A Christmas Visitor by Amy Clipston

Author:Amy Clipston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2015-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Rocky snapped the reins again. Chocolate picked up his pace. Such a good piece of horseflesh. Rocky felt guilty monopolizing Seth’s horse all the time, but the elderly farmer assured him it was no imposition. Seth paid Rocky well, and he squirreled away every penny he could in savings. Even with his nest egg, it would be awhile before he could afford to buy his own horse and some property for settling down. If he was here that long. Gott willing. The soupy gray sky hung so low it felt as if it weighed on his shoulders. He wouldn’t miss the south Texas weather, that was for sure. November in Missouri meant crisp fall weather with leaves turning brilliant oranges, reds, and golds. Frost sparkled on the grass in the mornings. “Downright dreary” described Bee County this time of year. Dreary matched his disposition this morning.

On the bright side, warmer weather meant winter strawberries could be planted, along with cabbage, broccoli, onions, and English peas. Which gave him an excuse to head to the district to help out. Maybe Mordecai would extend an invitation for Thanksgiving.

Stop it.

He hadn’t seen Frannie since the auction. Frannie with her plate for another man. Leroy said Rocky must leave her out of the equation. Regardless. Make a decision based on a desire to live out his faith according to the Bee County district’s Ordnung. Could he do it? Did he want to do it? Did God call him to do it?

Leroy asked all the hard questions. Rocky turned the buggy onto the farm-to-market road, contemplating his answers. The sun broke through clouds that began to scud across the sky in a chilly breeze that hadn’t been there a few minutes earlier. The sudden brightness blinded him for a second. Chocolate snorted, whinnied, and began to pick up speed. “Whoa, whoa, what’s gotten into you?” He tightened the reins with one hand and pushed down the bill of his cap with the other. If he planned to stay, he really should get a straw hat. More of a visor. Chocolate whinnied again, the sound high and nervous.

Rocky saw what had the horse worried. A buggy capsized in the ditch just beyond the turnoff that led to the highway and Beeville. A horse, still tethered to it, bucked and tried to free itself. Mordecai’s Morgan. A vise tightened around Rocky’s chest. Fear choked the flow of blood to his heart. “Come on, Chocolate, let’s go.”

He gave the horse free rein for several hundred yards and then pulled him in as they approached the overturned buggy. “Easy, easy does it.”

Don’t let it be Frannie.

He hopped into the ditch and shot across the muddy terrain, slipping and sliding despite the tread on his work boots. “Hello? Are you okay?”

A moan greeted the response. The orange SLOW triangle dangled to one side on the rear of the buggy. He squatted and shoved it back. Abigail lay on her back, her right side under the buggy.

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