Read The Telling for Free Online Page A

design was centered perfectly in the embroidery hoop.
    “May I borrow your phone book?” Lettie asked.
    Hallie looked up, her cheeks bright with peachy red spots. She wore a wine-colored dress and matching half apron, and a cup-shaped white Kapp with pleats that covered her tightly bound hair bun. “Not sure I’ve got one.”
    Lettie had seen one under the table near the front room sofa, though why on earth her cousin owned it, Lettie hadn’t any idea. “Actually, you do. See? Right there,” she said, nodding at the small table.
    Hallie looked surprised. “Well, it’s prob’ly so out of date.”
    “That’s all right.” Lettie went to lift it out of its hiding spot. Needing to see with her own eyes that Dr. Joshua Hackman did indeed practice medicine in Nappanee, she opened to the H’ s and ran her pointer finger down the page. Hackenberg... Hackett... Hackford...
    “What do ya want with it?” Hallie asked, her head tilted inquisitively like a puppy’s.
    “Oh, just looking up someone I once knew,” Lettie said absently.
    Hallie whispered to herself as she sat there.Was she counting stitches?
    There it is! Lettie was greatly relieved to see Dr. Hackman’s office was in fact located nearby. This should be easy. She yearned for this to work out... just as she’d dreamed all these years. I’ve come this far.
    “Hallie, where might I find a telephone in the neighborhood?” She felt strange asking.
    “Eddie and Lana, our neighbors up the hill, have one.” Hallie peered over her glasses. “They don’t seem to mind folks traipsing in and out.”
    “You sure?”
    Hallie laughed a little. “Would I lead you astray, Lettie? We’ve known each other since childhood.” Hallie’s father and two first cousins and their families had all pulled up roots from Lancaster County to relocate here in Nappanee when Hallie was only eleven, pleased at the prospect of more available land. Yet even after she’d gone, Hallie had remained faithful in her letters through the years, sharing even her disappointing experiences with Lettie.
    Lettie glanced out the window. “Where’s your neighbor’s house?”
    “Not so far, just over yonder.” Hallie waved toward the east. “Some of our young girls sneak up there and practice their typing skills on Lana’s computer. Strange that they’d want to dabble in the world like that.”
    “Not so strange, really. Don’t ya remember your own Rumschpringe ?” Lettie cringed. Oh, but she wished she hadn’t brought that up. Far as she knew, Hallie had been much more chaste than Lettie during her running-around years.
    “Things can get out of hand fast when you’ve got Amish girls pokin’ round the Web, as they call it,” Hallie said.
    “Hopefully it’s just a passing fancy for most. What’s worse is when young Plain women get educated up through high school and beyond. Why, I heard of one even wanting a job as an assistant to a lawyer.”
    “A paralegal?”
    “Not sure I know what that is,” Lettie admitted.
    “Just what you said – an assistant to a lawyer” came Hallie’s swift reply.
    Lettie looked at her cousin. Innocent as she was, it was clear Hallie was no longer a spring chicken.
    Hallie continued. “That sort of thing does annoy me.” She sighed sadly and wrung her hands. “That, and hearin’ one of my own granddaughters complain about the Old Ways.”
    “ This is a surprise. Which granddaughter?”
    “Rachel’s Linda. If you stay round long enough tomorrow, you’ll see her. She’s comin’ over for a cooking lesson in the morning.”
    Lettie hadn’t seen little Linda in years. “That should be fun.”
    “You think so? Well, let me tell ya, it’s like ropin’ a young calf for the first time. Seems Linda likes to put up a fuss whenever her Mamma tries to work with her.” Hallie looked tuckered out at the very idea. “This one doesn’t know yet how to make a piecrust from scratch.”
    “Well, is there any other way?”
    Hallie grimaced.