Huckleberry Summer (Huckleberry Hill)

by Jennifer Beckstrand

  Jamal sat up and frowned at Aden. “You okay?”

  “No.”

  “She’s gonna be all right, man. I bet they don’t even book her. That Earl guy might want to press charges, but she wasn’t even in the house when the police came.”

  “I need to be with her. She’s terrified.”

  “We’ll be out of here in another couple of hours, and you can go see her.”

  “I hate knowing that she’s suffering and I’m not there.”

  “Remind her about the puppies. No girl can resist a puppy.”

  Aden couldn’t stomach his friend’s flippant attitude. He moved as far away from Jamal as he could, which in the cell was about five feet.

  Emptiness yawned in his chest when he thought about the possibility of losing Lily over this mess.

  He immediately lost the ability to breathe.

  A pudgy officer appeared with a set of keys in his hand and unlocked their cell. “Sheriff says you’re free to go. The Hardys decided not to press charges after all.”

  “Really?” Jamal said, his mouth turning up into a cautious smile. “Why not?”

  The officer raised an eyebrow. “The sheriff told him he’d have to search the place if they wanted to bring up proper charges, and Mr. Hardy wasn’t too eager to show the sheriff around his property.”

  Jamal grew serious. “But they need to see what’s in the building behind the house.”

  “Oh, we’re aware of the building behind the house, Mr. Drake. It’s been a four-month investigation. We’ll have a search warrant served soon enough.”

  “Did you hear that, Aden? All our work paid off.”

  This news only served to make Aden feel more despondent. The police already knew. This entire disaster had been for nothing.

  “Where is the girl who got arrested with us?”

  “She came here to the station and then her father took her home. I’d hate to have to face that man if I were his kid. His glare could have peeled the paint off my Jeep.” The officer led them to the front desk. “If you want to save the world, kid, join the Peace Corps. Civilians like you only create problems for us.”

  Jamal chuckled. “Without people like me, you folks would never have a minute of excitement.”

  “We got plenty of excitement.”

  The officer gave each of them a paper to sign and handed Jamal an envelope with his cell phone and keys.

  “What about my truck?” Jamal said.

  “One of the deputies drove it in. It’s parked outside.”

  “Hey, thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me. He felt charitable tonight. Just stay out of trouble. That’s a very nice sweater, by the way. My granny used to knit sweaters like that.” The officer took Aden’s paper. “Your grandpa’s here to pick you up. He drove his buggy all the way from Bonduel. You owe him a steak dinner or something.”

  Dawdi? How had he found out? Aden had planned on hitchhiking home.

  Jamal gave Aden a look of pity. “I guess I won’t be driving you, man. You gonna catch it from your grandpa?”

  Aden shook his head. “If there was ever anyone who didn’t have a temper, it’s my grandpa. If my mamm were here, everybody in this place would need earplugs.”

  “I know,” Jamal said. “I was with you last time, remember?” He studied Aden’s face and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. She’s probably home safe in bed with her covers tucked around her ears. By next week, you’ll be laughing about it.”

  Not likely. Aden forced a half smile. “See you later, Jamal.”

  “I think I’ll head back to Akron. I’m dying for a good cup of coffee.”

  Jamal walked through the waiting area where Dawdi sat reading a magazine. Aden watched as Jamal greeted Dawdi, visited with him for a few minutes, and left the building.

  Aden took a deep breath. Huckleberry Hill was about an hour from here in Dawdi’s buggy. No reason to stall. The sooner he and Dawdi got home, the sooner he could check on Lily.

  Aden shuffled into the waiting area. “Hi, Dawdi.”

  Dawdi examined Aden’s face and then gave him a bracing hug. “Broke your nose?”

  “Like as not.”

  “Do you need a doctor? My dermatologist practices at Shawano Medical Center.”

  “No, I don’t think there’s much he can do for it.”

  Dawdi put his arm around Aden and led him out the door. “You’ll have a double shiner for sure. I got two shiners once when I stepped on a rake and the handle smacked me right in the nose. My whole head ached for three solid weeks.”

  If the only thing that ached was Aden’s head, he’d consider himself the most blessed man in the world.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The long ride to the police station gave Lily time to compose herself somewhat. It only took her about one full minute of screaming her guts out to realize that it accomplished nothing. The policeman in the front seat didn’t pay attention to her, and it wouldn’t have been too long before she wore her throat raw. She fell silent and sniffed her tears away as best she could while she tried to make sense of her predicament.

  The sheriff wouldn’t tell her why she or Aden had been arrested, but it made sense that because she felt horrible about it, she must be guilty of something.

  The shame, the terror, the guilt pounded at her like a wall of water, and she found it impossible to come up for air. Making as little noise as possible, she sobbed uncontrollably until her chest ached and her eyes burned and her apron was soaked through with tears.

  This was what it felt like to have done something truly wicked, to disregard her fater’s guidance and let a boy overrule her sound judgment. Her conscience gnawed at her until she felt raw and unclean. Aden might be immune to the pain, but she was not and hoped she never would be. If ever she considered taking one step from the protection of the community again, she would remember her despair at this moment. Let Aden chip away at his reputation and his life. She was done with living recklessly.

  It felt like Aden had abandoned her. Where was he and was he seriously injured? His face had been battered and blood had stained his shirt. Her heart stopped until she remembered that he had been standing on his own two feet when they pushed him into the police car.

  He’d been taken to the hospital after the tree incident when he got the cut on his eyebrow. Lily shuddered. He seemed to wear such injuries as a badge of honor, but right now, Lily could find no honor in it. Why would he risk his life for a tree?

  It was well after dark when they arrived at the police station. The policeman helped her out of the backseat and took off her handcuffs. Lily immediately reached for the handkerchief in her apron pocket. She must look a mess.

  The deputy gestured to the building. “Come in and wait for your family. The Hardys are dropping their complaint. You’re free to go.”

  Lily caught her breath. “I don’t have to go to jail?”

  “Nope. I just got word from the sheriff.”

  Lily felt as if the weight of the world had fallen off her shoulders. The relief was palpable.

  Thank you, Lord. Praise the Lord.

  She numbly followed the deputy into the police station where a woman with a badge sat at the front counter. “You can sit over there, honey, until your dad gets here,” she said. “A deputy in Bonduel already notified your family. Your dad is on his way.”

  The dread of seeing her fater swallowed Lily’s relief at being released. Lily sniffled and wiped her nose. Dread or not, she wanted to go home and pretend this never happened. Pretend that she had never met anyone named Aden Helmuth, a boy with a devil-may-care grin and a filthy dog.

  She would start pretending she never knew him as soon as she could be assured of his safety. “Where are the two boys who were arrested with me?”

  “They’re in back. We’re letting them think about it for a couple of hours. The both of them made a lot of trouble in Ohio. We don’t want them to get the idea they can start here in Wisconsin.”

&
nbsp; “Are they . . . are they well?”

  “The Amish boy’s got a broken nose, and the other kid has a fat lip. They’ll be fine.” The woman at the counter smiled sympathetically. “I don’t mind if you want to go see them. A pretty girl like you would cheer them up.”

  Lily pursed her lips and shook her head as her lungs refused to work properly. She couldn’t see Aden without being overpowered with shame and anger. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be in this horrible place, feeling this unbearable shame, waiting for the wrath of her dat to swoop down upon her.

  “I don’t need to see them,” she said, sitting down and picking up the nearest magazine. It wasn’t until the tears cleared from her vision that she noticed the title: Puppies USA. She slammed it back on the table and stacked three magazines on top of it.

  It couldn’t have been ten minutes before Dat came marching through the door like a tornado. He stopped short when he caught sight of her, frowned, and folded his arms across his chest.

  The humiliation engulfed her, and Lily jumped up and flung herself into his arms. The weeping began anew in her father’s embrace.

  His stiffness melted in an instant, and he stroked her back and whispered soothing words. “There, there. That’s my gute girl. No need to cry.”

  “I’m sorry, Dat. I know how much I’ve disappointed you.”

  He nudged her away from him and held her at arm’s length. “I am disappointed, Lily. Disappointed that you would get caught up in this when I warned you against it. Didn’t you learn anything from what happened to Onkel Zeke?” Pain flashed in his eyes. “I have tried to protect you from this all your life.”

  Lily wiped her face. How could she have been so selfish as to put her fater through this?

  The memory assaulted her as if it had happened yesterday, even though she had only been eight years old. Dat had been sitting at the kitchen table with his face buried in his hands, sobbing from the depths of his soul. She had her own guilt to carry because she had been discharged from the hospital the day before. With her arm wrapped in a thick, heavy bandage, she had tiptoed near to Dat and laid her good hand on his shoulder. He had scooped her onto his lap and given her a desperate, yearning embrace. “Zeke is dead, Lily, Zeke is dead. Don’t you ever do that to me. Don’t leave me.”

  “I promise, Dat. Never,” she had told him.

  And now, she had broken that promise.

  Lily squared her shoulders and looked her dat in the eye. “You won’t have to worry about me ever again.”

  Dat patted her cheek. “There, there. You are a gute girl. I lay the blame squarely at Aden Helmuth’s feet. You are an innocent girl who cannot recognize when you are being misled.”

  A sob escaped Lily’s lips. She hadn’t recognized it at all.

  Her dat slipped his arm around her and led her to the door. “The bishop will hear about this. Such behavior by a man of the church, no matter how young, should not be tolerated. I’ll see to it that the leaven of evil is removed from our midst.”

  She should never have let herself be misled by Aden’s schemes. All this time she had been chasing an illusion. That’s what Aden was. An illusion.

  She caught her breath at the thought of him, but quickly pushed his face out of her mind’s eye. That feeling when he looked at her or kissed her was so intense, so overpowering, that she had mistaken it for love.

  But how could she love someone who was entangled in the ways of the world? How could she love a boy her father disapproved of?

  A car and driver sat waiting for them at the curb. They stood outside the car for another minute of privacy.

  “There will be changes, Lily. You will no longer work for the Helmuths.”

  “Jah, that is best,” Lily said, with a growing ache in her heart.

  “His name will not be mentioned in our home, neither will you speak one word to Aden Helmuth ever again. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Dat.” Lily would agree to anything if she could make this awful shame go away.

  Dat’s lips curled slightly. “Gute. Then it is finished.”

  He opened the door, and Lily slipped into the backseat. She dabbed at her stinging eyes with her handkerchief and sat back for the short ride home.

  So, that was the end of that.

  She crossed her arms to subdue the stabbing pain in her chest.

  She would repent of Aden Helmuth.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Aden felt like a horse chomping at the bit. If only Dawdi had hired a driver instead of bringing his buggy, Aden would be in Bonduel in minutes. Or if Dawdi weren’t there, Aden could have hitched a ride with Jamal. Every second spent trying to get to Lily was agony.

  Dawdi seemed to go slower with every step. At this rate, they’d never even make it to the parking lot.

  “Do you want me to drive, Dawdi?”

  “Nae. Your nose must smart something awful.”

  Aden sighed inwardly. That would add another twenty minutes to the trip. He tried to quell his frustration. Dawdi had been kind enough to come all the way out here, and he didn’t seem angry about Aden’s arrest. He should be grateful instead of impatient. Lord willing, he would get home in time to see Lily before it got too late.

  Dawdi prodded the horse into a leisurely trot out of the parking lot and onto the road. “I saw New Mexico and Texas on the way here.”

  “How many more do you have to find?”

  “Twelve. But they’re the hard ones.”

  Aden took a deep breath and willed his heart to slow to a normal pace. No amount of anxiety would make this buggy go faster. “Dawdi, how did you know I’d been arrested?” Aden hadn’t made the customary phone call when he came to the station. Mammi and Dawdi didn’t have a phone, and the only friend who could have helped him had been sitting next to him in the cell.

  “David Eicher paid us a visit. He’d been to Shawano to fetch Lily.”

  “Is she all right?”

  “According to David, she’ll carry the scars for the rest of her life.”

  Aden buried his face in his hands. “Oh, no.”

  Dawdi reached over and patted Aden’s knee. “She’ll be fine. David just wanted to let off a whole teapot of steam. He came storming up to our house yelling like he’d run into a hornet’s nest. I couldn’t talk no sense into him.”

  “I’m sorry, Dawdi.”

  “He wouldn’t listen to me, but he sure got an earful from your mammi. She looked pretty frightening, waving that wooden spoon around and giving David what for.”

  Imagining Mammi giving Lily’s dat what for gave Aden a glimmer of cheer for the first time tonight.

  “She told him what you did was for the puppies, and if he couldn’t see in his heart to help the puppies, then he might as well go home and cast his heart in stone. At which point, David slammed our door on his way out and Pilot chased him off the lawn.” Dawdi sprouted a grin.

  Aden groaned and gave up hope of ever winning David Eicher’s favor.

  But, oh, how he loved that dog!

  “I shouldn’t have let her come with us. She had no idea what she was getting into.”

  “Did you?” Dawdi said.

  “I always know the risks. I’m willing to take them.”

  “Trying to do God’s job for Him?”

  “Of course not. I would be bad at God’s job.”

  “But you don’t think He can do His own work.”

  Aden sighed. Dawdi had tried to tell him this before, and he was just as confused as ever. “I don’t understand. I am a tiny speck. God runs the universe.”

  “But you act as if He has left Bonduel to you.”

  “I do?”

  “Why did you choose baptism, Aden?”

  Aden wanted to give a quick answer, but he felt he might be on the verge of something important, so he sat still for a minute and considered the question. “The Amish way of life is gute for the environment. We are true stewards of the earth.”

  “That is the worst reason to be Amish I’v
e ever heard of.”

  “I didn’t say that was the only reason, or even the best reason.”

  “What else, then?” Dawdi asked, not even glancing at the road ahead.

  “It is the faith of my fathers, what I grew up with.”

  “That’s a bit better.”

  Aden’s eyes filled with tears as he verbalized what he’d never expressed out loud. “I’ve committed my life to God, Dawdi. I love Jesus. He is everything to me.”

  Dawdi pointed his finger in the air. “Aha. Now we come to it. Do you remember in the Bible how Mary sat at Jesus’s feet, and Martha went cumbered about with much serving?”

  Aden remembered. Since the accident at the lake, he’d pretty much committed those verses to memory—not that knowing the whole thing by heart helped him understand how the story applied to him. How did Dawdi know of Aden’s struggle with this passage?

  “Martha took care of the meal, and Mary just sat there,” Aden said. “But Martha got in trouble when all she wanted was some help from her sister.”

  “Martha didn’t accuse Mary. She accused the Lord.”

  Aden furrowed his brow. He had never thought of it like that.

  Dawdi guided the horse farther to the side to let a car pass him. “Martha thought Jesus should have recognized her need. Mary hung on every word from the Lord’s mouth. Perhaps Martha thought the Lord wasn’t doing His job. She asked Him to tell Mary to come and help.”

  Aden felt as if he were a bird about to take flight, but he couldn’t understand how to use his wings. So close. He was so close he could almost touch understanding. “What did He mean when He said, ‘One thing is needful’?”

  “Jesus said Mary had chosen the good part. What did Mary do?”

  “She sat at Jesus’s feet and heard His words.”

  “Mary trusted in the Lord. Martha fretted that the Lord was not doing enough. It sounds to me like you need to turn your life over to God and then listen when He speaks to you.”

  Aden’s memory traveled back to that night at the lake. God had tried to tell him something, but he hadn’t done anything about it. “You think I’m not listening?”