“I think I made a wrong turn. Do you have a map?”
Caleb turned back to stare at the flashing caution lights outside. He saw the reflection of the two men behind him as they leaned over the map. The store owner jabbed a finger at the paper. “This is where you made your mistake.”
Caleb heard the echo of his father’s voice. Caleb, you are making a mistake.
The traveler leaned forward to examine the map more closely. “So how do I get on the right road?”
Outside the caution lights continued to blink their warning. Don’t come this way. Which way should he go? Caleb closed his eyes. Which way, God?
The shop owner said, “It’s not easy to get there from here. You’re going to have to go back a ways.”
“I hate making mistakes. This is costing me so much time.”
Mistakes are what I seem to do best, Dad. Caleb opened his eyes. If he knew it was a mistake, why was he leaving?
The shop owner took a pen and marked something on the map, then he pushed it toward his customer. “Jumping out of an airplane without a parachute is a mistake you can’t fix. Most everything else just takes a little more effort to make it right. Go back about ten miles and follow this road. It will take you where you need to be.”
The traveler thanked him and left. The shop owner looked at Caleb. “Mr. Mast, your truck is done. It was just a loose wire. I’m not even going to charge you for the time it took me to fix it.” He held out the keys.
Caleb took them and stared at the Texas emblem on his key chain. What was there in Texas for him really? Nothing as important as the people he’d left behind. He would find a job. He would beg Leah to marry him, and if she didn’t, he would still raise his beautiful daughter, as a good Amish father should.
“Where are you headed, son?” the man asked with a gap-toothed smile.
Caleb grinned, tossed the keys in the air and caught them again. “Home. I’m headed home. I just didn’t know it until now.”
* * *
Wayne quickly took charge. “We’ll start a search for Joy. It’s not a night for a child to be wandering around the countryside. Leah, go to your house. Take David with you. If Joy isn’t there, send David with a message to Eli Imhoff to meet us at Daed’s house. He’ll send word for more men. I’ll saddle David’s pony and tie him behind your buggy.”
“Where is David?” Rhonda asked.
“He came back to the house some time ago,” Wayne replied.
Rhonda looked surprised. “I didn’t see him come in. I’ll check his room.” She hurried away.
Leah looked at the men. “We should get a message to Caleb.”
Ike nodded in agreement. “If Joy isn’t at your house, stop at our neighbor’s farm and use their phone. Caleb left us his cell phone number.” He handed her a card.
Leah took it and tucked it in her pocket. She quickly pulled on her coat and tied her bonnet under her chin. “Don’t worry, Ike. I’m sure she is with my puppies.”
Rhonda burst back into the room, her eyes wide with panic. “David isn’t in his room. He never leaves without telling me where he’s going. Where could he be?”
Leah could think of only one thing that made sense. “He must be with Joy.”
Wayne drew his frightened wife into his arms. “David is a smart and resourceful boy. He will take good care of Joy if they are together.”
Leah said, “Wayne, come with me. Rhonda, stay here in case they come back. Ike, I think you should go home. I know Maggie must be out of her mind with worry. If they have returned, you can bring word to Rhonda. We’ll coordinate the search from here.”
Leah prayed for the safety of the children as she and Wayne scrambled into her buggy. Ten minutes later, she pulled up in front of her own house. The windows were dark.
“Joy, are you in here? David?” She rushed through the front door and nearly tripped over Trixie. The dog ran outside, barking furiously.
Wayne came in behind Leah. “Are they here?”
“Nee.”
Trixie stood on the front porch, barking into the night. Something was wrong. Leah lit the lamp she kept by the front door. The soft glow illuminated the empty kitchen.
“I will check the barn,” Wayne said.
As he went out the door, Trixie came back in and went to her box. She whined as she nosed her litter. Leah quickly checked the rest of the house. She came back to the kitchen just as Wayne returned. She looked at him hopefully. “Anything?”
“Nee. The snow is coming down hard now.”
“Do you think they might have gone to the school?”
Trixie barked sharply. Wayne glanced her way. “What’s wrong with your dog?”
“I don’t know. She’s not usually like this.” Leah crossed the room. She held the lamp over the whelping box. Only two puppies were snuggled together in the corner. “Pickles is missing.”
She quickly checked the room, but Trixie’s behavior told her the puppy wasn’t close by. “I think the children took the puppy with them.”
“At least we know that they came this way. You go to Eli’s place and send the others here.”
She blinked back tears. “It will take so long to gather everyone.”
“Have faith, Leah. Our children are in God’s hands. They always have been.”
As they started out the door, the lights of an English car turned into the yard. Leah thought Ike must have gone to the English farm and called for help. Now they could gather the neighbors quickly and begin the search.
She realized almost immediately that it wasn’t a car. It was a pickup. The same kind of pickup that Caleb drove. The truck stopped. Her knees almost buckled when she saw him get out.
“Thank You, God, for bringing him back.” She flew into his arms.
He held her tight. “Your forgiveness is enough. I will never ask for more. I can’t face a life without you and my daughter in it. I can’t.”
“I love you, Caleb. I know the truth. I’m so sorry that I doubted you, but darling, Joy is missing. She and David have run away.”
* * *
Caleb’s mind went numb with shock. “How long has she been gone? Is anyone looking for her?”
Wayne approached them. “It’s good to see you, brother. We think they’ve been gone about two hours now. We are getting up a search party. Can you drive us to alert our neighbors?”
“Of course. Get in. Where were they last seen?” Caleb held open the door as Leah climbed in. Wayne quickly went around to the passenger side.
“We know that they came here and took one of Leah’s puppies with them. Do you have any idea where Joy would go?”
The instant Wayne shut his door, Caleb stepped on the gas. “The Christmas tree. We should check there. She wanted to show the puppy her tree.”
The truck fishtailed briefly in the snow. Caleb slowed down. He couldn’t find his daughter if he wound up in the ditch. “I never should’ve left. This is my fault.”
If anything happened to Joy or to David, he would never forgive himself.
It took only a few minutes to reach the place close to Joy’s tree. Caleb parked on the side of the lane and raced into the woods, calling her name. Only silence answered him.
Leah and Wayne joined him. Wayne held a flashlight he had taken from Caleb’s glove box. He scanned the ground. “I don’t see any fresh tracks in the snow. I don’t think they have been here.”
“Now what?” Leah looked to both of them.
Caleb raked a hand through his hair. He’d never been more frightened in his life. Wayne laid a hand on his shoulder. “We should let our folks know you have returned. The children may already be there.”
Caleb nodded. If they weren’t, he would gather men to help him search if he had to drive to every farm in the valley.
They returned to the truck and drove to the house. His parents hurried out to meet them. Caleb could see by their faces that the children weren’t there. His mother threw her arms around him and held on tight without saying a word.
He gently pulled her arms down and held her hands. “We’ll find them.”
“I know you will.”
The sound of muffled hoof beats reached Caleb. He turned to see a horse and cart coming into the yard. A burly man in a knitted cap and long coat got down and lifted a bundle of blankets from the backseat. David climbed down from behind him. Caleb’s heart stopped beating.
Leah said, “It’s Carl King.”
Maggie and Wayne rushed to embrace David. Carl nodded to Caleb. “Are you missing a couple of naughty children?”
“We are,” Caleb managed to say past the lump in his throat.
Carl handed his bundle to Caleb. He pulled back the edge of the blanket. Joy’s eyes fluttered open. “I fell asleep.”
Her eyes opened wide and then scrunched with happiness as she grinned at him. “Daddy, is that you?”
He sat down in the snow and held her tight. “It’s me, baby.”
“You’re squishing me, again.”
“Too bad. You will get squished a lot from now on. Get used to it.” Thank You, dear Lord, for delivering her safely into my arms. Thank You so much.
Carl shoved his hands in his coat pockets. “She came to scold my dog for not visiting his puppies. Called him a deadbeat dad. You’re gonna have your hands full with that one, Caleb Mast.”
Joy wiggled until she had her head free. “Where is Pickles?”
Carl went back to the cart and produced the puppy from a basket under the seat. He handed her to Joy, who held her close.
“Danki, Mr. King.”
“Du bischt wilkumm.” He walked back toward his cart.
Caleb handed Joy to his father and went after Carl. He held out his hand. “Thank you.”
Carl looked at Caleb’s hand and then at his face. Quietly, he asked, “Are you a baptized member of the Amish?”
“I will be soon.”
“After that, you cannot shake my hand.”
That meant Carl had been excommunicated by his congregation. He was under the Meidung, shunned. Caleb kept his hand outstretched. “Then I need to thank you now.”
Carl shook Caleb’s hand. He got in his cart and drove away into the swirling snow. Caleb wondered briefly what mistake had driven the man into such a position. He turned back to where his family and Leah were gathered. He had his own mistakes to right.
* * *
It was after midnight before Wayne and Rhonda gathered their sleepy son from Caleb’s room and took him home. Earlier, David told them he had been on his way to the house when he spotted Joy walking alone through the woods. He went after her but couldn’t convince her to return home, so he went along with her to make sure she was safe.
Leah waved to her sister and Wayne as they left, and returned to the living room, where Caleb stood by the fireplace. His parents had gone to bed an hour before.
Caleb held out his arms. “Come here.”
She snuggled up beside him. He draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. It wasn’t proper behavior for a schoolteacher, but Leah didn’t care. There was nowhere in the world she would rather be and no one she would rather be with.
“It has been quite a night,” he said and kissed the top of her head.
“Now that everyone’s story is out in the open, I know the healing will start.”
He lifted her face so that he could look into her eyes. “God did a wondrous thing when He brought me back to you and to my faith. I plan to be baptized as soon as possible so that I may experience all of His grace in this life and in the next.”
“I’m so glad. I know this is what He wants for you.”
“Have I told you how much I love you?”
“You have told me a little, but I don’t think you told me enough. You might have to write it on the blackboard one hundred times.”
He laughed. “What if I give you one hundred kisses instead?”
She pretended to think it over. “That will be acceptable.”
His lips met hers and he proceeded to make her forget everything that had once stood between them. It lasted long enough to leave her breathless and hungry for more. He drew away slightly. “One.”
“I’m ready for two.”
“So am I, but I have one question to ask you first.”
“What is that?”
“Will you marry me?”
“I should hold out until at least kiss five or kiss six.”
“You do know how to torture a man. Okay.”
He cupped her face in his hands and gave her five quick pecks on her cheek. “What is your answer?”
She moved away and folded her arms. “I’ve forgotten the question.”
“Leah, you make my heart sing. You are going to be a wonderful mother for Joy.”
“I can’t wait for the day.” It was the truth. She was about to have a special child, a special gift, courtesy of God and Caleb Mast.
He moved close and brushed his fingers along the edge of her kapp. “I can’t wait for the day that I will see you with your hair down. You are so beautiful.”
She trembled at the thought of what marriage to him would mean. “You’re getting ahead of yourself. I haven’t said yes.”
“You have hit your limit of six kisses. Not another one until you say you will marry me.”
She cupped his face between her hands. “You drive a hard bargain. Very well, I will gladly marry you.”
His next kiss lasted longer than the first. A small voice that broke them apart. “You guys, I had a bad dream.”
Leah tried to step away, but Caleb held on to her. “You have lousy timing, Joy, but come here and tell us all about your bad dream.”
He moved to sit on the sofa and pulled Leah down beside him. Joy crossed the room and sat in between them. “I think it’s gone. I don’t remember what it was about.”
Caleb brushed her hair away from her face. “In that case, I think you need to go back to bed. It’s very late.”
Joy tipped her head to the side and looked at him. “If you marry Leah, will that make her my aenti?”
He shared a sheepish grin with Leah. She said, “Nee, it will make me your new mamm. Will that be all right with you?”
“Ja, that will be goot!”
* * *
On Christmas Eve, Leah took the stage at the end of her students’ final song. “And now we will have a play that isn’t listed on your programs. This is a special presentation written and narrated by Anna Imhoff with Joy Perry Mast, David Mast, Kyle Troyer and Noah Imhoff as the players.”
Anna walked out onstage. “A long time ago, in a land far away, there were shepherds tending their flocks in the hills near the little town of Bethlehem.”
Leah stepped behind the curtain as David, Noah and Kyle walked on. They all carried shepherds crooks and wore long robes. They stopped and began to lay sticks together as if they were going to build a fire.
Kyle said, “Do you hear that? It sounds like singing.”
“I don’t hear anything. It’s just the wind,” David replied.
“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were sore afraid.” Anna stepped away from the center of the stage.
Behind the curtain, Leah gave Joy a little push. “That’s your cue.”
Joy walked out to the middle of the stage. The paper wings pinned to the back of her white dress fluttered gently.
She paused and looked toward Leah. Leah nodded. “Go ahead.”
Joy stood tall. “Fear not—for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.” She smiled at the audience. “My name is Joy.”
Anna whispered, “Which shall be...”
Joy grew stern. “Which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David—”
She stopped and pointed at the shepherds kneeling before her. “This is my cousin. His name is David, too. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a si
gn unto you. You can find him wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. That’s a cow feeder.”
A ripple of suppressed laughter came from the audience. Anna stepped onstage again. “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying...” She held her hand toward the children lined up along the wall.
They shouted as one. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.”
Anna looked out over the audience. “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven...”
“Oh, I have to leave.” Joy waved at everyone and left the stage.
Anna composed herself. “The shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying, which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.”
Anna held one hand high. “In this way, the good news of our salvation began to spread, thanks to the shepherds in the fields.”
Joy rushed out onto the stage. “I have more good news. My daddy is going to stay here with me. He is going to marry my teacher, Leah. She’s not going to be my teacher anymore. That makes me sad, but she is going to be my mamm, and that makes me happy. Oh, and Pickles is gonna be our dog. Frehlicher Grischtdaag, everyone. That means Merry Christmas!”
Joy hurried off the stage to Leah’s side. “How did I do?”
Leah caught Caleb’s amused and loving smile from the audience. She put her arm around Joy and grinned at the child of her heart. “Darling, that was an unforgettable performance.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from HER HOLIDAY HERO by Margaret Daley.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Caleb, Leah and Joy’s journey to discover Christmas in Amish country. You may have noticed that there was more than one love story developing throughout the book. One was Caleb’s love for Leah. The other was Caleb’s growing relationship with his newfound daughter, Joy.
Amish Christmas Joy (Mills & Boon Love Inspired) (Brides of Amish Country - Book 10) Page 19
