48. Chapter 39
Chapter 39
I t was the birds that woke Elijah. The chorus of disparate tunes was insistent and annoying. Robin, goldfinch, bluejay. What were they all going on about?
He opened his eyes. The sun was bright in the room, the curtains were open, and it was late morning. His body was heavy and sore. He stretched to ease the ache.
"You're awake!" Jon loomed over him, his face set in its stubborn scowl that said he wasn't really happy with the world, thank you very much.
Elijah blinked. "Hey. What're you doin' here?" Then he thought a better question was: what am I doing here ? Hadn't he been at Dawdi's house? Or had that been a dream?
"How do you feel? What's my name?" Jon asked.
"Don't be silly. What time is it?" Elijah sat up and, feeling the urge, stretched his arms as hard as he could over his head. "Gott. I feel like I slept for days."
"You did. Two days," Jon said, still scowling. "You do know my name, right?"
Elijah slumped. Two days? It came back to him then. The nightmare. Dawdi's house. The long hours…. He and Dawdi removing the hex, pushing back the darkness while it tried to surge forward. He shook his head and pinched himself. Was it really over? Then he looked at Jon, grabbed him by the shoulders, and held him close.
This was real. Jon was here, and the sun was shining. It was all over.
Jon held him tight, so tight. Elijah became aware of the emotion in Jon's body, of his fear.
"Hey. I'm okay," he said. "For true. Jon ."
"Damn, you had me so worried!"
"Sorry."
Jon cupped the back of Elijah's head and kissed his neck. "Don't ever do anythin' like that again."
Elijah thought it was very unlikely. At least, he hoped it was. "Okay."
Jon pulled back to look at him. "What did you do, anyway?"
That made Elijah laugh. He scratched his head. "Um… not so sure. But I think it worked." His smile fell. "Is Dawdi well?"
Jon gave a grumpy nod. "Yeah. He was up and around when I saw him. He told me to take care of you. Which I intend to do."
"He said that?" Elijah could hardly believe it.
"He did. 'Course, you were unconscious at the time, so that might've been what he meant."
Elijah rubbed his eyes. "I feel kinda peculiar. I think I need to eat."
"Of course you do. I'll go get food." Jon stood up and grabbed his crutch from the end of the bed.
"Hang on. You ain't waitin' on me." No way, no how , especially not when Jon was still hobbling on a cast. Elijah pushed the covers aside and planted his feet on the floor. "I can walk fine."
"You sure? I don't mind."
Elijah just gave him a look and got up. He stepped to the dresser and opened a drawer that held pants.
"You don't have to get dressed. There's no one around but us," Jon said.
"I ain't sick neither. Not goin' down in my jammies. And if you're the one who put me in 'em, I say turn around is fair play." Elijah waggled his eyebrows. "But go on for now. I'll be down in two shakes."
"Elijah." Jon used the crutch to swing two steps closer. He took Elijah's face in his hands. He looked so serious, and Elijah felt a spark of guilt.
"I'm sorry I worried you. I'm okay. For true."
"I just want you to know that…" Jon swallowed. "I love you."
Elijah blinked at him, hardly able to believe his own ears. He turned from the drawer and put his hands on Jon's waist. "You do?"
Jon nodded. "Yeah. When I thought you were in danger…." His eyes grew damp. "You've woken me up. Made me live again. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. Ever."
It was like the clouds parted, and a beam of sunlight struck Elijah right in the heart. He thought it might just burst. "Thank God. ’Cause I didn't wanna wait forever for you to get with it. I told you, we're meant to be."
Jon chuckled. "Well, you were right, as always."
Jon kissed him. Elijah would have loved to sink into it, and even back into bed with his beloved. But he hadn't bathed in days, and his body was still weaker than he cared to admit. He broke the kiss and leaned his head on Jon's chest, panting. "I need some food before we get too frisky."
Jon laughed. "Then by all means, let's get you fed up."
An hour later, Elijah was finishing a hearty meal of reheated spaghetti with Impossible meatballs that Samuel had made the night before when Sam himself entered the house. They heard the back door slam and the sound of him washing up in the mud room. Ringo got up from his place near the woodstove and slowly padded out to greet him. Elijah figured poor Samuel was stuck with all the chores just lately, with both him and Jon down sick. But Sam didn't seem grumpy about it. When he walked into the kitchen and saw Elijah and Jon at the kitchen counter, he broke out in a big smile.
"You're up!" Samuel came over and gave Elijah a friendly slap on the back. "I see you're eatin'. That's a good sign." He glanced at Jon with a question in his eyes.
"He's a bit weak, but seems his normal, ornery self," Jon reported.
"Sure, I'm the ornery one." Elijah rolled his eyes. "Thanks for savin' me some spaghetti, Samuel. It hit the spot."
Samuel smiled and nodded, but the smile felt off and there was wariness in his eyes. "No lastin' effects?"
Elijah considered it. "Not that I can tell. Though I ain't looked in all the nooks and crannies. It's possible my insides turned green."
Samuel laughed, but it felt a little off. He noticed Jon and Samuel exchange grim looks.
"What?" Elijah said. "Is Dawdi okay?"
"As far as we know, he's fine," Jon said.
"It's not him. But we can talk about that later," Samuel hedged.
Elijah shook his head. "I'd like to hear it now, please. What happened?"
Jon and Samuel did more silent talking with their eyes. Then Jon sighed, "It's no use tryin' to keep anythin' from him."
"Okay." Samuel sounded resigned.
Jon got up and went into the living room. He returned with a newspaper folded to a middle page. He put it on the counter in front of Elijah.
House fire in Ronks Kills Three Men, Injures Two
A house fire erupted in a rental property along S Ronks Rd in Ronks on Tuesday afternoon around 3pm. The Fire Marshall says they're still investigating what started the blaze, but witnesses say it sprang up suddenly and was a raging inferno within seconds. Five young Amish men were renting the house, and they were in residence at the time of the fire. Three of the men died in the blaze, and the other two escaped with injuries. The injured men are being treated at a local hospital. Both are in critical condition. The landlord of the property said four of his renters were from an Amish community in Tennessee who had moved to Lancaster County seeking work. The fifth had been a local Amish man they'd befriended.
The names of the victims have not been released to the press.
Elijah felt a chill of horror. He shoved his plate aside so he could put his elbows on the counter and rest his head in his hands. Dear God, please have mercy on their souls.
Jon rubbed his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Elijah."
"We just… we pushed back the evil." His voice was choked. "We pushed it off Dawdi, and off his farm, hard as we could. I could feel them pushin' back, tryin' to hold it from the other side. It was real strenuous work. Musta sprung back on 'em. It wasn't my intent to hurt 'em that way."
"’Course not." Jon put an arm around Elijah's shoulder and squeezed.
"They woulda killed Dawdi otherwise."
"Aunt Jolie once told me those who tinker with dark magic are foolish, because it’ll return to them tenfold sooner or later," said Jon.
"Ja. She told me that too." Elijah straightened and wiped his eyes.
Samuel pulled up a stool on the other side of Elijah. His expression was sympathetic—and curious. "You really think they hexed your grandfather, and when you did… whatever you did… it sprang back on 'em and started that fire?"
Elijah shrugged. It seemed obvious to him. "I know Dawdi and me were just defendin' him. But it still feels awful to think I had any hand in someone dyin' that way."
"They did it to themselves," Jon said firmly.
“Well… I think what you done was right.,” said Samuel. “And I’m sorry if all this braucherei stuff freaked me out some. I mean, since you been here. But it is kinda peculiar.”
Elijah felt his heart turn over. Samuel was a good man, and he felt a wave of gratitude for him. “That’s all right. I’d just be glad if you weren’t scared of me no more. I’d never hurt you, Samuel. Ever. Or anyone else. Not on purpose.”
Samuel nodded and swallowed hard. “I know that.”
“’Course you wouldn’t,” Jon huffed. “You about killed yourself tryin’ to save your grandfather.”
"And that's one good thing.” Samuel grinned. “No one'll ever mess with your dawdi again.”
Elijah thought that was the sort of blessing-in-disguise you could hardly be grateful for, but it was a relief all the same. It wasn't clear what might have happened had the brauchers from down South managed to kill off Dawdi and take over braucherei in Lancaster County. But he was sure glad they'd never have to find out, because they'd had enough bad mojo to weave a wicked hex. Would they have wielded such curses against anyone who opposed them? Church bishops? Elders? Elijah shivered.
"What was it like, goin' back home?" Samuel asked, an edge of longing in his voice.
Elijah was glad for the change of subject, but he couldn't sugarcoat it. "It was hard, Samuel. Real hard."
His thoughts went back to the way his mother had greeted him with such conflicting emotions—and then told him to leave. To the open hatred of his father and uncles. Even his brothers had refused to look at him. Now, sitting here in Samuel and Eddie's kitchen, where people wanted him and cared about him, he wondered at his own strength to face that hostility. He hadn't run away in shame. He'd felt compelled to help Dawdi. And whatever divine providence had given him the courage to be so pushy that day, it was something far greater, and braver, than Elijah Schultz.
"Dawdi asked me to come back," Elijah said, his mind back in that room. "He told me I could still be his successor. If I repented and renounced sinnin' for good."
Samuel frowned, his blue eyes worried. "That musta been tough."
Elijah shook his head. "Not so. I told him I was in love, and that I wasn't going to live without him." He looked at Jon and took his hand. "And I told him about my job at the hospice too, how I'd be helpin' people cross over."
"Really? What'd he say to that?" Jon asked.
Elijah remembered very clearly, though it still confused him. "He said… maybe God can work even through sinners, if it's His Will to do so." He shook his head. "He never said nothin' like that before."
Jon snorted. "Know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think God can work even through a pig-headed, narrow-minded old man, if it's His Will to do so."
Samuel laughed, and Elijah laughed too and gave Jon a kiss, right there in front of Samuel, God, and everyone.