Amish Dilemma

by Sioux Dallas

  “Oh, my. There’s a bite of some kind on his arm. It looks as if it might be a spider.”

  With that Charity gave a cry and reached for her baby. “No, please let me see what I can do. Has he ever shown signs of being allergic to anything?”

  “No. He’s a very healthy baby,” Rosemary answered. She saw that Charity was too overcome to talk.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have anything with me to treat him. Let’s get him to a hospital and they will have everything we need.”

  “I’ll go get Kyle to bring a buggy,” Maeve started to run out the door.

  “We’ll take my car. It’s quicker,” Bill Hutchinson said.

  Rosemary urged Charity to go and take the baby. She and Maeve would take care of the store. Charity hugged her precious baby close to her heart and got in the car. In a matter of minutes they were at Mercy Hospital.

  Bonnie Kate placed a firm, loving arm around Charity and hurried her and the baby into the Emergency Room.

  “I’m Dr. Bonnie Mercer and I need to see a doctor immediately.”

  Two nurses scurried out to find someone while one called over the speaker phone. “Dr. Grover, you’re wanted immediately in the E R. Dr. Grover, please come to the E R immediately.” Another nurse took them quickly into a cubicle. She had no more than pulled the curtain around the opening when a man came rushing in looking tired and worried.

  “I’m Dr. Grover. What’s the problem?” His wheat colored hair looked as if he had been in a wind storm and his kind blue eyes took in the group at once. He immediately reached for the baby and placed him on a padded table.

  “I’m Dr. Mercer, but I’m not from here. The baby seems to have a spider bite on his left arm. I didn’t know whether it was poison or not.”

  “Let me see. It isn’t showing signs of being a poisonous bite, but it was wise of you to bring him in.” He turned looking a little surprised to see Charity. “Hello. Is this your baby?”

  “Ja. I mean yes, it is. He’s all I have and I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

  “Well, we’re going to make sure he’s A-okay hunky-dory,” he smiled. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”

  “I don’t know. You could have seen me in here when my baby was born.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Charity Startz Kime. This is Jeremiah.”

  He thought a moment. “Oh, yes. I remember now. You were brought in following a buggy accident and had your baby almost before you could get here. I don’t remember all the circumstances. There are hundreds of people who come through here, but some make an impression on me. I remember you and your family because of your faith that God would take care of everything. I believe, also, even though we are not of the same faith.”

  Charity tried to smile but didn’t feel like it. “My husband was killed in the accident the same day my baby was born. He never got to see his son and he had been so happy planning for a child.” She stifled a sob.

  “Oh, yes. I’m so sorry I brought it up. “He asked a nurse to bring an injection of one tenth CC of corticosteroid. Turning to Dr. Mercer he explained. “I don’t think it is a poison bite and can’t even be sure it was a spider, but I’m following what I know to do.” He then spoke to Charity.

  “Mrs. Kime. I’m washing the bite well with soap and water and drying thoroughly. I’ll give the injection and then place a cold pack on his arm. I think he’s too young for acetaminophen, but I will give you an antibiotic cream to rub on the spot. If there is any redness, swelling or he gets real cranky, bring him back to me. I do honestly think this will take care of it.”

  Jeremiah gave a scream of protest when the tiny needle pricked his arm. He quietened when his mother cuddled him and crooned to him.

  Bonnie Kate hugged Charity. “I’m glad we were able to help you and am so relieved that it isn’t something worse. He’s a beautiful baby and is so happy. I can tell you love each other. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but hear what you told Dr. Grover. You’ve had too much sorrow in your young life. You’re so brave to have your work to support you and your baby. I’m sure you have family and friends willing to help.”

  “Ja. Danki” She blushed. “Yes, thank you. I’m very grateful to you for getting us here so quickly. I need to pay before we can leave.”

  Bernard and Bill were standing near. “You don’t owe anything,” Bill said. “That’s all been taken care of.”

  Charity was embarrassed. “Oh, I can pay. I don’t need someone else to pay my bills.”

  “It wasn’t much and we’re glad to help,” Emily hugged Charity. “I just want you to know I’m humbled to meet you and will come again to trade with you.”

  “Let’s get you back or your friends will be worried,” Bonnie said laughing as she ushered the group out to the car.

  “At least let me pay you for bringing me,” Charity begged.

  “Nope. Nada. Nix. Nill,” Bernard laughed. “It is our pleasure and we count it as a blessing for us. You see, we believe in God and in sharing with anyone who needs us, just as you do.”

  Deacon Verkler was coming out of the store when the car stopped and they all got out. He looked at Charity and she was fearful he would scold her. He came to them and looked smiling down at Jeremiah. “I hear what happened. It is Gottes wille these nice people were here. Danki. Got segen eich.” He walked on over to his buggy.

  “What did he say?” Bernard whispered to Charity.

  Her laughter bubbled out loud. “He said thank you and God bless you.”

  Bill frowned. “But he said something else at first.”

  Charity thought. “Oh. He said it was God’s will for you to be here. Please come in. I want to give you something.”

  Bonnie backed away. “We don’t need anything. We do feel blessed that we got to meet you and were here to help you.”

  “Please kumme. I have my own bee hives and we have good clover honey with the comb in it. I want to share with you.”

  “I guess kumme means come,” Bonnie laughed. “Okay. This one time. We will be back though and trade with you. I want to see this beautiful, bouncing baby boy. He’ll grow too fast. You’ll wish he would stay a baby longer.”

  Rosemary and Maeve were anxiously waiting to hear about Jeremiah.

  They were so grateful to the auslanders. Maeve ran to get two pint jars of the honey for Charity. She also included two loaves of Friendship bread.

  Before they left Charity hugged the women. She turned to Bonnie with sad eyes. “I’m sorry if you wondered about me when you told us you name. My husband’s favorite horse was named Bonnie Kate and she was killed with the buggy accident. He never knew that either or it would have broken his heart.”

  “I don’t know what to say. The more I talk to you the more I admire you. To be so young and have to shoulder so many heartaches.” she sighed. “We need to count our blessings more and be more aware of those around us.”

  They told the three young women bye. Before they left Bernard did something to Jeremiah’s little blanket. After they left Maeve went over out of curiosity to see what he did. There was a note wrapped around two twenty dollar bills and a ten dollar bill. “Keep this for your precious little boy. I hope it can be a start to help him with his dreams some day.”

  Charity didn’t know what to do. “I told them we did not take charity. Why did he do this?”

  Rosemary patted her back. “I don’t think they look at it as charity. They like you and want to be good Christians, so they want to leave something that Jeremiah can use when he gets bigger.”

  “I’ll give it back to them when they come back. They said they would come back.”

  Maeve protested. “I don’t think that would be kind. They said it was a blessing to them to meet you. Ask your daed what you should do.”

  Charity nodded. “Ja. Ask daed.”

  The three girls looked startled when someone came running in the door breathing heavily. Lisa Kennedy’s eyes were wild looking and she was in distress.

/>   “Oh, my dear. I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what to do.”

  Rosemary placed a hand on her arm. “What is troubling you? How can we help?”

  She started sobbing. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. You can’t help. But I do need help. I need to talk to someone.”

  Charity patted Lisa’s back. “If we can’t help, maybe you should talk to your pastor, Rev. Barrington.”

  “That’s it. That’s who I’ll talk to. He can’t tell what I say unless I give him permission, can he? Thank you. I’m so sorry. I’ll go talk to him. He’s probably in his office at the church.”

  She ran out in a flurry leaving the girls stunned.

  “Wonder what that was all about?” Maeve questioned.

  “Don’t have an idea,” Rosemary sniffed.

  “It is none of our business,” Charity reminded them. “Rev. Barrington is the one she needs to tell about her troubles. Poor lady. We need to pray for her.”

  Charity went back to taking care of her baby. Rosemary continued dusting and cleaning. Maeve continued straighten items and sweeping the floor.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Charity went home that night happy to cuddle her baby and talk to him. He was now almost six months old and was sitting up. He babbled lovingly at one and all and loved life. He loved the animals and reached for the kittens and dogs as if they were stuffed toys. They soon learned to dodge the baby.

  He kicked and laughed gleefully when his uncle Matthew put him on a horse in front of him and went for a ride. Jeremiah would look at everything and point excitedly and babble as if he were trying to tell Matthew what he was seeing.

  A few days passed and Charity forgot about Lisa Kennedy. The Sunday service was at the Kime residence. Charity gladly went over to help her in-laws prepare for the wonderful day. There were many hands to play with Jeremiah and keep him giggling while his mother cleaned and sewed. She baked and cooked in preparation for the dinner.

  The Sunday service was well attended. They people were not only glad to worship, but this gave them a chance to eat together and socialize. They all worked so hard it was difficult to do much else.

  Joseph Lehman, the song leader had led in two very long songs. Bishop Moses Yoder had read several scriptures. Ministers Joshua Chupp and Jude Nissley were ready to preach when the door burst open and a woman ran in. Her long, black hair needed combing. It was standing all around her head like several angry snakes. Her amber eyes were flashing wildly. She was in a long, pink silk nightgown and barefoot.

  The woman didn’t look as if she were focusing her eyes. She began to moan and cry. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t kill anybody, but I know who did. I’m so sorry, so sorry, so sorry.” She kept yelling. She ran about half way down the aisle and began to pitch forward in a faint. Cathrine Yoder and Jenna Mae Startz were sitting on the end of a bench near her and both jumped up to catch her.

  Bishop Yoder asked for everyone to stay seated and as quiet as possible. “Does anyone know who this woman is?”

  Charity stood. “Ja. Her name is Mrs. Kennedy. Her husband is a dentist in town.”

  “Poor soul,” Nadine Lapp said. “She seems to have had a mind breakdown.”

  “What must we do?” Several voices spoke.

  Jacob Startz came and picked her up. “Wife, let us go to the kitchen. Lawrence, go to the Morrison home, or any Englischer that has a phone, and call for Micah. He will know what to do. She needs a doctor.”

  Jacob, Jenna Mae and Deborah hurried to the kitchen with the woman. Bishop Yoder was torn. He felt he should go to see about the woman and he should stay and continue the service. But if the service continued, they would be interrupted again when help came for the woman. He looked at his son-in-law, Matthew Startz.

  “Matthew, please wait outside and bring Micah through the side door into the kitchen. We will go on with our worship.”

  The Amish were still human and curious about the woman, but they followed the suggestion of their Bishop and continued with the service. The younger people were restless and curious. They had more than one adult glare at them and shake a head for their looking around and whispering.

  There was a short pause in Minister Jude Nissley’s sermon when a siren was heard drawing near. They could hear voices from the other side of the house. Jude cleared his throat and talked on. When even the adults began to feel restless, Joseph Lehman stood and led in a song. This was followed by a silent prayer. Bishop cleared his throat to alert them that the prayer was completed.

  The women hurried into the kitchen to get the food ready and to find out what was going on. The men gathered on the front lawn where they could talk and see around the building. The young people hurried out in hopes of satisfying their curiosity.

  Micah was waiting and saw that the service was over. He came forward and asked Bishop Yoder if he could talk to the people. He was given permission. Everyone came back inside where they could hear.

  Micah was well known and well liked. He first thanked everyone for their patience and cooperation and then apologized for the disturbance.

  “I don’t know yet why Mrs. Kennedy was here, especially in the condition she is in. She has not been able to talk to us and tell us why she is so upset. Doctor Marcus Ford was called in to be with her and we have gotten in touch with her husband. I also called her minister and advised him of the situation. I can only thank you again for your valuable help and cooperation. It might be several days before we know the entire truth of whatever is going on. I’ll tell your Bishop as soon as I known what to say and he can inform the rest of you. I’m sorry your service was interrupted. God bless you all.”

  Willfred Kennedy, his brother Orville and Orvile’s oldest son, Porter had been on a trip somewhere. Lisa had been in the hospital for three days, but was still unconscious. Willfred was more upset at what she might have said rather than the condition she was in.

  “What has she told you? None of you can pay any attention to her. She’s crazy. I bet she was drunk.”

  “Oh, no,” Dr. Ford answered angrily. “She had not even been drinking. My opinion is that she has been so upset with something she knows. She was thinking so strongly about it that she temporarily lost her reasoning ability. She’s under stress. She’ll be fine after she rests for a few days.”

  “Well, when she comes to, call me,” Willfred demanded. “I don’t want anyone else talking to her.” He stomped out of the hospital.

  “Humph! Can you imagine? I’ve known some hard-hearted people in my twenty-eight years of nursing, but I’ve never met one so uncaring about his own wife.” Nurse Carrie Fuller shook her head and went about her duties.

  “What do we do now?” Nurse Doris Young asked. “I’ve only worked a year, but I’m appalled at his behavior. Do we notify him before the Sheriff? After all Sheriff Fleming did ask to be notified as soon as she was able to talk.”

  Doctor Ford admonished all listening to not talk about this to anyone else and to call him as soon as she showed signs of rousing. He went into his office, bowed his head and prayed. He then picked up the phone and called Micah.

  “Sheriff, I might be accused of being unprofessional, however, I don’t feel right about this. My patient comes first-- always. Mrs. Kennedy was afraid as well as upset over something when she came in. I will call you as soon as she’s able to talk, but ethically I have to call her husband, also.”

  “I understand, Dr. Ford and I appreciate the position it puts you in. May I ask that you call me a few minutes before you call Dr. Kennedy?”

  He sighed deeply. “Yes, I’ll do that, and I’ll write on her chart that no one is to talk to anyone about her condition until I’ve had a chance to examine her.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be waiting for your call.” the two men hung up their phones. They would have smiled if they had known that both of them said a prayer before leaving their desks.

  The following Sunday was not a worship day. The Amish did no work, but visited each other and rested. Jacob was o
utside the barn talking to two neighbor men when a car roared in spewing gravels and tearing up grass.

  “Was est letz do mit demmkopp? (What is wrong with this dummy?)” Joseph Lehman sputtered.

  “He est ob im kopp, (He is off in the head)” Benjamin Lapp answered.

  Jacob just stood straight and looked at the car as the driver got out. Another man got out of the passenger side. The driver was slightly staggering.

  “What fool owns this property? Is this where Jacob Startz lives? What a crazy name.”

  “Of course it’s crazy. They’re Aim-esh, ain’t they?” The second man laughed uproariously.

  The first man drew himself up as if he were going to make an important speech. “I’m Doctor Kennedy, and I want you to take a message to all your crazy Aim-esh people. Keep your noses out of my business and leave my wife alone or there’ll be trouble.”

  Jacob spoke soothingly. “We do not tend to other people’s business and we have not bothered your wife. We did not even know who she was when she came into our worship service last Sunday. Please leave and don’t bother us.”

  Willfred walked toward Jacob in a threatening gesture. At that moment a car pulled up with two deputies in it. Deputies Roy Braun and Harlan Moelus got out in a hurry. “Good. We’re just in time. We’ve been following this speed demon and trying to stop him before he caused a serious accident. You two men are under arrest.”

  They walked toward Willfred and his brother, Orville. They knew there would be a confrontation.

  Orville drunkenly squared off for battle. “Get away from me or I’ll put you in the ground. I know kick boxing.” He raised a leg and kicked out losing his balance and throwing himself on the ground. Roy quickly snapped cuffs on him. Harlan had no trouble cuffing Willfred.

  The two prisoners were put in the back seat of the police car where a metal petition was between then and the front seat. Harlan drove them to the county jail while Roy drove their car to park it in the impound lot.