A Simple Autumn: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel (42 page)

The pass was ten minutes away, but as they approached, the sight of two carriages
stopped at the riverbank made Jonah’s heart sink.

“It looks like they can’t get across.” Jonah felt the tense quiet of the carriage
as he pulled close to one of the rigs parked on the road, handed Annie the reins,
and jumped out.

Rain tapped the top of his hat as he slogged through the mud to the nearby carriage
and looked in the open door to the driver. It was an Amish man he did not recognize,
but the faces that peered back at him were full of concern.

“Have you tried the crossing?” Jonah asked.

“I haven’t, but Amos over there started in. It’s deeper than I’ve ever seen, and the
current is strong. The horse lost its footing, and it was
by the grace of Gott that Amos got the carriage backed up and out of there safe and
sound.”

“It’s good that he’s safe,” Jonah said. “Will you head up to the main road?”

The man shook his head. “It’s too much for the horses. We’re going to wait here an
hour or two. The river should draw back by then.”

The man was right, but Aaron did not have an hour or two to spare. Jonah rubbed his
chin as he looked toward the pass, where water churned over the smooth rise in the
river. “Have you seen any cars here?”

The man frowned. “I expect most of them are taking the main road. But I did see one
four-wheeler drive through. Made it straight across without a problem.”

A four-wheeler.

Jonah flashed back to his youth, when he had learned to drive the Jeep with Zed Miller.
How many times had they forded the river in it, right at this spot? He thanked the
man for the information and hurried back to the carriage. “The horses can’t make it
across here,” Jonah said as he turned the carriage and started back down the road.
“But we can make it in a Jeep.”

“That would be helpful if we had a driver with a Jeep,” Annie said quietly.

“I think I know where we can get one.”

He looked over at Annie, not wanting to explain the worst part of his plan. He knew
that this would be an action that would ban him from the community they both loved.
He didn’t want to break the rule or disappoint her.

Dear Gott, I don’t want to be another King who falls away
.

But he couldn’t let Aaron die when there was a way to get him help. They reached Ira
Miller’s property within minutes, and Jonah pulled over into the lane.

“Let me check this first.” He ran up the hill to the parked Jeep and opened the door.

The key was plugged into the ignition, with another one dangling.

He climbed in and closed the door on the rain. Knowing he was breaking many rules,
stealing and driving a car among them, he started the vehicle. The engine roared to
life, and Jonah felt a glimmer of hope. The gas tank was almost full, and the wipers
swished across the windshield.

This was going to work.

It had to work.

Although the gears were a little stiff, he managed to pop it into first and roll down
the hill to the carriage. “This will be our ride,” he announced.

Annie’s eyes were round with amazement and shock, but Lovina said nothing as she and
Jonah hoisted Aaron into the backseat. The man was pale and weak—almost in a sleepy
state.

Jonah prayed to Gott that they would get to the doctor in time. Annie drove the carriage
down to the hitching post by the Millers’ house and tied off Jigsaw. Jonah followed
in the Jeep, his heart beating loudly as she climbed into the passenger seat.

There was no time to leave a note for the Millers; they would have to explain later.

They rode in silence as the Jeep bumped down the lane. Jonah could feel Annie watching
him as he worked the gearshift with his right hand, his feet on the brake and clutch
pedal. He stopped at the end of the main road, jolted the vehicle into first gear,
then quickly picked up speed, moving up to fourth gear.

“Looks complicated,” Annie said. “How did you learn to drive like that?”

“I did some playing around during my rumspringa,” he said. “Most of it in this Jeep.
Zed was older, but he liked to teach guys to drive.”

“I would have never thought that of you,” Annie said.

“Those days are over.” Or at least he had thought they were when he took his baptismal
vow. Despite the damp cold, Jonah’s hands began to sweat as they approached the pass
for the second time. Although he had made this crossing half a dozen times in this
Jeep, he had never done it with the river so high.

And on top of that, darkness was beginning to fall, dropping a soft cover of gray
around them. Jonah found the switch for the lights and pulled it to the on position.
The stream of light ahead was stronger than the lights on any carriage, and he was
grateful for the beacon lighting their path.

The two carriages still waited at the pass, sprawled at the side of the river like
forgotten toys. Jonah wove around them and pressed the brakes just short of the churning
water. The headlights shone on the roiling river.

“I can see that the current is strong, but there’s no telling how deep it is in this
light,” Jonah said, thinking aloud.

Annie turned to him, her voice so even that he could feel her trust in him. “Can we
make it?”

“Gott willing.” He eased off the brake, clutched, and put the car in first gear. As
soon as the wheels touched the water he could feel the pull of the current. The car
seemed to sway toward the right, and he steered left, pressing the gas pedal steadily.

Jonah had always felt in tune with nature, but this was a battle. It was Jeep against
river, man against storm.

Outside the vehicle, water swirled against their doors.

“It’s seeping in,” Annie said, staring down at the door.

“We’re almost through,” Jonah said with a calm he didn’t feel. He knew he would have
to pay for damage to the vehicle. Water was not good for pipes and mechanical things.

But the tires were gripping the road—and the water’s edge was now just a few feet
away.

He kept his foot steady on the gas, even as the front tires dug into the mud, caught,
and pulled them to safety.

“Praise be to Gott!” Lovina cried from the backseat.

Annie patted Jonah’s shoulder as the cloak of dread lifted from his shoulders. He
felt lighter, as if they were soaring now … flying Aaron to the help he needed.

“We’ll have you at the clinic soon, Aaron,” Jonah called behind him as he pushed the
Jeep to a higher gear, holding tight to the wheel with his left hand. “Just stay with
us.”

Stay with us.…

T
he false quiet of the hospital waiting room was enough to drive a man crazy. Jonah
longed for the noises of home: voices and laughter, songs and jokes, clanging dishes
and the inevitable cow mooing in the background.

Jonah shifted in the plastic chair of the hospital waiting room and took Annie’s hand.
Her small fingers wove through his and he gave a squeeze, wishing he could protect
her from harm and fear and sorrow. Of course, that wasn’t possible, but that was his
desire.

“I wish someone would come out with an update,” Annie said. Lovina was filling out
forms with a nurse inside one of the hospital offices. And somewhere inside the cardiac
ward, Aaron was being treated by Henry Trueherz and a handful of other doctors and
nurses. Aaron’s wife had been allowed to ride in the front of the ambulance that had
transported him to this hospital in Lancaster, once Dr. Trueherz had “stabilized”
him in his office.

In an attempt to get word back to her family, Annie had called the phone shanty and
left a message. Daniel, Rebecca, Hannah, and Levi
were probably already home from the wedding, but just in case, Annie had also left
a message on the answering machine at the phone shanty the Kings shared with the Zooks.

“What if they don’t think to check the answering machine?” Annie had asked, concerned.

“What about your English neighbors?” Jonah suggested. “I’ve seen Clem O’Boyle with
his tractor on the road. Do you think he would ride over to the farm to deliver an
emergency message?” Jonah asked.

Annie picked up the phone they’d been told to use at the nurses’ station. “We won’t
know unless we ask.”

The nurse had shown them how to get a phone number from directory assistance. When
Annie had called, Clem’s wife, Hattie, had answered and clucked with sympathy. “She
said she doesn’t mind driving over to tell them the news,” Annie had reported. “And
she said we must be sure to call her if there’s anything else she can do for us.”

“That’s a good neighbor you have,” Jonah had told her.

Now the ticking clock on the wall was beginning to get under his skin. The sound of
footsteps on the shiny tile floor caught their attention, and he and Annie rose as
Lovina came down the hall with Dr. Trueherz and a small woman in navy scrubs.

“He’s going into surgery,” Lovina said, her eyes shiny with tears. “They can’t put
it off any longer.”

“But we knew the surgery was inevitable,” Henry Trueherz reminded them.

“Aaron needs a triple bypass.” The woman in scrubs who introduced herself as Dr. Patton
didn’t look to be much older than Annie, but she spoke with authority. “It’s the only
viable course right now. If all goes well, the prognosis is good.” She looked at her
watch. “I need to get scrubbed.” She faced Lovina. “I’ll talk with you when the surgery
is done.”

After the surgeon left, Henry Trueherz tried to talk them into
going to the hospital cafeteria. “It’s going to be a few hours, and a change of scenery
might do you good.”

“No.” Lovina pulled her jacket tighter around her. “I want to stay here, close as
I can. But thank you for everything, Doctor. Thank you for saving Aaron’s life.”

“It was quick thinking on Jonah’s part that saved him.” Dr. Trueherz nodded toward
Jonah. “You didn’t let that river stop you, did you?”

Jonah didn’t mind the teasing, but he couldn’t summon a smile. Not while Aaron was
in surgery and the consequences of his actions weighed him down.

Hours passed, slow as molasses. Jonah now understood why Aaron had wanted to get out
of the hospital weeks ago. Besides the expense, a hospital was not a good place for
people. The cold, long corridors, the noise of beeping monitors and machines, the
smell of floor wax, and so many people wandering around, pushing carts or trash cans
or wheelchairs. It was hard to believe people were healing in this cold, strange place.

The sound of footsteps in the corridor was not unusual, but the young child’s voice
caught Annie and Jonah’s attention.

“Is that Levi?” Annie sprang to her feet and scurried to the hallway. “It is! I’m
so glad to see you all!”

Levi jumped into her arms as Rebecca, Daniel, and Hannah filed into the little waiting
area.

“We came as soon as we heard!” Rebecca hugged her mother. “How’s Dat?”

“Still in surgery.” Lovina repeated everything the doctors had told them, including
the part about how Jonah’s quick thinking had saved Aaron’s life.

Suddenly, three different conversations were going on at once, and Jonah was grateful
for the way Annie’s family had breathed new life into this very dull waiting room.
Rebecca had been worried since
they returned home to an empty house, and they were grateful for Hattie coming by
with the message. Don, their usual hired driver, had gotten out of bed to make this
emergency trip for them.

“Is it true that you drove Aaron to the clinic in a Jeep?” Daniel asked in a low voice.

Jonah nodded. “There was no other way. The horses couldn’t make it across the river,
and he had to get to the doctor right away.”

Daniel clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be so glum. The doctor says you saved
Aaron’s life.”

“It’s true.” Annie’s eyes were pools of pale blue.

“That was all I could think about,” Jonah said. He realized the possible consequences
of his actions—he could be shunned for driving the Jeep. He swallowed, his throat
dry as a bone. It was necessary to save Aaron’s life, but in that moment he might
have severed himself from his community, from his church, from the people he loved.

“You’re a hero,” Daniel said.

“No. A hero would have figured out a way to save Aaron without going against the Ordnung.”

“Still … you saved a man.” Daniel pointed down the hospital corridor. “Aaron is alive
in there because of your brave move. You did a good thing, Jonah.”

In his heart, Jonah knew that was true. But he still couldn’t reconcile the fact that
he had gone against the Ordnung. There would be consequences. He might be shunned.
Ya, there were levels of shunning, but even the most meager punishment before the
community would sting.

Jonah sank back in the chair and closed his eyes. He had always been so sure of walking
the right path. Not so much anymore.

A few minutes later, Jonah and Annie were going through all the snack items in a vending
machine when the surgeon came down the hall with two other staff members in scrubs.
Conversation stopped as everyone got up to face the doctors.

“Mrs. Stoltzfus?” Dr. Patton looked through the group and stepped forward once she
found Lovina. “Good news. The surgery went well. Your husband is a very lucky man.…”

Not a lucky man
, Jonah thought as relief washed over him.
A man blessed by Gott
.

J
onah said good-bye to Ira Miller, then climbed into the carriage and turned Jigsaw
down the lane. After the emergency of the last day and night, the fear and the waiting
and the hope, he was glad to be alone with his thoughts. He had thanked Ira for taking
care of his horse and carriage, which he’d left here when he’d “borrowed” the Jeep.
The older man agreed they would settle up later on the Jeep, which still sat in the
clinic parking lot.

“Maybe someone will see it there and buy it,” Ira had said. “I’ll be glad to have
that thing out of my hair.” Jonah understood how he felt, though he couldn’t forget
how the Jeep had helped them yesterday.