I can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve and that we’re having a white Christmas,” Ruth said as she and Martin traveled down the road in his buggy toward her parents’ house. She wished they were riding in an open sleigh so she could lift her face toward the sky and catch snowflakes on her tongue, the way she’d done as a child.
Martin reached for her hand. “Life’s pretty good, jah?”
She smiled. “It is now. Last month when our wood was taken, and you, Abe, and Gideon got dumped into the pond, I wasn’t so sure about things being good.”
“But we’re all okay, and your daed gave us another load of wood.”
“That’s true, but we never did find out who stole it.”
He shrugged. “It makes no never mind to me. I’m keeping my focus on the future with you, my schee fraa.”
She squeezed his warm fingers. “Will you still think I’m your pretty wife when I’m pregnant and gross around the middle?”
“I’ll always think you’re pretty, even when you become big around the middle.”
Ruth sighed. “I hate to admit it, but I’m having a little trouble not feeling jealous whenever I see Grace with her baby. I want so much to be pregnant.”
“I know, and I’m looking forward to being a daed,” Martin said. “We just need to be patient. After all, we haven’t been married quite two months yet. There’s still plenty of time for you to conceive.”
“But what if I’m barren like Martha’s female beagle? You can’t just sell me off, the way Martha did with Flo.” She groaned. “If I’m unable to conceive, then you’ll be stuck with a wife who can’t give you any kinner.”
He leaned over and nuzzled her neck with his cold nose. “The only reason I’ll be stuck with you is because I love you. If we can’t have any kinner, then we’ll either live without ‘em or take in foster children, the way some in our community have done.”
Ruth nodded, but internally she struggled with the idea of never being a mother. Ever since she’d been a young girl playing with her dolls, she had wanted to hold a baby of her own. Surely God would answer that prayer and let her conceive.
“Are you looking forward to spending the evening with your family?” Martin asked, taking their conversation in another direction.
“Jah, of course. And tomorrow, it will be nice to spend Christmas Day with your family.”
“Mom and Pop really like you, Ruth. They think you’re just what I need.”
“And you’re what I need,” she replied, snuggling closer to him.
Blinding headlights from behind flashed against the buggy’s front window, and Ruth whirled around. A truck bore down on them, going much too fast. But the shadowy night sky and blowing snow kept her from seeing the color of the vehicle.
“Looks like someone’s in a hurry to get wherever they’re going on Christmas Eve,” she said. “No doubt they’ll whip around us and be gone into the night.”
Martin opened his mouth as if to comment, but before he could get a word out, they were bumped from behind.
Ruth grabbed the edge of her seat and hung on, while Martin gripped the reins. “What’s going on? Do you suppose that vehicle hit a patch of ice?”
“I—I don’t know. We haven’t hit any in our buggy.”
Ruth’s heart hammered. “Maybe you should pull over and let him pass.”
Martin pulled on the reins, and the horse slowed, but before he could guide it to the shoulder of the road, they were bumped again, harder this time. “There’s no ice here. I’m guessing whoever is driving that truck must have been drinking,” he mumbled. “What does that ab im kopp driver think he’s doing? He’s either got to be crazy or a real siffer to keep ramming our buggy like that.”
“You think he could be a drunkard?” Ruth started to turn around, but the vehicle rammed them once more. Her head jerked forward, sending a spasm of pain up the back of her neck.
Twice more the truck hit the back of their buggy. The horse whinnied and reared up as Martin struggled to keep hold of the reins. The vehicle pulled out as though it was going to pass, but then it slammed into the side of the buggy, flipping it over and sending it rolling into the ditch.
“Ach!” Ruth screamed; then everything went black.
“Danki for the new ice skates,” Esta said as she took a seat on the sofa beside Abe.
He smiled and patted her knee. “You’ll be careful to skate only when others are around, won’t you?”
She nodded. “I promise, ‘cause I wouldn’t want to end up in the pond like you and Gideon did when you went fishing.”
“I should say not,” Sue put in from the recliner, where she sat with Molly in her lap. “Besides the fact that you can’t swim, that water under the ice would be freezing cold.”
“The first day Martin and I were back to work after that dunking we took, he said he’d be happy to teach my kinner to swim as soon as the spring thaw comes and it’s warm enough to go in the water,” Abe said.
“It might be a good idea if he teaches you how to swim first, brother.” Sue leveled Abe with one of her more serious looks. “Either that, or you’d better give up fishing, because we all need you around.”
Abe thought about Alma. There was nothing she could have done to prevent the lightning strike that took her life, but there was something he could do to protect himself from drowning. “Jah,” he said with a nod. “I’ll see if Martin will teach me how to swim, too.”
“Can I go gschwumme?” Owen questioned. He’d been sitting on the floor near Willis, playing with the little wooden horses Abe had asked Roman to make.
“When you’re old enough to learn how to swim, then you can go swimming,” Abe said with a nod.
Owen’s lower lip jutted out. “I ain’t no boppli.” He pointed to his rosy-cheeked little sister, who was almost asleep in Sue’s lap. “Molly’s the boppli.”
“You act like a boppli whenever you’re asked to do some chore,” Josh countered. He and Gideon sat at a table across the room playing a game of checkers.
“Do not!” Owen shook his head forcefully. “Just ‘cause you’re bigger ‘n me don’t mean you’re my boss. Only Papa can tell me what to do.” He looked over at Sue. “Aunt Sue, too, now that Mama’s gone to heaven.”
The room turned deathly silent. The children had been hiding it well as of late, but Abe knew they still missed their mother.
Sue rose from her chair. “Molly’s fallen asleep, so I’m going to put her to bed. When I come downstairs, I’ll make a batch of popcorn and some hot apple cider. Would anyone like to help?”
The children nodded with eager expressions, and Abe offered Sue an appreciative smile. He knew she’d wanted to go home for Christmas, but she had stayed to care for them and was doing all she could to make the holiday pleasant.
Abe leaned back in his chair as a sense of appreciation washed over him. He suddenly realized he wasn’t sleeping so much during the day and was sleeping better at night. God was good, and he prayed things would go better for them in the coming year.
“Why don’t you let me hold that little fellow awhile?” Mom said when Grace sank to the sofa with a weary sigh. She and Cleon had walked over to her folks’ house with Anna and Daniel.
Grace held out her arms gratefully. “He’s been fussy all day, and nothing I’ve done has helped.”
“Maybe he’s got a touch of the colic,” Mom said as she took the squalling baby and seated herself in the rocking chair across from Grace. “Have you tried giving him a bit of catnip tea?”
Anna, who had taken a seat on the floor by the fireplace next to Martha, looked up and frowned. “Catnip’s for katze, not bopplin.”
“That’s true, cats do like catnip, but one of my herb books says it can also be used by itself or in combination with fennel and peppermint to help ease a baby’s colic,” Mom said.
“You’ve got to be careful when you’re fooling around with herbs.” Dad left his recliner and shuffled across the room to stand beside Mom. “Maybe we should try the ‘colic carry.’ That always worked when our girls were bopplin.”
Cleon took a seat beside Grace on the sofa. “What’s the ‘colic carry’?”
“First, you extend your arm with your palm up.” Dad bent down and took Daniel from Mom. “Then you position the boppli like this.” He placed the baby chest-down and forehead resting in the palm of his big hand. “You’ve got to make sure the little fellow’s legs are on either side of your elbow.” Dad positioned the baby’s legs in the manner he’d described. “Now you support the boppli with your other hand and walk around the room, keeping him in this position.” He looked over at Mom and gave her a nod. “I’m sure this will help.”
Cleon jumped up and rushed over to Dad. “I think I’d better take Daniel.”
Dad’s eyebrows pulled inward. “What’s the matter, son? Are you afraid I might drop him?”
“Roman’s had plenty of experience with bopplin,” Mom said before Cleon could respond. “He used to carry our three around like that when they were fussy babies.”
Deep grooves appeared on Cleon’s forehead. “Even so—”
“Dad, maybe you should give the baby to Mom,” Grace said, hoping to smooth things over between her father and Cleon. “I think if she rocks him awhile, he’ll settle down.”
Dad grunted and handed the baby back to Mom; then he moved over to stand in front of the fireplace. “I wonder where Ruth and Martin could be,” he said, glancing at the clock on the wall above the mantel. “They should have been here by now.”
Martha nodded. “I spoke with Ruth on Monday afternoon, and she said they would be here by six o’clock.”
“Maybe the roads are icy because of the snow,” Mom said.
“I’m hungry,” Anna complained. “When are we gonna eat supper?”
“We’re waiting for Aunt Ruth and Uncle Martin to get here.” Mom placed the baby over her shoulder and patted his back.
“But I’m hungry now.”
“You can wait.” Cleon took a seat beside Grace again. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”
“Is there anything in the oven that needs tending to?” Grace asked, looking at her mother.
Mom shook her head. “The soup’s staying warm on the stove, and the open-faced sandwiches Martha and I made earlier are in the refrigerator.”
“Let’s sing Christmas carols while we wait,” Martha suggested.
Mom smiled. “Good idea. That’ll make the time go quicker, and it’ll help us stay focused on the meaning of Christmas.”
“Can we sing ‘Jingle Bells’?” Anna asked. “I like that song.”
“‘Jingle Bells’ is not a Christmas carol.” Cleon frowned at Anna.
“Why don’t we start with ‘Silent Night’?” Mom said. “That was Grace’s favorite Christmas song when she was a girl.”
Martha was the first to lead off, and the rest of the family joined in as they sang, “Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and Child. Holy Infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace; sleep in heavenly peace.”
When the song ended, Grace looked over at her baby, sleeping peacefully in Mom’s arms. Maybe tonight they would all sleep in heavenly peace.
They sang several more songs until Dad held up his hand and said, “It’s almost seven. Ruth and Martin should have been here by now.”
“Maybe we should go look for them,” Cleon suggested. “If they did hit ice, their buggy might have skidded off the road.”
“You’re right,” Dad said. “We need to head out and see if we can spot them along the way.”
The men donned their coats and stocking caps, then hurried out the door.
As they headed down the road in Cleon’s buggy, it didn’t take Roman long to realize there were some patches of ice. It had begun to snow quite heavily, too, and he became even more apprehensive.
“You don’t suppose they saw how hard it was snowing and decided to stay home, do you?” Cleon asked, turning in his seat to look at Roman.
“I guess they might have. Knowing Ruth, though, she would have moved heaven and earth to be with her family on Christmas Eve.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Sure is cold out tonight,” Roman said. “I can see my breath, even here in the buggy.” He squinted as he studied the road ahead.
Suddenly Cleon pointed to the left. “Look, there’s a buggy flipped over on its side, and it doesn’t look good.” He guided his horse to the shoulder of the road and jumped down. Roman did the same.
As they raced around to the front of the mangled buggy, a shiver shot up Roman’s back. The mare that had been pulling the buggy lay on its side, and two people lay crumpled in the snow. “Ach! It’s Ruth and Martin!”