The Search by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Author:Suzanne Woods Fisher [Fisher, Suzanne Woods]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, General, Fiction, Christian, Christian Fiction, Amish Women, Amish, Pennsylvania, Lancaster County (Pa.), Large Type Books, Amish - Pennsylvania, Love Stories, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9781598598643
Publisher: Oasis Audio
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Billy had offered to show Bess how to graft roses, so when the weather cooled off one day in late July, with gray skies threatening rain, he told her today was the day. Good grafting weather. He showed her how to pick out the strongest rootstock, healthy and undamaged. Then they went out to the rose fields to cut some slips.

“Your grandmother said she has an order for ten plants of white sweetheart roses,” Billy said. He pointed out the best plant. Then he pulled out his knife and made slanted cuts from branches, quickly wrapping them in a wet dishrag. “Don’t want the cut pieces to dry out.”

Raindrops started to splatter their faces as they hurried back into the greenhouse. Inside, the air was warm and musty. Billy made an assembly line with rootstocks and slips. First, he dipped the slips into a powdery substance to help the root take, then carefully matched each slip to a rootstock branch before wrapping it with gauze. “Roots may not be glamorous, and they aren’t even seen, but they’re the source of a rose’s strength,” he told her, as if he were a teacher and she a student.

“Like people,” Bess murmured.

“How’s that?” he asked absently.

“It was in one of the sermons last week. ‘If our roots go deep in the knowledge of God and our lives are hidden in Christ, we’ll be strong. More likely to survive the storms of adversity.’ ” She surprised even herself by remembering what the minister had said. It was Lainey’s influence. The more time she spent with Lainey, the more interested she became in spiritual things. Lainey quizzed Bess and Jonah after each church service. She understood more and more Deitsch now and was eager to piece together what she was learning. Her enthusiasm was contagious. “I’m thinking of joining the church,” Bess said aloud to Billy. She had been considering it, but it gave her a shiver to say it aloud. It seemed more real.

Billy glanced at her. “I already did. Last year.” He put away the powder. “If you know it’s right for you, no point in putting it off, is the way I see it.” He brushed one palm against the other. “But you are awful young. Not sure the bishop would allow it.”

She rolled her eyes at that slight. She was, after all, nearly sixteen. She doubted Billy was much older when he became a member. He had joined at a younger age than most boys did, but that didn’t surprise her. Billy wasn’t like most boys. In many ways, he seemed already grown-up, solid and unwavering. Except when it came to girls. In that area, Bess thought, his judgment was quite poor. Abominable.

Billy liked to talk while he worked, and Bess loved listening to him. Today, he told her that he wanted to buy his own farm as soon as he turned twenty-one. “No mortgage, either. I’ve been saving every penny. I want to own my land free and clear. You see, land is a trust, Bess,” he said, starting to sound like a preacher.

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