Picnics and Prospects

By Vannetta Chapman

An Amish Picnic story by Vannetta Chapman
Faith Troyer is claustrophobic, and David Lapp builds tiny houses. They went on a date years ago with disastrous results. Now that they're in their late twenties, their families and friends are beginning to wonder if either will ever find that special someone. When a picnic outing is diverted by the discovery of a package of letters dating back to the 1970s, they take it upon themselves to find answers to a mystery that causes them to rethink their past and consider their future.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780310357926

Vannetta Chapman

Vannetta Chapman writes inspirational fiction full of grace. She is the author of sixteen novels, including the Pebble Creek Amish series, The Shipshewana Amish Mystery series, and Anna’s Healing, a 2016 Christy Award finalist. Vannetta is a Carol award winner and has also received more than two dozen awards from Romance Writers of America chapter groups. She was a teacher for fifteen years and currently resides in the Texas hill country. Visit Vannetta online: VannettaChapman.com, Twitter: @VannettaChapman, Facebook: VannettaChapmanBooks.

Book preview

title page

Copyright

ZONDERVAN

Picnics and Prospects

Copyright © 2020 by Vannetta Chapman

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ISBN: 978-0-310-35792-6 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP data is available upon request.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIVand New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

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title page

Contents

Cover

Copyright

Title Page

Contents

Glossary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Discussion Questions

Acknowledgments

About the Author

For Dorothy Hollister

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1–2

March comes in like a lion,

and goes out like a lamb.

English proverb

Glossary

ab im kopp: off in the head; crazy

ach: oh

aenti: aunt

appeditlich: delicious

bedauerlich: sad

boppli: baby/babies

brot: bread

bruder: brother

bruders: brothers

bruderskinner: nieces/nephews

bu: boy

buwe: boys

daadi/daddi: grandfather

daddi’s haus: grandparents’ house

daed: father

danki: thank you

dat: dad

dochder: daughter

dochdern: daughters

dummkopf: stupid

dummle: hurry

Englisch/Englischer: English or non-Amish

fra/fraa: wife

freind: friend

freinden: friends

froh: happy

gegisch: silly

geh: go

gern gschehne: you’re welcome

Gmay: church district

Gott/Gotte: God

Gotte’s wille: God’s will

grandkinner: grandchildren

groossdaadi/grossvatter: grandpa

grossmutter: grandmother

guder daag: good-bye

gude mariye: good morning

gut: good

gut nacht: good night

haus: house

Ich liebe dich: I love you

in lieb: in love

jah: yes

kaffee/kaffi: coffee

kapp: prayer covering or cap

kichli: cookie

kichlin: cookies

kinner: children

krank: ill

kuche: cake

kuchen: cakes

kumm: come

liewe: love, a term of endearment

maed: young women, girls

maedel: young woman

mamm: mom

mammi: grandmother

mann: husband

mei: my

mudder: mother

naerfich: nervous

narrisch: crazy

nee/nein: no

nix: nothing

onkel: uncle

Ordnung: unwritten rules for Amish living

rumspringa: running-around period when a teenager turns sixteen years old

schee: pretty

schmaert: smart

schtupp: family room

schweschder/schwester: sister

schweschdere/schwesters: sisters

seltsam: weird

sohn/suh: son

was iss letz: what’s wrong

Wie geht’s: How do you do? or Good day!

wunderbaar/wunderbarr: wonderful

ya: yes

yer: your

yerselves: yourselves

yung: young

youngie: teen to young adult

*The German dialect spoken by the Amish is not a written language and varies depending on the location and origin of the settlement. These spellings are approximations. Most Amish children learn English after they start school. They also learn high German, which is used in their Sunday services.

Chapter 1

Late March

Northern Indiana

Faith craned her head back and stared up at the massive vines that had climbed to a height of at least twenty feet.

What’s holding it up?

Hard to know. David stepped closer and inspected the bright green leaves.

Doesn’t look like it belongs here.

Kudzu usually doesn’t grow this far north.

I’ve never seen it on the Pumpkinvine Trail before.

Instead of answering, he shrugged. It was one of his habits that irked Faith. When he had nothing to say, he said nothing. David Lapp did not mind uncomfortable pauses.

This resulted in Faith suffering increasing pressure to hold up both ends of the conversation. If only she could be home with her cat and her books and her knitting instead of standing around chaperoning a group of twenty energetic youngies. She wasn’t an introvert, exactly, but as the age difference grew between her and the young unmarried members of their district, she felt increasingly out of place. Still, they were in sore need of chaperones, and it seemed right to volunteer.

They’d had a tradition in their community for many years to hold outings for the young men and women who had yet to find their special someone. Those dating or even thinking about dating had a chance to spend time with others their age away from family life and farm chores. Being in a group was sometimes less intimidating, especially for the shy among them.

Ages ranged from seventeen to twenty-four. None of the youngies had reached Faith’s ripe old age of twenty-five, and David was even older. Which explained why they were chaperones. When had they become the oldest in the group?

Today’s excursion was a spring picnic followed by a long walk down the Pumpkinvine Trail. She’d seen a small pup limping along the trail in front of them. Before she could catch up with it, the tiny guy had dashed into the brush lining the trail. Faith stared up at the trees completely covered with kudzu. The mass of green vines towered above them, stretching at least ten feet along the trail, and looked quite thick.

You’re sure you saw a dog run in there?

"Ya, though I don’t see how. It looks fairly impenetrable."

Kudzu can be dense, but there’s always a way in or through . . . if you’re brave enough to attempt it.

Now he was teasing her. At least Faith thought he was. She found it hard to tell because his tone remained the same and he continued studying the vines quite seriously.

She might have walked away then.

She didn’t doubt where the little pup had darted, but more than likely it continued out the other side and was long gone. The poor thing had been limping badly, which was what caught her attention in the first place. Her nature would not allow her to abandon an injured animal.

Second thoughts? David was looking at her.

"Nein, it’s only . . . I’m not sure he’s still—"

She was interrupted by a pitiful whine, so quiet she might have imagined it if she hadn’t seen the look of surprise on David’s face.

We’ve found the beast. David poked at the vines until he found a place that parted. Motioning her toward the opening he muttered, Ladies first, followed even more softly by, Watch out for snakes.

Faith didn’t bother answering that. She