by Sarah Price
On Jacob’s side of the dwelling was a basement storm shelter. The metal doors rattled in the wind but both women could clearly see that they were latched from the inside. Sadie felt a wave of relief as she realized that it meant the family was safe. And she knew that Susie’s kinner had stayed over so, they too were safe from the treacherous tornado that was descending upon their farm.
As soon as Michelle slammed on the brakes and the van stopped, Sadie shoved open the door and raced to the shelter door, telling Michelle to follow her. The wind made it hard to see and she had to cover her eyes, glancing back just once to insure that Michelle was right behind her.
Banging on the shelter’s doors, Sadie screamed as loud as she could.“Leah! Thomas! Where is everyone?”She was certain that her voice could not be heard above the noise from the storm. It was too loud. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the clothes line that extended from Esther’s porch to the top of the barn, flapping in the wind, the few remaining clothes that were still pinned to it waving wildly. Just beyond the edge of the barn, she could see the swirling dark cloud begin to descend upon them, heading directly for the farm.
Michelle ran up to her, screaming in the wind,“We have to get inside, Sadie!”
Despite Michelle tugging at her arm, Sadie gave the cellar door one last desperate kick with her shoe, hoping that the noise would alert someone that they were outside. As if by miracle, the left side of the door moved and, within seconds, it flew open, the wind helping it, and a hand reached up.
Michelle pushed Sadie down the steps first and followed quickly behind as a large tree branch flew through the air and landed on the roof of the van. Without looking back, both women disappeared and the door slammed shut behind them, the latch quickly secured as the funnel from the tornado crept ever closer.
Book Three
Part One
But we have already been instructed
On which way we shall go,
And will not let ourselves be taught otherwise.
With God’s help, nothing at all
Shall turn us from this way.
This causes the devil in his kingdom,
The pope and also others likewise,
To be angry above measure
With us the small flock of Christ.
Their plan is defeated.
They storm and rage continuously,
Each group at their place,
Wanting to crush the truth
Godliness has no place among them,
But must suffer and be suppressed.
Ausbund Song 63, Verse 12-14
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them:
For the LORD thy God, he that doth go with thee;
He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (KJV)
The Aftermath
Destruction. Devastation. Everywhere. Debris from barns and homes scattered across the lands. Buildings destroyed within just a few short minutes. Roofs ripped apart with pieces scattered in the corn fields. Roads covered with broke tree limbs and branches. Intersections blocked by uprooted trees, their unearthed stumps creating craters on the sidewalks and their roots turned up toward the skies as if imploring the Creator for a quick and painless death.
But what about human lives? Had everyone survived? Broken branches, glass and other debris littered the grounds creating further hazards to those who must walk among the destruction to first survey the damage and then begin building their lives back toward normalcy.
An eerie calm hovered over the area. The kind of calm that either precedes or follows a storm. No laughter from playing kinner. No soothing flapping of laundry on the clothes line. No gentle humming of buggy wheels rolling down the road just beyond the driveway.
Instead, the family spent the day picking through the sticks, wire, glass torn clothing, and other debris stuck in bushes, paddocks, and fields. The kinner donned large work boots to prevent stepping on sharp objects as they walked in a bulls-eye, starting close to the house with their trash bags to begin collecting the garbage. Slowly, throughout the day and into the evening, they began to move further and further from the house, their ring of collection becoming broader.
No one complained about the work, the endless hours of labor. Not once.
“You hanging in there?” Thomas asked as he joined Leah on the porch. He reached out and put his arm around her shoulder, a comforting gesture.
Resting her head on his shoulder, she sighed. “Ugly. That’s what today was. Just plain old ugly.” She was thankful for the darkness for it hid her ashen face. Too much stress and emotion had robbed her of any joy.
Earlier, when they first emerged from the storm cellar, the damage did not seemed so great. Now, however, her heart pounded and the pain in her head throbbed at what she had learned throughout the day.
So much destruction, she thought. Just one storm.
“It will resolve itself,” Thomas sighed. “It always does.”
Leah disagreed, but she knew better than to contradict her husband. Instead, she merely stated the one fact that remained unspoken. “You reckon that the bishop will have to get involved now?”
For a split second, he did not respond. What words could he speak to comfort her? She knew the answer to that question: none.
Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I reckon so. Seems like a bishop matter to me. But mayhaps that’s not a bad thing.”
A cheerless laugh escaped her lips and she shook her head. It wasn’t funny, she knew that much. But she found humor in how easily Thomas offered that as a silver lining to the very dark cloud that hung over the family. “I fail to see why, Thomas,” she said bitterly.
“Vell, if he does find out and feels it necessary, there will be confessions,” he started, his hand gently massaging her tired shoulders. “Confessions are a good place to rebuild broken walls and foundations, don’t you think?”
“You can’t rebuild a city in one day.” The mocking tone of her voice sounded out of character and she looked away, refusing to apologize for what she knew was the truth. Thomas spoke of foundations in need of repair. A confession or two was not enough to repair the damage from the storm that had struck her family.
Earlier That Day
Leah watched as Thomas’s buggy navigated the debris in the driveway so that he could check on the neighbors and follow the path of the tornado to see if help was needed along the way. She stood there for a long time after the noise of the horse and buggy disappeared, her eyes following the trail of destruction through their fields. How close they had come to losing everything, she thought and said a quick silent prayer to God:
Our father, You are our comfort and strength
in times of sudden disaster.
Surround us now with Your grace and peace.
Lift up those who have fallen,
sustain those who work to rescue or rebuild,
and fill us with hope through
Jesus Christ, our rock and redeemer.
We ask these things in Your precious Holy name.
Amen
“Mamm?”
Her concentration interrupted, Leah turned around when she heard young voices calling for her from the direction of the house. Three little faces peered at her from the storm cellar, each with wide eyes and pale cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she tried to force a smile. “You can come out now!” Her eyes quickly scanned the sky. “Just stay close to the house now. Just in case.”
In case of what? She wasn’t certain. Did tornados strike in pairs? She wasn’t about to take any chances. Still, the thought struck her as she realized that Thomas was out there in a buggy. Should another tornado touch down, he would not have a chance to outrun it. A new wave of worry washed over her and she felt her heart racing.
Michelle and Sadie emerged next from the storm cellar. God had surely been watching over those two sheep, Leah thought as she watched them. Michelle helped Sadie and held onto her arm as they walked toward Leah, stepping ov
er branches and pieces of boards with protruding nails that had broken off from the damaged barn.
“Careful,” she called out.
Michelle shook her head as she approached. A large tree branch lay across the van’s crushed roof. Had they not escaped in time they would have been severely injured, if not killed. “So scary,” she mumbled.
“You’ll have to call for a ride,” Leah pointed out. “You need to check on your own family.”
“Mamm!”
At the sound of the high-pitched voice, the three women turned their heads in unison to stare at Sarah who stood on the porch with her older sister, Rebecca. “The back windows are all broken! There’s glass everywhere!”
“Then stay away from it, please!” Leah tried to temper the tone in her voice, but her nerves were shot and she didn’t need to be plucking glass shards out of the kinner’s feet. “Rebecca, keep those young ones out of the house for now! Go pick up sticks from the driveway!”
“Have you checked on the store, yet?”
Leah glanced at Sadie and frowned. No one had thought to check on Whoopie Pie Place. The building sat behind the barn and was harder to see from their vantage point. With a simple nod of her head, she walked up the slight incline toward the back of the barn, too aware that both Sadie and Michelle were following her.
“Oh Lord!”
She almost fell to her knees when she saw the store and a strangled cry escaped her throat.
Whoopie Pie Place was gone.
She envisioned what happened while they had all sought safety in the storm cellar. The winds from the tornado ripped the door from the hinges and it was gone. Vanished. Leah imagined that it was in the field somewhere, most likely in hundreds of pieces. The roof that covered the front porch hung over the side, pieces of it missing. From where she knelt, she could see inside the gaping hole where the window had been: the inside of the store was completely destroyed.
Reaching out her hand, she grasped Sadie’s arm and whispered, “It’s over.” Swallowing her tears, she tried to get a hold of herself.
In her mind, she could still see it: the day the store was finished. In her memory, she saw her mamm, so pleased with the store when it first opened. She saw her daed standing behind her, his chest puffed forward with unusual pride as he watched his fraa admiring his handy work. Mamm slowly stepped onto the porch, her fingers tracing the carved sign that rested against the wall for Daed didn’t want to hang it until told exactly where to put it. With a soft smile, Mamm turned around and looked at her husband, her eyes misting over as she simply said, “Danke.” It was enough. To say much more would be prideful. But they all had understood what she meant.
Leah clasped her younger schwester’s hand and chocked back a sob. “The store is…” She couldn’t complete the sentence as she blinked rapidly and fought the tears. It was too much for her to handle.
“Leah, we will rebuild it.” Sadie’s matter-of-fact tone did little to reassure Leah. “We have no choice, Schwester.”
Leah felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at Michelle. There were no words that she could say to express what she was feeling inside. Everything that their mamm had worked for and had left to the Miller sisters was ruined. A wasted shell of a building remained in its place. And that was exactly how Leah felt: like a wasted shell of a person.
Whoopie Pie Place
They stepped over the broken glass, Leah glancing over her shoulder to make certain that the kinner remained outside. She warned them earlier to stay away from the building for she was uncertain how safe it truly was. She had waited almost an hour for Thomas to return. When he did not, she knew that it was up to her to assess what, if anything, could be salvaged.
Sadie stood there, her arms wrapped protectively around the two smallest kinner. Her face was pale and her eyes wide with fright. Despite trying to talk Leah into waiting for the men, Sadie had known that nothing would stop her schwester from going into that store.
“Now stay put,” Leah warned one last time. The glass on the porch cracked under her boots and she pushed at a board that was hanging from the beams.
“Be careful!”
Leah shot a look over her shoulder at Sadie, but did not reply, before she disappeared inside the remains of the store.
The front room was a mess. She caught her breath and lifted her hand to her mouth, covering it to stop the gasp that threatened to escape. Shelves were ripped from the walls. The glass display case had shifted from its place and was shattered. The cash register lay on its side on the floor, covered in glass and papers.
The door to the kitchen hung from its hinges. Carefully, Leah slipped through the opening, a nail catching on her sleeve and ripping the fabric. Insult to injury, she thought as she freed herself.
She was not prepared to see the destruction to the kitchen. There was a hole in the back wall where the window had been. Glass lay scattered on the floor. But it was the work area that took her by surprise. Everything was broken, piled in a heap near the far wall. Bags of flour and sugar were everywhere, some torn, others damaged from the rain that had followed the twister. Timber from the ceiling crushed the ovens and she couldn’t even make her way to the storage room that was off to the side.
“Leah?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “I told you to stay outside!” she shouted back.
It was too late. Sadie stood behind her and cried out when she saw the kitchen. “Oh Leah!”
A flash of anger flooded Leah. Her nerves were raw and the last thing she needed was just one more person leaning on her for support. When, she thought wryly, will I get to lean on someone? “Don’t ‘Oh Leah’ me,” she snapped. “There’s not one thing I can do to make this any better.”
Sadie took a step backward at Leah’s harsh words.
“This just about does it!” Leah continued, waving her arm to knock a bowl that was resting atop a pile of debris. “This is the last straw!”
“Calm down, Leah,” Sadie whispered.
“I will not calm down!” She spun around, broken glass crackling under her shoes. She felt out of control and, for once, didn’t fight the feeling. “I am tired, Sadie! Tired of holding this family together! Tired of dealing with problems and issues, emotions and outbursts! The bickering between those two,” she said, waving her finger in the air as she indicated Susie and Lydia, even though they were not there to defend themselves. “It’s more than I can handle. I’m done. I’m finished. I quit!”
“Leah!”
She narrowed her eyes. “Leah what?”
“You don’t know what you say,” Sadie offered softly. “God will never give us more than we can handle.”
“Ja vell, He did this time!” She gestured at the mess behind her. “This is way more than I can handle!”
Another voice called out from just beyond the door. “Leah? Sadie? Are you all right in there?”
“We’re fine, Esther,” Sadie called back, knowing that it would do no one any good to see Leah in such a state. “Give us a minute. Just stay with the kinner.”
For a long moment, Leah and Sadie stood there, no words necessary between them. The mess before them seemed daunting, as if there was no possible way to start cleaning it. While the frustration that Leah felt was great, she knew that there was something even greater: God’s goodness.
She sighed, her shoulders falling as she accepted the defeat that she felt.
“Sadie, I’m ever so sorry,” she said softly. “You’re right. God does not give us burdens that we cannot handle. My shoulders are strong. The kinner are safe, our house is standing, and God is my light. We will overcome this, if that is His will.” She looked over her shoulder and forced a smile at her schwester. Reaching out, she took Sadie’s hand and squeezed it gently. Leave it to her, Leah thought, the peacemaker among the family. Always there to calm down the tempest in all of them.
“Danke, Sadie,” she said. “Now, let’s go back outside and figure out a plan of how to tackle this…” She glance
d around at the remains of the store, a disgusted look on her face. “…This reminder that we are not in control.”
Sadie smiled and reached out for Leah’s hand. She squeezed it gently, giving her whatever little strength she had left. In response, Leah took a deep breath and nodded her head. As unfortunate as the situation appeared, she knew that worse things happened to others. No matter what she felt, God gave her broad shoulders for a reason. She could handle this, just as she had handled everything else in recent years. Tragedy and life could not be separated any more than joy and life could.
Together, they walked hand-in-hand through the front of the store and outside, trying to smile so that the others would not feel the weight of the world that lay on Leah’s shoulders.
Leah
“Jacob, I don’t really have time to talk about this right now.”
She no longer tried to hide the frustration that she felt. After all, this was the third time she had said those very words to her brother. Her frustration grew from his inability to either comprehend or accept that she actually meant what she said. There was no time for his personal problems today. Instead, all hands needed to focus on the task at hand: recovering from the storm.
Jacob, however, felt otherwise. Clearly, his mind spun in circles, focusing not on the damage from the tornado. Instead, he focused on the storms of his past. While others helped with the cleanup, Jacob wandered around, restless and confused, occasionally seeking out Leah to mumble the same request as he wrung his hands and stared at the ground.
“For the last time, what you tell Esther is between you and your fraa,” Leah said sharply. She didn’t like using such a sharp tone with him but her nerves were shot. With so much cleanup in progress, Jacob had no right to burden her with his problems. “And what you decide to do in regard to finding the mamm of that boy is between you and God. I’d be more concerned about the one than the other.” She frowned when he hesitated at her words. “And, to be clear, I’m not talking about fearing Esther!”