Ella Finds Love Again (15 page)

“That is
gut
,” he said. “And thanks again for supper.”

“Goodnight,” she said, letting the horse go.

Moonbeam dashed forward, nearly throwing Ivan into a snowbank. She looked back and saw him standing, waving toward her, as she managed to make the turn at the main road without flipping the buggy over.

Seventeen

T
he night air had turned icy, and Ella pulled the winter blanket up as far as it would go. With a single hand she held the reins, the other clutched the blanket. In the dim buggy lights, the horse’s breath blew in great blasts as he climbed the hill toward Chapman Road. The night mirrored her emotions—cold, unsettled, frozen.

Making the turn into her drive, she slapped the reins once when the horse slowed down. She saw lights shining brightly in the living room of the white house.
Joe and Ronda must still be up,
she decided.

Moonbeam walked slowly up the driveway, pulling up as close to the barn as he could get. Ella waited for a moment. Perhaps Ronda would send Joe out to help unhitch. The front door remained closed.

She finally climbed down, the buggy lights still on, the tugs feeling like icebergs under her fingers. Carefully she pulled them off and dropped the shafts gently onto the snowy drive. Opening the barn door and going inside, the light from the buggy reached far enough for her to see. She took the harness off Moonbeam, hung it up on the wall, and led her horse into his stall. His manger contained enough hay, so she exited and pulled the stall door shut with a solid click. He was safe inside for the night. She decided he didn’t need any oats tonight.

Ella took the basement steps sideways, thankful for the light glowing through the living room window. A faint warmth from the stove greeted her as she entered through the basement door. The fire had not gone completely out. She lit a kerosene lamp, removed her coat, and stirred the coals. Fresh wood brought the flame to life. Ella held her hands over the kitchen stove and rubbed them briskly together. She thought back on the night…the words spoken, the stirrings of emotion she’d felt.

They would make it—she and Ivan. Bishop Miller would soon give up his attempts to break them up. Robert was likely gone by now, back to Maryland to be with his mother.

Ella took a deep, cleansing breath as she enjoyed the heat from the stove.

She’d help Ivan through his church troubles—whatever they were. At least no one would ever know that the
Englisha
man—Robert—had moved her heart.

She pulled the curtain back from the bedroom so the warmth from the stove would move through, undressed, and climbed wearily into bed. Sleep came quickly enough, and she dreamed of wide open spaces where flowers swept across fields as far as her eye could see. The beauty took her breath away, and she stood transfixed.

Off in the distance someone came toward her, walking slowly at first. Then she could see him running.
Who is it?
Caught up in the wonder, Ella ran toward him.
Is it Aden?
Her heart pounded until it hurt, and her breath came in gasps.

When his face came close enough to see, she saw it was Ivan. She slowed to a walk. He waved and continued to run. In her exhaustion, she waved back, hoping he didn’t notice her disappointment. Then she heard a voice calling his name.
Is it my voice?
Ivan also heard, but he looked skyward. When she followed his gaze, light had broken from the sky, and a figure was forming—a woman, her arms outstretched.

Ivan answered with upraised arms, with more joy on his face than she’d ever seen. His name was called—distinctly pronounced—and Ella realized it was not her voice.
Lois
was calling to Ivan. Time seemed to stand still around them, the figure hanging in the sky, the light shining, and Ivan’s face lifted toward the heavens until her own name was called. Quietly the sound came at first, growing louder and louder.

With a start Ella awoke, trembling.

“Ella! Ella! Can you hear me? Ronda needs you. She’s in a bad way.”

Joe’s voice came clearly from the kitchen area, apparently as near as he would approach.

“Yah!” she called, still shaking. “I’ll be right there.”

“Sorry to bother you,” Joe shouted. “I brought the lamp with me, and you can bring it with you. Ronda’s in our bedroom. Hurry!”

Ella heard his footsteps retreating. She dressed in haste. What could be Ronda’s trouble at this hour? Everything had seemed fine when she’d arrived home.

With her slippers on, she grabbed the lamp Joe left and raced up the basement steps two at a time. Her dream lingered in the back of her mind, taking more of her breath away than the climb upstairs.

She had no reason to be jealous of Lois. Ivan had loved Lois, and she had wished Ivan were Aden. What difference was there between them? None.

Ella rushed into the living room and headed for the open bedroom door.

“
Ach…
” Ronda said, her face white. “Ella, I need help.”

Joe sat on the other side of the bed, and Ronda motioned with her hand for him to leave.

“What’s wrong?” Ella asked when he had closed the door behind him.

“I think I’ve lost the baby. I’m sure I have,” Ronda whispered, tears in her eyes. “The bleedin’ won’t stop. I don’t know what to do, Ella.”

“I don’t know either,” Ella said. “I’ve never dealt with something like this before. Is it very bad?”

What had she heard about such cases? What did the midwives do when a woman miscarried? “When did it start?” Ella asked. “And how much blood is there?”

“There’s a lot,” Ronda whispered. “The sheets are soaked. I lost the baby before you came back from Ivan’s, but I thought that’s all there was to it. I haven’t told Joe.”

Ella lifted the blanket, took one look, turned quickly away, and called for Joe.

When he opened the door with a jerk, Ella said, “We have to get Ronda to the clinic right now. Ronda, you’re going to have to be brave. Joe, you’ll have to drive us in the wagon.”

Joe looked bewildered. “What’s happened?”

Ella lifted the blanket again. “She lost the baby, Joe. I’m so sorry. And she’s bleeding a lot.”

“It’s after midnight, and the wind has picked up. Perhaps I should ride for the midwife. I’m sure my horse can make that trip, but I’m not so sure about the wagon. My horse is half lame, and Daett won’t have the
gut
one back until tomorrow.”

“Joe, there’s no time to get the midwife. We have to take the chance on getting Ronda to the clinic. We’ll use my horse.”

Joe nodded and disappeared, the swift sound of running work shoes on the hardwood floor echoing in the house.

Ella ran her hand over Ronda’s forehead, now beaded with sweat. “I’m sorry we have to take you out into this weather.”

“I know. I’ll bear up,” Ronda said through her tears.

“Let’s get you ready then. You’ll need all the clothes you can get on to stay warm.”

“I’ll never get the blood out of these sheets,” Ronda said, trying to get up.

“Don’t worry about the blood,” Ella said. “Think about Joe, about hanging on. Can you do that? Joe needs you.”

“I’ll try,” Ronda said. “But our
bobli
is gone.”

Ella couldn’t think of words to say. Quickly she took a white sheet and wrapped Ronda’s lower body as tightly as she could. She found socks in the dresser, pulled them on Ronda’s feet and then added another pair on top of that. Ronda’s thick Sunday coat came out of the closet, and a quick race to the front door produced Ronda’s rough, everyday coat.

“I’ll not be able to move,” Ronda whispered.

“You’re not supposed to,” Ella said. “We’ll carry you.”

Ella laid three blankets on the bed, and paused to think. “I’ll be right back,” she said. She raced downstairs with the kerosene lamp to grab the coats and boots she wanted. Joe was already in the bedroom when she came back up, and she noticed he left heavy snow tracks across the floor.

“I’ll take her feet,” she said as Joe carefully lifted Ronda by the shoulders.

“Hang on, sweetheart!”

They moved through the bedroom door. Joe had tears in his eyes, understanding the seriousness of the moment. As they hurried out the front door, Ella cautioned, “Don’t run, Joe. I’ll slip and fall.”

Carefully they slid Ronda headfirst onto the bed of the open spring wagon, Ella pushed two blankets under her, and laid the rest on top. Joe was already on the seat. Ella climbed up, holding a blanket in front of them as a windbreak. Joe clucked to Moonbeam, and the wagon headed toward the main road.

How Joe survived in the open spring wagon without freezing seemed like a miracle to Ella. The icy wind cut through them like a newly sharpened knife. For her part, she finally lay on top of Ronda, a blanket wrapped over both of them, her open coat tucked down the sides. She needed to keep Ronda warm. She began to pray.
Da Hah
must help them. Joe drove down the snowy roads like a mad man, and Ella’s heart swelled with pride for her horse. He must have known a life depended on him because his pace never slackened.

For a moment, Ella wondered if this was how Ivan had driven that summer night with Lois in the back of the wagon. He had permitted no one to ride with them, she’d heard, in order to lighten the load, but even that hadn’t been enough to save his wife.

Finally Ella saw the lights of the clinic ahead. She thanked God that Ronda still breathed steadily under her.

Joe drove as close to the front door as he could and then leaped over the wagon wheel. He ran through the door of the clinic to get help. Moments later a nurse appeared, followed by two men who quickly transferred Ronda to a gurney and wheeled her away.

When they were gone, Ella allowed the tears to come. She could cry now that her duty had been done and the matter was out of her hands. After a few minutes, she walked over to her horse, his breath still coming in great heaving gasps, foam from sweating bubbling over his chest strap. Grabbing a blanket from the back of the wagon, she rubbed him down slowly.

Soon there was a flurry of activity behind her. A parked ambulance turned on its lights. Joe came over to Ella and said that Ronda was being taken to the hospital. The doctor at the clinic had stabilized her for the trip as much as possible. Joe quickly turned and made his way to the ambulance Ronda had been placed in. He climbed in. Ella went to a white clad nurse who had accompanied Ronda to the ambulance and was about to return through the clinic door.

“How is she?” Ella asked.

“She’ll be okay, ma’am. Her blood pressure was still high enough, so they’ll wait until she gets to the hospital for the necessary blood transfusion.”

“What caused the problem? Was it more than a miscarriage?”

“The doctor thought it was cervical shock,” she added cautiously. Ella knew it was probably against the rules for the nurse to say much, but sometimes with the Amish community, the medical personnel bent the rules.

The nurse added, “You and that man of hers did good work tonight.”

“Thank you,” Ella said, as the nurse, her teeth chattering, disappeared back into the building.

Now what am I to do?
Ella wondered.
Moonbeam is near exhaustion, and home is a long way. Yet there is little choice in the matter. We have to return home.

“Are you up to it, old boy?” she whispered to Moonbeam.

He snorted.

She climbed into the open wagon. She allowed Moonbeam to take his time on the road. She pulled the blankets up to her chin, reaching back later for the one she had rubbed him down with. What did it matter in this cold? Even when she saw blood splatters by the light of the faint starlight, she pulled the blankets tighter around her body.

They made the last hill up Chapman Road at a walk. Ella’s hands were almost numb. When they got to the barn, she managed to unhitch the horse without lights, guided by memory and the light from the stars. She quickly wiped Moonbeam down and put him into his stall. Finding the grain by groping with her hands in the darkness, she gave the horse a huge scoop. She heard his rapid chewing as she left and shut the barn door. He had earned the extra food and then some. Glancing at the wagon on her way to the house, Ella walked on past. Tomorrow she would take care of the cleaning.

The kerosene lamp still burned on the first floor, so Ella entered by the upper door, retrieved the light, and carried it downstairs to her own quarters. Tomorrow would be another day, full and urgent as usual, but now she needed to sleep.

Eighteen

S
aturday Ella baked bread and tended to the cleaning up of Ronda’s blood-soaked sheets from her miscarriage. She did the washing and, every so often, glanced out the window toward the road in the hopes someone would arrive with some news. By evening she was resigned that no news was probably good news and went to bed early.

Sunday morning she awoke before the sunrise. She stirred under the covers, sat up slowly, and reached for a match to light the kerosene lamp. With the wick lit, she wrapped herself in a blanket and moved from the bed to the stove. Ella tried to open the stove, but the lid slipped out of her hand and clattered to the concrete floor. Peering into the stove, she saw a few live coals left in the ash bed. She added small slivers of wood first, then larger ones as the flames steadily grew. Picking up the fallen lid, she waved her hand to drive back the stream of smoke before replacing it.

She returned to the bedroom and chose a dress to wear. She put it on while standing as close to the stove as she could. Today was preaching Sunday, and she likely would hear news of Ronda there, if someone didn’t stop by this morning. In the hopes that Joe might bring Ronda home today, Ella went upstairs and lit the fire in the stove. At least it would take the chill out of the house.

She opened the front door to check on the weather. The slight warming trend from yesterday had held overnight, the frost-covered thermometer reading twenty degrees. Faint streaks of light touched the cloudless horizon. She wanted to step outside to watch the sunrise. Surely that would calm her spirit for the Lord’s day, but instead, she closed the front door and walked to the front window. The view was the same, and here she could enjoy the faint warmth from the stove. She didn’t want to get chilled or catch cold. Ella watched as the light grew slowly, flooding the horizon with pale colors of red and orange. The blaze of the rays grew brighter and brighter until the sun peeked over the horizon. She glanced away.