Read Online Katie's Journey to Love by Jerry S. Eicher - Free Book Online

after she dashed out the door. She didn’t like either option. It would be better if they heard the words from her mouth. With that thought firmly in her mind, Katie glanced at Mamm , gathered her courage, and spoke. “Um, I have something I want to say.” Katie tried to keep her voice from squeaking.
    â€œ Yah ?” Jesse smiled in her direction as silence settled over the table.
    Katie dropped her eyes. Jesse wasn’t making things easy by being so nice to her. If he became angry she might at least feel justified in what she was doing. “I’m going out tonight with a Mennonite girl I work with,” Katie said. “Her name is Esther. We’re going to one of her church’s youth gatherings. I wanted to be the one to tell all of you where I’ll be.”
    Mabel looked gleeful. “I thought you were up to something tonight! Does your mamm know?”
    â€œOf course,” Katie said. “And so does your daett . And they don’t approve. I’m doing this on my own.”
    â€œYou’re really going to a Mennonite youth gathering?” Leroy stared at her. “How come I’ve not heard about this?”
    â€œYou would know things if you kept your eyes open,” Mabel snapped. “Katie has been doing these jaunts even before the wedding.”
    â€œMabel,” Jesse spoke up, “you will stay out of this. We will let Katie finish what she has to say.”
    Mabel’s eyes cast daggers at Katie, but she kept her mouth shut.
    Katie tried to find her voice and wrung her hands under the table.
    â€œKatie made some friends from work…” Mamm began, obviously trying to help out.
    Katie stopped Mamm from speaking further with a shake of her head. “This isn’t Mamm ’s doing or anyone else’s but mine. Yah , I do have some gut friends among the Mennonite youth. But I didn’t get to know them by working at Byler’s.”
    â€œWould one of these friends be a boy?” Leroy had a slight smile on his face.
    Mabel’s mouth opened as if she were going to say something, clearly agreeing with her brother, but Jesse stopped Mabel with a lift of his hand.
    â€œI don’t think this has anything to do with a boy. At least not from what I understand,” Jesse said.
    â€œIt certainly doesn’t,” Katie said. “My friends’ names are Margaret and Sharon. They were at the wedding, even though you may not have met them since it was such a busy day. They’ve invited me to a youth gathering tonight. Esther, who also works at Byler’s, is picking me up in a minute.”
    â€œThere has to be a boy somewhere,” Leroy announced. “You don’t go leaving the faith over some girlfriends.”
    Mabel smirked behind her hand.
    â€œKatie is not leaving the faith,” Jesse said. “If she wants to keep up these friendships, then we shouldn’t complain if she visits them once in awhile.”
    Neither Leroy nor Mabel looked convinced by their daett ’s mellow words. Katie swallowed hard. Jesse was making this difficult again. But if she didn’t speak up now, it would only get harder later. “I…I may be attending the Mennonite youth gatherings quite a lot,” she managed. “I don’t mean anything against the Amish faith by that. I really don’t. And I have no plans to leave the Amish or join the Mennonite Church.”
    â€œThey never do,” Mabel stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “It just happens all of a sudden. That’s how deception comes into the heart.”
    â€œMabel!” Jesse said warningly.
    â€œI can’t believe you’re allowing this, Daett !” Mabel said. “You never would let one of us run around with the Mennonites. And now Katie’s bringing this evil right into our house.”
    With a gasp Mamm jumped up from the table and rushed into the living room. Her soft sobs could be heard on the other