One Child

by Barbara Cameron

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry, I just had a Bible verse come to mind.”

  Kate grinned. “Lay it on me.” When Sarah’s brows rose, she rephrased it. “Tell me.”

  “‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’ It’s from Hebrews.”

  “Nice,” Kate said. “But Jason and I definitely aren’t angels. We’ve put you to a lot of trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble at all. Gern schöna.”

  “So willingly done,” Kate said softly. She watched the flames in the fireplace for a long moment. “Jason said he saw a light burning when he was walking down the road in front of your house.”

  Sarah nodded. “We were straightening up after our friends and family left.”

  Kate motioned again toward the Bible on the table. “Will you read me the story you mentioned?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. You know, church was important to me when I was a kid. I’m Catholic,” Kate told her. “I always loved midnight mass. Then somehow I stopped going. Jason and I didn’t even get married in a church, Protestant or Catholic.” She glanced at the window and watched the snow beat against the glass. Shivering, she pulled the quilt up around her shoulders.

  “Are you cold, Kate? Do you want me to get another quilt?”

  “No, I was just thinking about what it’s like out there right now. So, will you read it to me?”

  Sarah picked up the Bible and opened it and began. “‘This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. . . .’”

  Chapter Five

  Sarah shut the Bible and smiled as she glanced over at Kate and saw that she’d fallen asleep.

  Everything was so quiet. Snow fell in white drifts at the window, soft as cotton. The wind that had worried Kate had evidently died down, although that didn’t mean that damage to power lines would be instantly fixed, or that cell phone towers would be working for her Englisch guests and their people.

  If she went to bed now, Sarah felt she’d probably sleep. But she lingered, watching motherlike over a woman who was so anxious about the baby she carried, and sent up a silent prayer for her. Reading her favorite part of the Bible had soothed her and relaxed them both.

  Who could have predicted such a strange end to such a busy day?

  Content, Sarah sat and slipped into sleep.

  She woke and blinked, finding herself in the chair by a dying fire. Shivering, she got up and poked at the embers, then put another log on.

  But as quiet as she was trying to be, Kate stirred and sat up.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  Kate rubbed at her eyes. “Oh no. Did I fall asleep while you were reading?”

  “It’s okay. You were tired.”

  “I need to get up. Baby’s pressing on my bladder.”

  Sarah remembered that symptom, but said nothing as Kate padded off to the bathroom.

  “Jason’s snoring away,” Kate said when she returned. “Did David go to bed?”

  “He gets up early.”

  “Then that means you do too. I shouldn’t have kept you up.”

  Sarah smiled. “I don’t mind. We don’t get visitors often.”

  “How long have you and David been married?”

  “A little over three years.”

  “I didn’t think you were at first. You don’t have rings.” She blushed. “Sorry, I notice everything.”

  “We don’t wear them.”

  Kate rubbed her abdomen in slow, reflexive motions. “Jason and I have been married for four and a half years. We dated all through college, so it feels like I’ve known him forever.”

  It had been the same with her and David, Sarah thought.

  “I never asked you what you do,” Kate said. “You know, for work? Do you work outside the home?”

  “I teach.”

  “My mom was an elementary school teacher. What grade do you teach?”

  “All grades.”

  “Oh, like a one-room schoolhouse?”

  “That’s right.”

  “It isn’t hard to teach all those grades at once?”

  Sarah shook her head. “You just have to be organized. The older ones help the younger ones for part of the day. Sometimes they’re working with their own brothers and sisters. It’s gut for everyone, because the older children are reviewing what they learned, and the younger ones get to have sort of a look ahead to lessons they’ll have one day.”

  “Have you always known you wanted to be a teacher?”

  Sarah shook her head. “No, I didn’t know that I wanted to be one. In our community, you don’t choose to be a teacher—you’re chosen by the school board members. I wasn’t sure if it was something I’d like or be good at. But it’s such an honor to be asked, I thought I’d try it. Now I love it. I teach reading and writing and arithmetic and our Amish history and religious principles. But every day is different because the children are growing and learning, and they surprise me every day.”

  She’d nearly resigned last year because of the baby coming. Usually teachers were young and unmarried, so the school board members had been generous in allowing her to stay after she and David married. Then, just before Christmas, when she was afraid her pregnancy would show and she knew she should tell the board, she’d miscarried.

  “We had such a wonderful Christmas program yesterday.”

  “So now you get a break, huh?”

  “No, we go back right after Christmas. Our school lets out earlier than public school because we’re a farming community.”

  “I always loved going to my uncle’s farm in the summer. What a change from the city,” Kate mused. She was quiet for a long time. “Sarah, is it too personal to ask if you and David plan to have children?”

  The question caught her off guard, even though they’d been talking so personally. But then again, the Englisch were known for their directness and their curiosity about Amish life.

  “We hope to,” she said slowly. “We consider children to be gifts from God. Our families are usually big by your standards. David has nine brothers and sisters.”

  “Nine! Wow. I’m not sure we’ll be able to afford to have more than two. I mean, what with what day care costs and all.”

  Day care. Sarah couldn’t imagine it. The parents she knew worked on the farm or in home-based businesses, so day care wasn’t something that was needed.

  “That’s why Jason and I were ‘discussing’ a new television earlier,” Kate said. “We’re like most couples, I guess; we have different spending habits. I’d like to take a longer maternity break, and how are we going to do that if we haven’t got enough saved?”

  Sarah didn’t know how to comment on something that was another couple’s business, but Kate didn’t seem to expect her to. She stared pensively into the fire for a long moment, then turned to Sarah.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be keeping you up, telling you all my problems. But it’s so easy to talk to you.”

  “I’m afraid I haven’t got any gut advice. Our worlds are so different.”

  “You listen to me,” Kate said slowly. “Really listen. Sometimes people act like they’re listening, but you can tell they’re already formulating what they’re going to say. You seem to know that people don’t always need advice. Sometimes they just need someone to listen. It’s a gift, Sarah.”

  Sarah rose and went to sit on the sofa beside Kate. “I know you’re feeling anxious. But truly, Kate, God is watching over you and your baby. And Jason.” She smiled. “You know that, don’t you?”

  Impulsively, Kate reached over to hug Sarah. “I know this much. We were surely guided to where we needed to be at a time like this.”

  Sarah woke, sensing that something was different. The lamp had gone out, but she could see that Jason had come into the room and was sitting on the floor, wrapped in the quilt from his bed, his back leaning against the sofa. He held Kate’s hand and was watching her sleep.

  He turn
ed his head and smiled at her. “Thanks for sitting up with her,” he whispered. “Wouldn’t you like to go up to bed? You must be stiff from sitting in that chair.”

  She was a little sore, she discovered when she stood and folded the throw. Bending, she stirred up the embers and added another log, trying to be quiet and not wake Kate.

  But just as she went to tiptoe from the room, Kate sat up and cried out, “Mom!”

  “No, sweetheart, we’re not at your mom’s,” Jason said quietly, stroking her hand.

  “I know. I’m not asleep,” she said. “I just realized—we promised to call her when we got home. If she’s heard about the storm, she must be worried sick. Even if she didn’t, she’ll be wondering why we haven’t called.”

  Jason pulled out his ever-present cell phone. “There’s still no signal. I’m sure she knows that we’ll call as soon as we can.” He stood and helped his wife to her feet. After he watched her walk to the bathroom, he went to the window. “Looks like it’s letting up.”

  “For the time being, anyway. It’ll take a while before things are back to normal,” Sarah cautioned. “The electric company won’t send their workers out until daylight. Snowplows won’t come until then, either.”

  Kate returned, looking worried. She sat on the sofa and pulled the quilt around her and yawned. “I fell asleep on her,” she told Jason. “Sarah was reading me the Bible story about Jesus being born. She said her favorite uncle has been reading it on the first day of Christmas since she was a little girl. Such a nice tradition. We need to think about making some traditions for the baby, Jason. Decide what religion to raise him in.”

  Jason nodded and sat down on the sofa next to her.

  “I was telling Sarah how much I used to love going to midnight mass. I loved the singing.” She hummed under her breath as her eyes took on a faraway look.

  “You’d have loved the singing today,” Sarah told her. “Although the words are German.”

  Jason turned to Sarah. “So last night was kind of like church, and tomorrow’s for giving gifts, huh?”

  He had a childlike enthusiasm in his voice, Sarah thought. “We exchange them on Second Christmas—the second day of Christmas. Although our presents are usually practical and not as elaborate as you Englischers exchange.”

  “Like a huge television,” Kate said, wrinkling her nose.

  Jason ignored her. “What are you hoping David will give you for Christmas?”

  Kate bopped him on the head with her pillow. “That’s kind of personal, Jason.”

  “I don’t mind,” Sarah told Kate. She thought about it. “I can’t think of anything I want.”

  That wasn’t true, of course. What she wanted was too personal to share with strangers. And it wasn’t a gift David could give anyway. Children were a gift from God.

  “Jason told me your husband built this house.”

  Sarah smiled. “He’s a gut carpenter.”

  Kate looked at the fireplace. “I wish we had something that nice over our fireplace,” she said. “Our mantel is just this fake piece of wood the builder tacked on. If you actually put anything on it, who knows what might happen.”

  “Tell David. I’m sure he would build one for you.”

  “Really? You think he would?”

  “He’s a carpenter. He can even ship it to you.”

  “Wow. That’d be great,” Jason said. “Or maybe we could come back and pick it up.”

  “You mean if you can find this place on purpose next time?” Kate teased.

  Jason shrugged and looked a little abashed. “Hey, it’s not my fault I got lost. You said yourself we could hardly see in the snowstorm.”

  “Men,” Kate said, clucking her tongue. “They’d rather drive in circles for an hour than ask for directions. Is David like that?”

  “We don’t go very far, really. So directions aren’t much of a problem.”

  Sarah looked at the window and wondered, hadn’t God guided them to safety? Kate and Jason were so different from the couples she knew. Were they typical of Englisch couples?

  Of course Jason looked very different from the married men she knew. For one thing, Amish men grew beards when they married. No mustaches, of course. Those weren’t viewed as clean and reminded the early Amish of soldiers back in their native country. Sarah had thought David the handsomest man she’d ever known, and when he grew his beard, she had thought he became even better looking. And she loved the way his beard tickled when he kissed her.

  David. She should go upstairs and join him.

  “Speaking of travel, you have a horse and buggy, right?”

  Sarah nodded.

  “Do you think once the storm has died down and things look okay that David would drive us into town?”

  “Of course.”

  Jason checked his cell phone once more and sighed. “I’m going back to bed, hon. You want to stay here or sleep in there?”

  “I really like being here by the fire,” Kate told him. “If you don’t mind.”

  “Nope. See you later.” He bent and kissed her head. “And you,” he said, turning to Sarah. “Don’t let her talk your ear off. You need to get some sleep.”

  David woke when Sarah came to bed.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yes. Kate seems a little bit restless.”

  “How’s the weather looking?”

  “It’s stopped snowing, for the time being anyway.”

  “Aren’t you coming to bed?” he asked when she didn’t make a move to undress or lie down. “You must be exhausted.”

  “I’m tired,” she agreed, taking off her shoes and lining them up neatly beside the bed. She pulled off her kapp and loosed her long hair. “But I enjoyed sitting and talking with Kate.”

  He tugged gently on her shoulder, and she sank down on the bed next to him. “I’m sure it was a comfort to have another woman to talk to at such a time.”

  “She said the nicest thing. She told me I listened to her, really listened to her, and didn’t try to figure out what to say next or offer advice the way some people did. She said it was a gift.”

  “She’s right. You do have a gift for listening, for showing you care by letting people talk. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it myself when I’m troubled.”

  “How can you say that? I haven’t always been what you needed,” she said, turning to look at him. Her eyes gleamed in the dim light coming in through the window. “I’ve been so wrapped up in my own pain.”

  David brought her closer and kissed her temple. “Stop that. I won’t have you say such a thing.”

  “I’m glad you insisted on letting Jason in when he knocked on our door. I don’t want to think about what might have happened to those two if he hadn’t found our house.”

  “God lit a path for him,” David said quietly.

  “Mmm hmm,” she murmured. She rested her cheek against his shoulder. “Imagine visitors on this night. And her pregnant. It struck me as I was reading Kate the story of the birth of Jesus.”

  “This isn’t an inn,” he told her. “And they’re not Mary and Joseph.”

  She laughed. “I know. But it just seems so strange. Like I’m dreaming. But I’m awake.”

  “I don’t know how. All the work redding-up the house, working with your scholars so excited about the coming holiday, and losing sleep so much lately. Try to sleep now.”

  When he finally felt her relax, and her breathing evened out, he knew she slept. Carefully reaching down, he drew the sheet and quilt up around her shoulders.

  He thought about Jason’s confession that he’d been frightened he wouldn’t find help for his wife and child. How upset he’d been that he hadn’t kept them safe as a husband should.

  But David had found that a man couldn’t always protect those he loved. He stroked Sarah’s hair. He didn’t know why they had lost their baby, but God’s ways were a mystery that man wasn’t supposed to figure out, weren’t they? In the face of things he didn’t understand, David was trying to un
derstand what he had so often heard from others in his community: the true answer to any question about God was faith. Sometimes his reason would be revealed. Sometimes it wouldn’t. But faith was all.

  He was nearly asleep again when he heard Kate shout his name.

  Chapter Six

  Sarah woke. She’d heard something—a cry? But this wasn’t a nightmare—Kate was shouting for David.

  Jumping up, Sarah ran for the stairs. David pulled on his robe and followed her.

  Kate was standing by the open front door, tugging on Jason’s arm. He was wearing his jacket.

  “Please stop him!” Kate cried when she saw them. “He wants to go for help.” She looked at Jason. “It isn’t safe. You have to stay here!”

  Stepping past them, David looked out. “The snow’s starting to let up, but it’s best if we wait until daylight.”

  “We can’t wait!”

  “Why do you suddenly want to leave?”

  “Kate’s in labor.”

  Sarah looked at her. “Are you?”

  “No!”

  “She’s trying to hide it,” Jason insisted. “I woke up and saw her acting like she’s in pain.”

  Kate turned to Sarah. “It’s just those funny bunching feelings I told you about.”

  “You knew about it?” Jason burst out, staring at Sarah. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I asked Sarah not to say anything,” Kate told him, sniffing. “I knew you’d overreact.”

  David glanced at Sarah and raised his eyebrows.

  “I said I wouldn’t lie, but I wouldn’t say anything unless I thought she was really in labor.” Turning to Kate, Sarah touched her shoulder. “What’s happening?”

  “The same thing as before, just a kind of bunching.”

  “Jason, I don’t think you need to panic,” Sarah told him. “I’ve been concerned about how uncomfortable Kate is, and of course I wondered if she could go into labor early. But we need to stay calm.” She turned back to Kate. “Come on, let’s go sit in the living room and talk, okay?”