Katie's Journey to Love

by Jerry S. Eicher

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The next day Katie huddled with the other three girls in front of the ticket booth for the cable car to Schilthorn. Outside the open-sided building, the cliffs rose high into the air, leveling off with sheer abruptness. Low clouds scurried across the sky. The clerk pointed to a computer monitor and said, “This is a view from the camera on top of the Schilthorn. The forecast for today is not good, but it may clear later. We do not know for sure.”

  If her heart wasn’t already dragging, it surely would be at this news. This was not entirely unexpected, but it still hurt to have their slim hopes dashed. There hadn’t been time last night to take the cable car all the way to the top after they’d arrived at their lodging in Interlaken. Plus the drive up to the cable car took another thirty minutes. Kareem, who ran the bed-and-breakfast, had smiled in sympathy over their plight. “Jah, it is hard to get up on a good day this time of the year.”

  “We should have come in the summer,” Margaret had said.

  “Then you’d have tourists all over the place,” Kareem told them. “Then I’d not have place here, and maybe I’d not get to see you. And that would not be good either.”

  Katie was impressed with both Kareem and the care she gave. The house smacked of cleanness and decorum, with rooms on two floors. And breakfast this morning had been the best spread they’d had yet—cheeses, yogurts, and meats of all sorts. Kareem didn’t spare for her guests’ comfort, that was for sure.

  But to miss seeing the Alps would be another blow. Katie was quite ready for things to go right for a change. Last night she’d awakened in the night to break out in sobs, burying her head in the pillow so Margaret wouldn’t hear her.

  This morning her swollen eyes must have given her away because all three girls had exchanged worried glances at the breakfast table.

  “Do you have any suggestions about going up?” Nancy asked the ticket clerk.

  “I’m sorry, we make no recommendations,” the man said. “But it is always a beautiful sight up there, even with a few clouds.”

  “Let’s do it then,” Margaret said. “We haven’t come this far to turn back now.”

  “That’s the spirit!” Sharon agreed. “I say yes.”

  “What about you?” Nancy turned to Katie.

  “Yah, let’s go!”

  “That’s the girl.” Margaret gave her a quick slap on the back.

  “Then we will,” Nancy said, pulling out her purse.

  When everyone had paid, they climbed the steps to the loading platform above them and sat down to wait.

  The cable car soon appeared, moving down from the heights of the cliff. Katie stood to watch it arrive, and the others soon joined her. With a smooth, rocking motion it hung to the cables and docked safely with the platform. A man and a woman stepped out and hurried past them.

  “That doesn’t look too promising,” Margaret said as they boarded after showing the attendant their tickets.

  “Chin up there, girl,” Sharon encouraged her. “We’re going up to the top.”

  Katie held on to the side bar as the cable car climbed again. Watching the car coming down hadn’t looked too scary, but going up was another matter. They really were hanging over nothing, and just attached to something solid by some thin cables.

  “It’ll hold, won’t it?” Margaret asked.

  “Sure it will,” Nancy said. “Modern man has done some wondrous things. Not like the Lord, of course, but great in their own right.”

  “Today I’ll be glad if we get to see the Lord’s works and not man’s,” Sharon said.

  The cable car climbed ever higher, soon docking into another platform with a Gimmelwald sign in large letters attached to the wall. When things stopped moving, the attendant ushered them all off. It hadn’t been too scary after all, but all four girls gave an audible sigh of relief as they stepped onto the platform.

  “Over here is the car to Murren,” the attendant said, motioning with his hand. “Or you can tour Gimmelwald and catch another car later. Perhaps the clouds will clear up by then.”

  “We’re going up now,” Nancy decided without much thought. It was as if an inspiration had come on her. “We can see Gimmelwald on the way down.”

  Minutes later that ride up began, hugging the edge of the cliff with spectacular views of the valley below. Katie joined the other girls in gazing out the east side as the cable car climbed higher and higher.

  “How would you get up here without a cable car?” Margaret asked.

  “I think there’s a path.” Sharon consulted the guidebook. “Yes, there is.”

  “Shiver my timbers!” Margaret muttered. “I believe I do prefer this way.”

  “Me too!” Sharon added.

  When the cable car docked at Murren, they switched again, waiting a few minutes until the next car left. It broke out of the tree line soon after departure, revealing a valley below them dotted with occasional cabins. Majestic sweeps of snow began just below the scurrying clouds.

  “The clouds are lifting, aren’t they?” Nancy made the observation first.

  The attendant smiled at the remark. “They have been coming and going all morning. The weather up here is hard to predict.”

  “We so hope to see at least some good views,” Nancy said. “We come from America.”

  The attendant kept a close eye on his levers, but added, “If you look below in the valley right now, you can see those little animals running around. Those are our version of deer like you have in America.”

  Katie looked below for several long moments before spotting the animals. They appeared to feed peacefully, unaware that a cable car full of humans was passing over them. How she wished for such an existence. But her trust in Da Hah was so shattered right now. How was she ever to get it back again? She wasn’t like Job in the Bible. He had been able to receive both gut things and bad things from Da Hah’s hand. While she had taken the gut things quite cheerfully, she knew she was now complaining furiously about what had happened.

  But how did one make peace with what Ben had done? How could anything gut come out of that? Nee, it couldn’t. But still she would have to give thanks like Job had. But for her to get to that point might take years and years—if it happened even then.

  Something else soon clutched Katie’s heart as the cable car continued to climb. The awesome vastness of what was being revealed all around her touched her heart. She pressed closer to the glass. More huts appeared, clinging to the wood line. The clouds were definitely lifting higher, as if making way for them. Rocky cliffs soon joined in with the green trees, blending together at first before disappearing into snow-covered ruggedness. Thin streams ran everywhere, trickling down narrow beds. A solitary road ran along the ridge and disappeared into the clouds.

  “One more,” the attendant announced as the cable car docked again.

  Katie followed the others through the building to the next ride. The cables stretched out into the distance, spanning another massive valley floor. The end of the lines hung to the faint shadow of a round building perched high on a rock.

  “The famous Schilthorn,” Sharon announced. “Looks like it’s still there.”

  Katie was looking at the surrounding mountain peaks as they were becoming visible through the thinning cloud cover.

  “It’s clearing!” Nancy said at last. “I think it really is.”

  Not only were the clouds moving out of the way. What was being revealed took Katie’s breath away. The higher they climbed, with the deep valley far below them, the more of the mountains could be seen. They stretched from the east to the west, jagged peaks, snow-covered, one after the other, and even more lay beyond that.

  “That’s the Jungfrau,” the same attendant pointed out with a proud smile on his face. “Our beloved mountain.”

  Katie looked at the highest peak. It seemed insignificant almost, standing there beside two others. But that was only because they were all so grand, so breathtaking, so unbelievable. Da Hah made all of this. T
his thought raced through her mind as the cable car docked. They jumped out to run over to the observation platform. Katie hugged herself in the thin air, wrapping her coat tight around her. The clouds had lifted completely now, revealing the full stretch of mountains lying in each direction.

  Katie walked the length of the platform and then back again. Sharon and Margaret were taking turns snapping pictures from all vantage points. Finally, the majesty of it all broke a dam of tears in Katie, and she let them fall where they may. So what if the others saw her. This beauty in the midst of her pain was tearing at her heart. It was as if the wound that Ben had made was pulled open and the scab removed. Into the torn ugliness a soft oil was being poured. Da Hah was reaching down with His hand, right past His glorious mountains. He was molding the pieces of her heart back together with His fingers. Katie wept great sobs that shook her entire body.

  Nancy soon noticed the gush of tears and came over to Katie. “Is there something I can do?” she whispered.

  Katie shook her head. “Not really. It’s just this…this awesomeness. Da Hah has made this. Something so beautiful in the midst of all the wickedness of our world.”

  Nancy squeezed Katie’s hand. “I know. It’s affecting me the same way. And look how the clouds have cleared away. It’s a gift from the Lord.”

  A gift? Katie choked back another sob. She didn’t want another gift from Da Hah. The last one had proven only to break her heart. And yet here it was again. That same wonder she’d felt at home. That miracle when Mamm had finally agreed to marry Jesse and change their reclusive lifestyle. It was the same feeling of joy that she’d felt when Ben first asked if she would ride with him in his buggy.

  Her life might seem destroyed now, but Da Hah wasn’t finished with her. Nor was the world He had made. Da Hah could make whole what was broken. Here was the testimony of that truth calling out to her, telling her that Da Hah was in control. That He made all things beautiful. The rugged slashes of the valleys below declared the fact. So did the rushing streams of water and the icy cold of the hovering snow cover. The world was Da Hah’s, they all declared, and He did all things well.

  Katie sobbed out loud, which brought Margaret and Sharon to her side too. All four of the girls held hands until the worst of Katie’s crying had died down. Then they walked back and forth, staying together, imprinting the glory of the Alps—and Da Hah—into their minds. Nee, more than that, Katie thought. They were all four taking this deep into their hearts.

  Something was happening to her—and to them. Something she hadn’t expected to find in years—maybe never. Healing was coming. It came like cool water in the hot summer sun. Like Mamm’s kiss when she was hurt as a little girl. It even felt like Ben’s smile before he’d first really looked at her. Yah, inside something was changing. It couldn’t be put into words, and yet the others seemed to understand.

  When all four girls had been fully satisfied with the feast Da Hah had set before their eyes, they rode the cable car to the stop below. There Katie wandered out onto the platform and found a plate with German words posted on the wall. She translated for the others with tears running down her cheeks. She was healing, that she knew. She was being made whole, and she would need to get on with life now. And she could because Da Hah might have more miracles for her life. In fact, He might never be done with them. She knew that now, even as she whispered the words on the metal plate: “Everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Beside it was the Scripture reference: Psalm 150:6.

  Below that were the words, “Our Land with its splendor, its mountains, its halls, are the signs of Your might. Your good fatherly ways. So everything in us prays on. Great things You have done for us. K.V. Greyerz.”

  “That must be one of their local poets,” Nancy said when Katie finished reciting the words.

  It might be, Katie thought. But at the moment it was also the voice of Da Hah speaking to her heart. His fingers were indeed putting the broken pieces of her heart back together. Katie leaned over the platform railing to hide her tears and caught sight of a beautiful patch of flowers below her. The clumps were clinging to the steep mountainside. Colors of blue and purple were blooming with cheery brightness. Katie stared openmouthed as Sharon snapped away with her camera.

  How awesome the works of Da Hah! Katie thought. He was showing her again on this day of miracles—so that there would be no question about the future. Even the flowers sang the glory of Da Hah’s mighty works up here where so little could grow. Could she not also bloom in impossible situations? Katie covered her face and sobbed again.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Three days later Margaret was craning over the front seat, looking out of the car window as Nancy navigated the rush-hour traffic toward downtown Paris. Many happy hours were behind them. Days filled with joy and laughter. Katie was continuing to heal from the miracle Da Hah had performed in the Swiss Alps. Doubtless life would never be quite the same, but at least the sharp sting of the pain from Ben’s betrayal was now only a dull ache.

  They’d spent yesterday in the King Louis gardens at Versailles, debating whether to make a bold push into Paris itself. After consulting the guidebook and thinking about the high price of the museums, the vote had been unanimous to bypass spending an entire day in Paris. But there was no reason they couldn’t try for a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower—since the man speaking from the GPS was taking them unexpectedly within sight of downtown.

  “There it is!” Sharon yelled from the front seat as she grabbed her camera. “I caught a glimpse of it!”

  “So did I!” Margaret said.

  Katie peered between the buildings as Sharon tried for another photo. She thought she saw the faint outline of the spidery tower in the distance. It didn’t look like much from here, but then one probably had to get close to see its true beauty. Like most things in life, Katie decided.

  Nancy was being kept busy with the traffic, but she didn’t seem to mind. Likely they had seen so much in the last few days that Nancy figured missing a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower wasn’t such a big deal. Besides, they were headed for Haarlem, the site of Corrie ten Boom’s hiding place. That would be the highlight of the whole trip for her, Nancy had told them last night. Seeing again where the brave Christian family had hidden Jewish people and other refugees during Hitler’s occupation. In Nancy’s eyes, the Eiffel Tower didn’t compare to such an act of faith. And likely there was also the day’s journey on Nancy’s mind, and it wasn’t going to be easy. They needed to travel through several major cities in Belgium and the Netherlands. The GPS estimated the travel time at over six hours from the hotel where they’d spent the night in Versailles.

  Sharon was trying for one last picture of downtown Paris as Katie laid her head back on the car seat.

  “Tired are we?” Margaret asked.

  “Yah, but I shouldn’t be with the gut night’s sleep I had,” Katie said.

  “Yes, but we walked more yesterday than any of us have in years, I’m sure,” Margaret said.

  “Yah.” Katie closed her eyes, thinking about the day. They’d entered the front of the Royal Chateau, which Sharon said had belonged to the kings of France for more than a hundred years—until they chopped King Louis XV’s head off in the Revolution.

  Margaret had groaned at that bit of information, but Nancy assured Margaret that the beheading was not something they would see celebrated or displayed. Rather, the Royal Chateau was all about the glorious past of the French kings.

  “Glorious I can do,” Margaret had said.

  The self-guided tour of the chateau had begun after they paid for the tickets. An excessive amount, Katie had thought, but Nancy had told them it was normal. They’d been accompanied by hordes of other tourists who seemed intent on also seeing this grandeur for themselves. Katie had stayed close to Nancy, as Sharon tried to take pictures and make sense out of what they were seeing using the guidebook. A long hall stretched all the way around the immense building, lined in one place with statues of famous French p
ersonages.

  “Dandies,” Margaret had called them. And everyone had laughed because the description had seemed to fit. French men were apparently quite impressed with their clothing.

  Room after room had followed, each done up in the most decorative fashion with vast paintings on the ceilings. Katie blushed after they left the first set of paintings, but several rooms later, with no one paying a partly disrobed woman any attention, she felt better.

  Eventually Margaret had burst out, “Bosoms! I’ve had enough of them now!”

  Sharon had giggled, and Katie’s blush returned.

  They walked into one long room, called the Hall of Mirrors, that stretched on and on for a long way. Katie had paused for a better look. Tall, arched mirrors lined the back wall and matched arched windows on the front side. Katie had strolled up to one of the mirrors, squeezing through the crowd of people. You couldn’t see yourself that well, she decided. So the French back in those days must not have known how to make their mirrors, or perhaps the glass had faded through the years.

  From there they’d seen the king and the queen’s bedrooms. These were huge affairs with drapes hanging down to the floor on all sides. The king’s bedroom looked out toward the east, the tall windows letting in the rays of the rising sun. King Louis XIII considered himself the Sun King, so it was appropriate, he thought, that the sun and he should meet first thing each morning.

  The queen’s bedroom was quite a distance away, adorned in lesser fashion but still beautiful. All the beds looked short, so Katie figured the French people must have been stunted in growth back in those days. Eventually she had found a sign that explained the matter. It was all an optical illusion caused by the tall drapes on the sides of the beds. Each bed was well over seven feet long.

  Below the first floor had been the bedrooms of the young men who waited in line for the throne. Some of them had died while they waited. It seemed awful to Katie to get so close to such awesome power and have it slip away after all. But then she shouldn’t be thinking about such things. Christian people weren’t supposed to lust after the glory of this world.