A Sister's Secret (27 page)

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“He was late to work again, and I’m getting tired of it. That fellow’s been a thorn in my side for some time—coming in late to work, arguing with me about how things should be done. I’m even more convinced that he’s been smoking.”

Judith’s eyes widened. “He’s always seemed like such a nice young man.”

“Looks can be deceiving.” He frowned. “Makes me wonder if that
ab im kopp
might be the one who broke into our house and my shop. That crazy fellow’s certainly had opportunity.”

“Ach, Roman, surely not.”

“Luke hasn’t joined the church yet, and from what I’ve heard, he’s been seen with a rowdy bunch of English fellows. You never know what kind of pranks he might decide to play.”

Judith slowly shook her head. “The things that were done here were more than pranks, and what reason would he have for singling us out?”

He shrugged. “Can’t say for sure, but it could have to do with his broken relationship with Ruth, or he might be nursing a grudge against me because we’ve butted heads so many times. With me firing him just now, he may have decided to retaliate by cutting your clothesline.”

She sank into a chair and released a deep moan. “May the Lord help us all.”

Chapter 29

“I’m glad you were free to go shopping with me and Anna this morning,” Grace said to Martha as they drove their buggy toward Berlin. “It’s a nice clear day, and I thought it would be good for us to get some fresh air and time together.” She glanced over her shoulder at Anna, asleep on the backseat with her faceless doll in her hand. “She’s not completely adjusted, but things are getting better between me and my daughter.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“She likes the doll I made her when she was a
boppli.
Hardly lets it out of her sight.”

Martha smiled. “Once Cleon gets back, you’ll be a real family.”

Grace swallowed back the wave of nausea that hit her unexpectedly. It wasn’t good for her to feel this way—not when she had so much to do and was trying hard to be a good mother while she put her faith in God to make things better.

“Are you okay?” Martha reached across the seat and touched Grace’s arm. “You look kind of pale, and your hands are shaking.”

“I’m all right. Just a bit tired is all.”

“Want me take over driving?”

Grace shook her head. “I’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

Grace opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get a word out, something went
splat
against the front window.

“What was that?” Martha leaned forward and squinted at the red blob.

“Looks like a tomato.”

Splat! Splat!
Two more hit the buggy.

“
Ich kann sell net geh
—I cannot tolerate that.” Martha pointed to the shoulder of the road. “Would you please pull over?”

“What for?”

“We need to see if we can find out who threw those tomatoes.”

“It’s probably just some kids fooling around.”

“They shouldn’t be hiding in the woods, throwing things at buggies. It could cause an accident.”

Grace pulled back on the reins and guided the horse to the side of the road, knowing if she didn’t stop, she would never hear the end of it. She looked around. “I don’t see anyone in the woods, do you?”

“Over there!” Martha pointed to a stand of trees on the opposite side of the road. “I thought I saw the back of some fellow’s head bobbing in and out between those trees.”

Grace craned her neck. “I don’t see anyone.”

“He ducked behind that tree.”

“What’d he look like?”

“I’m not sure. It looked like he was wearing a baseball cap.” Martha opened the door on her side of the buggy.

“Where are you going?”

“Across the road to see what’s up.”

Grace reached across the seat and grabbed her sister’s arm. “Are you kidding? There could be more than one person in those woods, and you might get hurt.”

“I just want to talk to them.”

“Do you really think anyone mean enough to throw tomatoes at an Amish buggy is going to listen to you?”

“They might.” Martha compressed her lips as she frowned. “You don’t suppose whoever threw that brick through our kitchen window and broke into the house and Dad’s shop could be responsible for throwing those tomatoes, do you?”

Grace glanced over her shoulder and was relieved to see that Anna was still asleep. She didn’t think it would be good for her daughter to hear this conversation. It might frighten her. “I doubt it could be the same person, but just in case, we’re not going to put ourselves in any danger by going into the woods.” She gathered up the reins and got the horse moving again. “We need to get our shopping done so we can help Mom do some cleaning.”

Martha nodded. “Sure hope Ruth doesn’t have any trouble on her way home from work this afternoon.”

Grace shook her head. “I’m sure whoever threw those tomatoes will be long gone by then.”

***

For the rest of the morning, Roman had trouble getting any work done. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d fired Luke or about the clothesline that had been cut in their yard. What if he’d been wrong about rowdy Englishers committing the break-ins? What if Luke had done all those things because he was angry with Roman?

He was also worried about Judith, who had seemed extremely agitated after the clothesline incident. When they’d gotten the laundry picked up and the line put back in place, she’d gone to the cellar to wash everything again. Roman could tell by the droop of her shoulders and her wrinkled forehead that she was deeply troubled.

“Wish there was something I could do to make things better for everyone,” he mumbled as he brushed a coat of stain on a chair. It wasn’t right that their lives were in such turmoil. He wondered if his prayers were getting through to God, and if they were, why wasn’t God answering?

Maybe I should pay a call on our bishop and see what he has to say about this. Jah, that’s what I need to do.

***

As Grace guided the horse and buggy over their graveled driveway, Martha spotted their mother out in the yard. “Look, Mom’s hanging out the wash. That makes no sense, because she was hanging it out when we left for town this morning.”

“Maybe she found some other things that needed to be washed,” Grace suggested as she halted the horse near the barn.

Anna sat up and yawned. “Are we home yet? I’m hungry.”

“Jah, we’re home,” her mother replied. “We’ll have lunch as soon as we get the groceries put away.”

“The horse needs to be put in the corral, too,” Martha added.

A short time later, Grace, Martha, and Anna headed for the house, but they stopped at the clothesline to speak with Mom.

“How come you’re still doing wash?” Martha asked. “I figured you’d be bringing in dry clothes by now, not hanging out wet ones.”

Mom frowned. “Someone cut the line. I found clothes all over the place.”

“That’s terrible! Who would do such a thing?”

Mom pointed to the ground. “I found some sunglasses nearby, and your daed thinks they were Luke’s.”

Grace stepped forward. “What’d they look like?”

“Metal-framed with dark lenses.”

“Gary has a pair of metal-framed sunglasses. He was wearing them the day the pressure cooker blew up.”

“So it could have been Gary rather than Luke who cut the line.” Martha frowned. “Someone threw tomatoes at our buggy on the way to Berlin. I wonder if it could have been—”

Mom motioned to Anna, who stood beside Grace with an anxious expression on her face. “Can we talk about this later?”

Grace nodded and took her daughter’s hand. “Let’s go into the house, Anna. You can help me make some sandwiches.”

“Can we have peanut butter and honey?”

“Jah, sure. We’ve got plenty of honey.”

“I’m going to check on my dogs, and then I’ll see about getting our lunch made,” Martha said as Grace and Anna headed up the path leading to their new house.

“Jah, okay.”

When Martha drew close to the barn, she heard yipping. It sounded like Fritz, only it wasn’t coming from the dog kennel Dad had finally finished. It seemed to be coming from the other side of the house.

Yip! Yip!
There it was again.

She hurried around the house and halted when she saw Fritz tied to a tree. The rope had been fastened around the dog’s neck and left front leg, so that it was pulled up under the animal. The poor dog’s water dish had been placed just out of his reach.

Martha let out a shriek and rushed to the animal’s side. “Oh, Fritz, you poor little thing. Who could have done this to you?”

The dog whined pathetically, and Martha’s fingers trembled as she undid the knot and removed the rope. “Whoever did this has gone too far. Dad has got to notify the sheriff!”

***

Roman was about to put the CLOSED sign in his window and head up to the house for lunch when Martha rushed in holding Fritz in her arms. Her face was crimson and glistening with sweat. “What’s wrong, daughter?”

“It’s Fritz,” she panted. “I found him on the side of the house.”

“How’d he get there? I thought he was in the kennel with the other dogs.”

“All the dogs were in the kennel when Grace, Anna, and I left for town this morning, but when I found Fritz just now, he was tied to a tree, with one leg held up.” She paused and gulped in some air. “A watering dish had been placed just out of his reach.”

Roman compressed his lips as he shook his head. “Cuttin’ your mamm’s clothesline is one thing, but cruelty to an animal is going too far.”

Hope welled in Martha’s soul. “Are you going to notify the sheriff?”

He shook his head. “We have no proof who did it, and even if we did—”

“As I’m sure you know, Grace thinks that English reporter might be trying to get even with her for breaking up with him before she married Anna’s daed.”

He drew in a quick breath and released it with a huff. “I think she’s wrong; I suspect it could be Luke.”

“But Luke seems so nice. I can’t imagine him doing anything that mean.” Martha looked down at the trembling animal in her arms. “What reason would he have for hurting one of my dogs or for doing any of the other things?”

“You know that Luke and I have butted heads several times. He doesn’t like to be told what to do, and when I fired him this morning, he might have been mad enough to get even.”

“You ... you fired him?”

Roman nodded. “I hate to think it could be one of our own, but your mamm did find some sunglasses this morning that looked like Luke’s.”

“Grace said the reporter had a pair of sunglasses that fit the description of the ones Mom found.”

Roman shrugged. “Maybe so, but remember that day when the brick was thrown through the kitchen window and you discovered Luke’s hat on the ground near the barn?”

She nodded.

“Doesn’t that make him look like he could be guilty?”

“I suppose it does, but if Luke’s running with that bunch of rowdy English fellows Ruth and I saw him in town with one day, maybe he thinks playing a few pranks is fun.”

Roman’s eyebrows drew together. “There’s nothing fun about vandalizing someone’s property, stealing tools from their shop, or hurting their animals.”

Martha rubbed Fritz’s silky ear. “He’s not really hurt. Just scared a bit—that’s all.”

He grunted. “Jah, well, the critter could have been hurt if you hadn’t found him when you did.”

“That’s true, and I am upset about what happened. Still, I’m not convinced that Luke’s the one who did it.”

“We can’t solve this problem right now, so why don’t you put Fritz back in the kennel with the other dogs, and then we’ll go up to the house for some lunch. If Luke shows up to get his sunglasses and I’m able to question him, it might give me a clue as to what’s going on. If not, then I may go over to his place and have a little talk with him.”

Chapter 30

Martha paced in front of her dog kennels, stopping every couple of minutes to watch Heidi and her remaining three pups frolic on the concrete floor inside the chain-link fence. She had placed another ad in a couple of newspapers, including
The Budget,
hoping to sell the rest of them. So far she’d sold one female pup to Ray and Donna Larson, and a male to an Amish man who lived near Sugarcreek. Flo, the female beagle, hadn’t become pregnant yet, but Martha hoped that would happen soon.

Maybe I should go over to the Larsons’ after lunch and see how their puppy is doing. It would give me a chance to talk to Donna about the situation here and find out if she or Ray might have heard or seen anything suspicious.

“I invited the folks to lunch at my house,” Grace called from the barn doorway. “It’s ready now, so are you coming?”