Amish Circle Letters II: The Second Circle of Letters (11 page)

He shrugged. “She
’s still sleeping. But
Daed
and
Mamm
came back before dinner with the news that she’s going to be fine. She did have smoke inhalation and needs to be on oxygen until she awakens.”

“Oh Steve!” Mimi rested her hand on his chest and let him pull her into her arms. “How frightfully scary!”

“Ssh,” he soothed. Barn fires were especially unnerving. It happened frequently, especially among the young farmers. Quite often, if the hay hadn’t dried properly before being stored in the barns, it could eventually smolder and catch on fire. But to have something happen to Menno Yoder? He was a seasoned farmer with enough experience that, certainly, it wasn’t the hay igniting that had caused the barn to burn. “It’s going to be all right.”

Mimi wasn
’t so certain. “How is Menno?”

“Distraught,” Steve admitted. “I think he
’s in shock.”

“I imagine so,” Mimi said, pressing her cheek against Steve
’s chest.

Mimi could hardly imagine how Menno had felt when he returned home to discover that Mary Ruth was missing and no one could find her. It would be a terribly upsetting situation, an emotional upheaval for certain. And then, to have discovered that she had crawled from the burning barn to seek shelter in the old pump house? Mimi shuddered at what would have happened if Menno had not looked for her. It could have been another day or more until she was discovered and, by then, she would have died for certain.

“
Mamm
and
Daed
think she’ll be released from the hospital by the weekend,” Steve said. “She’s going to go back to
Mamm’s
to recover.”

At his words, he felt Mimi stiffen in his arms. She pulled back and looked up at her husband, the concern for Mary Ruth that had previously been in her eyes now vanished. “Why?”

“She’s going to need time to regain her strength,” he responded. “And, with all the
kinner
at Menno’s home, it’s best if she spends some time with
Mamm
who can tend her to her without too much noise or distraction.”

Mimi took a sharp breath of air, a harsh look in her eyes. “Why can
’t Menno tend to his wife?”

Steve stared at her, surprised by her lack of empathy.
What was this about?
“Mimi, if you were ill, wouldn’t you prefer to be with your
Mamm
?”

Pursing her lips, Mimi narrowed her eyes. Her expression had changed and now she looked angry. Her reaction startled him, especially when she said, “I
’d prefer to be with my husband, Steve.”

“Is this about Mary Ruth or about you, Mimi?”

Mimi turned around and walked to the kitchen counter. She placed her hands on the edge of the sink and stared outside. Steve waited, watching her back as she breathed deeply and refused to answer. The clock on the wall chimed two times and he glanced at it. He had to leave soon to get back in time to milk the cows. But he certainly didn’t want to leave with his wife so upset.

Lifting his hand to his head, he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “
Look Mimi,” he started as he took a step toward her. “I know you are unhappy that we are not living together yet. I will work harder to finish the
grossdaadihaus
. Give me another week and I can have the main room ready. I promise.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and, gently, turned her around. He stared into her face and smiled. “By next weekend,
ja
? That’s not so long, is it?”

“What about this weekend?”

Steve frowned. “This weekend?”

“Will we be together?”

He hadn’t thought about that. Surely it would be too much of a burden to add one more person to his
mamm’s
household, especially since Mary Ruth would be there and require a lot of attention. “I’ll come for dinner both nights,” he said slowly, knowing that it would be a hard stretch for him to do so. “And we can attend church together on Sunday.”

Her face fell. “So that
’s no, isn’t it?”

“It
’s one week, Mimi.”

“Ja, one week,” she snapped back.

He frowned, not believing that they were having an argument over this. He was disappointed in Mimi’s reaction and lack of understanding. He expected more from the happy, bubbly woman he had married. “I best get going,” he mumbled.

“You
’re going to leave?”

He didn
’t respond but turned to retrieve his hat. As he started to put it on his head, he felt her hand on his arm. She clutched at him and pulled, trying to stop him from leaving.

“Please don
’t go,” she pleaded. “I’m sorry, Steve. I’m ever so, so sorry!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. “I just love you so much and miss you when we are apart.”

He hesitated before he accepted her apology, acknowledging it by putting his arms around her and holding her. “I know, Mimi,” he replied, his voice low and in her ear. “I miss you, too. But other couples have survived the same and for a longer duration of time, ain
’t so? You can manage for one more week. I’ll spend every free minute on that room so that we can move in and start living our lives together.”

Leaning down, he pressed his lips against her forehead before extracting himself from her embrace. “Now, I must be going, Mimi,” he said, tilting her chin so that she was staring into his face. “You be strong and I
’ll be back on Friday evening after milking,
ja
?”

Obediently, she nodded her head.

He smiled. “That’s my girl,” he whispered and leaned down to kiss her lips before walking out the door to settle his bill with her father and take the supplies back to the farm. He had a long few days ahead of him if he was going to keep his promise to Mimi. Long days and short nights, that was for sure and certain.

It was almost two-thirty when Menno finally arrived at the hospital. Feeling out of his element, he hesitantly approached the information desk to inquire about the location of Mary Ruth
’s room. The elderly woman at the large oak desk typed something into the computer before she smiled and looked up, directing him to the elevators and telling him that Mary Ruth was on the third floor.

His heart raced as he waited for the elevator and he found himself tapping his fingers against the side of his leg. He wondered if she
’d be awake or still sleeping. He hoped that she would be awake for he had so much to tell her. He wanted her to know how he had felt when he thought she was gone. He needed her to know how much he loved her and, despite how she must feel about him, he wanted her to be his true wife and to love him back.

Rachel was seated by Mary Ruth
’s bedside. He stood in the doorway, hat in hand, staring at his wife as she slept. She looked peaceful, her hair hanging down one shoulder in a long, loose wave. She wore a white floral hospital gown that was open at the shoulder. There was one bouquet of flowers on the window ledge: white carnations. He wondered who might have sent them.

“Menno!” Rachel looked up and smiled when he cleared his throat and walked into the room.

“How is she?”

“Better. She was up for a little while about an hour ago but the doctors wanted her to sleep some more. Gave her some medicine for her pain and I do believe it knocked her right out again,” Rachel replied.

“Pain?”

“Her head. Appears that she was knocked out when she stepped on a pitchfork in the barn. It hit her in the face,” she said and pointed to Mary Ruth
’s forehead. “See the bump?”

Menno approached the bed and leaned over, gazing first into Mary Ruth
’s face and then staring at her forehead. “Ja, I sure do see it,” he whispered. A pitchfork? He saw it all now. Someone had left a pitchfork on the ground. She must have stepped on it and fallen. Perhaps when she fell, she had knocked down the lantern.

But who would leave a pitchfork on the ground?

“She was asking for you,” Rachel said, her voice soft and her eyes glowing at Menno.

He looked up, surprised. After the way they had not been speaking for so long, that was the last thing he expected to hear. “She was?”

“Ja, first thing she asked was where you were,” Rachel added.

He couldn
’t imagine that he would be first on her mind when she had awoken. Yet, the thought that he had not been there caused him a moment of grief. He should have gotten there earlier, he scolded himself.

Rachel sensed his thoughts and quickly added, “I told her that I made you stay at home with the
kinner
. That they couldn’t wake up alone or with a stranger to tell them the news. She understood and was relieved to know that they were tended.”

A look of relief washed over Menno
’s face. “
Danke
, Rachel.”

“
Gown shanner
,” she replied, still smiling. There was something sparkling about Rachel’s expression, as if she had a secret that delighted her. “I told her that it was you, Menno, who searched for her and found her. She didn’t remember any of it, just the pitchfork incident. She doesn’t remember how she managed to get some of the cows free or how she left the barn.” Rachel stood up and gestured toward the chair. “Mayhaps you could sit with her for a while? I want to stretch my legs a spell.”

Menno waited until Rachel had left before he sat down. He wanted to be alone before he prayed for his wife, even if she was in a deep sleep. Clearing his throat, he moved the chair closer to the bed. It felt strange to see the vivacious and feisty Mary Ruth so still. He had never watched her while she slept for he was too upset by the way their marriage had started and what he had perceived to be her repulsion of him. Now, leaning forward, he reached out to hold Mary Ruth
’s hand, so small and smooth in his large, calloused one. His thumb caressed her skin and he stared into her face, hoping against hope that she might wake up and know that he was beside her.

He sighed and rested his forehead against the side railing of the bed. Silently, he prayed to God, thanking Him for having saved Mary Ruth. When he was finished praying, Menno opened his eyes and, to his surprise, he saw Mary Ruth watching him.

“You’re awake!”

Her eyelids fluttered, heavy with drowsiness. “Menno…” she whispered, her voice raspy and strained.

He clung to her hand, staring into her face as tears threatened to spill from the corners of his eyes. “Mary Ruth, I was so sick with grief at the thought of losing you!”

She tried to open her eyes. “Menno…” she repeated herself.

“Don’t speak, Mary Ruth. Save your strength, please,” he implored. “We need you better and I need you home. I can’t bear the thought of you not being there.”

She tried to smile but only one corner of her mouth lifted. “You found them,” she whispered.

He furrowed his eyebrows.
Them?
“You mean I found you? Ja, I did. It was as if God guided me to you.” He leaned down and kissed the back of her hand as he added, “God knew that I couldn’t live without you.”

Mary Ruth tried to shake her head.

“Ah, our patient is awake?”

Menno looked up at the nurse who entered the room. She was an older woman, an Englischer, and wore green scrubs and thick, ugly white sneakers. But her smile was genuine and her eyes sparkled with compassion.

The woman walked over to a machine that hung over Mary Ruth’s bed and pressed a few buttons. “You need to rest now, Mrs. Yoder,” the nurse said. “You’ll have plenty of time for visiting over the weekend.”

Menno caught his breath. “Will she be coming home by then?”

The nurse looked at him and smiled, nodding her head. “Um hmmm,” she said. “I believe her parents arranged for her to stay with them. If everything goes well, she should be discharged Friday or Saturday.” The nurse laid her hand on Mary Ruth’s shoulder. “You sleep now, sweetheart.” Lifting her eyes she looked at Menno and shook her head while lifting a finger to her lips, indicating that he might stay but should remain quiet.

For the next thirty minutes, Menno did not move. Mary Ruth slept and he stayed by her side, holding her hand as he watched her. His mind was in a whirl. He wanted Mary Ruth to come home to their house, not to the Fisher
’s farm. Yet, he didn’t want to argue with her parents. Knowing that she would not be returning home with him caused him much pain, a deep pain that weighed heavy on his heart and deep in his throat.

Yet, he knew that it would be hard to control the
kinner
who would certainly want to see her and would make too much noise. Perhaps a few days at Miriam and Elias’s would be a gut idea after all, he admitted to himself, despite wishing for the opposite. He would take that time to show her how much he loved her and court her again.

Letter to The Budget

From Ephrata, PA

December 2—The weather sure took a turn for the worse, this week. Almost five inches of snow fell and the temperature has been holding steady at 31 degrees for a week.

Next church will be at Reuben Esh’s. Visitors in church last meeting included Matthew and Katie Mae Byler from Fredonia. They were visiting relatives in our church district after having just married this past season.

On Tuesday evening, Menno Yoder
’s barn caught fire. There was quite a scare when no one could locate Mary Ruth, his wife. Menno found her in the pump house out back where she had sought refuge from the flames and cold. She’s at Lancaster General now and is expected to return home by the weekend.

Please pass around that a barn raising for the Yoders is planned as soon as the weather breaks.

Milk price for November was $15.00 base price.

My cough is better but voice not much. Using Lunga Feva Smear on my chest day and night. Titus had a sleepless night just last night. By 1:30am, he was up and dressed, out in his recliner. Reckon he slept there then.

Titus and Clara Martins