A Place of His Own

© 2009 by Kathleen Fuller

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Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version.

Publisher's Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

CIP data available.

ISBN 978-1-59554-822-1 (tradepaper)

ISBN 978-1-40168-827-1 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America
10 11 12 13 14 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

C
ONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

GLOSSARY

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

READING GROUP GUIDE

AMISH RECIPE

EXCERPT FROM A MAN OF HIS WORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Acknowledgments

My deepest thanks to Natalie Hanemann and LB Norton for helping me bring this story to life. Their expertise and insights were invaluable. As always, thanks to my family for their patience and understanding, especially during deadline time!

Glossary

ab im kopp –
off in the head, crazy

aenti –
aunt

allrecht –
all right

bensel –
silly child

boppli
– baby or babies

brechdich –
magnificent

bruder –
brother

bu, buwe –
boy, boys

budder –
butter

budderhaffe –
butter dish

daadi –
grandfather

daed
– dad

danki
– thanks

Deitsch –
Pennsylvania Dutch language

demut –
humility

Die Botschaft –
a weekly newspaper serving Old Order Amish communities

dochder –
daughter

dumm –
dumb

eldre –
parents

Englisch
– a non-Amish person

fiewer
– fever

fraa
– wife

frack
– dress

Gebottsdaag
– birthday

geh –
go

grossmammi –
grandmother

guder mariye
– good morning

gut
– good

gut nacht –
good night

halt –
stop

hatt –
hard

haus
– house

hochmut
– pride

hungerich –
hungry

kaffi –
coffee

kapp
– prayer covering or cap

kich –
kitchen

kind, kinder, kinner
– children or grandchildren

lieb –
love

lieblich –
lovely

liebschdi –
dear child

liebschen
– dearest

maed
– girls

maedel –
girl

mamm, mammi
– mom

mann –
man

mauseschtill –
mouse

mei
– my

minutt –
minute

mudder –
mother

nachtess –
supper

nau –
now

nee –
no

onkel –
uncle

Ordnung
– the written and unwritten rules of the Amish; the understood behavior by which the Amish are expected to live, passed down from generation to generation. Most Amish know the rules by heart.

redd-up
– clean up

rumschpringe
– running-around period that starts when a teenager turns sixteen years old

schpass –
fun

sehr –
very

sohn –
son

snitz pie –
dried apple pie

vatter –
father

wasser –
water

wie geht –
how are things?

wunderbaar
– wonderful

ya
– yes

Chapter One

“AMANDA, THOMAS PINCHED ME!”

“I don't wike peas.”

“Waaaah!”

Amanda Graber surveyed the chaos swirling in the kitchen as she tried to get supper on the table and corral her six much younger brothers and sisters. None of them were cooperating.

“Thomas, leave Andrew alone.” She set down a warm loaf of freshly baked bread in the center of the long oak table. “Christopher, you only have to eat four peas. You can manage that.” She bent down and picked up her youngest sibling, Jacob, kissing the small red mark where he had bumped his forehead when he fell on the kitchen floor. “All better?”

He nodded, then sniffed.

Amanda wiped two big teardrops from underneath his large blue eyes, then handed him to Rachel. “Put Jacob in his high chair,” she said, giving the tot a quick tap on his chubby cheek. She leaned against the counter and wiped her damp forehead with the back of her hand despite the cool fall breeze wafting through the open window.

The clip-clop of their father's horse and buggy reached her ears. Turning to Andrew and Thomas, she said, “
Daed
's home. Please go outside and help him with the horse. And, Thomas, no more pinching!”

Twenty minutes later everyone, including
Mamm
, settled down to eat. Amanda placed a bowl of steaming mashed and buttered potatoes on the table, then took her place next to her sister Hannah.
Daed
cleared his throat, the signal for everyone to quiet down and bow their heads.

Amanda listened and prayed along as her father blessed the meal. After saying amen, she sat back and watched her family pile their plates with the food she'd prepared for supper. Thick slices of meat loaf and the vegetables, along with bread and butter, quickly disappeared from the serving dishes.

“Amanda?”

She turned at the sound of her mother's voice.
“Ya, Mamm?”

“Aren't you going to eat?” Dark shadows underscored Katharine Graber's brown eyes.

“
Ya
, I'll have something in a minute.” She regarded her mother for a moment. “Are you feeling all right?”

“I'm feeling fine. Just a little tired.”

Amanda glanced at her mother again before looking at the empty white plate in front of her. Lately her mother had seemed more than a little tired, and she couldn't help but worry about her. As she neared the end of her pregnancy, her
mamm
seemed to be having a more difficult time with this baby than she'd had with the other ones. Amanda silently prayed for both her mother and the unborn child's safety.

Mamm
gave her a weary smile. “Everything looks and smells delicious, Mandy.
Danki
for making supper tonight. I don't know what I'd do without you.”

Amanda smiled back. She enjoyed cooking, just as she enjoyed taking care of her brothers and sisters. Sure, they were a handful, but they were also a lot of fun and brought tremendous joy to her life. Some of her friends complained about having to care for younger siblings, but not Amanda. As an only child until the age of fourteen, she had always longed for a brother or sister. Now that she had them, she counted them as blessings. She was twenty-four, plenty old enough to be thinking about a family of her own. And while she stood only five-foot-three and possessed a thin frame, she hoped she would follow in her mother's footsteps and have a large brood of her own, God willing.

Although a couple of young men had shown interest in her, Amanda had yet to meet the one she wanted to marry. One man in particular, Peter Yoder, didn't seem to get the message. Each time he asked her to a singing or expressed an interest in courting her, Amanda firmly told him no. Still he doggedly pursued her.

God would bring the right man into her life. Until then, she kept her focus on helping her mother with the younger children.

“
Sehr gut, Dochder
.” David Graber shoveled a forkful of mashed potato and meat loaf into his mouth, then wiped his brown beard with a napkin. Threads of gray were starting to show through, but her father still looked several years younger than forty-four, and acted at least a decade younger than that.

“Yuck.” Christopher picked up a green pea and made a face.

“Christopher.”
Daed
gave the boy one of his infrequent stern looks. “Mandy went to a lot of trouble to make us a
wunderbaar
supper. Eat your peas without complaint.”

Frowning, Christopher nodded, then put the pea in his mouth and chewed, wrinkling his nose.

Daed
remarked that business was booming at Yoder's Lumber, where he worked as a sawyer and foreman. Being in charge of the first shift of workers, he made very good pay. “God has blessed me, Katharine,” he said, looking at his wife, then panning his gaze over his family before returning to her. “He has blessed us all.”

Taking in the tender look her parents exchanged, Amanda sent up another silent prayer of thanks for her father's job and for being a part of such a wonderful family. Even though they sometimes fought among each other and life didn't always run smoothly, they were all satisfied and happy.

“Rachel, please clear the table,”
Mamm
said after everyone finished eating. “Hannah, it's your turn to wash the dishes. Andrew can help you dry.”

“Aww.” Andrew scowled. “That's women's work.”

“
Nee,
it's not just women's work.”
Daed
shoved away from the table. “And for that remark,
mei sohn
, you can dry the dishes for the rest of the week.” He rose from the table, tapped Andrew lightly on his sandy blond head with his fingertips, then ruffled Christopher's dark brown hair. “I'm sure the animals are hungry by now. Thomas, come with me.”

They left the kitchen to go to the barnyard and feed the family's six pigs and three cows, which would be slaughtered in a couple weeks to provide the family with more than enough meat for the following year. They would share the extra with other families in the community.

Andrew continued to scowl, but he scampered from his chair and headed to the sink to do his assigned chore.

Mamm
rose from her chair, picked up a napkin, and wiped mashed potatoes from Jacob's face. “
Danki
again, Amanda. You may be excused.”

With a nod Amanda rose and headed upstairs to her room. Her mother and father would put the younger children to bed with Rachel and Hannah's help, leaving Amanda free to do whatever she wanted. Usually in the evening she worked on her sewing, making Amish dresses, lightweight spring coats, and shawls to sell at Eli's Country Store and Dry Goods just outside Paradise. Sometimes she read, and during the warm spring and summer evenings, she liked to go outside to walk, pray, and be alone. After a busy afternoon watching her siblings and making dinner, she definitely needed to spend some time with the Lord.