The Hope of Refuge (14 page)

As he pulled to a stop, he saw a policeman holding Cara by the arm—or at least the woman he believed to be Cara. Handcuffs held Cara’s arms behind her back as her small body shook with sobs. The officer opened the door to the backseat of the patrol car.

“Don’t take my mom!” The little girl kept screaming the same thing over and over as a woman officer held on to her arm.

“Lori, you have to calm down,” the woman spoke firmly. Lori kicked at her, but the officer avoided being hit.

Ephraim jumped down from the carriage. “What’s going on here?”

The male officer turned to him. “Are this barn and land your property?”

“Ya.”

Lori couldn’t catch a solid breath, but her wails were haunting.

“Then you’re the one who called the police about a thief and trespasser?”

“No. Just let her go.”

“We can’t do that, sir. We need to investigate her for suspicion of child endangerment and neglect.”

Cara turned to him. “Please…” Tears brimmed. “Please help us.”

What a mess. If he did any more for her than just speak to the police, it was sure to open old wounds. People didn’t trust Malinda when she last visited, and they’d be angry that he’d stepped in to help Malinda’s daughter—someone they might have heard had been roaming the community, drunk and stealing from them.

She gazed into his eyes, silently pleading for him to help. He moved closer to her, wanting to ask so many questions. As he looked into her eyes, a moment passed between them. He knew she was not who she appeared to be—a worldly, troublemaking thief. He looked at the policeman. “This is all a mistake. The police never should have been called.” A flicker of recognition came to him. “You’re Roy McEver, right?”

The man nodded.

“Your father used to patrol this area before he retired. You rode with him some even as a kid. I’m Ephraim Mast. My Daed’s Abner.”

“Oh yeah, he’s one of the preachers. And I remember you. While I was here with Dad one time, you invited me to play ball.”

He’d taken quite a harassing from the other guys for inviting an Englischer to play. Ephraim nodded, feeling like he might get Cara out of this fix yet. “She’s not done anything to deserve handcuffs.”

“She confessed to stealing.”

Her honesty needed better timing.

Cara shook her head. “Only that dress, which I paid for, and a few items I borrowed from you. I swear it. Anything else that’s missing—especially money—wasn’t taken by me. You’ve got to believe me.”

“Nothing was taken that I wasn’t glad to give,” he assured the officer.

“She had cash on her. Nearly a hundred dollars. In tens.”

“I work for Mr. Howard, on Runkles Road. Ask him.”

“You could check her story out and let her go, right?” Ephraim asked. “I think you’ll find that someone else must have stolen whatever money or other stuff is missing from elsewhere.”

The man sighed. “It’s not that simple. I could let her go, but the girl has to come with us. This woman is homeless. We have to file a report and turn the case over to social services.”

A sinking feeling of just how deeply Ephraim was getting involved nagged at him. He couldn’t ask anyone in Dry Lake to let a stranger he couldn’t vouch for stay in their home. If he told them he needed their help to keep her from being arrested, they’d never take her in. Still… he couldn’t ignore her need for help—not and live with himself.

“She can stay at my place until she gets on her feet.”

“Are you saying you’ll take responsibility for the child’s care?”

Ephraim nodded.

Roy hesitated, but then he unlocked the cuffs and released Cara. “Ephraim, I’ll need your information. What’s your address?”

Lori pulled free from the policewoman’s grip and ran to her mother. She jumped into her arms. While Ephraim told Roy what he needed to know, Lori sobbed, clinging to her mother.

“Shh. It’s okay, Lorabean. Everything’s going to be okay.” Cara held her tight, looking pale and shaken while stroking her daughter’s hair.

But Ephraim knew everything wasn’t going to be okay. What would his father’s reaction be? He could only assume he was the one who called the police. His Daed wanted this drunken thief, as he called her, away from their community.

As the police cars pulled away, stress and strength drained from Cara. But even before she took in a breath of relief, suspicion about the man’s reasons for helping crashed in on her. Sure, she’d begged him, but why was he really doing this?

She’d split his lip last night, the evidence of it still clear on his face. Did he intend to pay her back? Whatever his motives, she couldn’t afford to defy the police. That would be a mistake Lori would have to pay for. Weighing her options, she tried to stop trembling.

He turned to face her. “You got things inside?”

His things, actually, and if he wanted them back so badly, she’d give them to him. She nodded, wondering if her legs would actually carry her. With Lori’s arms wrapped firmly around her neck, she walked inside and jerked on the door to the silo. It didn’t open. She tried to set Lori down, but her little girl started screaming, clearly afraid to be released.

Cara held her close, stroking her hair. “Shh. We’re fine now.”

He stepped forward, opened the silo door without any trouble, and grabbed a flashlight, an empty food container, and a blanket. “This it?”

He made no remark about it being his stuff. Everything they owned, including her change of clothes, was stuffed inside the backpack the policeman had left near the barn door. “And the little wagon that’s outside with the backpack.” Her words came out barely audible.

He motioned to the door. She went to the buggy, awkwardly climbing the high step with Lori in her arms. He placed the items in back, including the box of blankets and food, and then he went to the other side and got in. One slap of the reins against the horses back, and they were off.

She’d been in this spot before, needing serious help from a man, only that was long before Lori. Anger churned. She’d been running from Mike then too. If she hadn’t been in a similar predicament—desperate for help—there would have been no marriage and no Lori.

Feeling too many things at once, Cara rode quietly. Lori’s breathing caught and jerked uncontrollably every few seconds. Her tiny hands clung desperately to her mother.

When they came to the street the man lived on, he kept going. She glanced at him, wanting to know his plan, but she kept her mouth shut. He had too much power for her to question him, to chance getting into an argument.

A few minutes later he pulled into a narrow lane. Unease wrapped around her throat. The path seemed to go on forever, with pastures on both sides and no other homes nearby. When his house came into sight, she realized that he’d brought her in a back way.

He pulled into a small barn. After he jumped down, he came around to her side. If climbing in while holding Lori had been difficult, getting out was worse.

“Can I help you?”

Lori clung to her tighter, locking her feet around her.

“No, thank you.”

He backed away. Cara struggled to get out without falling as she toted Lori. Then she waited. Silently he unfastened the horse, hung the leather straps on a peg, opened a gate at the back of the building, and put the horse out to pasture.

“Let’s go in and get you settled.” He led the way to the door and opened it for them.

Still carrying Lori, Cara stepped into his home. The beige walls of the kitchen stood bleak and empty except for a lone clock. A small oak kitchen table looked sturdy and expensive, yet something about it made it seem hundreds of years old. Stacks of thick books sat here and there. Late-afternoon rays stretched across the wooden floors.

Weak and shaky, Cara pried Lori free of her and set her feet on the floor.

The man removed his straw hat and walked toward them. Lori screamed. Cara moved in front of her daughter, shielding her from the unknown.

He leaned in and hung his hat on a peg. “I was just putting my hat up.”

Feeling embarrassed and just as skittish as her daughter, Cara took a step back.

Bewilderment played across his face. “I won’t hurt you. Surely you know that.”

Cara didn’t know that, and she kept Lori behind her.

Looking uncomfortable in his own home, he stepped away from them. “Are you hungry?”

Cara shook her head. “You wrote the note telling us to leave?”

“Ya.”

“That means yes?”

He nodded.

“You bought us bus tickets to New York City. Why there?”

“Isn’t that your home?”

Her heart turned a flip. “Why would you say that?”

He stared at her as if asking a hundred questions. “My name’s Ephraim.”

“Yeah, I heard you tell the policeman.” She shifted Lori. “I’m Cara. This is my daughter, Lori.”

He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing for a moment. “There’s plenty of food in the refrigerator. Clean sheets and towels are in the bathroom closet.” He grabbed a set of matches off the counter. “When the sun goes down, you can light a kerosene lamp if you wish. Since you’ve been staying in a barn, I guess the lack of electricity won’t bother you much. I’d like us to talk, but that can wait until Lori is asleep. Or tomorrow if you’re too tired. In the meantime if you and your daughter can stay out of sight, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure, I guess so.”

“I just don’t need my family to know about you, not yet.”

She wondered who he was trying to kid. Himself maybe. He wouldn’t want
anyone
to know she was there. She’d read it in his eyes as the police left. She was trash, and he was an upstanding member of his community.

He drew a deep breath, looking unsure. Not at all like a heartless man. “Lori, do you like books? I’ve got a few children’s books in the storage room.”

Lori looked at her mom before nodding.

He disappeared into a room and returned within a minute carrying a small stack of books. “They’re quite worn but still just as good as the first time they were read. Books are funny that way.”

Lori eyed the stack and eased closer to him until he could place them in her hands.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome. Well, I guess that about covers it. I’ll sleep in the shop.” He started toward his hat but then headed for the door instead.

Lori flew toward the door and spread her arms out. “Don’t leave us!”

Looking baffled, he stared at the little girl. “You’re safe here.” He glanced to Cara as if it was his turn to beg for help. “She’s both afraid of me
and
afraid of me leaving?”

Cara shrugged, unwilling to try to voice all that her daughter must be feeling. Besides, it should be obvious that her emotions were irrational right now.

He eased into a chair, rubbing his forehead. “I can’t stay. I could be excommunicated.”

“What?” Cara asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. I shouldn’t have said my thoughts out loud.”

Lori moved to her mothers side. “Please, mister. Those policemen could come again.”

Cara knew it wouldn’t do either of them any good to try to explain why the police wouldn’t return, not to a panicked kid and not when social services would show up again soon.

He sighed. “Okay. I won’t go anywhere for now. Maybe Lori won’t feel so strongly about me leaving after she has time to calm down, because I have some chores I need to do a little later. But for now I’ll just be in the storage room. It’s right there.” He pointed to a door.

Clinging to Cara’s dress, Lori nodded. Ephraim left the room and shut the door. Cara melted onto the floor and snuggled with her daughter. What an embarrassing, unpredictable mess.

Disbelief rippled through Ada as she stared into her son’s eyes. “You want time away? From what? Why?”

Mahlon shrugged before turning his attention to the bowl of potato soup in front of him.

Ada passed him a glass of milk. “You’ve talked to Deborah about this?”

“Not yet.”

“We only have thirty-three days before we have to be out of here.”

“That’s more than a month, and it’ll only take one day to move.”

“Move to where? You haven’t even decided on a place. We need solid plans. Not procrastination.”