Still lugging the picnic basket, Moses stood up and cupped Rachel’s elbow in his hand. “Here. I will put my arm around you if you can manage to limp the rest of the way. It’s only another hundred steps or so.”
The corner of Rachel’s mouth twitched upward. “I will try.”
Moses wrapped his arm securely around her waist, and she in turn put her arm around him. When he took a step, she gasped and nearly fell over. “Hold on,” he said, tightening his grip and pulling her closer.
She tilted her head back and flashed a delighted smile at him. Oh, jah, surely the pain was excruciating.
When they hobbled into the clearing where the house stood, Rachel stopped limping altogether.
Moses relaxed his hold. “Does it feel better?”
“A little, but don’t let go. I don’t think I can make it by myself.” She slipped her hand into his, which made balancing the basket a bit tricky.
Grinding his teeth together, Moses walked Rachel up the porch steps and to the front door. “I will help you into the house.” It gave him a good excuse to see Lia, to try to explain to her about the pie.
Rachel suddenly regained all her energy. “No need. I am feeling much better now. Denki for a wonderful day.”
“Tell Lia I will help her pick tomatoes on Tuesday.”
“You can help me pick tomatoes. I am faster than Lia. Her hands are too big.”
Moses didn’t mean to sigh out loud. “I will see you on Tuesday, then.”
She blew him a kiss as she slid into the house. A kiss.
Moses trudged away wishing Owen Shetler and his daughter Rachel had never set foot on Huckleberry Hill.
Lia didn’t watch for them. She wasn’t so pathetic as to stand at the kitchen window all afternoon and hope to catch a glimpse of Rachel and Moses picnicking in the woods.
But she happened to be washing dishes when her sister came stumbling out of the trees with her arm around Moses and his arm securely around her. Rachel looked quite satisfied with herself and Moses did not look particularly annoyed. The air in the kitchen suddenly became unbreathable. Lia let her rag sink into the dishwater as she hastily dried her hands and ran down the hall and into her bedroom. She didn’t want to hear about the picnic, and Rachel would surely want to tell. Better to be unavailable when Rachel came skipping into the house.
She should have known better. She heard the front door close and Rachel’s light footsteps tripping down the hall.
Rachel pounded on her door. “Lia, I’m back.” Rachel opened the door without waiting for Lia to let her in. She sprawled on Lia’s bed and let her feet hang over the side.
Lia stood in the middle of her tiny room as if she were a propane lamp waiting for the darkness. She didn’t speak but she tried to smile. She should rejoice in Rachel’s happiness.
Rachel sighed as if to expel every bit of air from her lungs. “What a glorious, glorious day. I told you we needed time alone together. Moses couldn’t have been nicer.”
“You weren’t gone very long.”
“I didn’t want to walk far in my bare feet.”
Lia clicked her tongue. “You should have worn shoes.”
Rachel sat up, straightened her legs, and studied her feet. “Men think bare feet are sexy.”
“Sexy? What a word!”
“The magazine at the grocery store said so.”
“Did he like the chicken?”
“He ate two pieces. And the rolls. He loved the rolls. He finished off every last bite of jam, and you didn’t think I should bring it.”
“I always have good fortune with that roll recipe.”
“But he didn’t eat one bite of pie.”
Moses had to know she made the pie. “He didn’t?” A sudden headache pounded behind Lia’s eyes.
Rachel leaned back on her hands and pinned Lia with a critical eye. “I’m not stupid. You like him.”
“Of course I like him. He was my friend before you even knew him.”
“You’re going to get your feelings hurt, and I don’t want you to get your feelings hurt.”
Lia decided she didn’t like her bedroom so much when Rachel sat in it. “I’m going to finish the dishes.”
“Moses is interested in me, not you. He held my hand, Lia. Held-my-hand. And he put his arm around me.”
Anna might marvel at Moses’s change of heart, but not Lia. Rachel knew how to make herself irresistible. “Then you have nothing to fear from me.”
Rachel stood and put her arms around Lia in a sisterly hug. “I’m saying this for your own good. I’d hate to see you make a fool of yourself. Moses cares about your feelings too.”
Lia wanted to melt in a puddle of tears and run into the woods where she could be alone. Instead, she surrendered and pulled Rachel close for an embrace.
She hadn’t planned on caring so much about Moses. He’d warned her the very first day they met. Why hadn’t she heeded him? Taking a deep breath, Lia pulled herself from Rachel’s grasp and pasted on a convincing smile. “I am only here to help Anna and Felty. I am very happy for you and Moses.”
Rachel let go of Lia and did a little twirl around the room. “He is so handsome. And strong.” She gave Lia’s hand a squeeze. “Thank you for making the food. You must make a dozen pies for our wedding. Moses loves pie.”
Chapter Fourteen
Moses stood on the porch and leaned a hand on the door frame. Why did he have to be so handsome? Lia would be able to forget him more easily if acne scars pocked his cheeks or his eyebrows grew as thick as juniper bushes. And why did that dimple on his cheek enchant her so? “Sarah said to fetch you right quick,” Moses said. “She’s just two miles down the road at Millers’.”
Lia’s hand flew to her mouth. “Saloma’s early.”
“Sarah said she might have to send her to the hospital.”
Lia glanced at her half-kneaded bread dough on the counter. It would have to wait. “I’ll fetch my bag. Will you get Rachel? She’s hanging the wash.”
Lia got her bag and took it to the buggy. She automatically climbed in back. Moses would want to sit next to Rachel. Clasping her hands together, Lia tried to mentally review what she knew about pre-term babies. At the moment, she couldn’t remember one blasted thing.
What was taking Rachel and Moses so long?
They finally appeared around the corner of the house, Rachel chatting merrily while Moses strode with purpose. At least one of them felt a sense of urgency.
Rachel jumped in the buggy and giggled. “I thought I would be stuck doing chores all day. What a wonderful-gute surprise.”
Moses seemed in good humor as well. “As soon as we drop Lia off, we’re coming back here. I told Dawdi I’d mend the barn roof.”
Rachel stuck out her bottom lip so far that a bird could have perched on it. “Can’t you do that another time? We have the whole day to ourselves.”
Moses smiled brightly and shook his head. “That roof won’t last another storm.”
Vernon Miller’s place was small and bursting with children. Saloma, forty-three years old, expected her seventh child. And perhaps eighth. She was convinced she was pregnant with twins. Sarah had tried to talk her into seeing a doctor and delivering at a hospital, but Saloma would have none of it. “I’ve had plenty of babies and got along fine without a doctor.”
Two mighty oaks stood watch in the Millers’ front yard where three barefoot children chased each other around the lawn. A shock of purple petunias grew up against the house next to an unruly rosebush laden with fat, pink blooms. Sarah’s buggy already sat on the gravel lane that led to the barn.
Moses got out and took Lia’s hand to help her down. She willed her heart to slow. How would she ever get used to him as a brother-in-law?
He took Lia’s bag and the three of them walked to the house. Why Rachel even bothered getting out of the buggy was anybody’s guess. She probably felt as if she were missing something very important if she was more than ten feet from Moses’s side.
Sarah opened the door before they could knock. Her eyes held a look of controlled desperation, and her face glowed ghostly pale. Lia’s heart began to gallop.
Sarah glanced at Rachel with a look of distaste before grabbing Moses’s arm. “Get the horse from the barn,” she said in panicked whisper. “Ride to the Englisch neighbors as fast as you can. They are but five minutes west.”
“The Van deGraffs?” Moses said.
Sarah nodded. “Use their phone and call an ambulance. We’ve got to get Saloma to the hospital now.”
Moses didn’t waste time asking questions. He sprinted to the barn and disappeared inside.
Sarah took both Lia and Rachel by the elbows and led them a few feet from the door. “There’s six children and a husband who need reassuring, so don’t neither of you make a fuss.”
Lia nodded. Rachel looked as if she would be sick.
“Is the baby too early?” Lia asked.
“He’s early, but that’s not the worst of it. Saloma has started bleeding.”
Rachel whimpered. Lia squeezed her hand hard until she stopped.
“It looks like placenta previa.”
Lia felt dizzy. She’d read about placenta previa in her midwife book. Both the baby and the mother could die.
Sarah locked her fingers around Lia’s arm. “We must get her to the hospital immediately, or she will bleed to death.”
“What do you want me to do?” Lia said.
Rachel breathed in and out until Lia thought she might hyperventilate. “I can’t do it,” Rachel panted. “I can’t go in there. The sight of blood makes me ill.”
Still holding her hand, Lia dragged Rachel to the base of one of the trees in the front yard and pushed her to sit. “Stay here and don’t make a fuss. And don’t let the kinner see there is anything amiss.” Lia knelt down and sternly shook her finger at Rachel, who couldn’t seem to catch her breath. “You must stay calm or I will make you walk home by yourself. Do you understand?”
Rachel’s complexion turned red and splotchy. “It’s too far.”
“Do you understand?”
Rachel nodded.
Lia pulled a small washcloth from her bag and opened the bottle of water she always kept there. She poured some water onto the cloth. “Here, put this on the back of your neck. It will make you feel better.”
Without waiting to see if Rachel could manage, Lia jogged back to Sarah, who had her hands propped impatiently on her hips. “Gute,” Sarah said. “Let’s go.”
They strode into the house and straight to Saloma’s room. She lay on her bed, deathly white, while her husband stroked her hand and her oldest daughter, Hannah, sponged her forehead with a damp rag. Two teenage sons stood in the corner of the room, unsure of what to do but not wanting to leave their mother’s side.
All signs of Sarah’s anxiety disappeared when she walked into the room. She looked at the two boys. “Peter, do you have more towels and blankets?”
“Jah. Plenty of both.”
“The two of you go and get all the clean towels and blankets you can find and bring them to me.”
Both boys raced out of the room.
Sarah pulled Lia next to the bed. “Saloma, I think the placenta has formed over your cervix. That is why there is so much bleeding. We must get you to a hospital.”
Sweat beaded on Vernon’s forehead. “Our neighbors have a car.”
Sarah patted Vernon’s arm reassuringly. “I’ve sent Moses to call an ambulance. In the meantime, we must slow the bleeding and arrest labor. Saloma, Lia is going to help you lie flat on your back and we are going to elevate your legs and hips. You must hold as still as you can.”
“Should I get her something to drink?” Vernon said.
“No, nothing to drink. How long has it been since you’ve eaten or drunk anything, Saloma?”
“An hour or so.”
Lia and Hannah helped Saloma scoot flat on her back. Then Lia propped pillows underneath her hips to elevate her bottom half. She glanced at Sarah, who gave her a slight nod to tell her she’d done it right.
Peter and his brother came in with the towels and blankets. Sarah took a thick towel and carefully slid it underneath Saloma while pulling the soiled one away from her. The gray cast to Saloma’s face alarmed Lia. She feared Saloma might pass out.
Lia had never seen Sarah so rigid, almost as if she were made of stone. She pressed her lips into a hard line, and her face shone with sweat. The sight of Sarah so unyielding terrified Lia more than anything else.
The distant moan of a siren was the most welcome sound Lia had ever heard. She ran outside but ceased breathing when the sheriff’s car pulled into the lane. Sarah followed right behind Lia.
The sheriff jumped out of his car. “What’s the problem?”
“Where is the ambulance?” Sarah asked.
“It will be here in fifteen minutes.”
Sarah hurried around the front of the car and stood face-to-face with the sheriff. “We don’t have fifteen minutes to wait. She’s in danger of bleeding to death. We need to take her in your car.”
The sheriff fingered the radio hooked to his shirt pocket. “Are you sure? I’m not equipped to handle an emergency like this. The paramedics can give her an IV.”
Moses jogged from the barn out of breath and with sweat trickling down his neck. It was a blistering-hot day. “What’s happening?” he whispered. Lia merely inclined her head toward Sarah.
Sarah kept her attention on the sheriff. She glanced toward the house and lowered her voice. “By the time the ambulance gets here, it could be too late. And it’s twenty minutes to the hospital.”
The sheriff nodded gravely. “I can make it in fifteen.”
This was all Sarah needed to hear. “Lia, Moses, cum. Moses, you must carry Saloma to the car. Vernon is in no condition.”
Moses nodded curtly.
The three of them hurried into the house, and Sarah directed Moses on how she wanted him to lift Saloma. Saloma feebly wrapped her hands around Moses’s neck, and he picked her up as if she weighed no more than an empty cardboard box. The muscles of his arms bulged, and Lia felt comforted by his strength.
Taking care to handle her gently, Moses whisked Saloma outside while she moaned quietly. Hannah spread two blankets in the backseat of the sheriff’s car while the sheriff radioed ahead to the hospital. Moses set Saloma onto the seat, and Sarah reached in from the other side of the car and pulled Saloma so she could lie with her feet braced against the side door. Moses closed the door and stepped away, trying to give Saloma some privacy, even if she didn’t notice.
Sarah firmly took Lia’s arms and pulled her close. “Get the family to the hospital as soon as you can, in case they must say good-bye to their mother.”
A pang of dread traveled up Lia’s spine. How could they abide so much sorrow?
Lia didn’t know how she managed it with such long legs, but Sarah folded herself onto the floor of the backseat and began sponging Saloma’s brow. “Vernon, get in the front.”
“You both should have a seat belt back there,” said the sheriff.
“If we crash, I ain’t going to budge,” Sarah said. “And Saloma’s got to lie down. Don’t get in an accident.”
The sheriff responded with a half smile and a helpless shake of his head. “I am flouting about seven regulations. I’d be grateful if you kept this to yourself.”
Lia closed one door, and Moses shut the other. As soon as Vernon climbed into the front, the sheriff turned on his lights, and his tires kicked up gravel as he sped out of the driveway.
The blaring siren soon obscured the roar of the engine. Both noises faded into the distance as Lia, Moses, and the children watched after them. Hannah had two of her little sisters gathered close, and the two teenage brothers each held one of the smallest girl’s hands. The little one cried softly while the rest of the children stared at Lia as if she had the answers to all of life’s questions.
Rachel, still red in the face, stood and went to Moses. “Take me home. I don’t want to be here anymore. What if she dies?”
The two girls clinging to Hannah began to wail in dismay. Hannah knelt down and hugged them to her breast. “Hush, hush,” she said. “It will be all right.”
Pressing his lips together, Moses cupped his hand around Rachel’s elbow and led her away from the children. “Wait for me in the buggy.”
Rachel looked at him doubtfully, but she shuffled to the buggy and climbed in.
Lia didn’t want to impose on his kindness, but she wasn’t sure she could handle things by herself. Every muscle stretched as tight as a wire, her legs felt shaky, and she feared she might collapse under the weight of her anxiety. “Moses, I know you want to see Rachel home but—”
Moses turned his back on the buggy. “I’m not going anywhere. Let her sit in the buggy where she won’t cause trouble.” He reached out and took Lia’s hand. Her legs quit shaking. “What do you want me to do?”
“These children need to get to the hospital. Can you go back to Van deGraffs’ and call a driver?”
“I knew they would want to be with their mother, so I called Roy once the ambulance was on its way. He should be here soon.”
Lia sighed in relief and turned to Hannah, who looked almost as pale as her mother had. “A driver is coming to take you to the hospital. You might want to pack a bag for her and bring some snacks for your brothers and sisters. I don’t know how long you will be there.”
Hannah nodded and hurried into the house. Her two sisters cried louder when she left them.
Moses bent over and scooped both girls into his arms. They cried out in surprise, but he held them securely and bounced up and down. The girls, about ten and eight years old, stopped crying and stared at Moses with a mixture of puzzlement and fascination. He kept bouncing.
Peter pressed his palm against one eye and swiped away whatever tear was thinking of forming there. “Will Mamm die?”
Moses, still bouncing, hardened his expression. “It is very serious. She has lost a lot of blood. But Lord willing, they will get her to the hospital on time. By the grace of God, Sarah knew what to do. He sent a wonderful-gute person to help your mother.”
“That’s right,” said Lia. “Sarah is smart. She knows what to do for your mother.”
Peter’s brother bowed his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose as he began to weep. This prompted all three little girls to start bawling again. Peter lifted the littlest sister off the ground and cuddled her in his arms.
Lia felt utterly helpless. She dug her fingers into her palms and blinked back her own tears. No good for them to see her crying. She was supposed to be the one with everything under control.
“We need to pray.” Moses placed the two weeping girls on the ground and took their hands. “Everybody hold hands.”
The girls swallowed their sobs and sniffled softly when they formed a circle chain. Lia tucked herself between Peter and one of the girls.
Moses bowed his head. Everyone else followed suit. “Heavenly Father, we give thee thanks for thy bounties. Wilt thou save a mother for her children and give us thy peace and comfort in this time of trial and help the sheriff to drive fast and safe. Thy will be done. Amen.”
They stood in silence holding hands until they heard Rachel tapping on the buggy window. No one could hear what she said, so she slid the door open. “Are you coming?”