Now she drowsily sat up in bed and contemplated Leah’s thoughtful letter from a while back, her heart reaching across the miles to her friend. Leah wishes she could have continued with baptism instruction, she thought, getting out of bed. On bare tiptoes, she crossed the hardwood floor, where she paced the length of her room and back to the steady rhythm of the thrumming rain.

A few minutes later, she saw a light flash outside and moved to a dormer window to check. Over near the carriage shed, she could see Evan leading Cupcake to the stable, his flashlight pointing the way.

It’s so late, she thought, recalling his surprising comment that Cheryl Herr said she would wait for him to return home.

After Ellie’s morning chores, she put on her harvest bag to help pick apples and spotted Menno working with Evan and Titus farther up the row. Menno smiled at her broadly, and she smiled back, glad things had worked out for him to be a part-time picker again.

Later, when she was emptying her apples into bushel baskets, she noticed Dawdi Hezekiah heading her way. “Are ya comin’ to pick with me?” she asked.

“For a while,” he said, his shoulder straps already hooked to a long gray harvesting bag like those the other pickers used. His silver-white bangs peeked out from beneath his straw hat, and he was wearing his old frayed black suspenders. “Remember when I first showed ya how to know when an apple’s close to its peak of ripeness?”

“Jah. I was only four. You told me to hold the bottom of the apple, then lift it up against the stem and twist. If it comes off, it’s ready. If not, it needs more time to ripen.”

Dawdi chuckled. “’Tis a mighty happy memory, teachin’ ya that day.”

“I was the same age as the young boy Leah Bontrager takes care of in Chambersburg.”

“Really, now?”

Ellie mentioned that Leah had taught Bobby to say the Lord’s Prayer and sing “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” “Isn’t that wunnerbaar?”

Dawdi was quiet for a moment, then said, “Well, that prayer and the little song might just change the youngster’s life.”

“Maybe his family’s, too, opening their hearts to God,” Ellie added, thankful for Leah’s strong faith.

“We can pray so.”

Ellie’s cloth bag was getting heavy again, so she walked up to the spring wagon, breathing in the fresh, fruity scent of the pretty red and green apples, and carefully emptied her harvest into a partially filled box. Then she returned to Dawdi.

After picking for a while longer, Dawdi poured his bagful into one of the many bushel baskets, then placed the basket on the spring wagon. When he returned with his empty harvest bag, he wiped his brow with his blue paisley handkerchief.