Sarah's Christmas Miracle by Mary Ellis

her nerves with several deep calming breaths. “If you are so stuck on this harebrained idea, then your father or I will go with you. That way you won’t be alone.” Having reached the only possible solution, she sighed with relief.
    “No, mamm ,” said Sarah. “Neither you nor daed may come with me. It won’t work then. You could spoil everything.”
    “What will spoil, Sarah? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
    “I have some questions for him, things I need to know before committing myself to God and the church, and certainly before committing to Adam Troyer in marriage. If you’re there, Caleb might not tell me the truth.” Her tone encouraged no further discussion on the subject.
    Elizabeth stared at her eldest daughter almost without recognition. “I see. And when do you plan to leave on this trip?”
    “On Monday. Business is slow at the inn earlier in the week. I’ll have no trouble getting a few days off work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, mamm , I’d like to go up to the attic and look for that suitcase before it grows dark.” Sarah stepped around her mother and hurried from the room.
    Elizabeth stood listening to overhead footsteps for a few moments before returning to the kitchen, feeling as though she’d been kicked by a mule. She poured a cup of cold coffee, slumped into a chair, and tried to think. Yet after ten minutes, still no insight occurred as to how she should handle the situation. Instead, memories of her son’s tumultuous Rumschpringe flooded back, bringing shame and regret.
    That summer had been the hottest in fifteen years. Temperatures soared into the nineties during the day and dropped little at night due to the oppressive humidity. Caleb had been working on a construction project in Wilmot—adding a hotel and conference center to a tourist restaurant and gift shop. Although most of the carpenters and roofers were Amish, the plumbers and electricians were English. Caleb had made new friends among them. Eli gave him plenty of leeway to mingle because Caleb hadn’t joined the church yet. But when he started staying after work and missing supper several nights a week, Eli went to the barn for a father-son chat. Eli, who almost never raised his voice, lost his temper when he watched his son stumble from the buggy smelling of beer.
    “Drunkenness is an abomination before the Lord,” Eli shouted.
    “Who’s drunk? I had a couple beers after work, that’s all,” Caleb shouted back. But his glassy eyes and the slur of his words had fooled no one.
    Afterward, there had been no further verbal confrontations, but both men grew more edgy and sullen as the interminable summer wore on. When the crews completed the rough framing on the hotel, highly skilled Caleb stayed until early fall to build interior walls, floors, and doorways. The family seldom saw him during these months because he went to work with an Englischer. He left the house early and came home late, sneaking into his room and barely speaking to his parents and sisters.
    One Saturday night Eli spotted sparks shooting into the sky from a fire down by the creek. Amish youths often hosted bonfire parties to roast hot dogs and marshmallows as cooler evenings spurred social events. But there were no buggies parked in the yard, only five or six pickup trucks. Loud music poured from a boom box, while shouts and laughter could be heard all the way to the house.
    Tossing and turning in his damp bed sheets, unable to sleep, Eli had had enough. He dressed and walked down to the creek to turn down the music. No one had noticed the long-bearded Amish father near the picnic table until Caleb and one of his friends decided to refill their quart-sized cups. Then they discovered that someone had drained the keg of beer into the tall grass of the meadow.
    The young men soon wandered back to their trucks and went home.
    Caleb soon left for Cleveland on a construction project…and never returned.
    Elizabeth felt her hands turn clammy as