A Sister's Hope (6 page)

The bishop nudged Roman’s arm. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just been given a hefty dose of cod liver oil.”

“I’m fine. Just thinking about the past, is all.”

“How far back were you thinking?”

“Back to when Rosemary left home.”

“But she came back last year, and the two of you have made your peace. I don’t see why you’d be brooding about that now.”

Roman stretched his arms over his head then lowered them and reached around to rub the small of his back. His muscles always tightened up whenever he felt overly stressed. “Sometimes, even when I think I’ve let go of the past and given everything over to God, something happens or someone says something that brings it all to light again.”

Bishop King’s bushy eyebrows drew together. “I hope it wasn’t anything I said that got you mulling over the past.”

Roman shook his head. “I guess the mention of Luke Friesen is what set me off.”

“You don’t still think he’s responsible for the attacks against you, I hope.”

“I don’t know.” Roman shrugged. “I guess several people might have a grudge against me, but Luke seems the most likely.”

The bishop leaned against the porch railing and stared into the yard. “I’ve never really believed Luke was capable of doing any of those things to your family, but after a couple of discussions I’ve had with him and his folks, I’ll have to admit that I am a bit concerned.”

“You think Luke’s the guilty one?”

“It’s not that. What’s got me concerned is that Luke is twenty-two years old and still hasn’t decided to join the church.” The bishop grimaced. “From what Toby’s told me, Luke’s still running around with a couple of wild English fellows.”

Roman nodded. “So I’ve heard.”

The bishop’s voice lowered as he leaned closer to Roman. “Toby also told me that Luke’s got a truck he keeps hidden in the woods because he doesn’t want his folks to know.”

“Puh!” Roman waved his hand. “A lot of young Amish fellows who haven’t yet joined the church own a car. Many keep ’em right on their folks’ property.”

“That’s true, but Luke’s parents have always been very strict about that kind of thing. They’ve never let any of their kinner keep a car on their property, so I’m sure they won’t abide by Luke doing it, either.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Toby’s told me a lot about Luke over the years, and one of the things he’s said is that Luke tends to be strong willed and moody and always wants his way on things.” The bishop slowly shook his head. “Unless Luke has a change of heart, I fear he might never settle down and join the church.”

“You think he’ll decide to jump the fence and go English?”

“Could be.”

Roman grunted. “Maybe it would be for the best if he did. I wouldn’t want someone like Luke courting or marrying any of my daughters!”

“Grace is already married, and Ruth will be soon, so that only leaves you one daughter to worry about.”

“Jah, well, I’m sure Martha would never be interested in the likes of Luke Friesen. She’s got better sense than that.”

“That was sure a nice wedding, wasn’t it?” Mom asked as she turned and smiled at Martha and Ruth, who sat in the back of their family’s buggy.

Ruth nodded. “Sadie seemed real happy to be marrying Toby.”

“They’d been courting quite awhile before they were published,” Mom said. “Sadie might have been worried that Toby would never ask her to marry him.”

“Oh, Toby didn’t ask her; it was the other way around.” Martha winced when Ruth’s elbow connected with her ribs.

“You weren’t supposed to say anything,” Ruth protested. “I told you that in confidence.”

“Sorry. It just slipped out.”

“Did Sadie really propose marriage to Toby?” Mom asked.

Ruth nodded, and her face flamed. “She wanted me to do the same with Abe, and I sort of did.”

“You did what?” Dad craned his neck to look back at Ruth.

Martha, fearful that their buggy might run off the road, pointed up ahead.

“Don’t worry,” Dad said with a shake of his head. “Jeb won’t leave the road unless I tell him to.”

Mom touched Dad’s shoulder. “Just the same, Roman, I’d feel more comfortable if you kept your focus straight ahead.”

“Jah, okay,” he mumbled, turning back around.

“Now, Ruth,” Mom said, “tell us about how you sort of proposed to Abe.”

The color in Ruth’s cheeks deepened. “Well, Sadie had mentioned reading the story of Ruth in the Bible, and she got the bright idea that I should do something that would let Abe know I was interested in him and wanted to be his wife.”

“Don’t tell me you lay at Abe’s feet?” Mom said with a gasp.

Ruth shook her head. “Of course not. I did, however, take a seat at the end of the sofa, and his legs were stretched out—one still in a cast.”

“What happened?” Martha prompted. “Did you ask him to marry you?”

“I asked if he could think of me as an acceptable wife.”

“How did Abe respond?” Mom asked.

“He reminded me that we’re ten years apart and said he thought I could find a younger man.” Ruth paused and sucked in her bottom lip. “I can’t imagine what Abe must have thought about my boldness.”

“He must have agreed to marry you, or else you wouldn’t be making plans to be married in January,” Martha pointed out.

“Our conversation was interrupted when Abe got the news that Willis had fallen in the pond.” Ruth sighed deeply. “Some time after Willis’s funeral, I found Abe in the barn, offering Gideon comfort because he blamed himself for his brother’s death. It was then that Abe finally asked me to marry him.”

“I’m sure it was the Lord’s timing,” Mom said as she turned back
to the front of the buggy. “Just as all things are.”

“Wasn’t that Steven Bates’s car I saw going in the opposite direction?” Ruth asked.

Dad grunted. “Jah, and I gave him a friendly wave, but he didn’t bother to wave back.”

“Maybe he didn’t know it was you,” Mom said.

“I’m sure he knew who I was, Judith. The man looked right at me as he went past. He never cracked a smile.”

Mom said nothing more. Martha figured it was because she knew Dad would only rehash the past if the subject of Steven Bates continued.

Martha’s thoughts went to Luke. A couple of years back when Luke was still working for Dad, some cabinets Steven had ordered for his wife fell off the back of the wagon Luke had used to deliver them. Steven had blamed Dad for it, and Dad put the blame on Luke. Steven had also told Dad that he was done doing business with him. Ever since then, Steven hadn’t spoken to Dad. Talking about Steven, the broken cabinets, or Luke always set Dad on edge.

Martha leaned her head against the back of the padded wooden seat. Would God see fit to bring her and Luke together, the way He had Ruth and Martin and then Ruth and Abe? It seemed doubtful, since Dad didn’t care for Luke.

The buggy jostled this way and that, and Martha’s eyes grew heavy.

Sometime later, the buggy lurched as Dad gave a sharp pull on the reins and guided the horse up their driveway. They drove past Dad’s woodworking shop, and then their house came into view.

“Look, Roman,” Mom cried. “Someone’s thrown eggs all over the side of our house!”

Ruth gasped. “There’s a headless scarecrow on our front porch, too!”

Dad halted the horse and jumped down from the buggy. Martha watched as he leaped onto the porch, bent over to study the scarecrow, and plucked something off the scarecrow’s shirt. With a grim expression, he marched back to the buggy and waved a piece of paper in the air. “I can’t believe it!”

“What is it?” Mom asked, leaning out the opening on her side of the buggy.

He handed her the paper. “This!”

Mom’s voice quavered as she read the words: “I
T’S NOT OVER YET
. B
E PREPARED FOR MORE
.”

M
artha sank to the edge of her bed with a moan. For the last few days, Mom had been acting jumpier than usual. Dad hadn’t notified the sheriff about the latest vandalism, and he kept saying that Mom was overreacting—that pranksters could have egged the house.

The recent attack had made Martha even more determined to learn who was responsible. Last night, she’d updated the list she’d made of the previous attacks, adding the egging and headless scarecrow.

Since it was Monday and Martha didn’t have to work for Irene, she’d decided to go over her list of suspects and try to figure out who might have egged the house. It had to be someone who wasn’t at Toby and Sadie’s wedding.

During the wedding meal, Martha had spoken to Luke’s mother. Betty had mentioned that Luke hadn’t come because he’d had to work for John.
Did Luke really work for John on Thursday, or could he have. . . ?

Martha thumped the side of her head.
It couldn’t have been Luke. I don’t want it to be him, but I need to know for sure he didn’t egg our house or leave the scarecrow on our porch with the threatening note.

She stared at the notebook in her hand and read the list of suspects:

Martha drew in a deep breath and released it quickly. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Luke
was
a suspect.

She rose from the bed.
The first thing I need to do after breakfast is pay a visit to John’s woodworking shop and find out from Luke where he was during Toby and Sadie’s wedding.

“Do you want me to stain that set of cabinets in the back room?” Luke asked John when he’d finished sanding the legs of a table.

“You’d better wait and do the cabinets after lunch. I’ve got some deliveries to make, and I’d like you to be near the front of the shop so you can wait on customers and answer any phone calls while I’m gone.”

Luke nodded. “I can do that, but wouldn’t you like me to get some work done while you’re gone?”

John pushed an unruly strand of dark, curly hair off his forehead. “I guess you could finish up sanding that table you’ve been working on and then do the chairs that go with it. You can do that by the front of the store.”

“Sure, no problem.”

John clasped Luke’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Just want you to know that I’m glad you came to work for me. You’re a hard worker, and I appreciate all that you do.”

Luke smiled. “Thanks.” It made him feel good to know John appreciated him.

“I plan to stop by the bakeshop while I’m in Berlin,” John said.

“Would you like me to bring you back something?”

“Maybe a lemon-filled doughnut.”

John quirked an eyebrow. “Just one?”

Luke chuckled. “Better make that two or three.”

John grinned and headed out the door.