Read Forbidden for Free Online Page B

youngest sister, Katie, came through the back door and stood on the other side of Mamm. Answering her husband, Hannah said, “Of course, Levi.” She gave her mother another hug then motioned for Katie to stay near their mother’s side. “I’ll be back soon, Mamm. Levi will know what to do.”
    ***
    Levi walked toward her, Eli Troyer at his side. Levi’s manly shape only emphasized Eli’s teenage gawkiness. The boy’s long, gangly legs and arms had outgrown his pants and coat by a couple of inches. He had a thatch of blond hair cut in the traditional bowl style, but his hair was a shade or two darker than Levi’s. He was almost as tall, but his shoulders weren’t yet as broad. In the Amish way, Eli, at age fourteen, had finished the last year of his schooling and would be helping out on the farm from now on or finding his own trade for when he married and had a family of his own. Of course, the teen’s face was smooth where Levi already had a beard, indicating he was married, which caused her heart to swell.
    The last six months had been filled with a peace and contentment Hannah had never known. Levi’s heart was deep and full of a selfless love. The joy she had felt in the safety and comfort of his arms at night faded when she had spent time with Rachel. For her sister had been in mourning for her husband, and Josef’s death was most probably Hannah’s fault. If she hadn’t invited Akiva into her mind and heart and welcomed him into her home, then none of those events would have happened. Guilt, at first a heavy stone in her heart, had accumulated into a wall between her and Rachel. But she couldn’t confess what she knew and had done to Rachel. How could she tell her sister how horribly Josef had died? It would have been too painful and disturbing and might have risked the life of the child Rachel carried. But now, was Rachel’s disappearance another stone of guilt?
    The seriousness of the situation kept her feet firmly planted in the summer grass as she waited impatiently for her husband and Eli to approach the buggy. She stood beside Pete as the horse dipped his head and nibbled the grass. She couldn’t read Levi’s or Eli’s expressions shaded beneath the flat bills of their straw hats.
    When they had arrived, Levi had first spoken to Ernest Troyer, Eli’s older brother, the one now considered the head of the family and farm. He had not been here when Rachel was working in the strawberry field yesterday morning, but his wife, Mae, had been. She last saw Rachel when she’d taken their toddler inside for a nap, leaving Rachel alone. When Mae returned a couple of hours later, Rachel had been gone. Mae had assumed she’d gone home as usual.
    It was one of the other Troyer brothers, Ezekiel, who had suggested the youngest, Eli, might have seen something. He was the only one left on the farm that morning. So, Levi had walked out to the field where Eli was plowing, bringing him back to Hannah now. But did the teenager know anything?
    â€œEli was in the barn yesterday,” Levi said as they reached her.
    She pinched her hands together in an effort to quiet her galloping heart and looked at the younger man’s face. “Did you see Rachel then?”
    Eli shook his head, and his gaze shifted sideways, avoiding hers.
    â€œAre you sure, Eli? You didn’t see Rachel?”
    â€œI told you.” He gave a nod to Levi and left them alone.
    Hannah stared at her husband. Her throat tightened on a sob. What would they do now? Where would they go? How could they find help?
    Levi stepped toward the buggy and held out a hand for Hannah.
    â€œLevi, she couldn’t just disappear.”
    â€œMaybe she is at the hospital.”
    â€œYou know as well as I do that is not the case.” She covered her heart with a hand. “I can feel it. I know.”
    He didn’t deny or refute it. His lips flattened, pinching the