A Sister's Hope (29 page)

“Can you stay and visit all day, Poppy?” Anna gazed up at Carl with a look of adoration.

“I’d like to, Anna, but I have an appointment this afternoon.”

Anna’s lower lip protruded. “You’re goin’ home?”

He shook his head. “I’m going to see about renting a house in Berlin.”

“Why would you need to rent a house if you’re only here for a visit?” Grace asked.

“I’m thinking about moving here so I can be closer to Anna.”

Grace’s hands turned cold and clammy. Things were complicated enough in her life; she didn’t need Carl moving to Holmes County and complicating them further.

“If you move to Berlin, I can see you all the time,” Anna said excitedly. “Berlin’s not far from here. Right, Mama?”

Grace opened her mouth to respond, but Daniel’s shrill cry halted her words. “I need to tend to the baby,” she said, looking at Carl.

“I didn’t realize you had a baby.”

“His name’s Daniel, and he’s my little brother,” Anna answered for Grace. “Daniel still cries and wets his
windle
a lot.”

Carl quirked an eyebrow as he looked back at Grace.

“Windle means diapers,” she explained.

“Oh, I see.”

Grace stood and held out her hand to Anna. “Why don’t you come upstairs with me while I see about Daniel?”

Anna shook her head. “I wanna stay here with Poppy.”

Grace struggled with the need to tend Daniel or remain in the living room.
What if Carl takes Anna while I’m upstairs? He has a car. He could get away quickly, and there wouldn’t be a thing I could do about it.

As if Carl could read her mind, he smiled and said, “Anna will be fine; I promise.”

Daniel let out another ear-piercing scream, and Grace bolted for the stairs. She’d only gotten halfway up when someone knocked on the front door. Turning back around, she went to see who it was.

Rosemary lifted her hand to knock on Grace’s door for the third time, when the door suddenly swung open. Grace stood there with a panicked expression on her face.

“Is everything all right?” Rosemary asked, feeling immediate concern.

Grace touched her flushed cheeks. “Daniel’s crying, and I need to go to him. But I’ve got company in the living room.”

“Would you like me to entertain your company while you take care of Daniel?”

“I’d appreciate that.” Grace led Rosemary into the living room, where a middle-aged man sat on the sofa with Anna in his lap. “Carl, this is my aunt Rosemary.” She looked at Rosemary then nodded at Carl. “This is Anna’s grandfather, Carl Davis.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rosemary and Carl said in unison.

Daniel’s howling increased, and Grace excused herself, leaving Rosemary alone with Carl and Anna. She took a seat in the chair opposite them.

“Do you live around here?” Carl asked.

“I’m Roman Hostettler’s sister. I grew up in Holmes County but moved away when I was a young woman. I married an English man,
and we moved to Idaho.” She paused a moment to see if he would comment, but when he said nothing, she continued. “My husband died several months ago, so I came home to see my family.”

“So you’re just here for a visit?”

“No, I’ve recently purchased a house nearby. Where are you from?”

“I’ve been living in Nevada for the last several years, and I’m also widowed.”

“Poppy came here to see me,” Anna put in.

Rosemary smiled at the exuberance she saw on the child’s face. Anna was obviously happy to see her English grandfather.

“Anna’s mother was married to my son, Wade, at one time,” Carl said. “Wade was killed in a car accident when Anna was a baby.”

“Yes, I know about that.”

Carl looked like he was about to say something more when Grace returned to the room, carrying Daniel.

“Can I hold him?” Rosemary asked.

Grace nodded and handed the little boy to Rosemary.

Rosemary rubbed her chin along the top of Daniel’s downy head as she breathed in the sweet smell of him. Oh, how she wished she could have had more than one child, but she was grateful God had given her Ken.

“I hate to cut this visit short,” Carl said looking at his watch, “but I’m supposed to meet a Realtor in Berlin in half an hour, and I don’t want to be late.” He placed Anna on the sofa and stood.

With a panicked expression, Anna grabbed his hand. “Please, Poppy, don’t go away again!”

He bent down and gave her a hug. “I’m going to look at a house, but I’ll be back to see you soon.”

“You promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

Anna clung to Carl’s hand as she walked him to the door. Grace followed.

When Grace and Anna returned to the living room, Grace nodded at Anna and said, “Why don’t you take Daniel to the kitchen and see
if you can find some cookies for the two of you?”

“I don’t want any cookies. I want Poppy,” Anna said tearfully.

“He said he’d come back soon.”

Anna sniffed and swiped at her tearstained cheeks. “What if he doesn’t? What if he goes away like he did before?”

Feeling the need to offer Grace some support, Rosemary jumped in. “Anna, your grandfather said he was going to look at a house to rent in Berlin. If he wasn’t going to stay awhile, do you think he would do that?”

“I. . .I guess not.”

Rosemary set Daniel on the floor and pulled Anna into her arms. “Your grandpa will be back soon, just like he promised.” She gave the child’s back a little pat. “Now take your brother into the kitchen like your mama said and find some cookies to eat.”

“Okay.” Anna grabbed Daniel’s hand and scooted out of the room.

Grace released an audible sigh and collapsed onto the sofa.

Rosemary took a seat beside her. “You’re not happy about Anna’s grandpa coming to Holmes County, are you?”

Grace’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m afraid he might try to take her again.”

“Would he be renting a house in Berlin if kidnapping was on his mind?”

“I. . .I guess not.”

“I think Carl Davis has plans to stay in Holmes County so he can be closer to Anna.” Rosemary took Grace’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “The best thing you can do is try to relax and leave this in God’s hands.”

“It won’t be easy,” Grace said with a slow nod, “but I’ll try.”

Martha left Spector’s store in Berlin, where she had gone to buy material for a new dress, and headed across the parking lot to the hitching rail. She’d only taken a few steps, when she halted. Her horse and buggy were missing!

“What in all the world?” She gritted her teeth and tried to think. She was sure she’d tied her horse near the end of the hitching rail.

She looked around helplessly, but the horse and buggy were nowhere in sight. Could this be another attack or just a prank some kids had decided to play? Were other buggies missing, or had only hers been targeted?

With heart pounding and palms sweaty, Martha ran around to the front of the building, calling her horse’s name. No sign of Gid or the buggy, either. She looked up and down the main street but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Should I call the sheriff or maybe Aunt Rosemary? Yes, I’ll use the phone at Spector’s; Aunt Rosemary will know what to do.

Martha dashed back to Spector’s and had just reached the parking lot when she spotted Luke and John getting out of John’s SUV. Luke waved at her, and as the two men started across the parking lot, Martha rushed up to them. “My horse and buggy are missing!”

Luke looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “How could they be missing?”

“I don’t know, but they are.” Martha pointed across the parking lot. “I tied Gid to the hitching rail before I went into Spector’s. When I came out again, Gid and my buggy were gone.”

“Maybe you didn’t tie the horse securely enough,” John said.

“Yes, I did; I’m sure of it.”

“Then he probably got restless and broke loose,” John said.

“Or else someone untied the horse and let him go free,” Luke put in. “That has been known to happen on occasion.”

“What am I going to do?” Martha transferred her package from one hand to the other. “My horse could be most anywhere by now.”

“If he broke free and no one’s driving him, then he’s probably headed for home,” Luke said.

Hope welled in Martha’s chest. “Do you think so?”

“Makes sense to me.”

“I agree with Luke,” John said with a nod. “Let’s get in my rig and look for your horse and buggy.”

T
here they are, Luke! There’s my horse and buggy!” Martha shouted as they headed out of Berlin in John’s SUV.

“Can you tell if there’s a driver in the buggy?” John asked, craning his neck.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Luke hollered.

Martha’s heart pounded like a blacksmith’s anvil. Gid ran wild, and the buggy swayed precariously. What if her horse veered into oncoming traffic and caused an accident? What if—

“Oh no, the buggy’s going over!” Luke shouted.

Martha gasped as she watched her buggy topple onto its side. Gid continued to trot, dragging the buggy along.

John pulled his rig to the side of the road. They all jumped out and ran down the road after the runaway horse and buggy. About fifty feet beyond where the buggy had fallen over, Luke grabbed the horse’s reins and got him stopped.

“Is Gid hurt?” Martha panted as she caught up to them.

“Doesn’t seem to be,” John said. “But I don’t know about your buggy.”

“Let’s get it up and assess the damage.” Luke handed the reins to Martha, and he and John set the buggy upright.

Martha breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the only real damage was to the mirrors and blinkers on the right side, which had both been smashed.

“The rig should be okay to drive if you think you’re up to driving it,”
John said to Martha.

She nodded slowly, although her hands shook so badly she wasn’t sure she could hold the reins.

“I’ll ride with Martha and drive the horse.” Luke turned to John and said, “If you don’t mind following so you can give me a ride back to your shop, that is.”

John nodded. “Sure. No problem.”

Martha smiled. “I appreciate you both helping me get home.”

Roman was heading up to the house to see if Judith had supper started, when he spotted Martha’s horse and buggy pulling into the yard. To his surprise, Luke was in the driver’s seat, and Martha sat beside him. The horse was lathered up, and he noticed that the mirror and right blinker on the buggy had been smashed.