“Mammi hasn’t moved since I slipped in,” Anna said. “I didn’t want to bother you coming in, in case you were with the children.”

“I was upstairs with Rogene, who’s teething again.”

“Poor baby girl.” Anna couldn’t help noticing the dark circles under Wanita’s eyes.

“Mamm always used peeled gingerroot and rubbed it on our gums,” Wanita said. “But I’m all out of ginger, so I put a washcloth in the freezer, hoping that might help.” She paused and sighed. “I didn’t want to tell ya this, but Mammi Eliza hasn’t known any of us in the past few days.”

“Then she won’t know me, either,” Anna said, stiffening at the truth of this as she looked at her precious grandmother.

“Glad you came, Anna. I’ll leave you two alone now.” Wanita wiggled her fingers and left the room.

Anna nodded and reached over to touch Mammi’s left hand. It was cool to the touch, the veins particularly visible. Anna began to pray again, wanting to be a comfort, just as Mammi had been to her when she was a little girl. Once, she’d fallen headlong off the rope swing, hitting her forehead, where a very sore goose egg emerged. Mammi had known just what to say so that Anna wouldn’t be alarmed, young as she was, and she took her hand and led her inside to sit on the wooden bench while she went to the refrigerator. “Jesus loves the little ones like you . . . you . . . you,” she had sung as she gently tended to the protruding bump with an ice pack.

Fondly remembering that moment years ago, Anna began to hum the song, and when she finished, Mammi’s eyes opened slightly, and a sweet smile swept over her face. “Anna . . . you’re here.”

“Mammi,” she managed to say, overcome with emotion. “I’ve been sitting here and praying . . . remembering that big bump on my forehead when I stayed with you and Dawdi John one weekend.”

Her eyes found Anna’s again. “You hit your noggin, jah.”

“I was dopplich . . . fell off the swing.”

Mammi nodded her head but didn’t speak again. Her gaze held Anna’s for a long time before she sighed and dozed off again.

It didn’t matter, though, because Anna cherished those few moments of recognition and decided to keep them to herself. There was no need to tell Wanita or Mamm, neither one.

Chapter 40

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1948

Eliza had spent time thinking about and writing Eb’s birthday note. At one point, she’d actually come close to admitting her affection for him, but then she came to her senses and discarded that note and started over. By the morning of Eb’s birthday, she had come up short, with nothing to show for her efforts.