Wait and Tremble-Part Two

    This is the waiting: 

     Sunny stood in the middle of the dusty road, dust already enveloping her short white dress. Her mouth was round , and her chubby hands pressed over her eyes. This was the waiting. Jonas took one step forward, knowing Sunny could not hear his voice over the hooves. The carriage windows were dark, and the driver was too high and fierce to see a small sun on the road. Jonas took a deep breath, and stopped waiting.

     He ran, kicking up stones like the horses, just even with the first team. There were two teams, and he knew the only way was to stop the first team before they reach her. He saw the flashing teeth as the bits were cruel to their mouths. Their heads were white, pure above him. He chose the last step, and jumped, soaring higher than he could when he was waiting. His fingers caught the edge of the bridle, slid, and stopped against a seam. He hung, still clinging when a hoof cracked against his thigh. The horse reared and pulled toward him, pulled the whole team toward his lane. Jonas rose high, high in the air, hearing the driver’s curses above his own shriek.

     “I cannot wait!” he screamed, over and over. The proud horse reared again, and the others followed, jerking the carriage to a complete sideways stop. Jonas still hung, his fingers and legs bloody from the horse’s kicks. The proud horse stood still, snorting its shame that it had allowed such a small boy turn him from his course. Jonas heard the driver clearly, walking toward him. He felt tiny hands at his back.

     “Let go, Jonas,” Sunny said. “I’ll catch you.” He lowered his legs slowly, and sat heavily on the ground. The horse leaned down and sniffed his legs, showing remorse now. The driver loomed above him, his face white and red in splotches.

     “Crazy kid,” he muttered, kneeling beside Jonas. He touched Jonas’s right leg, and Jonas took a big breathe.

     “Jonas isn’t crazy,” Sunny said. “He’s an orphan.” She crossed her arms, and Jonas winced away his desire to explain to her that orphan and crazy were not opposites, and that he was only fatherless, not an orphan, and that she was possibly the crazy one, freezing in the middle of the road like that. The door to the carriage slammed open, and a straight backed lady stepped down.

     “Madame…” the driver said, stepping back. “I’m afraid we’ve had an accident.”

     “I can see that, Archie. I can see we’ve nearly slaughtered two children.” She stood over Jonas, glaring at Archie. “If you wouldn’t drive so beastly fast, we could be less of a menace to the young ones of this country.” Archie stuttered his apology, and Jonas gaped at her. He’d never heard such a proper looking lady talk like that. “Where’s his mother?” the lady asked, bending over him. Her voice was gentle now. “We’ll get you to the hospital, boy.”

     “My mommy could put some bandages on him,” Sunny said, peering up at Madame. She held up her plump right arm. “See?” A white bandage was taped over her elbow. “I fell on the steps, and mommy put this on it.”

     Madame smiled. “I’m sure she’s an excellent nurse, but I’m afraid boy needs a little more than a bandage. Why aren’t you crying, boy?” she asked Jonas. He blinked at her. His legs hurt, but he was waiting again, and it never mattered when he was waiting. Madame didn’t wait for an answer, looked up as Jonas’s mother sprinted over the gravel.

     “Jonas, Jonas!” she shouted, kneeling beside him.

     “I’m all right, Ma,” he said.

     “We’re getting him to the hospital as soon as my driver turns the carriage around,” Madame said, flicking her hand at Archie.

     “What were you doing on the road?” Ma demanded.

     “Sunny was coming across. She never looks first,” Jonas said, tugging Sunny’s arm. She pulled away.

     “It takes too long to look,” she said. Ma gaped at her.

     “Go get your mother, child,” she said. Sunny grinned and dashed off. “I don’t understand her. She’s too young to be talking like that.”

     “Come along, Jonas, let Archie lift you in,” Madame said. Jonas didn’t understand what he was to do about it. Archie lifted him in with unwarranted puffing-Jonas was a slight boy- and put him on the coach bench. Madame sat beside him, and Ma clambered in. Sunny and her mother ran up a few seconds later.

     “Your daughter was in the road again, Collette,” Ma said. Collette’s face grew stern and she picked up Sunny and shook her a little. Archie clucked the horses and they burst off, leaving Sunny and Collette in a cloud of dust.

     “Not so blasted fast!” Madame screeched. Jonas looked at her stern grey hair, and wondered how Archie had the nerve to pretend he didn’t hear her.