These orphanages are filled with unwanted children, thrown away by the English, or whose parents have died. Those children have no one.”
Rebekah let out a sweet baby noise and opened her eyes.
“When they get too full of children, as they are now, they put them on orphan trains. They send them from city to city in hopes they will find a home on their own.”
Elnora gasped and clutched the orphan child closer to her breast.
Samuel sighed and stood. “Wife, you know what we have to do.”
Elnora shook her head infinitesimally. “Oh, Samuel.”
He cupped his hands round his mouth. “Families, please come here! I have an announcement.” He leaned forward and plucked the baby from Elnora’s arms.
When everyone had gathered around the Stolls, Samuel spoke again.
“I would like to introduce you all to our daughter, Rebekah Elnora Stoll.” The fatherly glimmer shone again in his eyes.
Simon clapped Samuel on the back. With a teasing note in his voice, he chimed, “If we keep acquiring family members, we will have to call this settlement the Stoll Inn!”
Samuel puffed his chest and proudly displayed his daughter on his arm. “You’re right, Simon. This place may become a regular village inn.”
Elnora’s voice was meek. “Then perhaps we should call our settlement Gasthof.”
Samuel’s free hand found hers and gave it a squeeze. “How clever, dear wife. Gasthof. The German word for inn. I believe it fits our new home perfectly.”
Chapter One
“Happy birthday, Daughter.” Elnora’s voice was downy soft in the gray light of dawn. “My precious girl, how does it feel to be twenty-years-old today?”
Rebekah yawned. “Good morning, Ma. I stayed up too late again.” She turned toward her mother and tried to will herself to wake. “I simply can’t get my stitches straight on my quilt.”
Slowly, her eyes opened. The rays from the rising sun peeked into her window and fell across her bed in warm stripes.
The heavy sleepiness disappeared at once. “Oh no!” She sat up, suddenly very awake. “I have to milk Butter.”
Elnora’s hand came to rest, feather-light, on her shoulder. “Don’t fret, child. I milked Butter for you. I wanted you to sleep in on your special day.”
Rebekah eased back down into her covers. “Thank you, Ma.” A slow grin teased the corners of her mouth. “You know Pa wouldn’t be too happy about your dealing with the milk cow in your condition.”
Rebekah reached across the bed and patted Elnora’s immense belly.
“You let me worry about your Pa.” She placed one hand on her round stomach and the other on the small of her back.
Rebekah thought she saw a grimace flicker across her mother’s face. She propped herself on an elbow and tilted her head. “Ma, are you all right?”
“Ja. I think your seventh brother or sister will be here earlier than we thought.” Elnora glanced at her daughter. “Perhaps he, or she, wants to share birthdays with their big sister.”
Rebekah folded her legs over the side of the bed that her father had crafted just for her. “I would love that.” She smoothed her golden, waist-length locks. “Mmmm, is that cinnamon I smell?”
Elnora plucked the horsehair brush from the dresser and eased herself down on her daughter’s bed. “I thought you would prefer cinnamon cake to chocolate.”
Careful to remain still, Rebekah closed her eyes as her mother ran the coarse-bristled brush through her hair. There weren’t many snags hidden in it this morning since she had brushed it smooth the night before. “You were right, Ma. Oh, did you happen to check on Cream when you milked Butter?” A flash of worry over her favorite cow’s condition caused her brow to furrow.
Her mother placed the brush back on the nightstand. The bedframe creaked as she stood. “Cream was fine. She wasn’t very hungry, so I think she will be birthing her first calf soon.”
“Spring is my favorite time of the year, especially when it comes early.” She flung herself back onto her quilts.
“Oh, my girl, you make my heart glad.”
Rebekah fiddled with a lock of her hair. “Is Pa working in the field?”
Elnora pushed both hands against the small of her back and stretched. “Yes, you know your Pa. Trying to get as much done as he can in good weather.” She paused. “It’s supposed to be a mild rest of the season. But he’ll be in this afternoon for your birthday get-together.”
“Will the Grabers be coming?” Before the words were fully off her tongue, Rebekah’s cheeks began to burn.
Her mother pulled a curtain back and gazed out the window. “Heloise and Lucas will be coming tonight. But not Joseph.”
“Oh.” Rebekah’s musical voice muted. “Why won’t he be coming?” She tried to mask the crestfallen note in her voice.
