A Quilt for Jenna (40 page)

In about twenty minutes Reuben's clothes had dried enough for him to slip them back on. The battery was warm to the touch.

“When we get out there, we'll have to hook up the batteries and then wait,” said Bobby. “We've got to let the plugs warm for at least ten minutes. Then we'll see if it starts up.”

Reuben built up the fire and then kissed Jerusha once more. “I'll be back soon, my darling,” he whispered.

The two friends went back out into the storm, carrying the battery and the cables. Slowly they made their way back to the tractor. When they got there, Bobby opened up the hood, placed the battery on top of the engine, and then pulled out the screwdriver and scraped off the battery terminals to make sure there was a good connection.

“Climb up in there and throw down the jumper cables,” he yelled to Reuben.

Reuben tossed down the cables and climbed down to help Bobby. They stretched the cables from the extra battery to the one in the tractor and then checked the connections to the engine.

“If there's enough charge, the dash light will go on in about ten minutes,” Bobby shouted over the wind. “Until then, we'll just have to wait. Get inside.”

Reuben and Bobby climbed up into the cab. They sat on the bench seat and watched the dashboard. The indicator on the dash remained dark.

“While we're waiting, can I ask you a question?” asked Bobby.

“Sure,” said Reuben.

“This God of yours,” said Bobby slowly, “does He ever...well, I mean...do you ever hear Him talk to you?”

“I think I heard Him talk to me while I was hanging onto the car. He told me something I've never really understood until today.”

“That's interesting,” Bobby said. “Do you want to know the real reason I was there to help you?”

“Real reason?” asked Reuben.

“I was sitting in the cabin with Jerusha, waiting for you to get back, and all of a sudden, I heard a voice...or maybe it was a feeling, I don't know...but it was very clearly telling me to get up and go help you. It sounds crazy, but it was so real, I just got up and went. And when I got there, I found you goofing around with the car.”

“Goofing around?” Reuben said with a laugh. And then in a more serious tone he said, “I believe you, Bobby. I do.”

As Reuben finished speaking, a small yellow light on the dashboard blinked on. Bobby stared at it in amazement.

“What?” asked Reuben.

“The glow plugs! They warmed up!”

“Isn't that what you expected?”

“Actually, I thought that we had about a snowball's chance in...well you know.”

“What now?” Reuben asked.

“I'm going to try to turn it over.” Bobby pressed the starter. The diesel jumped and chugged a couple of times and then stopped. He tried it once more. Again it turned over but didn't start.

“Sounds like that battery is running down,” Reuben said.

“We've got about one more try,” Bobby said. Then a thought occurred to him.

“Hey, look behind the seat and see if there's a spray can back there.”

Reuben groped behind the seat and found a can. “Ether?”

“Dutch, I love you!” Bobby shouted as he took the can from Reuben.

“I'm going down and spray this into the manifold port. When I yell, you crank it over.”

Bobby climbed down and brushed the snow off the engine. He pointed the spray nozzle into a small hole in the manifold and shot a stream of ether into the engine.

“Go!” he shouted.

Reuben pressed the starter. The engine gave a bang, kicked like a mule, and started. The jerk knocked Bobby down, and he jumped back up as the diesel came to life.

“Ka-chug, ka-chug, ka-chug!” he shouted as he danced around in the snow to the chug of the engine. “You old hunk-a-junk,” he shouted. “I love you!”

Bobby climbed up in the cab and grabbed Reuben in a hug. “Let's go home,” he said.

Jerusha slowly opened her eyes. She was in a white room. It was warm and quiet. She was in a bed with warm blankets pulled over her.

Is this heaven?

She slowly turned her head and focused her eyes. A face swam into her field of vision. A familiar face...with a hidden smile behind violet eyes.

“Reuben?” Jerusha held out her arms.

Reuben got out of his chair, knelt by the bed, and took Jerusha in his arms. They clung together tightly.

“Jerusha, can you ever forgive me?” he asked.

“I already have, my love,” Jerusha said quietly. “But can you forgive me?”

“There's nothing to forgive,” Reuben said. “I just want to be with you and start again. I need you to help me forgive myself, and I need to be there for you. We've suffered a tragedy, but if we stay together, I know we can find healing.”

“With the Lord's help?” asked Jerusha.

“Yes, with the Lord's help.”

Just then there was a knock on the door. Reuben sat up, still holding Jerusha's hand. “Come in.”

Dr. Schaeffer came into the room with Bobby and a nurse.

“Bobby!” Jerusha said. “I know you had something to do with finding me. Thank you.”

“If it wasn't for Bobby, you wouldn't be alive today,” Reuben said.

Bobby took Jerusha's hand. “I'm grateful to God I was able to help,” he said.

Jerusha and Reuben looked at each other and smiled.

Dr. Schaeffer came to the bedside, peered over his glasses, and said, “Well, one of our patients is doing better, I see.”

“One of our patients?” asked Jerusha.

“Well, there's this one too. She came in with you.”

Dr. Schaeffer pointed to a smaller bed pulled up right next to Jerusha's. A little girl lay in the bed. Her eyes were open and she lay looking at Jerusha solemly.

“You found me,” she said to Jerusha. “I was lost, and you found me.”

Jerusha stared at the little girl. For a moment she thought it was Jenna. But it couldn't be Jenna. Jenna was gone. And then she remembered everything—the storm, the wrecked car, the cabin. She remembered God's healing touch and holding this little girl through the long nights. Without thinking she held out her arms to the little girl who started to come to her.

Dr. Schaeffer moved forward. “I don't think—”

Bobby tapped the doctor on the shoulder and said, “I think I just heard a nurse calling you, doctor. They need you in the ICU.”

The doctor looked at Bobby and then at Reuben and then to Jerusha and the little girl.

“Yes, I believe you're right. I'll be on my way.” He turned and left.

Reuben walked around to the little girl and picked her up. He placed her in the bed beside Jerusha.

Jerusha took the little one into her arms.

“What's your name, darling?” she asked softly.

“My name is Jenny.”

Reuben and Jerusha looked at each other in amazement and then tears began to flow down Jerusha's cheeks. She pulled Jenny close against her breast.

“Thank you, Lord, oh thank you.”

Reuben knelt at the side of the bed and took them both into his strong arms. And though the wind was still blowing and the storm was still raging outside, inside their hearts it was spring in Apple Creek.

Epilogue

A
PPLE
C
REEK
, O
HIO
, T
HANKSGIVING
1962

T
HE WOMAN PUSHED THE DOOR OPEN
and slowly entered the room. Her blonde hair was beginning to show some gray now, and a strand peeked out from under her
kappe.
The years had left their mark on her beautiful face, but not unkindly. She turned up the gas lamp and went to the old cedar chest against the wall. The lid creaked as she opened it and knelt beside it.

Some shawls and other handmade items were on top, and she lifted them out and laid them aside. Finally in the bottom of the chest, she came to the object of her search. It was a parcel rolled in paper and tied with thick brown string. She pulled it out, stood, and went to the rocking chair in the corner, where she sat down and placed the parcel in her lap.

After all these years, I still miss you, my darling Jenna. I have received many blessings since you left us, but in my heart is that place where you will always live. I thank the Lord every day for the four years you spent with us and the joy of having you for my daughter.

The woman untied the string, laid it aside, opened the package, and pulled out the torn quilt. It was still mud-stained, and a corner was missing, but the exquisite design and the expert stitching that had once marked this quilt as the best she had ever made was still evident to her practiced eye.

The Rose of Sharon, I called this quilt. I made it with silk. The rose in the center was blood red...like the blood of Christ. I named it for you, my darling girl.

Just then the door opened, and a teenage girl peeked in.

“Mama?”

“Come in,
dochter
,” Jerusha said, and the girl entered.

She was lovely, with reddish blonde hair and a strong face. She came to her mother's side and looked down at the quilt.

“That's my quilt,” she said. “The one you wrapped me in to save my life.”

“Yes, Jenny, this is your quilt. It's a strange and wonderful story, how it came to be yours.”

Jenny knelt down at her mother's feet and laid her head on Jerusha's lap.

“Tell me again, Mama,” she said.

Jerusha laid her hand gently on her daughter's head and began to stroke her hair as she spoke.

“I made this quilt for your sister, Jenna. I was running away from God and from my faith. This quilt was my way out. But God led me to you, and I had to make a choice—to hold on to my pride and keep the quilt unspoiled or to use it to save you. I made the right choice.”

“And how did you get me?” Jenny asked even though she had heard the story many times.

“No one knew where you came from or who your parents were. When the police went to Jepsons' Pond to pull out the car I found you in, it was already spring. In the bottom of the pond they found the body of a man. He never was identified. He may have been your father, but no one knows. When they checked on the car, they found that it had been stolen in New York City. You were all alone, so we applied to take you into foster care while the authorities looked for some relatives, but that was a hopeless search. So we adopted you, and that's how you became our daughter. And a wonderful daughter you've been.”

“Mama, did you ever regret having me instead of Jenna?” Jenny asked, looking up into her mother's face.

“Jenna was a wonderful child. She already had a special relationship with the Lord when she died. It was an easy thing to raise her. You were a stronger child than Jenna, more determined and self-willed. God knew that you needed your
daed
and me to raise you, to bring order to your life, and to give you the opportunity to have a relationship with Him. Who knows what would have happened to you or me or your
daed
if God had not put us together? We all needed each other. And since that day, I have never thought of you as anything but my own flesh and blood.”