The Bridge of Peace

by Cindy Woodsmall

  Grey bounded up the steps and jerked the screen door open. Peter stood in the center of the classroom, inches from Lennie.

  “What is going on here?” Grey strode into the room. “You!” He pointed at Peter. “Sit down.” Grey stood there, daring Peter to do otherwise.

  When Peter balked for a moment before taking his seat, Grey’s blood pounded harder against his temples. “This behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Is that clear?”

  “Ya,” Peter mumbled.

  “Excuse me? I had no problem hearing you earlier.”

  “Ya,” Peter said clearly.

  All eyes were on Grey, and he tried to gain control of himself, but this kid did not begin to understand the boundaries he’d crossed. “Elsie, would you take the other children outside for a few minutes? Lena and I need to talk with Peter. Then I want to talk to everyone.”

  Elsie motioned, and the children exited quietly and quickly.

  Grey paced the room before feeling calm enough to grab two folding chairs. He set them next to Peter. “If you don’t want to be at school, I can arrange for that.”

  Lennie took a seat. “I want you here, Peter. I really do think you’re more capable of learning than a lot of boys your age. We just haven’t figured out how you learn best yet.”

  Grey blinked, trying to accept what Lennie had just said. Was she serious? “Before we do anything else, you give Lena an apology, a sincere one.”

  Peter looked at Lennie like she disgusted him.

  Grey smacked the boy’s desk. “You apologize now.”

  Peter folded his arms and stared at his desk.

  Grey wanted to drag him out of the school and refuse him the right to return, but clearly Lennie felt differently. “We’ll sit here until you can humble yourself enough to apologize.”

  Peter slumped in his desk, and Grey used the passing minutes to gain control of himself. Lennie sat there so poised, appearing ready to forgive and start with Peter again. As he considered her belief in others, he found it easier to calm down. Hadn’t she had the same determined belief in her own brother?

  Grey had been ready to give up on Allen during his wild days, but Lennie had never faltered. She never let him off the hook, always holding him responsible for his behavior, but at the same time she never quit believing he could become even more than she could imagine. And Allen became a good man. It wasn’t who Peter was today that made her want to teach him. It was her belief in who he could become if he only wanted to.

  Children’s voices chanted and laughed from the playground. Lennie rose and went to the window.

  She gasped. “Dear Father, no!” She spun around. “Grey! Go. Go.” She pointed at the door, and they both ran.

  He made it outside first and searched for what had her so upset but saw nothing.

  Lennie passed him, pointing. “The pasture. The bull.”

  One glance and his body halted. His wife stood in the field some two hundred feet out, facing the bull while waving her arms. Two young boys were even farther out in the field.

  “Get to the fence!” Elsie screamed at the boys while trying to distract the animal. The bull headed for his wife, and the boys ran for the closest fence, but they had hundreds of feet to cross before they’d get there.

  Grey took off running and scaled the barbed-wire barrier with no effort.

  Staying outside the fence, Lennie dashed to the area where the boys were heading. “Here!” she screamed while running, motioning for them. “Elsie, run a zigzag … a zigzag!”

  “And head for the tree!” Grey clapped his hands. “Hey! Hey! Over here!” he screamed with all his might, trying to get the bull’s attention.

  The bull remained focused on Elsie, chasing her farther and farther from Grey.

  “Elsie! Cut left! Go behind the tree!”

  The bull picked up speed. All of Grey’s motions seemed awkward and slow. As he continued running toward her, he watched the bull plow full force into his wife’s back. Her body was lifted into the air, and then landed with a thud. The bull lowered his head and stomped her.

  “No!” Grey rammed his shoulder into the bull’s side, trying to get its attention. It didn’t seem to even notice what he’d done. He kicked the bull’s underbelly, and finally it turned. Grey cut right, hoping the bull would follow but not stomp on Elsie in the process. His idea worked. Sprinting toward the tree, he shifted right, then left, slowing the bull’s ability to catch up to him. The bull snorted, slinging its head as it ran. Once behind the tree, he shifted one way and then the other, able to keep the bull from getting to him.

  A quick glimpse of his wife made him want to scream out in pain. He’d made the bull follow him, but he couldn’t help his wife. She lay sprawled on the ground, and Grey wanted to kill the stupid beast that separated the two of them. Lennie bolted for Elsie. While Lennie hurried across the field, Elsie slowly eased to her hands and knees, trying to get up.

  The bull stomped and snorted, kicking up dust as it dodged one way and then the other, trying to get to him. He longed to get a good look at his wife, but every time he tried to see her, the bull came at him. Still he caught glimpses of her.

  Elsie only looked addled and weak, but what had the two-thousand-pound, thick-skulled beast done to her insides? By the time Lennie arrived, Elsie had staggered to her feet. She wrapped her arm over Lennie’s shoulder, and they made their way toward the fence.

  His heart pounded like mad as he kept moving and screaming at the bull to keep its attention. It seemed to take Lennie and Elsie a week to get to the fence. Finally arriving, Elsie got on the ground and rolled under it.

  The bull moved one way and then another, clearly wanting to get past the tree between them. Grey had to find a way to get to his wife. She needed medical help. He considered trying to outrun the bull, but the distance from here to the closest fence was too great. A clanging sound echoed again and again, and he realized he’d been hearing that noise since entering the pasture. From the backside of the field, near the broken fence, Grey saw the silhouette of a man coming toward him. The sun’s rays hindered his view, but the man hollered and clanged metal objects together as he ran. When he drew close, the bull turned to the new distraction. Concern for whether the man could outrun the bull caused Grey to stay put.

  “Go,” the voice hollered while banging the objects together. “Get to safety, and take care of my sister.”

  Aaron.

  The moment his brother-in-law had the creature’s full attention, Grey ran for his wife.

  “Jacob.” Lena crawled out of the field on her hands and knees. “Get Grey’s horse. Unfasten it from the carriage, and remove everything but the bridle. Bring it here right away.”

  Elsie swayed, and Lena helped her ease to the ground, wishing Dry Lake didn’t sit so far from a hospital. Dozens of thoughts competed for her attention as she tried to prioritize what needed to be done. No blood on Elsie’s body. No bones protruding through the skin. Elsie quaked. Her lips had no color. Her eyes seemed unable to focus. Someone had to get to a phone and quick. “Mandy, you and Rachel take the children into the schoolhouse. Someone get me the blankets we use for sitting on during story time.”

  Mandy and Rachel began doing as they’d been told.

  Jacob’s voice broke through the commotion. “Get off the horse, Peter! She sent me.”

  Mounted on Grey’s horse, Peter brought the animal to a stop about ten feet from her and Elsie. “I’ll get to a phone and call for help. I’m faster on a horse,” Peter said.

  Torn between distrust and something unknown tugging at her, Lena shook her head. Mandy had taken a good bit of time to get to Ephraim’s the other day, but she’d done the job as told. Jacob would too. Should she go herself? As horsemen went, she could outride all her siblings. She rose to her feet and took the horse by one rein.

  Peter jerked at the reins, and the horse backed up. “I can do this.” His voice cracked. “Please, let me do this.”

  For a brief moment L
ena saw a repentant child who couldn’t undo what his actions had set in motion. But did that make him trustworthy? She’d seen him ride bareback, and he could handle a horse better and go faster than she could. “Go. The closest phone is at Ephraim’s shop, and tell him we need the parents to come get their children.”

  Grey leaped over the fence and knelt beside his wife. “Elsie.” He drew deep breaths, too winded to speak.

  Lena choked back her emotions. “I’ve sent … one of the boys to call for an ambulance. He’s bareback on your horse.”

  Grey stroked his wife’s face. “Can you tell me what hurts the most?”

  Elsie tapped the center of her chest. “My heart.” Tears rolled down the sides of her head. She licked her lips, giving color to her mouth. “All my married years of scrubbing and cleaning. All trying to make others see how perfect I was.” She tugged at Grey’s suspender. “In a week no one will ever be able to tell.” She licked her lips again. “Except the one who’s carried my imperfection with silence and honor.”

  “I’ll scrub and clean every day,” Grey murmured. “The cabinets and the walls and anything else while you recuperate.”

  Was that blood on her mouth? Rachel brought several blankets and held them out.

  Lena took them. “Denki. Go on back now, and help the younger ones.”

  Rachel left. Lena knelt on the other side of Elsie and covered her with the blankets. She ran her finger over Elsie’s wet lips. Blood. Hoping Elsie had only split the inside of her mouth when she hit the ground, Lena turned Elsie’s head slightly, looking at her ear. Blood. She wiped the fluid from her earlobe and studied it, wishing.…

  Lena’s eyes met Grey’s. “No. Do you hear me? I said no.”

  His desperation broke her heart, and Lena’s tears fell onto Elsie’s grubby dress. Grey couldn’t admit it, but they both knew Elsie was bleeding internally.

  And there was nothing they could do but wait, hoping the ambulance would arrive in time.

  Elsie shook as if she were in icy water. She closed her eyes, and Lena slapped the back of her hands. “She can’t go to sleep. We’ve got to keep her awake.” But Elsie didn’t respond.

  Grey sat on the ground, cradling her in his arms. “Elsie,” he whispered, and she opened her eyes. “Don’t you dare leave me now, not after …”

  Elsie whispered something. Lena stood and slipped away unnoticed, praying help would arrive soon.

  Cold sweat covered Grey. His body shook, and his mind raged against what was happening. “You’ll be okay, Elsie. Help’s coming. Just … just stay with me. Please.”

  She closed her eyes.

  “No. Stay awake. Listen to me … please.” He tucked the blankets around her, feeling desperation like never before. His heart railed at him, despised him for not doing more for their marriage sooner.

  Dear God, please. Don’t let this happen to us. We’ve been such idiots. Forgive me.

  Pleadings screamed inside him, but nothing changed his reality. He wiped a trickle of blood from the side of her mouth.

  Please, God.

  “Elsie,” he called to her loudly, and she opened her eyes. “I need … us. Can’t you feel that? Hang on. Just hang on.”

  She looped her hand through one suspender and tugged on it. “Tell … me … about the day … we … met.”

  Grey choked back tears, praying the ambulance would arrive soon. She wanted to talk about the past? He’d just begun having hope for their future. She had to survive this. She had to. “It was on a church Sunday, on a beautiful fall day like today. The windows at my house were open. Mamm and Daed had already gathered all my siblings and were in the buggy waiting for me, but I couldn’t find my Sunday pants … or any others that would fit. I went to the window and hollered down at Mamm, ‘I can’t find my Sunday britches.’

  “She shifted, looking a little nervous as she answered, ‘Did you check in your dresser?’ And I said, ‘Ya.’ And she said, ‘Look in your closet, and maybe in the dirty clothes basket.’

  “I searched through everything quickly, grabbed what I could find, and headed out the door. I walked outside, whistling like a man without a care.”

  She breathed a whispery laugh. “Then what happened?”

  “Everyone in the buggy broke into laughter as I came outside wearing my pressed shirt, suspenders, dress shoes, Sunday jacket and hat … but no pants.”

  Elsie’s breaths came in short, rapid spurts, but she smiled at the memory.

  Grey wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, taking several deep breaths in hopes he could finish the story. “Then I looked up and saw that you and your family were passing the house, walking to church.”

  Her breathing came in shallow gasps. “Tell more.”

  “Then I tipped my hat at you as if nothing unusual was going on. You screamed and covered your eyes.”

  “Later … your Mamm s … s … said.”

  He pulled Elsie closer, trying to warm her. “Well my Mamm looked you up before the service to try to reassure you that wasn’t a normal event in Dry Lake. She thought you and your family were visitors, but then we learned your Daed was trying to buy the old Englischer farmstead up the road a piece and was thinking about moving here from Ohio. She told you that I was keeping things light so no one would be mad at her about me not having pants and that I didn’t usually run around in my boxers.”

  “M … m … more.”

  “Your eyes met mine, and you told me later that’s when you knew you wanted to marry me. You wanted a man who … who …” Heaviness settled into his chest as he realized how badly he’d let her down all these years. “Had two good senses—ya, that’s what you said—the sense to be himself and the sense to laugh instead of get mad. And I told you that when a person has chicken legs like I do, they have to have a sense of humor. And because you’d seen those scrappy legs and still weren’t running away, I said you must be the right girl.”

  She swallowed. “You … find your good senses … again, Grey. You find them and don’t let go.”

  “I will. You’ll help me, right?” He placed his hand on her cheek, staring into her eyes. But as he held her, light faded from them, making her look … “Elsie!” He placed his hand on her neck, looking for a pulse. She had one, barely. “Elsie, listen to me.”

  Her body became heavier against him, but she didn’t respond to his voice. Without looking at him again and without even a gasp or twitch, she exhaled. And never took another breath.

  Sixteen

  Inside the barn, Cara painted a strip of wainscot lying across sawhorses. She swayed to the music coming from her battery-operated radio.

  “’From!” Lori squealed as she ran out of the barn, Better Days yapping at her heels.

  In Hope Crossing on a Monday afternoon? Cara turned. Ephraim was on foot, which meant Robbie must have dropped him off out front. Lori ran to him and jumped into his arms. Rather than his usual quick swing of her body into the air as he shared a bit of banter, he pulled her close, one hand embracing her head as all movement halted. He kissed her head and set her feet on the ground.

  When he stopped in the doorway of the barn, his focus didn’t budge from Cara. Realizing the radio was not acceptable, she went to the bale of hay where it sat and turned it off. He said nothing.

  Cara shrugged. “I … I just wanted to hear some familiar tunes.”

  “Mama’s been dancin’.”

  “Just a little,” Cara added quickly. “There’s good news, though. I didn’t set up my work station in the yard like I’d wanted to on this gorgeous day, so no one but Lori heard the music or saw me.”

  “I tried tellin’ her not to, ’From. She never listens to me.”

  Cara found Lori’s exasperation with her cute, but Ephraim’s face held emotions she’d not seen before. Had she taxed his patience too much?

  “I … I’m not a member, so music is okay until I begin my instruction, right?”

  Without answering, he walked to her and pulled her into a hug. He
held her in a way he never had before. His warm embrace renewed her spirits even more than the beautiful October day.

  “I had to see you, had to feel you in my arms.” His deep voice sounded different today.

  Lori squeezed between them. “Yuck.” She put a hand on each of them and pushed them away from each other.

  Ephraim playfully nudged her back before kissing Cara gently on the cheek.

  “I’ll say it again. Yuck.” Lori hurried out of the barn.

  “Hey,” Ephraim called to her. “Run inside and tell Ada we’re going for a long walk.”

  “Yes!” Lori whispered loudly. “You want me to grab our picnic blanket?”

  “Ya.”

  “And make some sandwiches?”

  “Ya.” Ephraim’s eyes never moved from Cara, and she knew he’d come to tell her something.

  “What kind?”

  Cara snapped her fingers. “Lori, just go.”

  Lori put her hands on her hips. “I was just asking ’From, Mom.”

  “Mind your tone, Lori,” Ephraim corrected her.

  Lori lowered her hands, looking hurt. She walked into the barn and wrapped her arms around Cara’s waist. “Sorry.”

  Cara bent and kissed the top of her head. “Forgiven. Now take off.”

  Without asking anything else, Lori and Better Days ran through the backyard and into the house.

  Ephraim moved to the radio and picked it up. He turned it around as if inspecting it. “You’re finding it harder to give up the Englischer ways rather than easier.”

  It wasn’t a question, so she decided not to respond. Of course it was hard. She missed having electricity and her choice of clothing, but of late those preferences seemed a lot easier to give up than music and television. The new fall season of shows had been going for a couple of weeks now, and she didn’t even know if Survivor was still in the lineup. She’d never owned a television, but the restaurant where she’d worked had them hanging from the ceilings. And today while listening to a rock station, she’d heard half a dozen new songs—good ones.