A Plain Man (37 page)

“So far, so good.” Elizabeth wiggled her brows.

“Hello,
schwester
.” Rebekah approached the bed cautiously. “How are you feeling?”

“By all reports, much better than I had been.” Sarah lifted one hand from beneath the blanket to reach for her sister. “I'm very glad to see
you
.”

Bursting into tears, Rebekah threw herself prostrate across the bed. “I'm so sorry I made trouble for you and Adam. I'm ashamed of how mean I've acted. If you get well, I promise to be kind and sweet until the day I die.” Sobs wracked Rebekah's thin frame while the covers under her face grew damp.

Sarah stroked her sister's head, knocking her
kapp
askew. “You're only sixteen. That's a long time to stay sweet. I would settle for most of the time. After all, I haven't set a very good example for you.” She hugged with every bit of strength she could muster.

After another minute, Rebekah lifted her wet, streaky face. “Don't make excuses for me. I've been a horrible person, but I aim to change.” She planted a sticky kiss on Sarah's cheek.

“All right, sit down,
dochder,
” said
Mamm
. “We have only a limited time before the next group comes up. Let's not spend it crying.”

“What have you brought me?” Sarah pointed at her
mamm
's lap. “I'm a tad hungry.”

“The cookies are for the nurses. I've been bribing them so they take extra good care of you.” Elizabeth unzipped the cooler and set two containers on the rolling table. “But I brought blueberry yogurt and sliced
peaches for you, two of your favorites.” She clucked her tongue. “The fruit served on hospital trays looks like colored mush.”

“Danki, Mamm.
You're the best.”

Elizabeth rose to her feet and planted a kiss in the same spot that Rebekah had. “Get well. We miss you so much at home. Our prayers have been answered.” Then
Mamm
grabbed Rebekah's arm and dragged her out the door.

Sarah had ten minutes to sample sliced peaches from the Beachy orchard before Caleb and Eli crept into her room. Both displayed matching expressions of shock.

Eli stared at her for a long minute. “Your
mamm
said you were back to normal, but we had to see for ourselves.”

“Sit, both of you,” she said. For the next ten minutes Sarah answered questions that would be repeated many times before the ordeal concluded. Her father kept twirling his hat between his fingers while her brother patted her shoulder as though she were Shep, his pet dog.

Before their allotment of visitation ended, her father stood and cleared his throat. “Sarah, you probably owe your life to your
bruder
and Adam. I thought you just had a case of the flu. Lots of sleep, your mother's chicken soup, plenty of honey tea, and you would soon be back to normal. But I was wrong.”
Daed
met her gaze with eyes ringed with dark shadows. “You could have suffered permanent paralysis or gone into a coma. You might even have died. The doctor said you were the worst cast of West Nile he'd seen in years. I'm sorry for not listening to Caleb sooner.” Eli turned to his son. “I'm sorry for not giving your opinion the respect it deserved.”

Caleb put his hand on his shoulder. “It's all right. No one could have foreseen this.”

“God took pity on us all.” Her father cupped her chin, his fingers cool to the touch.

“I'm okay, so please don't punish yourselves. Instead let's eat some of
Mamm'
s cookies. My nurses have already had plenty if I've been here a week.”

Caleb peeled back the foil. “You go ahead and eat every last one. You're skinnier than a walking stick. We need to leave so Adam can
have the remainder of visiting hours. That man has worn out the lobby carpeting.”

Sarah scrunched her face with the comparison to a green, beady-eyed bug. After both men kissed her forehead and left, she began to eat. However, the plate of cookies was far from empty when Adam sprang into her room.

“I thought your family would never stop jaw-boning!” Adam said on the way to her bedside.

“Sounds like you missed me. I've never received so much attention before in my life.” Sarah brushed crumbs from her faded gown.

“I missed you more than I thought possible.” Adam glanced over his shoulder before kissing her firmly on the lips.

“Wow, you taste like peppermints.”

“You taste like heaven.”

Blushing, she chose not to ask how he would know. “My nurse said my doctor will soon release me. I can't believe they let me stay this long without insurance.”

Adam settled on the edge of her bed. “Don't worry about the bills. Neighbors and district members have been stopping by your house to donate money. Your
daed
probably collected enough to build the Sarah Beachy Troyer hospital wing.”

“That sounds prideful, so we'll let the new wing remain unnamed.” She gripped his hand tightly. “Hope you didn't think I was faking illness to postpone our wedding. I would marry you right now, if I had already been baptized.”

“That never crossed my mind.” Adam caressed her cheek with one finger. “Since we have a little house and you've got an in with the preacher, we'll be ready whenever you're strong enough.”

“You're a patient man, Adam Troyer.” Sarah's breath hitched in her chest.

“It's been a long time coming.”

17

O that day when freed from sinning,

I shall see Thy lovely face

A
decidedly cooler breeze hit Caleb's face as he left the Troyer outbuilding. According to the calendar, it was autumn, and he was glad to see the end of a long, humid summer. He glanced around the yard where people clustered after preaching. He needed a place to hide until lunch was set out. Then he would grab a sandwich and something to drink and go home. Caleb wasn't fond of socializing these days. The less time he spent with district members the better off they all were.

“Do you plan to block the doorway all afternoon, Cal Beachy?”

Feeling a sharp pain between his shoulder blades, he pivoted to greet his former fiancée face-to-face. “Excuse me, Josie.” Caleb stepped to the side to open the passageway.

Surprisingly, she followed him, looking as tender and beautiful as ever. “How is your
schwester
?” Josie asked.

“
Gut,
I'll tell her you asked. Sarah gets stronger every day. She intends to come to the next service.
Daed
holds private classes so she can join the church with the rest of us in November.” Caleb clamped his teeth together.
A one or two word response would have been sufficient.

“Maybe I'll drop by later this afternoon. It depends on how things go.”

“I'll tell her.” Caleb touched his hat brim and stepped to the left.

“What did you think of the sermons this morning?” Josie rejoined his side.

Caleb thought for a moment. “The Book of Peter provides good
reasons why we should behave as Jesus instructed. It's not just rules for the sake of rules.”

“Ah, you were paying attention to your father.”

His head snapped around. “Of course I was paying attention. My desire to be Christian hasn't changed.”
Just because we're no longer together.
Caleb met her luminous green eyes, feeling a pain sharper than her poke to his back.

Josie smiled. “I saw you came to the membership class too. Front row—that must have lifted a few eyebrows.”

“It was the only seat left when I arrived.”

“So you plan to take the kneeling vow and get baptized,
jah?”
She was studying him carefully.

“I'm willing to go through all of it. I'm trying to make this work.”

“Trying?” Josie repeated his word with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. I'm trying to change. Where is this conversation headed?”

She ignored his question. “Either you're Amish or you're not. The same is true of being a Christian. We don't try, we just are. Sometimes we fall short, but it doesn't mean we look for a new religion.”

“I'm willing to see if a cupful of water makes me feel any different. I want this baptism to work.” The muscles in his gut tightened, giving him indigestion without eating a bite.

“What do
you
think the water is supposed to do?”

He stared at his boots for half a minute, composing his answer. “The water is supposed to wash sins away. Then I can begin anew.” The admission somehow embarrassed him, as though he was revealing every doubt and skepticism he had inside.

“Do you think a cupful will be adequate? It might be like trying to rid your dog of skunk spray with a single cup of tomato juice. Believe me, when our spaniel tangled with a skunk last summer, we went through three or four big cans.” Josie smiled as though her analogy would somehow amuse him. Or that everything between them was back to normal.

“Do
you
think it will be enough, knowing my history?” Caleb didn't mask his irritation.

“Nope, not for you, not by a long shot.” She meant it to be funny,
but at the look of chagrin on Caleb's face her grin faded, replaced by the look of pity.

“Are you trying to hurt me because we broke up? Somehow make me suffer for wasting a valuable summer of your life? I assure you, I'm sorrier about us than anything else in life.”

His heartfelt admission had little effect on her. “Nope, I'm just trying to figure you out. I might have a solution.”

He stared, confused. “I've done all I can.”

“No, you haven't. On the inside you're still an
Englischer
.” Josie thumped her chest with a fist. “You might have given up your driver's license and stopped using fancy power tools, but you haven't surrendered to God.”

For several moments, they just stared at each other. Caleb hoped her tirade was done so he could sprint to his buggy.

But his green-eyed tormentor had more to say. “Since you still think like an
Englischer
, why not get baptized like one? Wash yourself clean of your past their way. Angela Wilson invited me to her baptism a couple years ago. It was a very nice service. Afterward the congregation threw a potluck picnic for everyone who got dunked in the lake by the preacher.”

“Dunked in a lake?” Caleb rolled his eyes skyward where two red-tailed hawks circled on warm air currents. “That might have worked for the Wilsons, but it's not our way. I'm serious about becoming fully Amish.”

“You could do this
first
and then take the kneeling vow with us during fall communion. You can start with a fresh slate.” Josie's face glowed with enthusiasm.

Her earnestness was hard to bear. She still cared about him, even though he'd treated her poorly. “I appreciate what you're trying to do, but your suggestion amounts to getting baptized twice. Once should be sufficient.”

Josie nodded. “Of course it is. But Mrs. Wilson said lots of
Englisch
Christians get baptized twice, when they start to take their faith seriously.”

“Again, you're talking about
Englischers.
We're Amish.”

Her eyes turned very shiny. “I know what we are, but you have special circumstances.”

Caleb realized she was on the verge of tears. “Do you think my father or the other ministerial brethren would consider me a special case?”

The sag of her shoulders betrayed her answer. “Maybe not, but this is what you need. Maybe the elders wouldn't have to know.”

Tentatively he reached for her. “Your idea sounds
gut
, and I'm grateful for it. But I must tell my
daed.
I don't want to keep any more secrets.”

Josie grasped his hand and moved only inches apart. “Would you be willing to try this for my sake? Because I know that once you forget the past, welcoming God into your heart will be as easy as eating apple pie on the porch.”

Caleb drew her head to his chest and lowered his chin to her
kapp.
He could neither speak nor meet her eye. Tears were streaming down his face, unbidden and unmanly, but they felt human. Maybe he'd just taken another step toward becoming a Christian.

“I love you, Cal Beachy,” she said, her words muffled against his chest.

“And I love you, Josie Yoder.”

“Are you willing to get dunked in a lake?”

“I am, as soon as it can be arranged.” Caleb answered without the slightest hesitation.

“You will need an
Englisch
preacher. Should I talk to Angela Wilson tomorrow?” Josie peered up at him.

“Not quite yet. Let me talk to my old pal, Pete Taylor. I owe him a phone call anyway. If my memory serves, this might be something he can help with.”

“Then I'll leave the next step in your hands.”

“I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions before all is said and done.” Caleb patted her back and then released her before he squeezed the air from her lungs.

“If you think of a question take the path around the barn, through the woods, and along the river past the old mill. Then cut in between hayfields and keep walking until you see a white house with porches
on three sides. That's where I'll be living maybe until Christmas. After that, I've got big plans for the rest of my life.” Josie winked and scampered off to find her family.

Caleb remained where he stood, until he could stop the flood of emotion too long held in check.