Midway there, the sound of laughter reaches me. I round the corner to find Laura and three other Amish women sitting at the table in a “sewing circle,” drinking coffee. Spread out before them is a gorgeous tulip basket pattern quilt. Hefting my sewing bag higher on my shoulder, I approach.

“Wie geth’s alleweil?” I call out to them. How goes it now?

“Ah, Kate!” Laura tosses a grin at me, her eyes flicking to the bag at my side. “Glad you could make it. I see you brought your work with you.”

“I’m just finishing up a couple of potholders. For my niece’s hope chest.”

“We’ve plenty of room if you’d like to join us.” Laura introduces me to the three women as she clears a place at the end of the table. Wearing a dark gray dress and black winter bonnet, Ada is in her mid-fifties with a round face and a figure to match. Naomi is the elder of the group. She’s tall and lean with black hair gone to salt and pepper, dark eyes, and nineteen grandchildren. Lena is forty-two with dishwater-blond hair, a pretty girl-next-door face, and a surprise baby on the way. She and her husband live in a house not far from Eli Schrock’s land.

“Rebecca isn’t here yet,” Laura says to no one in particular.

“Missed last week, too,” Ada says as she pushes her needle through fabric.

Naomi glances toward the door as if expecting her to come through it at any moment. “Odd for her to miss two weeks in a row.”

Laura addresses me. “The five of us meet every few days to catch up on our sewing.”

“Catch up on our gossip, more like,” Ada puts in.

Using her front teeth, Naomi severs a thread. “There’s plenty to be had.”

“Es waarken maulvoll gat,” Lena comments. There’s nothing good about that.

“I suppose that depends on who’s the topic of the day.” Laura motions toward the quilt spread out on the table. “Been working on this one for a couple of weeks now.”

“The thing would be finished if you girls spent more time sewing and less talking,” Ada huffs.

I like Ada immediately; she’s opinionated, with a spicy personality, and reminds me of my grandmother, who baked the best dry molasses cookies in the world—and was well known for taking you down a notch when you needed it. Ada may be a scant inch short of five feet tall, but she commands respect, and if you’re smart, you’ll give it to her.