Hidden Mercies Read Free Page A

want a lock of his hair?”
    “I was fighting for my life when he died. It did not cross my mind.” The random intruder who two years earlier had shot and killed her husband and deliberately wounded her had ripped all their lives apart.
    “Do you ever get scared that something bad like that might happen again?”
    She pondered the question. It was understandable why the girl asked. But she had determined early on that she would not allow the evil they witnessed that day to define who they were.
    “No. By the grace of God, I do not fear that will ever happen again.”
    It was true. It had taken a great effort of will and much, much prayer, but by God’s grace, she no longer trembled every time she heard a vehicle pull into her driveway.
    For a moment, there was only silence as Maddy pondered her words. Then Maddy’s head lifted. “Was that the telephone?”
    They both grew silent and listened—yes, the phone in their outdoor phone shanty was ringing. It was faint, but they could hear it. This late at night, a phone call usually meant only one thing.
    “Whose baby is due?” Maddy asked.
    “Nancy and Obed’s.”
    “I will get your birthing bags.” Maddy, a veteran of many late-night phone calls, rushed out the door.
    Claire grabbed her birthing dress and pulled it on over her head. She had been expecting this call. Thank goodness she and Maddy had been awake and heard the phone ring. With all her heart, she wished she didn’t have to rely on such an unreliable form of communication between her and the women she served. The shanty was far enough away from her house that she often missed calls altogether. Too many times, fathers had had to leave their laboring wives to come pound on her door.
    By the time she had pinned up her hair, rushed outside to check the message on the answering machine, returned Obed’s call to assure him that she was on her way, and hitched Flora up to the buggy, Maddy had placed her birthing bags and a few sandwiches in the backseat of the buggy.
    “I put fresh batteries in,” Maddy said, handing Claire a flashlight. “Be careful.”
    Claire put a foot on the one metal step attached to the buggy and sprang in. “What would I ever do without you?”
    “The question is,” Maddy answered, “what would Amy and I do without you?”
    Claire clucked to the horse, and the buggy lurched forward.
    “I will be gone awhile.”
    “I will be praying for you.”
    “Please do so,” Claire said. “I’m afraid this birth might be difficult.”
    As she drove the three miles to Nancy and Obed’s, she gave thanks once again for the gift of each of her children. Her two nieces, competent and kind Maddy and thirteen-year-old Amy, who was crippled in the same accident that had taken their parents. Her oldest, Levi, now grown and living next door with his new wife. And the four precious little souls who were the fruit of her marriage with Abraham. There had been hints lately about a couple of available men in two other nearby church districts, in whom she had adamantly expressed no interest. She could not imagine ever wanting to marry again. Her children were her life. To watch after and care for them was all she asked. The fact that she had a skill, with which she could support them and help others, was a gift from God.
    She prayed again for Nancy and Obed and hurried down the road.
    •   •   •
    Claire could not wait to tell her sister, Rose, about the baby girl she had just delivered. This had been a special birth, indeed! Nancy and Obed, both in their forties, had been married eighteen years. Until today, only a succession of heartbreaking miscarriagesmarked their desire for a family. Claire had held her breath these past nine months, doing everything in her power as a midwife to make this a safe pregnancy, praying daily that it would be God’s will for Nancy to carry this baby full term.
    It had been a long and difficult labor, lasting nearly nineteen hours, but late this afternoon,