The Ebb Tide Page 2

  “I daresay you’ll be baptized by the time I marry.” Frannie brightened all the more. “Surely this September.”

  Even Dat perked up and looked Sallie’s way, hope on his countenance.

  “Jah,” Sallie said. “I’ll be back home in plenty of time.”

  “Back from where?” Dat asked.

  “Australia,” Sallie reminded him softly. “If everything works out.”

  “So, it’s Australia you’ve decided on?” he said.

  Her face and neck grew warm. “It’s been Australia awhile now.”

  “Not Ireland or the Bahamas or—”

  “Ireland was years ago,” Frannie piped up.

  Sallie sighed. At least they were having fun with it. “It’ll just be for two weeks,” she added, “once I get word.” Her travel agent had expected to hear of an opening anytime now. Hopefully I’ll have my last few dollars by then.

  “Gone two weeks?” Dat exhaled as hard as when he pitched hay in the barn. At that moment, his face had an unexpectedly vulnerable look to it.

  He’s afraid I won’t return, Sallie thought, taking a drink.

  “Such a distance away, too,” Frannie said.

  “Oodles of hours in the air . . . ach!” Mamm shook her head.

  Thirty hours with flight changes, Sallie thought, but not even that somewhat daunting prospect was enough to dampen her enthusiasm.

  At such times, Sallie wished her parents were less given to fretting. Still, she knew their concern was evidence of their love.

  “You like bein’ Amish, don’t ya, daughter?” Dat asked.

  Sallie paused. There was no question in her mind about eventually settling down and following the Plain ways. What else was there?

  But her fear of losing the opportunity to travel had an almost panicky effect on her. “I love being Amish.” She glanced at Mamm, who was studying her. “This is just something I need to do.”

  Frannie smiled and affectionately tilted her head at her. “Goodness . . . not sure I’d see it thataway, but I’ll be glad to hear all about your time away.”

  Neither of her parents had anything to add to that. Dat took a final sip of his coffee. “We all have work to do, ain’t so?”

  “Well, Sallie’s excused from redding up the kitchen this mornin’,” Mamm announced, getting up and going to the sink, where she turned on the spigot, glancing back at Sallie. “She made a very tasty breakfast, after all.”

  Sallie’s relief blended with her frustration, and she wished she could soothe her family’s swirling worries. Joining church before she had a chance to see the moon rise over a white sandy beach or the sun set over a lagoon populated with lively dolphins would surely be a mistake.

  Two weeks in Australia in return for a lifetime as an Amishwoman seems a fair trade, she thought. Why is it so difficult for them to understand?

  2

  Sallie went to tidy her room, distracted after all the talk of Australia during breakfast. She wandered over to the globe on her desk, spinning it and closing her eyes, then stopping it with her finger to see where it landed.

  Italy . . .

  The globe had been Frannie’s gift for Sallie’s thirteenth birthday. Not an ideal present, given Mamm’s baffled expression at the time. Yet Sallie had always treasured it, positioning it so the globe was the first thing she saw each morning when she awakened.

  Soon after that birthday, she had committed the countries to memory, as well as all fifty states and their capital cities. Eventually, Sallie began saving toward a trip of some kind, though she hadn’t made serious gains until she began working as a waitress at the Old Barn Restaurant once she turned sixteen. Thankfully, even after giving more than half her earnings to her father for room and board, there was enough left over for her dream.

  “There’s a phone message for ya,” Frannie told Sallie later that morning as they were cleaning the front room.

  “Did ya listen to it?” Sallie asked, curious.

  “Nee . . . thought it might be a fella, ya know.” Frannie winked at her.

  Sallie laughed. Frannie knows better!

  “I’ll finish up your dusting and mopping if you’d like to check on it,” Frannie kindly offered.

  “Denki,” Sallie said and was through the house and out the back door, running toward the old phone shanty two fields over from Dat’s cornfield.

  Holding her breath, she pushed open the wooden door, hoping the message might be from the travel agent she’d twice visited. She dialed the code for her voicemail, skipping over ten other messages for surrounding Amish neighbors. The sound of Miss Robertson’s voice heightened Sallie’s optimism.

  “Sallie, please contact me as soon as possible. There is an opening for the particular tour we discussed, departing for Australia two weeks from today. And they’ve dropped the price. Are you still interested?”

  Sallie laughed out loud. Of course I’m interested! Her breath came in quick spurts as she returned the phone call and set up an appointment for that very afternoon.

  Then, quickly, she called for a driver.

  Back at the house, Sallie hurried upstairs to gather her collection of brochures. Carefully, she laid each of them atop the quilt on her bed, reading again about the stops along the Great Ocean Road to see koala bears and kangaroos, as well as the Great Barrier Reef—one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

  Despite the fact Australia was one of the world’s most expensive destinations, Sallie was convinced it would measure up to her expectations. Oh, how she wanted to see the blinding sand, white as baby powder. And the azure blue of the sea.

  I can hardly believe it’s finally happening!

  ———

  Downstairs later, Sallie mentioned to Mamm and Frannie in passing that she had an appointment in town. Then, thinking the better of it, she came right out and said she might be going on her big trip as soon as two weeks from today.

  Frannie raised her eyebrows. “You must be awfully pleased,” she said after a pause. “I’m glad you’re getting it over with so you can finally settle down.”

  Mamm nodded. “Jah, you won’t be flyin’ anywhere after your baptism.”

  “That’s my plan,” Sallie replied, wishing they could share in her enthusiasm even a little. All the same, she knew she should be thankful they were taking this so well. I’ve had years to prepare them!

  The curly-haired receptionist at the travel agency informed Sallie that Miss Robertson would be with her as soon as she finished with another customer. Sallie felt jittery, eager for further details on the discounted trip.

  Sitting in the waiting area, her canvas bag of brochures by her side, Sallie stared at the travel posters and recalled the exhilaration of seeing Horseshoe Curve in the Allegheny Mountain range as a youngster with her family. While her parents dozed in the hired passenger van, she’d eagerly soaked up the unique sights, staying wide-awake on the return trip, too, watching the twilight swallow up the soaring green peaks.

  Sallie rose quickly when tall and vivacious Miss Robertson came out to greet her. To think that, finally, after all this time, her dream was just moments away from launching!

  As they sat down together in Miss Robertson’s comfortable office, the meticulous brunette laid out all the ins and outs of the trip, making a point of emphasizing that once Sallie bought the tour package, she would only have seventy-two hours to change her mind. “In order to receive a full refund, minus a hundred dollars for processing,” Miss Robertson explained.

  “Ach, I wouldn’t think of backing out,” Sallie insisted, opening her wallet for her checkbook. “You can count on that!”

  At supper, Sallie showed her parents and Frannie the receipt for the impending trip and placed a couple of brochures regarding the tour package on the table.

  Dat kept his gaze on his plate of roast beef, gravy, and baked potato for a long moment. “I never thought you’d actually go through with this, daughter.” His countenance was unusually solemn.

  Sallie couldn’t
help recalling his similar response to the arrival of her passport weeks ago.

  Frannie broke the stillness. “Are ya gonna show Cousin Essie these, too?”

  Nodding, Sallie said she planned to pay Essie a visit after the dishes were washed and dried and put away.

  Mamm picked up a brochure and paged through it, then sighed and placed it back on the table. “I know ya haven’t even left yet, but I can’t wait till you’re safely home again.”

  Dear Mamm . . .

  Hoping to reassure her, Sallie gave her a small smile. “Englischers go on such trips all the time with no problems, Mamm. I’ll be fine.”

  ———

  When Sallie and Frannie were finished redding up the kitchen, Sallie excused herself to head over to Cousin Essie’s. As Sallie let the screen door close behind her, an enclosed gray carriage pulled into the narrow lane leading to the small dwelling.

  Since she hadn’t seen Essie in a few days, Sallie decided to go ahead and drop by anyway. She strolled along the shady path lined with trees on one side and a boxwood hedge on the other. Where there was a gap in the hedge, she cut through to the side yard just as three children emerged from the gray family buggy. Immediately, Sallie saw that it was her dear sister-in-law Barbie Ann and her two school-age daughters and little son, the girls hurrying around to the back entrance, their merry voices ringing out as they went, while their four-year-old brother hung back a bit with his mother.

  Always glad to see Essie, thought Sallie, knowing how close Barbie Ann had grown to Essie over the years.

  Sallie had happy memories of being a mother’s helper for Barbie Ann when Aaron was first born. Occasionally, she still baby-sat for the happy little boy.

  Seeing her coming up behind them, Aaron turned and grinned, walking toward her to give her a hug.

  “I’ve missed seein’ ya,” she said, fluffing up his thick bangs.

  He nodded and gave her another hug, his slender arms wrapped around her legs. Too slender, Sallie thought.

  When they approached the back door, Cousin Essie greeted all of them with a kiss on the cheek. “Kumme in, dear ones.”

  Later, while the children sat in the corner talking quietly in Deitsch as they played with the windup toys Essie kept in the nearby cupboard, Barbie Ann quietly shared the recent diagnosis for little Aaron, who hadn’t been himself for a few months now. “Remember that awful bout with his decayed molar?” she asked. “Guess it wasn’t caught in time. Doctor says he has a heart murmur caused by a bacterial infection.”

  “Bless the dear child,” Essie whispered.

  “What can be done for him?” Sallie asked.

  Barbie Ann bowed her head for a moment. “We’re between a rock and a hard place.” She added that Aaron likely would need a heart procedure. “The doctors want to run some more tests to see just how damaged his valve is, but Vernon’s concerned about the awful expense.”

  “We all must join in prayer for the matter,” Essie said, reaching for Barbie Ann’s hand.

  Sallie wondered when Barbie Ann might tell Dat and Mamm this startling news—or maybe Vernon was planning to talk with Dat after chores. Either way, Sallie’s heart broke for her beloved little nephew.

  3

  Aware that her father would be watering the livestock right about now, Sallie hurried to the barn on the way back from Essie’s and offered her help. In spite of his difficulties with the task, Dat was quick to decline, and she felt gently admonished by his present silence. Dat had never been in favor of the trip, but he had come to terms with the idea more readily than Mamm when Sallie first brought it up.

  Later that evening, as they were having homemade ice cream, Dat mentioned learning of young Aaron’s heart murmur. “Allen and some of the other boys are goin’ over there to talk to Vernon to see what can be done about the cost of a valve repair, if it’s necessary. Adam will be an advocate for them with the hospital.”

  “Are there any other options?” asked Mamm, her face pale.

  “I’m afraid not, Anna Mae . . . not if it’s as serious as the doctors think,” Dat replied, glancing also at Frannie and Sallie. “Little Aaron could die without the procedure, according to Vernon.”

  Mamm let out a muffled sob, and Dat gave her a tender look.

  “Hard as it is, we need to trust the Lord and His will in this,” he said.

  “What if it’s God’s will for Aaron to be healed through surgery?” Sallie asked.

  Dat raised his eyes to hers. “That’s up to the Lord God, I daresay.”

  Sallie sighed, her excitement over the impending trip subdued by young Aaron’s plight. To think of a child his age being faced with surgery—or worse!

  She sat quietly through evening prayers and Bible reading with her family, then went to her room and, ignoring the trip itinerary and brochures laid out on her nearby dresser, knelt beside her bed and did as Cousin Essie had urged.

  O dear Lord, please be with little Aaron.

  Her longed-for adventure seemed frivolous in comparison.

  Thursday morning after breakfast, Sallie spotted Mamm’s calendar on the wall near the cellar door and saw that Wednesday, June fourth, was crisscrossed with a large red X filling the day’s square. She’d never seen her mother mark the calendar like this.

  Perhaps it was so she’d remember to pray on the day Sallie was flying to San Francisco, California, then on to Australia. Or is it because Mamm wishes the day might not come?

  She went outdoors to weed Mamm’s big flower garden, Frannie helping, too, although unusually quiet.

  Sallie glanced at Frannie. “Is somethin’ on your mind, sister? You’re not yourself today.”

  “Just the trip that’ll take you as far away as you could possibly go.” Frannie didn’t sound peeved so much as hurt.

  “It’s not somethin’ I just up and decided, remember.”

  “And that’s what bothers me.” Frannie paused to wipe her forehead with the back of her wrist.

  “What do ya mean?”

  “Your heart’s completely set on something so frowned on by the People and the ministers. It’s just odd, really. I’ll never understand it.”

  Sallie fell silent, letting Frannie stew.

  A few moments later, Frannie stopped what she was doing. “Oh, Sallie, maybe I’m just worried. What would I do if somethin’ happened to you?”

  Sallie was aware of a growing lump in her own throat. “I’ll be back before ya know I’m gone.”

  “I pray so,” Frannie replied, smoothing out the soil near the pink bleeding hearts. “I’ll hold my breath till you’re home.”

  Sallie gave her a small smile, then returned to prying out a stubborn weed. Dear sister, don’t fret. We’ll have a lifetime together, Lord willing.

  After the noon meal, when her chores were finished, Sallie wandered up to Essie’s, knowing she never needed to knock. She entered by way of the back screen door and heard the clink of silverware on a dish . . . and then Essie’s afternoon prayer rising to the heavens, her tone more fervent than usual.

  Attempting to give Essie her privacy, Sallie moved silently to the corner of the utility room, where windows looked down over the terraced gardens.

  “O Lord in heaven, I lift up young Aaron today, indeed this very hour, precious Father. He needs Thy strength to carry him through this troubled time. His whole family does.” Essie stopped praying, and Sallie heard sniffling.

  Sallie tensed. Has something else happened?

  “If it is Thy will and plan, bring along the finances to assist Vernon and Barbie Ann for their dear boy,” Essie continued. “I pray this in the name of Thy Son, Jesus, our Savior and Healer. Amen.”

  Sallie moved not a speck. How long should she wait before heading into the kitchen? She continued to gaze at the sky, observing a single black hawk circling the area, dipping from time to time, and then soaring ever higher. What had Essie said about finances? It didn’t make sense when the People had an alms fund for such needs.

  After ano
ther few moments passed, Sallie heard the scuff of chair legs. Only then did she peek into the kitchen. “Cousin Essie?” she called softly. “Didn’t want to give you a fright.”

  “Ach, how long have ya been here?”

  “Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing,” Sallie apologized.

  Sighing heavily, Essie waved her inside and began to tell her that their district’s almsgiving account was sorely depleted due to another family’s medical emergency. “Heard it just this morning. The deacon’s requesting help from a nearby church district, since Vernon and Barbie Ann certainly are strapped.”

  Sallie was afraid to ask the amount needed for the tests and possible surgery, but she assumed it was quite a lot.

  “No need to fret, though—just keep the matter in prayer,” said Essie, adding, “I’m believin’ Gott will heal him.”

  Sallie agreed to pray for Aaron.

  “We need everyone and anyone. Prayer’s more powerful than folk realize.” Essie set about clearing the table, all the while humming a song from the Ausbund, the old hymnal they used at Preachings. “I’m awful glad you came over, Sallie.” She turned and gave her an inquiring look. “But I feel there’s something more on your heart.”

  Sallie smiled weakly. There had been, but no longer. She had yet to tell Essie about her trip, and her parents’ lukewarm response to the news, as well as Frannie’s panic, had been replaced by far more pressing concerns.

  “I’ll be starting baptismal instruction this July.” Sallie picked up the embroidered tea towel and dried the dinner dishes as Essie washed. There was something about working alongside another person that made conversation far easier and more personal. “Mamm and Dat are relieved.”

  Essie nodded, scratching her head. “I s’pect they might be, though some parents are less concerned about that these days—they just want their children to seek Gott’s path for them, wherever it leads.” She turned to look at Sallie. “What about you? How are you feelin’ ’bout baptism?”