Christmas Visitor by Linda Byler

Author:Linda Byler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Good Books
Published: 2013-07-25T04:00:00+00:00

Christmas was fast approaching, and the children marked each day with a large black X on the calendar, completely changing its appearance.

It was December thirteenth when they decided to hitch up Pete and go shopping together with the small amount of money they had. It was a Saturday, the sun was shining, and excitement hovered over the house as the children danced rather than walked, yelled rather than talked. Ruth barked orders, combed hair, and bundled everyone into clean coats and hats and scarves and bonnets.

They brushed Pete till he shone, cleaned the harness, hitched him to the buggy, and were off to the small town of Bart, which everyone called Georgetown. No one knew why Bart was the official address, since no one ever said Bart—just Georgetown—but that’s how it was.

They were all snuggled into the clean buggy under the winter lap robes. Roy, Esther, and Barbara sat in back with Esther holding Lillian. Elmer sat in front beside Ruth as usual, holding Benjy.

Pete stepped out eagerly, and the buggy moved along smoothly around bends, past farms, up hills and down. They waved to oncoming teams, pulled to the side to allow cars and trucks to pass, and were very careful when they approached a narrow bridge. Ruth pulled firmly on the reins to allow a car to cross first.

As they approached the hitching rail at Fisher’s Housewares, the row of parked horses and buggies left no room for them, so they drove past and pulled up to the fence beside it.

“You think it’s okay to park here?” Ruth asked.

“Do you want me to ask someone?” Roy offered.

“No, we’ll tell someone when we get inside.”

The store was filled with so many things. The boys went off in one direction, and the girls in another, leaving Ruth with Benjy and a bit of time to buy some gifts for the children. It wasn’t much, but it was all she could afford, and she wanted to be content.

The store was filled with others of Ruth’s faith—some folks she knew, others she didn’t. She tried hard not to be envious of the mothers with their carts piled high or a young couple discussing a purchase together.

Row after row of dress fabric, heavy pants material, bonnets, shawls, coats and sweaters, housewares, toys, beautiful sets of china, all sorts of kitchen wares, Christmas candy, books, and canning supplies—an ongoing display of every Amish family’s needs.

Ruth chose a Monopoly game for the boys and a set of Melamine dishes for the older girls. Lillian would receive a small doll that boasted a 4.99 price tag. That was all she could afford this year.

She bought two serving dishes for her mam, two red handkerchiefs for her dat, a set of wooden spoons for Mamie, and some coating chocolate. She would make fudge and Rice Krispies treats.

Elmer and Roy begged for a set of books that was marked 29.99, and Ruth had to swallow the lump that formed in her throat. Oh, how she would have loved

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