“Pick Any Wife For Free” The Judge Laughed – “I’ll Take The Obese Amish Girl”

Chapter 2

The wagon wheels creaked a steady rhythm as they left San Miguel behind, the sounds of the town fading into the vast silence of the Colorado landscape. Dust rose in gentle clouds around the horses’ hooves, settling on Abby’s plain black dress and Luis’s worn leather boots. The late afternoon sun had softened, painting the sky in shades of gold and amber that seemed to stretch forever.

Abby sat straight on the wagon seat, her hands folded in her lap, stealing careful glances at the man beside her. Luis kept his eyes on the trail ahead, handling the reins with practiced ease. The silence between them wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it held no threat either. It was a waiting silence, full of questions unasked and stories untold.

The mountains rose in the distance, their peaks touched with the last of the sun’s gold. Abby had never seen mountains like these in Pennsylvania. They made her feel small, but not in the cruel way the crowd’s mockery had. This was the smallness of standing before God’s creation — a humbling that lifted the spirit instead of crushing it.