LUCY'S CHRISTMAS SUNBEAM
CHAPTER ONE
'C'ome out, come out, wherever you are!"
Lucy Beiler paused to listen carefully, hoping for a clue as to where her baby sister, Mildred, was hiding. She'd been solely responsible for Millie's care since their mother died giving birth to the child on Christmas Day nearly three years before. And while she loved the tiny little girl, a special gift from Gott delivered into her hands even as their maem was delivered into Gott's, at times Millie's love of games tested her patience.
A peek behind the couch revealed nothing but dust bunnies and a small stuffed pig. Stretching, she nabbed the toy by one scruffy ear. "Millie! Look who I found! Pinky Pig was hiding behind the couch."
She heard a small cry of "Pinky!" coming from the kitchen.
"Come on, liebling, we need to go to the hardware store so I can caulk the shower."
She grinned at the sound of a giggle coming from under the kitchen table. She peeked beneath the hem of the sage-green tablecloth. "Gotcha!"
Millie burst into giggles, her slightly tip-tilted eyes sparkling with mischief as she regarded her older sister from above chubby little hands pressed over her mouth in an attempt to contain her mirth.
"Found me!" the child signed and then chuckled.
"Ja! So now you have to be a gut girl and get ready to go out with me, okay?" Lucy used both signed and spoken language when addressing her sister, because she wanted Millie to learn to speak as well as sign.
Lucy reached down and tickled Millie on her round tummy. Millie giggled and signed. "Okay, Lucy."
"Can you say it?"
"Okay!"
Lucy scooped the mite up in a big hug. "You're so smart! Come now. We'll need sweaters." The late September days were turning cool in central Pennsylvania, where she and Millie lived in the dawdi haus on the farm where Lucy had grown up.
She popped a pink hoodie over her sister's head, lifting her braids out and straightening her little prayer kapp.
She smiled into her sister's open, loving face, her heart melting a little bit at how much she loved the child, who was more like a daughter than a sister.
"Ice cream?" Millie signed with a winning smile.
"First, the caulk. We'll see about ice cream."
"Okay!" she yelled.
"Okay!" Lucy answered.
She strapped her schwester into her car seat in the buggy she'd inherited from their maem. Not all Amish used the contraptions, but she wasn't about to take chances with Millie's safety. She could be quite impulsive, and Lucy wanted to be certain the child couldn't fall out of the moving buggy.
As she pulled onto the back road and pointed the horse toward Bird-in-Hand, she thought about what else she should do while she was in town.
I could use some more pink yarn for Millie's Christmas sweater. It'll be here before I know it! And maybe some candlewicks. I want to try making up some nice candles for my other sisters. She smiled at the thought. She enjoyed making simple gifts for the people she loved.
Half an hour later they were exploring Fisher's Hardware in Bird-in-Hand. "Now, where do they hide the caulk?" she muttered as she made her way down the aisles in the store.
"Caulk!" Millie shouted.
