Love Finds You in Amana Iowa by Melanie Dobson Read Free Book Online Page A

for the men and women traveling west to them tonight. Friedrich dropped his head in his hands and prayed like he’d never prayed before.

Should this night prove the last for me in this dark vale of tears,
Then lead me, Lord, in heaven to Thee and my elect compeers.
Dr. Johann Herzog
Chapter Five

    Amalie wouldn’t release Karoline’s limp hand. Niklas brought cold water from the river, wiping it across Karoline’s forehead, but all Amalie could do was cling to her friend’s fingers. She felt so powerless. Her friend was breathing, barely, but there was nothing Amalie could do. Karoline wouldn’t wake up, no matter how cold the water.
    The sliver of the crescent moon was out tonight, its light spilling over the coolness of the evening and across the wagons in their campsite. Karoline was unconscious in the night air, stretched across the canvas Niklas had spread to protect her from the ground.
    Amalie tucked a quilt tight around her friend’s shoulders, and Karoline moaned, tossing her head as Niklas dipped the washcloth back into the pail and dampened her forehead again.
    It was her fault Karoline wouldn’t waken. She shouldn’t have given Karoline the cannabis nor should she have let her sleep. And she should have insisted that Mr. Faust ride toward Lisbon immediately when they realized Karoline was injured instead of waiting for the cumbersome wagon train to plod toward the river.
    “Sister Amalie,” Brother John whispered. “The men need to eat something for supper.”
    She looked up at him, dazed. “Supper?”
    “Nothing fancy,” he insisted. “Just something to get us by for the night.”
    Amalie took the washcloth from Niklas and dabbed Karoline’s head again. Then she stood up. “I have to start a fire.”
    “We already started it,” John said, and she turned to see several campfires glowing along the riverbank. “You tell us what to do and we’ll cook tonight.”
    “I will help you.”
    He shook his head. “You tend to Karoline tonight. We’ll make do.”
    She considered his words for a moment. “Can you boil potatoes?”
    “I believe I could if you would tell me how.”
    “Remove the iron kettle from my wagon and two of the coffee tins,” she instructed. “Fill them with water.”
    When John moved toward her wagon, she explained to another man how to light the camp stove for the coffee and prepare the beans with her grinder. Niklas heated the kettle water for potatoes while the coffee brewed. John cut up pieces of beef jerky with his knife. When he was done, the men could mix the pieces with the potatoes to add flavor to the bland meal.
    Amalie stroked Karoline’s hair while the men cooked, and prayed that God would allow her friend to stay on this earth with them a little longer. She couldn’t greet Karoline’s mother in Amana with the message that her daughter had died on the trail. The very thought wrenched her heart, but she blinked back her tears. Not since childhood had Amalie allowed anyone to see her cry. Her parents had taught her well that tears were a sign of weakness. She had never once seen either of them cry, not even when their only daughter left Ebenezer for Iowa.
    Karoline’s mother reminded her of Louise Vinzenz, Friedrich’s mother. Both of them would do just about anything for their children.
    Minutes later John returned to her side with a steaming tin cup outstretched in his hand.
    “Thank you,” Amalie said as she sniffed its aroma. Then she sipped the heavy liquid. Her stomach growled, and for the first time that night, she realized she was hungry as well.
    A horse neighed, and there was a splash across the river. She looked up to see Mr. Faust gallop into their camp. As he pulled back his reins, his horse sprayed water down on her and Karoline. She cringed, brushing Karoline’s face off with the washcloth, and then she tried to search the darkness behind Mr. Faust. The fires and lantern light blocked her view of the river.
    “Where is the doctor?” she