to go "on a lark, for some fun before going to the singing." Ezra, it seemed, had gotten first dibs on the courting buggy and was planning to spend time with Hannah again, just the two of them. So Elias had wanted to use his pony cart.
If Ezra had included Elias and me, she thought, my dear beau might still be alive!
Now in spite of Elias's fondness for her and hers for him, he was gone forever, soon to be buried in the People's cemetery not so far away. Her own beloved.
Too exhausted to ponder further what might've happened
104
\ - -105CheCyacrifice ^
flhingN Inul been much different this night, she pulled the Rill Illlll'k shawl about her and wrapped her arms around her
I1 . Stissy, I he new pup short for Sassafras soon found I I he droopy-eyed pet comforted Mary Ruth by licking her I i . vherks, remaining by her side as she wept till close to li u
j I fiiiinnh stared at the new handkerchief she had quickly | ' lor lilias's grieving mother. Somehow, she hoped to find I in slip it to the poor woman, though seeing the crowd | 'Miners gathered at the Stoltzfus house, she didn't know |' >i when that might be possible.
j lnh| now, though, standing in the backyard with the other
i-mm'u of her family, waiting to enter the farmhouse, Hannah
Ml In't shake the fear of death knocking on her own door,
i""HiK loo soon, before she was ready for it. She'd long strug-
* l ihlh way. Like Elias had been, she felt she was much too
: in die, though if such a thing should happen, even pre-
'ii'ly, the People believed it was the divine order of
> I lannah had been taught this from her childhood, and
i' r, it baptized church member now, having made her kneel'
HHnv back in September with Ezra, she felt she, too, must
^Hu c the Lord God's supreme plan for each of His chil-
^HYi'l she still battled the horror of death when it was to
^Hjitnd how it might happen . . . and, most of all, how dif-
^Ht> might be to get to the other side. She felt her neck
^Hlxcucdingly warm with the worry. :
^Hll' what did the Lord God heavenly Father want with
105
i i M I M l+1-t-t-MH106cBl
ty Xe
young Elias up in heaven when there was so much left for him to do down here? She guessed there must be some mighty important work waiting for him in Glory Land maybe something that required lots of time. Jah, maybe that's why he wastaken so early.
Robert was reduced to sitting in the backseat, a passenger in his father's car as he and his parents traveled down the road to the Amish funeral on Tuesday morning. Not able to sleep or eat since the accident, he had thought of staying home and would have preferred to, but his mother had slipped into his room after breakfast and attempted to console him, reminding him the mishap was simply not his fault. "Any driver mighl have hit the boy. It was impossible for you to see him," she'd insisted. Then she had encouraged Robert to "come along with us, in spite of the accident. Share your sadness with the Amish community. The entire Stoltzfus family will be there, I am sure."
And they were, all thirteen of them eleven remaining sad-faced children, some teenagers, and their somber parents. Robert had gone immediately with his father to the hospital, following the accident, but he had not had the chance to sec Elias. Sadly the young man had been pronounced dead on arrival, and Robert could merely offer his condolences to the solemn parents. How very taxing that had been. He instantly deemed himself a murderer, however unintentional the ad. Most difficult for Robert was knowing full well that if he had never gone to the Quarryville church meeting and had driven straight home from college in Harrisonburg, Virginia, lie might have been home this morning reading or watching tel
107h e Cjacrifii
m lutoii, and young Elias would have been alive.
Hull'
If Ezra had included Elias and me, she thought, my dear beau might still be alive!
Now in spite of Elias's fondness for her and hers for him, he was gone forever, soon to be buried in the People's cemetery not so far away. Her own beloved.
Too exhausted to ponder further what might've happened
104
\ - -105CheCyacrifice ^
flhingN Inul been much different this night, she pulled the Rill Illlll'k shawl about her and wrapped her arms around her
I1 . Stissy, I he new pup short for Sassafras soon found I I he droopy-eyed pet comforted Mary Ruth by licking her I i . vherks, remaining by her side as she wept till close to li u
j I fiiiinnh stared at the new handkerchief she had quickly | ' lor lilias's grieving mother. Somehow, she hoped to find I in slip it to the poor woman, though seeing the crowd | 'Miners gathered at the Stoltzfus house, she didn't know |' >i when that might be possible.
j lnh| now, though, standing in the backyard with the other
i-mm'u of her family, waiting to enter the farmhouse, Hannah
Ml In't shake the fear of death knocking on her own door,
i""HiK loo soon, before she was ready for it. She'd long strug-
* l ihlh way. Like Elias had been, she felt she was much too
: in die, though if such a thing should happen, even pre-
'ii'ly, the People believed it was the divine order of
> I lannah had been taught this from her childhood, and
i' r, it baptized church member now, having made her kneel'
HHnv back in September with Ezra, she felt she, too, must
^Hu c the Lord God's supreme plan for each of His chil-
^HYi'l she still battled the horror of death when it was to
^Hjitnd how it might happen . . . and, most of all, how dif-
^Ht> might be to get to the other side. She felt her neck
^Hlxcucdingly warm with the worry. :
^Hll' what did the Lord God heavenly Father want with
105
i i M I M l+1-t-t-MH106cBl
ty Xe
young Elias up in heaven when there was so much left for him to do down here? She guessed there must be some mighty important work waiting for him in Glory Land maybe something that required lots of time. Jah, maybe that's why he wastaken so early.
Robert was reduced to sitting in the backseat, a passenger in his father's car as he and his parents traveled down the road to the Amish funeral on Tuesday morning. Not able to sleep or eat since the accident, he had thought of staying home and would have preferred to, but his mother had slipped into his room after breakfast and attempted to console him, reminding him the mishap was simply not his fault. "Any driver mighl have hit the boy. It was impossible for you to see him," she'd insisted. Then she had encouraged Robert to "come along with us, in spite of the accident. Share your sadness with the Amish community. The entire Stoltzfus family will be there, I am sure."
And they were, all thirteen of them eleven remaining sad-faced children, some teenagers, and their somber parents. Robert had gone immediately with his father to the hospital, following the accident, but he had not had the chance to sec Elias. Sadly the young man had been pronounced dead on arrival, and Robert could merely offer his condolences to the solemn parents. How very taxing that had been. He instantly deemed himself a murderer, however unintentional the ad. Most difficult for Robert was knowing full well that if he had never gone to the Quarryville church meeting and had driven straight home from college in Harrisonburg, Virginia, lie might have been home this morning reading or watching tel
107h e Cjacrifii
m lutoii, and young Elias would have been alive.
Hull'
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