“Ya know, Ellie, all in all, we didn’t suffer a big loss—and all ’cause of your quick response last night.” He shook his head as though amazed.

“If my window hadn’t been open, no tellin’ what might’ve happened.”

“I daresay the Lord caused ya to wake up.” Dat looked heavenward.

“I think so, too.”

Dat nodded, pushing his hands into his pockets. “There’ll be a lot of extra work ahead of us, pullin’ out the damaged trees and buyin’ quality mulch—preferably natural compost—to gradually break down over time and add nutrition to the burnt soil.”

“I’d like to help, Dat.”

“We’ll see ’bout that,” her father said, chuckling. “You’ve been puttin’ in many hours in the orchard already. And you’ve been itchin’ to buy new land for some time, so Lord willin’, now’s the time.”

They discussed the options she’d seen in the ads lately and made plans to look at some of them after the wedding.

“If we do purchase additional land, it won’t help us this year,” Dat said, “but it’ll be a fine investment for the future.”

Ellie agreed, though still rather dazed by the fire. And torn between sadness for what had been lost and what might be found.

34

Leah arrived home by bus three days before Ellie’s wedding, and Ellie was eager to see her. Thankfully, Leah didn’t make her wait long.

Spotting her out on the road from the front room window, Ellie rushed to open the side door. Then there she was, her precious friend, grinning as tears welled up.

“I almost rang the dinner bell, I’m so happy to see ya!” Leah said as she stepped inside and reached for Ellie’s hands. “But I didn’t want to alarm anyone.”

Ellie embraced her. “It’s wunnerbaar-gut you could get home. Mamm’ll be so glad to see ya, too. All of us will.” She laughed, looking at her friend. “You haven’t changed one bit. But me . . . well, I’ve got no eyebrows, like I wrote ya.”

“How much hair did your Mamm have to cut off to even it out?” Leah asked, hanging up her coat on one of the available wooden pegs around the corner. “In your letter, ya said you couldn’t even look at the hair falling on the kitchen floor.”

“I was actually holdin’ my breath. Like yours, my hair had never been cut, ya know.”

“Well sure.”

“Let’s just say that when I washed it and then brushed it out, it came to only partway down my back. Thank goodness I can still put it into a tidy hair bun.” She sighed. “Let’s talk about somethin’ else, okay?”