Free A Simple Faith: A Lancaster Crossroads Novel by Rosalind Lauer Page A

right, there? Looks like you hurt your arm.”
    “Can’t breathe,” Jacob gasped, desperation in his flinty gray eyes.
    The sight of the man’s pale face brought Ruben back to a memory of long ago, a tragedy long buried in his mind.
    “Take it easy, Jacob.” Tenderly, Ruben placed his palm against the man’s cheek and found that his skin was cold and clammy.
    Jacob reached up and squeezed Ruben’s wrist, a surprising gesture considering that he barely knew the man. Even more unexpected, Ruben squeezed back.
    “I’ll get you help. A doctor … and an ambulance. Just keep breathing, okay?”
    The dry gasp that came in answer tore at Ruben’s sense of calm and order, propelling him forward. Jacob needed help.
    Go, go, go
. Each heavy thud of his heart urged him to move.
    Still crouching under the van’s ceiling, Ruben carefully shifted toward the damaged double doors, a twisted mass of metal. The square panels of the windows were warped and bent, and most of the glass had been blown out, save for one drape of shattered glass in one corner. Shiny and cracked, like ice on the frozen pond.
    Ruben seized the latch and pulled. The door wouldn’t budge, and as he gave it another tug, pain flared through Ruben’s hands. He pulled back and looked at his palms, dashed with blood. The shattered glass was cutting into his hands.
    He winced as he pulled out a large chunk of glass. The smaller pieces would have to wait; he couldn’t waste precious time. Jacob needed help.
    Go, man
. His heart thudded.
He said he couldn’t breathe. Get help now!
    Bracing against the pain, he tried the door again and realized that it was locked, and there was no mechanism on the door to undo it. Frustration tore at him as he turned toward the front seat. Amid the cacophony of voices, he could make out George talking briskly to Thomas Lapp.
    “George! George, listen to me,” Ruben shouted, praying to Gott Almighty that his voice would be heard.
    Over James’s moaning and Lizzy’s sobs, George somehow heard him. Hands in the air, he pushed at the puffy air bag and turned around. “What is it, Ruben?”
    “Can you unlock the door back here? We need to get out and go for help. Jacob needs help.”
    “Right.” George turned away for a moment and Ruben heard a satisfying click in the door.
    One tug on the handle, and the battered door popped open. “Got it!” he shouted.
    “Go get us help, then.” George waved him on. “Such a hard hit. I saw it coming, but … ah … Is everyone okay back there?”
    Despite the groans and murmurs, no one answered the driver’s call.
    Too much confusion
, Ruben thought as he tried to work the second door open. Everyone was dazed. Stuck in a waking dream.
    A nightmare.
    Ruben had to hunker down to squeeze through the single door. His feet stung when his boots hit the ground, but he thanked Gott that his legs felt solid beneath him. Ready to run.

9
    H aley sat staring from the side of the highway, her car idling as she reeled from the horrible collision that had just taken place before her eyes. The purr of a ringing line in her ear amplified her panic. She’d dialed 911, right? Why weren’t they answering?
    When someone came on the line, she reported the accident, giving the nearest mile marker. “There were two cars involved. A dark-colored SUV just came right across the double line from the other direction.”
    She could still see the searing pair of headlights carving an unnatural path across the yellow line. It was the oddest sight, especially on a clear, bone-dry day like today. At first, she had thought her eyes were going buggy, but then the SUV hit the van, catching the front end with such force that both cars had spun in a cloud of dust and sparks.
    “I can’t believe a car would just cross the line like that,” she said,her voice trembling at the thought of a random universe in which one stray turn could cause so much damage.
    “Is there visible damage to both vehicles?”
    “Yes,