Dark Crossings (17 page)
Authors: Marta Perry
Tags: #Fiction, #Comics & Graphic Novels, #General, #Anthologies (Multiple Authors)
EPILOGUE
S
ARAH
SAT
AT
THE
KITCHEN
table in the
Strickland house, a tablet open in front of her. Soon she would stop thinking of
it as Richard Strickland’s house, she supposed. It belonged to the historical
society now, and they would start moving things in next week. The police had
finished their investigation; all the sorting and clearing had been done. Some
items had gone to the historical society, according to Mr. Strickland’s will,
while others had been sold.
To her astonishment, the will had provided a money gift for
her. She’d been reluctant to accept, but Leo said that it had made Mr.
Strickland happy to leave it to her. And
Daad,
always practical, said the money would help her and Jacob to
build a house of their own.
So now she waited, hearing the tramp of feet upstairs as the
last few pieces of furniture for the auction house were carried out. Once the
men were finished, she was to check the house, lock the doors and turn the keys
over to Leo. Then her job would be done, and Jacob would be waiting for her.
In the meantime, she had a letter to write to her dear friends,
with news that would surprise them.
“Dear Abby and Lena,” she wrote. “I am sure you will not
believe this, but Jacob and I are going to be married. I know I always said he
was like a brother to me, but it seems I was wrong….”
* * * * *
Outside the Circle
Patricia Davids
This book is dedicated to my dear departed husband. Thanks,
honey, for a lifetime of deer-hunting adventures.
CHAPTER ONE
L
ENA
T
ROYER
SPOTTED
the man with a
rifle seconds after the magnificent deer she called Goliath stepped from the
cover of the dense woods. Three smaller bucks had entered the hay meadow to
graze a good ten minutes before Goliath followed them. The wily old buck never
came into the open first.
From her vantage point in the cramped bell tower of her Amish
school, Lena had a perfect view of the fields below. She held her breath,
praying the deer would spot the hunter and flee before it was too late.
She had sketched many animals from this spot, but Goliath was
her favorite subject. She’d once watched the stately buck completely lose his
dignity when he slipped on a patch of ice. He’d floundered wildly for several
minutes before regaining his feet. Then he’d glanced around as if to see who
might have witnessed his ignoble fall. She couldn’t help but laugh at his
expression.
From the size of his massive antlers, she knew Goliath had
eluded hunters for a dozen or more years, but he was oblivious to the danger
standing fifty yards away behind the fencerow. He put his head down to graze. It
was the hunter’s perfect opportunity.
She expected a shot to ring out any second. Deer season didn’t
open for another month, but few hunters would ever have their sights on a buck
the size of Goliath. Even if the season were open, the animals stood on land
that belonged to Wilfred Cummings. He never allowed hunting on his property.
The hunter wore Amish clothing, a dark coat, dark trousers and
a wide-brimmed black hat, but she didn’t recognize him. Tall and
broad-shouldered, he appeared to be a giant of a man. She was sure she’d never
met him. He wasn’t a member of her church district. She knew everyone in the
twenty-three families that made up her Amish congregation. She wished she could
see his face. The sun had gone down twenty minutes before and twilight was
quickly fading to darkness.
Slowly, he raised his gun and steadied it on the fence post.
Leaning forward, he sighted through his scope. A stand of low shrubs hid him
from the deer. She had to do something.
Thinking quickly, Lena waved her sketchbook in the air. To her
chagrin, one of the loose pages fluttered out into the evening air, but her
tactic worked. Catching the flash of movement, the bucks bounded into the forest
with amazing speed, their white tails held high, signaling danger to others of
their kind. In a second, they were gone, and safe. Lena grinned with relief.
After all, it was illegal to hunt deer out of season. The Amish
hunters she knew were law-abiding men. Her father and brothers frequently hunted
wild game in the woods and fields surrounding their farms. She’d helped her
older sister can venison, wild pig, quail and rabbit many times, but her family
hunted only in season and only after purchasing their licenses and deer permits
as required by the state. They never took more than their limit, and almost
nothing from the animals went to waste.
The hunter below Lena straightened and looked in her direction.
She ducked below the edge of the railing that framed the bottom of the bell
tower, not wanting him to know she had spoiled his shot. The sound of his
footsteps approaching the building made her cringe.
“Is someone there?” His deep voice matched his big size and
sent a chill skittering over Lena’s skin. She didn’t answer.
It suddenly occurred to her that he might be
hunting meat for his family’s table. Had his sights been on one of the smaller
deer? Had she taken food from his children’s mouths because of a silly,
sentimental attachment to a wild animal? She bit the corner of her lip as she
considered the harm she might have inadvertently caused.
After a few moments of silence, Lena rose to look over the
wooden railing. To her dismay, the stranger stood right below her. He bent to
pick up something from the ground. She sucked in a quick breath when she saw he
held her sketchbook page.
He glanced up and she drew back quickly. Had he seen her? She
held still and hoped he didn’t notice her shadow behind the thick pickets. Would
he come inside the school to investigate? She closed her eyes and prayed he
would move on. How embarrassed she would be if he found her standing in the
attic with her head and shoulders poking through the trapdoor in the bell tower
like some unruly child. She was a grown woman of twenty-four, not a schoolgirl.
What made her behavior worse was the fact that she was the teacher. She itched
to go back downstairs, but was afraid she would make too much noise and give
herself away.
When the hunter’s footsteps moved off, she breathed a sigh of
relief. God had surely smiled on her plight. Waiting a full five minutes more,
she quietly left her cramped quarters, taking her binoculars and the forbidden
romance novel she’d been reading until the deer appeared. She closed the
trapdoor, making sure not to disturb the bell, and descended the wooden ladder
to the attic.
After taking down the ladder, she left the book in her hiding
place and made her way past dusty old desks, benches and stacks of miscellaneous
items stored there to the narrow flight of stairs at the opposite end of the
building.
Down in the schoolroom, she grabbed her bonnet from the hook
and placed it over her black prayer
kapp,
grateful
to cover her chilly ears. The October days were growing cooler, but it was
downright cold tonight.
She opened the front door and checked the schoolyard. There was
no one in sight. Once more thankful that she had escaped detection by the foiled
hunter, she rushed down the narrow track that led to a covered bridge over the
creek. A stone’s throw past the bridge, the school lane intersected with a paved
road. Going north would take her to the village of Mount Hope. Her father’s farm
lay the other way. She hurried along the narrow blacktop as it wound through the
woods. It was fully dark now. Her family would start to worry soon.
She’d gone only a quarter of a mile when a bright light
blossomed in the woods off to one side. Surprised, she stopped in her tracks.
What on earth? A loud shot rang out, followed by thrashing, then silence. The
light went out.
With her heart hammering in her chest, Lena ran the rest of the
way home.
* * *
I
SAAC
B
OWMAN
KEPT
his face carefully blank as he offered his hand
to his ten-year-old daughter. Ruby ignored him and jumped down from the buggy.
She moved quickly away and stood waiting with her eyes downcast, holding her
erasable board clutched in front of her like a shield.
He couldn’t suppress the sigh that escaped him. Would she ever
look him in the eyes? Would she ever speak to him? A simple smile would be
enough.
She looked so much like her mother with her red-gold hair
pulled back beneath a white prayer
kapp.
She had the
same sky-blue eyes, delicate arched eyebrows, even her mother’s stubborn chin.
He would forever see his first love in their daughter’s face.
Today, Ruby wore her best Sunday dress and new shoes. It wasn’t
her normal school attire, but he hadn’t objected when she came down from her
room. He’d gently reminded her the shoes weren’t broken in and would likely hurt
her feet before the day was through. When she sat at the kitchen table without
changing, he decided they would drive instead of walk the mile and a half to
Forestview School.
As usual, he pretended her indifference didn’t hurt. “First day
at a new school, eh, Ruby? What do you think of it? It’s bigger than your last
schoolhouse, isn’t it?”
She glanced at the building and nodded.
Isaac had so many hopes pinned on this change. Pulling up roots
to leave his family and his community in Indiana went against the very fiber of
his Amish being. A new home, a new job, a new school for his child, all his
sacrifices in coming to Mount Hope, Ohio, would be worth it if only she would
smile at him.
He shook off his somber thoughts. It was best not to dwell on
what might come to pass. It was better to trust that the Lord would care for
them both.
Smoke rose from the chimney of the tall, narrow schoolhouse. No
horses or buggies stood at the hitching rails, but there were a dozen or more
children playing outside. A small barn sat behind the school. Since he planned
to spend the entire day at school, he decided to let his mare spend the day in
relative comfort. He unhitched his horse and led her inside, to find a brown
pony munching hay in one stall. Isaac placed his mare inside the other stall.
The pair whinnied a greeting and sniffed noses over the stall divider. When
Isaac came out, Ruby was exactly where he’d left her.
“Let’s go in and meet your new teacher.” He approached the door
and held it open for Ruby. She didn’t move.
He motioned with his head. “Come on. It won’t get any easier
standing out here in the cold.”
Ruby reluctantly entered the building. Isaac gave silent thanks
for one hurdle overcome as he followed her.
Inside, the school was much the same as the one he’d attended
in his youth. The floor was plain wood planking, worn but clean. One window had
a broken pane covered with cardboard. It would need fixing before the snow
started. On the ceiling above it had a water stain that proved the roof had
leaked at one time. Had it been repaired? As a new parent in the district, he
would do his share to see that the building was kept in good condition.
A large blackboard covered the top two-thirds of the front
wall. Below it hung numerous pictures drawn by childish hands. Squarely at the
front sat a large, boxlike wooden desk covered with books and papers. Four rows
of wooden children’s desks faced it. If every desk was filled, the school had
twenty-three students. Tall windows on both sides of the room let in light,
revealing the young woman adding wood to the firebox of a cast-iron stove.
His daughter’s new teacher was small in stature. He doubted the
top of her head would come to his chin. Her brown hair was neatly tucked beneath
a black prayer
kapp,
and the dress she wore was dark
blue. A white apron was tied snugly around her tiny waist and reached the bottom
of her hem.
She didn’t glance up from her task. “I need the blackboard
cleaned.”
After closing the firebox door, she looked up with a bright
smile that instantly vanished. She took a step back. “Oh.”
Isaac removed his hat. “
Guder
mariye.
I am Isaac Bowman.”
“Good morning to you, too. I…I thought you were one of my
students.”
He indicated Ruby hiding behind him. “This is my daughter,
Ruby. I’ve come to enroll her in school.”
“I wasn’t aware I was getting a new student.”
“I wrote to my cousin, John Miller, the president of your
school board. He told me it wouldn’t be a problem. We didn’t expect to arrive
until next month, but we were able to get away sooner.”
“I see.” She looked flustered, and Isaac had to wonder why. It
was rare for Amish children to change schools, but it did happen.
“There is a school board meeting a week from Friday night,” she
said. “Perhaps John planned to inform me then.”
Isaac stepped forward and withdrew a thick envelope from his
pocket. She took another step back, as if afraid of him. His size often
intimidated people; he was used to it. He extended the papers. “These are Ruby’s
records from her old school outside of
Shipshewana,
Indiana.”
The young woman seemed to recover herself and took the folder
from him. “I am Lena Troyer, the schoolteacher here, as I’m sure you have
guessed.” She managed a tentative smile for his daughter. “What grade are you
in, Ruby?”
She held up four fingers.
Lena’s smile brightened. The sparkle in her green eyes
triggered a burst of interest that caught him by surprise. She was a very pretty
woman, and single.
He forced that fleeting notion from his mind and thought of his
wife. Ada Mae had been kind and loving as well as pretty. Her death lay heavy on
his conscience. He had no business showing interest in another woman.
Lena said, “Fourth grade? That’s excellent, Ruby. That means
I’ll have two boys and two girls in your class now. I’ll look at your records
later, but can you tell me what subjects you enjoy?”
Isaac said, “Ruby doesn’t speak. She hasn’t spoken since her
mother died three years ago.”
Lena’s eyes darkened with sympathy. “How sad for both of
you.”
She dropped to her knees, bringing her to Ruby’s level. “I’m
sorry to hear your mother has gone to heaven. I know you must miss her terribly.
My mother has gone to heaven, too. I know she is happy with God, but I miss her
every day.”
Ruby tipped her head to the side as if surprised by her
teacher’s admission.
Lena Troyer understood his daughter’s grief. Isaac studied her
with growing respect.
Rising to her feet, Lena said, “You’re in luck, Ruby. Today
we’re having a field trip. We are going into the woods to collect nuts from the
shagbark hickory trees. Does that sound like fun?”
To Isaac’s amazement, Ruby nodded vigorously. He glanced at her
new shoes and hoped she wouldn’t have to walk far.
Lena folded her arms tightly across her middle as she faced
him. “Ruby will be fine with us. I’ll make sure the children understand that she
doesn’t speak and that she isn’t to be treated differently because of it. She
will be making friends in no time. I’ll be happy to give you a report of her
progress in a few days.”
“I will stay today and see for myself how she does.”
Lena pondered his statement and then nodded. “That will be
fine. Excuse me, I must go and ring the bell.”
He moved to the back of the room and sat down on a wooden
bench. Ruby sat beside him. The door opened and the boys walked in together and
took their seats on one side of the room. Next, groups of girls filed in. Their
giggling stopped when they spotted him. They walked meekly to their desks,
casting frequent looks in his direction. Lena went to the front of the room.
“Good morning, children.”
