His New Amish Family

by Patricia Davids

  Finally, Opal put away her phone and came back to Clara. “Mom didn’t know anything about Eli bringing over papers for Dad. She said to tell you how sorry she is about your uncle’s passing. He was well-liked by my family. She gave me permission to let you go in the house. I’m to help you if I can. What are we looking for?”

  “The document is a trust, like a last will and testament but it leaves the control of the farm to the trustee named without having to go through probate court.”

  “Sounds like something that he would keep in his safe. I have the combination. Let’s go check.” Opal opened the door and stood aside as Clara and Paul went in.

  The safe in Dan’s office held only a few items—a pocket watch and several pieces of jewelry. The only documents were insurance policies and the deed to the Kauffman property. A search of Dan’s desk proved fruitless, as well. If he had Eli’s trust, it wasn’t in an obvious place.

  “I’m sorry,” Opal said as she showed them to the front door. “Mother and I will ask Dad about it when he comes around.” Her voice cracked slightly. Paul suspected Opal was worried that might never happen.

  “We appreciate your help,” Clara said as they stepped outside. “Let us know if we can do anything.”

  “Mamm! Come quick. Sophie fell in the fishpond and I can’t reach her.” Toby skidded to a stop in front of them. “Hurry.”

  Paul bolted past Clara and reached the koi pond first. He jumped in and grabbed Sophie as she was flailing to keep her head above water. “I got you. You’re okay.”

  He lifted the soaking child in his arms. Sophie clung to his neck, coughing and gasping for air. The water was only waist-deep on him but it was over her head. He slogged to the edge and handed Sophie up to Clara. She sank to her knees and held her daughter close.

  “Is she okay? Do I need to call 911?” Opal asked, her cell phone at the ready.

  Clara pushed Sophie’s wet hair out of her face. She had a slight bluish tinge to her lips and she continued coughing. “I don’t think so.”

  Paul plucked Sophie’s kapp from among the lilies and heaved himself out of the pond. Water cascaded down his pants and pooled in his boots. It was going to be a cool ride home. He looked around for Toby. The boy was sitting a few feet away with his face buried in his lap and his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. His little shoulders were shaking.

  “I’ll get some blankets and towels.” Opal hurried away.

  Paul walked over to Toby and sat down cross-legged beside him. “Want to tell me what happened?”

  Toby shook his head but didn’t look up.

  “Toby pushed me,” Sophie said between coughing fits.

  “It was an accident!” Toby shouted, looking up. His cheeks were stained with tears.

  “Of course it was.” Paul put his arm around the boy’s shoulders and the child burrowed against his side.

  Opal came running out with several blankets and towels. She and Clara swaddled Sophie. Paul accepted a towel and spoke softly to Toby. “Why don’t you tell me what happened.”

  “She wouldn’t share. I wanted to feed the fish, too. I was only trying to take the bread out of her hand. I didn’t mean to push her so hard. She stumbled and fell in. I tried but I couldn’t reach her.”

  “You did the right thing by coming to get help,” Paul assured him.

  “Is Mamm mad at me?”

  “Nee, she isn’t. She’s happy you are safe.”

  “Will Sophie have to go back to the hospital? Mamm is always worried that Sophie will get sick. I never get sick.”

  Paul heard the unspoken part of Toby’s statement. The boy believed his mother cared more about Sophie than she did about him. “Your mother depends on you a lot, Toby. She needs you to be strong because Sophie can’t be. Let’s go tell Sophie you are sorry.”

  “Okay.” The boy rose to his feet and walked over to kneel beside his sister. “I’m sorry, Sophie. I didn’t mean for you to fall in the water.”

  “That’s okay. I forgive you. You can still be my friend.” Her speech brought on another fit of coughing.

  Clara looked up at Paul. “We should get her home and out of these wet things as soon as possible.”

  He helped Clara to her feet and soon they all climbed into the front seat of the buggy. Clara kept Sophie in her arms while Toby squeezed in between the two adults. Opal stood beside them. “Let me know how she is. I’ve told my mother a hundred times that pond is too deep not to have a fence around it. My parents aren’t used to having small children around here.”

  “She’ll be fine,” Clara said. “Don’t worry your mother with this. Let her concentrate on helping your father get well.”

  Paul put the horse in motion and kept the animal to a fast trot once they reached the highway.

  Sophie continued to cough. Paul thought her breathing was starting to sound labored. He exchanged worried glances with Clara. “She sounds worse.”

  “I know. I can feel a rattle in her chest. She must have gotten some of the pond water in her lungs. Stop at the phone shack and call for an ambulance. It’s just ahead.”

  Paul stopped and got out. He made the call and then returned to the buggy. “They are on their way. Toby is welcome to stay with me and my family if that is okay?”

  “That will be one less worry, danki.”

  “She’s going to be fine. It’s going to be okay.” He didn’t know what else to say except to reassure her and Toby.

  It wasn’t much more than fifteen minutes until they heard the siren in the distance but it was the longest fifteen minutes of Paul’s life. He didn’t understand how Clara stayed so calm.

  Once again, he was reminded of what a strong woman she was. As the ambulance approached, Paul stepped out into the road to flag them down. Ten minutes later, Sophie was strapped to the gurney with an oxygen mask on her face. Clara sat beside her holding her hand. One of the ambulance crew closed the rear doors. Paul knew the man from his work as a volunteer firefighter. “Have Clara call me at my uncle’s shop when she can.”

  “Sure. I’ll let Captain Swanson and the guys at the fire station know. You’ll have a driver when you need one.”

  “Thanks. That will help.”

  The man nodded, returned to the front of the ambulance and the vehicle sped away with red lights flashing.

  Toby looked at Paul. “What’s going to happen now?”

  Paul pulled the boy against his side. “That is up to God. He has some fine men and women waiting at the hospital to help Sophie.”

  * * *

  Clara’s fears were realized in the emergency room as the doctors and nurses tended to Sophie. After looking at her X-rays, the physician in charge called it aspiration pneumonia.

  “Depending on how much inflammation develops, this could be very serious. It wasn’t clean water, it was more like a germ broth. She will likely get worse before she gets better. She’s on oxygen now but her breathing is still labored. We’ve got her on some strong antibiotics and breathing treatments that will help. I understand she has Crigler-Najjar syndrome. Type one.”

  Clara nodded. “She does.”

  “I’d like to speak to her pediatrician. The syndrome is rare. I have not personally treated a case. I’m hoping her doctor can tell me how and if her syndrome will affect her treatment. Is she on phototherapy at home?”

  Clara wrote out the name of Sophie’s doctor and his phone number. “She stays under the lights for ten hours at night but I received a letter from her doctor telling me to expect to increase it to twelve hours a day before long.”

  “Is she on a liver-transplant list?”

  “We are planning a living donor transplant. I am a match for her.”

  “I understand they’ve been doing wonders with this new technique since there are so few cadaver donors available. I wish more people would consider donating their org
ans but I understand why not everybody wishes to do that.”

  She could hear Sophie crying for her in the other room. Her daughter was too young to understand much English. The family spoke Deitsch, a German dialect at home. Most Amish children didn’t learn English until they went to school.

  “How long do you think she will have to be here?” Clara squeezed her fingers together.

  “That’s difficult to say. Forty-eight hours of antibiotics should show us an improvement. I will want her to have a two-week course to make sure this doesn’t come back on her but the last week of that won’t need to be intravenous. She’ll be able to take pills. If you’ll excuse me, I am going to try to have a conference call with her physician and several of the doctors on the staff here.”

  “Can I go back in with her?”

  “Absolutely.” He smiled for the first time. “We are going to take good care of her.”

  Instead of going directly back in, Clara called the phone number the ambulance driver had given her. It was Paul’s uncle’s furniture-making business. A woman named Jessica Clay answered the phone and identified herself as the secretary. As soon as Clara gave her name, Jessica said, “Hold on. Paul is right here waiting to hear from you.”

  “Clara? How is she?” The breathless concern in his voice was almost her undoing.

  She fought back the tears. “As we suspected, some of the pond water went into her lungs and has caused pneumonia. They are going to keep her in the hospital. She could be here for two weeks. Less if she improves with the antibiotics they are giving her but it is too soon to tell how well they will work. I’m worried about her bilirubin. Anytime she gets sick it gets worse. How is Toby?”

  “He’s fine. Don’t worry about him. He’s playing catch with my cousin Joshua’s daughter, Hannah, at the moment.”

  Clara was suddenly so tired she had trouble standing up. “I have to get back to Sophie. I will call you again tomorrow.”

  “Is there anything I can do? I feel awful. I should have been watching her.”

  She heard the deep regret in his words and knew how badly he must feel. “You are not to blame any more than Toby is. We must accept Gott’s will and pray for the strength to endure. If you need to do something, let Bishop Barkman know what has happened. He’ll need to contact the district treasurer for the Amish Hospital Aid and tell him to expect a bill from the hospital. I will be fine. Take care of my boy for me. He likes a story at night before bedtime.”

  “I think I can manage that. I know some really scary ones.”

  “Paul, don’t you dare.”

  “I’m kidding.”

  “I hope so but I wouldn’t put it past you.” She smiled as she hung up. He had a way of making her smile when she needed it the most. She thanked the nurse at the desk for the use of the phone and went back to sit with Sophie while they waited to move her out of the ER to a room.

  * * *

  “What did she say?” Jessica asked.

  Jessica was the only person in the office with Paul. He repeated the information Clara had shared. “I wish I could do something. I feel terrible. I’m selling her house out from under her and now her little girl is in the hospital because I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “Coulda, woulda, shoulda isn’t helping.” Jessica closed down her computer. “Think about what the woman needs and do it.”

  “Like what?” Paul asked.

  “Really? Are all men so clueless?”

  Annoyed, Paul sought to defend himself. “I can’t stop the sale of her home.”

  “So, what’s the next step?”

  What was the next step? “She will need a new place to live.”

  Jessica smiled. “Now you’re thinking.”

  “I’ll let her bishop know her situation so her church can help.”

  “Good. What are her immediate needs at the hospital?”

  “Clara can’t stay awake around the clock to take care of Sophie but I know she will try. She doesn’t have any family here to help her. Samuel’s wife, Rebecca, has experience in caring for the sick. I wonder if she could help?”

  Jessica took him by the shoulders and turned him toward the door. “Wondering is not doing. Go ask Rebecca. You’re right, she has experience and she is the perfect person to aid Clara. Do Anna and Isaac know what has happened?”

  “Not yet. I’ve been waiting to hear from Clara but I’ll let them know after I’ve spoken to Rebecca. Danki, Jessica.”

  “Tell them I’ll be happy to drive anyone who needs a lift. Consider me on twenty-four-hour call until further notice.”

  “You are a blessing to this family.”

  She winked at him. “And don’t I know it. Get going.”

  On the short walk to Samuel and Rebecca’s house, Paul pondered what else he could do for Clara. Without the money from the sale of her uncle’s farm, she would have to delay Sophie’s liver transplant. The Amish communities across the country were well-known for their fund-raising to assist with the special needs of their members. Paul had been an auctioneer for several such charity events. His cousin Timothy Bowman was currently the cochairman of the annual county fire department’s fund-raiser. Timothy would be the one he should ask about setting up something to help with Clara and Sophie’s medical bills.

  After crossing the parking lot, he passed the new bakery and noticed Charlotte Zook standing in front of it, staring at the building. Her brown-and-white basset hound, Clyde, sat beside her. Charlotte’s pet raccoon scampered toward Paul. He sidestepped her as she made a grab for his pant leg.

  “Naughty girl, Juliet. Come here at once.” Charlotte held out her hand. The raccoon raced back to her and climbed onto her shoulder. Mark was married to Charlotte’s niece, Helen. They lived with Charlotte across the river. “I’m sure Helen and Mark have gone home by now.”

  “I know.” She and the dog continued to stare at the building. Charlotte was known for her eccentric ways as well as her unusual pets.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Charlotte tipped her head one way and then to the other side. “Juliet has decided this is a nice place to visit but she doesn’t want to live here. I am trying to decide if she is right. I think she is.”

  Charlotte turned to him. “What has you so worried, Paul?”

  He had no idea how she knew but she was right. “A friend’s little girl is in the hospital with pneumonia.”

  “How sad. Do I know them?”

  “The mother’s name is Clara Fisher.”

  Charlotte shook her head slowly. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  “She isn’t from our church and she has no family here. I’m on my way to ask Rebecca if she can sit with little Sophie so that Clara doesn’t have such a heavy burden to bear alone.”

  “That’s very thoughtful of you. How old is her daughter?”

  “I think she is four. Clara’s son is eight.”

  “Such delightful ages. What do you think, Clyde?” She stared at the dog, who barked once. “I agree.” Charlotte smiled at Paul. “Please tell Rebecca that Helen and I will be happy to help, too.”

  “I will, and thank you.” He left her still staring at the building and headed toward Samuel and Rebecca’s house.

  On the way, he stopped to watch Toby and Hannah playing catch in front of Joshua’s home. Hannah was a few years older than Toby and enjoyed taking care of younger children. Toby caught sight of Paul and raced toward him. He skidded to a halt a few feet away. “How is Sophie?”

  Hannah came to stand behind him.

  Paul kneeled to be on the boy’s level. “Sophie is going to have to stay in the hospital for a while. That means your mamm will be staying with her. I hope you don’t mind bunking with me until she goes home.”

  “I guess not.” He didn’t sound excited at the prospect but Paul wasn’t offended.

  “I
know it’s hard not to feel sad but this wasn’t your fault. It was an accident. Sophie doesn’t blame you and your mother doesn’t, either. Remember how I said your daed and mine are watching over us?”

  “I remember.”

  “Then you remember that it pleases them when we are brave and do the right thing.”

  “What’s the right thing for me to do?”

  Paul swallowed the lump in his throat and laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Keep on being the kind and helpful young man your mother expects you to be. Pray for your sister and your mother. Can you do that?”

  “I guess. I wish I could do more.”

  “That will be enough. I’ll make sure you get to talk to your mamm on the phone and I’ll even take you to the hospital to visit her and your sister.”

  “Is the hospital far?”

  “It is but my friend Jessica has a car and she has offered to drive us.”

  “Really?” Toby looked up from contemplating his feet.

  “Really,” Paul assured him. “I need to speak to my cousin Samuel and his wife. Hannah, why don’t you show Toby the new kittens in the barn.”

  She grinned. “Okay.”

  “Toby, I’ll need you to help me later with Isaac’s horses. They need grooming.”

  “Even Gracie?” Toby asked eagerly.

  “Even Gracie. Wait for me at the barn. I won’t be long.”

  The two took off and Paul heard Toby telling Hannah about Patches. He rose to his feet. Somehow the boy had wiggled into a place in Paul’s heart that he didn’t know was vacant. The Lord had given Clara great challenges but He had given her great blessings, too.

  Paul had never given much thought to having children. That was someday way off in the future but if he ever had a son like Toby, he would be blessed, too.

  * * *

  Four hours after arriving at the hospital, Sophie was finally asleep in her bed in the pediatric ICU. There were several small banks of phototherapy lights over her and a blanket-type fiber-optic light pad underneath her. She had IVs going in one hand and an oxygen mask on her face that she kept knocking aside while she slept. Clara finally ended up pulling her chair close enough to hold her hand. The wonderful nurses did everything they could to make sure they were both comfortable.