The Road Home by Patrick E. Craig

Springer.
    In an unusual addendum to the story, it was also learned by this reporter that Mrs. Springer found a small child in the car two days earlier. She took the little girl to the abandoned cabin near the pond during the height of the stormand kept her alive while awaiting rescue. The identity of the child was unknown, and it remains to be seen whether the man found in the pond was any relation to the little girl or if there was even any connection between the man and the car.
    In the meantime, the child was first given to the State Child Welfare Agency and then, following the Springers’ application, placed in foster care in the Springer home. Mr. Springer is also well known in the area as a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal during the Pacific campaign before returning to the Amish faith after the war.
    Mrs. Springer is an Amish quilter of some renown in Wayne County.
    Jenny read on. There were a few more details about the make of the car, and then she saw that the reporter had put in the license plate number—SN12-66. Jenny looked to see if there were any follow-up articles and found one written a month later.
    Dead Man’s Identity Remains a Mystery
    BY B OB S CHUMANN
    An investigation concerning the identity of the dead man found in Jepson’s Pond in April has proved fruitless. Police investigators working out of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department have been unable to find any clues concerning the man or what he was doing when he drowned in the pond.
    The officers believe the man was probably driving the car and was involved in an accident that caused the car to slide off the road and onto the frozen pond. Skid marks, broken trees, and pieces of the car led from Highway 30 to the pond.
    When they traced the license plate, officers discovered that the car was reported stolen in New York, and efforts beyond that have reached a dead end. Police also discovered empty liquor bottles and unknown substances sealed in plastic bags in the car. It is believed that the substances were illegal drugs.
    Meanwhile, the girl who was found in the car by Mrs. Reuben Springer remains in foster care at the Springer home. The girl’s name is Jenny, and the Springers report that she is doing very well. The Springers have applied to the courts to adopt the child, and local agencies support their application. Mrs. Springer says they are only waiting for any relatives to come forward and claim the child, but at this point, none are forthcoming.
    Jenny leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. A terrible fear that the man might be her father crept into her heart. She had always been afraid that she was a bad seed, that there was something in her that would cause her to disgrace her mama and papa. Jenny went back to the first article. The license plate was the only clue that showed promise. No identification, no fingerprints…it all seemed hopeless to Jenny. Suddenly the words of the woman in her dream came back to her so strongly she could hardly breathe.
    Jenny, come find me. I’m lost, so lost .
    Jenny put her face in her hands and quietly wept. After a few minutes, she sat up and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. Jenny could feel a resolve building in her heart.
    â€œI’m going to find my real mother. I just have to,” she said out loud. “But where do I start?”
    Then she had an idea. Maybe Uncle Bobby could help her! He was the sheriff. He could reopen the investigation and maybe find out where the car was stolen and who owned it. Maybe the real owner ofthe car would know something. Another thought came to her, and she jotted down a note to call Mr. Schumann, the man who wrote the articles, to see if he had discovered anything else.
    Jenny realized she had to solve this mystery, or her life would never be right. Regardless of what her papa had said to her, she knew she had to do this. If she didn’t, she would struggle with the questions her