A Wedding for Julia (48 page)

S
haron knew everyone was worried. She heard their talking, though it occurred in little groups. Most were saying Tim should have been back by now. Some wanted to send another person out to look for help, and others thought that idea was horrible and dangerous.

Frances and Jeanette were keeping a close watch on Julia, who hadn’t so much as stirred since Tim had crawled out the window.

“Aren’t you afraid?” Sharon had directed the question to Jeanette, but she kept her eyes on Julia. Taking the wet rag from Jeanette’s hand, she used it to sponge Julia’s face. How could she be so hot when the room was so cold?

“I am, but I know Tim. He said he would find help, and he will.” Jeanette shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against the wall. They had tried to turn the portion of the basement against the house into a sleeping area, but only the children had been able to nod off—the children and Julia.

Sharon realized Jeanette was answering her question honestly and not simply trying to alleviate her fears. She did believe Tim would be back for no better reason than he had promised her he would. She didn’t doubt her husband for a moment.

“How does that happen?” Sharon whispered. “How do you come to trust someone so completely?”

Jeanette put her arms around Zoey, who had sat up and rubbed her eyes before crawling up into her mother’s lap. Bandit now lay stretched out on the floor as if it were his normal sleeping spot. “It takes time and getting to know someone. Tim isn’t perfect. He has things he struggles with, but he’s a good man.”

Running her fingers through Zoey’s hair, she stared up at the window, the one Tim had disappeared through hours before. “When he says he’ll do something, he does it. I suppose that’s one thing that has held our marriage together when so many marriages, especially
Englisch
marriages, fall apart.”

“What about love?”

“Trust is a kind of love. How can you not love someone you trust with your life?” Jeanette kissed Zoey on the forehead.

Sharon glanced up in time to see Wess studying her. He rolled his eyes and smiled, as if to say, “Parents! They’re so corny!”

A gust of wind caused a branch to scratch against the window, the one his father had climbed out of. When he looked up at it, his expression turned suddenly solemn.

Sharon understood in that moment that the smiles and eye rolls were to lift her spirits. At a time when he had so much to be concerned about, he was worried about her. Was that love?

Wess stood, walked to the end of the room, and fetched more water. He brought it to his mother and sisters, and offered more to her.

He was a good neighbor, a good friend, and possibly he could be more if she wanted him to be.

When she watched how he cared for his mother and sisters, she understood they were a family in the truest sense of the word. Whatever had brought them here, whatever troubles they had faced that had led them to a simpler lifestyle, they were now stronger because of it.

He moved back beside her. “How are you doing?”

Sharon shrugged, but something in his smile caused her to think back to the week they had first started working together and how he had insisted she keep all of the morning tips.

“You never told me what you were saving your tips for.”

Wess glanced at his sisters. “Christmas presents.”

“
Ya?
” She should have guessed.

“The girls can always use a new doll.” His words had the desired effect on her. She remembered the tea party she’d been a part of and thought of Christmas, of the future, which surely God would grant them.

“It’s snowing harder,” Terra said, resting one hand on Frances and standing on her tiptoes to see better.

“Maybe we should try to leave.” Frances sighed. “Maybe Brad’s right. I don’t know.”

Brad had been standing in the corner, trying to put together a small group willing to brave the storm and leave the basement to search for help. At that moment there was a commotion by the stairs on the other side of the door that was still blocked.

Wess hopped up and joined the other adults standing near the door.

“Hello? Can you hear us? Hello?” The muffled voice from the other side of the door sounded as if it were calling from the other side of Pebble Creek.

Sharon’s heart started beating a wild rhythm of hope. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard more than one person trying to dig them out.

She reached over and grabbed Julia’s hand, squeezed it, and looked up at Ada, who had been unusually quiet all morning. “We’re found. They found us!”

“We are the people God watches over, child.” Ada coughed into her hand and pulled in a breath that rattled her chest and turned her cheeks a bright red. “We are the flock under His care.”

Sharon looked into Ada’s eyes, and she saw so many things at once—such love and acceptance and hope—that she began to cry. She’d tried to be brave, but now she didn’t feel courageous at all. Fatigue and fear and relief flooded through her in equal measures. This disaster, coupled with Julia’s injury, had been too much for her to handle. Sharon suddenly understood that she wasn’t nearly as strong as she had thought she was. She didn’t even want to pretend to be strong anymore.

She put her head next to Julia’s and allowed her tears to flow. So what if people saw her? Who hadn’t cried since the storm had crashed through their lives? What did they have left to hide from one another? They had been living and sleeping and eating and even going to the bathroom together in one large room. They no longer had any secrets, and it seemed absurd to pretend they did.

These people really knew her, and it was almost a relief. The one thing she was sure of was that she couldn’t keep any of her emotions hidden inside any longer.

She felt Ada’s hand on top of her head, her touch a comfort and her words a blessing. And still she couldn’t raise her eyes to whatever was happening a few feet away.

What if they didn’t find a path through? What if she had imagined their voices, and it was another false hope?

What if Julia died while they waited?

Julia realized she had slept a long time by the river, but she didn’t want to wake. A few more minutes and she would be ready. A little longer to rest, and then she would be strong.

Not yet, though.

Caleb called to her, his voice a sweet gentle presence in her ear. She smiled, knowing he wouldn’t mind if she continued to sleep.

Sharon was crying. That bothered her. She wanted to comfort the girl and tell her everything would be fine. Sharon was a good girl, and she would one day grow to be a fine woman and a loving mother.

She thought to turn and speak with her, but suddenly she was standing on the bridge over Pebble Creek—the one Caleb and Aaron had built. The waters flowed underneath at a fast rate, so they must have had rain recently. She reached out for the rail to steady herself, and the wood was warm beneath her hands. The sun was such a comfort. She closed her eyes again, relishing the feel of the light and the warmth on her skin.

When she heard a splash, she looked down and saw fish dashing back and forth in the water.

“This has been a
gut
place—a
gut
home.” Ada pointed to one of the speckled fish, a small one that darted into the sun before slipping back into the shadows.

They both laughed.

“
Mamm
, what is the other side of the creek like?”

“Like this side,
dochder
, in many ways. And very different in others. There is more light that comes from the Father, Son, and Spirit. That light is what you feel now, warming on your face.”

“And those who have gone before…”

“
Ya
.”

They both looked across to the other side and saw Jonathan waiting there for them, standing in a pool of light. He raised a hand, and Julia realized anew how much she missed her father. It hurt her, seeing him so close and understanding that with a few steps she could be at his side.

“All angels shout, ‘Encore!’”

Ada’s voice caused Julia’s skin to tingle from the top of her head to the tips of her toes—which were barefoot for some reason. She realized Ada wasn’t speaking alone, but was joined by a chorus of many voices. Some she knew. Others sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place. Together they made a sound that was more beautiful than any she had ever heard.

She wanted to weep. She wanted to dance. She wanted to stand there on the bridge, to stand in this moment forever.

“In awe before the glory, in awe before God’s visible power.” Her mother’s voice was a breathless whisper.

The silence that followed nearly broke her heart. She turned and looked into Ada’s eyes.

“We have to go back?”

“
Nein
. The choice is yours, Julia.”

A part of her mind remembered then. Remembered the thing she had suspected but been afraid to hope. She placed her hand on her stomach and was assured of the life growing within her. Before she raised her eyes to look at their home she knew what she would see. So she stared down at her hand, which was now covered with her mother’s. Stepping closer, she kissed Ada’s cheek and said, “Let’s go together. I hear Caleb.”

“And Sharon.”

“They’re calling us.”

“
Ya
.”

As they walked back across the bridge, she felt her father’s blessing following her. The scene in front of her was one of nearly complete devastation.
Englischers
and Amish alike were pulling boards, trees, and what remained of their home from the entrance to their cellar. More people were arriving even as she and Ada drew near.

Then Julia opened her eyes and realized she was still in the dimly lit basement. She could feel the cold air and hear the voices of those on the outside who were coming in and helping the people around her—the people who had been trapped with her through yesterday’s long afternoon and the night.

A moment later she was looking into Caleb’s face. She wanted to reach up and wipe away his tears, but her arms were too heavy, so instead she whispered that everything would be fine.

The love she saw in his eyes reminded her of all she’d seen on the other side of the bridge. One day they would cross it—together or apart, she didn’t know—but they would meet on the other side. For this day, with Sharon weeping at her side, Ada’s prayers in her ears, and Caleb showering her with kisses, she was sure she’d made the right decision to come home.

Epilogue