SummerHill Secrets, Volume 2 (19 page)

“Silent?”

He nodded. “I’ve been following you since you made the turn into your neighbors’ yard.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised I hadn’t heard him before.

He pointed toward my house on the other side of the willow grove, just up the hill. “I doubt you can see it, but my dad’s Jeep is parked in your yard. He came out to talk to your dad about something. Said I could come along and keep him company.”

He began to alliterate without thinking, it seemed.

Meanwhile, my heart had sped up. I was caught between ecstasy at Jon’s being here and worry over how to involve him in Rachel’s private pond party.

I certainly wouldn’t be rude and send him away. Not the guy I’d secretly had my eye on for as long as I could remember.

But what could I do? Invite him to go skating with us? What would Rachel say if I spoiled her “couples” event? And Levi? How would
he
react to Jon?

“Looks like you’ve got some plans,” Jon said, offering to carry my skates.

“Uh…yeah.” I relinquished my skates, thrilled at his thoughtful gesture. “A group of us from around here are going skating on Zooks’ pond.” I pointed to it, struggling with how to tell him that Levi was one of the group.

“Sounds great. Mind if I watch?” he said.

“Me…mind?”

He laughed his warm, deep laugh, and we made our way through the snow together. “Wanna work the word game?” he asked.

I glanced toward the pond, where the others were already beginning to lace up. “Maybe later,” I said.

Something sank in me, and I felt helpless. Torn in half, in a strange sort of way.

Without warning, Jon stopped walking. “Listen, I really don’t have to hang around here,” he said quickly.

“No…no, I didn’t mean you should go. Nothing like that.” Truth was, I wanted him to stay. More than anything in the world!

He stood there, looking down at me with his inquisitive eyes. Little streams of breath floated around his mouth and nose. “I don’t wanna intrude.”

“Don’t worry, Jon, you’re not,” I insisted. “C’mon!”

Running ahead, I felt the exhilaration. Jon was here—he was right here with me! The thought spurred me on, and I actually outran him.

“Merry, hullo!” Rachel called from the ice. She sped over to Jon and me. “I want ya to meet Matthew.”

The stocky teenage Amish boy skated over and stuck out his hand. “Gut to know ya, Merry.” He smiled broadly, showing his teeth. “Rachel here, she’s been talkin’ a lot about ya.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, too,” I said, conscious that Levi was observing me as he glided across the pond toward us. Politely, I turned to Jon. “This is Jonathan Klein, a friend of mine from school.” Then I introduced my Plain friends by their first names.

Before I could explain the reason why Jon was here, he spoke up. “My father’s over visiting Merry’s dad.” He glanced at me almost shyly. “Merry had no idea I was coming.”

Levi grinned at us. “Well, s’good to see ya again, Jonathan,” he said. Then he looked straight at me. “How are
you
, Merry?”

“Fine, thanks. Are you glad to be home?” I replied, feeling worse than awkward.

Levi nodded. “I’d forgotten how much I missed this old place.” Looking out over the expanse of pond and meadow, he added, “I do believe there’s plenty of room for the five of us. That is if Jonathan wants to slide around on the ice in his shoes.”

We laughed, and then it hit me. Levi had remembered meeting Jon last summer. A short encounter, for sure, but another uncomfortable meeting—just outside the mall entrance in Lancaster.

Matthew Yoder came to the rescue. “How ’bout if ya wear my skates after a bit? See if they fit.”

Rachel clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s a wonderful-gut solution. You fellows’ll take turns.”

And that’s what Matthew and Jon did—took turns.

Someone else took turns, too. Levi. He had to share his skating partner with the Alliteration Wizard. Although it didn’t seem to bother Jon much, I saw the initial disappointment in Levi’s eyes.

Still, we played everything from Fox and Geese to Crack the Whip. After an hour or more, Levi and Matthew built a bonfire on the south bank, and we began to warm ourselves.

While we did, Rachel tried her best to teach Jon and me how to sing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” in German. We did pretty well, I suppose, considering that neither of us had ever studied the language.

Jon seemed to be enjoying himself. And to be truthful, that was really all that mattered. At least to me.

After a time, Levi ran to the house and brought back a bag of marshmallows. While we toasted the gooey treats, we listened as he told of his church-building experiences in Bolivia. Matthew entered into the conversation, telling about his new workplace—the cabinet-making shop he now shared with his father. Rachel listened silently, eyes shining.

I remembered to tell Levi about Chelsea’s interest in spiritual things. “She’s been going to church with me lately,” I said. “I hope you’ll keep her in your prayers.”

“I sure will,” Levi said, offering me another marshmallow.

“Is her mom doing any better?” Jon asked.

“Chelsea and her dad are hoping she’ll be home soon. Maybe in time for Christmas.”

When Matthew asked about Jon’s interests, the Alliteration Wizard said he enjoyed books. “Lots of them.” He smiled at me. “Sometimes I even read poetry.”

Poetry?
Had he ever told me this? It was one more thing Jon and I had in common!

In a short while, we were all back on the ice. Except Matthew. He handed over his skates to Jon and kept the bonfire going as we played another round of Crack the Whip.

“Who wants to be the tail this time?” Rachel asked, grinning at me.

“Okay, I guess I will,” I volunteered. “But only if you don’t go too fast.”

“Aw, the faster the better,” Matthew called from the pond side, laughing heartily.

I shrugged. “Maybe for you.”

Joking around, the four of us joined hands. Levi at the center, followed by Rachel, then Jonathan. I was at the end. The tail.

Soon we were zooming around and around. Faster and faster, speeding across the ice in a giant circle. A group of jubilant young people enjoying a sunny winter day.

Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, Jonathan stumbled over his skate. My grip broke free from his gloved hand as he tumbled forward.

I was airborne, flying across the pond’s glassy surface. An outline of bare trees against the sky jeered at me in the distance.

I heard myself scream, “Help!”

Rachel was shouting at the top of her lungs. “
Ach
, Merry, no! There’s thin ice!”

Hers were the last words I heard. The next sound was a terrifying
crack
as I plunged through the frozen surface—into the icy black hole below.

Numbing cold, raw and biting…rushed in on all sides. My body responded with violent spasms. I’d fallen into liquid ice. This deep, deep hole…was sucking me down.

Call upon me, and I will answer….

I attempted to touch bottom with my feet, still aware of my heavy figure skates tied tightly around my ankles. But in spite of repeated efforts to find the depth, it was no use—the pond bed gave way to nothingness. I’d fallen into the “cellar.”

Holding my breath, I tried to swim back to the opening above. Grappling with my hands and arms, I searched.

Where is it?

I made several attempts, aware that if I succumbed to having to see my way back and opened my eyes, they might freeze in their sockets. I grasped for something…anything to pull me up.

The pond rumbled in my ears, mocking me. Desperately, I thrashed about, my lungs aching for air.

Then as I fought to find the surface, my head bumped against something hard. I pushed on it, daring to open one eye.

Light burst all around me. I’d hit the pond’s surface!

In one last frantic struggle, I pounded on the icy ceiling above me, praying.
Dear Lord Jesus, please help me!

Ears throbbing, I broke through the opening, pulling hard for life-giving air, only to be pushed back into the frigid water by an unexpected body. Someone was trying to rescue me….

But the chasm beneath wrenched at me, inhaling me. Down, down the pond’s cellar drew me into the arctic abyss. I was lost again. And in my stony confusion, something told me that one of two things was going to happen. I would either freeze to death…or drown. Four days before Christmas.

Was this how it had been for Levi at age nine? Had he sensed how close he was to drowning in this very pond, even as he struggled to yank his foot away from the willow root?

I had saved him that day eight years ago.

Who would save
me
?

Precious seconds ticked by, merging with the frozen underwater blackness. My lungs screamed for breath; my body stiffened, paralyzed.

An eternity later, a hazy form began to emerge out of the murky darkness. When I looked more closely, I knew that it was Faithie, my little twin, swimming toward me.

It did not occur to me to question how or why my dear, dead sister was here with me now. Yet I could feel her loving arms encircle me, guiding me. “You must not breathe yet, Merry,” she warned. “Wait…wait.…”

The heaviness in my chest was the first sensation I felt when I regained consciousness. Slowly, painstakingly, I forced the sounds and smells of this new place to separate themselves in my mind.

Then my mother’s face, distorted and wavy, began to sharpen—coming into focus. “Is this heaven?” I asked. “Did I die?”

“No, darling, you’re very much alive.” She squeezed my hand.

If I was alive, why did I feel so dead?

Within seconds, I felt my body yielding to sleep again. But in my drifting, I felt my mother’s hand still holding mine, and a thousand questions faded away.

The next face I recognized was Daddy’s. A whole twenty-four hours later, one of the nurses remarked. He looked downright exhausted, probably because he’d gone without sleep for a very long time.

“It hurts to breathe,” I told him.

“Try not to talk, honeybunch,” he said as another doctor examined me.

I didn’t feel up to talking. Especially later when several strangers came in to visit. Two boys and a girl.

Levi and Jonathan were the boys’ names. The girl was very sweet—someone by the name of Rachel. She said she was Levi’s sister and cried when I didn’t remember them.

All of this seemed very confusing. Why were they so happy to see me when I didn’t even know who they were?

When I asked my mom about it later, her face turned pale.

And hours later, in the privacy of my hospital room, she and Dad told me that I’d lost certain portions of my memory.

“Is it serious?” I asked. “Will my memory come back?”

Dad smiled slightly, stroking my hair. “You had a horrible accident. We almost lost you, baby.” And he began to explain what had happened yesterday afternoon on the pond.

“Why can’t I remember?” I put my hand to my forehead, trying to think, but it only made my head hurt worse. “Who did you say rescued me?”

He sighed. “Well, your friend from church and school, Jonathan Klein, literally jumped into the pond, trying to bring you up to the surface for air.”

Mom chimed in. “But you sank back down, and he couldn’t find you.”

“Which pond?” I asked.

“Our Amish neighbors’—out behind our property and the Zooks’.”

“Zooks?” The name sounded foreign to me, but Mom and Dad were talking as though these people—the Zooks—were longtime friends.

“Tell her what happened next,” Mom prompted Dad.

A smile burst across his face. “Your childhood friend Levi Zook risked his life to save both you and Jon.”

“Levi?”

“He’s the one who saved you and your school friend,” Dad explained.

“Well, whoever these boys are, I want to thank them—both of them. Levi…and Jim?”

“
Jon
,” Mom said. “Short for Jonathan.”

The nurse came in to take my blood pressure, and while she did, she asked if I remembered her name. I fooled her and read it off her name badge. But she patted my arm as though I’d said the wrong thing, then left.

When my brother came in, my parents started introducing him. “This is your big brother, Skip,” my dad said. “He’s home for Christmas from his freshman year in college.”