“West of Bonduel,” Lia said.
“Tell them we just left Shawano,” Colleen added in a hushed whisper.
“We are west of Bonduel and someone is seriously injured.” He nodded at Lia to get confirmation that whatever the injury, it was serious. “Yes, I’m not sure how serious. Uh . . . yes . . . we are on a road with lots of trees.”
“Outside of Shawano,” Colleen prompted.
“We left Shawano about ten, fifteen minutes ago.”
With concern for Moses increasing every second, Lia tapped David’s elbow. “Would you like me to tell them how to get here?”
David pulled the phone from his ear. “What . . . oh, you want to give them directions?” He went back to the phone. “Okay, this young lady is going to give you directions.”
He handed the phone to Lia, who quickly described Moses’s injuries and relayed directions to the dispatcher. Unsure of how to hang up, she gave the phone back to David. “They’re coming,” she said, considerably reassured, but still worried for Moses. He must certainly be in agony. At least Felty and Anna were looking after him.
David slipped the phone into his pocket and gave Lia a fatherly smile. “Now, why don’t you come in our motor home, and we’ll clean up that cut?”
Lia refused to waste a minute of time on herself. “Thank you kindly, but I must get back up the hill to see how Moses is doing.”
“Moses? Is he the one who’s injured?” Colleen asked.
“He broke his leg, and the bone is sticking through the skin.”
David winced. “Ouch. Is he up there?” He pointed to the Helmuths’ house, which could be seen on the hill through the trees.
“Yes, I ran down to call an ambulance. Thank you again. I would still be running if you had not stopped, but I must go back now and tend to him.”
“That’s a long walk.”
Colleen jangled her keys. “At least let us drive you up the hill. Is there a road?”
“Yes, it’s fairly wide. But I do not want to impose.”
“Are you kidding?” Colleen said. “We came all the way out here to see Amish people. It’s a thrill to be talking to one.”
Lia couldn’t resist such enthusiasm. She cracked a smile.
“We’ll take that as a yes,” David said. “Climb in.”
David took Colleen’s hand, and Lia ambled behind, matching their slow pace. Perhaps it would have been faster to run back up the hill.
Lia had never been inside a motor home before. It was as cozy as a real house with a kitchen table and cupboards and even a fridge.
“This pulls out into a bed,” David said, motioning to different parts of his house on wheels. “And the bathroom is at the back.”
“The bathroom? You can carry your bathroom right along with you?”
“Yep. The lap of luxury.”
Colleen slid into the driver’s seat and revved up the engine. David sat on the bench across from Lia at the table. Lia’s heart pounded as she looked out the window—as big as the one in Anna’s kitchen. The motor home leaned and creaked as Colleen stepped on the gas. It almost felt like being on the lake in a wobbly canoe.
Lia had thought that Moses had a hard time turning his buggy around that day when they got stuck on the trail into the thick woods, but his difficulty paled in comparison to what Colleen had to go through to turn her motor home and maneuver it up the lane. Turning the huge vehicle completely around took backing up and pulling forward seven times and then Colleen had to slow to one mile an hour to pass over the dip where the pavement ended and the lane up Huckleberry Hill began.
They were finally bouncing up the hill with Lia holding her breath the whole way. She was terrified the huge vehicle would tip over any minute with all the pitching back and forth it did on the uneven lane. She almost asked Colleen to stop and let her get out so she wouldn’t die, but David and Colleen seemed unconcerned about the rough ride, so she laced her fingers tightly together, clenched her teeth, and pretended to enjoy the trip.
Lia saw the chickens scatter and heard Sparky bark as the rolling house pulled to the top of the hill. Would Colleen be able to turn this thing around to get back down? They might be stuck up there for a long time.
David pointed toward the house. “Park off to the side so the ambulance has room.”
“David’s a dentist,” Colleen said as she brought the vehicle to a stop. “He might be able to help.”
Lia jumped from the bench as soon as the motor home jerked to a stop. “Jah, come, if you like. I appreciate the ride so much.” She popped open the door and was running as soon as she met the ground.
The barn door stood open, and someone had managed to get Red into the stall. Pasty and sweating, Moses lay with his eyes closed and a grimace on his lips. Even with pain etched across his features, he was still as handsome as ever. Lia sighed inwardly and concentrated on his injury. His leg looked ghastly but the bleeding had stopped. A bright green afghan rested over him, and Anna had found him a pillow. Oh, dear. The pillow off Rachel’s bed. She would be extremely annoyed that it had spent the afternoon on the floor of the barn. Anna sat on the ground next to Moses—an amazing feat for someone her age—holding his hand.
“How is he?” Lia whispered, in case he was asleep.
Moses quirked the corners of his lips upward and spoke without opening his eyes. “I’ve been better.”
Anna tried to get to her feet by rocking side to side and propping her hands on the floor. She finally gave up and reached out to Lia. Lia clasped her hands tightly and pulled Anna to her feet. “I’m too old to sit on the floor. It used to be my favorite spot when my children were little. But I was a lot younger then.” She brushed the errant pieces of straw from her dress. “You are back long before I thought you would be.”
David and Colleen shuffled tentatively into the barn, letting their eyes adjust to the dimness.
“These people let me use their cell phone. The ambulance is on its way.”
Moses turned his head as best he could to see the Tolleys. He gave them a weak smile of acknowledgment.
Still stiff from sitting on the floor, Anna hobbled to David and Colleen. “We are so grateful for your kindness.”
Colleen beamed as if she were meeting a celebrity. “We should be thanking you. I am fascinated with the Amish. I never thought I’d get to meet you this close.”
“Then you had better stay for dinner.”
It might as well have been the best day of Colleen’s life. She clapped her hands and threw her arms around Anna. “We would be delighted.”
David stepped closer to Moses and took a look at his leg.
“Can you do anything else for him that I haven’t thought of?” Lia said.
David studied the injury for a few seconds. “No, but he has nice teeth.”
“Are you a doctor?” Moses asked breathlessly.
Lia bit her bottom lip. Moses must be suffering terribly. She found his pain unbearable.
“Only about ten more minutes,” Lia said, readjusting the half-melted bag of ice sitting below Moses’s knee.
Moses lifted his head and gasped in pain before sinking back to the pillow. “What happened to your arm?”
Lia shoved her injured arm behind her back. Moses didn’t need one more thing to burden him. “It’s nothing.”
“She needs stitches,” David said.
Moses frowned and furrowed his brow. “Did you fall?”
“You know how clumsy I am.”
“You are not clumsy.”
David nodded in agreement. “Tall girls are so graceful. And you have those beautiful, long fingers. One of my sons has long fingers like that. He plays the piano.”
Moses grinned at Lia until she averted her eyes. Why, lying flat on his back, could he make her feel so giddy and shy?
“I keep telling her that, but she won’t believe me,” Moses said. He held out his hand, gesturing for her to come closer. She extended her wounded arm and let Moses take her hand. His fingers were
ice cold, but warmth traveled up her arm at his touch. He turned her hand over in his palm so he could see her cut and pulled her closer so she had to kneel down next to him. “This looks almost as sore as my leg.”
“I’ve had worse.”
He turned her hand over again. The ugly, mottled scar covered the entire back of her hand. “I can see you have.”
Yes, I know how ugly my hand is. It is one of the reasons boys shrink from me. Believe me, Moses, I am fully aware of my many flaws.
Feeling as if someone had stolen her breath, she pulled away from his grasp, stood, and turned her back on him under the pretense of talking to Anna. She didn’t want him to see the hurt in her eyes. He hadn’t meant to humiliate her.
“Anna,” Lia said, unable to keep her voice from cracking, “where is Felty?”
Anna flicked a piece of hay from her sleeve. “Oh, he’s off trying to save the rattlesnake population of Wisconsin. Only through the good Lord’s intervention will he come back unharmed.”
Lia could not make heads or tails of this comment. Felty’s location was a mystery.
They heard the police car coming from the main road with its siren blaring. The noise got louder as it came up the lane.
“I think he can turn his siren off now,” Moses mumbled.
Lia ran out to meet the policeman, who turned out to be the sheriff who’d taken Saloma Miller to the hospital on Tuesday. He parked next to the formidable motor home and popped out of his car. “This isn’t another baby emergency, is it?”
Lia pointed inside the barn. “Moses has broken his leg. The bone is sticking through the skin. I am afraid he has lost a lot of blood.”
“Nasty,” said the sheriff. “You’ve seen a lot of blood this week.”
“Too much.”
“The ambulance should be right behind me. Let’s have a look.” He let Lia lead him to the barn. “How did things turn out with the pregnant lady? She could barely lift her head when we got her to the hospital, but she was alive. I heard she made it okay, but I didn’t know about the baby.”
“He is small, probably another three weeks in the hospital, but they are both well enough, thanks to you.”
The sheriff turned a dark shade of pink and hooked his thumbs into his belt. “Thanks to that midwife. She was very insistent. But I did get them there fast. Twelve minutes. A new record.”
The ambulance announced its approach before the sheriff had a chance to look at Moses. The bright white truck came into sight, spitting up dust and gravel as it raced up the hill.
Anna, Colleen, and David emerged from the barn, leaving Moses to fend for himself. Even Rachel made an appearance on the porch. She didn’t venture any closer to the gruesome sight in the barn, but she did telegraph her concern by blowing her nose loudly into her handkerchief.
Lia hurried into the barn and knelt beside Moses. “They’re here. Hopefully they can give you something for the pain.”
“At the moment, I’m sort of numb.”
Two paramedics rushed into the barn. Lia got out of their way. One carried a bulky plastic box and the other carried a black plastic board with Velcro straps. Probably a device to stabilize Moses’s leg before they moved him. One man opened the box, which held an impressive array of medical supplies, and each man snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. One paramedic asked Moses questions while shining a penlight into his eyes while the other recorded Moses’s pulse and took his blood pressure.
Anxious for Moses, Lia watched the beehive of activity. The paramedics spoke over their radio in some sort of code that Lia could not begin to understand. With the sheriff’s assistance, they had an IV in Moses’s arm, his leg covered with gauze and strapped to the board, and Moses on a stretcher in a matter of minutes.
Lia felt helpless to comfort Moses as his face grew paler with each tug or bump he endured. For a moment she thought he had lost consciousness until he opened his eyes and stopped them from wheeling him out to the ambulance. “Lia must come with us. She needs stitches in her arm.”
The short paramedic hesitated and turned to Lia. Reluctantly, she lifted her arm so he could see the gash. “Okay. You can ride with us.” His bright eyes shone with compassion. “Two for the price of one.”
Once they wheeled him out of the barn, Moses winced as the stretcher bounced along the dirt to the waiting ambulance. Lia caught up to him and grabbed his hand.
“I’m a big baby,” he said, panting and grimacing all the way.
Lia raised her eyebrows. “You should be bawling your eyes out. I saw the leg.”
“Oh, Moses!” Rachel called from the porch, before bursting into tears and ducking into the house.
Moses actually laughed. “Rachel can do my bawling for me. I am grateful she found me. If not for her, I’d still be lying in the barn yelling my lungs out.”
Lia didn’t welcome the pang of jealousy that attacked her. Of course Moses thought of Rachel at a time like this.
As Lia waited with Anna and the Tolleys, Felty, without a hat, trudged out of the woods using a rake as a walking stick and singing at the top of his lungs. “Life is like a mountain railroad, and the snakes are crawling ’round.” He waved at Anna and watched as the paramedics lifted Moses into the ambulance.
The corners of Anna’s mouth curled upward. “Well, he made it back alive.” Felty spread his arms wide, and Anna stepped into his embrace. “I sure hope that snake appreciates what you done for it.”
“It would have been a shame to kill such a handsome creature.”
“Where’s your hat?”
Felty arched his eyebrows in surprise and touched the top of his head. “Of all the crazy things, I lost my hat.” He shrugged his shoulders. “How’s Moses?”
“He should be all right, Lord willing. Lia is going with him to the hospital.”
David stepped forward and stuck out his hand. “I’m David Tolley, and this is my wife, Colleen.”
“Is this your contraption?” Felty asked, pointing to the motor home looming over his front yard.
“Yeah, we’ve driven this clear across the country.”
Anna patted Lia on the cheek. “Take care of Moses, and take care of yourself. I don’t want to see infection in that cut.”
Lia nodded and let one of the paramedics help her into the back of the ambulance. She watched Felty as he chatted with David Tolley. It appeared he would not worry himself to death over Moses.
Before they swung the ambulance doors closed, Lia saw Felty’s gaze roam over the motor home, and he smiled as if Anna had just given him a big kiss. “Utah! I don’t have a Utah.” The doors closed as he pulled his small notebook out of his pocket and cheerfully jotted his new discovery on the page.
Lia sat facing Moses as the ambulance backed up, found a place to turn around, and headed down the hill. She could tell that Moses fought to keep his eyes open. They must have given him something for the pain that made him drowsy.
With slow, deliberate movements, Moses found her hand and pressed it gently in his. Even though she didn’t pull away, she wished he wouldn’t do that. He was only looking for comfort, but to Lia, the touch of his hand meant much more. She savored his warmth even as she chastised herself for letting the feel of his hand upset her so.
He gave her a groggy smile and stroked his thumb across the lumpy back of her hand. “How did you get this burn?” She tried to pull away, but this time Moses held tight and wouldn’t let her. “I’ve sensed you’re self-conscious about it and I don’t want to embarrass you, but I’ve been wanting to ask about it for a long time. It looks like it must have been very traumatic.”
“Oh, yes, you don’t have to remind me how hideous it is.”
He opened his eyes wide enough to appear fully awake. “Hideous? I don’t think it looks hideous. It makes you look tough, like you’ve been through something really hard and come out unscathed.”
Lia laughed mirthlessly. “Unscathed.”
“I’m sorry you got burned like that. It must have been very
painful.”
Lia looked down at her hand in his. “I was ten. My brother, Perry, and I were horsing around near the water heater. I fell against the kettle.” Lia flinched as she remembered the searing agony. “They gave me a skin graft. And then I had to wear this funny glove for a year to help the skin grow back smooth. But it didn’t. Then I started growing. By the time I reached fourteen, I was as tall as I am now.” That was about the time Dat shifted all his attention to Rachel because he’d almost lost her. Rachel wanted for nothing, while Lia’s charge was to watch out for her delicate younger sister. If Rachel didn’t know how to roll out a piecrust, it was Lia’s fault for neglecting to teach her. If Rachel felt unhappy, Dat blamed Rachel’s discontent on Lia.
“I like tall girls,” he said, letting his eyes close, as if he were unable to keep them open for one more second.
He might like tall girls, but he wouldn’t marry one.
Lia held her breath as a wave of pain washed over her. She loved Moses Zimmerman. She loved his kindness and his cheerful spirit, and yes, even though appearance shouldn’t matter, his handsome face and tall, strong figure. She couldn’t imagine ever wanting anyone but Moses. No one else would measure up—literally.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to marry her or that he favored her sister or even that Lia was too plain to dream of such a match. She loved him. Her heart broke even as she realized how completely it belonged to him.
She clenched her teeth and took a deep breath, but it was no use. The tears escaped from her eyes like a wall of water from a broken dam, impossible to hold back. In hopes that Moses would be too wrapped up in his own pain to notice, she smeared the tears off her face with her free hand.
He squeezed her fingers and spoke with slurred consonants. “I’m so sorry. Is the pain very bad?”
The empty space in her chest ached with longing. “What?”
Huckleberry Hill Page 19