The Witch Tree Symbol Read Free Page A

barn. But some folks think it is to chase witches. That is foolish, ain’t?”
    The girls nodded, thanked him, and drove on.
    George laughed. “He had a quaint way of speaking. We may have some trouble understanding what people say in these parts.”
    Nancy agreed. “And if we don’t understand, I think we’d better tell the speaker.”
    As the girls rode through methodically planned, beautiful farm country, they saw straight green fields of corn, as well as potatoes and tobacco. Weedless vegetable gardens were surrounded by neat borders of flowers—cockscomb, begonia, and geranium bloomed in profusion.
    “Where is Mr. Alpha Zinn’s home?” George asked.
    “Beyond Lancaster, in the part where the Amish live.”
    “Tell us more about them,” Bess requested.
    Nancy said that Mrs. Tenney had explained that there were two types of Amish, the Church Amish, who are comparatively modern and own automobiles and electrical appliances, and the House Amish, who are very strict and do not believe in using any of these “fancy” things.
    After lunch, the girls reached the outskirts of Lancaster. Nancy consulted a map. “I think this is the side road that leads to Mr. Zinn’s farmhouse,” she said. “Mrs. Tenney gave me rather general directions. Let’s try it.”
    They had not gone more than a mile down the road when the car began to lurch, forcing Nancy to slow down.
    “That’s funny,” she said, frowning. “I have plenty of gasoline, so that’s not the trouble.”
    Suddenly the motor died and the car chugged to a stop. The friends looked about in dismay. There was not a house in sight—nothing but open fields.
    Nancy got out, raised the hood of the car, and looked for loose or broken wires. She could find none. “We’re really stuck!” she announced.
    “The hex is already working,” Bess wailed. “Now a spell has been put on our car!”
    Nancy laughed. “If so, I won’t let the spell work long. We’ll eliminate it, I promise you.”
    “I suppose the best thing to do,” George said, “is to wait for a car to come along and give one of us a ride into town to find a mechanic.”
    Nancy agreed. “Especially if the farms nearby happen to belong to House Amish families,” she said. “They won’t know anything about cars.”
    Ten minutes went by, but no vehicle appeared. Suddenly George called out, “Here comes someone!”
    The others glanced up the road. An Amish woman, wearing a black dress that reached the top of her high shoes, a black bonnet, and a white shoulder kerchief and apron, walked slowly toward them.
    “Perhaps she knows somebody who can help us,” Bess suggested.
    To the girls’ surprise, as the figure came closer, they could see that she was very young—probably no more than sixteen years old.
    Nancy hastened toward the girL “Hello,” she said. “Our car won’t run. Could you tell us where we might have it fixed?”
    The Amish girl was very pretty, with large brown eyes and long lashes. She smiled sweetly at Nancy.
    “I am so sorry about the car,” she said. “You are visitors here, ain’t?”
    Nancy gave her name and added that she was from River Heights. She introduced the cousins.
    “I am Manda Kreutz,” the girl told them. “I am walking from Lancaster.”
    “Lancaster?” George repeated. “That’s more than ten miles from here.”
    Manda nodded. “It is good to walk,” she said, “and I know short cuts across the fields.” Then her face clouded. “I am returning to my home, but my father—maybe he will not take me back.”
    The girls were startled by this announcement. They also were curious to know what Manda Kreutz meant, but they did not want to embarrass her by asking for an explanation.
    Apparently Manda decided to trust the three friendly visitors, as she explained, “We are Amish and my father is very strict. When I finished eighth grade, he wanted me to stay home and work on the farm. But I wanted to study more and learn about the world.”
    She