A Quilt for Jenna by Patrick E. Craig Page B

wrapped in the thin blanket. The memory of Reuben had been so strong that it took her a moment to realize where she was.
    Then the gravity of her situation gripped her once again and the now familiar rage rose in her heart. She began to scream uncontrollably.
    â€œGod, if you mean to kill me, just kill me! I want to die! I have nothing left.”
    She collapsed, sobbing bitterly, on the seat. But her only answer was the howling wind and the snow piling up against the car.

C HAPTER E LEVEN
    Henry

    H ENRY DIDN ’ T LIKE the looks of this storm. The temperature was below freezing, and the wind hurled the snow like needles against his skin. He was an Ohio farm boy and had been outside on many days like this, but today he was responsible for Missus Springer, and so he trudged on along Kidron Road.
    She’s a strange duck . Real pretty but so sad. She and Reuben used to be so friendly when Jenna was still alive.
    Henry remembered the Springer family as loving, happy, and very Amish. The Plain folk had been a part of Apple Creek since before his time, and having Amish folks around seemed as natural to Henry as fleas on a dog. Reuben had built a house on the Hershberger farm after he and Jerusha were married, just across the creek from Henry’s dad’s place, so Henry saw them almost every day. Reuben worked the farm with Jerusha’s dad and brothers, and sometimes he went to Wooster to help his own dad with his farm there.
    On those days Henry kept an eye on the house even though Reuben never asked him. He liked watching Jerusha with little Jenna. She would bring the baby out onto the porch and hold her and sing to her, or set her in a small cradle Reuben had made. Then she would work on her quilts. Jerusha was the best quilt maker in all of Wayne County even though she was a young woman. Her reputation was known even among the non-Amish folks in Apple Creek, and some of her quilts were on display in the big Amish store downtown.
    Reuben Springer was different from a lot of the Amish men Henry knew. The way Henry had heard it from town folk, Reuben had left Apple Creek for a long time, and nobody really knew where he had gone. The Amish folk never said anything to Henry about it, and his own folks didn’t really know much. The Amish were like that—closemouthed about their personal stuff. They were friendly enough, but they didn’t much like mixing with the “English” as they called them. Reuben had come back in 1944, and after about a year he married Jerusha. He was different from the old Reuben, folks said—quieter and more stable. Rumors floated around the village that he had been in the army and was wounded in battle, that he had even won a medal, but no one ever asked, and Reuben never talked about it. Reuben just reappeared one day, was baptized, and joined the Amish church. He was faithful and worked hard on the Springer farm. After a while, Jerusha’s father consented to Reuben courting her, and soon Reuben and Jerusha were married. It was as if Reuben had never been gone.
    Reuben liked Henry and had taken the boy under his wing, which was unusual for the Amish to do with outsiders. But Reuben had seen more of the world than he cared to talk about. Often after school, Henry would drop by and help Reuben, as he did when Reuben was building a new shed in back of the barn.
    Reuben would ask him about how he was doing with his studies and what he wanted to be when he grew up. He would talk to Henry about the Bible too, but Henry didn’t mind because Reuben didn’t beat him over the head with it. Henry would ask a question about something, and Reuben would tell him what the Bible said about that. Sometimes Reuben’s friend Bobby Halverson would be there too. They never said much when Henry was around, but he sensed a special bond between them even though Bobby too was “English.”
    Those were good times. I never knew anybody as happy as them folks , especially