Katie's Journey to Love (13 page)

Panic hit, and Ben's thoughts swirled. Questions whipped through his mind. Had the police been following Rogge? Had they watched their meeting and the transfer of the package? Were they going to arrest him? Had they already captured Rogge? Had someone turned them in?

Rogge was getting sloppy. He should have had the sense to see trouble was coming. A lucrative business like the two of them were
running would eventually attract the attention of other users, rival drug dealers, and even people on the street. And just because he was Amish didn't mean he would avoid prosecution or jail. In fact, being Amish might even make the situation worse since they were known to be God-fearing people who lived quietly and honestly.

The flashing lights came closer and closer. Ben held his breath and tried to move the buggy further off the road without coming to a complete stop or getting stuck. Buggies moved slowly enough at their natural speed that they didn't normally pull off the road and stop like the
Englisha
vehicles had to when emergency vehicles went by.

With his buggy wheels bouncing on the lip of a ditch, the police cruiser roared past. Ben's shoulders relaxed as he took a slow, deep breath. Whew! See, Ben, that's all there was to it. No one knows anything. You're okay. No one's after you. He took another deep breath. Still, it was a close call, and his stomach was tied in knots. He was still going to quit. Rogge would just have to find a way to deal with it. Ben decided to consider this a warning to spur him on in case he wavered in the weeks ahead. Getting caught would do so much damage to his family, to him, and to his future. The risk was too great.

Ben slapped the reins gently against Longstreet's back, and they moved quickly through the night. Ben wanted to get this job over with. Soon this life would be behind him.

Chapter Thirteen

Katie looked out the kitchen window as she washed the supper dishes. Tomorrow was Sunday already, and neither
Mamm
nor Jesse had spoken a word to her about last Wednesday evening, Ben Stoll, or going to Europe.
Mamm
hadn't even shared Jesse's reaction to Katie's news. Both of them must have decided to ignore the problem for the moment. Perhaps their focus was on more immediate troubles. Mabel was still stalking around with looks of either defiance or distress on her face. Katie hadn't mentioned her suspicions about Mabel and Mose because they were just that…suspicions. She might be wrong about that situation.

Tonight Mabel had been assigned by
Mamm
to help Katie with the dishes. The girl had turned up her nose at first, but she hadn't verbally complained. The rest of the family was in the living room, and from the sounds of the voices rising and falling, they were having a
gut
time together. Things weren't going so well between her and Mabel though.

The tension with Mabel had to be faced, Katie figured, so
Mamm
was trying to force a peace between them. Jesse had likely put
Mamm
up to it, as she couldn't imagine
Mamm
having the courage to push Mabel this far on her own. Correcting Mabel was one thing, but assigning her the task of drying dishes for Katie was another. From her tense posture, Mabel didn't like this in the least. Jesse must have given her a stern talking-to since she was doing the job.

Katie stole a glance at Mabel's face. Thunder was written on it. Since Katie was the older of the two, she figured it was on her shoulders to make the first friendly move. She smiled and asked, “Did you have a
gut
day working with
Mamm
?”

Mabel stared out the window and didn't answer.

Katie tried again. “Supper was quite delicious, and I wouldn't be surprised if you made it. It didn't taste like
Mamm
's cooking.”

Mabel glared at Katie. “What were you expecting? That you'd starve when you arrived here? I've been running this household since
Mamm
died.”

Katie kept a smile on her face. “I would say you did a very
gut
job.”

Mabel gave Katie another hard look. “What makes you so sweet all of a sudden? Are you up to something? Or are you just gloating because I have to wipe dishes for you?”

Katie hesitated. She wasn't up to anything other than trying to cooperate with
Mamm
's peacemaking efforts.

“So you
are
up to something.” Mabel stopped wiping the bowl in her hand and looked piercingly into Katie's face.

Katie's mind raced. If she didn't say something quickly, Mabel would grow more suspicious. Perhaps honesty would be the best option. “I'm just trying to help out
Mamm
. She wants the two of us to get along.”

Mabel huffed. “It would have been much easier if
Daett
had
listened to us and married Ruth. Then none of us would be going through this painful time.”

Katie winced. “I'm sorry, but I disagree with you. I wanted
Mamm
to marry Jesse.”

Thunder filled Mabel's face again. “Of course you would want that. You and your
mamm
were nobodies in the community until
Daett
came along to rescue both of you. Now you think that your standing will change because you're part of our family. Only it won't because I'll make sure it doesn't. No Amish boy will ever ask you home on a Sunday night, Katie. There's not a chance in the world. I promise you that.”

Katie stood still, shocked at Mabel's virulence.

A gleeful smile spread across Mabel's face.

Clearly she was taking the silence to mean her arrow had struck home. Katie forced herself to speak. “You don't know everything there is to know about me, Mabel. There are lots of things about my life you know nothing about.”

“Like what?” Mabel shot back. “That your
Mamm
owned five acres before she married my
daett
, and now she owns more than a hundred? That you were as poor as two church mice, but now you have plans to cut into our inheritance? That you once owned two cows, and now you have a full herd? Are those the parts of you I don't know anything about?”

Katie swallowed hard as sudden tears stung her eyes. Mabel was more cruel than she'd thought possible. And it didn't help that her words were true, though not in the way Mabel meant.

“I don't want your
daett
's money,” Katie said firmly even as a feeling of sorrow swept over her. She'd just doomed any chance of having the funds to go to Europe. Now she couldn't accept an offer of help from Jesse—even if he were willing to finance part of the trip—and he probably wouldn't be.

“That's easy enough for you to
say
,” Mabel snapped. “I guess we'll just have to wait and see how much of a burden you and your
mamm
are going to be to us.”

Katie kept her voice low. “You shouldn't think so high and mighty of yourself.
Mamm
apparently is
gut
enough for your
daett
. He asked her to be his
frau
. And you didn't see anyone in the community stopping your
daett
.”

Mabel looked away without saying anything.

“I'm sorry,” Katie said a few moments later. “I guess your words hurt more than I thought they would so I responded in anger. The truth is that I had hoped your
daett
would help us out. And he has. He loves
Mamm
, and everyone can see that
Mamm
loves him. I think that's
wunderbah
.”

Mabel put the bowl down and picked up a pan to dry.

Katie continued. “And yes, there is something I was hoping your
daett
might help me with. It just came up this week. But since you're worried about your inheritance, I won't ask for his help. I'll ask for his permission, but that's all. Any funds needed I'll earn and save myself.”

Anger gathered in Mabel's face. “I knew you were up to something. Are you going to tell me or not? What is it? A new dress to wear with your Mennonite friends?”

The pain was stinging deeper, Katie thought. Soon she might burst into tears like a little girl who'd dropped her ice-cream cone. How in the world was she going to live with Mabel in the same house with these kinds of insults and thoughts constantly being hurled her way?

“Can you even afford the soap to wash your clothes?” Mabel dug deeper. “I always thought I smelled something strange on Sundays when you or your
mamm
walked past us.”

Why is this girl so cruel? Katie wondered. Mabel seemed almost driven to be vindictive. Katie gathered her emotions
together before meeting Mabel's mocking eyes. “Mabel, I've been invited on a trip to Europe. And you're right, the invitation did come from my Mennonite friends. We would be gone for three weeks. The plan is to tour sites in Switzerland where the Mennonite and Amish faiths began.”

Mabel blinked hard as surprise filled her eyes. “I don't believe a word you're saying.”

Katie shrugged. “That's okay. It's the truth. I told
Mamm
about it on Wednesday night, and I'm sure she's talked to your
daett
about it by now.”

“And you expect him to give you the money?” Mabel's eyes blazed again.

“No. And especially not now. I wouldn't want to dip into your inheritance.”

“I should say not! What nerve you have!”

Katie took a deep breath. “I don't want your
daett
's money, Mabel. All I want from him is his permission to go.”

“Then you're not going to Europe,” Mabel said. “
Daett
won't allow it.”

Katie shrugged. “I guess we'll just have to see what he says then.”

Mabel went back to wiping the dishes, but soon the cutting words began again. “I imagine you have lots of wild dreams floating around your head, Katie. But none of them will ever see the light of day. You probably thought you could fulfill them now that you managed to get my
daett
to marry your
mamm
, but it's not going to happen. Not ever, Katie.” Mabel paused. “
Never!
”

Katie scraped a plate clean before she slid it into the water. “Why do you hate us so much, Mabel?”

“I don't hate anybody,” Mabel said. “It's not Christian. I just don't like my family being disturbed by low-down people who want to better themselves at our expense.”

Katie glanced at Mabel. “And how are
Mamm
and I disturbing
your life—other than the obvious, such as moving in, which would have happened when your
daett
married anyone? Do you really believe
Mamm
and I are such low creatures who are far beneath your station in life?”

“You don't have to use such fancy
Englisha
language,” Mabel said. “It's not going to change my opinion of you or your
mamm
.”

Katie persisted. “I'm not, Mabel. And I would like to know. Do you really think so highly of yourself and so low of us? And I didn't have to tell you about the Europe trip. I chose to share that with you.”

Mabel sniffed. “It's hard to explain how I feel so you'd understand.”

“Maybe we should start from here and try to understand each other better,” Katie ventured.

Mabel let out a bitter laugh. “I don't want to know either of you better. I already know enough and plenty.”

Should she attempt an appeal to Mabel's sensibilities? Katie wondered. Tell her how uncomfortable it was living with someone who held something against her that she didn't have anything to do with? Before she could try, Mabel spoke up.

“Neither of you realize how miserable you're making my life.”

“Oh?” Katie turned to face Mabel. “How is that? What do you think we're trying to do to you?”

“You don't have to try to do anything. You just do it.” Mabel wiped the dishes furiously.

The girl's anger is so deep, Katie thought. What was it based on? What caused it? Maybe she should tell Mabel she knew about Mose? Perhaps then Mabel would know that she'd kept quiet, and that would help the girl trust her. Surely she'd know she hadn't gone racing to Jesse with the information. But Katie decided that if she said something, it might make the stress with Mabel even worse and really blow any chance of a
gut
relationship.
And there was that little chance that she was wrong about Mose and Mabel.
Nee
…she would wait.

Mabel cleared her throat. “Okay, I'll tell you
one
of the reasons. But I'm not going to expect any help from you.”

“Okay, Mabel.” Katie waited.

“It's the
rumspringa
thing,” Mabel said. “Everyone knows how your
mamm
feels about that subject. She never let you participate, so I'm worried she's going to persuade
Daett
to keep me home.”

And make you different or weird to the other kids like I was, Katie almost said aloud. But Mabel was doing a
gut
enough job reminding her of the facts, so there was no sense in adding to her efforts. “But your
daett
isn't like that. I haven't heard him say anything about not allowing you to participate.”