The Amish Nanny (33 page)

“It's Ada again.”

Will told me he thought she'd be all right. “She's frightened, that's all.” Then he said he would buy a plane ticket and leave as soon as possible.

“You're coming here?” I choked.

“Of course. I'll call this number as soon as I know when. Tell my grandmother. I already told Christy I would see her soon and that she needed to stay strong and be of help to you.”

Will said he'd try to fly into Bern instead of Zurich because it was closer. “Maybe Giselle could pick me up.”

“She's not here.” I explained to him about her exhibit and how it didn't sound as though we'd be seeing her at all.

“Call her again,” he said firmly. “Tell her what's going on. She's family. She should be there to help you, Ada.”

I shivered a little at the sound of my name.

After we hung up, I cried just a bit, out in the hall away from Christy, mostly from relief that Will was coming to help. Then I thought about what he said and pulled out Giselle's number. I stared at it a moment, not sure of what to do. What if I asked her to come and she said no?

Just then a nurse motioned to me and said we could see Mrs. Beiler now. I put the phone in the pocket of my apron and called to Christy, and then we went into Alice's room together. There were two vinyl chairs, one on each side of the room, and Alice was propped up in the bed, her broken arm in a sling, with an IV tube going into her good arm. She wore a hospital gown and no
kapp
, her straight white hair hanging down in a single braid instead of tucked up in a bun the way it usually was. Lying there, she looked so vulnerable—not to mention almost naked without her
kapp
—and I was shocked that in the span of a few hours she went from seeming so healthy to being so frail. But the fact was she hadn't actually been in good health. I'd just thought so.

“Come here,” she said to Christy.

The girl obliged, even though she seemed uncomfortable. She approached the side of the bed.

They didn't say anything for a moment. Then Christy stepped closer and Alice reached out with her good arm. “See, I'm fine,” she said. “I do have a break—all these years I've never had a broken bone, and then I end up with one in a foreign country. Isn't that something?”

Christy shrugged, offering up a small smile.

“Once the swelling goes down a little, I'll be getting a cast. Do you want to be the first to sign it?”

Christy smiled a little more, but she didn't say anything, so I told Alice Will was coming.

“Why ever for?” Alice sat up a little straighter. “And leave the twins? And the business? He shouldn't do that.”

I hadn't thought that someone else could come—Benjamin, Will's dad, or his mother, Nancy. It was harder for me to imagine them navigating the trip. Will would do much better.

“It was his idea to come.”

“I'm sure it was.” I could tell she was in pain by the edge to her voice. She was probably thinking about both the loss of work and the cost of Will traveling. “I'll be fine. They'll put a cast on my arm…”

I wasn't sure if she wasn't talking about her congestive heart failure because of Christy or because she didn't comprehend the condition.

“The doctor said you'll be in the hospital for several days, maybe longer.” My voice was calm and gentle. “And then once you are out, after resting a couple more days, you will need to be flown home, not go by ship.”

Alice closed her eyes. “We'll see.”

We were all silent for a moment. I wondered at Alice's denial, while Christy picked at the cotton blanket.

The nurse shooed us out then, and I left Christy in front of the TV again. Stepping back out into the hall, I thought of
Mammi
and of how much she wanted me to see Giselle.

I leaned against the wall, touching the phone through the pocket of my apron. No matter how much my birth mother might not want to see me, we still needed her here regardless of how it turned out. I had to try, for Alice's and
Mammi
's sakes, if not my own.

I took the paper from my purse again and dialed slowly, expecting the call to go into her voice mail. It didn't. Giselle picked up on the second ring.

“Ada.” She must have recognized the number. “I've been meaning to call you. It turns out I can't—”

“Alice is in the hospital in Langnau,” I interrupted. “We need you to come.”

“Pardon?”

I repeated myself, verbatim, adding, “She collapsed. Besides breaking her arm, the doctor said she has congestive heart failure.”

There was a long pause. Then she said, “I'll leave within the hour.”

I thanked her and hung up, realizing I had no idea how far away Frankfurt was or when she'd arrive. I slipped the phone into my pocket, and only then did it occur to me that I hadn't thought to ask her about the letters. Somehow, at the moment they seemed like the least important thing going on here.

Christy stood in the doorway of the waiting room, watching me. “Is your aunt coming?”

“
Ya
,” I answered.

“What's wrong?” Christy stepped closer to me. “Besides that my
grossmammi
is sick.”

I sighed. She would find out sooner or later anyway. “Giselle is my aunt,” I said. “But she's also my birth mother. I was adopted by
Mamm
and
Daed
.”

“Oh,” was all Christy said. But when we went back into the waiting room she sat next to me on the couch. “Did you bring the book?” she asked.

“Which book?” I thought she was referring to her schoolwork.

“
Jane Eyre
.”

“It's in my purse.”

“Would you read it to me?” She scooted a little closer.

I pulled it from my bag and we settled in, the weight of her shoulder warm against my side, the scent of her hair sweet and calming to my soul.

I opened the novel, but before I found our place, Christy said, “Ada?” Her voice was soft and pained.

“What is it?” I put my arm around her and drew her closer.

“Did I make
Grossmammi
sick?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I was really mean to her this morning in our room, when she told me where we were going and I thought I'd have to sit in some dumb lawyer's office all day. Then, of course, there was that whole shopping thing, at breakfast.”

“What shopping thing?”

She thought for a moment and said, “Oh, right. You'd left the table by then.”

She squirmed a bit, so I tried to look into her eyes as I asked what had happened.

Her face contorted with shame, she explained. “I was complaining about having to go to the meeting and George offered to take me shopping instead. I didn't even ask her if it was okay. I just looked at her and said, ‘You can do whatever you want,
Grossmammi
, but I'm going shopping with George.' Everybody laughed, but she and I both knew I was being disrespectful. It was wrong of me to talk to her like that, especially in front of the others. I never apologized, not even later at the ice cream parlor when she was being so nice to me.” By the end of her confession, her chin was quivering.

I was at a loss for words but tried to do the best I could, assuring her that what had happened to Alice had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with her.

“But she was fine until she fell. Maybe she was overtired because of me.
Daed
says that she's old and we need to be cooperative—”

“Christy,” I interrupted. I realized I had to tell her about Alice's heart condition because it would hurt her more not to know. So I did, adding, “It's what older people get. It's very different from the condition you have and what your mother had.”

She buried her head against my arm, sobs racking her body.

“Sweetie, you are not to blame one bit,” I said, bending my head toward her. At that moment I wondered if guilt was one of the biggest weights she'd been carrying all these months. “You don't think you're to blame for your mother, do you?” My voice was soft and gentle.

Her head bounced against my arm, and a muffled, “
Ya
,” escaped her.

“Oh, Christy.” I lifted her chin with my hand and gazed into her red-rimmed eyes. “Your mother's death had absolutely nothing to do with you. There's nothing you could have done that would have made it your fault.”

She sobbed again.

“Nobody knew she was ill, not even the doctors. It's the absolute truth, Christy Gundy,” I said. “You must believe me.”

She nodded her head, just a little, but I wasn't sure she was convinced. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight. She gripped me back even more tightly, as if she were drowning and I was her only lifeline.

W
e headed back to Amielbach once hospital visiting hours were over. Will had called to say he had a ticket and would arrive in Bern tomorrow evening. I was amazed—and relieved—that he was able to make all of his plans so quickly. He also had some very good news. Thanks to the Ella-to-Ezra lifeline, he'd gotten wind of the hunt for the letters over at
Mammi
's, and he'd just hung up with a very excited Aunt Marta, who said that they had found them. The plan was for him to bring them over on the plane when he came, which at this point would get them here even more quickly than a rush delivery.

On the drive Christy seemed to be more at ease with me than she'd been the entire trip. She and I sat together in the backseat as George carefully maneuvered the car around the curves. When he let us out at the bottom of the steps to Amielbach, Christy surprised me by reaching for my hand.

As we pushed through the front doors, I was thankful that we'd all had a bowl of soup at the hospital for dinner. That was one less thing we would have to worry about now. Daniel told Christy he'd seen a stack of games last night in the dining hall. “Want to play Scrabble?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“We could ask if there's a Ping-Pong table hidden away somewhere.” He nudged her in his teasing manner, but she didn't smile.

She led the way down the long entryway, with me following closely behind her.

“Herr Lauten said something about a ballroom on the third floor.” Daniel stepped quickly to catch up with us. “Maybe some rollerblades are around. That would be a lot of fun.”

I wanted to see it, but not tonight. I just wanted to go to bed, and I could tell that Christy did too.

Oskar was behind the desk when we entered the grand room. “There you are,” he said. “How's Alice?”

Before I could answer, Herr Lauten stepped into the room from the hallway. “Here you are, at last!” He hurried toward us, his cane tapping against the floor. “How was Alice when you left? And how are all of you?”

“She's resting comfortably,” I said. “Her pain seems to have subsided.” I added that the only new information we had was that Christy's father would arrive the following evening.

“Splendid!” Herr Lauten exclaimed, turning his attention toward Oskar. “We'll need to set up another room.”

“Or not. Maybe just change the sheets. I had a call from Giselle.” Oskar had a key in his hand and looked straight at me. “She asked me to get her cottage ready. She wants you and Christy to stay there. I stocked the fridge and made up the futon in her office.”

I took a deep breath. I didn't want to move down to the cottage, not tonight.

Looking at Oskar, Daniel said, “Did you ask her about the letters?”

He shrugged, saying he did but she acted as though she didn't even know what he was talking about. “She was in a hurry,” he added. “We can explain better once she gets here.” Looking at me, he asked if we needed help with our luggage.

“I've got it,” Daniel assured him.

“Wait, though,” I said, even as Christy stood yawning beside me. “I'm not sure about this.”