Read A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters) Online
Authors: Diane Craver
A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters)
A JOYFUL BREAK
Dreams of Plain Daughters, Book One
By Diane Craver
Copyright © 2012 by Diane Craver
All Rights Reserved
Editing by Regina Andrews
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Joyful Break
is a work of fiction. Though some actual towns, cities, and locations may be mentioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events and occurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the author. Any similarities of characters or names used within to any person past, present, or future is coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Reference: ‘Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House’, per the notice of copyright at the beginning of the Bible.
Scripture taken from the King James Version ®. © 1976 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN. No permission listing is necessary as it's in the public domain per their website at
http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/dept.asp?dept_id=190620&TopLevel_id=190000#KJV
.
Dedication
To my loving sister, Carolyn,
who always listens to me talk nonstop about life, family, and my writing.
Acknowledgments
I want to thank some very special friends. They always are ready to support and encourage me in so many ways. When I first decided to write an Amish romance, these friends were an immense help to me. I bounced story ideas, several covers, and received feedback on several chapters from them. Their comments helped me to write the best book possible. Thank you to Regina Andrews, Stephanie Burkhart, Sue McKlveen, Karen Wiesner, and Celia Yeary.
Also a big thank you to my husband and children for their continued support.
Note to the Reader
The Amish community I’ve created is fictional, but exists close to Wheat Ridge which is an actual Amish community in the southern part of Ohio where I live. Before I started writing my Amish novel, I did extensive research to portray this wonderful faith as accurately as possible. I’ve used many rules and traditions common to the Amish way of life. However, there are differences between the various groups and subgroups of Amish communities. This is because the Amish have no central church government; each has its own governing authority. Every local church maintains an individual set of rules, adhering to its own
Ordnung
.
If you live near an Amish community, actions and dialogue in my book may differ from the Amish culture you know.
Pennsylvania Dutch Glossary
Aenti:
aunt
boppli:
baby
bopplin:
babies
bruder:
brother
daed:
dad
danki:
thank you
Dietsch:
Pennsylvania Dutch
dippy:
term for easy over eggs
dochdern:
daughters
ehemann:
husband
eiferich:
excited
English/Englischer:
not Amish
fraa:
wife
freinden:
friends
froh:
happy
gem gschehre:
you’re welcome
grandkinner:
grandchildren
grossdochdern:
granddaughters
gudemariye:
good morning
gut:
good
in lieb:
in love
kaffi:
coffee
kapp:
prayer covering
kind:
child
kinner:
children
mamm:
mom
naerfich:
nervous
onkel:
uncle
Ordnung:
Set of rules for Amish and Old Order Mennonite living.
rumschpringe:
running around; time before an Amish young person officially joined the church, provides a bridge between childhood and adulthood.
schweschder:
sister
was iss letz:
what’s wrong
wunderbaar:
wonderful
ya:
yes
Chapter One
Fields Corner, Ohio
Rachel Hershberger took a deep breath, realizing she had to tell her boyfriend, Samuel, what he definitely would not like to hear from her lips. While standing in front of the farm he’d just bought, she thought how it meant one thing. He wanted to make wedding plans, but it was not possible right now. How could she set a date for their wedding when she needed to leave Fields Corner? Before her grandparents and mother died, all she wanted in life was to marry Samuel Weaver and have children.
But things changed when her mother suddenly died at age forty-four. Losing her dear
mamm
had put a huge emptiness in her heart and spirit.
He pulled her next to him. “What do you think? You’ve been quiet about me buying this land. Do you like it for us?”
She looked into his blue eyes and saw he was eager to hear her opinion. She needed to ease into telling him about her aunt’s request. “It’s perfect. I love the row of pine trees.”
“We can build our house by the tree line. The property’s the right size for me. I don’t need more than thirty acres. It’s enough to raise our own feed for livestock. I’ll still have time to help my
daed
with his farming and take furniture orders.”
Her wonderful Samuel had everything figured out for their future when she was so unsure now about her life.
I better speak up and tell him about Aunt Carrie’s letter.
She fingered her
kapp’s
string. “I have something to tell you.”
He grinned. “You decided to join the church. You need to hurry talk to Bishop Amos so you can start your classes, and we can get married in November.”
She understood what he meant about not waiting any longer to talk to the bishop. Before having an Amish wedding, both needed to be baptized and to become church members. There were usually nine special instruction classes before being allowed to join the church. “I can’t join the church yet. I received a letter from Aunt Carrie. She wants me to visit her next week while Violet’s on spring break from college.”
“Is Adam going to be home too? I could go with you. He invited me to visit sometime.”
Samuel had met both of her cousins when they came for her grandparents’ funerals. Then two months later, the Robinson family came again for her mother’s funeral. Unfortunately, the media got news of her Uncle Scott, the U.S. Senator from Kentucky, attending her mother’s, but waited to film until after the ceremony. For both somber occasions, her aunt and uncle left in an Amish buggy to blend in with the rest of the funeral processions. Adam and Samuel enjoyed each other’s company even though one was English and other Amish. “Adam isn’t going to join us until later at the beach.”
He frowned. “What beach?”
“It’s such a pretty day. Why don’t we sit by the creek to talk?”
“You sound serious. We better get comfortable. I’ll grab the Pepsi I brought for us.” He left her side to walk to the buggy. She watched him as he bent down to pick up a brown bag. It didn’t matter that he was dressed in the usual Amish garb of black pants, dark blue shirt, and suspenders; he looked handsome and special to her. At six foot, he towered over her petite height of five-three. She loved gazing upward at his gentle face.
They held hands while walking toward the creek. “I’m ready to grow a beard and become a husband. You don’t have to delay joining the church any longer on my account.”
She laughed, remembering a conversation between Samuel and her brother Peter. Both men were the same age, and Samuel had teased married Peter about his beard. He’d said how that was one advantage to being single and not having to let his beard grow. She rubbed his strong chin affectionately. “A wife gets to pull on her husband’s beard when he doesn’t listen.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that.” He glanced at a log above the creek. “We can sit here and I’ll practice listening to you.”
She popped open her can and took a sip of the cold drink. “It’s
gut
.”
“Rachel, you’re almost twenty-one and I’m twenty-three. We can’t get married until you’re baptized and join the church. You need to start instructions soon so we can get married next fall. What’s the problem? Violet’s spring break should only be for a week.”
The traditional ceremony of baptism was held in the fall, so she understood his concern. If she didn’t get started soon on her religious education instructions, she wouldn’t be allowed to enter the church in the fall. Their wedding would be delayed for a whole year. But it might be anyhow, she thought. “Well, Violet has early finals so it’s more like ten days.”
“So you’ll be gone for longer than a week?”
“Yes.”
I’ll wait to tell him I might be gone for a month or even longer. Better to build up to it.
“What does your
daed
think of you leaving?”
“Aunt Carrie wrote my
daed
that she wanted me to visit. He’s not
froh
about me going but he gave his permission. He said our year of mourning is over. Aunt Carrie is driving here to get me so I won’t have to take the bus to Kentucky.” She didn’t mention how clever her aunt was in getting her way. She played on her
daed’s
sympathy, saying how much she missed her sister Irene and their parents. Aunt Carrie explained in her letter how she wanted her oldest niece to visit, and she knew Irene would want them to spend time together.
Samuel’s blue eyes widened. “So you’re going to Kentucky, then to the beach. We can go to the beach for our honeymoon. I’ve always wanted to see the ocean.”
Interesting. She didn’t recall him ever saying he wanted to go to the beach.
“We won’t go. Something will happen. Besides few Amish couples go on a honeymoon. We’ll be busy cleaning up after the wedding for several days. Judith would kill me if we didn’t spend our honeymoon weekend at home to help clean up. And have you forgotten how newlyweds travel to relatives’ homes each weekend? That takes months to visit everyone. I guess you’ve been around too many English folk in your shop and heard about their honeymoons.”
“That’s true. We don’t want to miss out on collecting our wedding gifts. Of course, a lot of these gifts are furniture and quilts. I plan on making all our furniture.” He rubbed his chin. “I’d like to go to the beach before my beard gets too long so it’d have to be soon after we marry.”
She smiled at him. “Then I can go to the beach again, but right now I need to go before I’m baptized. I want to do my
rumschpringe
.”