Abby Finds Her Calling by Naomi King

Author:Naomi King [King, Naomi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781101574881
Publisher: New American Library
Published: 2012-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Just after midnight that evening, Abby heard her sister slip down the hall and then out the front door, closing it very quietly behind her. Abby sighed. It was so tempting to throw the quilts over her head, but being her sister’s keeper was a full-time job—like parenting, or caretaking for an elderly relative.

In her urgency, Zanna didn’t realize how visible she was on this clear, moonlit night: a figure cloaked in black, slogging through the eight inches of snow that had fallen since midmorning. And at seventeen, she didn’t realize how transparent her ideas and actions were. Down the lane to the road she went. Moments later, the pale glow of her flashlight lit the phone shanty.

Abby watched from the window near her bed. Such a beautiful night it was. The snow had stopped, and the frosted branches of the trees and evergreens glowed in the moonlight. The world felt hushed, and Abby could see the rolling white pastures beyond Sam’s house and the Grabers’. Courting couples would be out in sleighs, cuddled beneath layers of blankets as Belgians pulled them across pristine white pastures—but that wasn’t Zanna’s option right now.

The poor girl had shared so many of her feelings that Abby hadn’t slept soundly, as she ran the revelations through her mind again and again. Together they’d ripped bright, colorful strips of new fabric for another rug, but her sister had much larger projects in mind… bigger dreams and bolder ideas. And rightly so.

Abby slipped into her flannel robe and went to the front room to wait. Again, it was tempting to allow Zanna her secret trip to the phone shanty—even though everyone in Sam’s house would see her tracks, come morning. By the time Abby peeked out the window beside her favorite sewing chair, Zanna was already heading back to the house.

Not much of a phone call. Had Jonny not answered? Or had he yanked the proverbial rug out from under Zanna again, giving her a reaction she hadn’t counted on? The girl was head over heels, no doubt about it. Abby hoped, what with all the other disappointments Zanna had faced lately, that the most daring and dashing of the Ropp boys hadn’t taken her heart for a wild ride.

Help me say the right things, Lord, she prayed as she waited in the dimness. Help me to be the blessing Zanna needs right now.

As the door opened, Abby held her breath. Zanna slipped out of her black coat and bonnet and hung them back in the closet. It would be easy to stay still, and maybe her sister would return to bed to ponder whatever she’d heard on the phone. But why should she lie awake herself and let her sister get all the sleep?

“And what did Jonny have to say?” Abby asked quietly.

Zanna jumped, her hand flying to her chest. “Scared me half to—what are you doing, Abby? Spying on me?”

“I had a lot on my mind. I was awake when you passed my room.

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