The Hope of Refuge (11 page)

Lori nodded, thanking the woman half a dozen times.

Cara chuckled. “Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

They made their way back to Cara’s chair in the auction building. Unlike when they’d left, several chairs were empty now, as were the quilt racks.

“We got hot, delicious food, so this is a pretty good day, huh, Mom?”

Wishing she could promise tomorrow would also be like this, Cara nodded. “Yes, it is.” But Emma Riehl’s quilt had been purchased, and any chance she had to spot which Amish woman might be Emma was gone with it.

While they ate and drank, the auctioneer unfolded a letter-size piece of paper. “This is a contract from a woman who is willing to clean someone’s house one day a week for three months. Who’ll start the bidding?”

When there was no response, a burly man held up a business card and hollered, “I’m willing to bid for an Amish woman to clean house, cook, and help take care of my wife five days a week until she’s on her feet again. Any takers?”

There was a lot of murmuring and jokes, but no one volunteered.

When the burly man stood, it was clear he wasn’t Amish. “We could probably get by on someone coming only four hours a day. We’d pay forty dollars each time. Surely there’s someone.”

Two women behind Cara agreed the pay wasn’t bad but said they couldn’t find that kind of time to take on another job. She desperately wanted to raise her hand, but if she stood, the auctioneer would ask for her name and where she lived. Every employer wanted an address, and the closeness of this community meant they’d know if she lied. Just from spending the afternoon watching, she had decided that everyone here knew each other. If she could talk to this man alone, she might get away with a lie.

Okay I’ll raise my offer. Four hours a day at fifty dollars. I’ll pay in cash at the end of each workday.” The man searched the room. “Come on. I’m like the rest of you, barely eking out a living, and that’s good money.”

No one raised a hand. Cara began to wonder if there were hidden reasons no one volunteered.

He tossed his business card on a nearby table. “If anyone changes their mind, that has my phone number and address.”

Cara stared at the card, longing to snatch it up. All she needed was one break. If she could get on her feet without going outside the law, she could apply to the government for help—if she still needed it. And stop living in fear of losing Lori.

She felt someone watching her. Turning, she saw Simeon’s brother staring at her. Her nerves shot pinpricks of heat through her. She’d bet he wanted to question her, and she knew without being told that he had the power to ruin her fresh start. Clearly she had to get out of here.

“Let’s go.” Cara slid the strap to Lori’s backpack over her shoulder and gathered their trash.

“I still got half a cup of juice left. Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah, now come on.” But Cara was the one who didn’t budge. The man’s card lay on the table, begging for her to grab it.

An image floated through her mind again.

Her father tapped the hand-drawn map.
“See where I’ve drawn this horse and buggy? That’s where you’re going It’s where your mother never should have left. It did things to her… to us.”

“I’m going to Levina’s?”

Her father stared hard at her before he emptied the glass of its golden drink.
“You know about her?”

“I met her.”

He ordered another drink and then another before he stood and led her to a bench seat elsewhere in the station.
“Stay put, Cara Atwater, right here, and don’t you budge. Emma will come get you.”

Cara closed her eyes, trying to ward off the pain of being abandoned. Twice. Her father had left. And Emma Riehl never showed.

“You okay Mom?”

She opened her eyes and forced another smile. “Sure, Lorabean.” When she looked up, she met Simeon’s brothers eyes. Defiance welled, and she held his gaze. She wasn’t leaving, not yet. The man could just choke on his stinginess over his moldy hay and half-fallen barn, but she wasn’t running.

Hiding? Yes. Running? Not yet. Not until she had answers.

Simeon hurried up to him, talking and stealing his attention.

The crowds pressed in around the table where the card lay. “Stay close and keep quiet.” Cara eased from her chair and melted into the crowd. She reached through the gaps between people and grabbed the card. No one seemed to feel her arms moving past theirs. “Let’s go.”

On her way out of the huge shop, she saw a counter where a makeshift kitchen had been set up. She paused, watching as a woman slid two hamburgers onto buns and added the fixings before she placed them in a white lunch bag and set them on the counter. Cara sidled up to the spot and snatched the bag. She slid it into the book bag without even Lori noticing what she was doing. But when she glanced up, she saw Simeon’s brother on the other side of the room, watching her. Resisting the urge to make a rude gesture, she ducked out the side entrance.

Cara tossed a pebble into the water. Lori sat on the creek bank, drawing in the mud with a stick. A piece of tarp from the barn lay on the ground under her, keeping her clothes dry after yesterday’s earth-soaking rain.

Homeless on Mother’s Day. What a joke. Since Simeon’s brother had walked into the barn yesterday she couldn’t even let Lori play with the puppies today like she wanted. From now until they found a place to live, she’d have to stay away from the barn until late at night. She’d looked for other outbuildings to sleep in, but they were too close to homes where people lived.

Year in and year out the longing to give Lori a sense of self-worth, to let her know she had someone who adored her, kept Cara trying. She’d come here wanting to find ties to her past, friends or family of her mother’s, but even if she did, would it make a difference for Lori?

Maybe getting out of New York only meant a chance for a clean break and a fresh start.

She played with the card the burly man had thrown on the table—Richard Howard on Runkles Road. Even though today was Sunday, she and Lori had gone to his place earlier. Lori would have to go to work with her, so she took her to the interview. After walking through most of Dry Lake while looking for Mast Road, she easily remembered how to get to that road. Once there, the man had led her into his wife’s bedroom for an interview. Ginny Howard had broken her femur and was in a hip cast. Her husband had used up all his sick leave at work to stay home with her. He was desperate for help, even if Cara wasn’t Amish, and wanted her to come work for him, but Ginny felt differently. She said if Cara put on some decent clothes, she might consider hiring her. Cara figured Mr. Howard must be more anxious for her to work out than his wife knew, or he wouldn’t have told her to come back tonight before bedtime if she got the right clothes.

He’d reminded her that he would pay fifty dollars in cash at the end of each workday. With a bit of luck and that money in her pocket, she might find a room to rent in someone’s home within a few days. Although she’d only be paid for four hours, she told him that if he hired her, she’d stay until he returned home from work each day. He was excited about that idea, but she hadn’t offered out of the kindness of her heart. She knew it’d be easier to work at his home all day than to get off near lunchtime and try to stay out of sight until it was safe to return to the barn.

On her way back from the Howards, Cara had scoped out some “decent” clothes hanging to dry in Simeon’s yard. She’d seen that woman who had given them food during the auction hanging the clothes on the line, and Cara would rather not take anything from her. If she snatched a few things and returned them later, would that be stealing? She’d have to wait until after dark.

Something in her ached to understand the connection between her mother and Emma Riehl. If this Emma was the same Emma who’d failed to come for her, why did she leave her at a bus station? What kind of person did that?

The longing to know was as deep and controlling as the desire to talk to her mom had been during those lonely nights in foster care.

As dusk settled over the place, she knew it was time to carry out her plan. “Come on, Lorabean.”

Lori stood, dusting off the backside of her dress. “If we had a fishing pole, I could catch us a fish, and we could cook it.”

Cara tucked the last bagel into the backpack. Like the two previous ones, it’d have to be soaked in water before being eaten, or they’d break a tooth. But those hamburgers she’d taken from the auction were delicious. She would have saved hers for Lori to eat today, but she was afraid it might spoil and make her daughter sick. “Do you really think so?”

“Yep.”

“Then I’ll have to get us a fishing pole.” She held out her hand for Lori, and they began following the creek bed. Going this way would keep them out of sight until dark. Then they could use the road. “So, what are we going to cook your catch in?”

“Maybe one of those grills the men in hats were cooking chicken on yesterday.”

Cara chuckled. “Those things must’ve held a hundred pounds of chicken.”

“Then I’ll have to catch a hundred pounds of fish.”

“I like the way you think, kiddo.”

“Mom? What are we gonna do now?”

“Borrow a few things, I think.” Leading Lori across the back field, she spotted Simeon’s brother’s house. She studied the dark, quiet place. After she snatched a dress, she’d get a few things from his house.

Disappointed in how much time it’d taken them to get here, she hoped the single line of laundry hadn’t been taken inside for the day. She continued on. Past the privacy bushes and trees, she saw Simeon’s house and the workshop. Gauging distance like she did in New York, she guessed the houses sat about two north-south city blocks apart—about five hundred feet. Inside New York thousands of people would live between these two houses, yet here no other houses were in sight.

Near a tree grove a rock jutted from the ground. She led Lori in that direction. “I need you to stay on this rock until I get back, okay?”

“I guess so.”

“There’s no guessing. You wait right here, and don’t budge until I come back for you.”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

As she placed her daughter on the rock, Lori crossed her heart with her finger.

Cara eased around the perimeter of the property until she could see the clothesline. The same outfits still hung on the line. It seemed none had been added or removed. She focused on the row of dresses, two of which looked like they might fit. She moved across the yard slowly, hiding in the shadows and noticing everything she could. A child’s red wagon lay in the gutter near the street. A reel mower sat under a nearby tree. The house buzzed with the voices of what had to be dozens of people. The driveway had six buggies, all attached to horses. She suspected busyness worked better for thievery. When people were distracted, they often didn’t see right where they looked.

She snatched a dress and moved back into the shadows. No one seemed to notice.

Her next plan made her more nervous. Simeon had said that his brother lived alone and that he’d be at his Daed’s house tonight. Simeon had also said this place was never locked. As long as Simeon’s brother didn’t return unexpectedly, she should be home free.

After snaking her way across the field and through his privacy bushes, she stood on the man’s porch. The front door was open, leaving only the screen door. She tiptoed inside, looking for the refrigerator. It took just a few seconds to spot it.

When she opened it, she couldn’t believe her eyes. The thing was absolutely packed with food. She grabbed the first container she could, set it on the counter, and opened the lid just to make sure it wasn’t filled with raw meat. The aroma of grilled chicken filled her nostrils. Perfect. She took a can of soda and a few napkins. Stuffing them inside the dress, she scanned the dark room—a bathroom, a living room, and a bedroom. Once inside the bedroom, she looked through a chest of drawers and discovered several flashlights. She took one and went to the closet. At the bottom of a stack of quilts, she grabbed what looked like an old store-bought blanket.

“Hey, Ephraim,” a man yelled, startling her. “You’re not leaving for the night, are you?”

With her arms full, she hurried out the back door. Two men stood in the middle of the field between the two houses, talking. She scurried back to the rock, thrilled at the treasures in her arms, her heart pounding with adrenaline.

“Hey, Lorabean, guess what I have?” She held up the clear container.

“Food.” She clapped her hands.

Cara opened it. “All the grilled chicken a girl can eat. We need to walk and eat at the same time, though, or it’ll get too late for me to go on that interview.” Cara pulled the dress on over her head and peeled out of her jeans. “I saw a little red wagon in a ditch. I’ll spread this blanket in the bottom of it, and you can ride while you eat. Deal?”

“We’re gonna steal?”

“No, honey. We’ll bring it back before anyone even knows we borrowed it.”

Lori licked her fingers. “This is delicious. Want some?”

“Just a bite.” Her stomach ached with hunger, and she could’ve eaten the whole container by herself, but she’d settle for the bit of meat on a chicken wing. “You can have four legs, but after that, we’ll seal the container tight and anchor it in the creek. That’ll keep the rest cool enough so it won’t spoil.” She tucked her jeans in the backpack. “Come on.”