An Amish Family Reunion (30 page)

“Gas pockets form naturally during the aging process.” Leah felt the uncomfortable rumble deep in her gut. “Would you excuse me? I’ll meet you back at the house. Feel free to look around.” She fled out the door and ran smack into Jonah.

“Easy,
fraa
. No running. What are you doing in here? I told
mamm
that because the odors make you sick I would clean the equipment. Go up to the house and rest.”

“
Danki
, Jonah. Could you finish giving April a tour? She’s visiting today, but I need some fresh air.” Leah fled to the sweet-smelling comfort of her kitchen, feeling guilty about abandoning her friend. But if she’d stayed another minute, Jonah would have had another sterilization disaster to contend with.

Eli watched his father’s chest rise and fall with each life-sustaining breath. Although the man remained hooked up to IVs, monitors, and other equipment, he was now breathing on his own. The hospital had transferred him from coronary intensive care to a regular room that morning. And although he was still very weak, his father should be able to go home in another week if his improvement continued. Eli bowed his head in prayer, giving thanks to a merciful Lord. Robert Riehl would soon be able to return home to his wife, daughters, and a son who loved and depended on him. The surgeon had repaired a heart valve and inserted a stent into one artery to keep the blood flowing as it should. But the marvels of science—impressive at times though they might be—could never compare to the miracles of God.

Eli had been led to check out health magazines from the library, something he’d never done before, and to read the article about administering CPR.

He had been led to return home early that Wednesday afternoon and had found his dad lying unconscious in the barn. There still had been time to act.

Even his blood turned out to be perfect to provide a transfusion during Dad’s surgery. It had been no accident that Eli was in the right place at the right time. It had been the will of God. And for His grace, he would always be grateful.

“Is he still sleeping?” Rose’s voice startled him as she bent over his shoulder.

“
Jah
, the nurse said that’s normal. He needs plenty of rest to recover.” Eli straightened the kinks in his back, one vertebra at a time. “How did you get here?”

“My beau, Luke, hired a driver so I could see
daed
. That same driver is waiting at the main entrance to take you home. You need to sleep in a real bed for a change, instead of that chair, and take a good hot shower.”

“The nurses let me shower down the hall.” He winced with pain as he rubbed the sore muscles between his shoulder blades.

“What have you eaten?” A frown pulled her lips into a tight line.

“They serve decent food in the cafeteria, but the prices are about to turn me into a beggar.”

“Go home, Eli. The driver is waiting for a passenger to take back to Winesburg. You’ve been here for days and have done all you could. Now let your sisters take turns staying with Dad until we bring him home.”

Eli met her gaze. “He’s going to be okay, Rose. I would have felt terrible if I hadn’t gone to the barn in time.” His poignant confession sounded hollow in the cold, sterile hospital room.

“
Ach
, that’s ridiculous. If anything, you saved his life. There’s no reason for you to feel guilty.” Rose plopped down in the opposite chair, smoothing her skirt with both hands.

“He might not have had the heart attack if I’d been more help around the farm. I should have assumed more responsibility as Dad grew older instead of doing only my assigned chores. And where was I when he wasn’t feeling good? Chasing pipe dreams with fellow dreamer Phoebe Miller.” Eli released a sigh of shameful regret.

“You listen to me, little brother. Nothing you did or didn’t do caused this. According to the doctor, Dad has coronary artery disease. It’s hereditary and progressive, and it would have been fatal if not for your quick response. Mom should have changed his diet years ago to reduce his cholesterol level, and he should have been on high blood pressure medication.”

Eli blinked in amazement. Rose had never shown interest in topics not directly related to the kitchen. “All this time we had a doc in the family and no one knew.”

A grin lit up her face. “I’ve kept my mind busy reading that stack of health magazines you brought home. By the way, they’re all overdue. You’ll owe a big fine, and you’re already bankrupt from store-bought food.”

He smiled at her before standing and leaning over the bed to kiss his father’s forehead. She was right. He needed to get back home. Both Rose’s and their sister Ruby’s beaus had been there to run operations along with help from nearby district members, but those men had their own chores to do. With his dad laid up, the farm was now his responsibility. At nineteen he was no longer a boy running off with his fishing pole to the swimming hole on a hot summer day. He was a man, and he yearned to be a man his father could be proud of.

Just as he turned to leave, his father’s eyes fluttered open. “Am I still with the living?”

Eli took a moment to decipher his soft, hoarse words. “
Jah
, and you’ll stay with us for a good long while.”

“The Lord’s not ready for you yet.” Rose moved closer, her face streaming with tears. “
Guder mariye, daed
,” she greeted in
Deutsch
.

“You’re both here? Who’s running the farm?” Deep lines crinkled around his eyes.

The two siblings chuckled. “
Mamm
. And she says hurry and get well.” Eli squeezed his father’s hand through the blanket.

Rose dabbed her face with a tissue. “
Mamm
was here for three days straight. She went home yesterday to bathe but will return tonight.”

“So much fussing over one old hog farmer.” The strangled words caught in his throat.

“You’re not old, but you’ll have to give up that bacon you love so much.” Rose smoothed the mussed hair back from his pale face. “You’re in the prime of life.”

“But we are hog farmers.” Eli bent low to kiss his dad’s papery forehead again as a wave of love nearly overwhelmed him. The reality of what they had almost lost hit him like a mule kick. “And I’m going home to make sure they’re doing what hogs are supposed to do.” He swallowed hard as he straightened.

Bob Riehl’s hand rose from beneath the covers and caught Eli’s sleeve. “
Danki
, son.
Danki
.”

Eli nodded and left the room before he started weeping like a woman. He couldn’t wait to get home to start acting like the man he was.

B
utterflies took flight and bees darted between clover heads as Julia and two little boys strolled through the meadow. A light breeze from the south kept the bright sunshine from turning oppressive. “That is a
kuh
, Jamie. And these here are
blumen
.” Julia pointed at a cow grazing near the pasture fence and then pulled up a handful of flowers. She pronounced the word again in
Deutsch
as she transferred the buttercups to her grandson’s small hand. Jamie dutifully repeated what she said with a child’s typical eagerness.

Emma and her two sons had been staying at the farm for ten days. They had arrived within a few days of Martha and Matthew to make the most of their month-long visit. So Julia made the most of the opportunity to teach her grandsons their native language. For an Amish child, Old Order or New, not to be fluent in the German dialect was unheard of. She wanted Jamie, the four-year-old, to have at least basic knowledge before the get-together for the whole district, or she would have to face the clucking tongues and shaking heads of her friends and quilting acquaintances. Women her age had strong opinions about maintaining their cultural heritage—opinions she agreed with.

“
Gaul
,” said Jamie, pointing at one of Henry’s prized acquisitions up the hill.

“That’s
gut
.
Gaul
,” she repeated with pride.

“
Cah-cah
,” called little Sam, behind them.

With horror, Julia turned to see the eighteen-month-old clutching a cowpat between his tiny fingers.

“Cah-cah.”
The boy repeated the word, utterly delighted with himself. The mess was smeared across the front of his shirt and trousers.

“
Jah
,
cah-cah
,” agreed Julia. “That word is the same in every language.” She shook the animal waste from his hands. “No, Sam. Don’t touch
cah-cah
.” She chose English for her admonishment to make sure there would be no misunderstanding. “Let’s go to the house,” she said in both languages. She picked up the toddler and walked as quickly as her arthritic legs could manage while Jamie ran and jumped like a yearling colt. What would Emma say when she saw her son? Bad
grossmammi
, probably
. She laughed to herself, recalling a few of her own
kinner
s’ childhood exploits. Once Emma had spent an hour sitting in a tree after an ornery goat deemed her an unwanted trespasser in his pasture. Fortunately, Matthew had heard her distress calls, shooed off the goat, and helped his sister down from the branch.

Pausing at the old hand pump, she washed the boy’s hands and face in case he touched something before reaching the bathroom. Inside the kitchen, Emma, Leah, and Martha were finishing breakfast dishes and starting preparations for supper. All the Millers would be at the cookout tonight. Lily Davis would bring her brother, pick up Jonah Byler along the way, and then stay to eat with James’ in-laws. James and Jonah planned to remain for the weekend with their wives. Seth, Hannah, Ben, and Phoebe would appear at various times during the afternoon as chores allowed.

“What happened?” asked Emma, looking aghast. She stopped kneading bread dough to hurry toward her sons. Both boys beamed at their mother as though proud of some accomplishment.

“Don’t touch him. He’s fine. He just needs another bath.”

“Pee-u,” crowed Leah and Martha. After a few backward steps, they pinched their nostrils shut with two fingers.

“Is that what I think it is?” Emma’s hand perched on one hip, while her lips twitched into a frown.

“Relax, daughter. The world will soon be right again.” Julia hauled the boy toward the bathroom.

“You must have gotten rusty,
mamm
. Or you’re falling down on the job,” Leah called after her, smiling behind her sister-in-law. That particular daughter looked the picture of health and happiness, and she was thoroughly enjoying her visit with siblings and their offspring. The other Miller women had already deduced her joyous condition, even though Leah made no admission.

“It’s no wonder I’m rusty, considering how seldom I see my
kinskinner
,” Julia called from inside the modern addition to the century-old house. While filling the tub, she stripped off the child’s soiled clothes. “I would think a farm boy would know not to touch a cowpat,” Julia hollered toward the open door. Sam reached for a
kapp
ribbon with his wet hand.

“He plays in a fenced section of our yard. We don’t let him run wild through the fields where cows and horses graze.” In the doorway Emma crossed her arms, but her expression revealed enjoyment of the situation. “What were you three doing while we cooked and cleaned and ironed clothes?” Her dimples deepened. No doubt about it—they were her prettiest feature.

“I was teaching the boys the correct names of things. And making good progress too.” Julia tested the bathwater, added a capful of bubble bath, and a few moments later turned off the faucets. After undressing Sam, she lifted him into the tub. “Even this little one has started calling me
mammi
instead of Granny. I can’t believe Barbara Davis prefers that term over the others.” A natural competition existed between James’ mother and herself—the friendly, ongoing banter between two strong-willed women with different ideas on childrearing. Julia tied her
kapp
strings behind her neck, picked up the bar of soap, and began to scrub her small grandson.

Emma stepped over her legs to get a fresh towel from the linen closet. “Would you like me to take over? You could help Leah and visit with Martha for a while. I don’t want the boys wearing you out. They’re a handful.” She patted her mother’s shoulder.

“
Ach
, you were this age once. I’ll join the women while they’re napping. I only have a month with them, and I don’t want to miss a moment.”