A Simple Autumn: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel by Rosalind Lauer

Author:Rosalind Lauer [Lauer, Rosalind]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0345526759
Amazon: B0080KAX3Q
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2012-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

PART THREE

Dawning Grace

For by grace are ye saved through faith;

And that not of yourselves;

It is the gift of God.

—EPHESIANS 2:8

TWENTY-NINE

An iridescent green dragonfly zigzagged through the air as Gabe crossed the barn Sunday morning. Golden dust and tiny bits of chaff glittered in a shaft of sunlight as he went down the aisle, checking one more time to be sure that everything was in place. The barn was quiet now, but in an hour or so it would be bursting with people, echoing with voices in song.

Baptism today.

He knew that Emma would be here. He’d been thinking about that all week, and since she’d broken up with him, the thought of seeing her had weighed him down, as if he’d been harnessed to a boulder. It wasn’t easy stepping around her feelings and his. He’d spent a lot of time thinking of how to avoid her.

But now that the day was here, his feet felt light, propelled by the excitement of hosting the church service. There was much to do over the next few hours.

Satisfied that everything was in order inside the barn, he stepped out into the bright September day and joined his older brothers, who waited on the knoll at the end of the lane. It wasn’t even eight o’clock, and yet a line of gray carriages moved along the main road. The gentle clip-clop of hoofbeats filled the fields like a country song announcing that it was a church Sunday.

“Here come the carriages!” Simon’s eyes were bright with excitement as Gabe joined his brothers. Today would mark the first time Simon helped handle horses and carriages, and the boy was quite pleased to be included with his older brothers in this hosting duty.

Gabe tagged his shoulder. “Are you sure you can handle these carriages?” he teased. “Folks don’t take kindly to a runaway horse—especially when it’s theirs.”

“Horses aren’t so hard to handle,” Simon said, staring at the line of horse-drawn carriages coming down the lane. “But that is a lot of carriages to take care of.”

“Give us a shout if you need a hand,” Gabe called over his shoulder as he moved forward to take the first carriage from the Yoders. Gideon and Deborah climbed out, then turned to help their three little ones to the ground.

Gabe climbed into their carriage, took the reins, and directed the horse around the side of the barn. He let the horse have her head, and she was a little fast on the curve. The steel wheels popped over a ridge, and Gabe popped up in the seat. He grinned, hoping the Yoders hadn’t seen that.

Around the back of the barn was an empty field where two horseless carriages were already lined up. Gabe waited as the carriage was pulled in line with the others. Then he reined the mare in and jumped down. Since the service and lunch would last a good five hours, the horses needed to be unhitched and given space to roam. Gabe released the chestnut mare

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