Read Online A Simple Christmas Wish by Melody Carlson - Free Book Online

“This is Aunt Rachel. Her birthday is three days before mine.”
    Sarah looked as if she was figuring something in her head. “Is your birthday on Tuesday?” she asked Rachel.
    “Yeah, I guess so,” Rachel said, not eager to be reminded. Now she smiled at Sarah. “When’s your birthday?”
    “I just had it. November thirtieth. I turned eleven.”
    “Wow.” Holly looked impressed. “That’s pretty old.”
    “ Ja. But not as old as my three brothers.”
    “You have three brothers?”
    “Ja.” She held up three fingers, counting them off. “Jacob is the oldest. He’s seventeen. And Noah is fifteen. They’re both out of school now. Ezra is thirteen. He’s still in school like me.”
    “Wow.” Holly looked stunned. “That’s a lot of brothers.”
    “ Ja. But now I have a sister.” Sarah put a loving arm around Holly’s shoulders.
    “I’ve always wanted a sister,” Holly said, but she gave Rachel a sideways glance, as if she was unsure.

    “You have got one now,” Sarah proclaimed. Then she frowned at all of Holly’s stuff. “But Mamm will not be happy to see all this.”
    “Who is Mamm?”
    “Mamm?” Sarah’s brow creased. “Our mother. That’s Mamm.”
    “Oh.”
    “Amish use some different words,” Rachel explained to Holly.
    “ Ja. We speak English mostly, but we also speak the Dutch.”
    “Which is a form of German,” Rachel explained and then wondered why she’d bothered. So much for Holly to take in. Why add to it?
    “And what do you call your father?” Holly asked with adultlike interest.
    “We call him Daed.”
    “I called my daddy Dad sometimes. But mostly I called him Daddy.”
    “I’m sorry that your parents died,” Sarah said with a serious expression. “I never met my aenti Miriam. She was Mamm’s only sister, and Mamm thinks I look like her.”
    Holly peered at Sarah, looking her up and down, but then she just shook her head. “No. My mother was older and bigger than you.”
    Rachel chuckled. “I think she means her coloring. See, Sarah has golden brown hair like your mommy did. And her eyes are the same color of blue.”
    “Oh.” Holly nodded. “I guess you do look like Mommy. Maybe she looked like you when she was a little girl.” Hollyreached over to take Rachel’s hand. “My mommy says I look like Aunt Rachel.” She smiled up at her. “That’s right, isn’t it?”
    “That’s what your mommy used to say,” Rachel said quietly.
    Sarah spotted Holly’s American Girl doll and pointed at it with a shocked expression while her other hand flew up to cover her mouth. “Mamm is not going to like that .”
    Holly grabbed up Ivy with the possessiveness of a protective mother. “Why not? What’s wrong with her?”
    Sarah pointed at Ivy’s face. “She has a face .”
    Holly frowned in confusion. “What’s wrong with her face?”
    Sarah giggled nervously. “I have to go help Mamm fix supper.”
    Holly still looked perplexed.
    “We’ll make sure Ivy stays up in the bedroom,” Rachel assured Sarah. “I hope that’s okay.”
    Sarah looked unsure, but she nodded. “Mamm told me to ask if you need anything.” She looked around the crowded room and laughed. “It looks like you don’t need anything .”
    “I need to use the bathroom,” Holly admitted as she carefully laid Ivy down next to Bunny.
    Sarah showed them where the bathroom was, and Rachel was relieved to learn this house had indoor plumbing. “How does it work?” she asked Sarah.
    “What do you mean?” Sarah asked with a confused expression. “You have not used a flushing toilet before?”
    Rachel laughed. “Yes, I have, but I’m just curious about how you have water pressure without electricity. Is there a pump to get water to the house?”
    Sarah’s brow creased. “There is a windmill that makespower to get water up into the water tower.” She held her hand up high as if to illustrate the height. “And then the water tower uses gravity to get it into the house.” She