When Hope Blossoms Read Free Page A

robbed his tree of the potential for a good three dozen apples, but he still didn’t want the boy to be seriously hurt. He’d try to avoid bumps on the way to the Sanford place.
    The little girl chattered as they drove slowly along the dirt road, but Tim didn’t reply. No sense in encouraging the kid to think of him as a friend. In fact, he intended to inform their mother to keep them home where they belonged. Most Old Order moms were diligent when it came to supervision. Unless things had changed a lot since he was a boy. His own mother had never let him venture far from her sight. He ground his teeth. Now these kids had him thinking about Mom.
    They reached the lane leading to the Sanford farm, and Tim slowed the cart to make the turn. As he aimed the nose of the cart for the house, he spotted another child wandering between the house and the barn. Her white cap and trailing ribbons as well as the simple dress let Tim know without a doubt the family who’d claimed the farmstead was definitely Old Order Mennonite. He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached.
    The girl held her cupped hands beside her mouth. He assumed she was hollering, but he couldn’t hear her over the cart’s rumble. She came to a halt and turned to look in his direction. Her eyes flew wide. Then she took off at a run, disappearing behind the house.
    Tim pulled up the cart next to the house and shifted it into park. “Hop out,” he ordered the pair on the seat, “and go get your mom or dad for me.” He’d have a firm talk with the new owners, and then he’d leave them be. For good.

    “Mom! Mom! Some man is here! He has Parker and Adri with him!”
    Bekah’s shrill voice reached Amy’s ears, and she nearly collapsed with relief. Having been warned about an abandoned well in the pasture behind the house, she’d left Bekah searching the outbuildings around the house and headed out to the pasture herself. She’d found the well and its wood cover, but there was no sign of the children. She was planning where she should look next when Bekah’s call came.
    Amy waved both hands over her head. “I’m coming!” She broke into a run, the uneven ground and her wind-tossed skirts slowing her pace despite the sturdy tennis shoes on her feet. The stout breeze loosened the pins holding her cap, and she clamped one hand over her head as she ran. She rounded the house, her heart leaping for joy when she spotted all three children standing next to a rusty, open-sided cart. A tall man wearing a baseball-style cap similar to those worn by the Mennonite men sat in the cart’s seat with one leg extended to the ground. Apparently he’d been the one to bring the children home. Gratitude swelled in her chest, and she ran directly to the little group.
    Throwing her arms around both Parker and Adrianna, she kissed their sweaty heads and then aimed a smile at the stranger. “Thank you so much, sir. I’ve been so worried!” She shifted her gaze to her son and youngest daughter, searching their dear, dirty faces. The fearful worry that had held her captive for the past half hour abruptly switched to aggravation now that she knew they were safe. She frowned at the pair. “Shame on you for wandering off that way. From now on you stay right here on our property, do you hear me?”
    They both nodded, their expressions contrite, and her irritation melted. She hugged them again. Parker let out a yelp. Amy pulled back. “Parker, honey, what’s wrong?”
    “He jumped out of a tree and fell on his bottom,” Adrianna said, her bright voice devoid of concern.
    Amy gawked at the boy. “You were climbing trees?”
    “We were getting you flowers.” Adrianna answered for her brother again. “But that man”—she pointed a dirt-smudged finger to the man who remained half-in, half-out of the sorry-looking cart—“wouldn’t let us bring ’em to you.”
    The man slowly straightened, rising to his full height, which was intimidating up close. His frowning countenance