A Blessing for Miriam (10 page)

“They are the cutest things, I must admit,” Wayne concluded.

There were chuckles all around the table. Even Uncle William seemed to have enjoyed the tale.

Moments later a knock came from the front door and silence fell in the kitchen, except for Uncle William. He started to get up, muttering, “I wonder who that is in the middle of the day?”

Aunt Fannie motioned for him to sit. “I’ll get the door.” She rose and disappeared into the living room.

Whoever had arrived couldn’t be a big deal. Not much happened in Oklahoma on Saturdays. Everyone moved slower as they got their work done and prepared for Sunday services. Today, even the
Englisha
had slowed down, as business in the nursery had been light all morning. Miriam had helped out a few hours and then returned to the house to work in the kitchen. The row of pecan pies on the counter was a testament to her morning’s labor. They looked delicious, but she hadn’t dared taste one. She noticed Wayne’s gaze drift toward the waiting pies too.

“I hope they’re
gut
.” Miriam wrinkled up her nose. “I had to rush.”

“I know they’ll be
gut
!” Uncle William declared without hesitation.

“You can be sure of that,” Wayne echoed William’s sentiment.

Miriam stared at the line of pies. “Looks can be deceiving, you know.”

“They weren’t with you,” Wayne teased.

Miriam gave Wayne a grateful smile. She’d written
Mamm
this week about the proposed wedding in October. She was sure
Mamm
wouldn’t turn her down, so the matter was settled. She was Wayne’s promised one, and she would soon be a married woman. She took a deep breath and thought of Wayne’s kiss the other Friday night. Wayne wasn’t plentiful with his kisses, but he would be once they were married. She was sure of that.

Wayne nudged Miriam under the table. “What are you thinking?”

Heat rushed into Miriam’s face.

Thankfully Aunt Fannie saved the moment when she reappeared at the kitchen doorway. “It’s for you, Miriam, and it sounds serious. You’re to call home at once.”

Miriam jumped to her feet. The flaming in her face turning icy cold. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Aunt Fannie appeared worried. “Young Leroy found the message down at the phone shack that had been left early this morning. There weren’t any details.”

“This morning?” Uncle William sounded puzzled. “And no one found it before now?”

Aunt Fannie gave him a sharp glance. “Well, it’s not like the community’s hopping with activity on a Saturday morning.” Aunt Fannie wrung her hands for a moment. “Go call back, Miriam, and leave a message if no one answers the phone in Possum Valley.”

“I’ll do that.” Miriam was at the kitchen doorway. “And don’t wait for me on the pecan pie.”

“Should someone go with Miriam?” Aunt Fannie suggested.

“I’ll go.” Wayne was already on his feet.

Miriam spoke over her shoulder. “You don’t have to. I’ll go alone.”

Before Wayne could protest, she’d rushed out the door. Leroy lingered on the steps and greeted her with a warm smile.

“Hi, Leroy.” Miriam smiled back. “Thanks for bringing the message up.”

“You’re welcome.” He trailed after her on the walk down the road. When she gave him a quick glance, he shrugged.

“I’m going that way,” he explained.

That was true, Miriam figured, but she noticed he waited outside the phone shack while she stood inside and dialed the number.
News from Possum Valley was a big deal, and Leroy didn’t intend to return home until he was up-to-date. She couldn’t blame him. He was a normal, curious boy.

Miriam tensed as the rings sounded in the receiver. The answering machine was set for six rings, the same as the one by the Bylers’ in Oklahoma. That gave anyone who was near time for a dash to the phone. The shack was a quarter mile down the road from her parents’ place, but someone else might hear.

“Come on answer!” Miriam whispered as ring four passed. She was ready to hang up when the phone clicked.

“Hello,” a female voice sounded hesitant.

The words came out in a rush. “This is Miriam Yoder. I’m calling from Oklahoma.”

“Oh,
yah
, Miriam. This is Betsy Mast. I was walking past and didn’t know whether I should answer.”

“I’m glad you did.” Miriam took a deep breath. “Do you know why my parents would want to contact me?”

There was a long pause. “Maybe about your sister Shirley’s accident last night.”

“What accident?” A chill ran down Miriam’s back.

Betsy cleared her throat. “We haven’t heard much, but the man who was driving her hit a deer.”

“Jonas, no doubt.” Miriam tried to breathe. “How bad is it?”

“I don’t know.” Betsy hesitated. “They took her to the hospital. That’s all I know.”

Miriam thought for a moment. “Would it be too much to ask if you’d go up to my parents’ place and ask them to call me in an hour? I’ll be at the same number they called me at before.”

“Sure.” Betsy’s voice was kind. “I wasn’t going that way, but I have the time.”

“Thank you so much.” Miriam hung up the phone. She waited a few seconds before she stepped out of the phone shack.

Leroy met her with an expectant gaze.

Miriam told him, “The car my sister Shirley was riding in last night hit a deer. I haven’t talked to my parents yet, so I don’t know how bad it is.”

“A deer,” Leroy muttered and turned to go. A deer wasn’t much in Oklahoma, and how much damage could a deer do?

To Miriam, Leroy’s attitude was clear, and hopefully he was right. But why had her parents called instead of written? A phone call wasn’t warranted for a mere fender bender. And Betsy had said Shirley was taken to the hospital. That could mean anything from a few scratches to…Miriam gasped as possibilities expanded in her mind.

As she made her way back to the house, Miriam wished she’d said thirty minutes instead of an hour. She could have waited at the phone shack for that long. But that would leave Aunt Fannie and Uncle William up in the air. Better to give them the little information she had.

Aunt Fannie met her at the front door with a concerned look. “Serious, is it?”

“I don’t know.” Miriam swallowed the lump in her throat. “Shirley was involved in an accident last night and was taken to the hospital. I sent someone to tell
Mamm
I’d be back at the phone booth in an hour. After that I should know more.”

Aunt Fannie gave Miriam a quick hug. “It’ll be okay, I’m sure. Shirley makes it through these things in one piece. Who was she with?”

Miriam met her aunt’s look. “I didn’t ask, but I suppose Jonas Beachy. Who else?”

“Maybe the Lord is speaking to her,” Aunt Fannie ventured. “I know Shirley was encouraged to live a godly life while she was out here last year.”

Uncle William stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway. “Would someone fill me in on the news?”

Wayne joined them. “I want to know too.”

They were both dears, Miriam thought as she repeated the details of what she knew.

“Maybe you should plan a visit home,” Uncle William suggested when she finished.

Miriam drew in a sharp breath. “Then you think something serious has happened?”

“Not necessarily.” Uncle William gave a quick laugh. “But I thought you might need an excuse to get away from us.”

“Don’t tease her,” Aunt Fannie scolded. “Not at a time like this.”

Uncle William sobered. “Sorry, but you still might consider a trip home, what with the wedding and all. You could use the time to plan things, even if Shirley’s condition doesn’t warrant a trip all by itself.”

“That does sound like a good idea,” Aunt Fannie said.

Miriam’s mind spun. “I’d have to take off from teaching school for at least a week—and more likely two. I couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair to a substitute.”

Wayne spoke up. “Sarah Mullet, the young woman who taught last term, might substitute. Sarah had her baby around Christmas. This is about the time she might want to get out of the house for a while, isn’t it?”

“Don’t talk like that!” Aunt Fannie scolded him. “But maybe that would work. I’d even offer to babysit Lester for Sarah. I hold him sometimes at the church services, and he’s a little darling.”

Miriam took a long breath. “I think we’d best slow down. We don’t know how bad the accident is. And you can’t do this for me anyway. It’s not right.”

“You’d be doing it for me too.” Wayne had a slight grin. “I want our wedding to go off without a hitch.”

“There you go.” Aunt Fannie was all matter-of-fact now. “The issue’s settled even before you talk with your
mamm
.”

Miriam still hesitated. Visions of her schoolhouse and students
filled her mind. “I don’t know. I like my teaching job, and unless Shirley’s really hurt…”

“Spoken like a true schoolteacher.” Uncle William nodded his approval and looked to Wayne. “Now the two of us have to get back to work. Uncle William looked back at Miriam. “I hope Shirley’s okay, but regardless, I think you should visit Possum Valley, Miriam.”

“Same here,” Wayne said.

A horrible thought crossed Miriam’s mind as the two men left the room. Did Wayne want her out of the way so he could be with Esther unhindered?

Aunt Fannie’s hand pressed on Miriam’s shoulder. “Shirley will make it, okay. Don’t look so worried.”

“I hope so,” Miriam managed. She didn’t dare let on about her wicked thoughts about Wayne and Esther.

“Sit down and eat a piece of pie.” Aunt Fannie’s voice was insistent. “It will strengthen you for whatever lies ahead. I’ll send William over tonight to speak with Sarah Mullet. That will make a better impression than if you go yourself.”

Aunt Fannie cut a small piece of pie, and Miriam sat down to eat. The sweet pastry stuck to her throat, but she managed to swallow with a little difficulty. Aunt Fannie’s sympathetic eye was on her the whole time.

“That’s better now.” Aunt Fannie patted Miriam’s shoulder when she finished. “Why don’t you help with the dishes until it’s time to leave for the phone shack?”

Miriam nodded and the two women worked in silence. They still had several plates left to wash when Aunt Fannie motioned with her hand. “You’d better go now. It’s almost time.”

Miriam tried to walk slowly but ended up in a run. Great concern for Shirley had washed over her. Miriam prayed while she waited for the phone to ring. “Dear Lord, help us all. I don’t know
how bad things are or what You’re trying to tell Shirley, but help her bear the message and find You in all of this. Let the news be
gut
…”

Miriam jumped when the phone rang. She grabbed the receiver. “Hello,
Mamm?
”

“
Yah
, Miriam.”
Mamm
’s voice trembled. “I’m afraid I don’t have
gut
news to share. You’d best come home for a few days, if you can.”

“What happened,
Mamm
?” Miriam clutched the receiver until her fingers hurt.

“Betsy said she told you about the accident last night, so you know that.”
Mamm
’s voice paused. “Shirley’s at the hospital, but she’s not doing well—in her spirit, that is. Her head and face are in pretty bad shape too. The deer’s hooves went through the windshield on Shirley’s side. The doctors have done what they could, but they say there will likely be a lot of scarring and even more surgery later. I’m sure you can imagine how Shirley will feel about that. Can you come home for a few days? I know that’s a lot to ask with your teaching job, but Shirley needs you right now—even if she doesn’t realize it.”

“Yah,
Mamm
, it’s already planned.”

“Gut…”

Miriam listened as
Mamm
continued with more details of the accident and the aftermath.

Chapter Eleven

T
he familiar Ohio countryside drifted past the Greyhound bus window as Miriam wrapped her shawl tightly over her shoulders. The next stop was New Philadelphia where
Mamm,
and perhaps
Daett
, would pick her up after the long bus trip in from Oklahoma. She looked forward to seeing her parents again, though the first precious moments would probably be overshadowed by Shirley and her injuries.