Read Online The Dawn of Christmas by Cindy Woodsmall - Free Book Online Page A

mission trip, and he wanted to do all he could to help her. He’d put some of the life-sized cloth dolls she sewed in his handcrafted cradles and highchairs. When the two items were combined, they sold like hotcakes at Hertzlers’.
    He also enjoyed the short letters that accompanied her packages. When he first came up with the idea of her making dolls to go with some of his toy furniture, he called her. But she wasn’t keen on the idea of partnering with him. It’d taken a few phone calls before he could sufficiently assure her that he was only interested in being a friend and repaying his debt to her.
    Dealing with her was like working with a spooked horse. At first he thought she’d been in a relationship that had gone bad. But after coming to know her a little better, he understood that her heart belonged to the people in a remote Peruvian village, and she was determined to stay the course.
    Tobias took the package from the man and held it up. “Ya, it’s from her.”
    “Gut.” He’d never known anyone like Sadie.
    Just as the mailman pulled out of the driveway, he saw another vehicle coming in. Daniel rolled down the passenger window and waved.
    Levi returned the wave. “Tobias, go put that on my bed before anything happens to it.” The dolls’ faces, arms, and legs were made of white cotton, and if they were smudged, they didn’t sell as easily.
    Tobias tore out running.
    Levi didn’t expect Daniel this week. Then again, Daniel may not have known himself until the mood struck him to head this way.
    The truck came to a halt, and Daniel got out. “A man without a cast on his leg.” Daniel shook Levi’s hand and patted his shoulder at the same time. “Still got that noose around your neck, I see. How you feeling?”
    “Lighter now.” Levi ran two fingers around the top collar of the brace. “And ready to be free of this yoke around my neck.”
    “Sure you are. You’re gettin’ there. It’s been a hot summer to have to wear that thing while working.”
    The screen door flung open, and Tobias ran outside.
    Daniel didn’t seem to notice the boy. He motioned to his driver, Tip. “I heard there are some good horses going on the block tonight at Toppers. I’d sure like it if you could join me.”
    “Your eye for buying horses at auction is much better than mine.”
    “Ya, but you’re better at knowing which one should go to which trainer.”
    Andy emerged from the barn. “Daniel, I didn’t know you were here … or even coming.”
    “I’m not staying. We’ll talk horse-trading another time. But I’m hoping to borrow Levi for a bit.”
    Daniel called it horse-trading, but what he meant was buying the animals at auction, bringing them to Levi to train, selling them to people throughout the region, and settling up with the Fisher brothers what was owed. Nobody worried about a timetable for the payments. Daniel’s word was good enough, and he was more than fair when it came to paying people for their services, but he did things in his own way and time.
    Tobias bounced up and down. “Can I go?”
    “Not this time, champ.” Daniel pushed down on the top of Tobias’s straw hat. “We might not be home until the wee hours of the morning, and if we arrive that late, your uncle will need some sleep, and your Daed will need your help tending to the horses the next morning.” Daniel pulled a five-dollar bill from his billfold. “You’ll agree to work for me, ya?”
    “Wow.” Tobias took the money, staring at it with wide eyes. “I’m available anytime.”
    “Gut. I’m glad to hear it.”
    It dawned on Levi that by going to Toppers, he’d be fifteen to twenty minutes from Sadie’s place in Stone Creek. “What time does the horse auction begin?”
    “Around eight, most likely. Of course, as usual, you and Tip will stay at Toppers while I find some lonely girl to take to dinner.”
    Daniel’s dating habits were questionable at best, but at least he seemed to be trying to find someone.