Seasons of Sugarcreek 02. Spring's Renewal (15 page)

“Anson, it’s nice to see you. Would you like some lunch?” Lilly heard her mother say as she entered the kitchen.

“I already ate.”

“Well, then, what do you and Ty plan to do today?”

He sighed. “Nothin’ much. It’s raining again, you know.”

“All it ever does is rain,” Ty added, his voice thick with irritation. “I can’t believe that we finally get a week off of school, but we can’t do nothing because the rain is so bad.”

Lilly poured herself a glass of juice as her mother did her best to come up with suggestions for the two boys. None of them sounded very exciting, even to her. “Mom, I don’t know if putting together a puzzle is exactly what they want to do.”

“I don’t see how it matters, they can’t play outside.”

“Why don’t you two build a fort in your room?” Lilly suggested. “Charlie and I used to do that all the time. Go grab some sheets and stuff out of the linen closet and make a hideout. When it’s terrific, I’ll bring you grilled cheese sandwiches.”

Little hoots of excitement erupted from them as they high-fived each other then ran upstairs.

Lilly smiled, feeling pleased with herself. “Now we can have at least thirty minutes of peace and quiet.”

Her mom squeezed her shoulder as she reached inside a cupboard and pulled out a pan. “You, my dear, are a blessing. Do you work today?”

“I was supposed to, but Mrs. Kent called me earlier and asked if I minded taking the day off. The weather’s so miserable, not too many people are wanting to go out to eat. I told her I was perfectly fine with that.”

“All right. So, you’re settling back in at the restaurant?”

“I think so.”

“Feeling okay?”

“Good enough.” It was on the tip of her tongue to talk to her mom about all the new friendships she’d made. How she was feeling like a real part of the community, getting to know her customers, becoming true friends with Miriam and Gretta.

Opening up the fridge, her mother pulled out a soda. She sipped from it with a look of relief before sitting down across from her. “Mom, are you okay?”

“I think so. My stomach’s a little queasy, that’s all. I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me.”

“You went to sleep really early last night, too.”

“That’s no surprise. Your little brother is wearing me out. I wish he’d sleep past six
A.M
. at least once a week.”

Lilly laughed. “He sure does like to be busy, that’s the truth.”

“That was a good idea about the fort.”

“Thanks. Like I said, Charlie and I used to build those all the time.”

A few hours later, after Lilly had gone up to read in her room, her mother peeked her head in. “Have you seen the boys?”

Lilly put her book down. “Aren’t they in the living room?”

“No, they got bored with that. Then said they were going to play in the garage for a while, so I pulled the car out. When I checked on them, they were playing foursquare. But now they’re gone.”

“I’ll help you look.”

“Okay. But, this is strange, Lilly. It’s not like them to wander off.”

“Sure it is,” she retorted. “They’re little boys. And Anson and Ty, together, get antsy. I’ll go check Ty’s room and the basement. Maybe they’re just playing hide-and-seek.”

Her mother looked doubtful. “Maybe. I’ll check the garage again and the rest of the house.”

But after another fifteen minutes, there was still no sign of the boys anywhere. “I just don’t understand where they could be.”

“Maybe we should check to see if Ty’s raincoat is here?”

Her mom snapped her fingers. “Good idea.”

Lilly followed her mom to the mudroom where they kept all the boots and extra shoes. “Anson’s boots are gone. So are Ty’s rain boots.”

“Maybe they decided to go walk in the rain?”

“It’s pouring out.”

“I know…but you know how silly they can get.” Her mom took a deep breath and tried to smile. “I bet you’re right. I don’t know why I’m worrying so much. I’ll just go take a peek outside and call for them.”

“I’ll do it, Mom. Don’t worry. I bet as soon as I call them in for popcorn and hot chocolate, they’ll appear in a flash.”

But even after calling for Ty and Anson for a good ten minutes, Lilly didn’t hear or see a single sign of them.

If anything, the storms escalated during the next thirty minutes. When Lilly came in, her mom looked on the verge of tears. “I’m going to kill those boys!” she said. “Right after I hug them.”

“You know what, Mom? I bet they went to Anson’s house. They probably didn’t even think to let you know. I’ll walk over and see. And I’ll take my cell phone and call you right away.”

“That’s a great idea.”

Since thunder and lightning had started, Lilly decided to take the car. Mrs. Graber opened the door as soon as she parked in their gravel driveway. “Lilly? Is everything okay?”

She rushed over. “I hope so. Any chance those boys ran over here?”

“Boys?” A line appeared between her brows. “You mean Anson and Ty?”

The slow sinking feeling that had been playing on her emotions grabbed hold of her and held on tight. “Yes. Have you seen them?”

“No.”

Briefly Lilly filled Mrs. Graber in on their search.

Stepping back, she waved Lilly inside. As soon as she closed the front door, Maggie and Toby ran over. Mrs. Graber smiled a bit, but only looked distracted. Then Tim joined them.

“What’s going on?” he said.

“I came here looking for Ty and Anson.”

“But they went to your house to play.”

Briefly, Lilly relayed how they’d been making forts, then were in the garage, and then nowhere to be found. “I’ve been calling outside for them, and my mom has searched every place in the house. So…they haven’t shown up.”

Mrs. Graber shook her head.
“Nee.”

“I better call my mom and let her know. We were both really hoping to see Anson and Ty here.”

“Lilly, any luck?” she asked as soon as she answered.

“No. Mom, what do you think we should do?”

“Put Elsa on the phone, would you?”

“She wants to talk to you,” Lilly said, handing the phone to Mrs. Graber.

Lilly traded nervous glances with Tim as Mrs. Graber and her mother started naming off places where the boys could have run off to. Then her mother gave a gasp that Lilly and Tim could actually hear through the receiver.

Beside her, Mrs. Graber swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Lilly asked.

Slowly Mrs. Graber looked Lilly’s way. “Your mother has just noticed that the fishing poles are gone.”

“That probably doesn’t mean anything, do you think?” Tim strode to the window. “After all, it’s pouring. Surely you don’t think they would have gone to the river?”

Lilly fought back a sob. “I’m afraid you don’t know those boys. Bad ideas always seem like good ones when they’re together.”

Mrs. Graber squared her shoulders. “We are going to need some help. Lilly, could you take Tim to the store and bring back Josh? Frank is in Walnut Creek this afternoon. He went with an
Englischer
to discuss carrying some special items for the fall. Gretta will have to mind the store. Then a pair of you will need to go down to the creek. I can’t leave Toby and Maggie.”

“I’ll take Tim to the store right now,” Lilly said.

Tim grabbed his coat. “I’m ready.”

“Be careful!” Mrs. Graber called out.

“We will,” Lilly replied. “And I promise, if we hear any news, my mom will come running over.”

Five minutes later, Lilly was directing her car onto the main road toward town, Tim by her side.

Clara and Caleb had just returned from Mrs. Miller’s home and were telling Joshua and Gretta about the apartment when Lilly and Tim came flying into the Grabers’ store.

“Tim!” Clara sputtered, then immediately felt her cheeks heat. He spared her a gentle smile for a second before turning to Joshua. “We need you and Caleb,” Tim said without preamble. “Now.”

Caleb stepped forward as Joshua looked from Tim to Lilly and back to Tim again. “What has happened?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Anson and Ty went missing,” Tim replied.

“At first we thought they were at each other’s houses, but they weren’t,” Lilly added, her expression grim. “It was my mom who finally noticed that their fishing poles were gone. We think they went to the creek.”

Clara’s stomach knotted. Just the other day, she’d noticed how swollen and powerful the usually lazy creek had become. The constant rains had transformed the creek into a tiny, violent river.

“I’m afraid everyone’s fearing the worst,” Tim said. “We need to find them.”

Gretta looked frantic. “Maybe you two are wrong. That creek is flooding. With all the rain we’ve been having, it’s a fair dangerous place to be around. Why, everyone knows that. Surely you all don’t think the boys would do something so silly…do you?”

“I’m afraid so,” Lilly said. “Lately, they’ve been really pushing boundaries and going off without telling anyone. I’m afraid they’re down there…somewhere.”

Gretta shook her head. “But the currents—”

Caleb stepped in. “Nine-and ten-year-olds don’t
think
, Gretta. Not about danger. Not about things that could go wrong.” Almost sheepishly he added, “I can tell you that from experience.”

“Elsa wants you both to come home to help search,” Tim said, forcing Joshua and Caleb back on track. “We need you right now.”

The tension in the store escalated unbearably. Clara noticed a new resolve in Joshua’s eyes as he grabbed his hat and strode toward the door. “Then let’s go.”

“Wait! I want to come too,” Gretta said.

Joshua shook his head. “I’d rather you stayed here. Someone needs to stay and mind the store.” When tears filled her eyes, he looked at her in concern. “Will you be all right by yourself?”

Though Clara wanted to join in the search, too, she understood the logic of Joshua’s words. “I could stay with her,” Clara volunteered. “We would be fine together.”

Gretta shrugged off Joshua’s hand. “I’m not afraid of being here, I’m afraid of what you will find. And afraid of how I’ll live with myself if I don’t do everything I can to help in the search. I want to come.” Looking at them all, Gretta squared her shoulders. “Can’t we simply close the store?”

“It can be done, you know,” Caleb volunteered. “There’s no law in our family that says the store must be open six days a week.”

They all looked at each other. Clara felt both part of the group and out of the loop. But her concern for Anson, one of her favorite students, overruled everything. “I’d like to try to help, too.” Though her voice quavered, she added, “If something is wrong, you’ll need as many people out looking as possible.”

Tim walked to her side. “We can’t fear the worst. Nothing good will come of that.”

Clara knew his words were true, but among them all, there was a very real sense of urgency. “Let’s decide and quickly.”

“Clara’s right. We need to leave immediately,” Lilly said. “My mom and I already spent too much time searching the house.”

With a tender look at his wife, Joshua nodded. “At a time like this, we should only be thinking of one thing…family. That’s what’s most important. If we find the boys soon, I’ll come back here. How many can you fit in your car, Lilly?”

She smiled. “Everyone. Come on.”

Lilly popped up two more seats in the rear of her SUV. Clara slipped into one of them, right next to Tim. Likely, the seats were made for children, not adults. It was a close fit. Their sides brushing each other was impossible to ignore. “You okay?” he murmured.

When Clara looked into his eyes, she noticed that he, too, was completely aware of how close they were sitting. The heat from their bodies melded together. For a moment, she imagined one day being so close to Tim on purpose. Hugging him. Wrapped in his arms in a powerful embrace.

She shook her head to clear it. “I’m just fine,” she said. “I’m so glad to be included, why, I’d have sat on the floor in here.”

He smiled at her quip. “I’m glad you came, Clara. I’m glad you’re here.”

Though there were other concerns, she couldn’t help ask about one that was important to her heart. “Is your visitor still here?”

“Ruby? Oh, no. She’s gone. We decided to, um, take a break from each other.”

There was no time to discuss that, but Clara pocketed the information away with a tiny burst of happiness. Perhaps when things settled down…when they found the boys safe and sound, she and Tim could talk about things between them once again.

After everyone buckled up, Lilly turned on her headlights and windshield wipers, then pulled out of the parking lot. Gretta had taped up a hastily printed note saying they would be closed for the day, due to a family emergency.

As soon as she entered the highway, Clara watched as Lilly turned to Joshua, who was sitting in the passenger seat. “In the outside pocket of my purse is my cell phone. Could you give my mom a call? Maybe she has some news.”

“Sure.” After Joshua opened the flip phone, he got the number from Lilly, punched it in, and waited.

Anxious to hear the latest, everyone in the truck fell silent when he spoke into the receiver. Though Clara was all the way in the back, even she could clearly make out his words.

“Yes, Barbara, we’re all here. Have you heard anything?”

They all paused with bated breath until Joshua looked Lilly’s way and shook his head. After a few more moments, when he was to saying nothing more than a terse yes or no, he clicked off.

“What did she say?” Lilly asked.

“She called your dad, Lilly. He’s on his way home now. She also wanted to know if there was a faster way to get to the creek than the parts behind all our houses.” He turned around in his seat. “Does anyone know about that?” he asked the group.

“I wouldn’t know the land like you,” Lilly said. “Do you know, Josh?”

Josh shook his head. “Not that I can recall. Clara? Caleb?”

“There’s not,” Caleb said quickly. “If there had been a way, I would have known about it. Sometimes kids go there to drink or fool around.”

“I walk on the road home from school,” Clara volunteered. “I’m afraid that creek only is big near our properties. Out of all our houses, I’m guessing the Allens’ has the most direct path. We should park there and then walk.”

Joshua nodded. “That’s what Barbara suggested. So that is what we’ll have to do.”

“I’m just going to have to get there as soon as I can.” Lilly’s hands clenched the steering wheel.

A rumble of thunder punctuated her words, reminding all of them of what they were up against—one of the biggest rainstorms in months. The driving rain was treacherous and the impending nightfall was worrisome, too.

When Lilly slammed on her brakes, barely stopping in time at a red light, they all hung on in alarm.

“Be careful, Lilly,” Gretta warned. “Don’t let your emotions grip you too hard.”

“I’ll do my best,” Lilly stated. “But I can’t help it. Ty’s out there. And Anson, too. We have to find them. Before…”

But even from her place in the back, Clara knew that Lilly’s nerves were at a breaking point.

She couldn’t find fault with that, though. Clara felt like tears were on the way for her, too.

She thought of how upset she’d been with her mother. How intent she’d been on starting a new life, thinking that an apartment of her own would solve her problems. Clara shook her head in dismay.

What was happening with these boys was a terrible reminder of just what was important in life. Not secrets and pride. It was love of family and being there for each other in thick and thin that mattered.

As the rest of the group talked quietly, planning strategies and attempting to think of other places the boys could have gone, Tim looked at her. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why were you at the store?”

“It’s a long story. But it has something to do with my mother.”

Instead of looking surprised, a slow smile lit his face. “You’ve had enough, hmm?”

Glad he understood immediately, she nodded. “You could say that. Now my problems and worries all seem so silly, though. I shouldn’t have cared so much about myself. I shouldn’t have concentrated so much on what I want. On how I think I should be treated. That’s a flaw, I think.”

“Don’t ever act like your feelings don’t matter,” he murmured. “They count.”

His caring tone felt like a welcoming hug. “You always know what to say. How is that? Has that always been the case?”

“No. Usually most people have found me to be too quiet. Ruby always wished I’d share more feelings. But I had a difficult time with that. I never had the words.”

“I would never know that you had a difficult time. You seemed to always know the right thing to say to me.”

“That’s because you’re special to me,” he murmured.

When she looked at him in surprise, he carefully reached for her right hand and smiled.

She smiled, too, but inside, she was quaking terribly. He was holding her
right
hand. The ugly one.

The hand that most people tried so hard to never look at…the hand most people took great pains never to touch. For years, parts of the skin had been numb, as her body had been trying to adjust itself to the healing process and the nerves became stronger.

But at the moment, her right hand felt like the best part of her, cradled in his hand. She felt his strong, callused skin. Felt his warmth and strength.

In fact, she was so completely aware of him, it felt as if the nerves in her hand were the most powerful of all.

They abruptly broke apart when Lilly pulled into her driveway and her mom ran out under the cover of an umbrella. “Come inside.”

Lilly shook her head. “We don’t have time, Mom. We’ve wasted too much already.”

“Please, come into the garage at least. You need to be prepared for the weather or we’ll be worrying about all of you, too.”

Reluctantly, they filed out of the SUV and trotted into the garage.

Clara noticed Mrs. Allen’s face was ravaged by worry. It looked like it was taking everything she had to even speak with them.

“There’s been no news?” Josh asked quietly.

“No.” Barb sniffed. “They still haven’t returned. I’m scared to death.”

Joshua asked, “What about the police? I would have thought they’d be here already.”

“They’re sending over two officers, but they’ve asked us to do as much as we can, too. There’s been a number of stranded motorists and some power outages, as well as a terrible wreck on the exit ramp of the freeway, with four cars involved.

“The policeman I talked to said we’d most likely have better luck looking in their spots than a group of people who didn’t know them,” Barbara added. “Plus, he said sometimes scared children won’t come to a stranger.”

“That makes sense,” Josh said. “Let’s split into groups. Caleb, you and I will make a team.”

“I’ll take Clara,” said Tim. “We’ll search the area near her house.”

“There are a few fishing holes toward my home that I think I told Anson about one time.” Clara added, shaking her head in frustration. “I’m afraid I once told him they were the best fishing spots.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Lilly said. “None of us could have guessed that the boys would go to the creek when it was so high. Gretta, how about you and I walk a bit in the opposite way?”

“And I’ll keep everyone informed as best I can.” Barbara reached into a pocket and pulled out a worn tissue. “Please check in within the hour.”

“We can do that,” Tim said. “Do you have any raincoats or even plastic garbage sacks?”

“I got some from Elsa,” Mrs. Allen said, pointing to the stack of coverings waiting to be donned.

After slipping her feet into an old pair of Elsa’s galoshes, Clara pulled a rain slicker over her head and followed Tim, who wore his own boots, his black hat, and a large green trash sack with a hole cut out of the top.

“Please hurry. And please look everywhere,” Barb said. “Even…even in the water,” she sputtered. “Just in case—”

“We will,” Josh said. “We will look everywhere until we find them. No matter what.”

In front of everyone, Tim reached for her hand. Clara slipped hers in his. And then they were off toward the creek.

They were walking too fast for conversation.

But not so fast that they couldn’t do the one thing each of them knew was most important. To pray.