The following morning, Helen was on her way to tell Isaac about her decision and say goodbye to the people she had worked with in the shop. It would be hard to see Mark again, but she could bear it knowing things had worked out for him and he would be happy in the life he had worked so hard to achieve. Charlotte had insisted on coming with her to visit Anna again. Clyde, her ever-present shadow, lay on the floor snoring.
Helen heard the sound of a chainsaw as she approached the covered bridge. The sound echoed inside the bridge structure, making her horse twitch his ears nervously. Clyde sat up and began barking furiously. He struggled against the hold Charlotte had on his collar.
“What is the matter with you?” Charlotte asked the dog as she got a better grip on him. He squirmed harder.
When Helen came out the other side of the bridge, she saw Mark and his uncle standing beneath Clyde’s tree. Several large limbs lay on the ground already. Paul was up in the tree itself with the chainsaw. She pulled her horse to a stop off the edge of the road to watch.
Paul, secured with a harness and rope, was cutting through a large dead limb that hung toward the river. From her vantage point, she saw something the foliage of the tree had kept hidden until now. There was a large knot hole in the middle of the dead limb. To her amazement, a raccoon stuck its head out of the hole and then vanished back inside. “Aenti, did you see that?”
“See what?” Charlotte bent forward for a better view.
Helen had only a momentary glimpse of the animal. “I’m sure I saw a raccoon, and I think I saw a flash of pink on its neck.”
“Do you mean you saw Juliet? The Lord be praised.”
The raccoon’s hideaway was about to plummet twenty feet to the ground. Helen leaped from her buggy waving her arms. “Stop! Wait!”
Clyde’s struggles and yelping grew frenzied. He broke away from Charlotte and raced toward the men.
The workers didn’t hear Helen’s shouts over the loud buzz of the saw. She got out of the buggy and rushed down the steep embankment, struggling to keep her balance as she continued yelling. Clyde caught Mark’s attention by jumping on him, but it was too late. The saw stopped as the huge limb toppled out of the tree, hit the ground and then rolled down into the river. Clyde raced after it and plunged into the water.
Helen stopped her mad dash and pressed a hand to her heart, certain that she had just watched Juliet’s demise.
“Clyde, come back,” Charlotte shouted as she followed Helen down the slope. “Mark, help him. Basset hounds are terrible swimmers. He’ll drown.”
Juliet scrambled out of the hole. She held a kit in her mouth. After pacing back and forth for several seconds, she left the log and began swimming for shore. Clyde tried to change direction and follow her, but he was struggling badly. When he went under, Charlotte screamed.
Mark rushed to the water’s edge, pulled off his boots, threw his hat aside and dived into the water. He came up, swimming toward the spot where Clyde had vanished. To Helen’s relief, the dog surfaced, although he was clearly fading. Mark reached him and tried to support him. It was all he could do to keep Clyde’s head above water.
Helen saw a rowboat beached near the bridge. She raced to it, pushed off and got in. Rowing was not as easy as it looked, but she managed to turn the boat and headed toward Mark. She pulled alongside them, shipped the oars and leaned over to grab Clyde’s collar.
“I’ve got him.” As soon as she took his weight, the boat tipped dangerously.
“Don’t let him pull you in,” Mark shouted. “Can you swim?”
“I never learned.”
“The time to learn is before you are in danger of falling into the river.”
“Thanks for the tip,” she said through gritted teeth. Her arms ached from holding Clyde’s weight as he continued to struggle.
Mark grasped the rope at the bow of the boat and began towing it to shore.
They were within a few feet of the bank. Paul, Isaac and Charlotte stood on dry ground calling encouragement and instructions, but Helen was barely holding on. Clyde gave a sudden, powerful lunge. The boat tipped, spilling Helen over the side. She shrieked as she hit the cold water and sank. Seconds later, strong arms grasped her and pulled her to the surface. She came up choking and sputtering.
“I’ve got you. You’re fine,” Mark said calmly.
She clutched him tightly, afraid they were both about to die. “I can’t swim.”
“You don’t have to swim, my love. Put your feet down. It’s not that deep here.”
She realized he was right. She could touch the bottom. Mark captured one of her hands and led her toward the shore. Clyde bounded out and shook himself off before lumbering to where Juliet was licking her kit. She greeted Clyde with a warning hiss, then relented and began licking him, too. Charlotte dropped to her knees to stroke Juliet’s head. The raccoon reached up and patted her face. Charlotte was crying tears of joy.
Isaac and Paul reached Helen and Mark as they emerged from the water. “Are you two okay?” Isaac asked.
Helen nodded and sank to the ground. Mark sat beside her. She looked at his beloved face and wished he would take her in his arms. She loved him so much, but he belonged to Angela.
She let her fright turn to anger so she wouldn’t blurt out her secret. “Mark Bowman, that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen a man do. That dog could have pulled you under. Was that the plan?”
He grinned at her. “I didn’t have a plan. I just went with my heart. The boat was a better idea. Danki, my darling, but if we are going to live by this river, you and our children are going to learn to swim.”
Her mouth dropped open. What did he mean? Before she could gather her scattered wits to ask, Anna arrived and draped a quilt around her. “You poor dear. Come up to the house and get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death.”
Isaac pointed to the river, where the tree limb was caught at the edge of the bridge and bobbing in the current. A second tiny raccoon kit had crawled out of the hole and was crying. If the limb became dislodged it would be swept downriver.
Mark looked up at Paul. Paul nodded. “Let’s try.”
Mark rose to his feet. Helen caught hold of his pant leg. “Try what?”
He loosened her hand and gave it a squeeze. “We need to rescue the rest of Juliet’s family.” He and Paul pushed the boat out and climbed in.
Helen scrambled to her feet and pulled the quilt more tightly around her shoulders. Anna steadied her with an arm around her waist. They all watched silently as the two men maneuvered the boat up beside the log. If it became dislodged, it could easily overturn the boat. Unable to reach the opening where two little masked faces were staring at them, Mark slipped over the side of the skiff and into the water. Helen pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from crying out.
Mark pulled himself in among the branches and reached into the cavity. One by one, he pulled out three babies and handed them to Paul. Before Mark could get back to the boat, the limb broke free of the piling and rolled as the current swept it underneath the bridge, taking Mark with it. Helen screamed.