Read Online Brightest and Best by Olivia Newport - Free Book Online

do about it if they don’t.”
    Gray took her elbow and they resumed walking. “Surely he could send a man. It would be more authoritative.”
    Margaret bristled against the collar of her dress.
    “Be firm,” Gary said. “Utterly firm. It’s not a personal matter. There is no question of a choice, and they must come to understand that truth. You’ve given them the instruction they need, and they must comply with the law.”
    Gray sounded as if he had been reading the same manual as Mr. Brownley. Yes, it was the law. But was there no room for humanity?
    They made the turn that would take them off Main Street toward Margaret’s home. Gray had pulled her hand through his elbow and covered it with his palm. The sensation stirred her.
    Someone to care for her. Someone to protect her. Just when she had—nearly—talked herself out of thinking she minded missing that experience.
    Margaret let out a slow breath. The Amish controversy would not always hang between them. Perhaps it did not matter if their impulses diverged on this matter. One way or another, the issue would resolve and have nothing to do with Margaret in the future. She and Gray would be all right. There was no need to openly disagree on a passing concern that would not involve them for the long run.

    The bishop arrived.
    Although Gideon had not spoken directly with Bishop Leroy Garber since the collapse of the schoolhouse, he was not surprised that the head of the church’s district would turn up on his farm while he worked with Tobias and James to make sure disease or unmanaged pestilence did not endanger the fall harvest. It was only a matter of time before the bishop, who had no school-age children, would have heard from parents who did about the impending enforcement of state law.
    “Gut mariye.”
Bishop Garber dismounted his horse in the middle of a row of wheat, careful to still the animal before its hooves wandered into Gideon’s crop.
    Gideon brushed his hands against his trousers, loosing bits of soil in a black spray. “I’m sorry I have no refreshment to offer you out here.”
    “No need. I won’t keep you from your work for long.”
    “What can I do for you?”
    The bishop glanced at Tobias, whose eyes had lifted to the exchange.
    “Tobias,” James said, “let’s check the plants in the next row.”
    Gideon tipped his hat forward a quarter of an inch in thanks as James led Tobias out of listening distance.
    “I do not face the decision you face,” the bishop said. “My children are over sixteen. But those who are married with their own children will face the dilemma soon enough.”
    “It’s difficult to know what the right thing is,” Gideon said. “I’m sure parents will seek your counsel as bishop.”
    “They already have. That’s why I’ve come to you.”
    “I have no clear answers, Bishop.”
    “Perhaps not. But what is certain in my talks with other parents is that they are looking to you. Your name comes up in every conversation. They will follow your lead.”
    “Bishop, I don’t ask for such a role. I am only a parent seeking to please God and do what is best for my children.”
    “That is just what any of them would say. But they seem to think you will help them find that point of intersection.”
    “How can I help them find what I do not see clearly for myself?” Gideon rubbed an eye with one palm.
    “We see through a glass darkly,” the bishop said, “but we still see.”
    “I will rejoice when light banishes this particular darkness,” Gideon said.
    “Someday you will be nominated to be a minister.”
    Gideon’s gaze snapped into focus on the bishop’s face. “We are only talking about school.”
    “You are a leader, Gideon. People recognize that. Your leadership on this question will be your ministry.”
    “I do not seek it.”
    “None of us ask to be ministers or bishops. God chooses us. If he chooses you now, you must serve.”

    Margaret festered for two days over how to do what the