A Dark Amish Night (12 page)

   “Peter had to confess his sins in front of the entire congregation. Then they both got baptized in the church and are now members in good standing. Rachel, his wife, is a good woman. She tended the store for me when my husband John passed two years ago. They’re all a good family, the Yoder’s.”

   “So was Rachel Amish before she came here?”

   “No, she was an Englisher like you.”

   “Huh, so where do they live now?”

   “They bought land from the Bishop when he retired from farming about six miles south of here not far from the elder Yoder’s. But if you need to know more than that, Sheriff, I suggest you ask the Bishop. He’s the one to be answering your questions about others in the community. Or you could be asking your deputy, Jess, seeing as he is Peter’s cousin and all.”   

   “What? Jess is Amish?”

   “His mother and Peter’s mother are sisters. But Jess never was baptized into the faith. You really should ask him about that.”

   “I’ll do that then. Thanks for the coffee and the information.”

   “Any time you need coffee or anything else, you come on back, but I do hope you’ll be going to the Bishop with any other information you need. It really isn’t my place to talk.”

   “Sure thing, Pattie Sue, you have a good day now.” Quinn tipped his hat and left Pattie Sue to her books.  

   Hannah was not happy about having to stay with Bishop Miller and his wife. But she could not keep Quinn at her side any longer either. At least if she was closer to town, it would be easier to find a place for her and the children.
The sooner the better.
Hannah muttered her thoughts to herself as she finished unloading her things from the Bishop’s buggy. She’d brought enough clothes for herself and the children, but very few personal belongings. She planned to make her stay here as brief as possible. The small handset radio Quinn gave her was stashed safely in her apron pocket, just in case she needed to contact him.

   Her one relief was that Abe and Millie had agreed to stay on the farm and work a crop as they tended the livestock.

   Timothy had seemed reluctant to leave the farm. He had taken off again and it took several hours of hunting for him before he was found. He was up in the loft sitting on the hay bale landing looking out over the fields when Hannah found him. He had been in such deep thought he did not hear Hannah come up behind him, even though she called out to him.

   As before, Hannah tried to talk to him but it was if Timothy was completely lost to her. Hannah hoped that this move would be a good one for him, but she could understand his reluctance to leave his father’s farm. No matter his outburst of the previous day about how he wanted nothing to do with the farm, Hannah understood his behavior to be coming from grief. Anyhow, Hannah was eager to get started on getting her bakery open.  But first, she had to find a place for them all to live.

   The first night away from home was a long one for Hannah and the children. Timothy was not happy to be sharing a room with his mother and sister, but finally fell asleep in a cot on the floor. Ruth Anne was restless and kept asking to go home before she at last fell asleep too. Hannah lay awake on the small bed next to Ruth Anne all night. She missed Eric. She missed the farm. She missed the quiet and simple life she had with Eric in her own home. And she was fearful for her children. Sending up prayers, she finally drifted off to sleep just as the sun started to rise.

   In a very rare start to her day Hannah slept later than usual. Mrs. Miller had the children in the kitchen feeding them breakfast, and Hannah’s cheeks were pink with shame that she had let the Bishop’s wife wait on her and the children.  She ran into the kitchen out of breath as she hastily tucked her hair up into her prayer cap. The children and the Bishop were seated at the table as Mrs. Miller stood at the stove.

   “Please forgive me Ms. Miller. I’m ashamed that I have left you to tend to the children.”

   “Hannah, sit down and let me get you some coffee and a bite to eat and in my home you will call me Martha.”

   “Yes Mam, I mean thank you, Martha.”

   Hannah reluctantly took a seat at the table next to Ruth Anne as Martha set a steaming cup of black coffee in front of her with a plate full of eggs, bacon, and toast. Timothy sat almost woodenly in his chair not touching his food. When they were all seated, the Bishop led them in a silent prayer.

   “Eat up Timothy. I need you to walk with me to the mercantile this morning. So get on with it.” Timothy knew better than to cross his mother in front of the Bishop and his wife, and he took a few bites before he pushed his plate away.

    “May I be excused now?”

   “Yes and go get washed up then.”

   “Yes, Mam.”

   When Timothy left the room, Hannah apologized for his behavior to the Bishop. “I’m afraid Timothy has not been himself since his father passed. Please forgive us. It’s not been easy on any of us, but my boy, he’s taking it real hard.”

   Bishop Miller smiled at Hannah’s. “Give him some time. Losing your father is a terrible loss for any child but for a boy Timothy’s age it’s especially hard. We will pray for him.”

   “Thank you Bishop. Come on Ruth Anne we need to get you cleaned up too.”  Hannah started to leave the kitchen table with Ruth Anne when Martha stopped her.

   “Hannah, why not let the children stay with me today. I’m sure you have lots to do and I know you want to look into getting your own place. So why not let me keep them. I’m happy to do it.”

   “Well, I truly do not want to impose. I mean you’ve done so much already.”

   “Awk, let the children stay. Martha and I love having the little ones. Don’t we dear? And on that other note, Elijah Fisher has a couple of rental houses in town. Both suited to the plain folk. I talked to him this morning and one of them is available now. He usually only rents to folks visiting the area, tourist types who want the Amish experience. But he’s willing to let you have one for as long as you need and you can pay him when you’ve money to pay him. The church is willing to help you with that until you get on your feet. I’ll take you over this afternoon in the buggy.”

  “Thank you Bishop. I’m very grateful. Ruth Anne you behave for Mrs. Miller.”

   “Yes, Momma.” Hannah started to ruffle her daughter’s red curls but then stopped herself. She had to remember that she was not in her own home and displays of affection were frowned upon by the plain folk.  She left the house a little overwhelmed by the generosity of her community, and while her pride wanted to say no to the rental house, she would do it for her children. She would just make it a priority to pay Mr. Fisher back as soon as possible.

   Hannah stepped out into the bright sunlight and found Timothy waiting for her in the front yard.

   “The Bishop and his wife have invited you to stay with them today and as we are their guest I would like you to stay with them. Would you do that for me, Timothy? I want you to know that I love you very much. I’m so sorry that you’re struggling right now. I wish you would talk to me, though. I’ll always be right here for you.”

   Timothy looked up at his mother. “I’m glad we’re off the farm.  At least I’m glad you and Ruth Anne are safe.”

   “Why do you say that? Why say at least me and Ruth Anne are safe? Timothy what is it that you know that you haven’t told me.”

   “I already told you I don’t know nothing. I wish you would stop trying to baby me all the time. I’m not a baby you know.” Timothy spat out his words and ran back into the house. Hannah watched his retreating back. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was smothering him. He would be eleven soon and that meant only a few more years and he would be done with school in the plain folk way.  

   Hannah was not sure how Timothy would continue after that. It was always expected that he would join his father on the farm until he married and had a family of his own. That dream was gone now. She supposed Timothy would have to learn to farm from another family in the community. But this was a worry for another day.

   Hannah walked to the town square towards the mercantile. She always loved walking in the town square. The trees shaded the sidewalks of the old storefronts that lined the county courthouse in a perfect square. Most folks would call the little town of Heaven quaint. She just felt like she was home here. It was a safe place for her. She hoped her and Pattie Sue could go over the plans for the bakery. That thought lifted her spirits. And it would keep her busy until she met with the Bishop again this afternoon to look at Elijah Fisher’s rental house.

   Quinn was coming out of the courthouse when he spotted Hannah walking down the sidewalk towards Patti Sue’s mercantile. He waved to her. She spotted him and waved back. They met on the courthouse lawn.

   “So are you all settled in at the Bishop’s place?”

   “I wouldn’t call it settled but we’re staying there for at least the time being. I’m going to look at a rental house this afternoon with Bishop Miller. I’ll be sure to let you know where it is when I know. We still need to talk to Timothy, but I was hoping you could give me a little more time to get us into our own place. I think Timothy will be more open to talking then. Maybe he’ll feel more up more after that.”

   “I think you might be right. I want him to trust me and I think we’re just going to have to let him decide when that’s going to be. So you’re good then? Right now, I mean. You’re safe and all?”

   “Yes, Quinn, I’m safe. You can check in on us when we get moved if you want.” Hannah knew this was dangerous ground asking Quinn to come to see her in town, but she would make it about his work as a Sheriff and less of a social call. At that moment she saw Rachel Yoder coming up the sidewalk with her new baby in a stroller and her toddler at her side. There was no mistaking Rachel was taken aback at seeing Hannah talking to Quinn like they were old friends. It was too late to just walk away as Rachel descended on the both of them.

   “Quinn, please don’t ask me anything personal. Right now Rachel Yoder is heading this way.”

   “Rachel Yoder, Peter Yoder’s wife?” Quinn asked but Hannah didn’t have time to answer him.

   “Hannah, how are you? I’m so glad to see you. Peter and I’ve been meaning to get by to check in on you and the children. But we’ve just been so busy with the new baby and getting a new crop planted. So what brings you to town? Peter is over at the mercantile picking up supplies and I thought I would take the boys for a walk.” Rachel gave Quinn a once over as she pulled Hannah into conversation. Quinn took that as his cue to leave.

   “Hannah, it was good to see you. Let me know if I can do anything for you.” Quinn tipped his hat to Rachel and walked away. 

   “What did he want?” Rachel watched Quinn’s retreating figure then smiled at Hannah as she took her hand and led her down the street to the mercantile.

   “He was checking on me and asking how the children were doing, just being polite. Here let me take a look at the baby.” Hannah distracted Rachel with talk of the baby as they walked the rest of the way to Pattie Sue’s.

   Quinn stood to the side of the courthouse and watched as Hannah headed to the mercantile with Rachel Yoder. His plan was to give them time to get into the store and then walk over and wait for the Yoder’s to exit. He wanted to talk to Peter about the night Eric died. He had not forgotten that Timothy told him Eric had been talking to Peter about a horse the evening Eric died.   

   He did not have to wait long as the Yoder family stepped out of the store and headed to their buggy. Quinn sized up Peter Yoder to be a not overly tall stocky Amish man with a full brown beard.

   “Mr. Yoder, might I have a word with you?” Quinn walked up to the side of the buggy and tipped his hat at Rachel again.

   Peter put his older son up in the buggy then smiled warmly at Quinn and shook his hand. “Sure thing Sheriff. What can I do for you?”

   “I wanted to talk to you about the night Eric Hershberger died.” Quinn closely watched Peter’s reaction to hearing Eric’s name. It almost looked like he could see a hint of sadness in the younger man’s eyes as Peter took off his wide brimmed straw hat.

   “Yes sir. What can I tell you?”

   “Well I hear that you and Eric discussed you buying one of his horses in the town square that evening.”

   “Yes, Eric wanted to sell me one of his old plow horses. He said he had the tractor and no longer had use for any plow horses. I told him I’d talk to my father to see what we could do.”

   “And you didn’t have any kind of disagreement over the price or anything else?”

   Peter shook his head. “No, Sir, no trouble.”

   “And about what time did Eric leave the town square?”

   “Well, I’d guess it would’ve been about seven or so. He left right after he and I talked. Why is there something wrong?”

   “No, there’s no problem just trying to establish a timeline. So when did you plan on getting back with Eric about the horse.”

   “Being as that was Easter weekend we agreed to meet back on the town square the following Thursday evening. Most of the men folk gather in the town square on Thursday evenings.”