The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,77
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Martha shook her head, and Danielle stomped back into the dressing room. She couldn’t wait until Arnold arrived tomorrow morning. Maybe he knew more about teenagers than she did.
Sixteen
KATIE ANN WAS THANKFUL FOR THE FOUR DAYS SHE had with Eli, even though her feelings were more unresolved than ever before. They had spent each day together and into the evening. At night, Eli would kiss her tenderly and go to Vera and Elam’s house to sleep. It had been magical.
But right now, Lillian was watching Jonas, and Katie Ann’s furry friend needed her help. Katie Ann had witnessed enough calf births to know that things were not going well for Mrs. Dash. As she knelt down on the hay in the corner of the barn, she stroked the cat’s head and spoke softly. It was the first time Mrs. Dash had let Katie Ann touch her, and the animal’s eyes were glassy, barely open.
“It’s okay, girl. You can do this.”
When the first kitten was born, Katie Ann watched Mrs. Dash clean the animal, but Katie Ann’s stomach lurched when she realized that the tiny creature wasn’t breathing. Mrs. Dash worked to free the new baby of afterbirth, but when it was time to deliver the next one, she simply pushed it aside. Katie Ann tried massaging the small kitten’s stomach, unsure what to do. Nothing. The second kitten and the third kitten, also lifeless. No, no.
When the fourth kitten, the smallest one of all, solid black like its mother, was born, Katie Ann watched Mrs. Dash work to clear the mucus from the animal’s face. Katie Ann started to cry when this animal also lay lifeless before her. “I’m so sorry, girl. I’m so very sorry.”
She stared into the cat’s eyes, wondering if the pain of death was as horrible for an animal as it was for a human. If the tale were told through the eyes of Mrs. Dash, Katie Ann would have to say yes. The new mother nudged each of her babies over and over again. She cleaned them as their little bodies tumbled at her touch, as if she could bring them to life with love. Katie Ann prayed silently for all of them.
Even knowing she had to pick up Jonas from Lillian and catch a plane, she couldn’t bring herself to leave. She didn’t want to leave the cat—with all of this. She rubbed Mrs. Dash’s head, and the cat leaned in toward Katie Ann, then looked up at her. Katie Ann rubbed her head as flashes of her sister lying still and lifeless in the crib shook her.
Then there was a movement. The tiny black kitten moved. Or did it? Katie Ann picked up the little body and moved it closer to its mother. Mrs. Dash worked her tongue across the new baby, and seconds later the little one breathed in life. She watched for as long as she could without missing her plane. “Take care of your little one,” she said as she gently touched the new mother on the head.
Mrs. Dash leaned her head back and found the top of Katie Ann’s hand. Katie Ann stayed perfectly still as the cat’s tongue, like sandpaper, swept across her hand in loving strokes of thanks.
KATIE ANN SAT on the plane headed toward Lancaster County with Jonas in her lap, her mind reeling with what-ifs.
Eli had told her that he would see her again soon, and he’d also invited her to visit him in Ohio. She’d declined, for the moment at least, knowing she had this trip to Lancaster County to make and unsure how she was going to feel when she returned. She was hoping to get her business taken care of in a couple of days, although she was looking forward to seeing Ivan’s brother and two sisters, along with their families.
Arnold had arrived in Canaan before Katie Ann left, and Martha was busy helping him get settled in his new home. And Martha and Danielle were getting to know each other, and although Katie Ann couldn’t imagine the two living together, Martha said she felt called to watch over the girl, at least for a while.
She’d tried to ignore the curious stares at the airport, and even now on the plane. Once she got back in Lancaster County, heavily populated with Amish folks, there wouldn’t be as many curious sets of eyes. Katie Ann had flown twice before, both times for funerals. The bishop in Canaan frowned upon air travel, unless it