“You’ve got the wrong idea.”
“Nee, I have the right idea. I’m only sorry I opened up to you and told you what was on my heart. That was when I had the wrong idea.”
“You misunderstand me.”
Now her anger was rising. “Let go of my horse now or I shall scream.”
He pinched his eyebrows together staring at her. Then he let go of the horse and stepped aside.
As she drove away, she resisted the urge to look back and see what he was doing. The best thing she could do was put him out of her mind for good, or try to since he lived next door.
It was times like these that she wished she had her good friend, Matilda, to sit down and talk with. Matilda would’ve given her good advice. Talking over the phone wasn’t as good as talking in person and the barn wasn’t the best place to have a long conversation.
* * *
When Joshua came back from taking the children to schul on Monday morning, he knocked on her door.
Feeling uncomfortable, and too tired from lack of sleep to have another argument, Sarah opened her door.
“Can I come in?”
Sarah stepped aside without saying anything and Joshua made his way to the couch.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked quietly.
“Nee, I don't mind; have a seat.”
When they were both seated, he said, “I’ve come to apologize. I know you’re fond of my kinner and they’re very fond of you. I don’t think I should let my fear ruin the friendship that has developed between the three of you.”
Sarah breathed out heavily. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
“Am I forgiven?”
She nodded. “Jah.”
“Forgiven enough to have a cup of kaffe?”
“Don’t you have your own hot water at the grossdaddi haus?”
He gave an embarrassed laugh. “I’ve been awful to you.”
“As long as that’s in the past, I think we can have a cup of kaffe.”
“It’s in the past.”
“Gut! Come into the kitchen with me.”
When he sat down, she filled the pot with water.
“I do have a rather large favor to ask you. The timing isn’t great, since we’re mending fences, but…”
“What is it?”
“It’s not for a week or so. I was wondering if you might be able to watch the children overnight. Have them here at your haus?”
“I don’t mind at all. Where are you going? Oh, I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”
“It’s okay. It’s no secret. Well, it’s a secret to Benjamin and Holly. I’m not sure what I’m going to tell them. I’m collecting Christmas presents for them from my cousin’s place, and it’s half a day’s journey away.”
“So, you’ll need to stay overnight?”
“Jah.”
“I’ll always watch them for you. It’s no trouble.”
He smiled. “Gut. I was afraid to ask since we haven’t always gotten along well.”
“Would you prefer kaffe or tea?”
“I’ll have some tea for a change.”
She poured each of them a cup of tea and then sat down.
Chapter 20
For his anger endureth but a moment;
in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
* * *
Joshua hadn’t come home when he’d said, and Sarah became worried. She hitched up the buggy to her new horse and took the children to visit Nellie and Seth.
"He's not come home yet?" asked Nellie.
“Nee. I just hope something awful hasn’t happened to him,” Sarah whispered so the children wouldn’t hear. “I was just passing Abram Miller on the way here and he said that he last saw him two days ago in the early morning.”
“Jah," said Seth, "Joshua told me he was loaning his buggy to Joseph for two days while he was away.”
“Joseph told me that Abram had wanted some help on his barn,” said Sarah. She looked confused. “Who’s Abram?”
“Abram Miller. Joshua said he’d help Joseph on Abram's old barn when he came back.”
Sarah frowned. “That’s the last anyone heard of him? Where’s Abram’s barn?”
“It’s the farm next door to Jenny’s haus where we had the meeting two Sundays ago. The barn is way over to the back of the property.”
“Perhaps I should go take a look around.”
“There’s no point in doing that.”
“I need to do something. Would you watch the children while I go?”
“Okay, but do you think you should? It'll be a waste of time.”
“I want to, if you don’t mind watching them until I get back.”
“Sure. They’ll be fine. Drive up the driveway and continue past the haus in a straight line. Then you’ll have to get out and go on foot, but the barn will come into view by then.
“Denke.” Sarah told the children she was going out for a while and they would stay with Nellie, along with Gretel.
After she had pulled on her cape, she hurried out to the buggy. As she climbed up behind Midnight, she was glad that he was good and spritely and that she wasn’t using the old horse. Although Joshua was bossy and dominating, he'd had her best interests at heart. Something in the pit of her stomach gnawed at her. She knew he was in trouble. That was the only reason that would keep him away from his children.
* * *
Sarah drove past the house, just like Nellie had told her, and then she continued on until the ground was too uneven for the buggy. In the distance was an old barn with half a roof. She tied her horse to a fence post and pulling her shawl tighter around her, she hurried toward the barn.
When she stepped into the old barn, her worst fears were confirmed. There was a body on the floor with the lower half covered by a huge wooden beam. Quickly but carefully, she moved closer, and saw that it was Joshua. She shook him vigorously and he opened his eyes.
“Sarah.”
She looked back at the beam that was trapping both of his legs.
“How long have you been here?”
His eyelids flickered closed.
“Joshua!”
“Jah?”
She moved to the beam and put both her arms under it and tried to heave it away from him. It didn’t budge.
“Benjamin and Holly?”
Rushing back to his head, she took off her shawl and covered him. “They’re fine. I haven’t told them that no one knew where you were. I told them you had to stay longer.”
“Denke.”
“I’ll go and get help.”
“Nee. Stay.”
“I can’t, Joshua. I need to find someone to get you out of here.”
“Nee.” He reached out his hand and she took hold of it. “Stay! I need… to talk.”
“Joshua, this can wait. Let me get help and then we can talk.”
“Listen… to me…. I’ve… thinking.” His speech was halted due to his body shivering violently.
“Save your strength.”
“Marry… me?”
“What?”
“I’ve… thought….”
“I need to get help.” Sarah sprang to her feet and ran all the way back out to her buggy. She stopped at the nearest house and hoped they had a phone.
When she told the owners what had happened, they ran out to their barn to call for help while Sarah went back to Joshua.
“I’m back. Help’s on the way.” She wrapped her shawl more snugly around him. “You’re cold.”
He didn’t stop trembling.
“I’ve thought… you...”
“Don’t talk. Save your strength.” All she could do was hold his hand. She didn’t know if she should rub his back to keep him warm, as that might have been bad for his circulation that had to have been cut off with the beam on his legs.
Sarah heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the sirens. The paramedics raced in with a stretc
her and Sarah jumped to her feet.
“You’ll need to get this off him,” she called out, pointing to the beam.
“The fire department’s on its way, Ma’am,” one of the three paramedics replied.
Sarah stepped back and walked out of the barn. The fire department arrived within minutes and went about setting him free while Sarah paced up and down. When they carried him out on a stretcher, she ran over to them. One paramedic was carrying an IV drip high in the air and the other two men had hold of either end of the stretcher.
“How is he?”
“He’s in shock and it looks like he’s got some broken bones. It’s a concern that he’s been there in the cold. Just as well he was wearing his heavy coat.”
“Do you want to travel to the hospital with your husband?” one of the paramedics asked.
“I’ve got to get back to the children. Where are you taking him?”
While they answered her, she looked down at his dirt-covered face. His eyes were closed, and then his eyelids slowly opened.
“I’ll come and see you soon, Joshua.”
His eyelids closed.
Once the ambulance drove away, she got into her buggy and made her way back to the Yoders' haus, wondering how she would break the news to his children.
When she arrived back at Nellie’s house, Nellie had already been told what was going on by someone from the family who owned the farm that the ambulance was called from.
“We’ve been waiting to hear how he is.”
“He’ll be fine. They were taking him to the hospital.”
“Can we see him?” Benjamin asked, looking at her with wide eyes.
“Jah, we’ll all go and see him.”
“I’ll stay and mind the boppli if you want to take Benjamin and Holly with you. I’ll take Gretel back to your haus and make her a bottle.”
“Would you?”
“Jah. If you want to head off to the hospital now, the best way is by taxi.”
“Denke, Nellie. I’ll call one now.” Sarah hurried to Nellie’s barn to call a taxi, glad that she’d introduced the baby to the bottle and now was only giving her nightly breastfeeds.
* * *
At the hospital, they were shown to a waiting room. When a doctor finally came out, he informed them that Joshua had suffered a mild concussion in addition to other injuries, and he told them he was lucky to be alive.
"We had to cut him out of his clothes. He’d managed to push his hands under his coat and that helped him avoid frostbite. If he hadn’t had so many layers of clothing on, the outcome wouldn’t have been good, with him being trapped on the ground like that.”
“Does he have broken bones?”
“He has a broken leg.”
“Put some arnica oil on it, like you did for me,” Holly said to Sarah.
“It’ll take more than that for a broken leg, Holly.”
“Jah, it’ll have to be strapped still,” Benjamin said to his sister.
Sarah asked, “Will he be okay?”
“He’ll be okay, but he’ll need to stay here under observation for a few days and then he’ll be allowed home. You can see him now, but he’s sleeping. We gave him something for the pain, which would’ve made him drowsy. His feet and hands were in the early stages of frostbite, but he won’t suffer any permanent damage.”
“Good. Thank you, Doctor. Can we see him now?”
“Come this way. He’s still in emergency and very sleepy. We’re still treating his frostbite, but he’ll be taken to a room as soon as one becomes available.”
“How long will that take?” Sarah asked.
“Not too long.”
She looked at the children who were walking by her side. “Remember what the doctor said, he won’t be able to talk much. We’ll have a quick visit now and then we’ll come back and see him tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Benjamin said while Holly nodded solemnly.
They were taken into a section of the emergency department where people were in beds separated one from another by curtains. The doctor led them to the end where two men were doing something with Joshua's legs.
“Dat,” Holly said quietly.
He opened his eyes.
Sarah leaned down and suggested to Benjamin that he take his sister over closer. “Tell him we’ll be back tomorrow and we’ll pray for his fast recovery.”
Benjamin nodded and then led his sister by the hand closer to their father’s bedside.
After they had been there for a few moments, Sarah walked up behind them. “We’ll go now, Joshua.”
He gave the tiniest of nods, and slowly closed his eyes.
“Bye, Dat.”
“Bye,” Benjamin said.
Slowly his eyes opened, blinked once, and then they closed.
“Come along. He needs to sleep.”
She guided them out of the area and back through the front doors of the hospital, looking for the taxi stand.
* * *
That night when Joshua’s children were asleep in the bedroom beside hers, and Gretel was asleep in her crib, Sarah slipped into bed exhausted. She closed her eyes and said another prayer of thanks for Joshua being found in time in the broken down old barn. Nellie had told her she'd heard that Joshua had run into someone who had asked him to take a look and decide if his barn could be repaired or if it’d be better knocked down, and that was why Joshua had been in the barn. When the man didn’t hear back from Joshua, he had just assumed that he hadn’t yet gotten to the barn.
Chapter 21
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing:
thou hast put off my sackcloth,
and girded me with gladness;
Psalm 30:11
* * *
The next day, Sarah left Gretel with Nellie again and took Joshua’s children back to the hospital to see him. The front desk gave them the number of his room, and when they walked in they saw him sitting up in bed.
He smiled when the children ran over to him, and he held out his arms. They threw their arms around him.
“Are you better, Dat?” Benjamin asked.
“Much better. I’m fine. A little bit sore and sorry, but I’m fine.” He looked over at Sarah.
“When are you coming home?” Holly asked.
“Soon I hope. Sarah, denke for bringing them here; I hope they haven’t been too much trouble.”
“Nee. They’ve been a gut help to me.” She held up a small bag. “I’ve got some things in here for you, and some spare clothes.”
“Denke. I appreciate that.”
“Have you got broken bones, Dat?” Holly asked.
“It seems I have a broken leg, but I’ll be able to get around on crutches. I’ve already seen the physical therapist this morning and tomorrow he’ll show me how to use the crutches. Where’s Gretel?”
“Nellie is looking after her.”
“Gut. But I'd have liked to hold her again."
When Sarah heard someone else come into the room behind her, she turned to see two young women—the ones who were always talking to Joshua—Elizabeth and Sadie.
She smiled at them and stepped aside to allow them to get closer to Joshua. After a few moments, when there was a pause in the conversation that the women were having with him, Sarah excused herself and said she’d be back in a while. Before anything could be said, she walked out of the room and then paced up and down the corridor.
It was hard not knowing if Joshua had meant it when he’d asked her to marry him. There could’ve been several reasonable explanations for his words. He could’ve been suffering delirium, he could’ve had a bump on the head, or he could’ve meant he was grateful that she found him.
After fifteen minutes, Sarah walked back into the room figuring the children would’ve had long enough to see him.
“Sarah, where did you go?” Joshua asked.
The women turned and stared at her.
“I just wanted to give everyone time to see you alone. I should go and leave you to rest.�
��
“Stay longer? I’ve had no chance to speak with you.”
“We should probably go, Elizabeth,” said Sadie.
“Okay,” Elizabeth agreed.
They said their goodbyes, and they left the room.
“Come closer, Sarah,” Joshua said.
She stood behind the children and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
“I’ll be home by Christmas,” he announced.
“Great!” Benjamin said.
Holly turned around and gave Sarah a big smile.
Sarah smiled back at Holly, and then said, “Only if the doctor says you’re well enough.”
“I’ll be well enough. He thinks I’ll be alright in a day or two.”
“I hope so.”
“We’ve got the arnica oil, Mrs. Kurtz.”
“That’s right. That’ll help,” Joshua said with a smile.
“Why were you in the barn? Nellie had heard you were checking on a barn for someone, but you left in a taxi.”
“I had the taxi stop in at a general store to pick something up. I ran into someone there and he was concerned about his barn and whether he should rebuild or knock it down. He was having an issue with his son-in-law about it. It was on the way, so I told him I’d look at it and get back to him.”
“So you looked at the barn on your way?”
“Jah. The road got too uneven for the taxi to get close, so it stopped at about the same distance the ambulance had to stop. The beam fell on me and then I yelled out, hoping the driver heard me. I guess when I didn’t return, he thought I’d run off without paying the fare, and he left.”
“It’s a wonder he didn’t hear the crash.”
“I might have softened that crash somewhat.”
Sarah winced at the thought.
“How long were you there, Dat?”
“A long time until Mrs. Kurtz found me.”
“Were you scared?” Holly asked.
“I prayed and that kept my mind focused. I had to get home to all of you.” He looked at his two children and glanced up at Sarah.
Amish Widow's Christmas Page 9
