The Memory Jar (8 page)

W
ake up, Sarah. Yer jest dreaming,” she whispered into the cold forest. “Jest like Patty used to have nightmares about being lost in the woods, maybe this is jest a dream.” The only problem was, this wasn’t a dream. It was real. Yet knowing that, Sarah also knew Patty’s solution to pushing bad dreams out of her mind would work in this situation as well.
I’ll think of God and the stars and my best friend
.

So she did that. She thought of God, who was with her now. Who had brought glimpses of peace even when her heart ached most.

She thought of the stars. So far away, yet glowing because God made them. If he created universes like that, couldn’t he control the bears in one square mile around her?

And when she thought of a friend, the strangest thing happened — it was Jathan’s face that filled her mind. She hadn’t tried to impress him, instead she was impressed. He was gentle, kind, easy to talk to. He was handsome and full of humor. Why hadn’t she noticed it before?

Just like with Patty, Sarah hadn’t realized what she needed — whom she needed — until God stepped in. She just
hoped God would step in again and help Jathan find her. Deep down, she knew he was looking. “Hello? Help! Somebody!” she called as she had been for the last hour. “Somebody? Jathan!”

It was mostly dark now because of the storm. Only a gray glow through the clouds told her the sun hadn’t completely gone down. She was frozen. Her skin was numb, and it would only get colder as the night pressed in. Why hadn’t she thought about putting some essentials in her backpack like matches and warm socks and more food?

She had a few cookies left over from earlier. She’d packed extras for her friends. She ate two and saved one for … for when? Later in the night? Or morning? She hoped it didn’t come to that, but guessed it could. Had the others made it to the driver and the van? Were they heading back to the West Kootenai even now to call for help? Surely they weren’t lost on this mountain too.

Her guess was they’d already made it down and would call search and rescue, but living in Montana as long as she had, she knew a few things about search and rescue. They had to come from Kalispell, which was over an hour-and-a-half drive away. They also never launched search parties at night, but waited until morning to keep members of their own team safe.

Sarah looked in her backpack again, as if wishing something else would show up. Even her water bottle was empty. She’d finished that off earlier when she was hiking, thinking she was almost back to the lake and the spring.

He is with me. God is watching over me. He knows where I am. He’s sending someone to find me even now
…

As those thoughts looped in her mind, Sarah started to sing as loudly as she could. She hoped it would scare away any wildlife. Or maybe someone on the trail might hear her. But mostly, she hoped it would calm her own pounding heart.

Sarah sang her mother’s favorite hymn two times through, and after the second time, just as she was about to sing again, she heard the sound of movement. Large movement, like something clambering through the forest. She thought about calling out. After all, maybe it was Jathan or Amos. Yet as the sound grew louder, Sarah wrapped her arms around herself, fear freezing her like a statue. A scream rose in her throat but stuck there. Just when she thought for certain she’d see the snout of a gigantic bear, something appeared. The form moving down the pathway was a man!

Sarah rose and waved her arms. “Jathan! Here! I’m here!”

Jathan tried to stop in his tracks, but his momentum slid him forward.

She expected a scolding for going off the trail. She waited for his explanation for why they hadn’t shown up. But instead, Jathan rushed forward and stood before her, taking her hands in his. His hands were warm, and she resisted the urge to step into his embrace and let his whole body warm her.

“Sarah, I’m so sorry. Will you forgive me?”

“Forgive you?” She tilted her head back. Surprise arched her eyebrows.

“First, that I left you alone on the trail. And second …” He squeezed her hands tighter. “Second, it’s my fault yer here. At the top, I was in such a hurry to get down, to see you, that I led us down the wrong trail. There are two trails leading down from the top,” he explained. “We had no idea until it was too late.”

Sarah thought about asking about the second trail, but something else he said mattered more. “You were in a hurry to come back fer me?”

Jathan’s mouth dropped open slightly, and he released her hands. “I, uh, I was worried about you. The view was amazing, but I felt bad you weren’t there. I felt even worse that I’d left you. I should have gone with my inner feelings and stayed by yer side.”

“
Danki
, but I have to know … how did you find this trail, and how did you know I went down it?”

Jathan glanced around, as if sizing up where they were. He nodded. “I will tell you, but first we need to start a fire while we have even a little light left. It’ll be a long, cold night if we don’t.” He turned to find some wood.

“We’re going to be here all night?”

“We can’t hike out in the dark. It’s too dangerous, especially
with you injured.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “But I’ll make you as comfortable as I can, Sarah. I promise.”

Dark clouds blocked out most of the fading sunlight, and Sarah blew a heavy breath, as if that alone could push the coming rain the other direction.

Jathan dug under a pile of dead branches, looking for dry wood. When he found enough, Sarah knelt beside him and they layered the sticks. She also brushed aside other branches or foliage to give them a wide, clear ring — not that she thought a forest fire could start in this damp place, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Moisture from the ground seeped through her skirt and chilled her legs.

Jathan pulled a match from his pants pocket.

“Wait, before you do that.” She rose and hobbled over to a tree, peeling back layers of moss until she found a large, dry piece.

He eyed her.

“It’ll be easier to light the moss than the wood.” She handed it to him and then sat on her log, rubbing her ankle.

Jathan packed the moss around the wood, lighting it.

“I’m so thankful you brought matches.” Sarah rubbed her hands together.

“
ne
, Amos did. All the others emptied their things into my backpack jest in case we couldn’t make it down to the bottom of the mountain before dark.”

The small flame flickered and danced. A cold wind swirled, nearly blowing it out. Jathan hunched down, cupping his hands
to shield the flame from the wind. A moment later, the flame grew, igniting the wood.

“There.” Jathan sat back on his heels. “That should knock off a bit of the chill.”

“Too bad we don’t have a steak to cook over that fire. I’m starved.”

“I have half of Hope’s sandwich and an apple from Eve if yer hungry.”

“Famished … but I’ll only eat if we share.”

Jathan nodded, and they divided what was left of their food. They shared the half of sandwich, and she ate the apple while he finished off her last cookie.

When the food was gone, Jathan’s stomach growled.
It must take a lot of food to fill up such a big man
, Sarah thought.

He rubbed his stomach. “I should have thought to bring more supplies. These are the mountains of Montana, not a local park.”

“It’s not that you knew.”

“Yer right. I’ve never been in the mountains before. I should have been more prepared.” He lowered his head.

She stood and moved closer to the fire, kneeling before it and opening her hands in front of the flames to absorb the warmth. “You didn’t know I’d get lost and we’d have to stay overnight.”

“
Ja
. I thought I’d have some months to get used to these forests before I had to find my way through them.” He chuckled. “Somethin’ to write home about fer sure.”

“Do you have forests like this back in Ohio?” she asked, even though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

“There are wide-open spaces, and it’s very hilly where I live in Berlin. But there are no high peaks or mountain ranges that expand as far as the eye can see. Not like this. Not at all.”

She fiddled with the string of her
kapp
, a thousand needles pricking her skin at his closeness. Suddenly, she couldn’t remember one thing she liked about Amos at all. But Jathan — he was someone special.

What had Patty told her? To show someone you care, ask about his life. Listen to his dreams.

“Why don’t you tell me about Berlin? I’d love to hear about it. I have an aunt who lives there, my mother’s sister. It’ll make the time pass faster.”

He cocked one eyebrow. “I suppose … I mean, if it’ll help pass the time.”

“
Ach
, I didn’t mean fer it to sound like that. I’m interested too. Really I am.”

He smiled and focused on her. The glow from the campfire danced over his face and Sarah tilted her head. How handsome he was. Again, how had she not noticed that before?

She also thought about how easy it was to talk to him. Here she was lost, in pain, cold, and hungry, and they were chatting as easily as if they were sitting in the restaurant of the West Kootenai Kraft and Grocery.

“Berlin is a beautiful place. Expansive fields and roadways lined with flower beds of tulips. We have
gut
fishin’ rivers, and in the fall, the trees turn all colors of yellow and orange.” Jathan looked around. “The trees aren’t the same. We don’t have forests of pine like here. We have black cherry, sugar maple, black walnut, white ash, and red oak. The oaks, as a group, are the most common forest tree species and are predominant. My favorite is the maple though.”

“Maple is pretty wood.”

Jathan chuckled. “Oh, I like the maple fer its syrup most. There’s nothing like pure maple syrup over buckwheat pancakes. And I have the recipe fer the best maple nut twist rolls.”

“You have the recipe?” Sarah straightened, intrigued.

He glanced to the left and shook his head. “Uh, no. I meant my
Mem
. She has so many
wunderbaar
recipes. I’ve never seen anyone who found such joy in the kitchen …” He dared to glance over and look into her face. “Well, other than you.”

Sarah fanned her face, not because she was hot, but because she hoped to distract him from the embarrassment that was surely tingeing her cheeks. She wasn’t used to someone being so bold with his compliments.

Jathan cleared his throat. “But that’s getting off the subject now, isn’t it? Before I tell you more about where I came from, there’s something else I need to tell you about.”

“
Ja
, what is that?”

“I want to answer yer previous question. I want to explain how I found you. How I knew you headed down this trail.” Jathan sighed. “I’ve never experienced God as I have today, Sarah, and I’ll never doubt how real he is. He’s with us here now.” He tapped his chest. “I can feel it.” He tapped the side of his head. “I know it as clearly as I know my own name.”

J
athan studied Sarah across the fire. She sat on a log they’d pulled up close, and even in the woods, she sat proper-like, back straight, like any Amish woman would. When he first found her, he’d expected they would hike out. Yet the weariness on her face and the way she’d favored her ankle told him it wasn’t possible. He hadn’t expected having to stay all night. Now they had no choice. Now it was up to him to care for her, protect her.

Part of him felt foolish for being inept with his survival skills — he should have known about the moss. The other part of him was overwhelmed, thankful, that he’d found her at all.

“We realized halfway down that we were heading down a different trail. I climbed back to the top and found the right one, and then on the way down again I was praying. I was praying the whole time, but my prayers increased as I neared where I expected you to be. I wasn’t surprised you weren’t there.” He paused, remembering the arrow of rocks. “I liked the arrow. That was smart. In fact …” Jathan reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the rocks. He placed it on his
palm and then stretched out his hand. “I picked up this rock fer yer memory jar.”

Sarah’s eyes sparkled as if he’d just offered her a pearl of great price. “You remembered.” She took it from his hand and then unzipped her backpack and reached inside. She pulled out another rock and held it up. “I thought of the same thing — even though I already have a piece similar to this. A piece I found years ago.” She lowered her head and looked up at him from under her lashes. “Now I’m certain I won’t forget, although it would be impossible to forget this day anytime soon.”

The fire crackled and the woods around them grew darker still. Sarah shivered, and Jathan removed his overshirt and handed it to her. He was thankful
Mem
always urged him to wear an undershirt no matter the weather.

“Danki.”
She smiled as she took it, wrapping it around her shoulders and then tucking it under her chin. “And … then?”

“Oh,
ja
, the rest of the story. I was walking along, and I heard a rumbling from the hillside next to me. I never saw what happened, but suddenly a large rock was bouncing down the hill. It was heading right toward me. I jumped into the trees to get out of the way.” Goosebumps rose on his arms, even now as he told the story. “The rock hit my boot, and I’m sure I have a bruise, but it could have done so much more damage.”