A Life of Joy (15 page)

They sat in silence for several minutes, and Rebecca managed to stop her tears. She knew she had to let Lindsay go, but it was painful—just like when she let Jessica go to live with Trisha and Frank four years ago.

Breaking the silence, Daniel patted her back. “I’m going to head in. Are you going to stay out here?”

She nodded. “Lindsay went to the phone shanty. I want to wait for her to come back.”

He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you upstairs.” He disappeared into the house.

Rebecca hugged her arms to her chest and rocked back and forth in the swing while she waited for Lindsay. The gentle evening breeze kissed her cheeks. She looked up at the bright stars in the sky, contemplating God’s beautiful creation. The night was quiet, except for the occasional hum of a car passing by on the main road and the bark of a dog in the distance.

The shanty door squeaked, and Lindsay crossed to the porch with the lantern glowing in her hand. She gave Rebecca a surprised look while climbing the steps. “I thought you would’ve gone up to bed.”

Rebecca tried to force a smile but couldn’t form it on her lips. “I wanted to wait for you and see how your phone calls went.”

“They went fine.” Lindsay dropped into the chair next to the swing. “Jessica is thrilled that I’m going. Uncle Frank and Aunt Trisha can’t wait to see me.”

“How’s Trisha doing?”

“She sounded okay on the phone. She said she was feeling a little woozy from the painkillers, but she’s happy to be going back to her own home on Monday.”

“Did you make any plans for when you’ll travel?”

Lindsay placed the lantern on the table next to her. “I said I’d check the bus schedule and see about traveling on Tuesday. That way I’ll be there soon after Trisha comes home. Would that be okay?”

Rebecca patted Lindsay’s arm, silently marveling at how thoughtful her niece was. “That sounds like a
wunderbaar
idea.”

Lindsay bit her lower lip. “I guess I need to start making a list of what I need to take. I’ll have to get a ride to the bus station to pick up a ticket.”

“Daniel can call the driver for you in the morning,” Rebecca said.

“Okay.” Lindsay stood, yawned, and stretched. “I think I need to call it a night. Are you coming in now?”

“Ya.”
Rebecca stood.

As Rebecca followed Lindsay into the house, she hoped that someday soon she would sit out on the porch, welcoming Lindsay back home and listening as she shared stories from her trip.

“I have something to tell you,” Lindsay began, her hands trembling as she fingered the ribbons of her prayer covering. She faced her friends while they stood in Elizabeth Kauffman’s pasture the following evening.

Samuel and Matthew looked curious, while Lizzie Anne’s and Katie’s expressions were filled with worry.

“I’m leaving Tuesday,” Lindsay said. “I’ll be gone for a while.”

“Where are you going?” Katie asked, her eyes wide.

“Virginia,” Lindsay said.

“Why?” Lizzie Anne asked.

“My aunt Trisha needs help. She was in an accident and broke her
beh
. I’m going to help out until she can walk again.” Lindsay lowered herself onto a tree stump. “I feel like God needs me to do this. I prayed about it, and I feel His answer speaking to my heart.”

“It sounds serious.” Katie sat on the grass across from her, and Lizzie Anne sank down beside her. “When did she get hurt?”

“She fell Wednesday morning. She stood on the railing of her deck and slipped while trying to water a hanging plant.
She’s coming home from the hospital on Monday. It was a really bad break and she had to have surgery.” Lindsay glanced up at Samuel and Matthew, who were standing behind the girls. She wished she knew what Matthew was thinking. All she could read was disappointment, or perhaps sadness, in his eyes.

“That’s dangerous,” Lizzie Anne said. “She’s lucky she only broke her beh. My
onkel
fell off a ladder several years ago, and he broke his back. He’s still in bad shape.”

“I remember that,” Samuel said, lowering his lanky body onto the grass beside her. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

Matthew leaned against the tree next to them. His expression was unreadable as he pushed his hat up higher on his head and squinted in the sun.

“We’ll miss you,” Lizzie Anne said. “It won’t be the same without you at services and singings.”

“
Mammi
will miss you at the bakery,” Katie added. “I’ve heard they’ve been very busy.”

“I won’t be gone too long,” Lindsay continued. “I just need to help out Aunt Trisha and Uncle Frank for a while and then I’ll be back.”

“When are you leaving?” Matthew asked.

“Tuesday afternoon.” Lindsay smoothed the skirt of her purple dress.

Matthew glanced down and fingered the bark on the tree.

“You’ll have to write us letters and tell us everything that you’re doing,” Katie said. “Trisha lives on the beach, right? Isn’t her house right on the sand?”

“Ya,”
Lindsay said. “You can hear the waves inside the house.”

“I bet that’s nice for sleeping at night,” Lizzie Anne said. “That will be different than waking up to the sound of a rooster.”

Samuel laughed. “That’s for certain.”

“I bet you miss Virginia sometimes,” Lizzie Anne continued. “You’ll get to see your old
freinden
from school too.”

“I suppose.” Lindsay shrugged and then stood. “I really don’t
keep in touch with anyone anymore. Besides, they’re all graduating this month, and I bet they’re getting ready to leave for college. I don’t think I’d have much in common with them anymore.”

Katie stood and wiped the grass off the back of her dress. “We’ll miss you.” She hugged Lindsay.

Lizzie Anne hopped up and hugged Lindsay too. “You better come back soon. Don’t forget about us while you’re living at the beach and listening to the waves.”

“How could she forget about us?” Samuel grinned as he stood. “We have these
wunderbaar
bugs here.” He held up a worm and jiggled it in front of Lizzie Anne, who shrieked and ran. He chased her toward the house while she continued to giggle.

“They act like
kinner
,” Katie said with the shake of her head. “My brother flirts like he’s still on the playground, and Lizzie Anne seems to enjoy the attention.”

Heading back to the house, Lindsay fell in step between Matthew and Katie. They passed a group of younger Kauffman children playing tag. One of the little boys fell, and when he began to cry, Katie took off running.

Lindsay started after her but stopped when Matthew touched her arm.

His expression was intense as he studied her face. “Don’t be gone too long.”

He turned and headed toward the barn before she could respond.

9

I
guess that’s my ride.” Lindsay pointed toward the large bus parked outside the station. “I have to go.” She looked between Rebecca and Katie, and tears filled her eyes.

Rebecca wrapped her arms around Lindsay’s neck and squeezed her tight. “Call me and write me. I’ll worry about you every day.”

Lindsay wiped her eyes. “Take good care of yourself and the
kinner
. Don’t overdo it.” She then hugged Katie. “Please watch out for
Aenti
Rebecca. Be sure she takes care of herself.”

“I will,” Katie said. “And you’d better write me.”

“I’ll definitely write.” Taking a deep breath, Lindsay hefted her duffel bag over her arm. “Good-bye.”

She hugged each of them one last time and then hurried off to the bus. After checking her luggage, she climbed on and chose a seat near the back. Once she was settled in her seat, she closed her eyes and let her tears flow.

“Do you think she’ll come back,
Aenti
Rebecca?” Katie asked while they sat in the back of Nina Janitz’s van on their way home from the bus station.

Rebecca turned from the window and studied her niece’s pretty face. “You have doubts that she will?”

Katie was silent for a moment, pondering the issue. “I believe in my heart that she will, but my
mamm
says that sometimes young people experience the English way of life and don’t want to come back. There are so many temptations out there, and they can be overpowering. Plus, my
mamm
says that since Lindsay grew up in the English world, she may become like her sister and want to run off and live in a big city, where there is even more temptation.”

Rebecca resisted the urge to glower. It was so typical of Sadie, Katie’s mother, to think the worst of Lindsay and Jessica. After all, Sadie had contributed to the rumors that had painted Jessica as a detriment to the community.

“I understand your mother’s point about temptation, but I don’t think we need to worry about Lindsay falling into something bad,” Rebecca said. “As for Jessica, she didn’t run off, as your mother said. She’s working in New York City and getting experience for college. She’s a smart girl too.”

Katie nodded. “I’m going to miss Lindsay so much. She and Lizzie Anne are my best friends. It won’t feel right for Lizzie Anne and me to be without her.”

Rebecca touched her niece’s arm. “I know. My
kinner
and I are going to miss her very much. But we’ll have a lot to celebrate when she returns.”

“
Ya
, we will,” Katie said with a tentative smile.

Lindsay’s stomach fluttered as the bus weaved through traffic in Virginia Beach. Familiar sights whizzed by — favorite stores, the car dealership where her mother got her last SUV, the main library — and Lindsay felt transported to an alternate universe. Traffic was dense, and there were no horses or buggies in sight. Although she’d grown up in this city, she felt as if she didn’t belong here.

A strange excitement gripped her as the bus steered into the
parking lot at the station. Sitting up straight, she gathered her purse and small tote bag, which held her Bible and a notepad. While she’d spent some time reading the Bible last night, she hadn’t felt inspired to write a letter during her fourteen-hour trip. She’d slept little in the bus seats in between her stops and bus connections.

When the bus came to a stop, Lindsay waited her turn before following the crowd out to the station. She felt eyes watching her as she exited the bus, and her hand flew to the ribbons dangling from her prayer covering. Her cheeks flushed with heat as she passed two girls about her age, who stared at her, wide-eyed. Both were dressed in denim shorts and tank tops, with their long, bleached hair falling in waves past their shoulders.

With her eyes focused on the toes of her black sneakers, Lindsay kept moving, almost walking straight into Frank McCabe.

“Uncle Frank,” she said. “Hi.”

“Lindsay!” Frank opened his big arms and swept her into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you. Thank you so much for coming to help us out.”

“It’s really good to see you too.” Lindsay hiked her tote bag and purse up on her shoulder. “How’s Aunt Trisha?”

“She’s doing all right. The doc gave her some good painkillers, and she’s feeling okay.” He nodded toward the baggage claim area. “Do you have any luggage?”

“Just one duffel bag.”

“Let’s find it and get on the road. I left Trisha home alone.” He started toward the baggage area. “She was snoozing in the recliner, so she should be okay for a little while.”