Chapter Six
After taking Hannah around the farm, the question struck him as odd.
He hadn’t been anticipating this. So, he took a moment to think.
There were plenty of reasons the life he was used to was different from the one she was used to.
The least of which was probably the lack of electricity or modern tech here, except in emergencies that required them to contact someone in the city.
He shrugged. That was the best way he could sum up the difference without making her feel odd about it.
However, she must have done some homework before she arrived in the community.
She was wearing a long-sleeved dress, even if the sleeves weren’t as long as those most women in the community wore.
She wasn’t wearing any zippers or any buttons, but her friends had not adhered to those standards.
He suspected they were here mainly to make sure she felt included in deciding where to go and what to do during the trip.
He couldn’t fathom that they were all interested.
“And what about your friends?” he asked. “Are they interested in the way of life here, too?”
“Oh, no,” Hannah admitted with a slight blush.
“They were all planning this long getaway for the summer before my plans to go home fell through. When my plans changed, Patricia offered to pay for my share of the hotels, flights, and such if I put in gas money as I could and paid for my souvenirs and food at the theme parks. I’ve paid for a couple of our meals, too, because I’m thankful that they thought to include me in their holiday. ”
“Generous friends. Why choose to add this stop?”
“They thought it was worth the stop since it is the middle of summer,” she shared.
“None of us have jobs to get back to yet, and school doesn’t start again until September.
” She shrugged. “I suppose it’s because we weren’t sure what else to do to kill time this summer.
I actually cannot work because I just have a student visa.
It sucks, but it is what it is. I have a remote job that I’ve been able to get approved through the consulate, and that’s what I do when I have the time.
It doesn’t bring in much money, but that’s how I have been able to afford this trip.
And I work at it in the evenings to be sure that I have some extra money coming in. ”
“International law is interesting,” Elias stated. “I wonder if there’s a way for you to make the most of it without feeling like you have to go home to see your familye.”
“One of my cousins was getting married this summer. I wanted to attend so badly, but I couldn’t cover the cost of the flight to get to Spain,” she shared. “From there, I could have easily afforded a flight to Britain and back to school. But I couldn’t get out to Spain.”
“Oh. I see.”
This topic was as foreign to Elias as it could possibly be.
However, he knew that the more he talked to Hannah, the more certain he became that he wanted her to stay in the community.
He wasn’t sure she would respond positively to hearing his take on it, so he decided to keep mum on the matter.
If she wanted to stay, it would be because she wanted to see the rest of the community and how life was lived there.
He would have nothing to do with the way it came around. Or the way it happened to play out.
“Well, as beautiful as the farm is, I do want to see the center of the community, as you called it earlier,” Hannah said to break the silence. “Do you think you could show me that?”
“Of course. What kind of a tour guide would I be if I couldn’t show you the basic parts of our community?” Elias teased.
Hannah laughed a little, and they started their walk around the community.
The center that she was referring to was basically what he thought an Englischer would have called a shopping center.
The general store was there, as was a seamstress shop for those who didn’t have the skills to sew their wardrobe themselves.
It was usually utilized by Englischers who were staying to learn the way of life and had never sewn a stitch in their lives.
There was also a store where the women could sell any quilts that were not made for specific orders, which was also usually frequented mostly by Englischers.
The general store was the one outlet favored by the Amish locals, while exploratory foot traffic, so to speak, is what kept the other stores running.
“It’s a shopping center. A small one, but a shopping center,” Hannah said. “That’s fun. I never thought that you’d have something like this. Do you go to all the shops?”
“Nee, just this middle one. It’s the general store, where we get goods imported from the Englischer city that would just be too troublesome to try and make or grow ourselves,” Elias shared.
“Other than that, these stores are usually used by the Englischers who kumm to stay. The blacksmith’s store is further out of town, and the carpenter works out of a workshop near his home, as you saw. ”