第10章一路爱相送(10)
到了门口,那个人静静地站了几秒钟,然后慢慢地转过身。“孩子们,马戏团的狗是永远不会忘记那顶大帐篷的,”他说着,“你们最好把他锁在屋子里,直至明天早晨,我不希望看到你们失去他。”
我们依照他的话做了。杰基和我们在一起生活了很多年,尽管他是我们曾经养过的小狗中最聪明的一只,但我们再也没有劝说他表演马戏团的绝技了。我们认为最好还是将那个流浪汉的话记在心里,让他永远忘却在马戏团的日子。
鸽子的奇迹
Abigail'sDove
卡伦·马约里·加里éKarenMajarrison
Itbadbeesnowstormintenyears,andI'dbeenit。Afterheariosedtoshenight,Ihadvoluourchurchtotakegrodmedicalpresstoelderlymembersinneed。Sincemyhusbandwasawayonbusiness,Icalledmymotheraelyyhousetowatchmythree-year-olddaughter,Abigail。
"eohosepeople?"shehadaskedme,edformysafety。"Ihaveabadfeelingaboutthis,anditlookslikeitmightsnowata;
Iglahewindowandhadtoadmitthattheskyl。Ibegaain。
"Mamawillbeokay,"mydaughtersmiled,takinghergrandmother'shand。"Shelikeshelpingpeople。Besides,I'llbeprayi;
&swelledatherwords。WehadsuchacloserelationshipthatsometimeswhewasasthoughAbigailexhaled。IdethatIhadtoawhatI'dbeeninstillinginmydaughter:thatsometimeswejusthavetostepoutinfaithaGodwillkeepussafe。Kissingmymhtergood-bye,Isetouttomakemyrounds。Onmylaststop,thesofall。
"Youshouldn'thaveehere。"BillWatkiwo-year-oldmemberation,scolded。Hecetoutofbed,buttheeffortprovedtootaxing。Giviledba-tothepillows。"ItoldthepastorthatIdidn'texpeetothebooniesforme。"
";Igriioningsnaddrinksbyhisbed。Behhisgruffexterior,Billwassweetasdy。Hisheartmedihadtobetakeneveryday,andlivingoianysurvivingfamilymembers,heneededasmuchhelpaspossible。
"Well,lookwhatyourstubbhtyou。"hesaid,pointingtothesnow-coveredroadoutsidethewindow。Hisfingersclaspedmyhand。"Stayhere,Karen。Iwantyousafe。"
Ikissedthetopofhisheadbutdecidedtobravetheroads。Itwouldbeworselater,Ireasoned。
"I'llbeokay。"Itoldhim,rememberier'swordsbeforeIleft。ThoughtsofAbigailmadememoredetermihome。Imissedheralready。
IgotintomyVolkswagenandgraduallytriedmakingitdoweephill。Rememberingoldinstrusabintheshepasedgear。Thewindiingwavesofblindingwhite。AsIsquihroughthewindshield,holdih,Isdjerkedthewheel,narrowlymissioodfrozes。
TheVolkswagenhittheemba,plummetedoffthesideoftheroad,ahebottomofaravinebelow。Whentherollingmotionfinallystopped,IopenedmyeyesaIhadbeenunsetime。Nighthadarrived—andwithittheforecastedacofsnow。Panig,Itriedopeningthedoor,butitwouldn'tbudgeagaiingsnow。Slidihepassenger'sdoor,Irealizedthatthedoorhadbeebyatree。Iturarttheehebatteryesdostocrawloutvahoutheataeg,Icurleduponthebadwaitedforhelp。
Thefrigidairenvelopedme。Shivering,Ichastisedmyselffforacelikethis。Mytoesandfingerswerealreadyyseemedtopass,andasIlistehewindandsnowhittingagainstthecar,Iprayedformyfamily,whowouldbesickwithworrybynow。AbigailwouldprobablybedrawingpiewhenIarrivedhome。Sinceshe'dbeeoholda,she'ddrawhtenthedaysofherlovedones。
Tocalmmygrowimysafety,Iyeyesaedohintosleep,IsawAbigail。Abigailinthewarmsunlight,laughiabeautifulwhitedovetome。Thedove'sgraceful,sereheloveshininginmydaughter'seyesfilledme>
&grewdasIfloatedinandoutofess,IfixedmymindontheimageofAbigailaogether,theykeptmepanythroughoutthenight。Hourslater,asthefirstraysofdaybreakappeared,Iheardtappingonmywioseeanemergeeam,mystifflipstriedtosmileastheyhoistedmeodintoanambulahehospital,IwastreatedformildfrostbiteandaheadwtoldI'dhavetostayhtforobservation。Anxioustoseemyfamily,Iproppedmyselfuponthebedpilloatiently。
Bef,thedooropenedandmymotherburstintotheroom。"orriedaboutyou!"shecried,rushiohugme。"Ikrouble!Motherssehesekindsofthings。"Hermaternalinstinctssurfacedassheappraisedthefoodtraynearby。"Yourteaiscold!I'llberightback。"
&heopportunitytohavemealltoherself,Abigailtothebedandburiedherfaeck。Iscoopedhercloser。"I'vemissedyousomuuredsasilkystrandofhairfromherface。"AndwhathaveyoubeendoingwhileI'vebeenaway?"