Valley of Hope

by Sarah Price

  Holding up his hands, Bishop Peachy nodded. “I tend to agree with you, Jonas. The story does sound most unlikely.” When he paused, he met Jonas’ gaze. “But this would not be the first time that an Amish youth in rumschpringe snuck off to obtain a license to drive those worldly vehicles. And,” he looked back at Samuel, his expression stern and solemn. “Your son seems to have a reputation for liking fast cars, raceways, and worldly people.”

  Samuel looked at his father, pleading with his eyes. “I have never driven a car, Daed,” he said. “You have to believe me!”

  The door opened and Samuel saw Jake quietly enter the room with Sylvia following close behind him. She slipped over to her mother’s side and stood next to her, a shadow of support for Katie. Jake took off his hat and stayed off to the side, listening but not contributing. For Samuel, there was some comfort in having Jake present and, for just the briefest of moments, Samuel felt relieved. At least Jake knows the Englischer laws, he thought, and can help explain them to me.

  “You state that you have never driven a car and that you were not the one driving. That is yet to be known,” the bishop stated flatly.

  “What happens now?” Jonas asked, the one question that was on everyone’s minds but not their lips.

  “That will depend on the boy in the hospital,” the bishop said. “We do not live by the laws of the Englische but we cannot avoid abiding by them. Should the legal authorities decide to arrest Samuel…” He hesitated and looked at Samuel before he continued. His dark eyes looked sad and it was clear that he took no joy from this visit. “If they press charges, there is not much that we can do.”

  Samuel tipped his chin at Jake. “What about that lawyer friend of yours?”

  At the mention of a lawyer, the bishop frowned. “What is this?” He turned to look at Jake. Clearly, he wasn’t happy with Samuel’s question. “A lawyer? What is Samuel talking about?”

  The muscles in Jake’s jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth. “A friend of mine is a lawyer. He helped me in the past.” Jake stared back at the bishop, refusing to act ashamed. “I called him for help and he went to the police station to assist us in getting Samuel released as well as finding out what was happening.”

  “A lawyer was retained?” the bishop asked, his voice indicating both his disbelief and displeasure. He looked at Jake, his eyes hard and sharp. “We don’t hire lawyers, Jake Edwards.”

  Jake nodded and, curbing his own annoyance, lowered his eyes. “I understand that, Bishop. Yet the suspicion is so severe, I felt it was best to have someone from the Englischer world of law help Samuel with these Englischer charges.”

  The bishop slammed his hand on the side of the table, the noise resonating throughout the room. Sylvia jumped at the noise and moved closer to her mother. Jonas seemed startled and glanced at Jake before averting his eyes.

  “No!” the bishop shouted. He looked around the room at each person standing there as he slowly enunciated each word when he said, “We do not rely on the Englische lawyers but on our Lord to help us through difficult times and challenges! He will lead Samuel through this. It is His Will, not yours, Jake Edwards, or anyone else’s that determines the outcome of this situation. It is the Lord’s Will!” He walked slowly in a wide circle, pausing briefly to stare at Jake and again at Samuel. “We will pray for a resolution to this matter and let God handle the outcome.”

  The room was silent.

  The bishop took a deep breath and said, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” He snapped his gaze back onto Samuel. “Jeremiah 29:11. You’d be wise to remember it.” He looked back at Jake. “And you, too, Jake Edwards! You left the Englischer ways and shall not return to them! I want no more talk about lawyers!”

  No one dared to speak.

  Exhaling, the bishop tapped his fingers against the edge of the table. He seemed to be weighing his words. The other ministers stood stoically near the door, never having moved during the bishop’s reprimand. Clearly this was a situation that none of them had ever encountered and the magnitude was so great that they were quite willing to let the bishop handle it.

  “We will pray for a favorable resolution,” he repeated softly. He turned and started to walk toward the door. His shoulders seemed to slump forward as he walked. “That’s all we can do now,” he mumbled before disappearing out the door.

  There was a deep stillness in the room when the bishop left, the ministers trailing after him. It was heavy and oppressive. Everyone seemed to wait until they heard the familiar rattle of the buggy and horse’s hooves on macadam, before they seemed to take a collective sigh. Throughout all of their years living on that farm, they had never experienced such a visit from a church leader. Katie dabbed at her eyes, her will to hold back her tears gone. Instead, she let them fall down her cheeks, quick to take the simple white handkerchief that Sylvia handed to her.

  Jake was the first to break the silence. “Well,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “That didn’t go over so well, now did it?”

  “Jake,” Sylvia said softly. “No time for joking.”

  For a moment, he looked at her. Her reprimand had been soft and spoken with kindness. Jake knew that she was speaking the truth. So, he moved toward the table and sat down. “Sylvia’s right. Time for some discussion.” He motioned to the other chair. “Samuel, you should sit.”

  Katie seemed to lose all of the remaining color from her face. “Do you have news, Jake? I don’t think I can take much more.”

  He gestured with a simple nod of his head for Sylvia to help her mother to the table. “Not good news but not bad news, Mammi Katie.”

  “What have you learned, Jake?” Jonas asked.

  “I spoke with Dave,” he began.

  “The lawyer?” Katie gushed. “You could be shunned! We all could! You heard the bishop!”

  “Ja, I sure did. “ He laid a hand over Katie’s and smiled gently. “Was hard to miss how he felt about the lawyer.”

  “Jake!” Sylvia whispered.

  “Now, now, Sylvia,” he said lightly. “We’ve had enough doom and gloom for the past 24 hours and, dare say, we might have more. Let’s try to take a breath here and think reasonably.” He turned back toward Katie, hoping to reassure her. “I spoke with the lawyer before the bishop made his opinion known to us. He can’t fault me for that.”

  Jonas spoke up. “What did he say?”

  He shifted in his seat. “There was a witness. A witness who says that he saw a man wearing a hat in the driver seat,” Jake said. He leveled his gaze at Samuel. “It was your hat, Samuel.”

  “My hat?” he repeated, not understanding what Jake was saying. What did his hat have to do with any of this. “I lost my hat.”

  “Well, it appears your friends found it and someone was wearing it when the car accident occurred,” Jake said.

  Samuel rubbed his face with his hands. “I came back. I wasn’t in that car.” He looked up. “I must have left my hat in the room with the fellows.” He stared at the faces that were watching him. He couldn’t gauge whether or not they believed him. He wished they would tell him but they remained silent. Jake nodded, as if signaling to him that he believed him. But Samuel wasn’t so certain about the rest. They still seemed stunned by the course of events.

  “There’s more,” Jake said slowly, clearing his throat as if to buy time. “The motel attendant says you were with them. Says he saw four men at the room together and your name was in the registry.”

  Samuel jumped out of his seat, knocking the chair over as he started to pace the floor. “I don’t believe this!”

  “Try to stay calm,” Daniel said, his voice low and composed.

  “Calm?” Samuel shot back as he spun around to face his family. His eyes were wild and his face pale. “Calm, you say? How can I be calm?” Everyone was staring at him, their eyes wide and faces pale. “Of course my name was on the registry. I don’t deny that I was the
re with them, that I had checked in with them and chipped in money for the room. But I wasn’t there when this accident happened!”

  “Where were you, Samuel?” Junior asked.

  “I was on my way back here,” he snapped. Immediately, he was sorry for his anger. He wasn’t angry at his family but at the situation. He lowered his eyes and stilled his temper. When he spoke again, his voice was unruffled. “I came back to get Mary Ruth from the singing and to tell her what I had learned.”

  “And what was that, Samuel?” Jake prodded.

  “I didn’t like what I saw in Philadelphia,” he said softly. “I didn’t want to risk losing her.”

  Katie shook her head. “Oh Samuel,” she whispered, her eyes misting over with tears. “You never should have gone, son!”

  “You say that, Mamm,” Samuel started. “But it opened my eyes. I saw what those young men were doing and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. And that was what I learned!” He looked around the room at each one of them. “Isn’t that what this is about? Discovering the truth before joining the church?” He turned his eyes to his parents. “Isn’t that what parents hope for? That their children will venture forth and return? That’s what happened this weekend.” He paused before he said, enunciating each word and shaking his open hands at his family, “I was returning!”

  A silence fell upon the room. No one knew how to respond. Samuel felt his energy drain from his body. He hadn’t slept the night before and certainly hadn’t slept during the day. He was tired, bone weary tired. Dropping his hands to his sides and slumping his shoulders, he seemed deflated and he shook his head. “I just can’t understand why this would happen to me…not at the moment when I made the decision!”

  Sylvia placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it gently. “God won’t desert you now, Samuel. Mayhaps He’s testing your newfound faith in him.”

  Behind them, they heard footsteps on porch and a door opened. “I saw the bishop was here,” Samuel heard his brother Daniel say. “What happened?”

  When Samuel looked over his shoulder, he saw that Junior stood beside Daniel and David was lingering in the doorway. He felt embarrassed at the attention and ashamed of the worry that he had brought to his father’s farm. Here was his family, joined together to try to help him figure out what to do. They had joined together to support him, even though he had not always been kind or understanding. He hung his head in disgrace, too aware that his behavior from the previous months didn’t match the truth of what had actually happened.

  His brothers listened intently while Jake told them about the events from the previous evening and about the visit from the bishop. With two young men having died, it was clear that the Amish grapevine was in full swing. Despite not having telephones in their homes, it was always surprising how quickly bad news traveled to the different Amish households throughout the community.

  Certainly, many of the women were already baking pies and bread to take over to the families of the two young men who had perished. Even if they didn’t know the families personally, the Amish would step up to show their support in such a traumatic time for one of their neighbors. And the families of Paul would have similar support during his hospitalization and hopeful recovery.

  Samuel was certain that many of the community members would attend the funeral. Unlike the Amish who held funerals in their homes, the Mennonites were more likely to hold them in their church. It was still hard for him to believe that his friends were dead but the sorrow of their tragic passing was shadowed by the accusations that were hanging over his own head. The conflict of emotions was too much for Samuel and he covered his face with his hands, weeping silently while Sylvia and the rest of his family consoled him.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mary Ruth was working in the garden when she heard the commotion. The sun was barely over the crest of the sky and she had finished her morning chores early in order to work in the garden before it became too hot. The spring was becoming increasingly warm and, while the sunshine was more than welcome, the rapid onset of high temperatures was causing an equally rise in tempers. Although, Mary Ruth thought as she sat back on her heels and wiped the sweat from her brow, that tension could also be caused by the recent events affecting the community.

  It had been Simon who had informed the family about the recent events at the Lapp farm. Word had, apparently, travelled fast indeed. But, when two young men were dead and one clinging to life, what else was to be expected?

  He told them over supper on Monday evening. The first reaction from everyone had been complete silence. No one had known how to react. A car accident? Deaths of two young men from the local community? During that silence, there had been quiet prayers said by all and a few tears had fallen from her mamm’s eyes. She always cried when young people died too early. Of course, it had been her daed who had quickly pointed out that the boys were doing things that they shouldn’t have. Mary Ruth had wanted to shake her head and remind him that the facts were not known about what had happened but she had maintained her own silence, too afraid to upset her father further.

  Simon cleared his throat and glanced at his youngest sister. The look had sent a chill down her spine. “There’s more,” he mumbled, quickly averting his eyes.

  Their daed took a deep breath and set his fork down, the metal clanking against the side of the plate. The sharp and unexpected noise had startled Mary Ruth, causing her to jump in her seat and snap her gaze to her father. Her daed had seemed frustrated, unhappy with such sad news at the supper table. “How could there be more, son? Your mamm is already terribly upset.”

  “It’s Samuel,” Simon said, his voice flat and emotionless.

  Mary Ruth had gasped and dropped her own fork at the surprise of her brother’s words. “What about Samuel?” She reached out and grabbed her brother’s hand, a wild and desperate look in his eyes. “Was he hurt? Please, Simon! What happened?”

  “He was with them, it seems,” Simon said.

  Mary Ruth stared at him, shock registering on her face. Her Samuel? In a car accident? Last night? “That’s impossible. You must have heard wrong, Simon. He was just here last night!”

  Silence. Everyone had looked at her, startled by her confession. Now, as Mary Ruth sat in the garden, the sun beating down upon her neck and her hands dry from having been working in the soil, she felt the color rise to her cheeks. If she could have taken back the words, she would have. But the surprise of hearing Samuel’s name associated with those poor young men had made her take leave of her senses. Certainly nothing could have happened to her Samuel, she had thought as she sank back into the chair at the table, too aware of the eyes upon her.

  Simon had cleared his throat, refusing to make eye contact with her. “Well, that’s surprising, Mary Ruth, since he was taken to the police station last night and kept there until the early hours of the morning!”

  “Police station?” she asked, confused by his words. Nothing was making sense. The way that he had started to tell the story, she had assumed Samuel had been in the accident, too. So why would he have been taken to an Englische police station? It didn’t make sense.

  “It happened in Philadelphia, the accident,” Simon had explained. “They think Samuel caused it.”

  At that announcement, her daed had slammed his hand on the side of the table, causing the water glasses to jump and water to splash over the sides. “I have told you, daughter, to steer clear of that boy and now, I will do nothing less than demand it! You stay away from Samuel Lapp!”

  “Daed!” she started to cry out in protest but her mamm had laid a gentle hand on her arm to silence her.

  “Amos, please,” Miriam had said, pleading with her eyes for him to calm down. Then, she turned toward her son in an attempt to redirect the conversation away from the bitter words that were being spoken from father to daughter. In her sensibility, she was able to steer the focus back onto the real matter at hand. “Simon,” Miriam had started softly. “Please tell us what you hea
rd about our neighbor?”

  There had been another long moment of silence as Simon caught his breath and seemed to mull over the proper choice of words in his head. He glanced at his youngest sister, wishing that he could spare her any unnecessary pain. Yet, he had known that the truth needed to be shared and it was better to hear it from family than from friends. “There were witnesses saying that he was driving the car and, when it crashed, he left the scene.”

  Mary Ruth’s hand had quickly covered her mouth, trying to hide the expression on her face. She had to repeat the words in her head, not understanding what her brother was saying. It was impossible. Driving? Car crash? Left the scene? Before she knew it, the tears were rolling down the corners of her eyes. “That’s simply not possible,” she whispered.

  “Nee,” her brother had said gently. “It might well be the truth, Mary Ruth. That’s what everyone is saying. Junior was talking about it at work today, too.”