Sarah's Orphans

by Vannetta Chapman

  A small bell rang when they pushed into the store.

  Behind the counter was a Hispanic man with long hair and an earring in one ear. He peered down at them. “Cómo estás, amigos?”

  “We’re okay, but we need to make a phone call.”

  “Did you drive here?” The man—his name tag said Javier—was smiling at them. “Bet your driver’s license is pretty new because you’re kind of poquito.”

  Mateo shook his head.

  The man’s teasing smile turned to a frown as he glanced past him. “Are you two alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m tired,” Mia declared.

  “No parents or anything?”

  “We need to call someone.”

  A woman waiting at the cash register cleared her throat impatiently. Javier glanced her way, and then he said to Mateo, “Hang on just a second. Don’t go anywhere.”

  He rang up the woman’s purchases and gave her some change. Glancing again at the children, he pulled out his phone and checked something on the small screen.

  “What’s going on?” This from a young black woman who was working the other register.

  Javier showed her his phone.

  “You think that’s them?”

  “It is. It has to be.”

  “We’d better call someone, then.”

  They both glanced at Mateo. He didn’t know what was on the phone, what they could be looking at, but he knew who they should call.

  “Sarah Yoder is our foster mom. She lives in Cody’s Creek, and she’ll come to get us.”

  CHAPTER 53

  Bishop Levi had come by and prayed with them. He’d wanted to stay, but Paul insisted they would be fine. “Perhaps tomorrow, if—”

  He didn’t dare to voice the rest of that thought.

  Levi had run his fingers through his beard, nodded, and made them promise to send someone if they needed anything at all.

  Sheriff Bynum occasionally left the room to make a call or check something on his phone. He had apparently gone off shift, but he refused to leave them. “The first twenty-four hours are the most important.”

  The minutes ticked slowly by, the hands on the clock relentlessly ushering in another day. Rain splattered against the roof. No one spoke. There was nothing left to say. It was only a matter of waiting together, of being there to support one another whatever happened.

  Sarah was sitting across from Sheriff Bynum when his phone vibrated. She could tell by the look on his face that it was about the children.

  He jumped to his feet, listened for a moment, and then began firing questions. “Where? You’re sure it’s Mateo and Mia? No signs of injury?”

  Sarah’s throat closed on that last question. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about what might have happened to them while they were gone. But as fast as the dreadful thought appeared, it fled. Bynum was smiling and nodding his head.

  “Get an officer to the site and don’t let the clerk go off duty. We’ll want to ask him some questions.”

  Paul, Sarah, Mammi, Andy, and Chloe all stood up at once.

  Bynum said a few more things into the phone, but Sarah couldn’t make them out. Everyone was talking.

  “They found them.”

  “Praise be to Gotte.”

  “I knew it would be okay.”

  But Sarah held back, not yet ready to believe this horrible event was about to end.

  Bynum pushed a button on his cell phone and stuck it in his shirt pocket. “They’re at a gas station on the east side of Tulsa, near the casinos.”

  “And they’re all right?” Sarah could barely breathe.

  “They’re fine. A little tired and a little wet, but they’re fine.”

  Chloe threw her arms around Sarah, who finally accepted that the nightmare was over. Paul and Andy were slapping each other on the back, and Mammi was raising her hands to the heavens.

  Bynum stepped outside to make more phone calls. By the time he returned, Mammi had roused Henry and Luke and Isaac, and sent them upstairs after telling them the good news.

  “They’ll be home when I get up? You promise?” Isaac lingered on the bottom step.

  “I promise. Now up to bed. You still have school tomorrow.” Mammi turned back toward their little group. “We have much to be thankful for this night.”

  Bynum was preparing to go and pick up Mateo and Mia.

  “Can I go with you?” Sarah asked. “To get them? I want to be there.”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll go too.” Andy stepped close to her side. “We’ll both go.”

  She nodded and ran to get a shawl. Mammi put together a sack of clothes for Mateo and Mia, and then stuck in a container of cookies. “They might be hungry,” she said, pushing the items into Sarah’s arms.

  Paul stood there, looking at her, and although Bynum and Andy had already walked outside, Sarah didn’t. Instead, she walked over to this man she’d only known for a short time. Somehow he felt like family. The things they’d been through, the unusual twists and turns of her family, had bound them together.

  “Danki, for everything.”

  “You are more than welcome, Sarah.”

  His voice sent a river of warmth through her veins. She wanted to throw her arms around him, to tell him that he’d been a rock in her storm. Instead, she smiled, clutched Mammi’s sack of goodies to her chest, and hurried out the door.

  It took forty-five minutes to reach the casino area.

  When they pulled to a stop in front of the gas station, Sarah noticed that a police cruiser was parked near the door.

  She didn’t wait for Bynum to tell her she could go in. She didn’t look to see if her brother was following. She bolted out of the car, through the front door, and to the counter.

  No Mateo. No Mia.

  Just a middle-aged black woman, a young Hispanic man, and a police officer.

  “You must be Sarah,” the young man said. His name plate read Javier. “Same…” he touched the top of his head. “Like the little girl.”

  Sarah gulped, aware that Andy and Sheriff Bynum had caught up with her.

  “Are they here? Are Mateo and Mia here?”

  “Yeah,” Javier said. “And, boy, are they going to be glad to see you. They kept saying, Sarah will come and get us. I’ll show you where they are.”

  Sarah followed him to the back of the store, down a short hall, and into an office.

  For a moment, she couldn’t see anything except Javier. He filled the doorframe, but then he stepped aside, and she saw them. It was an image that would remain etched on her heart if she lived to be one hundred.

  The two were sitting side by side, wearing large Hoosier sweatshirts. An uneaten package of donuts and two cartons of milk sat on the table beside them.

  A female officer stood across the room.

  Mia was rubbing her eyes, leaning against Mateo.

  And Mateo? He was watching the door.

  The instant he saw her, his face lit up like a child at a picnic. For a moment, he became what he was—an eight-year-old boy who was relieved that his parent had arrived. For a moment, Sarah saw a child—happy, joyful, and without the unnatural burdens of an orphan.

  He started to hop up, but then he remembered Mia was leaning against him.

  Sarah was beside them, kneeling in front of them, before Mateo could fully wake his sister. She was putting her arms around them, running her hands over their heads, listening to their exclamations. She was allowing all of the broken places in her heart to heal.

  Gratitude washed over her, through her, and filled her heart.

  CHAPTER 54

  You’re okay. Thank Gotte you’re okay.” She didn’t try to hide the tears running down her cheeks. She clutched the children to her. Mia’s arms wound around her neck, and Mateo relaxed in the circle of her arms.

  “I want to go home, Sarah.”

  “Home, Sarah.”

  “Ya. Gut idea.”

  Mateo finally noticed Andy. He
darted across the room and threw his arms around Andy’s waist.

  Andy crouched down and said something to the boy, something that Sarah couldn’t hear. She was busy running her hands up and down Mia’s arms, assuring herself that no harm had come to the child.

  Javier and Sheriff Bynum had crowded into the room.

  Sarah realized it was an office of sorts. There was a computer on a desk, and a chair behind it. With the four of them, plus the two officers and Javier, it was quite crowded.

  Bynum motioned to the chairs, and Sarah reluctantly sat down. She didn’t want to stay here one minute longer than she absolutely had to. She wanted to take the children home—to Cody’s Creek, to their cozy, warm beds in her snug little house. Mia crawled onto her lap, and Mateo positioned himself next to her, as close as he could get.

  “Could we get another chair?” Bynum asked.

  “I’m fine.” Andy crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “All that time in an Englisch automobile. Feels gut to stretch my legs.”

  He winked at Mateo, who laughed.

  It was a beautiful sound to Sarah.

  How traumatized had they been by the night’s events? Was it her fault for letting them walk home alone? And under those questions an even more disturbing one—how would they keep this from happening again?

  “Want to catch us up?” Bynum nodded to the officer to sit behind the desk.

  “Should I stay?” Javier asked.

  “We have your statement.” The woman’s name tag said Wilson. She looked to be around forty, with hair pulled back by a simple rubber band and black bangs hanging across her forehead. It looked strange to Sarah, to see a woman in an officer’s uniform. Wilson’s said Tulsa Police Department and was a slightly darker shade of blue than Bynum’s.

  Regardless how she was dressed, Sarah was overwhelmingly grateful to the woman—that she’d been there to watch over Mateo and Mia. She supposed mothers came in varying shapes and sizes and occupations.

  “If there are any other questions we’ll come and get you,” Wilson assured Javier. “How long will your shift last?”

  “Until five a.m.” Javier turned toward the door and then reversed directions and stopped in front of Sarah. “I’m glad your kids are okay.”

  “We appreciate everything you’ve done, for calling us and taking care of them. For realizing they were in danger.”

  “It was the Amber Alert that did it. I had just looked at their pictures on my phone when they walked into the store.” Javier waved goodbye to Mia and Mateo and hurried back out to the store.

  Officer Wilson was now sitting behind the desk. She began to recite what she’d learned. “The children walked into the store at approximately forty-five minutes after eleven. The clerk, Javier Rodriguez, recognized their photos from the Amber Alert that had gone out. He immediately called 9-1-1, and then he brought them back here to the office.”

  “Why did he do that?” Andy rubbed at his eyes, the long hours catching up with him as his adrenaline ebbed.

  Sarah knew exactly what he was feeling. She suddenly thought that she could sleep for a dozen hours, now that the children were safe, now that they could go home.

  “Why not leave them out front until the police arrived?” Andy asked.

  “I didn’t want them to find us.” Mateo spoke up for the first time. He swung his leg back and forth, staring at the floor. “I didn’t want my mom and that man she’s with to find us, so I asked Javier if we could wait somewhere else until he called Sarah.”

  “Good thinking, son.” Officer Bynum had sunk into one of the chairs. How long had he been on duty? Surely he was as tired as Sarah felt, and yet he had insisted on coming with them.

  “We were wet from walking in the rain, and he gave us these sweatshirts.” Mateo pushed up on the arms of the shirt that kept falling over his hands. “He gave us the donuts and milk too.”

  Bynum nodded at Officer Wilson to continue.

  “I arrived within seven minutes of the initial call. After questioning Mateo, I requested backup. Two squad cars arrived and patrolled around the casino in the area the boy described.”

  “They’d parked at the back,” Mateo whispered. “Away from the cameras, that’s what Orlynn said.”

  “Who is Orlynn?” Sarah asked.

  “The man driving.” Wilson again consulted her pad. “We don’t have a last name yet, but Mateo gave us a good description. We suspect they returned to the car and discovered the children missing, and then they left the area. No sign of the vehicle Mateo described. Of course, there were any number of late-model white sedans, but there were none parked out at the edge of the parking area.”

  Sarah had suddenly heard enough. She wanted the children home, warm and dry in their own beds. She stood and looked directly at Sheriff Bynum. “We’d like to go home now.”

  When he nodded, she thanked the female officer. Andy picked up Mia, and Sarah clasped Mateo’s hand as if someone might try to snatch him away.

  They walked out through the store and were nearly to the door when Sarah retraced her steps to the counter.

  “I will wash the sweatshirts and return them to you.” She just then remembered the sack of dry clothes and cookies that Mammi had sent. In her hurry to see the children, she’d left them on the backseat.

  “My boss said to keep them.”

  “Okay. Danki, for being kind to my children.”

  “I only did what anyone would do.”

  “Nein.” Javier didn’t look to be twenty, which wasn’t that much younger than Sarah. But she knew, perhaps better than he did, how many people would have simply looked away, wished not to become involved, or done so but without kindness. “You gave them dry clothes and food. You stayed with them until the police arrived. You calmed them when they were frightened. That was more than many people would have done.”

  She made her way outside. Rain continued to splatter against the pavement. Though it was now close to two in the morning, cars continued to swish past on the freeway. She climbed into the backseat of the police car. Someone had provided Bynum with a child safety seat for Mia. Sarah buckled her into it, settled herself in the middle, and made sure Mateo was safely buckled to her right. Andy sat in the front next to Bynum, who started the patrol car and drove away from the convenience store, away from the casino, and back toward home.

  CHAPTER 55

  Sarah didn’t know whether she should send Mateo to school the next day. “You can stay home. Brian won’t mind.”

  “But I want to go, Sarah. I’m okay.”

  Mammi nodded in agreement. “Perhaps it would be gut for everyone to get back to their normal schedule.”

  She didn’t have to tell Isaac and Luke to stay near Mateo, to be sure he got there safely. Everyone was on alert, afraid that Elisa Lopez would show up and try to snatch them away again.

  Mateo calmed her fears before heading out the door.

  “It’s my fault, Sarah.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “I shouldn’t have got in the car.”

  She thought of what Paul had said. Of the natural emotional pull from one’s parents. “I might have done the same.”

  “I want you to know it won’t happen again. I know now…I know that it’s not safe for us to be with her.”

  “We’ll talk about this more later. For today, try to enjoy school.”

  Mia acted as if nothing had happened, though she was a bit more clingy than before and three times that morning she hid—the first time in the mudroom, the second time under a kitchen cabinet, and the third time under her own bed.

  “It seems to be her way of feeling safe,” Mammi said. “What else can a child do but hide?”

  “But she is safe with us. Doesn’t she realize that?” Sarah had finally convinced Mia to lay on a pallet on the living room floor, and now she was fast asleep.

  “Ya, she is safe here, and I think in her heart she knows that, even at her young age. But her mind has to find a way to deal with wha
t happened to her.”

  “I can’t imagine what it must have felt like—to see her mother and then just be left, again.”

  “Maybe you can.”

  Sarah and Mammi were sitting at the kitchen table, preparing lunch for Andy and Henry. Paul had stayed at his place to work on pens for the new piglets. They would try to plant the next day if the fields dried out enough. At least it had stopped raining. From where she sat, Sarah could watch Mia—could keep an eye on her. But she knew that she couldn’t watch her all the time. At some point, she was going to have to trust that God would take care of her, as He had the night before. Suddenly Sarah’s hands began to shake, so she stuffed them in her lap.

  “Paul said something similar.”

  “What your mother has done, what Mia’s mother has done—it’s not a natural thing.” Mammi paused, as if she were choosing her words carefully. “I won’t be judging either of them. In my heart, I believe they are doing the absolute best they can. It’s only that, to us, it seems as if their best isn’t very good.”

  “I don’t know why she left. Why would my mother be better off somewhere else? At least if she were here, we could take care of her. We were taking care of her.”

  “But here she was reminded daily of her failures, and maybe…” Mammi’s eyes met hers. “Maybe she knew that being here was holding you all back from healing.”

  “Healing?”

  “Over the loss of your father. Over the childhood you endured.”

  “Those things weren’t her fault.”

  “I agree, but I imagine Deborah is still struggling with that truth.”

  Sarah allowed those words to sink in. She didn’t know if she agreed with her grandmother or not, but she could tell that Mammi believed what she was saying. She wasn’t simply saying it to ease Sarah’s worries.

  “And Mia’s mother? How could she be so selfish as to grab her own children? If she wanted to see them, all she had to do was ask.” Sarah sat at the table and began aggressively slicing cheese from a large block, the knife thudding down onto the cutting board with each pass of the blade.

  “I can’t answer your questions as to what her motivation might have been.”