Vic gritted his teeth and pulled back on the reins with all his strength, but Buster kept running at an even faster pace. He wished now that he’d asked to borrow Mom’s docile mare instead of Dad’s frisky horse. Even though Polly may have spooked when the car roared past, Vic was sure that he could have easily gotten her under control. Well, it was too late for regrets. He had to get Buster under control or deal with the potential consequences of the buggy toppling over.
After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, Vic managed to get Buster slowed down to a decent trot. “Whew, that’s a relief.” He felt a trickle of sweat run from his forehead to his cheek, but he didn’t risk letting go of the reins with one hand to swipe at the moisture. Vic felt the adrenaline fading from his limbs; this unexpected event was all the excitement he needed for one day.
He glanced over at Eleanor, surprised that she hadn’t said anything, but then he realized why. His wife’s hands were clamped against her mouth—no doubt to keep from screaming.
“It’s okay, Eleanor. This horse is under control now, and we’re almost home.” Vic spoke calmly, in spite of his quivering muscles and dry mouth. He would never admit it to his wife, but this episode with Buster had left him feeling drained and more than a bit frustrated.
Eleanor released her hands and placed them in her lap. “That was too close for my comfort,” she said in a near whisper. “I hope we never go anywhere with your daed’s gaul again. This situation could have ended badly with our buggy ruined and us getting hurt.” Eleanor leaned closer to him. “Maybe you should have your father come by our place tomorrow and take his horse home.”
“There’s no need for you to worry,” Vic was quick to say. “I plan on taking Buster back when I go to get my horse once he’s been shod. I’ll keep the horse and buggy close to the shoulder of the road and pray that nothing happens to spook him again.”
Paradise
Eleanor entered their home and turned on a few battery-operated lamps, letting much-needed light spill into the living and dining rooms. She’d never cared for a dark house, especially if she was by herself. But she wasn’t alone. Vic was in the barn putting Buster away, and he’d be in soon.
Eleanor took off her sweater, hung it on one of the wooden pegs, and headed straight for the kitchen. As soon as she entered that room and had lit the overhead gas lamp, she got out the teakettle, lit the gas stove, and placed the kettle on the burner. She hoped a cup of warm chamomile tea might calm her nerves before going to bed. The ride home with Buster had made Eleanor feel like she might have a panic attack. She had covered her mouth to keep from screaming, knowing it may have upset Vic and could’ve riled the horse even more.
The house was quiet except for the ticking of the battery-operated clock. Eleanor stood by the kitchen sink, looking out the window, although it was too dark to see much of anything. She knew Vic would be in the barn for a little bit, getting Buster settled in for the night. There was time before the water heated, so Eleanor checked the African violets on the windowsill to see if they needed watering.
By the time she’d given them all a drink, the teakettle had begun to sing, just as Vic entered the kitchen. “I’m going to fix myself a cup of chamomile tea to calm my nerves,” Eleanor stated. “Would you like some too?”
“No thanks. It would take something a lot stronger than a cup of tea to settle me down.” Vic’s features tightened. “That stubborn horse of Dad’s kept moving all over the stall while I was trying to rub him down. If Buster was mine, I’d have gotten rid of him by now. He’s too jumpy for me, and I certainly wouldn’t want you to try and handle a horse like him.”
“I wouldn’t want to either.” Eleanor poured hot water into her cup, added a tea bag, and took a seat at the table. “What were you referring to when you said it would take something stronger than chamomile tea to settle you down?”
“A bottle of beer might have helped.” Vic lowered himself into a chair and shrugged. “But that’s not going to happen because we have no beer in the house.” He looked over at Eleanor. “And don’t worry. I’m not going out to get any beer either. The last one I drank was several months before I joined the church, and I have no intention of drinking any now.”
She figured after the incident with Buster her husband might close his eyes and take a nap in the chair. Eleanor was put off, hearing Vic bring up the topic of alcohol. Feeling a sense of relief that he no longer drank or smoked, Eleanor pressed a palm to her chest. She’d known some young Amish men in her community who’d drunk and smoked to excess during their rumschpringe, or time of running around, before joining the church. Even some of the wilder girls had indulged in those practices. Not her, though. Eleanor had seen what drinking too much could do when a couple of those young men who owned cars had gotten arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. It was a wonder no one had been in a serious accident. She felt comforted knowing that her husband no longer drank beer.
Vic’s dog ran along beside him as he headed for his phone shed Saturday morning. Last night after putting his own horse in Dad’s barn, Vic had gone to his parents’ phone shed and left a message for Abe, the farrier, asking when he could meet him to replace the shoe Domino had lost. He’d also left his phone number and asked Abe to give him a call as soon as he could. Since this was Saturday, Vic’s day off, he hoped Abe could take care of Domino today.
Vic opened the door to the phone shed and stepped inside. Checkers darted in after him and nudged Vic’s leg.
Vic grunted. “I know what you want. You want to play fetch, don’t you, boy?”
Normally, when Vic came out of the house in the morning and let his dog out of the pen, he would toss a stick or throw one of Checkers’ well-used balls for his eager pet to fetch. This morning, however, he’d been in a hurry to get to the phone shed, so he’d neglected his routine of playing with the dog. Vic figured if he didn’t do something to get Checkers out of the phone shed, he’d be stuck with the mutt bugging him the whole time he was listening to messages. Vic wished Eddie was here right now, with his dog, Freckles. Those two could keep Checkers entertained for hours.
“Okay, okay … Let’s go get you something to fetch.” Vic stepped out of the small wooden building and picked up a stick. He flung it hard, and as soon as Checkers chased after it, Vic returned to the shed and quickly shut the door.
After taking a seat on the wooden stool, he checked the answering machine for messages. The first one that came up was from Eleanor’s father, asking Eleanor to call him at noon today. Al stated that he would be in their phone shed at that time, waiting for Eleanor’s call.
Vic’s forehead wrinkled. I wonder what that’s about. Sure hope everything’s all right with my wife’s family.
He jotted down his father-in-law’s message and listened to the next one. It was from the farrier, stating that he could meet Vic in his dad’s barn today at two o’clock to take care of giving Domino a new horseshoe and check all the others as well. Vic was glad he didn’t have to be there until later this afternoon. He wanted to be here when Eleanor made the phone call to her dad. If she should receive bad news of some kind, he wanted to be available to offer his wife the support she would need.
Holding the piece of paper he’d written the messages on, Vic stepped out of the phone shed and nearly tripped on his dog.
“For goodness’ sakes, Checkers, couldn’t you have at least given me some warning that you were there?” Usually when the dog went after a stick or ball, he would drop it near Vic and let out a few barks. At the moment, however, the black-and-white ball of fur sat near the phone shed with the chunk of wood in his mouth.
“Are you done playing, or did you want me to throw it again?” Vic asked.
Checkers dropped the wood and gave two loud barks.
Vic’s gaze flicked upward. “Okay, buddy, whatever you say.” He leaned over, took the stick from the dog’s mouth, and gave it a pitch. When the dog took off running, Vic made a beeline for the house.
“Are you sure my daed didn’t say why he wanted me to call?” Eleanor asked Vic as the noon hour approached.
He shook his head. “I would have told you if he’d said anything more.”
“Then why were you insistent on coming here with me?” Eleanor stepped into the phone shed behind her husband.
“I figured if it was bad news, I ought to be with you.”
She moved closer and gave him a hug. “Thank you. I appreciate your support.”
They stood quietly for several moments, with Vic gently rubbing Eleanor’s back. Finally, at his suggestion, she took a seat, and he stood behind her with both hands resting on her shoulders.
In an effort to calm her nerves, Eleanor drew in a few quick breaths. She was tempted to pick up the phone and call her parents’ number right now, but Dad might not be in his phone shed yet, and then all Eleanor could do was leave a message.
She looked at the small battery-operated clock sitting beside the phone and watched as both hands moved until they pointed to twelve. It was time to make the call.
Eleanor dialed the number and was relieved when she heard her father’s voice.
“I’m glad you got my message and were able to call.” His voice deepened. “I wanted to let you know that your mamm is in the hospital.”
Eleanor clutched her sweater, pulling it tightly closed. “What’s wrong with her, Dad? Is she sick or was she involved in an accident?”
“It wasn’t an accident. Your mamm has been in extreme pain for several days and managed to hide that fact from me until around midnight last night.” He paused a few seconds before continuing. “The pain in her stomach got so bad that she couldn’t sleep, so she woke me, saying she thought we ought to call a driver to take us to the hospital so she could find out what was wrong and see if they could help with her pain.”
“Did they know what the problem was?” Eleanor questioned. “Did they run any tests?”
“Jah, they did a blood test and an ultrasound, and ran a few other tests. It didn’t take long for them to determine that the pain and nausea your mamm had experienced was due to a very sick gallbladder.”
“What are they going to do about it? Is there some medicine she can take?”
“There was a lot of inflammation and infection, so they did an emergency surgery and removed her gallbladder this morning.”
“Oh dear. I wish I’d known sooner. I would have been praying for her.”
“I knew you’d be sleeping when I made the first call, which is why I asked you to call me at noon.”
“You must have come home from the hospital then.”
“That’s right. Your mamm won’t be released until Sunday or Monday, but that’s only if she’s doing well enough to come home. I have a few things to do here, and then I’ll be going back to the hospital. Your brothers will probably go there later today.”
“I need to be there too, Dad. Mom’s going to need my help when she comes home from the hospital.”
“Would you mind? I’m sure she would appreciate having you there to help out and see to her needs.”
Eleanor turned her head to look at Vic. When he made no objection, she spoke into the phone again. “I’ll see if I can get one of our drivers to take me up. If we can leave within the next few hours we should be there by midnight tonight.”
“Are you sure about this? I can call on your sisters-in-law or some of the women from our church district for help.”
“No, Dad. My place is with Mom right now.”
“Okay, Daughter. I’ll wait up for you tonight and keep the battery lamp lit near the window. If something comes up and you can’t make the trip, please leave me a message. I’ll be going out to the phone shed when I get back from the hospital this evening.”
“No problem. If I can’t get a ride tonight, I’ll get one for tomorrow and be sure to let you know.” Eleanor swiped a hand across her damp forehead. “Tell Mom I’m praying for her and that I’ll be there to see her soon.”
“I will. Take care and tell your husband I said hello.”
“Vic’s standing right here, Dad. He’s heard everything that’s been said, because the phone is in speaker mode.”
“Oh. Greetings, Vic.”
Vic leaned closer to the phone receiver. “Hello, Al. I’m sorry to hear about Lydia. I hope she gets better soon.”
“Thank you. I hope so too.” There was a brief pause, and Eleanor’s dad posed another question. “Is there any chance you might be able to come to Indiana too?”
“I wish I could,” Vic responded, “but my boss has several big jobs scheduled for the next few weeks, so he’s gonna need every available man.”
“That’s understandable. Sorry you can’t make it, but hopefully we’ll see you both for Thanksgiving or Christmas.”
“Maybe so. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes.”
Eleanor said a few more words to her father and told him goodbye. When she hung up the phone, she turned to face Vic again. “Would you mind calling a driver for me while I go pack?”
His brows furrowed. “Do you really have to go take care of your mother? Wouldn’t one of your brothers’ wives be willing to help out?”
“I’m sure they would be, but all three of them have young children to care for. Besides,” she quickly added, “I want to be there to take care of my mudder. When I lived at home, she took care of me whenever I was sick or needed her, and now it’s my turn to return the favor.”
He nodded. “I guess you’re right. I’ll make a few calls if necessary while you’re up at the house putting things in a suitcase.” Vic bent his head and gave her a strong kiss. “I’m sure gonna miss you, though.”
Eleanor stood and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’ll miss you too, my love, but if things go well for Mom, I’ll be back before you know it.”