Patience stared at him, shocked.
“Where did she go?” Patience whispered.
“To a nearby city. My mamm had gone to an Englisher college. She has a sister there in the city, and they hadn’t seen each other since she and Daet converted—” His voice caught. “My parents had had this whole life we never knew about. I should have guessed with our last name. It’s German, but not typically Amish, but I never thought to question it. So my mother went Mennonite on us... Or went back to being Mennonite might be more accurate. Sure she would come visit and she tried to keep up with our lives, but everyone knew she’d left the Amish life. And I had to endure the gossip and the sidelong looks for years afterward. I know what that feels like.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. So he had his own painful history, too...one that linked him to the Englisher world more than she’d ever suspected.
“We need to help Rue fit in as quickly as possible,” Thomas said, his voice low. “She needs Amish clothes. She needs to learn a few German words.”
“Yah,” she agreed. “I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
“Do you see your mother still?” Patience asked.
“Sometimes,” Thomas replied. “She still comes to visit from time to time. She’s my mamm. I suppose I’m still hoping she’ll come back for good.”
An Englisher mother, and an Englisher child. Thomas was indeed a very dangerous man, and she understood why a community would be cautious. Patience didn’t say anything, but she felt the wariness in her own expression.
“I’m Amish!” he said fervently, reading her face. “I was born Amish, I was raised Amish and, given the choice, I was baptized into the church. Rue can be Amish, too. She’s young enough to be formed—I was formed into an Amish man, wasn’t I? She can learn our ways. We can teach her our language. And given a few years, the community will do for her what they did for me—”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“They’ll pretend that she’s no different.” Thomas held out his hand. “We’d best go now.”
Patience put her hand in his warm, strong grip and hoisted herself up into the buggy. Rue was staring at her with wide, worried eyes. Understanding the language or not, the child understood the tension. Patience let out a slow breath. She couldn’t let Rue shoulder these adult worries.
“Do you like pie?” Patience asked quietly, shooting Rue a conspiratorial smile.
“Yes,” Rue said.
Patience settled herself on the opposite side of the girl so that Rue would be in the middle again.
“Good, because I make a wonderful lemon meringue pie. How are you at licking the whisk?”
Rue smiled again, this time more relaxed. Thomas settled himself onto the seat next to his daughter, and he gave Patience a small smile. Their conversation would have to wait...again.
“I’m a good licker!” Rue declared.
“I’m good at licking the whisk, too,” he said in mock seriousness. “It might run in the family.”
“No, Daddy, it’s for me!” Rue complained, and Patience chuckled.
“Your daet will be working, Rue. So there isn’t much worry that he’ll get to the whisk first.”
“You never know,” Thomas replied with a teasing grin. “I might sneak back, just in time—”
“Daddy, no!” Rue was smiling this time, though.
“A daet deserves a treat, too,” he joked, and then he flicked the reins and the horses started.
“A daddy...” Rue whispered so softly that Patience almost missed it.
This child would wear a plain dress, and she’d eat Amish food, but there was a stubborn spirit in Rue that would not accept an Amish daet.
Chapter Four
Patience helped Rue down from the buggy when they got back to the house. She was light—weighing about the same as a large cat. She was thin, and Patience could feel her ribs through that striped sundress. She was a naturally slight child, and Patience felt an urge to feed her—plump her up, if possible.
“Are those more horses?” Rue asked as Patience set her on the ground. Patience looked in the direction Rue was pointing.
“Yah, those are more horses,” Thomas said, coming around to their side of the buggy. “But that big one—the black stallion, there—he’s mean. Real mean. You stay away from the horse corral, okay?”
“Okay...” Rue frowned. “What’s a stallion?”
“A boy horse,” Patience said.
“How’s it a boy?” Rue squinted up at Patience, and Patience chuckled. There were many lessons that a life on a farm gave to children, but this one could wait.
“If that horse were a human, it would wear a straw hat and suspenders,” Patience replied with a smile. “That’s how you know.”
“Huh.” Rue seemed to accept this at face value. “I want suspenders, too.”
“Little girls don’t wear suspenders,” Patience replied. “They wear pretty dresses, and when they get old enough, they get a kapp, like mine. You see this kapp?”
She tapped the white fabric that covered her bun.
“Can I have one now?” Rue asked. “Instead of suspenders, then?”
Patience looked over at Thomas and found him watching her, instead of Rue. His brows were knit, and when she caught his gaze, he straightened and dropped it.
“You have to get old enough,” Thomas said to Rue. “Now, I’m going to unhitch these horses. You go inside with Patience, okay?”
Thomas waited as Patience caught the little girl’s hand, then he took the lead horse’s bridle and started toward the stable. Rue stared after him.
“You must be very careful around horses, Rue,” Patience said, starting toward the house. “Kinner have been hurt very badly playing around horses.”
There was so much Rue had to learn. She might not be
