Monday, December 25
I think it is still Christmas,” Amanda said as she crept into Susanna’s room late that night.
Susanna glanced at the digital clock by her bedside. The flashing numbers said it was a quarter after eleven. “We still have forty-five minutes until it’s over,” she said, still not quite sure if she was sad the day was over or relieved. Hands down, it had been both the best and worst Christmas of her life. “What are you doing here?”
Amanda stuffed one of her hands into a pocket of her new robe, looking unsure. In her other, she held a flashlight. “You’re going to think this is silly, but I wanted to sleep in here with you.”
“Just like we used to.”
“Jah. Do you mind?”
Susanna pulled the covers down on the other side of her double bed. “Of course not. I couldn’t sleep, either.”
“Were you afraid of the dark? The doctors told Mamm that you might need to sleep with a flashlight. I even brought us a second one in case you wanted it brighter.”
She looked at the flashlight her father had set on her bedside table. She’d used it to get ready for bed, but had turned it off when she got under the covers. “Nee. I don’t know why, but I’m not afraid. I was just thinking about Neil and Roy.”
Amanda winced. “Knowing that their father had been taken in for questioning had to have been so awful for them. Devastating.”
“Jah.”
“What do you think is going to happen to them all?”
“Based on how their uncle Joe wrapped his arms around Neil, I think they’re going to heal. But first, they’re going to have some difficult days ahead.”
“Dale is really worried about all of them.”
“I think everyone is.” She knew she was. She’d felt like half the population of Horse Cave was standing outside the cave’s entrance after firemen slid ladders down, secured them, then helped her and Neil climb up to safety.
The moment she’d gotten on solid ground and felt the sunlight on her face, she’d started crying. Her parents’ and sisters’ hugs had only made her cry harder.
Eventually, Deputy Beck had guided her to the ambulance. She’d sat on the tailgate and answered questions while Neil had hugged his mother fiercely, then learned that his father had already been taken to the sheriff’s office.
Later, she’d taken a trip to the hospital for X-rays and tests. She’d left two hours after with a temporary cast on her arm and strict instructions to get plenty of rest for the next forty-eight hours.
“When do you think you’ll see Neil again?”
“Tomorrow. He said he’d come over around noon.”
“You two seem really close now.”
“It would be hard not to be close after being stuck in the cave together,” she said.
“Sue, I’m serious.”
“I know. You’re right. We . . . We are close. We said we loved each other,” she shared softly.
“You did?” Pure wonder was in Amanda’s voice. Hesitancy, too.
“Jah.” She held her breath, waiting for Amanda to comment about that. She wouldn’t have blamed her for doubting Susanna’s feelings toward Neil, either. A tumultuous event like that could make anyone say a lot of things they regretted in the morning light.
“I told Dale I loved him, too.”
“Really?”
“Jah.” Sounding more like her confident self, she said, “Of course, he told me first. I think we are going to get engaged soon.”
“What do you think Mamm is going to say?”
“She’s probably going to ask for a long engagement. But the good news is that even if I do marry Dale sooner than later, we plan to live on his land. Both of us want to be close to our families.”
“That’s wonderful. Better than wonderful.”
“I think so, too.” Amanda rearranged the covers and slid down a couple more inches. “Do you need some more pain reliever or anything?”
“Nee. I’m good for now.”
“Oh! Look at that,” Amanda whispered.
Susanna turned her head and looked at the clock. It was now eleven fifty-eight. “I guess Christmas is just about over.”
“You were my wish,” Amanda said. “I prayed and prayed and prayed that you would come home. And you did.”
“I was praying and praying that I would come home, too. It seems Jesus gave us our wishes on His birthday.”
“Next year, we might each be married.”
“Who knows what the year will bring?”
“We should make another Christmas wish,” Amanda said. “Quickly. Before we run out of time.”
“Amanda, I don’t know if I can do one more thing today.”
“Come on, this isn’t hard. Hurry, now. Close your eyes and make a wish. It can’t hurt.”
Susanna couldn’t find fault with that logic. So, therefore, she did as Amanda asked. She closed her eyes and let her heart and mind open. Wished Jesus a happy birthday and asked for one more gift . . . if it wasn’t too much trouble.
She wished for peace.
Peace and love and hope and faith.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed a bright star out her window. Maybe it was Venus, maybe it was just a star.
But it was so bright it seemed to shine brighter than all the others. Making her darkness into something so bright, so luminous, that she knew Jesus had been listening, indeed.
For there, in her heart, lay only light.
“Merry Christmas, Susanna,” Amanda mumbled sleepily beside her.
“Merry Christmas, sister,” Susanna said. “And may God bless you. May God bless all of us.”