The Amish Christmas Cowboy

by Jo Ann Brown

  With the disruption of moving into the new settlement in Harmony Creek Hollow, many of the school-age kinder hadn’t attended the minimum number of days required by the state, so a short session had been necessary. Miriam had held school in her home until the new building had been completed after the Fourth of July.

  “I’m hoping they’ll be eager to get back to work,” Miriam replied, “instead of thinking about playing ball. Some would be happy to do that all day, every day.”

  The Summerhays kids didn’t play ball other than in video games. A basketball court behind the house hadn’t been used except for storage of supplies for the house renovation. Other than Natalie, who took every opportunity to be with the horses, the kinder preferred to stay indoors. Each time Sarah had insisted on them joining her for a walk, they complained as if being sent to the North Pole in the middle of winter, instead of enjoying the chance to pick fresh berries from the bushes along the road and edging the farm’s fields.

  “Sarah!”

  She stiffened at her older brother’s voice, which seemed to silence everyone else. She wondered if Menno’s hearing was being damaged by their sawmill. He usually had sawdust clinging to his hair, but tonight it was neat.

  Her brothers stopped by where she sat. Menno was short, only an inch or two taller than Sarah. Benjamin’s head reached several inches higher than their older brother’s. Both were built wide and thick like the stumps they left behind when they felled trees on the wood lot. Benjamin worked at the sawmill, but he’d spent most of his time for the past month planting apple trees.

  “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming tonight?” asked Menno. “You could have come with us. I don’t like the idea of you driving alone after dark.”

  Heat rose along Sarah’s cheeks as eyes turned toward them. Why did her older brother, who was ten years older than she was, treat her as if she were Mia’s age? Her brothers had always been protective of her, but since their move to the new settlement, they didn’t seem to believe she could breathe without supervision.

  “I came with my friends,” she said, irritated that her brother’s sharp voice had drawn attention to them. “We hired Hank Puente to bring us in his van.” She couldn’t keep from raising her chin in defiance. “I mentioned that to you at least twice in the past week.”

  Benjamin nodded with an apologetic smile, but Menno didn’t crack his stern facade. For a long moment, her older brother stared at her. She met his gaze, refusing to let him daunt her. At last, he clapped Benjamin on the shoulder and walked away.

  “Whew,” Annie breathed. “Is it my imagination, or are your brothers keeping an eye on you more closely every day?”

  “It’s not your imagination.”

  Leanna reached across the table and patted Sarah’s hand in silent consolation.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Miriam said at the same time. “You’re a grown woman, not a boppli.”

  With a smile she hoped conveyed her appreciation for her friends coming to her defense, Sarah said, “I’ve tried to tell them that, but they don’t want to listen.”

  “But they’re okay with you working for the Summerhays family?” Annie asked.

  “They haven’t said otherwise.” She didn’t add her brothers knew—as she did—how important her wages were while they worked to establish their sawmill as a viable business.

  In the past few weeks, Benjamin and Menno had been discussing the pine trees in their steep fields. A Christmas tree farm is what Benjamin called it, and she guessed that they hoped to sell fresh trees as the holidays approached. Plain families wouldn’t buy them, but Englischers might. However, until the harvest was in and the holiday season rolled around, the household depended on what she was paid each week. That her pay from Mr. Summerhays was always on time was a blessing she never took for granted.

  “Guten owed, ladies,” came a deep voice, silencing her thoughts.

  A look over her shoulder wasn’t necessary when Sarah saw the soft smile blossoming on Miriam’s face. Even if Sarah hadn’t recognized the voice as Eli Troyer’s, her friend’s expression announced how happy Miriam was to see the carpenter who lived at the far end of the hollow. The two had been walking out together for the past few weeks, a fact Sarah had guessed, though neither Miriam nor Eli had said a word.

  Setting plates in front of them with a flourish worthy of the finest restaurant, Eli reminded them the dinner was all-you-can-eat.

  Sarah chuckled when she looked at her plate heaped with chicken, french fries, and potato, macaroni and green salads. “I can’t eat all this.”

  “Not if we want pie,” added Annie with a laugh.

  “You definitely want pie.” Eli motioned toward the counter. “Help yourself to something to drink, too.” He hurried away to serve more food.

  “Miriam, how did you arrange for Eli to be our waiter?” Sarah asked with a wink to her friends.

  Miriam’s face grew as red as the filling in the slices of berry pie arranged on a nearby table, then she smiled. “I didn’t, but I’m grateful for small favors.”

  “I wish more of those handsome firefighters would stop by,” said Leanna.

  Sarah put her arm around her friend as they went to get their choice of drinks from the counter. She didn’t know what to say to Leanna, who was eager to get married since the man she’d fallen for wed someone else.

  When she saw how Miriam glowed as Eli spoke to her, Sarah was sure this fall would be Miriam’s last as a schoolteacher. Would she marry Eli before Christmas? Though such matters were kept quiet, the small size of the community settled along Harmony Creek made it impossible not to notice who was spending time together.

  She wished Miriam every happiness, because Eli seemed like a gut man. She prayed the Wagler twins would find such wunderbaar matches, too. As for herself, she needed to sort out her future before she could commit the rest of her life to someone. She must not make the same mistake she had when opening her heart to Wilbur Eash and having him assume he could make every decision for her.

  “So what trouble did your kinder get into today?” Annie asked after they’d shared a silent prayer of thanks for the food in front of them.

  Sarah was relieved by Annie’s question, which gave her an excuse to shove aside her uncomfortable thoughts. “The high point was when I had to get them off those tall columns in the entry.” She stabbed a piece of green salad. “I don’t know how you deal with a dozen, Miriam, when I’m on my toes with four.”

  “The kinder didn’t get hurt, ain’t so?” asked Miriam.

  “No.” She explained how she’d gotten to the two younger ones before they fell.

  “I’m glad to hear that after Caleb mentioned the ambulance went out to the stables this afternoon.”

  Sarah nodded. Like her brothers, Miriam’s brother, who was the founder of the new settlement along Harmony Creek, was a volunteer firefighter. They wore beepers to alert them about emergencies.

  “Is everyone okay?” asked Leanna.

  Again, Sarah nodded. “Horses were being delivered, and one was startled by a barn cat. When Toby tried to control it, he got hurt. We were worried his ankle was broken, which was why I had Alexander call 911.”

  “Toby? I think you may have mentioned the name before.” Annie glanced at the others as she arched her brows.

  Sarah ignored her teasing. “He delivered the three horses to Mr. Summerhays from Texas.”

  “A cowboy?” Annie asked with a chuckle.

  Again Sarah acted as if she hadn’t heard the silly question. “Toby was examining the horse when it spooked. He needed to go to the emergency room, but he’s at the house now. He’ll stay there while his sprain heals.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure who’s going to give me more trouble, the kinder or Toby.”

  “You’ll be taking care of him?” Miriam asked.

  “Mr. Summerhays wants me to oversee hi
s physical therapy.” She took a bite of the delicious macaroni salad, which tasted like the one served at the last church Sunday. She guessed an Amish volunteer had shared the recipe with the other firefighters. “It was such a bizarre accident. Watching Toby, it’s obvious he’s skilled with handling horses. If he hadn’t been, Mr. Summerhays would have insisted on his grooms checking the horses. It’s too bad he was hurt.”

  Expecting her friends to show sympathy for Toby’s situation, Sarah was astonished when the others began laughing.

  “What’s funny?” she asked.

  “You and your Amish cowboy.” Annie put her hand to her lips as she giggled again.

  “He’s not my cowboy.”

  “Not yet.”

  Turning to Leanna, Sarah said, “Maybe you can talk sense into your twin. She’s not listening to me.”

  “Annie doesn’t listen to anyone.” With a warm smile for her sister, Leanna added, “This time I’ve got to agree with her. You seem pretty taken with this cowboy. You’ve known him for a few hours, and you’ve talked more about him this evening than anything else.”

  “I—”

  “Don’t deny it, Sarah!” Annie winked at her twin and Miriam. “Isn’t it true?”

  Sarah waited while they laughed again, then, smiling, asked her friends about what they were busy with. Miriam had school plans, and Leanna had recently purchased some goats and hoped to sell their milk and homemade soap at the farmers market in the center of the village.

  When the topic didn’t shift again to Toby, she was grateful. It wasn’t easy to keep the man out of her thoughts. Several times, she found her mind wandering to him and had to focus on the conversation. It’d been a stressful day, and she was thankful God had put her in a place where she’d been able to help.

  Eli came to the table, and Sarah was surprised to see she’d eaten the rest of her meal without tasting a bite, including the pie. Hearing the others commenting on how wunderbaar the dessert had been, Sarah wished she’d taken notice of it.

  She felt a pang of something she didn’t want to examine when she saw how Eli smiled at Miriam at the same time his young nephew gave her a hug. She was happy the three were becoming a family. Why the pang? Maybe she was more like Leanna than she wanted to admit. No, that was silly. Sarah didn’t need another man telling her what to do in an unnecessary attempt to shield her from her own choices.

  In spite of herself, her eyes cut to where her brothers waited to deliver food to the tables. Her brothers laughed and chatted with plain and Englisch firefighters. She frowned when she saw Benjamin say something to two women in T-shirts and jeans that were identical to what the other Englischer volunteers wore. He seemed okay with those women being firefighters, but he had agreed with Menno that Sarah must not take EMT training.

  There must be something she could do to persuade them she deserved the same respect.

  God, please help me discover what.

  * * *

  “Is he ever going to wake up?” asked one young voice.

  Another answered, “Don’t know.”

  “If he doesn’t, how are we going to find out if he’s a real cowboy?”

  “Don’t know.”

  Toby realized the childish voices weren’t part of the dream—no, the nightmare—holding him in its grip. Pushing his way out of a collage of disconnected images, he paid no attention to the conversation. How thin were the walls of the motel J.J. had found for them?

  Opening his eyes, he realized he wasn’t in a rented room. Instead of a pair of beds with worn headboards and a TV set on a narrow chest, Toby stared at a white-and-gold canopy. Wide dark slats supported it, and more of the fancy fabric was draped around each post supporting the top. Sunlight streamed across floors that glistened as if lit from within. On the other side of the bed was...

  He shifted to look in the opposite direction. Pain slashed across his ankle and exploded in his head. A groan escaped his clamped lips.

  “Is he dying?” asked the first childlike voice.

  “Don’t know.”

  “Should we get Sarah?”

  Before the second voice could repeat the same words, Toby raised his head. More agony pierced him, but he gritted his teeth and stared along the bed.

  Two small forms were silhouetted against the light. Sunshine glistened off their pale hair.

  The younger Summerhays kids! What were they doing sitting on his bed? He must be dreaming.

  He shifted. More excruciating pain. No, he wasn’t asleep.

  “Why are you here?” he asked in a raspy voice he didn’t recognize.

  “Are you a real cowboy?” asked the little boy. “Where’s your six-shooter?”

  “I don’t carry a gun.”

  “How do you fight off train robbers and cattle rustlers?”

  What were the kids’ names? Maybe he could remember if his head didn’t pound like a sprinter’s pulse. “I don’t work with cattle. I train horses.”

  “How about horse rustlers?” asked the little boy.

  “No!” cried the little girl. “Don’t say that!”

  Toby winced at her shrill voice. He was about to ask her to whisper, but the two youngsters began to argue. Each word was a separate blow against his skull.

  The door opened, letting in more light and revealing that the kinder were dressed in pajamas with cartoon characters flitting across them.

  Risking more pain—and getting it—Toby turned his head again. His breath caught when he realized who stood in the doorway, holding a tray.

  Sunlight was filtered by Sarah’s kapp but shone on her red hair. It accented the curves of her high cheekbones and the outline of her lips that were drawn in a frown. Her brown eyes were focused on her two younger charges.

  “Shoo.” Her voice was soft enough not to resonate across his aching head, and she put the tray on a white chest of drawers without making a sound.

  “You told us that we could talk to him,” protested the little boy.

  Why couldn’t he remember their names? He was sure he’d heard them...was it only yesterday?

  “Ethan, you know I meant after Toby was awake. After he had his breakfast.”

  Ethan... That was the little boy’s name. What was the girl’s?

  As if he’d asked aloud, Sarah said, “Mia, you need to put your breakfast dishes in the dishwasher.”

  The kind pouted. “But Mrs. Beebe—”

  “Has her chores to do. Putting away your dishes is your chore.”

  When Sarah lifted the youngsters, first one and then the other, off his bed, the slight motion exacerbated the invisible feet marching across his skull. He was grateful she hadn’t had them clamber down, which would have made the mattress shake more.

  He kept his eyes closed as the sounds of the kinder leaving the room ricocheted through his head. A single set of footfalls, so light he guessed Sarah was walking on tiptoe, came across the room. He heard a faint scrape as she picked up the tray and brought it toward the bed.

  “Do you need help to sit?” she asked.

  He imagined her slender arm sliding beneath him and her warm breath caressing his cheek as it had when she helped him in the paddock. Another groan slipped past his lips.

  Distress entered her voice. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ve been better.” Putting his hands against the firm mattress, he pushed himself up to lean against the headboard.

  “Your meds are here with your breakfast.”

  “I don’t need—”

  “The doktor insisted you take them for at least three days.”

  He met her eyes, half expecting her to look away. She didn’t as she leaned forward to put the tray on its short legs on either side of his lap. When she straightened, she held his gaze.

  “Okay,” he said, knowing he was being foolish. She wanted to help him get better.


  That was all he should be thinking about. Getting well and getting to work. Spending time with pretty Sarah risked messing with his mind and his plans. He couldn’t start thinking, as he had last night before he fell asleep, how it would be interesting to get to know her better.

  “I’m sorry Ethan and Mia disturbed you. I told them not to come in until after you’d had breakfast, but I guess they thought I’d said after they had breakfast.”

  “Or their curiosity wouldn’t let them wait.”

  “Curiosity? About what?”

  He looked at the tray she’d brought. It held enough food for half a bunkhouse. “They want to know if I’m a real cowboy.”

  “I’m sure you set them straight.”

  “I didn’t have time. You came to my rescue.” He reached for the bowl of oatmeal.

  “I’ll speak with them again.”

  “Gut. The doktor told me to rest for a few days. I’d appreciate it if you kept the kids away.”

  Her shoulders became more rigid. “I’ll do my best.”

  “From what I saw when we were unloading the horses, they don’t listen to you.”

  “Are you saying it’s the kinder’s fault you’re hurt?”

  “No, of course I don’t blame them for what happened.”

  “But you blame someone. Me?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant, either.”

  “Then what do you mean?”

  He faltered. He couldn’t be honest with her about his concerns of having Ned hanging around and bothering her. In addition, the fact that Toby had allowed himself to be distracted by Sarah was on his shoulders, not hers.

  When he didn’t answer, she said in a crisp tone, “You should rest while you can.” She walked to the door. “Your physical therapist will be here later.”

  “Sarah?” he called.

  Either she didn’t hear him or she didn’t want to let the conversation continue, because she kept walking. The door closed behind her, leaving him alone with his breakfast, his swollen ankle and the wish he could go back to sleep so he could start the day again.