by Sarah Price
Freman was the first to get to her side. He fell to his knees and lifted Leah from the ground, cradling her head in his lap. His silence, coupled with the expression on his face, spoke of the agony he felt for not having been firmer in discouraging her behavior the previous day. “She’s not moving!” he exclaimed.
Seeing the accident, Cris dropped his pole and came running, followed closely by Hannah. Meanwhile Mary wrung her hands and cried, “She is dead! She is dead!”
Upon hearing Mary’s words and seeing Freman’s agony, Hannah sank to her knees and began weeping into her hands. Both Benjamin and Anna were quick to approach her, lifting her up so that she could be comforted properly.
“What have I done?” Freman mumbled, his eyes staring into Leah’s face. “If only I had caught her!” The desperation of his words caused another round of screaming from Mary, who collapsed into her husband’s arms. Hannah sobbed openly.
Anna turned to Benjamin and motioned toward Freman. “Help him with Leah. Check her pulse. I can handle Hannah.” Without a question, Benjamin did as she instructed, taking Leah’s limp wrist and bending over it intently. Everyone held their breath while he checked for a pulse, then sighed in relief as he nodded, indicating he had found it.
Anna continued. “Rub her hands, talk to her. See if you can awaken her!” Again, Benjamin followed her instructions, rubbing Leah’s hands and murmuring in her ear.
Anna turned to Cris. “We must move Leah to a more comfortable position.”
Disengaging himself from Mary, an act which increased rather than softened her wails, Cris nodded and hurried to join Benjamin. Together, they lifted Leah and transferred her to a grassy patch while Freman staggered to his feet, watching Leah’s lifeless body.
“Her parents!” he said, his voice thick with grief. “What shall I say to them if she . . . ?” His words faded, the sentence left incomplete.
Leaving Hannah’s side, Anna turned toward the men. “A doctor!” She clapped her hands, trying to get one of them to focus on what she had said. “We must fetch a doctor!”
Immediately Freman snapped out of his shock. He nodded his head at the wisdom of her words. “A doctor! I shall go at once!” he said. He started toward the farm.
“Freman!” Anna called out. “Would it not be better if Benjamin went?”
Her words stopped Freman, and he quickly turned back toward the group. Although Freman used to live in the community, Benjamin knew the area best and could fetch the proper people to help Leah. Without further instruction, Benjamin relinquished his hold upon the injured woman and ran as fast as he could toward the farm on the far side of the fields. Anna hoped the doctor lived nearby, or that he could be summoned quickly from the phone that was shared between the neighbors’ farms.
Mary fretted as she paced behind Leah. “I told her not to run! I told her that she would fall!” Mary reached for Anna, clinging to her as she sobbed into her sister’s shoulder. “Why would she not listen to me? She never listens to me!”
Quietly Anna held Mary, whispering softly to the young woman, partially to comfort her and partially to stop her from rambling. Freman returned to Leah, taking Cris’s place and supporting her head in his lap, his eyes staring into her pale face, his lips pressed together in a tight line. Worry was etched on his forehead and he briskly chafed her hands as Anna previously instructed.
Cris rubbed his chin with his hand, a look of distress upon his face as well. The older brother of both Leah and Hannah, he always felt a strong need to protect them. Clearly he felt as if he had failed. With Hannah and Mary lost to hysterics, he seemed torn between comforting his wife and youngest sister and helping Freman with Leah.
“What shall we do next?” Cris asked, the question directed toward the most rational thinking member of the party: Anna.
Surprised by the question, Anna stumbled over her words, but not before she felt the heat of Freman’s eyes flicker from Leah to her. It took all of her willpower to focus on the injured woman and not lift her eyes to meet his. She wondered what he was thinking and why, in a moment when his intended needed his care, he would spare her a second’s consideration.
“I . . . I suppose we might carry her to the farmhouse,” she suggested softly. “It does not look as if her neck is injured.”
“I will carry her.” Freman quickly offered. “Cris, see to your fraa.” He wasted not one moment and lifted Leah into his arms. Gently, he shifted her weight. Just then, a soft moan escaped the woman’s lips.
Mary gasped, reaching for her husband. “She’s coming to!”
Shortly after they managed to carry Leah back to the farmhouse and settle her onto the couch, a van pulled down the lane with an older, non-Amish man seated in-between the driver and Benjamin. The latter leaped out as soon as the van stopped and held the door open for the doctor. Rebecca stood on the porch, concern and worry etched in her pale face. The man hurried inside, a big brown leather bag in his hand.
Not wishing to crowd around Leah while she was being examined, the remaining members of the party gathered on the porch, Cris still comforting Hannah, who seemed in shock at the sight of her lifeless sister. She wept into his shoulder. Mary continued her pacing but, thankfully, her cries had ceased upon realizing that Leah was indeed merely unconscious.
Anna waited with them. She leaned against the house by the door, her eyes shut as she silently prayed for Leah’s recovery. Seconds turned to minutes and the silence of the group led her to believe that she was not the only one praying.
The door opened again, the harsh noise of a rusty hinge disturbing her prayers. Anna looked up and saw Freman pass through the door, intent on joining them.
“What says the doctor, then?”
He shook his head, an indication that he did not have an answer yet.
For what seemed like hours, the small group waited in silence on the porch of the farmhouse.
“A concussion,” the doctor announced as he pushed open the screen door. “No injuries to her body save a blow to the head. She will be fine but needs rest for a few days.”
“Thank you, Lord!”
Anna felt the intensity of Freman’s gratitude in those three words that he uttered. His tone, so filled with relief and grief, would not soon be forgotten by Anna. Such emotion could only confirm what everyone already suspected regarding Freman’s feelings toward Leah.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she joined the rest of the group as they stood in a circle, their heads bent once again in a silent prayer, thanking God that He had spared Leah from a more serious injury.
Chapter Thirteen
WITH THE ENGLISCHE doctor suggesting that Leah not travel for a week, perhaps longer, a discussion immediately ensued regarding the travel arrangements for the group. Because the hired driver was scheduled to arrive in the early morning hours, and some of the group needed to return to Ohio, it was clear that not everyone would depart as planned.
Sitting next to Leah as she slept, Anna listened to the discussion on the other side of the bedroom door. After the doctor left, Rebecca had suggested that Leah be moved from the sofa to recover in her own bedroom, a larger room located on the first floor. Besides being able to accommodate the women tending to her needs, the room was also more convenient for bringing food from the kitchen to the patient. When Leah tried to refuse, her voice weak and the side of her head swollen from being knocked on the rock, both Rebecca and Jonas insisted.
“It will be better for everyone,” Rebecca explained softly, her hand placed gently on Leah’s arm. It was a motherly gesture, one that spoke volumes for the care that she had taken in raising her own six children. “Let me just change the bedding for you and then the men can help move you, ja?” she pursued in a kind, yet firm tone of voice.
“I’m such a bother,” Leah moaned, shutting her eyes and turning her head away so that no one could see the tears welling in her eyes.
The doctor had left some medicine for her, a home remedy to address the inevitable headache that
would accompany Leah’s injury. Because it would make her drowsy, he also recommended for someone to sit by her side, at least for the first twenty-four hours, and gently wake her every few hours. Immediately Anna volunteered to stay with her while the others tried to figure out what to do.
Now, while Anna sat in the straight-back chair, she listened to the voices right outside of the door. She could make out Cris, Hannah, and Freman, each one speaking softly and their words almost inaudible. Benjamin, who had been surprisingly quick in fetching the doctor, had appeared visibly shaken by the whole incident, pacing outside as they waited for the doctor’s prognosis. She presumed that now, knowing that Leah was injured but would recover, he was busy assisting his father with the evening chores.
“We should call Maem and Daed,” Hannah said, a pleading tone to her voice.
Upon hearing those words, Anna nodded to herself, wondering why no one had done so yet. Who had made the decision to wait to inform the girls’ parents? Surely they would want to know, she thought.
“Nee,” Cris firmly objected. “Maem would panic and that would do no good for anyone. She needs to be reassured that Leah is fine first. A phone call would surely do nothing more than worry her, and undoubtedly, they’d arrive just as the van is coming to retrieve us. Mayhaps Leah herself, when she feels up to it, should be the one to make the call.”
Anna heard Freman clear his throat. She could imagine him standing there, his hands clasped behind his back, his composure regained and his leadership restored. “Someone must accompany the others back to Sugarcreek to inform your parents,” he said firmly. It was an obvious statement but one that had not been addressed as of yet. “They will have questions and need answers in order to be confident that Leah will be fine.” He paused. “I believe either you or I must tell them.”
The statement must have been directed toward Cris because she heard him mumble something in response to Freman, the exact words remaining unclear to Anna.
Rising from her seat, she quietly crossed the room to the door. Not wishing to disturb Leah while she slept, Anna slipped from the room to join the others. Carefully, she shut the door behind them just in time to hear Freman’s next words.
“So then it is settled,” he said. “You shall stay, Cris. She is, after all, your schwester. And I will accompany your sister home and speak to your parents. And, because we agree that only one woman needs to remain behind to tend to Leah’s needs, I suggest that no finer care could be given to her than by Anna. You saw how quick she was to take charge when Leah was injured. I’d feel more comfortable knowing she looked after Leah.”
Startled by his suggestion, she must have made a noise for, in unison, the others turned in her direction.
“Anna!” Surprised to see her standing against the closed bedroom door, Freman took a step in her direction. There was a desperate look in his face and she realized how concerned he truly was for Leah’s recovery. “You will stay, ja? To take care of Leah and nurse her back to health?” His words, spoken with deep feeling, revealed respect and admiration, emotions that brought back memories from many years ago. She had seen that look before, and for just a brief moment, she caught her breath; she had never thought to see it again. The only problem was that the emotions were reserved for Leah, not for her.
“I’ll tend to her, ja,” she readily agreed.
Freman tipped his head toward her, an acknowledgment of his grateful appreciation for her sacrifice. Then, returning his attention to Cris, he said, “I shall go make the arrangements then,” and hurried to leave the room. She suspected that he was going across the road to borrow the neighbor’s phone because the Esh family did not have their own. Freman would want to contact Bishop Troyer and his companion to alert them about the situation.
“What’s this about, then?”
All eyes turned toward Mary as she descended from the second floor and saw the three of them gathered together. Pausing at the bottom step, she looked from one to the next to the next. Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips, an indication of her dismay at being excluded from their discussion and decision-making process, but for once she remained silent.
Cris took a deep breath before he moved in her direction. “We’ve been discussing our plans, Mary. It has been decided that Anna will stay to tend to Leah,” he said. “I shall stay too.”
Her feet stopped moving and Mary stared at him as if he were speaking in a foreign tongue. “I don’t think I understood you correctly,” she said. Her statement was clearly rhetorical. “Why on earth should you stay?”
“I am, after all, her bruder.”
“And I her schwester and your fraa,” she quickly added, taking that last step so that she no longer stood on the staircase.
“Why would I go home without you?” Her eyes darted to Anna. “And why should Anna stay? She is nothing to Leah! Not like me. If anyone should stay, it should be me! I am her sister too!”
Anna watched the rising of Cris’s chest as he took a deep breath. Clearly Mary was trying his patience. Again. “Now, Mary, it makes perfect sense that Anna should stay. Hannah can hardly walk into Leah’s room without bursting into tears. Besides, Maem will need Hannah to comfort her.”
“So you have decided . . . behind my back, nonetheless! . . . that I should return to Ohio without you? You would leave me to myself, to sit and worry about our dear Leah?” She wagged her finger in the air. “I think not!”
“Mary . . . ” Cris attempted to calm down his wife, but she would have none of it.
Lifting her hand, she stopped him before he could say another word. “I find this a grave injustice. Once again, decisions are made without my consultation and my consideration . . . nee, my emotions . . . are not taken into account! How could I possibly walk away from that injured dove with any sense of conscience?”
“The kinner— ”
“—Are just fine in the care of their grandparents,” she interrupted. “And they prefer Anna’s company anyway to mine! They’ll be just fine if she tends to them while you and I nurse Leah back to health!”
Anna shook her head. For once, she felt compelled to stand up to her sister. “Nee, Mary, you should go home to little Cris and Walter . ”
“I insist upon staying!”
“I do not have a good feeling about this.” Anna felt herself weakening under Mary’s vehemence.
“Frankly I would find it rather inappropriate for you to stay here anyway!” Mary added, casting a glare in the direction of her husband. “Without a female chaperone in a house with a single man?” She clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Scandalous, to say the least.”
“Rebecca is here,” Anna countered, a bit more forcefully than she usually spoke. “I dare say she is married, ja?”
Mary lifted her chin and stared at Anna, clearly unappreciative of her sister’s defiance. “Married or not, Rebecca is not Leah’s family.” She narrowed her eyes and added, “And since you are neither married nor family, you cannot stay here with her.”
And with that last cutting remark, a hurtful reminder of what Mary liked to make so obvious, Anna looked away. She resigned herself to the fact that Mary would, once again, get her way. Forcing herself to bite her tongue and hold back from replying, Anna said a silent prayer that God properly watch over Leah, because she doubted that Mary would.
Indeed, Rebecca kept watch over Leah till midnight. Then, through the early hours of the morning, Anna sat by Leah’s side, praying fervently for her well-being. She prayed that God would guide Mary to focus her attention on the young woman, and not herself for once, while Leah healed. She felt a pain in her stomach knowing that, already, Mary was being negligent to her proclaimed sisterly duties. Instead of taking a night shift, Mary had quickly voiced her intentions of getting a good night’s sleep, telling Anna to wake Cris when she left at four o’clock in the morning.
In the hush of early morning Anna heard Jonas and Rebecca awake and move about the kitchen, speaking softly to avoid dist
urbing their guests. When the smell of freshly brewed coffee began to permeate the house, Anna heard the kitchen door open, likely Jonas heading to the barn for morning chores. She also heard footsteps overhead and suspected that Hannah and Freman were awake, preparing for the journey back to Ohio. A few minutes later she heard a man’s footsteps on the stairs, and once again the door opened and closed. Certainly, she thought, that was Freman, ever so thoughtful to offer his assistance to Jonas.
A half hour later, Anna heard the sound of an engine and tires rolling over the gravel outside, then the muffled thump of van doors slamming. The driver must have arrived. After leaning over to plant a soft, unseen kiss upon Leah’s forehead, Anna rose to her feet and departed the room, her already packed suitcase in hand.
Freman stood in the living room, his own travel bag at his feet. Upon hearing her footsteps, he turned.
“Where are Hannah and Mary?” Freman asked as he stood there, confused by the presence of Anna with a suitcase. “Why is your bag packed?”
It dawned on Anna that, the previous evening, he had returned to the house after the decision was made for Mary to stay. Clearly, no one had thought to update him on the plans.
“Hannah must be upstairs still. Getting ready.” She paused and lowered her eyes. “Mary decided it was best if she stayed in my place to care for Leah.”
He appeared confounded by her simple explanation. “That wasn’t what we agreed upon.” The sharpness of his words lacked the warmth from the previous day. “You had stated you would stay.”
His displeasure more than apparent, Anna wondered if he thought that she had intentionally abandoned Leah. “Mary was rather adamant,” she offered meekly.
“Indeed.”
Knowing that he was dissatisfied with the situation, and no words from anyone would change that, Anna excused herself and tiptoed up the stairs to awaken Cris and tell Hannah their driver had arrived. Her heart felt heavy as she returned downstairs.
In the kitchen Rebecca pressed a bag of sandwiches into her hand, “for breakfast or lunch,” she said. Benjamin and Jonas took a break from the milking to see their visitors off. With quick hugs and tears of good-bye, Anna left the Eshes’ home and headed to the awaiting van. Moments later Hannah joined her in the backseat, but after making a few comments about the journey ahead, she fell silent, exhausted by yesterday’s events and still worried over the health of her sister.
