“Denki for saying so.” Anna took a bite of the soft, warm cookie, thankful for this chance to catch her breath. The trip here had been a bit unnerving, as she’d never driven such a distance by herself.

Sadie poured some iced meadow tea into each tumbler and offered one to Anna. “Something to wet your whistle.”

“I know I’m repeating myself, but it was really kind of you to think of me for this job possibility. And I couldn’t help noticing what you said in your letter about believing that God prompted you to write to me.”

“Jah, it was quite unexpected.” Sadie explained that she’d heard about the job opening at Preaching service and immediately thought of Anna. “You kept comin’ to mind after that, so it seemed like the Lord had put you on my heart.”

“Well, you should know that the moment I read your letter, I felt like it was the chance I’ve been praying for.”

Sadie smiled and went on to ask about Anna’s parents and siblings.

Quickly, Anna filled her in on her family back home, including Mammi Eliza’s steady decline.

Sadie’s eyes were full of understanding. “Ach, poor Eliza. And I s’pose it was hard for your parents, sayin’ good-bye an’ all, considering you’re the baby of the family.”

“It’s only a visit for now. And Strasburg’s not too awful far from Mifflinburg. Just under two hours by car,” Anna said. She thought of the parting with her parents, especially Mamm, whose tears had welled up despite her reassuring smile. “I’ll return home for more clothes if I get the job, so either way, I’ll see them again soon no matter what comes of my interview tomorrow. I also want to stay in close touch with Mammi Eliza. Did you know she spent a summer in Strasburg many years ago? Stayed with her widowed great-aunt.”

Cousin Sadie reached for another cookie. “She was just a youth, if I have it right.” She paused to chew. “I got this secondhand, though—it happened before I was born.”

“It wonders me why she would’ve left Mifflinburg for the whole summer,” Anna said, thinking that surely Cousin Sadie knew that, like much of Mamm’s family, Mammi Eliza had been raised Beachy Amish, while Sadie’s own family had always been Old Order. Mammi’s great-aunt wouldn’t have considered her Amish at all, just as the Old Order around us don’t accept my family as Amish, either, she thought, knowing this from having grown up close to the more traditional Amish.

“She might’ve come here to help her aunt with produce and canning and whatnot. Or maybe she needed a change of scenery, like we all do from time to time.” Sadie eyed Anna.