Huckleberry Hearts (21 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Elmer Lee had picked a good spot. A pasture somewhere on the outskirts of Bonduel with flat ground, lots of space, and no one in sight for miles. A good place to dispose of his body if they wanted to. Not that Norman would do that. Zach had watched too many TV movies.

Zach parked his car on the hard ice alongside the dirt road. They got out and trudged through the deep snow to the middle of the field. Norman found a long stick and drew a circle in the snow, maybe ten feet in diameter.

Zach hadn't been able to formulate any sort of strategy on the ride over. The scarf had come off in the car, but should he take off his coat, or would that just make it easier for Elmer Lee to wrap his arms around him? What about gloves? He didn't feel sure about anything except that Elmer Lee wasn't going to budge him out of that circle. He refused to lose Cassie.

He stepped into the circle and took off his coat. He'd move more quickly without it, and if there was anything he'd learned in soccer, it was that quickness trumped brute force. Usually.

The cold sliced through his skin like sharp pieces of glass, but he ignored it. He'd be sweating soon enough.

With his coat still on, Elmer Lee stood on the opposite side of the circle facing Zach.

“We shouldn't do this,” Luke said.

Zach gave him a quick smile. “It's okay. No one's going to get hurt. Isn't that right, Elmer Lee?”

Elmer Lee nodded. He didn't seem like the vindictive type, just someone easily led by a bully like Norman.

It went without saying that they were really fighting for Cassie, and she was worth every drop of blood. Elmer Lee wouldn't go down easy.

And Zach really hoped there wouldn't be blood.

“The first person with any part of their body out of the circle wins,” Norman said, almost cheerfully. Of course he was cheerful. Elmer Lee would be doing all the work.

Zach didn't waste any time. Trying to push him out of the circle with sheer momentum, he ran at Elmer Lee and clapped his arms around him in a bear hug. Elmer Lee stumbled backward but didn't step anywhere near the edge of the circle. He hooked an elbow under Zach's armpit and tried to wrench Zach's arm from around him. Zach countered with a quick twist so he still had his arms around Elmer Lee but was now behind him.

Planting his foot, he kicked his leg and swiped Elmer Lee's feet out from under him. Norman shouted as both Zach and Elmer Lee tumbled to the ground with Zach on top. In an amazing show of strength, Elmer Lee reached behind him, grabbed onto Zach's T-shirt, and pulled Zach off his back. Zach rolled away from Elmer Lee in the snow as Elmer Lee stood up and came barreling toward him, trying Zach's first strategy.

At the last second, Zach crouched low and took Elmer Lee's legs out from under him. Elmer Lee landed on his stomach, and Zach flopped on top of him. Zach made the mistake of not keeping his head low. In an attempt to escape, Elmer Lee elbowed him in the face.

He heard a sickening crack as pain shot through his head. His vision blurred, and he held on tight until the dizziness subsided and he could see straight again. The pain knocked the wind out of him, and he gasped for air. The Amish guy had broken his nose.

Blood poured from his nose and dripped onto Elmer Lee's coat and face. Elmer Lee must have felt the warm moisture on his cheek, because his resistance slackened. His hesitation proved his downfall because Zach was going to take any advantage he could get. By shoving his hands into the snow and curling them beneath Elmer Lee, Zach was able to wrap his arms all the way around the wide span of Elmer Lee's chest. Digging his boots into the frozen ground, he lifted Elmer Lee just enough to shove his head and one of his shoulders out of the circle.

He thought he heard Norman groan behind him, but his ears were ringing too loudly to be sure.

Good enough, as far as Zach was concerned. The adrenaline pulsed through his veins as he struggled to his feet and staggered away from Elmer Lee. Elmer Lee rose to his hands and knees first and then stood. He swayed a bit, but he didn't look worse for wear. A light red scrape marred the side of his face, but it probably wouldn't even show in a couple of hours. Nothing like the blood pouring from Zach's nose or the double shiners that were bound to follow.

Not without a lot of effort.

Norman patted Elmer Lee on the arm, mumbling something Zach couldn't hear. He didn't care what they were talking about. He had won, and Norman had lost. Cassie would get some peace.

Zach bent over so the blood from his nose could drip into the snow. Blood looked extra red against a sparkly white background. He certainly hoped it stopped bleeding by the time his shift started at five. He reached down, scooped up a handful of snow, and placed it over his nose. He hissed at the icy coldness. Nothing stung like a broken nose. Would his nose be more crooked than it already was? Maybe Elmer Lee's elbow had straightened it out for him. Would Cassie like him with a normal nose? Did she even like him now?

Luke handed him his coat, with only the faintest of smiles on his face. Zach opted not to put it back on. He was soaking wet. It would only make him colder when he got in the car.

Elmer Lee shuffled through the snow and handed Zach a handkerchief.

“Denki,” Zach said, with as flawless an accent as he could muster with a handful of ice pressed against his nose.

“Is it broken?” Elmer Lee asked.

“Yeah.”

“
Ach, du lieva.
I'm sorry. I didn't try to.”

Zach held the handkerchief at his chin to catch the blood and melting snow that dribbled down his face. “I know. I put my face in the wrong place.”

Elmer Lee gazed down at the red snow. “No hard feelings?”

“No hard feelings.”

Norman frowned. “This doesn't mean that Elmer Lee won't still try to convince Cassie to marry him.”

Zach pulled his hand from his nose. “As long as you don't say one more word to Cassie about the church or her soul or how she's destroying your family, Elmer Lee can do all the courting he wants.”

If Zach had anything to say about it, Cassie would soon forget all about Elmer Lee.

Chapter Nineteen

Zach flexed his arm and rotated his shoulder. A little sore, but nothing he couldn't handle. More than one soccer collision had left him worse off than this.

His nose was the big problem. The swelling would eventually go down, but the two black eyes would linger for days. There would be no hiding them from Cassie unless he wore a pair of sunglasses everywhere he went. She'd get suspicious.

What was he going to tell her?

Just thinking of Cassie got his heart racing as if he'd just run the hundred-meter sprint. Had he ever truly loved a girl before her?

He strolled down the dim hall of the hospital with a cup of coffee in one hand and checked his phone for the third time. Three a.m. Only two more hours to go on his shift. Then he could go home and sleep off this throbbing broken-nose headache.

He paused at Austin Stetson's door. Austin's mom often slept on a cot in Austin's room, but she was working the night shift and Austin was alone tonight. Zach felt bad for anybody who had to sleep overnight at the hospital, but especially a little kid. Austin had been here for weeks, and Zach had promised his mom that he'd check on him when she couldn't be around.

Zach put his ear to the door. He heard the normal hisses and beeps of the machines in Austin's room, but he also might have heard something else. Soft whimpering or the faint voices coming from the nurses' station?

As silently as possible, Zach opened the door and tiptoed into Austin's room. He'd hate himself if he woke the poor kid.

Austin lay on his back with his head propped against his pillow. His hand covered his face, but Zach could still see the tears that slid down his cheeks and found a path down his neck to where they soaked into the collar of his Manchester City pajamas.

“Hey, bud,” Zach whispered. “Having a bad night?”

Austin swiped his hand across his face, erasing most of the evidence. He didn't like to cry in front of Zach. “I'm okay,” he said in a small, quivering voice. He squinted at Zach in the dim light. “What happened to your nose? It's big and red.”

“A wrestling match. The guy accidentally caught me in the face with his elbow.”

“Did you win?”

“Always.”

Austin cracked a smile.

Zach set his coffee cup on Austin's tray and lowered himself into the chair next to his bed. “You know you have my permission to cry your eyes out whenever you want.”

“I know, but Parker Plotsky says only babies cry.”

Zach leaned his elbow on Austin's bed. “What does Parker Plotsky know? Has he ever been in the hospital?”

“I don't know.”

“Has Parker Plotsky ever had four needles stuck in him in one day or had to pee in a cup?”

“No.”

“Then tell Parker Plotsky to shut his mouth.”

“He's my best friend.”

“You can be nice when you tell him to shut up.”

One corner of Austin's mouth curled upward. “Are you on the night shift?”

“Yeah. Pretty boring. What about you?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes I don't want to go to sleep because I'm afraid I won't wake up.”

Zach's heart broke for about the thousandth time since he'd met Austin. How much could God ask of one little kid? Times like these he wanted to shake his fist at heaven and chew God out for not doing His job. But Cassie had told him to be still, so he usually just bowed his head and prayed for understanding. The funny thing was, he always felt better after he prayed, as if God were giving him the grace and comfort drop by drop. Maybe if he was patient, God would eventually fill him up.

“You don't have to worry, Austin. You'll always wake up.”

“How do you know?”

Zach cleared his throat. What had Cassie said about heaven? “Well, you'll either wake up in the hospital, or you'll wake up in Jesus's arms and He'll take you up to heaven where you won't ever be sad or afraid, and they'll never stick a needle in your arm again.”

“Mom says there's no pain in heaven.”

Zach nodded. “And you can play soccer all day long if you want and never get tired.”

“Will I be as good as Messi?”

“Better. Cassie says heaven is where dreams come true.”

Austin was quiet for a minute. “Is that real?”

“Of course it is.” Something warm and golden threaded through his veins and suddenly he
did
know that what he told Austin was true. The realization momentarily stole his breath away.

Heaven was real, and God wanted this one little boy to know it.

Austin smiled weakly. “Will you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“When you pray, will you ask God to make me better?”

“I already do.”

Austin tucked his legs up to his chin and rested his arms across his knees. “God will listen to you because you're so nice. Just like Cassie.”

“My friend Cassie?”

“Yeah.” He pointed to an orange and cream striped beanie hanging from the metal arm that held the TV. “She brought me cookies and a beanie yesterday. She made the cookies, and her grandma made the beanie.”

Zach couldn't hide his astonishment. “She came to visit you?” He reached over and pulled the beanie from the TV stand and pressed it to his face hoping to breathe a little of Cassie in with the beanie. He couldn't smell anything, not with a nose the size of a small country, but he imagined the beanie would smell like honey and lemon or vanilla and peanut butter, depending on what cookies she'd made that day. “What kind of cookies were they?”

“Captain America shields.”

Zach wasn't sure what Captain America shields smelled like, but on Cassie they no doubt smelled wonderful.

Zach didn't know why it surprised him that Cassie had come to visit Austin. He should have known by now that if there was anything in Cassie's power to do, she'd do it.

His longing for her swelled until he didn't think he could stand it. Just when he was sure he couldn't be any more in love with her, she did something like this.

His heart tied itself into a knot.

Austin snatched the beanie from him and stretched it onto his head. “Sick, huh? Netherlands colors.”

“Totally sick. And it'll help keep your toes warm.”

“You mean my ears,” Austin said.

Zach laid a hand on Austin's head. “Covering your head makes your feet warm. I used to do it at soccer practice all the time.”

“Really? Sick.”

Zach pulled his phone from his pocket. “Hey, there's a Man City game on right now, and I can get it on my phone. Do you want to watch it while I finish my rounds?”

Austin tried not to look too eager. “You probably need your phone.”

“I've got a pager.”

Austin grinned from ear to ear. “Okay.”

“But you have to promise me to go right to sleep as soon as it's over.”

“Sick.”

“And don't break my phone.” Zach found the game on his phone and handed it to Austin.

With his eyes glued to the screen, Austin settled deeper into his pillow. “That Cassie girl likes you.”

That got Zach's attention. “How do you know?”

“She smiles and her eyes get weird when she says your name. Like Emily Loftus. She chases me around the playground at recess.”

Austin didn't seem inclined to say more as the game commanded his attention. Zach waved good-bye and tiptoed out of the room.

If he were still in elementary school, he'd be chasing Cassie around the playground.

Wouldn't it have been cool if Cassie chased him back?