by Beth Wiseman
As Rebecca stepped onto the ice, she watched her sister zoom by.
“About time, slowpoke!” Lizzie called, laughing as she executed a sloppy twirl.
There were two other skaters on the pond, boys she and Lizzie had gone to school with. While Rebecca skated by herself, Lizzie and the others played tag and generally whooped it up.
Rebecca felt her skate boot wobble and skated over to the log to retie her laces.
“Hi.”
Looking up, Rebecca saw Ben. “Hi. What are you doing here? You don’t have any skates.”
He shrugged. “I was on my way home. Thought I’d stop and watch for a few minutes.” He gazed out at the ice. “Lizzie’s sure having fun.”
Rebecca felt herself withdraw. Yes, people usually noticed Lizzie with her vibrant personality. Bending, she retied her skate.
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself out there,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone skate as well as you.”
“You should have seen the movie Lizzie and I saw. The skaters were amazing.” She remembered the costumes the skaters had worn. They were short and colorful and so formfitting, like nothing she’d ever imagined. Looking down at her own long dress, she wondered how it would feel to move without the restriction of a long skirt.
There was loud laughter out on the ice. Rebecca looked up to see that the two boys and Lizzie had joined hands and were doing the whip, with Lizzie at the end. Faster and faster they skated, and Lizzie was laughing, her skirts flowing out behind her.
“Faster!” she shrieked. “Faster, faster!”
Then she lost her grip, and she was hurtling toward the farthest edge of the pond. Her shriek was cut off as her foot must have hit a rough patch and she went sprawling.
And then they heard it—an awful crack! and the splash of water as Lizzie vanished from sight.
Ben was the first to move, running and slipping toward the hole in the ice. Rebecca jumped to her feet and raced over on her skates.
“Get back!” Ben cried as he stopped near the edge of the hole. “It’s not safe!”
“Lizzie!” Rebecca screamed. “Lizzie!”
Ben lay down on his stomach and edged toward the hole. Turning his head, he called to the boys to hold his legs as he inched forward, calling Lizzie’s name.
Lizzie popped to the surface, gasping, and Ben grasped one arm, then the other, and dragged her toward him. But she slipped from his grasp once, twice, before he was able to grab the neck of her dress and pull her toward him.
Rebecca and the boys inched back and back until Lizzie had been pulled from the water and they were all safely away from the edge of the hole. Then one of the boys ran for help.
Her face was so white, her body so still. Rebecca felt for a pulse. “She’s not breathing!”
Ben pushed Rebecca aside and turned Lizzie to her side, pressing on her back. Water flowed from Lizzie’s mouth, but her chest didn’t move. He began pushing on her chest and then breathing into her mouth. Rebecca had never seen anyone do such.
“Breathe, Lizzie!” she cried hoarsely. “Please, God, make her breathe!”
A siren blared down the road, getting louder and louder as it approached. An ambulance screeched to a halt, and men came running.
Tears ran down Rebecca’s cheeks as she remembered that day.
“Oh, Lizzie, I miss you so much.”
She wiped her tears away from her cheeks with her hands. Looking upward, she shook her head. “Mamm always said you’d get to heaven first if you weren’t more careful.”
There was a splash of color on the bank of the pond near her, a purple crocus struggling up through the snow. It was a tiny reminder that spring was coming. Reaching over, she plucked it up.
Rising, she skated over to the center of the pond. “‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven,’” she recited. “‘A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted’ . . . and a time to heal. Goodbye, Lizzie,” she whispered, and she threw the flower over to the place where Lizzie had fallen through the ice.
She heard something behind her. Turning, she saw a buggy pull to the side of the road and a man get out, waving his arms frantically. Frowning, she squinted to see better.
It was Ben.
What was she doing?
Ben couldn’t believe his eyes as he drove his buggy down the road to the Millers’ house. That was Rebecca, skating out in the middle of the pond.
Didn’t she know that no one had skated there since last week, that the pond was showing signs of an early thaw? A sign had been posted, but he didn’t see it now.
As soon as he could get his horse to stop, he jumped from the buggy and began yelling and waving his arms. She must have heard him because she turned.
He didn’t hear the car coming until he heard the screech of brakes. Turning, he saw the driver fighting for control as the car slid on the thin ice covering the road. Ben threw himself toward the side of the road, but he felt the bumper hit his hip and toss him high in the air. His breath rushed out as he slammed down in the snow and his head hit something hard.
He woke. His head hurt, and someone was screaming his name.
Rebecca came into view and knelt by his side. She was praying as she put her hands on his face.
He reached up his hand and touched her cheek. “I’m okay.” To prove it, he tried to sit up, but he fell back and passed out.
The driver of the car, a middle-aged woman, came running over with a blanket to cover Ben.
“I called 911 on my cell phone. They’ll be here any minute.” She wrung her hands. “He ran right in front of my car. I tried to stop, but the car slid on the road.”
“I know. I saw.” Rebecca took the blanket and tucked it around Ben. She didn’t know how much good it was going to do. He was lying in the snow.
The woman looked up and down the road. “Why aren’t they here yet?” She wrung her hands as she turned to Rebecca. “What else can we do?”
“There’s another blanket in the buggy.”
The woman ran for it, then glanced at Rebecca’s feet. “You’re wearing skates,” she said. “I’ll go get your shoes.”
Rebecca put the second blanket on Ben and tried not to think about how the wait for the ambulance for him felt even longer than the one for Lizzie had. She busied herself with unlacing her skates and pulling on her boots.
As she waited, Rebecca wondered why Ben had been making such a commotion, yelling and waving his arms at her instead of walking to the pond to talk to her. It wasn’t like him.
She was so absorbed in watching for the faintest movement from him, a flicker of his eyes opening or his hand stirring under hers, that she didn’t realize at first that the woman had knelt in the snow beside her. “What is it?”
“I’m so sorry . . .”
Rebecca patted her hand. “I saw what happened. I don’t know why Ben didn’t watch what he was doing.”
“You know him?”
Nodding, Rebecca touched his face with hands that shook. His face was so cold.
The woman gave her an impulsive hug. “This must be so hard for you. Thank you for not blaming me.”
Rebecca took a deep breath, lifted her shoulders, then let them fall. “It wasn’t your fault. But even if it had been, it’s not our way.”
The police and paramedics arrived, and within minutes Ben was carefully loaded up into the ambulance and Rebecca was allowed to climb in with him for the ride to the hospital. They seemed to assume she was his wife, and she didn’t bother to tell them any different.
After all, if she hadn’t been such an idiot, she’d be engaged to him by now.
At the hospital she was separated from him. She filled out the paperwork as best as she could and went to sit in the waiting room.
She felt so guilty. This was what she got for not being afraid and skating, she thought. Ben had been driving to her house to talk to her, and he’d se
en her and become upset enough to walk into the path of the car.
The antiseptic smell of the hospital was bringing back awful memories. To distract herself, Rebecca looked at the program on the television. A man was reading some news stories, and then there was a woman standing before an animated map of the state. She talked about spring coming early.
Engulfed in worry and guilt over Ben, Rebecca realized why Ben might have been creating a commotion—had he worried that the ice wasn’t frozen enough to skate on?
Samuel and Emma came rushing in at that moment, looking frantic, and a nurse took them back to Ben. They are family and I’m not, Rebecca thought, sinking down into her chair. If things had gone differently, she would have been regarded as family; she would be able to go see him.
All she could do now was sit here and think the worst. No, she told herself. That was not all she could do. She could pray. Bending her head, she asked God to please heal Ben, to make him well.
When she opened her eyes, Emma was taking a seat next to her. “He hasn’t regained consciousness yet. They’re doing some tests.” She traced the rose design on the wooden cane in her hands. “Ben made it for me. Rose is my middle name.” Tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
Ben had made a thing of beauty out of a simple piece of wood to help ease her steps, Rebecca thought. He didn’t always have the words. But it was obvious that he had the heart.
Grabbing some tissues from a box near her, she pressed them into Emma’s hands. Then she put her arms around the older woman.
“He’s going to be okay. He’s got to be.”
“Rebecca!”
“Mamm! Daed!” She threw herself into their arms. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Amos turned to Emma. “How is he?”
“They’re doing tests. Samuel is back there with him.” She paused, her lips trembling. “They don’t think he’s in a coma, but he hasn’t woken up yet.”
They all looked up as a nurse came approached. “Would you come back with me?” she asked Emma.
Rebecca was able to wait until Emma had left the room, but then her tears started. “I can’t go back. I’m not family.”
Naomi urged her down into her chair and sank into the chair that Emma had vacated. “I know, liebschen. I know.”
“God wouldn’t take Ben, would He? It’s not fair! I lost Lizzie. I shouldn’t have to lose Ben too.”
She looked up to see her parents exchange a look.
“I know, I was so foolish. I should have told him how I felt. I was going to, today. He was coming to see me.” With tears hitching her breath, she told them what had happened.
“You were skating?” her daed asked, his voice sounding funny.
“Ya.” She watched the color drain from his face.
“Signs were posted on the pond last week. The ice is melting early. No one’s supposed to be skating on it.”
“There was no sign,” she whispered, staring at them in shock. “Someone must have taken it.” A strange feeling swept over her. So that was why Ben had been so upset, why he hadn’t watched out for his own safety. He was trying to warn her.
“I decided I didn’t want to be afraid anymore.” She swallowed hard. If not for Ben, her parents might at this moment be mourning the loss of a second daughter. “I was saying good-bye to Lizzie,” she said. The tears started again. “I can’t say good-bye to him too.”
Her mamm patted her back. “Don’t think that way. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”
The nurse came out again. “Rebecca? Would you come back with me?”
It had to be good news, she thought as she jumped to her feet. She glanced at her parents, and they gave her reassuring smiles.
“We’ll pray for him,” they promised.
He saw her skating like a graceful bird on the pond, and for a long moment, he just stood and enjoyed the sight of her gliding across the ice. He didn’t know anyone else who could do such twirls and turns and leaps on the ice. She was a beautiful bird that soared.
Then he saw the ice opening and Rebecca—no, it was Lizzie—no, it was Rebecca—screaming and falling into the icy water. He tried running to save her, but his feet were sliding on the snowy road and he couldn’t get to her. Something hit him, and he flew into the air, but not like a bird, for he fell hard and hit his head.
Everything was so mixed up. His head and his hip hurt and he was so cold. And there was a funny smell to the air. He told himself he needed to get up and make sure Rebecca was safe. He had to get up before she was lost forever.
“Rebecca!” he called urgently. “Rebecca!”
“Shh, I’m here. I’m here.”
He opened his eyes and saw Rebecca sitting beside his bed.
“I’m here,” she whispered. Tears were sliding down her cheeks. “You scared me to death.”
“You’re okay? I’m not dreaming?”
“I’m okay.”
“You scared me,” he told her. “No one was supposed to be skating on the pond.”
“I didn’t know.” She bit her lip and shook her head. “But you’re the one who got hurt.” Brushing at her tears, she got up.
“Don’t go!”
“I’m not. I promised the nurse and your parents that I’d let them know when you woke up. I’ll be right back.”
If he woke up had been on the minds of all of them, even though the doctor had assured them that while Ben had a concussion, he didn’t think he was in a coma.
Rebecca went just a few steps out of the room and caught the attention of a passing nurse.
“I’ll get the doctor,” the woman assured her.
“And his parents?”
The nurse nodded and rushed away.
Rebecca returned to Ben’s room and stood by the side of his bed. He held out his hand, and she took it. “I want to explain about Dr. Prato,” he said.
“Not now,” she told him, squeezing his hand. “It’s not important. I need to tell you something before everyone comes in.” She paused, took a deep breath. “Before I lose my nerve.”
Don’t be afraid!
“Ask me again, Ben Weaver. Ask me to marry you.”
His expression was a little wary. “You’re not feeling sorry for me?”
“No. If you don’t want me, I imagine that Mary Ann will be around very shortly.”
“Don’t you dare!” he said, some of the old sparkle showing in his eyes. He tried to sit up, but it felt like his head would fall off. “Come here.”
She moved closer.
“I fumbled when I asked if you’d marry me before,” he said quietly. “But I know how I feel. I love you, Rebecca. I should have told you that when I asked you to be mei fraa.”
Those were the best words, she thought, and her eyes filled. “And I love you!”
He pulled her toward him for a kiss.
The door opened. Rebecca jumped back guiltily and spun around to stare into the faces of both sets of parents.
“Uh, Ben’s awake,” she told them.
“Ya,” Samuel said dryly.
“She was attacking me,” Ben joked.
“Stop that!” she hissed and felt herself blushing.
“Does this mean what I think it means?” Emma asked, smiling as she walked toward them.
Grinning, Ben nodded. “Ya, Rebecca asked me to marry her.”
“Ben!”
His grin faded, and he looked at her with such love in his eyes. “I told her what I should have weeks ago. I love her.”
Rebecca was so relieved he was all right, so glad they had a life ahead of them, she bent and kissed him in front of all the parents and the doctor who’d come into the room.
“Congratulate us,” she said with a smile. “Ben and I are engaged.”
A PLACE OF HIS OWN
By Kathleen Fuller
Chapter One
“AMANDA, THOMAS PINCHED ME!”
“I don’t wike peas.”
“Waaaah!”
Amanda Graber survey
ed the chaos swirling in the kitchen as she tried to get supper on the table and corral her six much younger brothers and sisters. None of them were cooperating.
“Thomas, leave Andrew alone.” She set down a warm loaf of freshly baked bread in the center of the long oak table. “Christopher, you only have to eat four peas. You can manage that.” She bent down and picked up her youngest sibling, Jacob, kissing the small red mark where he had bumped his forehead when he fell on the kitchen floor. “All better?”
He nodded, then sniffed.
Amanda wiped two big teardrops from underneath his large blue eyes, then handed him to Rachel. “Put Jacob in his high chair,” she said, giving the tot a quick tap on his chubby cheek. She leaned against the counter and wiped her damp forehead with the back of her hand despite the cool fall breeze wafting through the open window.
The clip-clop of their father’s horse and buggy reached her ears. Turning to Andrew and Thomas, she said, “Daed’s home. Please go outside and help him with the horse. And, Thomas, no more pinching!”
Twenty minutes later everyone, including Mamm, settled down to eat. Amanda placed a bowl of steaming mashed and buttered potatoes on the table, then took her place next to her sister Hannah. Daed cleared his throat, the signal for everyone to quiet down and bow their heads.
Amanda listened and prayed along as her father blessed the meal. After saying amen, she sat back and watched her family pile their plates with the food she’d prepared for supper. Thick slices of meat loaf and the vegetables, along with bread and butter, quickly disappeared from the serving dishes.
“Amanda?”
She turned at the sound of her mother’s voice. “Ya, Mamm?”
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Dark shadows underscored Katharine Graber’s brown eyes.
“Ya, I’ll have something in a minute.” She regarded her mother for a moment. “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m feeling fine. Just a little tired.”
Amanda glanced at her mother again before looking at the empty white plate in front of her. Lately her mother had seemed more than a little tired, and she couldn’t help but worry about her. As she neared the end of her pregnancy, her mamm seemed to be having a more difficult time with this baby than she’d had with the other ones. Amanda silently prayed for both her mother and the unborn child’s safety.