Jaybird did not have to be told twice. Phil's chilling words seared him like sticking a hot iron into cold water. Visions of cruel captors with fiendish torture implements filled his head as he ran desperately toward the river, Rin loping happily at his side. He was forced to slow at last when the water reached his waist in the middle of the river100 feet from the opposite shore. He looked back and breathed easier seeing that no one was following. The tree line stood silent, the only sound that of rushing water smacking against the rocks 10 yards downstream. Rin swam in circles around Jaybird, waiting for a sign. Jaybird remained resolved to escape; he took a tentative step forward, testing the depth of the water. He continued in this fashion, finding the water no more than waist deep all the way across. He felt safer on this side of the river, the Cottage Farm side of the river. Sitting on the muddy bank looking across to the dark silent trees he wondered if Phil was a prisoner or indeed if Phil was still alive. Rin sprayed him with his wet-dog shake. Jaybird shivered from the shower, and from the cool night air.
What now? Jaybird waited for his excitement to fade away. It did fade, but it did not fade away, he remained on the edge, thrill on one side, fear on the other. In his short happy life, he had never faced a decision like the one that now confronted him. The alternatives were clear enough; he could go back across the river and try to help Phil or he could forget about Phil and head back to Cottage Farm. Nobody would fault him if he went back, not even Phil, and how in the name of God and all the angels did he think he could help Phil if that's what he decided to do? His damaged hand continued to pain him with a dull throbbing ache, what could he do with only one good hand? And yet ... something held him. It never occurred to him that what he decided to do might set a pattern for his entire life.
He would help Phil. The decision came from somewhere so deep in Jaybird's mind that he was not even conscious of it. He stood up and began the slow strenuous slog back across the river, Rin swimming eagerly at his side. Halfway across he stopped, suddenly aware of a transcendent beauty resulting from the full moon darting in and out from behind fast moving clouds, and reflecting on the ever but never changing river. Rin did not seem to notice. The moment passed as quickly as it came when a bank of thunderheads moved in quickly, entirely blocking the moon. Beauty turned from tranquil to terrifying in the time it took for a jagged streak of lightning to slice the night sky and an ear-splitting crash of thunder to rattle Jaybird's head.The cold rain began before he reached the other side of the river. Jaybird and Rin took refuge in the old wooden johnboat, turning it upside down to serve as a shelter. Once again Jaybird huddled close to Rin, taking comfort from his warmth.
Jaybird thought of Phil as the thunderstorm raged; Phil would be imagining an artillery barrage. Jaybird knew very well that it was only thunder and lightning, but it was easy for him to suspend belief and go along with the game, and if Phil was captured maybe it was not a game at all. At length the storm moved on but a steady rain beat down on the overturned boat and Jaybird fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, his head pressed against Rin's soft flank.
When he woke the rain had stopped and a border of sunlight outlined the edge of the overturned boat. Jaybird stirred stiffly and yawned; Rin raised his head and growled softly. Jaybird heard footsteps approaching across the gravel. He stroked Rin gently and whispered, "Shhh."
Curled in a ball under the boat, Jaybird heard the crunch of gravel come closer. He held his breath. The crunch stopped. Jaybird imagined someone close-by looking at the boat. After an interminable wait the unseen presence began a slow walk around the boat and then sat down on the river-side of the inverted boat. Jaybird could see the shadow of two feet, but the space between the sand and the edge of the boat was too small for him to estimate the size of the person attached to the feet. He could only assume that whoever it was was bigger and stronger than him and would cause him harm if he were discovered. He lay perfectly still with his good left hand gently stroking Rin who seemed to sense the gravity of the situation.
When Jaybird heard the first faint notes he thought he was dreaming. But the notes got louder and he realized someone was humming a tune which he was sure he had heard somewhere before. Then he heard the words as the sweet voice of a young girl broke into full-voiced song. "Let us gather by the river, the beautiful the beautiful river."
Rin stirred, and acting as if he wanted to join the chorus, before Jaybird could do anything to stop him, he barked. The singing stopped. Jaybird patted Rin's head trying to keep him quiet. For a long time it was quiet except for the sound of running water, then the singing began again. And Rin barked again. The dog knew something that had yet to penetrate Jaybird's consciousness: a sweet singing young girl was not a threat to them. The singing stopped and when the edge of the boat was lifted and tipped over, Jaybird saw something that made his heart stop and his breath catch in his throat. Without even squinting because she was so close, he saw a face more beautiful than any he had ever seen. He saw eyes the color of the high blue sky looking at him in wide-eyed amazement. He saw hair the color of sunflower petals in two long braids flowing from beneath a white cotton bonnet. He saw 11 year-old Ruth Stoltzfus. Ruth saw a big German Shepherd dog jump up wagging his tail, and trying to lick her hand. She saw a thin, brown-skinned boy who might have been handsome if his hair was not so short, looking at her in an odd way that for some reason caused her to blush. Jaybird scrambled to his feet trying to think of something to say. Ruth and Jaybird, about the same height, stared at each other, he in his bare feet, damp short pants, and clammy Cardinal T-shirt, she in her bonnet and plain brown cotton dress that extended to the top of her shoes. Had Jaybird been more observant he would have noticed that there were no buttons on Ruth's dress, only hooks and eyes.
"You're hurt," she said, pointing to Jaybird's bandaged right hand.
Jaybird was thrilled by the sound of Ruth's voice. He looked at his hand, almost gratefully. "It was a firecracker," he said.
Ruth nodded and said, "Oh."
Jaybird wanted to ask about Phil, but he was so flustered in the presence of the lovely Ruth that he couldn't find the right words. At last he asked, "Do you live here?"
"Yes," she answered, "where do you live?"
Jaybird waved in the general direction of up river and said, "At Cottage Farm. I live up there," he pointed, " at Cottage Farm." He paused and then added, "But I'm running away."
Ruth had never heard of Cottage Farm, but the idea of running away from home was not unfamiliar to her. She sat down on the edge of the boat and seemed to be thinking. At last she said, "Can I go with you?" Rin barked.
Jaybird sat next to her and answered without even thinking about it, "I don't see why not ... but all I got left is a half jar of peanut butter."
Ruth stood and said, "Come up to the house with me, I'll fix us a lunch." She started walking purposefully toward the trees. Jaybird jumped up to follow.
When they reached the tree line Jaybird remembered Phil. "What about Phil?" He blurted.
Ruth continued walking. "Who's Phil?" She asked.
"Phil is this crazy guy I'm running away with."
Ruth stopped walking and looked at Jaybird briefly, then she resumed walking. "He must be the guy who tried to kill my father last night.," she said, then asked, "why are you running away with a crazy guy?"
Jaybird could not think of a short answer to that question, so he asked a question of his own. "Is your father okay?"
"My father is a man of God," she answered, "God was not ready to take him just yet."
"Is Phil in jail?"
Ruth either did not hear the question or chose not to answer it. Instead she said, "If I'm going to run away with you I ought to know your name."
"My name is Jaybird."
Ruth smiled. "Good," she said, "I like your name better than mine. My name is Ruth but I would like it better if I was named after a bird, like you."
Jaybird quickly reviewed in his mind all the birds he could think of. "You probably wouldn't like to be called Woodpecker, would you?"
Ruth laughed happily and looked at Jaybird in a way that almost melted him in his tracks.
"I heard you sing," he said. "It sounded pretty as a Wren. Can I call you Jennie Wren?"
Ruth threw her head back and skipped ahead. "Jennie Wren," she said happily, "I don't think there's any Jennie Wren's in the Bible."
Jaybird did not go to Sunday School in the summer when he was at Cottage Farm, but he did go during the school year back in East Peoria so he was not entirely ignorant of the Bible. He tried to think of something he remembered from the Bible, something that would impress Jennie Wren. Seeing her skip lightly ahead of him, her braids flying behind, he said the first thing that came into his head, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Jennie Wren stopped walking as she emerged from the cornfield onto a broad up-sloping meadow where sheep were grazing. At the top of the rising meadow, half a mile away and outlined against the sky, was a large wooden-sided farmhouse. Jennie Wren turned to look at Jaybird. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures," she said.
Jaybird pinched his eyes hard shut searching for the next line. He opened his eyes and saw the river beyond the trees. "He leads me beside still waters."
Jennie Wren said, "He restoreth my soul." Seeing Jaybird hesitate she continued, "He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake."
Jaybird remembered. "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." He reached for Jennie Wren's extended hand.
Jennie Wren grasped Jaybird's hand and looked into his eyes, "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me," she said.
Jaybird gulped. "Thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies," he said.
Jennie Wren took Jaybird's damaged hand gently and said, "My cup runneth over."
The two youths stood facing each other, joined with both hands, and recited the final lines of the 23rd Psalm in unison. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
The stood, entranced by the moment, oblivious to the approach of a tall, bearded but moustacheless man wearing bib overalls over a plain brown shirt, and a wide-brimmed black hat. Rin barked.
Jennie Wren looked up. "Hello father," she said, "this is Jaybird, I'm going to marry him."