The Promise of an Angel (A Heaven On Earth 1) (7 page)

S
amuel’s legs are paralyzed.”

Andrew edged closer to the barn wall after overhearing Jonas Fischer tell of his son’s condition to the bishop. What felt like a crushing weight of bricks pressed against Andrew’s chest as he strained to listen. A dull string of heartbeats passed in silence.

“Hannah is . . . not so well.” Mr. Fischer’s voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry to hear this news. The community will see that your pumpkin crop goes to market. Andrew will milk the cows.”

His father’s list of how the community would pull together droned on. Not that it wasn’t a blessing for the Fischers to have church members to rely on for support, but Andrew had to wonder if any of it offered comfort or even mattered in relation to his son losing the use of his legs.

“Judith concerns me as well.” Jonas let out a long sigh.

Andrew held his breath. Was Judith ill? She acted normal during breakfast yesterday. Although when he returned later in the evening to milk cows, he hadn’t seen her, nor was there any smoke curling out from the stovepipe.

“She passed out in the elevator at the hospital. Then when she awoke, she was rambling about having seen an angel. She told Samuel he would walk.” Brother Fischer sighed. “I know she blames herself for his accident, but—”

Andrew leaned against the barn wall, his stomach aching as though he’d been kicked by a horse. Judith told stories, but never ones she believed. He found it difficult to think she would make up a story about seeing an angel just in an attempt to cheer Samuel’s spirit.

His father and Jonas were walking off now, and Andrew couldn’t hear any more of their conversation. He drew in a steady breath and stepped out from the barn.

“Andrew.” His father waved him over.

He looked down at the brown grass as he met them at the buggy. “When you were at the Fischers’ house, did you hear Judith talk of seeing an angel?”

“
Nay
.”

“I told Jonas you would keep up the chores.”

“
Jah
, I will.” Andrew looked up long enough to catch a glimpse of Mr. Fischer’s down-turned mouth.

“And if you hear any talk of angels . . .” His father cleared his throat.

If they were asking for a report on Judith’s suspicious behavior, they might better probe Levi. Then again, after the way Levi hounded Judith the day before, Andrew wouldn’t wish to give him the task of interrogating her. “Judith doesn’t say much to me.”

“I’m taking Hannah back to sit with Samuel at the hospital.
Denki
, Andrew.” Jonas turned to his buggy.

His father waited until the Fischer buggy was out of view before he said, “I want to know what Judith is saying about an angel.” He shook his head. “Brother Jonas doesn’t need to handle problems with his daughter at a time like this.”

Andrew silently agreed. But if Judith really was telling stories, surely her brother David would speak to her.

“I didn’t make up the man. I saw him next to Samuel.” Judith poured hot water from the kettle into a line of cups. She leaned back to glance from the kitchen into the sitting room, where the womenfolk were chatting as they quilted. She turned back to Deborah and lowered her voice. “He’s an angel.”

Deborah bobbed the tea bag into the hot water. “Judith, you know I believe you, right?”

Judith nodded.

“But as your friend, I think you had better keep this to yourself. There’s so much talk
nau
. If you keep insisting that you saw an angel, it will only hurt your family more.”

Judith gulped. If the community were talking, it meant she’d brought condemnation on herself. Shame on her family.

“You know it’s hard for me to keep quiet,” she said. Judith shook her head slowly. Samuel’s frightened expression came to her mind. She’d only meant to comfort and encourage him.

“I know this is upsetting. But the talk will pass.” Deborah patted her arm. “You mustn’t blame yourself for Samuel’s condition.”

“
Ach
, how can
Ich nett
?” She pointed to the sitting room. “With every stitch I sew into the quilt we’re making for him, I pray for forgiveness.”

“And
mei
prayer is for you to understand and accept God’s will for Samuel.”

“Don’t pray for me. Pray for Samuel, please.” Judith picked up two cups to take to the women and motioned for her friend to do the same.

After serving everyone, Judith sat down and sipped the tea. Her mother had gone in to the hospital to stay with Samuel, so
Aenti
Lilly took charge. She kept a tight rein on the conversation, steering it away from Samuel’s accident and quizzing the women about their canning of winter squash and how many acres of pumpkins they’d be sending to market.

Eventually, though, someone said, “Samuel will find comfort with this blanket.”

“
Jah
, what a fine idea for us to sew it together,” Deborah’s mother said.

The bishop’s wife agreed. “It shall keep his legs warm in the winter,
jah
?”

“Would he know if they were cold?” Martha asked softly.

Judith winced, and Rebecca poked her head up from the corner where the children were playing with rag dolls. “Is it true that Samuel won’t ever walk again?” her little sister asked.

The women exchanged glances with one another.

Rebecca sidled over to Judith. “Please, tell me if it’s true.”

Judith placed her arm around her sister and leaned closer. “I believe he will walk,” she whispered.

Rebecca’s eyes brightened. “He will?”

The women immediately began to murmur, and Judith felt her lungs tighten.

“Judith’s not well,”
Aenti
Lilly said quickly. “She hit her head when she fainted in the elevator.” She looked at Judith. “Isn’t that right?”

Rebecca started to whimper. “Will you have to go to the hospital too?”

“
Nay
, I’m fine.”

Ellen set her cup on the lamp table and lifted Rebecca into her arms. “God is looking after Samuel.”

Judith scanned the women’s worried faces. “I saw a bright light outside the elevator,” she began, but caught her words before saying what she knew would only bring her grief.

The bishop’s wife looked at
Aenti
Lilly. “Didn’t you say she saw a strange light in the barn as well?”

Aenti
Lilly closed her eyes and nodded.

Judith couldn’t help herself from blurting, “I saw an angel.” She looked at Rebecca cuddled in Ellen’s arms. “And Samuel will walk.”

“Judith,” Mrs. Lapp said calmly, “it is not our place to dictate to God what
muscht
happen. We
muscht
accept His will as it comes.” She looked around the room at the others, then brought her gaze back to Judith. “None of us wants you to blame yourself. We know how much you love Samuel.”

Martha began sniffling, and
Aenti
Lilly handed her a hankie. “I don’t understand. Samuel’s just a child,” Martha said, blowing her nose. She wiped her puffy eyes and glared at Judith, then she stood and bolted out the door.

An uneasy silence fell over the women. A few shifted in their chairs. Some fumbled with their bonnet ties. Finally
Aenti
Lilly set her cup on the empty wooden chair beside her and reached for her sewing hoop. “It will be
gut
to have this blanket done for Samuel to
kumm
home to.”

Deborah’s mother passed her empty cup to her daughter. “Why don’t you and Judith collect the dishes.”

As Judith stood, a numbing sensation traveled the length of her body. It all seemed like a dream. First Samuel’s accident, then fainting in the elevator, and now the women busying themselves with their needles to avoid eye contact with her.

Deborah handed her some empty cups.
“Kumm
,
”
she said, motioning her to the kitchen.

Still dazed, Judith followed.

Deborah set the dishes in the sink. “I thought you were going to let it go.
Nau
the bishop will get involved.”

Judith sighed. “I don’t know what compelled me.” She glanced into the sitting room, then turned back to her friend. “
Jah
,
Ich
do. He told me Samuel’s steps were ordered by God. Only an angel would know what God said.”

“Judith, please. It isn’t
gut
to talk as though you know how God thinks. It’s dangerous. What would the bishop say?”

“I fainted from the radiating glow of an angel. And he was on the children’s ward to see Samuel. I just know it’s true.” Judith paused. “I need to talk with Martha.”

Even as a child, Martha was often overly dramatic, especially when her parents weren’t around. But Judith knew that her sister’s angry departure was only a cover for the hurt and anxiety she felt for Samuel.

“She’s taking this hard.” Deborah made a shooing gesture with her hand. “Go talk to her. I’ll wash the dishes.”

“Denki
.” She peeked into the sitting room. “It looks like they’re finishing up.”

Lord, I need a large portion of kindness
, Judith prayed. She sucked in a deep breath and stepped outside.

She found Martha sitting under the maple tree. Her hands covered her face and her shoulders shook. The closer Judith came to her sister, the tighter her throat felt.

“Martha,” she said softly.

Her sister looked up, swiping the wetness from her face.

“Samuel will be—”

“It’s all your fault.” Martha stood and crossed her arms. “If you weren’t so nosy during prayer, you would’ve seen him wander off.”

“Let’s not talk about this
nau
,” Judith said, using the smoothest tone she could muster. She glanced over to the field at Levi, who was loading pumpkins into the wagon.

“Why? Because you know you were wrong?”

“Martha, you and I both know the truth.” She reached for her sister’s arm and swept her hand gently over it. “You were flirting with Levi.”

Martha jerked her arm away. “Maybe he doesn’t like you.”

Judith resumed looking at Levi, who just at that moment looked in her direction and smiled. Her chest filled with warmth. She remembered his asking her to attend a singing shortly after she’d turned seventeen, so he could take her home. At first he had seemed angry about her parents’ refusal to abide by the community’s usual standards. But two years had passed . . . and two days ago he had surprised her with a kiss under this very tree.

Judith turned to Martha. “
Jah
,” she said. “He does.”

Chapter Five

A
ndrew cleared his throat when Levi didn’t immediately take the pumpkin from his hand. Following the direction of his cousin’s gaze, Andrew assumed it was Judith’s friendly smile that had captured his cousin’s attention.

The sewing get-together had apparently ended. The womenfolk milled on the porch and near the buggies. That meant he and Levi would lose the younger boys’ help.

Andrew called to the crew carrying pumpkins out of the field. “James, Jacob, Peter, Noah—your
mamms
are ready to go.”

The boys hurried to the wagon, deposited their pumpkins, and headed toward the women.

Andrew nudged Levi. “I guess it’s just us
nau
.”

“I’ll recruit more hands.” Levi called to Judith and Martha, “Any chance you two want to load pumpkins?”

Although the girls didn’t hesitate, Andrew wasn’t sure whether they’d be more of a distraction to Levi than a help with harvesting the field.

“Where do you want us?” Judith directed her question to Levi.

He jumped off the side of the wagon. “Andrew will cut them off the vine and hand them to you. You can pass them to me, and I’ll bring them to Martha, who will arrange them by size in the wagon.”

Judith nodded and looked at Andrew. “What row are we working in?”

Andrew motioned for her to follow him while Levi showed Martha how to arrange the pumpkins in the wagon.

Andrew squatted down and cut the ripe pumpkin. “Sewing group ended early?”

“Jah
.”

Andrew could see that Judith had been crying. He guessed that whatever had triggered her tears was also responsible for the early end to the gathering. Normally the womenfolk worked together for several hours. Today they hadn’t made it much past noon.