by Sicily Yoder
Amish Snowflakes: Volume Four: Arms of an Angel
By
Sicily Yoder
***Note from Ms. Yoder: this is a continuing volume series, with most chapters being three to eight chapters. You must read them in order. The first one can be bought at: Amish Snowflakes: Volume One
Copyright by Sicily Yoder, 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form either written or electronically without the express permission of the author or publisher.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are, therefore, used fictitiously. Any similarity or resemblance to actual persons; living or dead, places or events is purely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or publisher. Photo art by Paint Shop, Photo Bucket, chaoss@Big Stock, SNEHITDESIGN@BigStock, and Paha_L@BigStock.
Sicily Yoder’s Books
Amish Blizzards Volume Series
1. Amish Blizzards: Volume One: A Winter Surplus
2. Amish Blizzards: Volume One: A Barn Singing
3. Amish Blizzards; Volume Three: An Amish Cowboy
4. Amish Blizzards: Volume Four: That Other One
5. Amish Blizzards: Volume Five: Kissing Snow Angels
6. Amish Blizzards: Volume Six: Amish Love Birds
7. Amish Blizzards: Volume Seven: Winter Dreams
8. Amish Blizzards: Volume Eight: Abby's Choice
Amish Snowflakes Series
1. Amish Snowflakes: Volume One: Winter Letters
2. Amish Snowflakes: Volume Two: Kisses from Heaven
3. Amish Snowflakes: Volume Three: Saved by a Convoy
Amish Washdays
Amish Washdays Boxed Sets: Volume One
Single in Indiana Series
1. Single in Indiana: Volume One: Valentine's Kiss
Whoopie Pie Bakers Series
1. Whoopie Pie Bakers: Volume One: Silvery Snowflakes on Lancaster
2. Whoopie Pie Bakers: Volume Two: Kneeling to Heaven
3. Whoopie Pie Bakers: Volume Three: Amish Heart
Heaven Driven Series
1. Heaven Driven: Volume One: Clouds Below Heaven
2. Heaven Driven: Volume Two: Hugs in Heaven
3. Heaven Driven: Volume Three: Circles of Angels
Amish Orchards
1. An Autumn Wind in Walnut Creek: Amish Orchards: Book One
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION
To Christ, Who died for me. I am so grateful. To Chip MacGregor and Amanda Luedeke, who turned my post-car wreck depression into the joy of writing. I am so grateful for each of you. To Hertz Rental Car for providing my transportation for research. To my “second parents,” Dorothy and Arvin Rudolph: you all and your conservative Mennonite community mean so much to me. To my late father, who never gave up in believing in me.
To our first responders, who operate with angels daily to protect us. You all are the backbone of our communities. In memory of my step-granddad, Buford, “Boots” Robinson, who was a first responder with the first Anderson County Rescue Squad: I miss you, and I love you, and I keep a Bible by my bed as you had placed by your hospital bed. In memory of Grossidaedi’s colleague, both, with the Anderson County Rescue Squad and YKK Button Factory, Gilmond Curtsinger: you left a legacy for so many of us. You are dearly missed.
To my editor, Ashlee Anne, you are so gifted. I can see how you excelled in Creative Writing. Thanks for the long hours you put in to make my books their best!
CHAPTER ONE
Guilty until proven innocent had been Elijah’s thought when he’d sat in an orange jumpsuit in a tiny jail cell, waiting to be cleared. Now, he was cleared from the accusations of kidnapping his own twin girls. He should be happy as he sat on an upside down wooden barrel outside Fire Station Twenty in Shipshewana.
He wasn’t.
How could he be when his children’s great-grandfather, the man he’d adored and looked up to, had just passed on due to a massive heart attack?
All fire trucks were out, en route to a structure fire, and Elijah had the station to himself. The dust from the station parking lot bellowed up as his former Mennonite driver, Ray, pulled into the lot, bringing a blast of nippy spring weather with him.
Ray still drove the same double-cabbed white pick-up Elijah used to ride in on out-of-town trips or holidays to Pinecraft, Florida. The man never changed. Why did some people stay the same and others change? Elijah had changed over the years.
Too much.
He wanted to be like Ray and stay the same.
The chilly wind blew small fibers of Ray’s brown hair upward as he walked over to Elijah, his brown eyes in condolence. “He was a good man, Elijah,” Ray’s eyes watered as he shook his head. “We’ll never find another one like him.”
“Gott sent him to be a part of my life,” Elijah said. “I’ve told him things I’ve never told Daed or Mamm.” Elijah paused and looked over at the open bay doors. “They have gone out on their first run without him.”
Ray gently patted Elijah’s left shoulder. “We can get through this; he’d want us to, Elijah.” He pulled a barrel up and flipped it upside down and took a seat next to Elijah. “Gott needed him more than we did or He wouldn’t have taken him.”
Elijah gave a hesitant half-smile. He didn’t like what Ray had said, but he knew he was right. “We’ll have to accept it,” Elijah shrugged, “I guess I’ll never prove myself to Rachael’s familye now.”
“Or to Rachael?” Ray seemed to sense Elijah’s guilt from his betrayal to Rachael. It was well-known around town that Rachael’s grossdaedi was the only one in her family that liked Elijah. Now that he was gone, Elijah had no hope for reconciliation with her.
“Man, you’ve been chasing this dream for years, even when you were riding with the biker gang. You’ve got to let it go,” Ray halted his words when he saw Elijah’s hands fly up mid-air like someone talking to God during worship.
But Elijah wasn’t talking to God, and Ray seemed to realize that, knowing his history. Ray reinforced reality. “You are going to run from the past all of your life, Elijah?”
“I wonder sometimes,” Elijah said, blinking and sliding his eyes up towards the overcast spring sky. “I wonder if Gott wants me to keep running, chasing after the girl that He’d once given me before, you know—”
“You messed up?” Ray seemed to get where Elijah was coming from, “you struck out?”
The wind blew relentlessly as fast-moving clouds etched across the sky above them. A hint of winter filled the normally splendid spring air and swept across the dandelions that filled the empty field next to the station.
Death was cold, and so was a winter that refused to let go. Elijah sighed and angled his sad eyes to Ray. “I struck out twice,” he drew comfort from Ray’s warm eyes, “do you think I will strike out a third time?”
Ray was honest. “Pick another girl. A fresh start: a new beginning and then you won’t be so worried about messing up.”
Elijah forced a smile. Rachael wouldn’t forgive him for messing up twice. He couldn’t blame her. “I love her so much, Ray, but I don’t want her to wait on a man who has all of these problems. I don’t want people to gossip about her being the next spinster,” Elijah shook his head and drew his fingers up into fists, “she deserves more than that, more than me.” His tone pumped up a couple notches. “I just don’t know why I crave the party life, Ray; I was raised right. I’m not gut enough for such a lovely girl.”
“She sounds like a very special friend, a sweet girl, Elijah,” Ray said kindly. “Let her go so she can be everything that God wants her to be.” He
patted Elijah’s left shoulder. “God doesn’t want any of us to be alone. “Don’t I recall a term you and your people use a lot: Uffgevua?”
Elijah huffed. It was a common term, a hard term to follow, to give up one’s own ego and hand everything over to God. “I’m Englisch now, I have no patience.”
Ray didn’t buy it. “Oh, you don’t want to change and wait on God’s will for your life? Elijah, the way you’ve been drinking and getting into trouble, you’ll end your own life before God calls you home.”
“If He calls me,” Elijah said brutally. “I’m a bad man.”
Ray seemed to be pausing to allow for a good reply, and Elijah felt bad about putting him on the spot to preach a sermon about doing right. Elijah wanted so much for everything to be okay; if he got his kinner and special friend back and avoided being put in the ban.
Elijah broke the silence in a compassionate tone, “You worried about my soul, Brother Ray?”
Ray was hesitant as he got up from the barrel and wiped the dust off his bottom. “I’m not a good one to judge a former Amishman. Look at me, I’m very liberal, but I just know—” Ray couldn’t continue for choking up. He seemed bothered, preoccupied in thought.
“Know what?” Elijah angled his gaze and wondered what thoughts could have jostled Ray to make him cry. Tears flew down Ray’s face as he looked at the open bay doors.
Black clouds enveloped the horizon, creating a sleepy effect on Shipshewana, and both men slowly closed their watery eyes and reflected on a man who had made an impact on the whole community. Without him, Shipshewana would never be the same.
Elijah read between the lines. “You know I was blessed to be part of Ben Zook’s life, to have known him; it was a pleasure to know such a strong man.” Elijah sighed and eyed the thick, black clouds that hung over his head. “You’re right, Ray, I have to let go if I want to heal and move on with my life, but how? I’m so messed up, so far from Gott?”
Ray turned and reached a hand up to wipe his tears away. “It’s not about that, Elijah. Ben Zook had a prayer circle praying for you, prayer warriors, and –well, I wasn’t the best prayer candidate–but I was one of them. Ben believed that anyone could get closer to God and erase the past.”
Elijah’s mouth flew open. Ray’s words warmed his heart and made him feel worthy. The glow of grace and goodness overfilled his soul. All of his sins were a faint past. He was redeemable; he was special to someone other than Rachael.
For years, Elijah had taken his identity from pleasing the Zook family, and when he’d gotten shunned for having the laptop in his closet, he’d left the Amish because of guilt and unworthiness.
Ray sat back down on the barrel and extended his arm around Elijah’s squared shoulders. “You know I am a fire-fighter, too, although I have never been to the training for First Responders.”
Elijah smiled and nodded. “Jah, you’ve been one as long as my bruder Robert has been one,” Elijah tapped the dust off his boots, “Ten years?”
“Yes, ten years of racing to save people, their homes, and their loved ones,” Ray gave a gentle tap across Elijah’s right shoulder before getting up off the barrel, “you’d think someone as brave as me would jump in at the chance to be a prayer warrior, wouldn’t you?”
“Jah.” Elijah looked up at Ray, believing in him.
“Well, I didn’t because I didn’t feel worthy enough to serve as one.” Ray looked up at the fast-moving, deep charcoal clouds, the wind smacking his face. “Ben Zook changed me into a praying man. He made me feel worthy, and loved.” Ray’s voice trembled, “I’ve never had someone to love me as much as that man did, and to be honest, I’ve been driving up and down the roads, visiting the homes of those that prayed for you, the prayer warriors.”
Elijah’s brow wrinkled. Had he heard Ray correctly? “The other prayer warriors are on a structure fire; did you know that?”
Ray softened his tone; the chilly air fanning his brown bangs over his smooth face. “They were people like you and me, regular sinners.”
“What?” Elijah’s mouth flew open as he jumped up from the wooden barrel. “He formed a prayer chain with the Englisch? How could he?”
Ray smiled. “The Englisch bikers prayed for you, and they are still praying. Ben figured if he could get retired bikers to pray for you, God would bring you back home to the Amish community that you once called home.”
“WOW!” Elijah shook his head in awe. He looked up at the black sky and saw the dense, black clouds slide over, giving way to lighter, grey clouds. A ray of yellow-orange sunshine shone down on the two men and Fire Station Twenty.
Ben may have passed on to a better, perfect world, but he’d left one last smile at the station where he’d prayed before every run and kept a German Bible in the cab of his fire truck.
“I drove the fire truck that Ben was on a lot. I saw his German Bible and his faith, and I believe that the battle wasn’t done until the Lord called you home,” Ray paused and gently patted Elijah’s left shoulder, “Ben’s fight is over. Your fight is not yet over.”
Elijah smiled, the sun pressing deeper into the air, creating a sudden glare. Elijah shielded his face as he spoke, “I’m going back home and never leaving again until the fight is won.”
“Be courageous like Ben, my man,” Ray said as he nodded and turned. “You’re in good care of angels!’
“Das gut!” Elijah nodded and watched Ray walk back to his pick-up, dust bellowing up as he drove out of the lot. A ray of sunshine beat down on his face, relaxing him.
Until Rachael would arrive in her buggy. Would he have the courage to give her up?
******
Rachael Renee Zook flicked the reins and eyed the outskirts of town. “Giddyap!” An impatient motorist had gotten behind her and initiated a horn-blowing episode that was giving Rachael’s temples a constant pounding. How rude! She thought.
The sound of a motor in full throttle came around the left side of the buggy. They were too impatient to wait five-hundred feet for her to get into the roadside lane!
They know better! Rachael snickered, “They know how it is to be in a horse and buggy. I’m going to tell their parents on Sunday after church!
Bill Yoder’s middle two boys were in Rumspringa and had gotten a cheap, but drivable yellow Dodge car. They often got behind her buggy and blasted their horn.
Rachael’s heart picked up beats, and her hands bore beads of sweat as she got closer to the fire station. Had Elijah changed? Did Grossdaedi still like him as much as he had before he’d broken her heart?
Probably.
Grossdaedi dreamed for her to marry Elijah, and that was why he’d given Jeremiah such a hard time. They both broke my heart. Elijah had deserted her after he got shunned, and Jeremiah cheated on her and hid a shady past.
Rachael clicked at the horses. She’d turned the fire station pager off because it was Grossdaedi’s. He’d taken the morning off from work for his birthday. Back home, Mamm busied herself with fixing his favorite meal: chicken and dumplings, dandelion salad with boiled eggs, and Shoofly pie.
Pulling the buggy on the right side of the road, Rachael’s hands tingled, and a smile kissed her lips. A moment of nostalgia hit her, and she could feel Elijah’s warm hand in hers. His gentle voice and warm hugs had made her feel special, cared for, and safe.
Tears flowed down Rachael’s eyes as the tingling sensation left her hands. Eying her hands as she gripped the reins, she was brought back to reality. The hard, cold feeling of the reins reflected her heart now. That warm sparkle of electricity had been sucked out of her body the day that Elijah had bailed out for a life in the fast lane.
Her nostrils flared. He deserved to hear her out, and until this point, she’d only been able to tell him how she felt via the written letter.
“Giddyap!” Another car was behind the buggy, but she was on a busy city street with no shoulder to ride on. They will have to wait and have patience.
Speaking of patience, Rachael had waited yea
rs to have a good sit-down chat with Elijah. Now, she had the opportunity as she motioned the trotting horses to turn into the fire station parking lot. Elijah was sitting on an upside down wooden barrel. Another barrel sat next to him. Someone else had been there. Probably a girl, a very lucky girl.
She was once that lucky girl held by his embrace, enjoying his wunderbar laughter and sweet company. And his bear hugs, they had been simply amazing. She could feel his heart beat against her chest when he’d hugged her in the field of fragrant flowers.
The sweet smell of lavender rolled through her nose as did the radiant glow that she’d always shown when he‘d held her tight. Slowly, she savored the genuine feeling until the scent of lavender drifted away, and a chilly wave of air glossed over her face, turning it paler and cold.
Elijah gave a warm but preoccupied smile and a wave as she pulled into the lot. She could feel her heartbeat racing in her ears and beads of sweat forming on her hands.
He motioned for her to take a seat on the barrel next to him, and she obliged, thinking he was in a pleasant, but preoccupied mood. What was on his mind? Rachael hoped she was on his mind. He had a lot of apologizing to do.
If he’d do it.
Rachael sat down on the front edge of the brown barrel and looked straight ahead. “I was called here to bring Grossdaedi’s radio.” She looked back at the station. “Are they out on a run?”
Elijah seemed reluctant to answer her, so she nudged her right shoulder under his left ribs, but he did not reply. His mind seemed busy.
She asked, “Well, where are they? Surely, they wouldn’t take Grossdaedi out on a run when he’d asked off for his birthday!”
“Once a first responder, always one, 24/7,” Elijah confidentially said, looking back at the open bay doors, “He’s not with them.”
“Das gut! Mamm and Grossmammi are fixing his birthday dinner!”
Elijah blinked his eyes closed and exhaled deep breaths. “That’s why I called you here.”
