Katie's Journey to Love (36 page)

“One gets used to it, I suppose,” Regina said. “And no one was ever murdered on the property, so there are no ghosts. But, of course, I am teasing.”

As she refilled the girls' glasses, Regina asked, “You are heading somewhere else now, of course?”

“Yes. To the Alps,” Nancy said. “We have a bed-and-breakfast
scheduled for our stay in Interlaken. Then hopefully we can ride a cable car all the way up to the Schilthorn tomorrow.”

“
Jah
, this is where the James Bond movie was made,” Regina said. “You have seen that? It is world famous, I think.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
the movie was called.”

Margaret sniffed. “I don't watch James Bond.”

Regina laughed. “I guess it is more for the men. But my husband has all the movies. He loves them.”

“I've seen some James Bond movies,” Sharon offered. “Not that I really liked them, but my brother had a few around once.”

“See, it's for the men,” Regina said.

“It's worth the trip though, from what I've read,” Nancy said. “You can see all the mountains from one side to the other.”

“
Jah
.” Regina nodded. “On a clear day you can see much. But those are hard to find in the spring like this.”

Sharon glanced at the window. “Well, it's clear outside today.”

“Then you should go today,” Regina told them. “But that is not possible, of course.”

When silence fell over the group, Regina continued. “But do not let me spoil your lovely vacation. Surely there will be a few more days of sunshine before the clouds move in. And even if there are not, the Swiss Alps are something that must be seen. Even with clouds floating by, they are beautiful. Like nothing in the world.”

“You are a good salesperson,” Margaret said.

“It is a lovely country.” Regina beamed. “The best on the earth. One would not wish to live anywhere else.”

“See, that's what I said,” Margaret said. “I'd love to live here.”

“You will also ride the train to the top of the Jungfrau? That is our most famous mountain peak,” Regina asked.

“It's quite expensive, and we might not have time with the
weather,” Nancy said. “But I do want to see the little village of Gimmelwald, which is on the cable car route.”

“
Jah
, that is something to see,” Regina agreed. “But do not forget the train if you have the time. It is well worth the money which is spent. You are only here maybe once in a lifetime. Correct?”

“I hope to come back again,” Nancy said. “But you may be right. I'll see how much time we have. But the cable car and Gimmelwald come first, after we've settled our bill, of course. The lunch was very good, and so was the tour of the barn. Thank you.”

“I am glad you enjoyed it.” Regina collected their money, and when the girls were ready to leave, she walked them to the door.

An hour of driving brought them to their first full view of the Alps. Katie gasped along with the others, her eyes glued to the car window.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The next day Katie huddled with the other three girls in front of the ticket booth for the cable car to Schilthorn. Outside the open-sided building, the cliffs rose high into the air, leveling off with sheer abruptness. Low clouds scurried across the sky. The clerk pointed to a computer monitor and said, “This is a view from the camera on top of the Schilthorn. The forecast for today is not good, but it may clear later. We do not know for sure.”

If her heart wasn't already dragging, it surely would be at this news. This was not entirely unexpected, but it still hurt to have their slim hopes dashed. There hadn't been time last night to take the cable car all the way to the top after they'd arrived at their lodging in Interlaken. Plus the drive up to the cable car took another thirty minutes. Kareem, who ran the bed-and-breakfast, had smiled in sympathy over their plight. “
Jah
, it is hard to get up on a good day this time of the year.”

“We should have come in the summer,” Margaret had said.

“Then you'd have tourists all over the place,” Kareem told them. “Then I'd not have place here, and maybe I'd not get to see you. And that would not be good either.”

Katie was impressed with both Kareem and the care she gave. The house smacked of cleanness and decorum, with rooms on two floors. And breakfast this morning had been the best spread they'd had yet—cheeses, yogurts, and meats of all sorts. Kareem didn't spare for her guests' comfort, that was for sure.

But to miss seeing the Alps would be another blow. Katie was quite ready for things to go right for a change. Last night she'd awakened in the night to break out in sobs, burying her head in the pillow so Margaret wouldn't hear her.

This morning her swollen eyes must have given her away because all three girls had exchanged worried glances at the breakfast table.

“Do you have any suggestions about going up?” Nancy asked the ticket clerk.

“I'm sorry, we make no recommendations,” the man said. “But it is always a beautiful sight up there, even with a few clouds.”

“Let's do it then,” Margaret said. “We haven't come this far to turn back now.”

“That's the spirit!” Sharon agreed. “I say yes.”

“What about you?” Nancy turned to Katie.

“
Yah
, let's go!”

“That's the girl.” Margaret gave her a quick slap on the back.

“Then we will,” Nancy said, pulling out her purse.

When everyone had paid, they climbed the steps to the loading platform above them and sat down to wait.

The cable car soon appeared, moving down from the heights of the cliff. Katie stood to watch it arrive, and the others soon joined her. With a smooth, rocking motion it hung to the cables and docked safely with the platform. A man and a woman stepped out and hurried past them.

“That doesn't look too promising,” Margaret said as they boarded after showing the attendant their tickets.

“Chin up there, girl,” Sharon encouraged her. “We're going up to the top.”

Katie held on to the side bar as the cable car climbed again. Watching the car coming down hadn't looked too scary, but going up was another matter. They really were hanging over nothing, and just attached to something solid by some thin cables.

“It'll hold, won't it?” Margaret asked.

“Sure it will,” Nancy said. “Modern man has done some wondrous things. Not like the Lord, of course, but great in their own right.”

“Today I'll be glad if we get to see the Lord's works and not man's,” Sharon said.

The cable car climbed ever higher, soon docking into another platform with a Gimmelwald sign in large letters attached to the wall. When things stopped moving, the attendant ushered them all off. It hadn't been too scary after all, but all four girls gave an audible sigh of relief as they stepped onto the platform.

“Over here is the car to Murren,” the attendant said, motioning with his hand. “Or you can tour Gimmelwald and catch another car later. Perhaps the clouds will clear up by then.”

“We're going up now,” Nancy decided without much thought. It was as if an inspiration had come on her. “We can see Gimmelwald on the way down.”

Minutes later that ride up began, hugging the edge of the cliff with spectacular views of the valley below. Katie joined the other girls in gazing out the east side as the cable car climbed higher and higher.

“How would you get up here without a cable car?” Margaret asked.

“I think there's a path.” Sharon consulted the guidebook. “Yes, there is.”

“Shiver my timbers!” Margaret muttered. “I believe I do prefer this way.”

“Me too!” Sharon added.

When the cable car docked at Murren, they switched again, waiting a few minutes until the next car left. It broke out of the tree line soon after departure, revealing a valley below them dotted with occasional cabins. Majestic sweeps of snow began just below the scurrying clouds.

“The clouds are lifting, aren't they?” Nancy made the observation first.

The attendant smiled at the remark. “They have been coming and going all morning. The weather up here is hard to predict.”

“We so hope to see at least some good views,” Nancy said. “We come from America.”

The attendant kept a close eye on his levers, but added, “If you look below in the valley right now, you can see those little animals running around. Those are our version of deer like you have in America.”

Katie looked below for several long moments before spotting the animals. They appeared to feed peacefully, unaware that a cable car full of humans was passing over them. How she wished for such an existence. But her trust in
Da Hah
was so shattered right now. How was she ever to get it back again? She wasn't like Job in the Bible. He had been able to receive both
gut
things and bad things from
Da Hah
's hand. While she had taken the
gut
things quite cheerfully, she knew she was now complaining furiously about what had happened.

But how did one make peace with what Ben had done? How could anything
gut
come out of that?
Nee
, it couldn't. But still she would have to give thanks like Job had. But for her to get to that point might take years and years—if it happened even then.

Something else soon clutched Katie's heart as the cable car
continued to climb. The awesome vastness of what was being revealed all around her touched her heart. She pressed closer to the glass. More huts appeared, clinging to the wood line. The clouds were definitely lifting higher, as if making way for them. Rocky cliffs soon joined in with the green trees, blending together at first before disappearing into snow-covered ruggedness. Thin streams ran everywhere, trickling down narrow beds. A solitary road ran along the ridge and disappeared into the clouds.

“One more,” the attendant announced as the cable car docked again.

Katie followed the others through the building to the next ride. The cables stretched out into the distance, spanning another massive valley floor. The end of the lines hung to the faint shadow of a round building perched high on a rock.

“The famous Schilthorn,” Sharon announced. “Looks like it's still there.”

Katie was looking at the surrounding mountain peaks as they were becoming visible through the thinning cloud cover.

“It's clearing!” Nancy said at last. “I think it really is.”

Not only were the clouds moving out of the way. What was being revealed took Katie's breath away. The higher they climbed, with the deep valley far below them, the more of the mountains could be seen. They stretched from the east to the west, jagged peaks, snow-covered, one after the other, and even more lay beyond that.

“That's the Jungfrau,” the same attendant pointed out with a proud smile on his face. “Our beloved mountain.”

Katie looked at the highest peak. It seemed insignificant almost, standing there beside two others. But that was only because they were all so grand, so breathtaking, so unbelievable.
Da Hah
made all of this. This thought raced through her mind as the cable car docked. They jumped out to run over to the observation platform.
Katie hugged herself in the thin air, wrapping her coat tight around her. The clouds had lifted completely now, revealing the full stretch of mountains lying in each direction.

Katie walked the length of the platform and then back again. Sharon and Margaret were taking turns snapping pictures from all vantage points. Finally, the majesty of it all broke a dam of tears in Katie, and she let them fall where they may. So what if the others saw her. This beauty in the midst of her pain was tearing at her heart. It was as if the wound that Ben had made was pulled open and the scab removed. Into the torn ugliness a soft oil was being poured.
Da Hah
was reaching down with His hand, right past His glorious mountains. He was molding the pieces of her heart back together with His fingers. Katie wept great sobs that shook her entire body.

Nancy soon noticed the gush of tears and came over to Katie. “Is there something I can do?” she whispered.

Katie shook her head. “Not really. It's just this…this awesomeness.
Da Hah
has made this. Something so beautiful in the midst of all the wickedness of our world.”

Nancy squeezed Katie's hand. “I know. It's affecting me the same way. And look how the clouds have cleared away. It's a gift from the Lord.”

A gift? Katie choked back another sob. She didn't want another gift from
Da Hah
. The last one had proven only to break her heart. And yet here it was again. That same wonder she'd felt at home. That miracle when
Mamm
had finally agreed to marry Jesse and change their reclusive lifestyle. It was the same feeling of joy that she'd felt when Ben first asked if she would ride with him in his buggy.