Sisters of the Quilt Trilogy (12 page)

M
orning light filtered through the bedroom windows as Hannah made her and Sarah’s bed. Careful not to wake her two youngest sisters, Hannah slipped into her day clothes.

The aroma of bacon and sausage wafting through the house smelled inviting. In spite of the minor nausea that still clung to her these days, a bit of hunger gnawed at her stomach. Maybe, somehow, she’d survived the worst and things would get better from here.

She tiptoed down the stairs, hoping to find Luke before her mother realized she was up. Hannah had no doubts that if Luke had managed to propose, Mary had accepted.

Hannah also knew it was time to try to resume her full set of chores and make up for the difficulties she had caused her family. She scurried out the side door and headed for the barn. Sucking in a lungful of clean, brisk air, she resolved to hold on to those refreshing feelings that had come to her last night.

As she traipsed up the hill toward the milking barn, she spotted Old Bess, one of Luke’s mares, standing outside the fence.
How did she get out?
Hoping that in his tired state Luke hadn’t left the gate open, she sprinted across the yards to the pasture gate. It was latched securely.

She glanced across the meadows, looking for something that would make sense of this strange occurrence. Finding nothing out of the ordinary apart from the horse outside its fence, she grabbed a rope harness off the fence post and eased toward the mare. “Where’s your master this fine morning?” As Hannah slid the rope around its neck, she noticed that the horse’s left side was covered in dried mud. Puzzled, she led the limping mare toward the barn.

As she entered the open doorway into the barn, she saw her father toss a sack of feed onto his shoulder. But Luke was nowhere in sight.
Daed
glanced her way and paused. A smile worked its way across his weary face. “I’m glad to see you up and ready to help with chores. Do you know where Luke is?”

Hannah twisted the horse’s lead rope as if she were wringing out wet laundry. “He’s not here?”

He tossed the feed sack onto the ground and stood it on end. “He must be around here somewhere. He wouldn’t leave before milking.” He pulled a pocketknife from his trousers, opened it, and jabbed it into the feed sack.

Levi stepped out of a stall, looking more like his older brother as each day brought Levi closer to his nineteenth birthday. He hung the pitchfork in its place on the barn wall, and strolled to Hannah. “Where’d you find Old Bess?”

“She was outside the fence.”

Levi’s eyes skimmed over the horse. A frown knitted his brows as he rubbed the matted dirt that covered the mare’s girth and belly. The horse whinnied and stepped back from him.
“Daed!
She’s got gashes.”

Dropping the knife and letting the sack of feed fall over,
Daed
tore out of the milking barn. Levi and Hannah followed him. He ran to the carriage house and flung open the door. When he turned back to face Levi and Hannah, the concern in his eyes made her cringe. “Luke’s buggy is missing.”

Quick, repetitive sounds of a horse’s hoofs made the three of them turn toward the driveway. A horse and rider came sprinting toward the barn. Matthew Esh brought Vento up short a few feet from them. His hat was missing, and his face was rigid. “Zeb,” he said in a breathless voice, “is Luke here?”

Daed
shook his head. “His buggy ain’t here either, but his horse is. And it’s injured.”

Matthew squirmed in his saddle. “Someone from the hospital came to Bishop Eli’s place this morning. Said there are two unidentified young people in the hospital. They’re sending out word to all the surrounding districts.”

Daed
lowered his head and moaned.

Matthew shielded his eyes from the first rays of the day. “I saw Luke and Mary last night. They were headin’ toward the very area where the accident took place.”

Daed
grabbed Levi’s arm, his eyes wide and his face drained of color. “Hitch up two horses and two buggies. I’ll get your mother and the children.”

Levi took off running toward the barn, and her father ran down the drive and into the house. Hannah stood there, frozen, unable to move or even think.

Matthew dug his heels into Vento’s sides and charged to the back door of Hannah’s house. He slid off the horse and knocked on the screen door. “Zeb, I got an idea that will save some time.”

“Tell.”

“If I ride straight to the bishop’s house and have him send one van here and one to the Yoders, it’ll save at least an hour, probably more.”

“Yes. Yes. That’s sound thinking. We’ll get everyone ready. Hurry, young man, hurry.”

Hannah held her baby brother Samuel’s tender hand in hers, reassured by the comfort of it. All eight Lapps stood in their front yard, watching billows of dust follow a large car down the dirt road.
Mamm
had her wedding travel bag by her side, the closest thing to a suitcase she owned. If Luke was staying at the hospital, so would she.

The van slowed, then came to a stop. A petite woman in bright pink pants and a matching top stepped out of the vehicle. “I’m Kelsey Morgan.” She held out her hand to
Daed
. “I’m Hank Carlisle’s daughter and a nurse at Hershey Medical Center.”

Daed
released his suspender and held out his hand. “I’m Zeb Lapp. This is my family.”

Ms. Morgan shook his hand. “You believe your son may have been in the accident last night?”

His cheeks flushed. “Our oldest did not come home last night. He’s never done that before.”

The woman pulled a picture out of her pocket and showed it to him. “Is this your son?”

He grimaced. “It is.”

“He’s in the intensive care unit at our hospital. It’s not the closest hospital, but it’s where he needed to be for the type of injuries he sustained. If you’ll load your family members into the vehicle, I’ll take you all there.” She opened the passenger-side door and then climbed behind the wheel.

Without delay or questions,
Mamm
and
Daed
collected their brood. As he lifted the children into the van, she operated the seat belt buckles for them.

Hannah stood near the open van door, peering inside. The interior smelled of dyed leather and a sickeningly sweet air freshener. The odor caused her stomach to roil. At the sight of the long bench seat, she began to shake as visions of being thrown into her attacker’s car pelted her. She stumbled backward. The day of the unmentionable flooded her mind in horrid, living color.

“Get in, Hannah.”
Mamm
pointed to an empty seat.

Gasping for air, Hannah backed farther away. “I can’t.”

“You’re safe, Hannah. Trust me and get in, please,” her father reasoned.

Hannah shook her head. She could hear the sound of each breath that she forced through her lungs.

The nurse climbed out of the van and came around to their side of the vehicle. “Does she have asthma?”

Mamm
reached for Hannah. “No, she’s just a bit spooked at the car.”

Avoiding her mother’s grasp, Hannah turned away. The nurse stood directly in front of her, compassion in her eyes. “Honey, you’ll be safe in the vehicle. I promise.” Her golden voice washed over Hannah. “Normally this isn’t how the hospital handles these situations. But my dad feels strong ties with the Amish in these parts. So when he heard that some local Amish were taken by helicopter to the hospital where I work, he asked me to come here personally and try to help. Surely after I’ve traveled all this way, you’ll let me help, won’t you?”

Hannah stared at the woman, unable to speak or even nod.

She gave a warm, endearing smile. “Your brother gained consciousness for a few minutes a couple of times. He was anxious and confused. He needs his family around him.”

Hannah gazed into the woman’s eyes and caught a glimpse of unspoken truth about Luke’s situation. A different type of panic ran down Hannah’s spine. “And Mary?”

The nurse took a deep breath. “I’m not at liberty to say anything about her except that she was brought to our facility by helicopter. Another van is taking her family to the hospital.”

Nightmarish memories warred within Hannah. Setting her will against her emotions, she cleared her throat and forced herself to step into the van.

Ignoring her pounding heart and the nausea, Hannah gazed out the car window and tried to focus on the scenery. Gentle hills and farmlands whizzed by. After forty-five minutes of back roads, the view outside changed from rolling acreage to a wide, flat river. Brown rapids and white foam seemed to be racing the van. The sun’s brilliance sparkled against the rippling water as if starlight had been captured and brought to earth. The first bit of fall color nipped at the leaves on some of the sprawling oaks along the riverbank. She closed her eyes, tuning out the ever-changing scenery and hoping the sick feeling would go away.

When the van pulled into a parking space and the engine cut off, Hannah exited as quickly as she could, the rest of her family following.

A noise ripped through the air as if it were destroying the vast parking area. The air around them seemed to vibrate from the sound. With Samuel holding Sarah’s hand and Rebecca sitting on Hannah’s hip, all nine of them made their way across the acrid-smelling lot. A few moments later Hannah saw the source of the racket: a helicopter landing near the far end of the hospital. The same helicopter, she guessed, that had brought Luke and Mary here.

Somewhere a siren shrieked and a car horn blasted. Those noises, mixed with the busyness of cars coming in and out of the lot, assaulted her nerves.

Rebecca wailed. Hannah hugged her close and snuggled against her soft neck. “Sh, little one. It’s all right.”

In spite of Samuel being seven years old, Sarah lifted him into her arms and kissed his cheek. “The English must search for ways to make noise. No?” Samuel bobbed his head in agreement, and his baby-fine, straight, blond hair moved with the wind.

The worst of the summer heat was over at home, but here it seemed to radiate from the blacktop.

They followed Ms. Morgan to a square, brownish building. Two large sliding-glass doors opened without so much as a touch.

The city smells disappeared along with the heat as they entered. The room they stepped into was three times as large as any barn Hannah had ever been in. She had visited the doctor near her home a few times in her life, but she’d never been to a hospital. She blinked, trying to take it all in. The lobby wasn’t cold, menacing, or intimidating, as Hannah had expected. Dozens of beautiful chairs sat near small tables. Lamps and plant stands with various types of foliage were scattered throughout the room, giving the place a peaceful feeling.

They turned right, walking past a hexagon-shaped oak desk with a sign above it that said Information.
Daed’s
focus stayed straight on where they were going, unlike his children, who gaped at everything around them. Regardless of the nice setting, Hannah was sure Luke and Mary ached to be home, where a breeze coming through an open window gave more refreshment than air from a machine.

Ms. Morgan took a sharp right. The Lapps followed her. After a couple of yards she turned right again and then stopped outside an elevator door. Ms. Morgan pushed a large button with an arrow pointing up on it. “After you speak with a doctor, you’ll need to return to this floor and fill out some paperwork.”