The Road Home (20 page)

“Apple Creek is a small town, son.” Dutch smiled, showing a gap where a tooth was missing. “Word gets around, especially if you tell your story to Bull Halkovich. He checked in to see if I was facilitating your ‘soon departure.' ”

After thanking Dutch, Johnny went back to the motel, fully intending to leave after he packed his things. But he couldn't get Jenny off his mind. He wanted to ask Dutch where Jenny lived, but he remembered that Jenny wasn't even supposed to talk to the “English,” as she called
them. He didn't want to get her in trouble, so he sat in the motel room, strumming his old Gibson guitar and thinking. He tried to write a song, but he could only come up with a verse that was more of a chorus.

Tonight I sing this song of love

You're the one I'm dreamin' of

Tonight, hold me tenderly

Come so easily

Into my heart, tonight

Nothing more came to him, so he played listlessly for a while and then set the guitar down. He thought about driving to Wooster to see if she was at the library, but then he remembered she worked only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and today was Friday.

Johnny thought about what had happened with Jenny. He remembered her body pressed against his and the way he felt when she whispered his name. He hadn't kissed her, but a whole book could have been written about what passed between them. Something about the way she called him Jonathan made him feel, for the first time in his life, that he belonged somewhere.

Now his thoughts tumbled over themselves as he reflected on the absurdity of the situation. He was hiding out from a gang of drug dealers. He had discovered that his ancestor was an Amish man who quit the church after his family was massacred, and who might have married an Indian girl. He had fallen in love with an Amish girl who was forbidden to see him.

I'm sitting in a motel in a little village called Apple Creek, for goodness sake, and I can't call her or go to her house. Every car that passes makes me jump. I don't even know who I am anymore. How in the world did all this happen to me? Just last week I was tripping out on the streets of San Francisco, and my only problem was paying the rent. How did my whole life change in a week?

The incongruity and the hopelessness of his circumstances crowded in on him, forcing him to decide. He couldn't stay in Apple Creek. He had to go get the money, find a place to hide out, start a new life, and forget this had ever happened.

He got up, put his guitar back in its case, and gathered up his belongings. He looked around the room to see if he had left anything, picked up the room key, and started to leave. Just as he reached for the doorknob there was a soft knock on the door. He jerked his hand back and quietly put his things down and went to the window. He pulled back the curtain a little bit and took a quick look out behind the shade. Someone was standing at the door, but he couldn't see who it was. From the side it looked like a girl wearing jeans and a sweatshirt under a light jacket, but he couldn't see her face. She had short, curly, red-gold hair. He opened the door a crack.

“Yes?”

“Jonathan, it's me.”

“Jenny?”

He opened the door. It was Jenny, but she looked completely different. Instead of being tucked up under a
kappe
, her hair was short, the curls framing her face. She had on new jeans and wore a plain blue sweatshirt under a denim jacket. On her feet were a new pair of low-cut white tennis shoes. She looked at him apprehensively.

“Can I come in?” she asked.

“Of course…” He reached out and took her hand, pulled her inside, and closed the door.

They stood there, not speaking, the silence dreadful and wonderful.

Her eyes dropped, and a slow flush crept up her cheeks. She looked back up at him, a tremulous smile starting on her lips. Time seemed to slow down as he became aware of tiny details—the little mole on her earlobe, the cupid bow of her mouth, the deep violet color of her eyes. He had to draw her into his arms. As he did so, her hands crept
around him, and he felt her strength as she pulled herself into his embrace. And then Jonathan Hershberger knew that he had found what he had always wanted—someone to be his, someone to belong to, someone to love.

Reuben stood in the middle of Jenny's empty room. The dresser drawers were empty, and Jenny's prayer
kappe
lay on the dresser next to the amputated locks of her long hair. He looked in the closet. Her knapsack, coat, and shoes were gone. Reuben turned back to his bedroom and shook Jerusha awake.

She looked up at him with a question in her eyes. “What is it, husband?”

“Jenny's gone,” Reuben answered.

Jerusha slipped out of bed and ran to Jenny's room. It was as Reuben had said. She sat down on Jenny's bed and put her hands over her face. Reuben stood helplessly in the doorway. After a few moments Jerusha looked up. “What shall we do, Reuben?”

“Jenny's going to try to find her mother. I'm afraid my response to her didn't have the effect I hoped for. Instead it seems to have made her more determined than ever to find the answers to her questions. We must find her before she makes any more foolish decisions.”

“But what if she's already left town? What do we do then? She's taken the money she saved, and that will at least buy her a bus ticket.”

“She may not need a bus ticket,” Reuben said. “The
Englischer
she met may have a car. They're probably leaving together.”

“She said his name was Jonathan. Is there any way to find him?” Jerusha asked.

“She either met him in Wooster or here. Maybe Bobby knows something. Not a lot of strangers come our way, and Bobby keeps a watchful eye on his town.”

“She also said that a newspaper reporter gave her some clues that she could follow up on. Can we talk to him?”

“That's probably a good idea. If we can find out what she knows, maybe we can discover where she plans to look.”

Reuben placed his hand awkwardly on Jerusha's shoulder. A terrible picture came to him. He was standing in the emergency room in Wooster. Bobby was with him. The door from the ICU opened, and Jerusha came out. She looked at him with terrible anger, almost hatred in her eyes. She walked slowly toward him until she stood in front of him. She began to strike him on the chest with both hands. Reuben pushed the picture out of his mind and spoke to Jerusha.

“I promise you, Jerusha, I'll do everything in my power to find her and bring her home. I will not lose her like I lost Jenna.”

Jerusha looked at him, but this time there was no anger in her eyes. Instead of striking him she embraced him.

Jenny felt so safe in Jonathan's arms. She held him as though she would never let go. Finally he pulled back and looked at her. “What happened to you? Your hat, your clothes—and your hair! What did you do to your hair?”

Jenny grimaced and pulled at the short curls by her ear. She took a deep breath. “I got into an argument with my father last night. I said some horrible things to him, and then I told him about you. I told him that I…” She stopped.

“That you what?”

Jenny looked into his eyes. “I told him that I had met you and that…I was in love with you.”

Johnny pulled her close again and whispered, “Jenny…you love me?”

“Yes, I do.”

Johnny let out a sigh and kissed her forehead. “What did he do?”

“He called for the bishop and some elders, and they placed me under a temporary
bann
, the shunning, like I told you about. I'm an outcast unless I repent. But if I do repent, it means I have to stop looking for my birth mother. It also means I can never see you again. I can't do either of those things.”

“But, Jenny, that means you can't be Amish anymore, doesn't it?”

Jenny took a deep breath. “Yes, eventually it would mean excommunication and complete ostracism from my family and my faith.”

“Are you really prepared to do that?” Johnny asked quietly.

Jenny moved back a step and lifted her head defiantly. “I've given my heart to you. Don't you want me to love you?”

Johnny saw the fear in her eyes. He stepped toward her and took her hands in his.

“Jenny Springer, I don't know how it happened or why it happened, but in just these few days I've come to love you as I've never loved anyone in my life. You're so beautiful and smart and I want to be with you always. I've never believed before, but as I look at you and hear you say you love me, I almost can believe there's a God and that He must love me very much to bring me here to meet you.”

Johnny saw relief and joy flood Jenny's face. Then the awesome obligation they had taken on by declaring their love struck them. Suddenly they were both shy, not knowing what to say.

Jenny broke the spell. “Jonathan, I've also come to ask for your help.”

“Is it about finding your birth mother?” Johnny asked.

“Yes. I know I'll never be whole until I know who I am. I think I know where I need to start. I've had a dream…or maybe it's just a memory from when I was very little, about the time of the car wreck. In my memory…or dream…my mother spoke to me. She was very sad and said we had to go to New York. And then she said the name
Robert. I don't know what it means, but I know I must go to New York.”

“New York is an awfully big place. Are you sure?”

“Yes I am,” Jenny answered. “I have some clues we can follow. And I have two hundred dollars. I don't know what to do exactly, but somehow I believe that God is trying to show me something…the way to find my mother. Will you take me?”

Johnny looked at Jenny for a long time. He thought about the fifty thousand dollars he had hidden in the barn. If things didn't work out in New York, it would be a simple thing to forget about the crooks, come back and get the money, and then disappear with Jenny.

“Yes, I'll take you. And don't worry. I have some money too.”

Even as he spoke he felt guilty hiding the truth from her. He felt his jaw clench. His discomfort didn't escape her notice and a look of uncertainty passed across her face. Then she spoke hurriedly.

“If we're going, we need to leave very soon. My
daed
will be looking for me. I told my parents your name, and it won't take long for Uncle Bobby to figure out who you are. All he has to do is ask at the library. You haven't exactly kept a low profile.”

Johnny thought about the van sitting out in front of the room and he realized how stupid it was to have it decorated in such a noticeable way. He should have taken Dutch's offer and let him paint it. Too late now. They'd have to make do and try to leave undetected.

“Okay, I'm ready. Do you have anything else?”

“Yes, my knapsack is outside by the door, but I don't have much.”

Johnny picked up his guitar and backpack and looked at Jenny. “Are you sure about this?”

“No, but I have to go, even not knowing if it's right. All I know for sure is that I love you.”

“Okay then, I'm going to make a bargain with you. I'll take you to New York, and we will follow the clues you have as far as we can. I'll
do my best to help you, but when and if we exhaust the leads and we start getting low on money, I'm going to bring you home.