The Saddle Maker's Son Part 18

A person might think he'd been conked in the head by a horse, not Daed.

Susan forced herself to settle into the last chair. The one farthest from Mordecai. Her brother read too much in her face. He always had. He didn't need to know how she felt about Levi. She didn't even know how she felt. Only that the idea that he was badly hurt brought a strange terror that caused her heart to pummel her rib cage and her eyesight to dim. Both were terrifying symptoms of something she couldn't begin to explain.

"You look like you're feeling poorly."

Martha squeezed into the chair next to her and pulled Liam into her lap. The boy curled around her and leaned his head on her shoulder as if he'd been there a million times before and knew exactly where his small head would find the most comfortable spot. Martha was the closest he'd ever had to a mother. It hurt Susan's heart to think that, but yet, Gott had provided. He'd provided Liam with the closest subst.i.tute for a mother. The boy had a loving older sister who thought nothing of giving up her own happiness for that of a little brother.

"I'm fine. You will make a good fraa and mudder one day." Levi would want her to finish this conversation. No matter how this day turned out. He'd entrusted Susan with this one task. "You have a knack for it."

"My bruders and schweschders need me." Martha's tone said now more than ever. Her voice cracked. "No matter what happens, they'll need me. One way or another."

"The day will come when they won't. They'll have their own lives."

"That seems a selfish way of looking at it." Martha smoothed Liam's ruffled blond hair. He burrowed closer and closed his eyes. "Until that time comes, it's my job to take care of them."

"I just know it to be true. My mudder went first too." Susan let her gaze travel to Mordecai. He leaned his head against the wall, his eyes closed. Whether he dozed or prayed, she couldn't say. He had their mother's dark curls and their father's blue eyes. "She had cancer. Since I was the oldest girl, I took over the cooking, cleaning, canning, sewing, and gardening. There were only four of us kinner. Eventually my sister, Lilly, married and moved back to Tennessee. Our brother Thomas is up north in Missouri. A few years after he moved, Daed died of a heart attack. Only Mordecai was left. He married and started his own family. I thought I would do the same."

"But you didn't."

"Nee. I had a special friend. For a time."

"What happened?"

"I kept putting him off because I was busy taking care of my family. I figured he'd wait."

"But he didn't?"

"Nee. He married a woman named Sadie. They live in Missouri now."

"I'm sorry."

"Gott's will. Gott's plan. Besides, it was a long time ago." She paused, remembering those days when she'd still had certainty and the nights when she'd admitted her fear and dwindling hope in long-winded prayers. "And then Mordecai's first fraa was killed in an accident and Phineas hurt so badly. They needed me. Again. Between teaching and taking care of my bruder's family, my life was full. More than full."

"But not anymore, now that he has married again."

"Exactly. I love teaching, though. It isn't a consolation prize. It's a calling. Teachers help prepare young folks to live Plain lives." She didn't mean to be bigheaded. Parents did the same. Everyone in the Plain community worked toward that same aim. "I remind myself of that every morning. I pray about it every night."

"But it's not like having your own kinner."

"Nee." A familiar tightening in her chest forced Susan to fumble in her canvas bag for a tissue. "I never will regret the years I've spent teaching. We should pray now for your daed."

Martha nodded, her eyes wide and wet with tears, her face white. "Jah, we should."

Susan closed her eyes. The same strange sensation that haunted her sleep at night, like the sensation of a baby's soft skin brushing against her cheek, caused her to catch her breath. The longing could be kept at bay most of the time. Occasionally, though, it caught her unaware and her entire body ached, filled with the enormous absence of her own flesh and blood held in arms meant to rock a child, hands meant to soothe a feverish forehead, lips meant to kiss a boo-boo on a tiny finger. "A woman has to embrace the blessing of whatever life Gott chooses for her," she whispered without opening her eyes. "We can never know better than Gott what is best for us."

"I don't understand how Gott's plan could be for Mudder to die giving birth to a little baby boy who was so sweet and so smiley and who slept through the night after only a few weeks," Martha answered in the same hushed tones. "He was such an easy baby. It baffles a person."

Susan opened her eyes. Liam had fallen asleep in his sister's arms, blissfully certain the adults around him would take care of him and whatever problems arose in this strange place. She put her arm around Martha. "We don't have to understand. We only have to trust." She patted Liam's soft cheek with her free hand. "The book of Psalms says, 'I will not be shaken.' That's us. We will not be shaken. No matter what happens."

Martha sniffed and nodded, tears trickling down a face that looked like a miniature of her father. "No matter what."

"The doctor."

Susan looked up. Mordecai rose to his feet to greet the Englisch doctor. Tobias stood at his side. And Rebekah. How Rebekah ended up in the middle of things never ceased to amaze Susan. She helped Martha stand and took Liam from her arms. "Go, be with your big bruder. Right now, he needs you."

Her face pale, eyes red, she nodded and scurried across the room. Susan remained where she stood, bile bitter in the back of her throat. Gott, Thy will be done.

"Mr. Byler is a tough bird." The doctor removed dark-rimmed gla.s.ses and rubbed already red eyes. "He has a ruptured spleen, one leg is fractured, half a dozen fractured ribs, and a concussion."

"But he'll be fine?" Martha's legs gave way. Tobias's arm swept out and caught her against his towering frame. "He'll make it?"

"We're not equipped for the surgery he needs here. I've contacted an orthopedic surgeon in Corpus." The doctor gave a sympathetic smile under silver locks that looked as if he'd run his hands through them repeatedly, making him look more like a grandfather than a physician. "We'll airlift him down there in a few minutes. The helicopter is standing by."

Airlift. Helicopter. Susan couldn't help herself. She moved closer, Liam's weight barely noticeable in her arms. "But he'll be all right?"

Mordecai's bushy eyebrows did a push-up. He frowned at her. "Let the doctor talk."

"With good medical care and his strong const.i.tution, he should pull through fine." The doctor surveyed the growing cl.u.s.ter of folks surrounding him. "Two at most will be able to go with him. The rest of y'all should go home. You'll be able to visit him in Corpus in a day or two."

His tone said he wondered exactly how they would do it.

"I'll go." David edged between Martha and Tobias. The three looked so much like each other and so much like Levi. And so very young and scared. David's shirt had blood on it. His hands and face were smeared with dirt, sweat, and tears. "Let me go with him." His voice broke. "I want to be the one to go."

Mordecai c.o.c.ked his head. "I'll go. As deacon it's my duty to deal with the questions about payment and such. It's up to you, Tobias, how you want to do this. You're the oldest, but consider that it may be many days away. Your family will need attention, your shop and your farm, in your daed's absence."

Mordecai was right. Tobias would want to go, but he should stay. Susan took another step forward, her arms tight around Liam. "We'll help. All of us will help. Rebekah and I will be there for whatever the kinner need."

Tobias cleared his throat. Pain etched lines around his mouth. His Adam's apple bobbed. "David will go. Martha will take care of the kinner and the house and the garden. I'll deal with the shop and the farm." He nodded at Mordecai. "You'll call the store when the surgery's over? Let us know how it goes?"

"I'll call every day until we bring him back."

Tobias turned to Martha. "Take the kinner home. Susan and Rebekah will help you. I'll see Daed before they take him away." He swept her into a hug, his gaze landing on Susan. "He'll be fine. We'll be fine."

From his lips to Gott's ears.

TWENTY-THREE.

Maybe school wasn't so bad after all. Rebekah dumped another load of pants into the wringer wash machine and inhaled the fresh scent of clothes soap and bleach. Her back ached and sweat soaked her dress. Mudder handled all this on her own when Rebekah worked at the school. It was nice to give her a break.

She stretched and rolled her shoulders. Thinking of school made her think of Tobias. Everything made her think of him. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of him in the two days that had pa.s.sed since his daed's accident. He surely had his hands full. The messages from Mordecai at the store had been good ones. The surgery went well. Levi was in recovery. He had his own room. Still, Tobias had to chafe at the thought that he couldn't be there.

She wanted to help. Susan said to be patient. To stay out of his way until the shock pa.s.sed. They would take food later today. Cold fried chicken, coleslaw, biscuits, and pecan pie Rebekah had baked herself. Susan had taken Hazel into town for sewing supplies, flour, and more sugar. When they returned, they'd all go together. They would offer to help Martha with the laundry and the cleaning and their garden. Caleb could help in the fields. The thought spurred her to move faster. She headed to the door that led to the kitchen. An engine coughed and belched. The foreign sounds brought her up short. She turned and peeked out the one tiny window in the workroom.

A blue minivan covered in dust and bird droppings rolled to a stop by the back door. Dark fumes billowed from behind, dissipating in the halfhearted breeze.

"Jesse!"

He'd come about the kinner. Her breath gone for a second, Rebekah wiped her wet hands on her ap.r.o.n and shot out the door. Mudder beat her down the steps. She glanced back. "You wait here."

"Mudder."

"Wait."

Steely resolve in her mother's tone told Rebekah this would not be the time to test her mudder's mettle. Her stomach knotted, hands sweaty, eyes blinded by the May afternoon sun, she forced herself to plant both bare feet on the small wooden porch. Waiting went against every muscle and every drop of blood in her body, down to the marrow in her bones. Wait.

Mudder planted herself in front of the squat minivan shaped like a big bug. The pa.s.senger door opened. Leila exited. Mudder's hands fluttered and collapsed in the vicinity of her heart. Neither woman said a word for several seconds. Leila smoothed the long white blouse that draped her baby belly and smiled. "Hey. It's good to see you."

Mudder gave a jerky nod. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought someone I want you to meet." Her smile diminished like a light hidden behind a lamp shade, Leila turned and scurried around the van.

In the meantime Jesse hauled himself out the driver's side. He looked as if he might hurl, but he managed a weak smile. "Abigail."

Mudder nodded. "Jesse. What brings you to these parts?"

"We came to talk to Mordecai. I called the store, but no one answered."

"Mordecai is in Corpus Christi with Levi Byler. He was thrown by a horse, hurt. Will was helping Tobias this morning. I reckon he's back at the store now." Mudder's tone was even, not unfriendly, but neither was it friendly. "You could drive by there."

The faint emphasis on drive was unmistakable.

"We could."

"Wait. Wait, it's about Lupe and Diego, isn't it?" Rebekah hopped over the last step and landed next to Mudder. She ignored her withering glance. She would mend that fence later. It was time for Mudder to treat her as an adult, not simply a daughter. "What did you find out?"

"Dochder." Mudder crossed her arms, her frown deepening the lines around her mouth and eyes. "He'll share that news with Tobias, who'll talk to Jeremiah."

Rebekah was to stay in her place, in other words. "But I went with them-"

"Go back in the house."

Her heart beating like a drum in her chest, Rebekah shook her head. Mudder's expression gave her no room to rally. Gott, when will she see me for who I am? I'm not the prodigal daughter. I'm not the one who sinned. I'm not the one who fled. When will she stop punishing me?

She retreated once again to the porch. One hand on the screen door, she swiveled to watch her mudder. Surely the emotions must be a storm in her head. No mother could bear to turn away a prodigal daughter once again at her doorstep, even if it was only for a few minutes. Mudder was only human. At least, she appeared so. At the very least she could take a peek at her granddaughter. The gates of h.e.l.l wouldn't open up over such a grandmotherly thing, would they?

Leila reappeared with Gracie in her arms. The baby's cheeks were rosy with sleep. She yawned, stretched, and cooed. "She looks like you, Mudder." Leila held her out.

Gracie smiled sleepily and waved with one chunky fist. "Hi."

Rebekah held her breath. No one could resist such a beautiful face. Not even Mudder. After a long moment Mudder sighed and took the little girl in her arms. "Ach, you are a sweet thing." She touched Gracie's ma.s.s of dark ringlets. "Such a lot of hair for such a little girl."

"That she got from her daddy." Leila grinned. "But her spirit is like Rebekah. Always hopping around and getting into things."

"I do not." Rebekah clamped her mouth shut. Better to keep it shut before Mudder noticed she'd disobeyed again. She itched to hold Gracie, but it was better to let Mudder get her fill.

"It's good to have lots of energy if you channel it right." Jesse leaned against the front of the van, apparently oblivious to its dusty state. "This little girl thinks she should stay up half the night playing with her dollies."

Rebekah dared to take the two steps back to the gra.s.s. Mudder was too engrossed in tickling Gracie's cheeks and making her laugh to notice. "What did you find out about Lupe and Diego?"

Jesse straightened and slapped at the dirt on his faded blue jeans. "We need to take them with us."

"What do you mean?"

"We promised the person at the Office of Refugee Resettlement we would bring them in so they could interview them and start the search for their father. They need to be in the system so they can be protected from those predators who brought them over."

A fury rose in Rebekah. It must be what mothers felt when their children were threatened. Rebekah ached for the day when she would have her own, but for now, Lupe and Diego were her charges. They had been since that day in the shed when she'd first seen their dirty, hungry faces. "How does turning them in protect them?"

His face darkening to a dusky rose color, Jesse shoved his fists into his pockets. "It allows the authorities to start looking for their daed. That's what they really need. The authorities have all that data in computers, but it starts with getting the children in there and getting a date set for their hearing."

"What will happen to them in the meantime?"

Gracie began to fuss. Mudder shushed her. "She needs a cookie. I'll be right back."

Rebekah's mouth dropped open. She glanced at Jesse. He shrugged, his smile back, full force this time. Mudder turned and marched into the house, little Gracie on her hip.

Jesse put an arm around Leila, who leaned against his broad chest. "We're hoping they'll let them stay with us, at least until we can figure out something else."

Until they left for Dallas. "You're hoping?" Rebekah felt like a rabbit about to be cut down by a hunter. "While they're in the States? You think they'll have to go back to El Salvador?"

"We don't know." Leila tugged away from her husband. She wrapped her arms around Rebekah in a tight, warm hug. She smelled like soap. "We're trying to help. That's all we can do."

"I know that." Rebekah swallowed the lump that threatened to choke her. "Lupe's scared. I don't want her to be scared anymore, and I don't want her to have to go home."

"We understand that. The first step is for us to get them started in the process." Jesse tossed his car keys in the air and let them land in his hand. A fat silver cross swung on the key chain. "We thought you could go with us to Tobias's place to pick them up. It might be easier for them."

Rebekah pictured Lupe's tear-streaked face at the school picnic. "It will be terrible. They'll think we've betrayed them."

"We'll explain. They'll be safe with us."

"They're already upset." Rebekah recounted what had happened to Levi. "They're all worried even though they try not to be. They pray and lean on Gott. We all do, but they're only kinner."

"All the more reason you should go with us to talk to them."

"Mudder won't let-"

"She will. You'll convince her. You have a way with her." Leila squeezed Rebekah's arm. "I prayed and prayed that Gracie would meet her grandmother. It took something like this to make it happen. G.o.d has a plan and it's bigger than anything we can see. He has a plan for Lupe and Diego."

Rebekah wanted to hold on to Leila's hand and her touch. Why did the plan have to include Jesse, Leila, little Gracie, and the new bopli living far, far away? That's what she wanted to know. Where was the provision in that? She didn't dare voice that question aloud.

"We need to go now." Jesse c.o.c.ked his head toward the door. "Bring Gracie back out. Come with us to fetch Lupe and Diego."