Chapter 19
It had been a while since he’d chatted with his sister Sarah. As Kyle waited for the machine attached to the Millers’ phone to connect with her, he realized that he was feeling a flutter of bees in his chest.
That wasn’t unusual. Sarah was fourteen, so pretty with dark blond hair and eyes a shade that could only be described as silver. She had prominent cheekbones and a lithe figure. From the time she’d been born, everyone had said she was beautiful. He’d always thought so, too.
But she was also sweet … and had a significant hearing loss.
The doctors said that it all stemmed from a terrible cold she’d contracted during the winter she’d turned three.
Her constant ear infection had gotten worse.
So much so that she’d stopped crying from the pain and simply slept a lot.
It had also been in the middle of an unexpected and unusually harsh snowstorm.
The roads—even for emergency vehicles—had been unpassable for thirty-six hours.
When his parents had finally realized that Sarah had been too sick to cry and been able to get to the hospital, the damage had been done. Sarah’s hearing in one of her ears was essentially gone and next to nothing in the other.
She could hear loud noises, but conversation was difficult. They’d all learned some basic sign language, and the state had put in the special Clear Caption phone for her. Whenever he called, she could read the words on a screen. Sarah could then either type in words or speak into a microphone.
Their parents, being the way they were, felt terrible for Sarah but had eventually come to terms with her handicap and had encouraged her to do the same.
Kyle knew that was the right thing to do, but he also felt his sister needed a little bit extra care and patience. Sarah had a heavy burden on her shoulders. And while the Amish community was forgiving and kind toward her, not every child her age was all that understanding about it.
Some kids teased her, or took advantage of her hearing loss to talk about Sarah right in front of her. Others simply weren’t sure how to relate to her so they ignored her completely. She said she’d gotten used to it, but he never would.
He missed her terribly.
When the phone rang, he eagerly picked it up. “Hey, silly. How are you?”
Dots appeared on the Clear Caption phone that the Millers had allowed him to install in his kitchen. Seconds later, her reply appeared. “Okay.”
“Just okay? What’s going on? Did something happen at school?”
After another brief wait, her answer appeared. “Kind of.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing new. It’s just John Beachy has been teasing me again.”
Kyle gritted his teeth. That kid was a weasel. “Did you tell your teacher?”
“She knows.”
“And?”
“And nothing, Kyle. Miss Addie doesn’t do anything. You know that.”
Miss Addie was Addie Kaufman. Addie was his age, a spinster, and timid. He wasn’t sure why everyone thought that she would be a good teacher.
Immediately he felt bad. Addie wasn’t a bad teacher.
The problem was that she wasn’t all that good for Sarah.
Addie was the type to pretend she didn’t see children passing notes or whispering when they were supposed to be doing packets.
She’d hated any sort of confrontation when she’d been a teenager and hadn’t seemed to have gotten any better with it as an adult.
“How can I help?”
“There’s nothing you can do. You’re in Ohio.”
“I can visit. Would you like me to visit soon?”
She paused again. “Nee.”
Feeling more frustrated with his helplessness, he asked, “Sarah, have you told any of this to Mamm and Daed?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
“They’ve got a lot going on, Kyle.”
Sarah was right about that. Their father was a diabetic and was happily ignoring all of his doctor’s advice. That meant that he was often feeling poorly or missing work. Money was tight.
Once again, Kyle wished that he’d taken more time to think things through before agreeing to work at the Millers’ for one year.
Instead of thinking of everything he’d be missing, all he’d done was think about how good it would be to only have to worry about himself for a change.
He wished he hadn’t been so single-minded and selfish.
“I’m sorry I left you.”
“Kyle, stop. All of this would’ve happened even if you had been here.”
“Maybe not.”
“It would.” There was a pause, then she typed, “I’m going to ask Mamm if I can stay at home for my last year.”
He used to tell Sarah that that was a bad idea. That she needed to be around other kids and get used to living in the world with her hearing loss. But now he was feeling as if that had been wrong.
“I don’t think she’s going to let you.” Or that she should.
“I know, but she doesn’t have to deal with what I do, Kyle.”
He felt so helpless. Part of him wanted to get on the next Pioneer Trails bus heading south and see his sister.
He was pretty sure if he started walking her to school every day that the kinner would stop making his sister miserable.
He’d also tell Addie to do her job and get some control of her classroom.
Then, he could attempt to supervise his father’s diet and the family’s bank account.
Of course, he couldn’t help their bank account if he quit. Then there was the fact that their father would ignore all his advice even if Kyle was standing right in front of him.
“Kyle?”
He groaned. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“You can’t come back here. You promised Aaron Miller that you’d help out his parents for a year.”
“I know … Hey, why don’t you come out here, instead?”
“Really?”
“You can ride the bus as easily as anyone else.”
“You’d let me travel by myself?”
He could practically hear her squeal of excitement. “Let me ask Aaron if he can get you here halfway. If he can get you to Cincinnati, it’s a straight shot to Berlin. I’ll be in the parking lot when you get out.”
“What about school? I should just ask Addie if I can have work to go?”
“I’m not sure. Let me talk to Ruthie. And, there’s someone else I know who has some extra time on her hands. I think she would be able to help you, too.”
“Do you promise that you mean this? You’re not going to forget about me, are you?”
“I’m not going to forget, but give me a minute to talk to everyone.” And to think things through.
“I’m not going to tell Mamm or Daed about this, Kyle.”
“Gut. I want to tell them. We’ll worry about them getting involved when everything is organized.”
“Danke.”
“Anything for you, Sarah. Chin up, now. I love you.”
“I love you too. You’re the best brother.”
“I know. Ha, ha,” he added, just in case Sarah didn’t realize that he was teasing.
After he hung up, he looked at the worn down dawdi haus he was living in. It needed a fresh coat of paint and some fresh area rugs and maybe some curtains. Something to brighten up the place for his sister.
Sure, he was acting like it was a done deal, but he was finally feeling like he was doing something right. Now all he had to do was talk to the Millers about Sarah visiting. Maybe he could ask Daisy if she would consider helping Sarah with her schoolwork and with her confidence.
That was a lot of asks, but he was going to pray, too. He knew the Lord was on Sarah’s side and as far as he was concerned, having her here would be the answer to a lot of prayers.
He just hoped he was right.