A Time to Heal(37)

He shook his head. "Just the coffee."

The liquid heated and began to beat with a rhythmic music against the clear glass knob at the top of the pot. It was a familiar sound he remembered from sitting in his grandmother's kitchen. A soothing one. The newer electric coffee makers just didn't make the same sound or give the process a homey feel.

The rich aroma of it brewing took him back to sitting at the table in his grandmother's kitchen just before he deployed.She'd made him coffee and served him a plate of his favorite cookies—oatmeal raisin—and pressed a box of them to his chest as he left the house. Later, he'd known something had happened to her, even before the chaplain notified him. There hadn't been the usual weekly care package of cookies at mail call.

He shook his head, forcing the memory away, as Hannah set a cup of coffee before him.

Instead of sitting down to drink a cup herself, she started filling the sink with hot water.

"Sit down," he said. "I'll help you with them after you have a cup too."

She continued to stand at the sink and he saw her look out the window.

"Don't," he repeated. "We need to take a break first."

She started to argue and then she nodded. "Let me finish putting them in water. They'll be easier to clean that way."

But when she sat, he noticed that she just stirred and stirred the coffee without drinking it.

And his own coffee cooled as Chris stared into his own cup as he tried to figure out what had happened to Eli and the barn.





9





Hannah walked down the road quite a distance from the farmhouse so she could talk to her nieces and nephew before they saw the barn.

They looked surprised when they saw her standing by the side of the road. They were old enough now that they usually walked home from schul by themselves.

"Something happened today," she told them. "Everyone's all right," she assured them quickly when she saw fear spring into their eyes. She didn't blame them—they had lost their mother and probably the first thing that came into their minds was that they were about to get bad news concerning their daedi or mamm.

"There was a fire in the barn today."

"The horses—" Joshua cried.

Hannah grabbed his arm as he started to run. "The horses were in the fields. They're fine."

"What caused the fire?" Mary wanted to know.

"The firemen don't know. They're going to find out."

Annie tugged on Hannah's apron. "Daedi and Mamm aren't hurt? You're sure?"

"Positive. You'll see for yourself when they get home. Eli was hurt but he'll be okay."

Annie stuck her thumb in her mouth, something Hannah had seen her do many times when she felt uncertain. She hadn't done it since Jenny came into her life. Hannah held out her hand and Annie took it as they walked to the barn.

She told them what happened, leaving out the part about the explosion and graphic details of how Eli had looked with his skin so burned. Instead she focused on how quickly the firemen had arrived so they'd be reassured that there were people who would help in such an emergency.

"We're not to go near it," she warned. "The man who's in charge of the firemen said that they want to come back tomorrow when it's not hot inside and see if they can figure out what caused the fire."

"Will the house catch on fire too?" Annie asked.

"No, no, liebschen," Hannah soothed. "Something in the barn caused it. Maybe some paint or something. We don't know but the fireman will find out."

"Where will our horses sleep?" Mary asked.

"Either at Phoebe's or the Lapps. They'll be fine."

Joshua glanced around. "Did the buggy burn up?"

Hannah nodded. "Ya, it wasn't safe to go in and get it. So your mamm and daedi are using Phoebe's to go see Eli. Your daedi will get a new buggy later."

"Maybe one with a radio?"

Laughing, Hannah shook her head. "I know that Leroy has one in his courting buggy, but he's in his rumschpringe."

"But why is it okay when he's in his rumschpringe but not later?" Joshua persisted.

"That's something you should ask your daedi. Just not today, allrecht? I'm sure he'll be too concerned about Eli and the barn."

Joshua nodded.

She ran her hand over his hair. "How about we go inside and have some kichli and milk before we start our chores?"

"Yes!" they chorused and the three of them raced to the kitchen. After oatmeal-raisin cookies and big glasses of milk, the children went about their assigned chores. Mary went to take down the laundry, Joshua ran to get the stalls in Phoebe's barn ready for the horses, and Annie started setting the table for supper.

Phoebe. Thank goodness she'd gone to help a friend today, thought Hannah. It would have been so upsetting for her to witness what had happened, to see Eli burned. Hannah didn't look forward to telling her later, but being there herself would have been too much for the older woman.