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up,” Mattie said, and Rebecca knew her mother had already known.
    “I’ve got to be going.” Rebecca glanced at the clock again and got up from the table.
    “Have a safe trip.” Mattie stayed seated, as Rebecca picked up her suitcase and stepped out into the early morning darkness.
    The air was still brisk for a spring morning. Rebecca gripped the handle, its weight already heavy by the time she was halfway down the driveway. At the blacktop she set the suitcase down to catch her breath. No car lights appeared on the road, for which she was thankful. A quick dash toward Edna’s lane, and she was across the road.
    Had anyone seen her? She didn’t know and didn’t want to find out. To be caught in the headlights, the occupants would be curious why an Amish girl was out walking the roads at five thirty in the morning with her suitcase at her side. Such a sight couldn’t be considered too normal in the Englisha world.
    A dim light was visible in the front window, so she knocked on the door. Edna’s voice called out from somewhere in the house, “Come on in.”
    Inside Rebecca saw no one around. The light came from the bedroom, where Edna was apparently still making preparations. Rebecca seated herself at the kitchen table and waited.
    “I can’t believe it,” Edna said, bustling out moments later. “Me, an old woman who doesn’t sleep anyway, slept right through the alarm. Can you believe that?”
    “Maybe it didn’t go off,” Rebecca said chuckling, her thoughts on her own dancing alarm clock.
    “Could be,” Edna said, taking a quick look out the front window. “That would be worse, though. Means I didn’t turn it on. Life’s got us old people coming and going. Hard of hearing or forgetful. Sure a good thing the Lord is coming soon.”
    “At least you’re well enough for the trip,” Rebecca said. She wanted to express some comfort for Edna’s sake.
    “ Jah, I know. Something to be thankful for. Maybe the good Lord is giving me grace. Was down last week with something. If Emma had passed then, I couldn’t have gone. Would have been a hard thing, indeed.”
    “Were you close?” Rebecca asked. She searched her memory for the connection between the two women.
    “Growing up we were. In Milroy. It’s been years, though. I got married to Elmer. He wanted to move here. Emma never got married.”
    Rebecca thought Edna said the last statement a little sadly. “Why?” she asked.
    “She never told me. She had a Mennonite boyfriend once. Real secret about it. Didn’t last long enough to get her into trouble. Nothing official of course, him being Mennonite. I just thought she took it hard, from what I could tell.”
    “That he was Mennonite?”
    “That she loved him,” Edna said.
    “Loved him?” Rebecca leaned forward in the chair.
    “Just him. Only him. She could be stubborn, Emma could.”
    “Emma told you this?”
    “Not really,” Edna admitted. “Well…not all of it. I knew she fell for him and never dated anyone else that anyone knew about.”
    “She was a good schoolteacher,” Rebecca said, returning to familiar ground. “Excellent she was, at least in my eyes.”
    “Yes, she was,” Edna said, as lights lit up the driveway. “Guess we’d better be going. Now where did I put my suitcase? I had it all packed last night.”
    “There,” Rebecca said. She pointed toward Edna’s desk in the living room, where the black suitcase sat.
    “See?” Edna threw her hands in the air. “You see how bad it’s getting? At least I’m well enough to go. I guess Da Hah does help in time of need.”
    “Let me take your suitcase,” Rebecca offered, reaching out for it.
    “I’m not totally helpless,” Edna told her and grasped the suitcase.
    “I’ll get the door, then,” Rebecca said with a smile. She waited while Edna carefully made her way, her suitcase clutched with both hands.
    “Lock the door,” Edna said over her shoulder.
    Rebecca did and checked the knob twice, before she