Naomi pulled away to look into Greta’s eyes. “Are you sure?”
She would be coolly polite. She would ignore her uncle’s hurtful ways, and she would never, ever let him make her feel like an inadequate person again. “Ja.”
They returned to the kitchen, and both women took a seat at the table. Naomi said, “It’s settled. Greta will go.”
Afraid her sisters would read the fear in her eyes Greta kept her gaze on her hands clasped together on the table. “I’ll take the bus there and accompany him in the van on his journey. I’ll write to Morris and his bishop and tell them to expect me in four days. That should give them enough time to arrange everything.”
“Gott willing, you will be home two days later,” Naomi added.
Greta let out a deep sigh and looked around the table. “I really don’t want to bring him into this house.”
The sisters exchanged glances. Clara said, “We feel the same, but perhaps this is a test of our compassion. It is the Christmas season, after all. How can we abandon Onkel Morris, ill and alone, knowing that God sent His only Son into this world to teach us to care for one another, even those who hate us?”
“The right thing to do is not always the easy thing to do,” Betsy added in resignation.
“Perhaps his illness has shown Morris the error of his ways, and he is ready to mend our family fences,” Lizzie suggested in a falsely bright tone.
Greta wouldn’t count on it. Of all the ways she had imagined spending her first Christmas at her new home, none of them included sharing it with mean old Morris.
“Joseph, you have very wise granddaughters,” Naomi said with a tender smile.
He nodded. “That may be true, but I’m with Greta. I’ll take him in, but I don’t want the man here, either. Morris will find a way to ruin our Christmas. You mark my words.”
They were going home at last.
Toby Yoder knelt in front of his ten-year-old sister’s wheelchair inside the huge lobby of the Fort Wayne Medical Center. The soaring two-story tall glass windows let the light pour in around her. It reflected off the gleaming marble floors and the chrome legs of the chairs and tables near them. Swags of greenery and red bows adorned the front of the large curved cherrywood reception desk while a massive white Christmas tree with blue ornaments and a gleaming silver star dominated the center of the lobby. Every table had a potted poinsettia or an arrangement of cinnamon-scented pinecones in the center.
Signs of the holy season were everywhere, but they couldn’t lighten his heart.
Marianne wouldn’t look at the sunshine, or the Christmas decorations—or at him. She sat slumped into the corner of the chair as if hiding from the world in a donated black coat that was too big for her. She looked worn to the bone already and she had been up less than half an hour. She was still so weak. His funny, fun-loving and energetic little sister was a shell of her former self and it was his fault.
If it took the rest of his life, he would make it up to her.
He forced a smile for her benefit. “We don’t have to leave town today, Marianne. My old roommates won’t mind if you want to stay at their apartment. It’s not far from here. You can rest up for a few days before we travel to Pennsylvania. I’ll make arrangements for another driver to take us then.”
She shook her head slightly. “Nee. Take me home now,” she whispered.
She hadn’t spoken more than a few whispered words to him since the fire that took the lives of their parents and put her in the hospital. In spite of that, she managed to make it clear she wanted to go back to Pennsylvania. She didn’t want to stay in Indiana.
A non-Amish family walked in through the hospital doors. Several of the children stared openly at Toby and Marianne. Dressed in traditional Amish clothing and wearing a black flat-topped felt hat, Toby knew he stood out from ordinary visitors to the hospital. Although there were large Amish settlements in the area, Amish folks rarely ventured into the heart of the city.
Marianne pulled her oversize black bonnet forward to cover the still raw-looking burns on the left side of her face and neck. She hated people staring at her. A stab of pity took the smile from Toby’s face. He would give anything to undo the decisions that had led to her pain, but that wasn’t possible. God should have put him in her place that night. She should have been the one left unscathed.
The elevator door across the lobby opened and a nurse came out pushing another wheelchair. In it sat an Amish elder wearing a heavy frown. His pale face was almost as gray as his long beard. A young man in scrubs followed them, pushing a cart laden with several suitcases. He left the cart parked near the door and joined the nurse. “Take care of yourself, Mr. Barkman. Merry Christmas.” With a nod, a wink and a thumbs-up to the nurse, he went back to the elevators.
“I don’t see why you’re kicking me out in the cold. What kind of hospital is this?” Mr. Barkman grumbled.
“We aren’t kicking you out, Mr. Barkman. Your driver is on his way. He has picked up your niece at the bus station, and they’ll be here soon. You’re going home with her.”
“That’s no comfort to me. My nieces are the cause of this, you know. Their disgraceful behavior shamed me and put all the work of the farm on my shoulders. It was too much for a man my age. You think I’ll be better off living with them? Ha! You might as well call the undertaker and be done with it.”
“That’s no way to talk. Remember what your doctor told you. A positive attitude will help more than any medication.” She parked his chair by a sofa in the waiting area.
“That doctor would sing a different tune if he’d had a heart attack and heart surgery. Where are my pain pills?”
“You will need to pick them up at the pharmacy. I have all the instructions on what you need to take and when. I will go over it with you and your niece. You have your nitroglycerin, don’t you?”
He nodded and patted his vest pocket. “Pills, pills and more pills. What good have they done me? I’m still a sick man.”
She said, “I see a van coming up the drive. I think they’re here.”
The relief in the nurse’s voice brought back Toby’s grin. He leaned close to his sister. “You are a much better patient.” He hoped for a smile, but he was disappointed. She kept her head lowered.
A long white van pulled to a stop outside the doors. The driver, a portly man in his midforties with curly salt-and-pepper hair hopped out and came around to open the sliding door on the passenger’s side. A young Amish woman got out.
“Is that your niece, Mr. Barkman?” the nurse asked.
“That’s Greta. The ungrateful hussy. I’m amazed she has the courage to show her face to me.”
The nurse rolled her eyes and muttered, “So am I.”
Toby happened to catch her glance. She smothered a sheepish grin. It was clear she thought Mr. Barkman’s niece would have her hands full.
The outside door opened. The van driver and the woman came inside along with a gust of cold wind. Mr. Barkman’s niece stopped a few feet away from her uncle. The driver came straight to Toby.
“Are you Tobias Yoder?” he asked in a booming voice.
Toby rose and held out his hand. “You must be Arles Hooper. Thank you for agreeing to take us to Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. I know it’s a very long drive. This is Marianne.”
“Pleased to meet you both. I’ve got several more Amish folks riding with us. It’s fortunate for me that so many Amish like to