[2016] The Precious Amish Baby

by Faith Crawford

  Elisabeth nodded. “That sounds good to me. But I wonder if a nurse could come and stay while Stephen is gone?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I will ask. I wish you were a nurse, Liz.”

  Elisabeth nodded. “I wish so, too. I wonder, can a woman become a nurse in two months?”

  They both laughed.

  Chapter Four

  The day was hot and damp. Elisabeth had worn her work boots to the garden and was kneeling down in the dirt when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see who was approaching. All of the children were at the schoolhouse and the little ones were napping. No one should be out.

  She stood up and folded her dirty hands in her apron, narrowing her eyes as her visitor approached. It was a young man she recognized from town. He typically brought any mail that had not been picked up for a week or more to anyone in the community who didn’t realize they had any to pick up. He was heading straight for her, avoiding stepping on the plants, vegetables and flowers that lined the garden. She wiped her hands. She knew what he was coming for. Deborah must be having her baby.

  “Ms. Elisabeth?” he said, when he was close enough for her to hear him.

  “Yes. What is it?”

  “You must come with me, Miss Elisabeth. Deborah…she’s…”

  “Yes, she is about to have her little baby, is she not?”

  The look on his face concerned her. His eyebrows were drawn together and he looked more worried than she cared for. Stephen had left one week after her conversation with her sister. He had yet to return. Deborah’s worst fear was being confirmed.

  “Yes, she is, but…”

  “What is it, boy? Spit it out.” She took a few steps in his direction. He dropped his eyes to the ground.

  “Miss, there is some kind of complication. She is having trouble.”

  “Oh no!” Elisabeth exclaimed. “What kind of trouble? Why was I not retrieved sooner?” She took long steps past the young man and headed quickly for the barn, where her buggy would be waiting.

  “I don’t know, miss.” He followed after her in a hurry, speaking as quickly as he could. “I know that she has just arrived at the hospital. One of her neighbors found her in her yard, calling out for help.”

  Elisabeth’s heart sank. She should have been there! She chided herself for not foregoing her parents and her community’s wishes and going to stay with Deborah for the length of time that Stephen was away.

  “She is in the hospital now? They are taking care of her?”

  “They are, yes. But you need to be there, you definitely need to. She is calling for you.”

  “I will take my buggy back into town. You ride on ahead and let them know that I am on my way.”

  “I will do that.”

  “Tell Deborah to calm down. Tell her that I said she has to be calm or it will be worse for her.”

  “Yes, miss, I will.”

  Elisabeth’s heart was pounding in her chest. She wasn’t a nurse and had not watched any of the births that had taken place in her community. She hadn’t participated in anything remotely close to pregnancy or birth, which made her one of the odd ones. Most of the nineteen-year-old girls in the community had knowledge in the area of pregnancy and childbirth. But she had only helped with babies after they were born, not before or during.

  She readied the horses and the buggy as quickly as she could. She made the horses run as fast as they could without wrecking her only means of transportation. The entire way, she was praying that God would watch over Deborah and her new baby, that somehow Stephen would find out what was happening or come back just in the nick of time. She prayed that the doctor and nurses taking care of Deborah would do a good job. She prayed all the way down the road until she finally saw the hospital in the distance. A two-story building, it didn’t look in the least bit intimidating. She pulled into the lot that surrounded the building and parked the buggy as close to the entrance as she could.

  As she starting rushing into the building, she noticed that she had neglected to wash her hands or change her dirty apron. She pulled the apron off and balled it up in her pocket. She would wash her hands in a basin later. The most important thing was getting to her sister.

  The nurse at the entrance told her where her sister was. She had no other information about Deborah’s condition.

  “You may wash your hands in the basin over there,” the nurse said, pointing to a nearby counter that had an actual working pump on it to put water into the bowl below. There were cloth towels folded up next to it.

  Elisabeth washed her hands as quickly as she could and then jogged down the hall to the room her sister was supposed to be in. She pushed open the door and poked her head in to see if she had found the right room. Her eyes opened wide when she spotted Deborah laying on the bed, her legs propped up and a nurse at the end of the bed, watching for the baby to arrive. Deborah looked as white as the sheet she was laying on.

  Elisabeth moved quickly to the bedside. Deborah’s head rolled over and her dull eyes brightened to see Elisabeth there.

  “Liz,” she breathed softly.

  “Are you Deborah’s sister?” The nurse at the end of the bed looked up and saw her.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “May I speak to you?”

  Elisabeth looked back down at Deborah, whose eyes were closed again. Her breathing was shallow and she looked washed out. Sweat had soaked through her hair and was covering her neck.

  Elisabeth nodded and moved away from her sister to speak to the nurse in a low voice.

  “What has happened? I was told there was a problem. My sister doesn’t look well.”

  “She isn’t.” The nurse had a very somber look on her face.

  “What is going on?”

  “There is something wrong with your sister’s…with her blood flow. Her heart beat is irregular and she is not able to stay conscious. We are worried that the baby is taking all of the blood flow, making it difficult for your sister to function in order to push it out.”

  “What can we do in this situation?”

  “There is little that we can do. We are doing all that we are able. But it’s up to your sister to push through. I am…concerned for her. I’m glad you are here. Perhaps your presence will make it easier for her.”

  “I will certainly do all I can but I have never attended a birth before. What should I do?”

  “Be encouraging. Hold her hand. Give her strength. Pray for her.”

  “I will do all those things. If you think of anything else, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

  “I will.” The nurse nodded and turned to go back to the bed. “The baby will be here soon. She just needs to push a few times when it is the proper time.”

  “Let me know. I’ll do what I can.”

  When Elisabeth was next to her sister’s bed again, she reached down and took Deborah’s hand in hers. “Deb? Please look at me. Are you all right?”

  Deborah blinked a few times. It looked like she was trying to focus. Elisabeth was worried about how pale she looked, how shallow her breathing was.

  She squeezed Deb’s hand tightly. “You must be ready for the baby when it comes, Deb. You must be ready.”

  “Yes,” Deborah breathed. “Yes.”

  “Okay, she is going to need to push soon. I can see the baby is ready to come out and her body is ready to release it,” the nurse said.

  “Deb? Deb? You must push now. Can you push the baby out?”

  Deborah opened her eyes a little, seemed to focus and her face contorted as she felt the labor pains for what seemed like the first time. She began to scream.

  “Deborah, put your effort into having your baby instead of screaming!” the nurse directed her in a gentle voice. “It will only take a few tries-” She cut herself off and moved quickly to the end of the bed.

  Deborah pushed three more times at the nurse’s insistence. “You are doing good, Deb! Keep going, keep going!”

  The baby was suddenly
in the nurse’s hands, and then another nurse was cutting the cord and cleaning the mess that came with him.

  “You have a boy, Deborah! You have a boy!” The nurse looked up with a big smile.

  Elisabeth had been watching the nurse and turned her eyes to her sister. “Deborah, it’s a little boy! I’m so proud of you! Look, Deb! Look!”

  But Deborah couldn’t look. Her head was turned to the side, her eyes closed.

  She wasn’t breathing anymore.

  Chapter Five

  With a heavy heart, Elisabeth was headed back to her community, a tiny, sleeping baby in the basket behind her. She couldn’t believe her sister was gone. Just like that. She’d seen her only a few days ago. Deb had been excited, happy and determined, despite the fact that Stephen was still not home. She’d held out hope all the way up to the last minute that her husband would return home. She had seemed strong, healthy and determined.

  And now she was gone.

  Elisabeth didn’t even know where Stephen was. She would have to return to go through Deborah’s house for letters or something that would give her an idea of where the man might have gone. He wasn’t up North, Elisabeth was certain of that. But if he wasn’t up North, that meant he could be just about anywhere.

  She had no idea where to start looking.

  She contemplated how she was going to tell her parents and community about Deborah’s death. She wondered how she could do it without revealing that she had been visiting all along. She doubted it would be possible.

  But it was too late to be worried about it now. She was responsible for Andrew now. It was a good thing Deborah had told her the names they had chosen for the baby already. Deb had gone to the woman in town who said she could predict what sex her child would be. She’d predicted it would be a boy.

  Deborah purchased all types of things for a little boy after that. She had clothes, toys and food all ready for him. The baby bottles were clean and packed away in a trunk. Deborah had even purchased several containers of powdered baby formula, in case it was needed.

  Elisabeth wondered if her sister was ever aware that there might be a problem.

  She shook her head at her own thoughts. There was no way Deborah would have known there would be complications without telling Elisabeth. She’d confided everything to Elisabeth. She wouldn’t have kept her in the dark about anything, especially not something this important.

  Tears came to Elisabeth’s eyes. It would be a long time before she would be over it and able to let go of the memory of her sister. If her parents were right, Deborah would not be given her salvation in Heaven. She had not stayed in the lifestyle that their parents thought was the way to salvation.

  “They’re wrong,” Elisabeth whispered to no one.

  The buggy moved slowly down the dirt road. The horses seemed to feel Elisabeth’s depressed mood. Their heads were hanging low and their pace was sluggish, as if they wanted to take their time getting back.

  Before she had left, Elisabeth had taken as many of the small towels as the hospital would give her. She would need them for Andrew. But she would also need them for herself as she drove back to her Amish home. Her heart was aching. Trying not to cry was giving her a headache. Crying was also going to give her a headache. She was afraid that, once she started, she would not be able to stop.

  She wondered how her family was going to react to the news. She had to tell them. She felt she had no choice.

  ***

  She unloaded Andrew and a large, soft bag that held some of the things she would need to take care of him. Before she went into the house, she pulled in a deep breath and said a silent prayer for courage and strength.

  Andrew was sleeping peacefully. He had only made a few sounds since he was born, but the nurse had said he was in perfect health. He had all his fingers and toes, was a healthy weight and his skin was a good color. He breathed normally and had even opened his eyes just a little bit. But he was sleeping now and they expected he would sleep a lot for the first few days.

  “He’s got to recover from all that,” the nurse had said in a light-hearted tone. Elisabeth could tell she was struggling with her own sorrow that Deborah had not made it. She was probably feeling somewhat guilty, too, though there was nothing she could have done to save the woman. They had told Elisabeth that Deborah was bleeding internally during the birth. They had no way to stop it before it was too late because they didn’t discover it in time. Even if they had, there was no method to stop it that would have been safe for both Andrew and Deborah.

  Most of it was complicated medical talk that Elisabeth simply didn’t understand. But she took their word for it and signed the papers that said she would take Andrew in as her own. They hadn’t even asked about Stephen.

  The door closed quietly behind her. She looked around, listening for a sound to tell her if anyone was home. She heard nothing.

  Should she hide baby Andrew and just pack some things and go back to Deborah’s home? Perhaps, if she searched thoroughly, she would be able to find something to lead her in the right direction to find Stephen.

  She walked straight back to the end of the house and went up the stairs to her room on the second floor. There was no one up there either. She wondered where everyone was.

  She went into her room and closed the door behind her, immediately taking the bag from her shoulder and putting it on the ground. Then she set the baby basket on her bed.

  She sat next to it, then rested one hand on Andrew’s tiny chest and felt him breathing steadily. She stared out of the window, remembering her sister, going back through the past seven months of her life after she’d found out that Deborah was pregnant.

  “I know it’s going to be a long road ahead, little mister,” she whispered to Andrew. “But you will not be traveling it alone. I won’t take you to an orphanage. I will never give up on trying to find your papa. I promise you that. That’s not what your mama would want.” She felt tears clogging her throat. “I want to do what your mama would want me to do. I really do.”

  She lowered her head, letting her tears fall. She took one of the small cloths from the basket and pressed it up against her face, mopping the tears away. She pressed it against her eyes, but wasn’t able to stop crying. Everything was going to be different now. She wouldn’t be able to stay here.

  In fact, she should probably start packing and prepare to leave. Her parents – her community – weren’t going to accept this little baby. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to go through with it. Better that they think she completely disappeared than know that she had deceived them by going to see her sister and then being burdened with the child that Deborah was not able to take care of. Better that they did not even know of her death. They could live on believing that she was alive and well in town, living with her husband. They hadn’t cared before. Why would they care now?

  She struggled with herself, not knowing whether she should stick it out and let them know what had happened or just let them find out on their own, someday down the line.

  “Father, forgive me for my bitterness,” she whispered aloud. “Forgive me for not wanting to tell them what’s happened to their daughter. And what’s about to happen to me. I am sorry, Lord. I am trying to do the right thing.”

  After contemplating it for a few more moments and gazing out the window, she came to a decision. She stood up and went to the window, pressing both hands flat against it, gazing out at the landscape. She would miss it. But she knew she had to find Stephen now and deliver Andrew to him. It was her duty as a good sister. She had to take care of Andrew first now. It wasn’t about her or her feelings or even her parents’ feelings. It was about Andrew.

  She could see several men working in the fields below. She could see horses and dogs and cats meandering about, making their animal noises, playing their animal games. She watched as one of her neighbors pulled on the horse behind him and the horse walked forward, dragging a plow behind him. Several women were knelt in a garden to her right, pulling wee
ds and planting seeds and pulling fresh food from the ground. One of them was digging up potatoes. Digging up the potatoes was one of Elisabeth’s favorite things to do.

  She turned away from the scene. It was time to pack.

  Chapter Six

  Three days later, Elisabeth woke up in her sister’s house. She had taken the bed in the spare room, unwilling to sleep in her sister and Stephen’s bed. After three days of searching steadily, she had found a small box of letters. One of them was recent and from Stephen. He was in the West. As much as he had protested and said he didn’t ever want to go there, that’s where he was.

  So that’s where she was headed. She made plans to go to the train station and purchase a ticket to the place he had last written from. He had expressed clearly that he would be moving on in a matter of days, but the closer she got to his trail the better. She hoped California was not too big of a state. But she suspected it was.

  She also found a small jar with one, five and ten dollar notes stuffed in it. It was as if she had found a treasure trove or a gold mine. She was elated. It would provide her with the means to go and search for Stephen. In the few days since she had come back, she had not heard from anyone in her community. She wondered if anyone was searching for her. She would have at least suspected she would get a visit from Rosie – or that someone would have come searching the town for her.

  But no one came.

  She wondered why.

  She woke up with a plan in mind. She would be packing up everything that she would need for Andrew, including his small folding crib, all of his food, all of his bottles, all of his clothes. She was taking absolutely everything she could take of Andrew’s in the buggy, which she had pulled around the house to the back and slightly into the woods so that no one passing would see it. She herself had one trunk with her personal items in it, and that was enough for her. The money she had found in Deborah’s house would be used for Andrew, and for Andrew alone. She was satisfied with what she had.