As the day progressed, the grandmother asked Mart numerous questions about Amish customs, and his patient, good-natured responses made Anna appreciate him all the more.

In the back seat beside Anna, Riley asked occasional questions of her own, and Anna was relieved to know the answers. The girl was particularly curious about the dolls she’d seen in an Amish picture book. “Why don’t they have faces?” she asked.

“Well, most Amish don’t give their dolls faces because they believe it’s against one of the Ten Commandments.”

Riley pressed her pointer finger into her cheek and frowned. “The second one, right?”

“Yes . . . about not making an image.”

Riley seemed to ponder that. “So is that why they don’t want their pictures taken, either?”

“That’s exactly why.” Anna nodded. “Even though I’m not Old Order Amish, I’ve made those little dolls for myself. But I’ve never used a book pattern—just created my own. I do that for my clothes, too, just like traditional Amish.”

Riley listened, her eyes wide. “Must be hard.”

“My Mamm taught me when I was around your age, so I’ve had plenty of practice. She works her fingers nearly stiff with all the sewing she does for the family, and for other folk, too.” Anna explained that her Mamm kept a large wooden box full of fabric scraps. “There was always plenty of material for the small dolls I liked to make when I was younger.”

“Did you ever sell them?”

“I liked to give them away, actually, but sometimes in the summer, I’d put a basketful of them out on our roadside vegetable stand, and tourists would offer to pay for them. Whatever they wanted to give was fine with me.”

“You’re so nice, Anna.” Riley smiled up at her.

“And you’re very sweet,” Anna replied.

Riley asked her then why her head covering was different from those of the other Amish she’d seen today.

“You have a sharp eye.”

“Thanks!” The little girl leaned closer to whisper, “I want to be a fashion designer when I grow up.”

“Well then, you might be learning to make patterns of your own someday,” Anna said. “The reason for our different Kapp styles is that each Plain community has a unique head covering. If you pay careful attention when you leave Lancaster County, you’ll find you won’t see another style of prayer cap exactly like the heart-shaped ones around here.”

Riley took this in, looking quite serious. “Oh, that’s cool.”

Anna smiled and remembered how, at that age, she, too, had often imagined what her life as a grown-up would be like. But because the Beachy Amishwomen she’d known rarely pursued careers, the desire of her heart had been—and still was—to be a loving wife and mother to many children. Like Mamm . . .