Growing Up in Lancaster County (25 page)

“That’s okay,” Rachel said. “I’ll be all right by myself.”

“I’ll keep an eye on Rachel until her friends arrive,” the man behind the counter said.

The woman smiled and patted Rachel’s shoulder. “You’ll be found soon.”

Rachel wished she felt as sure about things. She looked at the woman and forced a smile. “Thanks for helping me.”

“You’re welcome.” The woman smiled and hurried away.

Rachel watched more people walk past. She hoped and prayed Sherry and Dave would come for her soon. She was getting ready to ask the man if he would call Sherry and Dave’s names again when a young woman approached the building, pushing a baby stroller. Seeing the baby made Rachel think of Hannah, and a lump formed in her throat. Even though she didn’t like being awakened at night when Hannah cried, and even though she felt ignored since the baby came home from the hospital, she missed her family and was worried that she might never see them again.

“My name’s Sherry,” the woman with the baby said to the man behind the counter. “Were you calling me over the loud speaker? I have a friend whose name is Rachel, but I don’t think she’s at Hershey Park today.”

The man motioned to Rachel. “Do you know that little girl? She seems lost.”

The woman looked over at Rachel then back at the man and shook her head. “Sorry, but I’ve never seen her.” She looked at Rachel with sympathy. “I’m sure someone will come for you though.”

“I—I hope so.”

The woman smiled at Rachel and walked away, pushing the baby stroller.

Rachel fidgeted on the bench as more people walked by, but still no Sherry and Dave. “Can you call my friends’ names again?” she asked the man behind the counter.

He nodded and picked up the speakerphone. He’d just started to speak when a middle-aged man stepped up to the booth. “My name’s Dave,” he said. “Were you calling me?”

The attendant motioned to Rachel. “Do you know this young girl?”

The man shook his head. “Sorry, I don’t.”

“Then I guess you’re not the Dave we’re looking for.”

Rachel’s heart felt as if it had sunk all the way to her toes. Probably hundreds of people named Sherry and Dave were at Hershey Park. She could spend the rest of the day sitting here while the wrong Sherry and Dave came to see if their names had been called. The Sherry and Dave she knew might never show up.

Feeling more anxious by the minute, Rachel glanced around. She couldn’t stay here. She had to find Sherry and Dave. She had to get home to her family!

When the man behind the counter was busy talking to someone else, Rachel scooped up the things she’d won, jumped off the bench, and ran as fast as she could. She ran all the way to the front gate of the park and waited for the tram to take her to the parking lot. She would go back to the spot where Dave had parked his car and wait for Dave and Sherry beside his car.

When Rachel stepped off the tram, she headed for the spot where Dave had parked the car. Dave’s car wasn’t where he’d left it! At least she thought this was where he’d parked his convertible.

“They must have left without me!” she wailed. “They didn’t hear their names because they’re on their way home!”

Feeling as though the strength had drained from her legs, Rachel dropped the stuffed bear and other things to the ground and fell to her knees beside them. She clutched the bear to her chest. She sobbed until she could hardly breathe. She’d made a complete mess of things by getting into Dave’s car and coming to Hershey Park. If only she hadn’t been so foolish to think she needed a ride in a convertible. If she could turn back time she would have stayed home and spent the whole day cleaning. It would have been better than being alone in a strange place with a bunch of people she didn’t know.

Once Rachel’s sobs tapered to sniffling hiccups, she picked up her things and found a bench to sit on. Then she bowed her head and closed her eyes.
Dear Jesus, I’m all alone, and I need Your help. I miss my family—even my baby sister who cries too much
.

A song the scholars often sang at Rachel’s school, about walking with Jesus whether we’re walking in sunlight or shadows, popped into her head. I might be lost, Rachel continued to pray,
but I know You’re here with me, Jesus. Please help me find some way to get home
.

She opened her eyes and saw an Amish family walking across the parking lot. A sense of hope welled in her soul. Maybe they lived in Lancaster County. Maybe they could help her get home!

Leaving the things she had won on the bench, Rachel dashed across the parking lot. Before she reached the Amish people, a group of teenagers got off the tram, blocking her view. By the time the crowd dispersed, the Amish family had gone.

Tears stung Rachel’s eyes.
Will I ever see home again, or will I be stuck in this parking lot for the rest of my life?

A
hopeless feeling swept over Rachel as she returned to the bench. She had prayed and asked God to help her. She knew Jesus hadn’t left her. Yet she hadn’t found Sherry and Dave, and she didn’t know if she ever would. Should she go back to the Lost and Found booth, stay here, or what?

Tears welled in her eyes, and she leaned forward, resting her head on her knees.
Please help me, Lord. Show me what to do
.

Tap…tap…tap
. Someone tapped Rachel’s shoulder. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up. There stood Sherry and Dave!

Rachel jumped to her feet and threw her arms around Sherry. “I’m so glad to see you! I—I was afraid you’d gone back to Lancaster without me.”

“Well, we should have!” Dave shook his finger at Rachel. “We heard our names being called over the loud speaker and went to the Lost and Found to get you, but when we got there you were gone.”

“I—I waited a long time.” Rachel’s chin trembled and she sniffed. “When you didn’t come, I decided to take the tram to the parking lot and wait for you by your car.” She sucked in her breath. “Only your car wasn’t there, and I was sure you’d gone home without me.”

Dave scowled at her. “Leaving the park was a dumb idea! You should have stayed at the Lost and Found booth! What if we’d given up looking for you and had left you here?”

Tears streamed down Rachel’s cheeks, and she wiped them with the back of her hand.

“You’re lucky we decided to come out here looking for you!”

Sherry glared at her brother. “Stop shouting at Rachel! Can’t you see how upset she is?” She gently patted Rachel’s back, the way Mom often did. “Don’t cry, Rachel. We’re here now. Everything’s okay.”

“Are—are we going home?” Rachel asked.

Dave nodded. “I promised our folks we’d be back by supper, so we’d better leave now or we’ll be late.”

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief when she crawled into the backseat of Dave’s convertible a few minutes later. God had answered her prayers. She was on her way home—going back to the family she loved. She had been foolish to want a ride in a convertible so much that she’d taken off without getting permission or letting anyone in the family know where she was going. Rachel knew she would be punished for her disobedience, but she also knew that what she’d done was wrong, so she deserved to be punished.

“Why didn’t you wait for us in front of the Wild Mouse roller coaster?” Dave asked, looking over his shoulder at Rachel.

“I waited a long time there, too, but you never came.” Rachel’s throat felt raw and scratchy from crying so much, and she had a hard time swallowing. “Then a lady came along, and when I told her I couldn’t find you, she took me to the Lost and Found.”

“That’s where you should have stayed,” Dave said as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Sherry bumped his arm. “She panicked, Dave. Don’t you realize how scared she was? Wouldn’t you have been scared if you’d been in her situation?”

“Yeah, I guess so—at least when I was Rachel’s age I would have been scared. I’m sorry for yelling,” Dave called over his shoulder. “I was just worried because you’d run off.”

“I–I’m sorry, too.” Rachel blinked several times as more tears threatened to spill over. “I wish I’d never gone with you to Hershey Park.”

“Didn’t you have any fun today?” Sherry asked.

Rachel looked at the stuffed bear and other things she’d won, lying on the seat beside her. “I did have fun…until I couldn’t find you and Dave.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” Sherry said. “We shouldn’t have left you alone.”

“That’s all behind us now,” Dave said. “Let’s just relax and enjoy the ride home.”

Rachel leaned against the seat and closed her eyes as the cool breeze blew against her face. In a while she would be home where she belonged.

Rachel had just drifted off when—
thump, thumpety, thump
!—the car shuddered and bumped along. Rachel knew something must be wrong.

Dave steered the car to the shoulder of the road. He got out, went to the passenger’s side, and kicked the front tire. “That’s just great! We’ll be late getting home now for sure!”

Rachel sat up straight. “Wh–what’s wrong?”

“I’ve got a flat tire!”

“Can it be fixed?”

“I can’t fix the tire, but I do have a spare.” Dave reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

“What are you doing?” Sherry asked.

“I’m calling Mom and Dad to let them know we’re going to be late.”

“That’s a good idea,” Sherry said.

Rachel thought about asking Dave if she could call her folks, but she changed her mind. It could be several hours, and maybe not until tomorrow, before someone in the family checked the answering machine in their phone shed.

When Dave hung up the phone, he went to the trunk of the car and got another tire. “You two will have to get out of the car while I change the tire.”

“Can we help?” Sherry asked as she and Rachel scrambled out.

Dave shook his head. “Just stand back from the car and stay as far away from the road as you can. There’s a lot of traffic, and I don’t want either of you getting hit.”

Sherry and Rachel did as Dave said. While they watched him change the flat tire, Rachel couldn’t resist the urge to nibble a fingernail. It was getting late, and she knew Mom was probably home from town by now. She most likely would have read the note Rachel had left on the table and would think she was still at Orlie’s. When it was time to start supper and Rachel still wasn’t home, Pap would probably go over to the Troyers’ house to get her.

Rachel bit the end of two more fingernails.
Only I won’t be there, and Orlie will tell Pap that I never went there. Tears stung the backs of her eyes. Will they be worried and think something bad happened? Will they search for me or call the sheriff?

“Are you worried?” Sherry asked. “Sometimes I bite my nails when I’m worried about something.”

Rachel studied her hands. Her finger nails didn’t look very nice when she chewed them. “I know I shouldn’t bite my nails,” she said. “Mom tells me that whenever she catches me doing it, but I only bite mynails when I’m feeling nervous.”

“Are you nervous right now?”

Rachel nodded.

Sherry draped her arm across Rachel’s shoulders. “Don’t be nervous. Dave will be finished with the tire soon, and then we’ll be on our way home.”

“I’m gonna be in big trouble when my folks find out where I went.” A tear slipped out of Rachel’s eye and dribbled onto her cheek. “My brother calls me a little bensel, and I guess he’s right.”

“What’s a bensel?” Sherry asked.

“A silly child.” A few more tears fell, and Rachel wiped them with the back of her hand. “I’ll never go anywhere again without my parents’ permission.”

“It’s as much my fault as it is yours,” Sherry said. “I shouldn’t have invited you to go unless your folks were home and said it was all right.”

Rachel shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No, I—”

“The tire’s fixed!” Dave opened the car door. “So if you two will quit jabbering, we’ll get back on the road.”

Sherry wrinkled her nose. “You don’t have to be so mean.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “but I’m feeling stressed right now.”

Rachel could understand that. She felt stressed, too. But then she remembered what Grandpa had said about rejoicing in every circumstance—even in the midst of troubles, and she smiled. At least they would soon be home.

When Dave pulled his convertible into Rachel’s driveway, her heart beat faster. He’d just turned off the engine when Mom and Grandpa rushed out of the house. Pap, Henry, and Jacob stepped out of the barn.

“Rachel, where have you been?” Pap shouted as Rachel, Sherry, and Dave got out of the car. “I just returned from Orlie’s, and he said you hadn’t been to his house all day.” He motioned to the phone shed. “I was about to phone the sheriff.”

“Jah, and because of you taking off, we can’t go to supper tonight,” Jacob said, scowling at Rachel.

“You—you were going out to supper?” she asked.

Pap nodded. “We planned to take you out for a belated birthday supper, but now that will have to wait.”

Rachel’s eyes filled with tears. “I—I did something I shouldn’t have done, and I’m so sorry.”

“What did you do?” Mom asked, slipping her arm around Rachel’s waist.