ANONYMOUS It took only a little more than two weeks for Samuel Beiler to show what kind of bishop he would be. There wasn’t even a pretense that life for the Plain People would proceed as usual, that little would be changed under the leadership of the new bishop. Although Gideon Kanagy was no longer living Amish, he still had a number of friends who were, and those friends were talking. Talking and complaining and even worrying. Sometimes to Gideon. Tonight, Reuben Esch and Solomon Miller both seemed particularly riled up as they sat in Gideon’s rooms above the carpentry shop, plying him with the latest hearsay. Gideon was surprised that either of his friends, Reuben especially, would visit him in his living quarters. Although both were in their rumspringa, neither had chosen to live outside the Plain community. Solomon was actually preparing to make his vows to the church soon, and rumor had it that he and Sarah King would marry next year. Reuben, the son of Malachi Esch, had always been one of the male Amish youths who seemed disinclined to stray from his Amish upbringing.
