AN AMISH CALLING

Her sisters had spoken about going away for Rumspringa, maybe getting jobs. When they suggested it, Ellie was the one both her mother and father had immediately glanced at, as though it was her idea. She had immediately stated that she never wanted to go away.Lies. More lies.And for what? They still didn't trust her. Her parents were still afraid of Ellie repeating her mother's sins. True, rather than having an ill-advised relationship, it seemed her mother had violated the Ordnung. Still a sin. Still something that would get her cut off from the community - right after her husband had died.This thought stopped Ellie in her tracks for a moment.She had thought more about her birth mother than her father over the years, but she had wondered... and Ruth had said Beth's husband had died. Ellie's father. Dead before she was born.It was this that finally started her crying. She wept on and off as she walked, keeping to the quietest paths to avoid curious gazes.That night, she arrived home hoping to get her parents to tell her what they knew. But as she got to the house, she saw three of the community's preachers heading out of the front door.They were the oldest of the community's preachers. The only ones who would have been here when the decision was made to shun Beth.The oldest of them, Zeke Yoder, paused on his way past her."I'm glad to see you're still here," he said. "Remember that baptism classes are starting soon.""Thank you," said Ellie, gritting her teeth.None of the other King children had been baptised before their twentieth birthday. Many of the young people in the community waited until they were old enough for a serious commitment.But Ellie always wondered about the "real" reason behind her mother's shunning. When a mysterious woman comes to town, she may have the answers Ellie has always wanted.