A Dark Amish Night (16 page)

   Pattie Sue stopped what she was doing and looked up at Rachel. “What was that, something about lost treasure?’

   Millie spoke up in her timid voice. “No, he said it was gold. He had to find the gold to save his family. I heard him say exactly that when they brought him out of the woods.”

  “That’s just nonsense. There’s nothing in those woods but thorn bushes and the dried up old creek bed of Willow Creek.” Pattie Sue shook her head and put on her sternest no nonsense face. “Hrumph…  That boy needs a good talking to for running off and scaring his poor mother like that. It’s not like Hannah hasn’t enough heartache without her son running off on a wild goose chase.”

   “Oh, Pattie Sue, don’t you think the boy was just looking for any way he could to try to stay on the farm? It must be terribly hard for him to be moving from the only home he’s ever known and so soon after losing his father. You know, I heard he was in the buggy the whole time the night his father passed.” Rachel acted like she was sharing some terrible secret.

   “Rachel Yoder, that’s idle gossip, but as it’s no secret I’ll tell you straight out. Yes, Timothy was in the buggy sound asleep. Hannah told me herself. So now it’s none of our affair. I’d best be getting back to mind the store. I don’t have no time for gossip.” Pattie Sue picked up a basket she’d brought in with her that was now empty turned her back on the two younger women and stomped out the backdoor.

   Rachel commented after Pattie Sue left. “I wonder what bee flew in her bonnet this morning.”

   Millie only giggled and went back to stocking Hannah’s silverware in a drawer.

   Outside, Pattie Sue loaded up in her buggy, as she left she muttered to herself. “I can’t believe it, looking for that lost gold in those cursed woods. What was the boy thinking going into that evil place?”

A Dark Amish Night

Chapter Fourteen

    Hannah waited in the hospital room for Timothy to be brought back. She mentally scolded herself for her behavior with Quinn. She had no business being so close to him, much less coming into any kind of physical contact with him. Even letting him hold her as she cried was a mortal sin among the plain folk. Not only was he not her husband, but he was an Englisher. This had to stop. Her children would not be safe living outside of the community if she got all of them shunned, or worse excommunicated from the church for good. She was in danger of going to hell if she didn’t control herself.

   Still, she was very grateful to Quinn. To withdraw from him completely would be rude. How could she do that to the man who’d saved the life of her son and even now protected him from the men who killed Eric? She couldn’t do it. Quinn was her friend. For better or worse Hannah needed him. There would just have to be some ‘ground rules’ as Quinn had once told her. That was it. She would talk to Quinn and set up some boundaries for the two of them before they went home. It would just have to work. Hannah was determined to keep Quinn as her friend and protector and still maintain her plain folk purity.

   She felt like a stone had been lifted from her neck. Her decision seemed the wisest course of action and Hannah felt good about making a decision like this on her own. Perhaps she could make a way for herself and still be a good and pure Amish woman.

   Quinn came back to the room before Timothy did. Hannah took a deep breath.
Well, it’s now or never, I guess. “
Quinn, sit down with me. I really need to talk to you.”

   Quinn sat down in the chair across from Hannah and reached for her hand. “What’s wrong?”

   Hannah gently pulled her hand away from Quinn’s grasp. “First I want to apologize for being rude to you in the courtyard just now. I should not have just walked away from you like that.”

    “Hannah, it’s no problem, really. You’ve a lot on your mind. I can see you need some time to figure out all these changes that are happening, and then this deal with Timothy. I bet your nerves are shot.”

   “It’s true. I am dealing with a lot, but what I want to talk to you about is something else. I want us to set some ground rules for our friendship. I have to think of my children and my faith. I’m committed to be a pure person of the Amish faith. That means I have to live my life with the purest of minds. This bond we seem to share can go no further than it already has.  I cannot be a girlfriend or a wife to you, but I want to be your friend. I owe you my own life for saving my son. You’re a good man and I want to be able to go on being your friend.” Hannah sighed. “In order for us to be friends you have to respect that I am off limits as anything more than a friend.    

   “We must not touch each other at all. No hand holding, no hugging, our bodies must never be close enough to touch. When you need to talk to me, you really should go to the Bishop first. Quinn, if I don’t get control of this situation I will be shunned. Think about my children and what a shunning could do to them. Please understand. I cannot be alone with you anymore. If we were ever seen alone by another plain folk it would ruin me. Even the things you Englishers think of as innocent are not the plain folk ways. The community would never accept a relationship between you and me.”

    Quinn’s mouth went dry. He’d seen this coming, though. He was not going to give Hannah up without a fight, but he would give her the space she needed to work through all the changes in her life and to deal with Timothy getting all the help he needed to get better. But one way or another, this “relationship” was going to work out. Quinn was a patient man, willing to let things take their own course. In the meantime, he would resume the hunt for Eric’s killer. Right now, that meant getting some straight answers from Timothy. Quinn hoped the boy would be able to talk to him soon, but Quinn wanted to be sure Timothy was well enough to talk first. He sat for a minute and thought very carefully about what to say to Hannah.

   “Hannah, I’m going to be honest with you, because I don’t know how to be any other way. I’m falling in love with you, but any fool can see that you’re not ready for that. I’m going to do the things you have asked. I’ll put some space between us. I’ll even go through the Bishop to talk to you, but I am not going away. So I want you to get used to having me around because I’m here to stay.”

   Hannah lowered her head. “I’m falling in love with you too, and that scares me more than you can ever know. I could burn in an everlasting hell for the things I feel for you, Quinn. When we get back home you have to stay away. The wellbeing of my children and their futures depends on it.”

   “I understand, but one day when this is all over and you and the kids are safe, with the ones responsible for Eric’s death behind bars, you and I are going to renegotiate this relationship. Hannah, I meant it when I said I’m not going away. I’ll give you all the space you need, but get used to me. I plan on being here for you and the children for a long, long time.”

   Hannah was just too weary to argue. Quinn had at least agreed to give her some space.
But he’s here now and that’s what matters. He’s here now.

    Timothy returned to the hospital room awake. His voice sounded like gravel, but he was able to tell his mother “I’m hungry.”

   Quinn waited patiently for Timothy to eat and even suppressed a chuckle when the boy pulled the plate up to his mouth and shoveled the food in, swallowing without chewing. Quinn figured Timothy had to be starving after nearly four days with no food. Timothy’s broken arm was in a soft sling but that didn’t seem to slow him down.

   Three full plates of food later, Hannah told Timothy it was time to start answering some questions. Timothy’s face blanched white and he looked at Quinn. Quinn did not mistake the mask of abject terror on the boy’s face.

   “First, I want you to tell me why you ran off. What were you thinking going into the woods like that? You scared me half to death.”

   Timothy stammered “I was looking for something. I would’ve been fine ’cept I fell out of that tree. I knew I was hurt bad, and I couldn’t move. Honest, Ma, I didn’t run away or nothing.”

   “Well you can thank the Lord the Sheriff found you. He had to bring in search dogs you were so far lost. Half the county came out to search for you. What were you looking for, anyhow?”

   Timothy got real sheepish. “I was looking for gold.” He said in a whisper.

   “Oh, Timothy, there’s no gold in those woods. My darling boy, you don’t have to worry about money. I promise you we are not going to lose our farm. Don’t you remember what I told you? I’m going to keep the farm for you. When you’re older we can move back out there and the farm will be yours. You’ll see. Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, go off in those woods again. Do you hear me?”

   “Yes, Mam.” Timothy cast his eyes down and didn’t say more.

   “Hannah, would you mind if I spoke to Timothy alone for just a minute? I think he and I are long overdue for a man to man chat.”

    Hannah was clearly annoyed with her son, but she conceded to go for a walk so Quinn could talk to Timothy.

   After Hannah left, Quinn pulled up a chair to Timothy’s bedside. “Well, Tim, I got a problem, you see, and I can’t fix that problem without your help. So, you think you might tell me the truth now?”

   Timothy remained silent. Quinn could tell the boy was about to cave. It had to be an enormous weight he was carrying.

   “Tell you what, let’s start with what you were ‘really’ doing in those woods.”

   “I really was looking for gold. I thought if I could find the gold then I could take Momma and Ruth Anne away to someplace safe.”

   “What makes you think there’s gold in those woods?”

   “Everyone knows the story of the lost gold there. All the kids at school talk about finding it.”

   “Well, I don’t know the story, suppose you tell it to me.”

   “The story is that a real long time ago the some thieves robbed a stage coach and buried the gold they took in an old burial ground near Willow creek. Those woods are supposed to be haunted by evil spirits. The land is cursed by the dead Indians buried there, but I’m not scared I figured if I found the gold I could take care of my mother and Ruth Anne. I didn’t mean to scare everyone, but I fell out of that tree and I couldn’t hardly move.”

   “I know you got hurt. I don’t think anyone blames you for not coming back, but aren’t you a little old to be believing in ghost stories, Tim?”

    “I just thought it was worth a try. Wouldn’t you try if you was me?”

   Quinn thought for a minute. “Yeah, Tim, I guess if I were you I would’ve tried. Now, I have some more questions to ask you about the night your father died.”

   Timothy turned his head to face the wall opposite Quinn. “I already told you everything.”

   “Well, you told your mother that there was more than one person that night. You said ‘they’ had come for you the night there was someone in your house. You wanna explain that to me.”

   “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. I was just saying, is all.” Tim turned his back to Quinn. “I don’t know anything else, and I’m not going to talk about it no more either.”

   “Alright, Tim, I’m going to let you be for now. I want you to know that I think you’re not telling me everything you know. I don’t know what it is you’re not telling, but I tell you this: I’m going to find out what happened to your father. You can count on that. I also think you’re scared, and I want you to know you don’t have to be. Anytime you want to talk to me I’ll be here. I’m not going to let anything happen to your mother, your sister, or to you. You can count on that as well.” 

   Quinn left Timothy alone with his thoughts and went in search of Hannah. He found her in the small courtyard they’d been in earlier. She sat on a bench and looked very pensive.

   “Can I sit here beside you?”

   “Of course. So did you get anything out of Timothy?”

   “Only that he was looking for lost gold. He told me some legend about a stage coach robbery with the gold buried in an old burial ground, and supposedly those woods are haunted.”

   Hannah laughed. “It’s an old tale. It’s just that, a tale. I don’t think there’s a shred of truth to it. I heard it at school when I was a small child. I guess the kids are still telling it.”

   Quinn had that niggling feeling he got when he was on to something, but wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. “Most legends have some small bit of truth in them. Has anyone ever gone out there to actually look for the lost gold or even the burial grounds?”

   “My father told me that back in the sixties a group of young Englishers spent a summer camping in the bush out there. They were supposedly searching for the gold, or the burial ground, but they didn’t find anything.”