Leah's Choice. Emma Miller
time getting under, if he’d come this way. But why would a child venture farther away from home rather than closer? He felt a sense of dread. What if the rumor about Joey’s hat and shoe discovered by the pond was true? Or, God forbid, the story about a stranger offering the boy a treat? Tonight could end in more than discomfort. It could be a real tragedy for the Beachy family and the whole community.
“Please, God,” he murmured under his breath as he wiggled the last few inches until he was clear of the barbed wire. “Be with this child. Hold him safe in the palm of your hand until we can get to him.”
“Ouch!” Caroline cried.
Daniel got to his feet. “What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?” He shone his flashlight on Caroline. She was holding her left hand out, and even through the rain, he could see that blood was oozing from a deep gash across her palm.
“Let me see,” he said. On closer inspection, he saw that the cut was ragged and about two inches long.
“Does it hurt?” Leslie asked.
“It stings.”
“That barbed wire is rusty.” Leah came to stand with them. “I hope you’re up-to-date on your tetanus shot.”
“She was vaccinated when she was little,” Leslie said. “Isn’t that good enough?”
“I don’t think so,” Leah said. “Irwin—he’s sort of my foster brother—stepped on a nail a couple of weeks ago and our doctor said he had to have a booster. She’ll probably need to have one, too, but it’s not an emergency. It can wait until tomorrow as long as she doesn’t need stitches.”
“I don’t think it needs stitches.” Daniel handed his cousin a handkerchief. “But Leah’s right. You should check with your doctor to see when you were last vaccinated. I’ve actually seen cases of tetanus. It’s not something to mess around with.”
Caroline wrapped his handkerchief around her hand, but the cloth turned from white to pink. “I feel like such an idiot. I thought I had hold of the wire, but it slipped through my hand.”
“I think you’d better go back to the house.” Leslie rested her hand on Caroline’s back. “Mom will want to have a look at this.”
“But I wanted to help.” Caroline’s voice quivered. “And now, I’ve caused all of you a problem.”
“Why don’t the three of you go back?” Leah suggested. “I want to check some sheds on this farm, but I’ll be fine. I know the way.”
Daniel reached out and pressed his hand over Caroline’s. “More pressure should stop the bleeding. Do you think you’ll be all right to walk back with Leslie?”
“Sure,” she answered. “It’s a cut hand, not a broken leg.”
“Leslie?” he asked. “You okay walking her back?”
“Sure. I’ll go with her. I hate to leave you guys, but I agree she shouldn’t go alone. What if she faints or something?”
Caroline made a sound of disbelief. “Have you ever known me to faint in my life? Stop making such a fuss. I’ll be fine. You stay and hunt for Joey with Daniel and Leah. I can go back myself.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Daniel adjusted his ball cap to try to keep some of the rain out of his eyes. “The two of you should go back together. No one should be out here alone. I’ll go with Leah.” He looked at Leah as it occurred to him what he was saying. Three girls and a guy was one thing. A guy and girl, in some cultures, was something entirely different. “Will you be in trouble if the two of us go on together alone? We’re not breaking any Amish rules, are we?”
“Nah,” Leah assured him. “It isn’t encouraged, a boy and girl alone together, but it’s not forbidden. We’re looking for a lost child. It’s not like we’re dating or anything.”
Caroline giggled.
Leah glanced at Caroline, then back at Daniel. “This kind of situation allows for exceptions to the rules. Besides, I haven’t officially joined the Amish church, so I’m sort of rumspringa. This is my running around time. The rules aren’t so strict for me.”
“So you don’t mind if I come with you?”
Leah shook her head. “I would be glad of your help. But we have to get going.” She looked out over the dark field ahead. “I have a bad feeling about this,” she said softly. “A really bad feeling.”
Chapter Three
Daniel watched as Caroline and Leslie’s flashlight beam grew smaller as they recrossed the big pasture beyond the barbed-wire fence. “I guess it’s just the two of us,” he said to Leah, raising his voice so that she could hear him above the sound of the rain and the booming thunder.
“Just the two of us,” she repeated. “Come on. This way. It doesn’t look as though this is going to let up.”
Not only wasn’t the downpour easing, it was getting worse. He glanced up as lightning zigzagged through the sky. It struck so close that he smelled the burnt grass when a bolt hit the ground. “Maybe we should think about looking for shelter,” Daniel suggested, not so much worried for himself as for Leah. “Just until the worst of this passes.”
“There’s a shed in the pasture beyond these woods where the farmer stores hay,” Leah shouted. “We can duck in there.” She began to walk faster, and he lengthened his stride to keep up with her.
Water was running down the inside of Daniel’s jacket, and his pants were soaked and muddy to his knees. Leah was wearing a skirt, so he knew she had to be colder than he was, even wearing her rain slicker. He couldn’t imagine any of his sisters out here in the dark and pouring rain with a strange man. The two still at home were both younger than he supposed Leah must be, but he doubted they would ever have the self-confidence that she seemed to have. Most girls, especially girls born with such outer beauty as Leah possessed, rarely showed the same strength of character.
A gust of wind shook the trees overhead and nearly knocked them off their feet. Daniel took Leah’s arm to steady her, and she made no protest. A night like this and a child lost in it? What must the boy’s family be going through?
Once, when his family was sightseeing in Barcelona, his younger brother, Matthew, had gotten separated from the rest of them during a festival. The streets were crowded, and eight-year-old Matthew spoke only a little Spanish. They’d notified the police and looked for Matthew for hours without finding a trace of him. Daniel remembered how pale his mother’s face had been, and yet, she’d remained calm. “Have faith, but don’t stop hunting for him,” she’d said. “God expects us to do our fair share.”
Their prayers had been answered. When his mother had returned to the bed-and-breakfast where they’d been staying, Matthew was sitting on the steps waiting. Earlier that morning, he had picked up a brochure in the hotel because it had red balloons on it. He’d stuck the folder in his coat pocket, and when he got lost, he’d asked a teenage girl for help. She’d studied English in school and was able to understand why Matthew was crying. Somehow, the girl had seen the brochure, read the address, and given his little brother a ride back to the B&B on the back of her bike.
“Lucky,” the policeman had said, when Daniel’s parents had reported Matthew as safe.
“Not lucky, but blessed,” Mother had insisted.
Daniel hoped that Joey Beachy would be just as blessed. He was even younger than Matthew had been, and the family still talked about the incident. Daniel missed his family, but he missed his little brother most of all. This would have been Matthew’s senior year in high school, but he’d moved to Canada with their mother, father and the three girls. Daniel hoped he’d have time to visit with them before he left for his new assignment.
Lightning flashed, closer this time, and Daniel felt