The Amish Christmas Cowboy

by Jo Ann Brown

  “Summerhays Stables!”

  They shared a gasp of shock.

  Menno grasped her shoulders. “Stay here, Sarah,” he ordered. “You aren’t trained, and you would just be in the way.”

  Her brothers ran down the stairs and out the door, slamming it behind them, before she could retort that she could have been a great help if he and Benjamin had let her become an EMT.

  No matter! She wasn’t going to wait. She’d stay out of the way, but she knew which bedrooms the kinder used and the best way to get to them. Surely the firefighters would appreciate such information.

  Running into her room, she pulled on clothes and grabbed a flashlight out of the table by her bed. She ran down the stairs as soon as her shoes were tied. The door crashed closed behind her. As she ran toward the woods, she heard their buggy careening at top speed along the road. Other people and vehicles followed, but it would be quicker through the trees.

  Her face was lashed by the branches and her legs scratched by the time she burst out of the woods. Ahead of her, the pastures were edged by white fences, which glowed in the moonlight. She saw no clouds of smoke rising from any building, but she didn’t slow.

  As she neared the house, she discovered the firefighters hadn’t gotten there yet. She couldn’t smell smoke. Had it been a false alarm? If so, why were the lights off in the house? Had everyone gone to bed?

  Impossible! The kinder wouldn’t return to their rooms quickly in the wake of such excitement.

  She heard a muted buzz. Smoke alarms? Where was the smoke? Should she run out to the bunkhouse beyond the barn and alert the stablemen?

  Someone reeled across the porch.

  “Toby!” she cried.

  Running to him, she gasped when she realized he had Mrs. Beebe draped across his shoulder. He eased the cook to the porch, then collapsed himself.

  “The...others...” He hung his head for a moment.

  “I’ll get them.”

  “I’ll help.”

  “No. I’ll do it. Did you see where the fire is?”

  He shook his head. “Stay out here. I’ll...” He began to cough.

  Knowing she couldn’t waste time arguing that she was more capable than he was at that moment to help the family, she whirled and threw open the door. She focused her flashlight on the stairs.

  No smoke, though the alarms shrieked. Thanking God, she ran upstairs and along the corridor leading to the kinder’s rooms.

  Mia was sprawled across her bed. Sarah couldn’t wake her, so she slipped her arms under Mia. The kind’s head lolled against her chest. Sarah pushed aside her panic. Rushing downstairs, she opened the front door. She placed the little girl on the porch beside Mrs. Beebe. The cook hadn’t moved. Toby was on his knees, retching.

  Hearing shrill sirens, Sarah prayed for the firefighters to get there as fast as possible. She didn’t wait. She ran back into the house. Her head began to spin, and she had to clutch the banister as she came around the top. She saw motion at the far end of the hall where Mr. and Mrs. Summerhays slept, but she continued toward the kinder’s bedrooms.

  She roused Natalie and sent the girl to wake Alexander. Her stomach rocked as dizziness tried to drive her to her knees, but she lurched into Ethan’s room. Like his younger sister, he wouldn’t rouse. She somehow lifted him and carried him toward the stairs. She felt sicker to her stomach with each step. Clamping her lips closed, she swallowed hard and ordered herself not to vomit. She checked to make sure Natalie and Alexander were behind her.

  She wanted to urge them to hurry, but her lips refused to form the words. She waved for them to follow her. When they reached the first floor, Alexander started to sit on the bottom step, but Natalie jerked him to his feet. Putting her arm around him, she lurched toward Sarah.

  “Help...” she choked.

  Sarah kept Ethan balanced on her hip and put her other arm around his older brother. With Natalie’s help, she was able to stumble out onto the porch. Flashing lights seemed to be everywhere around her. Mr. Summerhays was reeling toward the railing, dragging Mrs. Summerhays behind him.

  She blinked, but her eyes wouldn’t clear. Someone grabbed her elbow and pulled her forward. She wanted to protest that whoever it was needed to be careful. She didn’t want to drop Ethan.

  Mia! Where was Mia?

  “The children are safe,” said a kind voice. “You will be, too, once you get oxygen in and flush out the carbon monoxide.”

  Carbon monoxide?

  The words echoed without meaning through her head. A mask was pressed against her face. With every breath she took, everything became clearer.

  She was sitting at the back of an ambulance. Inside, two people were smiling as one removed an oxygen mask from a form stretched out on a gurney. She peered through the dim light. The body was too long to belong to the kinder. From its height, she guessed it was Mrs. Summerhays. Sarah sent up a grateful prayer that the kinder’s mamm was all right.

  “Sarah, what are you doing here?” Menno’s demanding voice sliced through the cobwebs in her mind but set off a headache that tightened like a heated band around her skull.

  “Not now, Menno.” The man’s voice was familiar.

  “George—”

  “I said not now, and I meant it.”

  Sarah forced her eyes to focus on the two men standing in front of her. George, the EMT who had helped Toby, stood face-to-face with her older brother. There was nothing threatening in George’s pose, but it also announced he wasn’t going to change his mind.

  Menno was called away. She didn’t see by whom or why, but she was grateful to have to think only of breathing.

  George squatted in front of her. “I don’t know if you heard me tell you before, but everyone in the Summerhays family is safe.”

  “What about Toby and Mrs. Beebe?”

  “They’re going to be fine. Mrs. Beebe is doing the best. She was outside the longest, and she was beginning to recover by the time we got here.”

  She wanted to ask when she could go and check on the others, but George told her to stay where she was until she got enough oxygen into her system.

  The sun was rising over the mountains by the time Sarah felt steady on her feet. She thanked George for his help, then went toward the porch, where Mr. Summerhays was talking with the fire chief. Someone had given Mrs. Summerhays a bathrobe, and she held it closed around her as she listened to what the two men were discussing.

  As Sarah walked up the steps, she was relieved to see the kinder with Toby. The youngsters ran to her. She hugged each one, unable to speak through the tears clogging her throat. Strong arms enclosed them, and she looked up to see Toby’s drawn face.

  “Danki,” she whispered.

  “If you hadn’t come...” He cleared his throat. “You’ve got a way of always being where you’re needed most, ain’t so?”

  She opened her mouth to answer but halted when she heard Fire Chief Pulaski say it would soon be safe to go in the house because the gas was switched off. They just had to wait while the central air cleared the rooms.

  “The problem was your cook was using a stove without a vent—”

  “It’s being hooked up tomorrow,” Mrs. Summerhays murmured.

  “She was cooking a brisket overnight, and carbon monoxide built up beneath the pan. The vent would have sucked it out so it wouldn’t have been a problem. If Mr. Christner and Miss Kuhns hadn’t been here...”

  Mr. Summerhays sighed. “I’ll make sure it’s working before the kitchen is used again. Next time, it could be a fire, which could destroy the whole house.”

  “Maybe you should worry less about your house and more about your kinder.”

  Everyone froze. Sarah did, too, when she realized those words had been hers. She pressed her hands over her mouth as every eye focused on her. Out of the faces looking at her, her gaze fixed
upon Toby’s. Instead of regarding her with shock and dismay, he gave her a nod.

  Only he knew how she’d worried about the kinder missing their parents and longing for the chance to spend real time with them, not just being showered with gifts or having to make do with a quick conversation when most of the time their parents’ minds were on something else. Was this the way God had provided to let her reach out to her bosses and find a way to open their eyes?

  “What did you say, Sarah?” asked Mr. Summerhays in an icy tone she’d heard him use once before. That had been when he fired a groom who’d caused a horse to injure itself.

  God, put Your words into my mouth so they might reach into the hearts of these parents.

  “I said,” she replied, “worrying about the house isn’t as important as worrying about your kinder.”

  Both parents gasped, and firefighters standing nearby did, too. However, Mrs. Beebe patted her shoulder and Toby gave her a thumbs-up.

  “Sarah—”

  She interrupted Mr. Summerhays. If she didn’t say what he needed to hear, then the kinder might never have a chance to have their parents in their lives. “It’s not my place to tell you how to raise your family.”

  “That’s the first thing you’ve been right about. I know your brain must be foggy with—”

  “My brain is fine, but it wouldn’t matter.” She knew she was risking his ire by not letting him finish again. If she lost her job, she needed to do the best she could for the kinder. “I’m speaking from the heart. I spend a lot of time with Natalie, Alexander, Ethan and Mia, and I know what’s in their hearts.

  “They’re growing so fast, and you’re missing it. Natalie wants to spend time with you, Mr. Summerhays. I don’t know anyone who loves horses more than she does, and you’d be surprised how much she’s learned from listening to you.” Turning, she looked at Mrs. Summerhays, who somehow had managed to smooth her hair and look like the cover of a fashion magazine again. “Did you know Mia sneaks off to spend time in your closet because she wants to be with you? You love clothes, so she believes she can be closer to you by being near your clothes, too.”

  “I didn’t know.” Mrs. Summerhays looked dismayed. “I had no idea.” Reaching out an awkward hand toward her youngest, she asked, “Do you really do that?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  Tears filled gray eyes that were identical in mamm and daughter.

  “The boys want to spend time with you,” Sarah said, not sure how much time she had before Mr. Summerhays lost his temper. “They make mischief to get your attention. The more they have tried and failed to have you notice them, the more desperate they’ve become.”

  “I didn’t know,” Mrs. Summerhays said again. “Children?”

  When she held out her arms, the quartet ran to her. They hugged her as Sarah knew they’d wanted to yesterday, and their mamm held them close, no longer acting as if her clothes were more valuable than her kinder. When she offered her hand to Mr. Summerhays, he didn’t hesitate. He bent and waited for his kinder to look at him. Ethan was first. The little boy hesitated and glanced at Sarah. When she nodded with an encouraging smile, the kind threw himself into his daed’s arms.

  “God works in mysterious ways,” Toby said from behind her. “A near tragedy may have opened their eyes to what they could have lost.” Putting his hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face him. “They may find change difficult.”

  “That’s why I’m here to help them for as long as they need me.”

  His eyebrows rose. “Does that mean you’re giving up your dream of becoming an EMT?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Your brothers—”

  “Don’t you think it’s time my brothers learned how serious I am about taking the training?” Stepping back, she added, “I do.”

  “Sarah, you don’t have to do this right now.” He moved in front of her.

  “I think I do.” So many things she yearned to tell him, about the state of her heart and how glad she was he’d been in her life, if only temporarily. She had to speak to Menno and Benjamin before her courage failed her.

  She walked to where her brothers stood among other first responders. She watched their shocked faces when Chief Pulaski followed her.

  “You and Christner made our job easy, Sarah,” the chief said, smiling. “Not that I’m surprised. Benjamin and Menno always keep their heads during a fire. I guess good sense and bravery runs in your family. I know it’s not your way to put one person above another, but you two are heroes in my book.” The fire chief patted her on the shoulder before going to supervise his firefighters as they prepared to leave.

  As soon as Chief Pulaski was out of earshot, Menno said, “Sarah, you shouldn’t have come here.”

  “I had to.”

  “You could have been killed.” Benjamin blinked on what looked like tears.

  She put a consoling hand on his arm. “You need to know I’ve got the same yearning that you do to help others. I don’t have to have your permission for EMT training, but I’d love to have your blessing.”

  Menno began, “You’re our sister and—”

  She didn’t let him finish the lecture she’d heard too many times. It would lead to the same argument they’d had before. “You’re my brothers, and I love you. I know you worry about me.” She let a smile tilt her lips. “Too much sometimes, but you need to trust me to know what is right and wrong. Training to become an EMT won’t lead to me planning to jump the fence or cutting my hair and dressing like an Englischer.”

  Benjamin flushed and lowered his eyes. Menno found something in the sky interesting. They avoided her gaze because they’d threatened to do those very things during their rumspringa.

  Then Menno looked at her. “I’ve been afraid it would come to this since you took a job for these Englischers.”

  “A job that has allowed us the chance to pursue our dreams. You two have your sawmill because I was able to earn gut money as a nanny. I’m going to get the training I want.” She took her brothers by the hand as if they were no older than Ethan and Mia. “I believe in you. Please believe in me. This is something I can do.”

  “But women—”

  “I wouldn’t be the first woman volunteering in the rescue squad in Salem.”

  “The first plain woman.”

  “As you were among the first plain firefighters. Someone has to be the first.” She smiled. “I know you’re worried, but give me a chance to prove to you I belong in the rescue squad as you belong in the fire department.”

  Benjamin cleared his throat, then said, “She has a point, Menno.”

  “We promised Daed we’d watch over her. Is this what he would have wanted?”

  She wanted to shout ja but kept her lips clamped closed. Anything she said could make them close their minds again. At least, for the first time, they were being open about why they’d become so protective of her, to the point of breaking her heart.

  “We may change our minds,” Menno said, “but let’s see how it goes.”

  She stood on tiptoe and kissed Benjamin on the cheek, and then did the same to Menno. When they turned as red as her hair when she was so demonstrative in front of their neighbors, she smiled.

  “If you’ve got concerns,” she said, “let me know, and we can discuss them...as Daed and Mamm used to do. We’re a family, and we can’t let something one of us does hurt the rest of us.”

  “When did she get so grown-up?” asked Benjamin as if she were no older than Mia.

  Menno shrugged but gave her a rare smile.

  Her brothers said they’d see her at home, then went to assist their fellow firefighters. She wanted to cheer her excitement but halted when her gaze locked with Toby’s across the yard.

  She had a chance at her dream of helping others, but it was a hollow victory when her heart’s desire was leaving.r />
  * * *

  An hour later, with the sun warming the air, Toby rose from the rocker where he’d been sitting, his small bag packed and waiting beside him. He watched Sarah walk across the pasture toward the house. The Summerhays family had gone into Salem to have breakfast at the local diner, the trip to New York City postponed. They’d invited him, so he assumed they had offered to take Sarah with them, too. He’d declined, hoping to spend as much of the time left before J.J. and Ned arrived with her, but she’d gone home to change.

  As she climbed the steps to the front porch, she said, “I need to say danki again, Toby.”

  “I heard George say you asked him about when the next EMT training class starts. I guess that means your brothers are okay with the idea.”

  “I couldn’t have stood up to them if I hadn’t known you, Toby Christner.”

  “I just told you about the women being EMTs in other settlements.”

  She shook her head hard enough to make her kapp bounce. “You did so much more. You helped me see what I do makes a difference.”

  “How could you have doubted that? Look what you’ve done for the Summerhays family!”

  “No more than you did.”

  He caught her face between his hands and gazed into her eyes. How he wanted to lose himself in their sweet warmth, to swim in them and never worry about leaving again. That wasn’t his family’s way of doing things. They were leavers. Arrive, create a big to-do and then leave without cleaning up the mess.

  “No,” he whispered, trying to memorize every inch of her lovely face, “I mean, what you did before this morning. You made those kinder believe their dreams could come true.” His voice grew husky as he whispered, “Even if you continued to believe yours couldn’t.”

  “I never doubted that.”

  “You never believed those dreams should be put first. You were ready to stand aside and let everyone else’s dreams—including mine—push yours aside. I’m sorry, Sarah. I don’t know if I can ever be the man you need. A man who can set down roots. It’s not the way Christners do things.”

  “You aren’t your daed and mamm. You’re you. Toby Christner.”