I Will Not Turn My Back

By Vanessa Carlson

Sarah's curly blonde hair isn't the only thing that sets her apart from her Amish community. Twenty-eight and single, Sarah doesn't believe a woman needs to be married in order to be happy. Her terminally ill best friend disagrees, however, and wants Sarah to promise to marry her husband after she dies. Sarah half-heartedly agrees only to make her friend happy. Her friend's husband, Samuel, has made the same agreement with no intention of following through. 

Her friend dies and Samuel desperately needs help raising the children. Sarah decides to spend her days helping with the family and taking care of the chores while Samuel is away at work. She then leaves before nightfall. The odd arrangement soon raises eyebrows around the conservative Amish community. Shamed, Sarah must decide on whether or not to turn her back on the family and Samuel, a man she has started to fall in love with.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trellis Publishing
• Release date: Jul 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201377045

Book preview

Chapter 1

Cold water splashed over the side of the bucket Sarah held in her hands. She paused only to wipe the sweat from her brow and to push back the few strands of blonde hair that had found their way to the front of her face. The sun continued to beam down. Cicadas buzzed in the distance, announcing that the day would only get hotter.

Still, that did not slow down the Amish community. Men were hard at work patching up roofs and fixing farm equipment. Women tended to their laundry while children frolicked about, keeping to the shade whenever they could.

A few of the friendlier folk greeted her as she made her way back home. Others, however, downright ignored her existence. There were plenty of rumors about Sarah. She had been discovered on the church doorstep twenty-eight years ago and it had been quite the controversy among all the elders. Many believed that to accept her into the fold would be nothing short of blasphemy but others argued that any baby left on a church doorstep was a gift from God. In the end, the prophet decided to raise Sarah as a member of the flock.

And to this day, there were people who considered her an outsider. The young woman was not bothered by their stares. They were simply another part of life, as typical and ordinary as clouds in the sky.

Phew... she whispered aloud as she spotted her friend’s home in the distance. There wasn’t much longer to go. So, she fought through the pain in her fingers and continued forward, careful not to spill any more water. The last thing she wanted to do was go back to the well for a second trip.

Sarah. At the sound of her name, her head jerked forward. At once, she