Amish Safe House

by Debby Giusti

  Abraham pointed the boy toward the road. “The phone is off-limits. Is that understood?”

  “Yeah, sure.” William pushed past Abraham.

  Abraham glanced back at the phone. William was his own worst enemy. The Philadores did not care if the boy was fourteen or forty-three. He was on their hit list. If Abraham could not protect William from himself, the boy and his sweet sister and pretty mother might die.

  THREE

  Julia felt a swell of relief when she spied William and Abraham return to the farm and enter the barn.

  A short time later, the clip-clop of horses’ hooves pulled her attention back to the road. A buggy turned into the drive and stopped near the barn. A woman dressed in the typical Amish calf-length blue dress, black cape and matching black bonnet climbed to the ground.

  Abraham stepped from the barn and greeted her with a welcoming smile. Julia wished she could hear their conversation and wondered what she should do if the woman came inside. Was she supposed to hide?

  William stood at the barn entrance. From the way his arms moved, Abraham appeared to be introducing her son to the woman. Taking that as a sign she could go outside, Julia called for Kayla to join her and they both stepped onto the porch.

  Abraham glanced up and nodded. “Sarah, this is Julia. She will be staying in the dawdy house for a bit of time and helping with the cleaning and cooking. Her daughter’s name is Kayla.”

  Sarah looked perplexed, but she covered her confusion with a weak smile of welcome. “Abraham said you needed a place to stay.”

  How should she answer? “He has been most generous to us.”

  “I... I brought clothing.”

  The Amish woman glanced at Abraham, said something that sounded German and then reached into the buggy and pulled forth a basket. “Perhaps I should show you how to pin the dress?”

  Julia didn’t understand.

  Abraham must have noticed her confusion. He stepped closer. “I saw Sarah yesterday before you arrived and asked her to bring Amish clothing, which will be good for you to wear.”

  “You want me to dress Amish?”

  He nodded. “For now. So you can fit in.”

  “And the children?”

  “They should, also.”

  Julia glanced at Kayla who clapped her hands and jumped up and down. William frowned and wrapped his arms across his chest.

  Seemed there were complications to their new environment. Julia tried to recall if the marshals had said they would be living with the Amish or living Amish.

  A huge difference, which she would need to explain to her children. Would William listen? From the scowl on his face, probably not.

  * * *

  Abraham poured another cup of coffee and waited in the kitchen as Sarah ushered Julia and Kayla into a spare bedroom and helped them dress. William headed for a small room off the main living area.

  “You would like help?” Abraham asked.

  The boy shook his head. “I’ve got it.”

  But evidently he did not have it because he remained in the room far longer than Abraham had expected. Before he could check on the boy, the bedroom door opened and Kayla skipped into the kitchen. Seeing Abraham, she stopped short.

  Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes twinkled as she smiled shyly. “Sarah said she has a daughter who used to wear this dress. Now she’s grown taller. Sarah said I look like an Amish girl.”

  Abraham had to smile. “You look very pretty, Kayla, and very Amish.” Her hair was braided and pulled into a bun. “We must get you a white kapp in town.”

  “Sarah said girls cover their heads when they pray and since they always pray, they always wear their hats.”

  “Called a kapp,” he instructed.

  “William wears baseball caps sometimes.”

  “That is not the same thing.”

  The girl nodded. “Sarah’s fixing Mama’s hair so she can look Amish, too.”

  Footsteps sounded. Abraham looked up to see Julia standing in the hallway, eyes downcast and a troubled frown on her oval face. She wore the typical Amish blue dress with white apron tied around her slender waist. Any self-sufficiency he had noticed earlier in her demeanor had been replaced with an alluring femininity that caused his gut to tighten. He also noted a hint of confusion that creased her brow, as if leaving her ordinary world and stepping into the Amish realm had thrown her off-kilter. Perhaps dressing Amish was too much too soon. The woman had been through so much.

  Sarah encouraged her forward. “Trotter’s Dry Goods sells kapps. You must go to town and buy one for Kayla and Julia. Another dress, too, and a second apron.”

  He nodded. “We will go soon.”

  “I could meet you there and help with the selection.”

  “If we need help, I will let you know.”

  Sarah nodded and glanced at Kayla. “Tell me which you like best, apple pie or sweet potato?”

  “Apple,” Kayla said.

  “I have an extra pie in the wagon.”

  Abraham smiled. “Thank you, Sarah.”

  “It is the least I can do.” She turned and grabbed Julia’s hand. “I do not know the reason you are here, but I know it must be important. Embracing the Amish life is not easy. Should you need another woman with whom to talk, tell Abraham you would like to visit. Perhaps one day this week. I will be finishing one of my quilts and could use help.”

  “I’m not sure you would approve of my stitches.”

  “We all must learn, yah?”

  Julia smiled. “I hope someday to find a way to repay you.”

  “Payment is not necessary. We are neighbors and now friends. My help is freely given.”

  Sarah stepped toward Abraham and took his hand. “It is always good to see you, Abraham.”

  “Thank you, Sarah.”

  “You will come for dinner on Sunday?” she asked. “The bishop and his wife will be at my house.”

  “Not this week. Perhaps some other time.”

  She stepped closer and smiled knowingly. “Someday you will be ready, yah?”

  Then she hurried around him and patted Kayla’s shoulder. “Come with me, child. You can bring the pie into the house.”

  Abraham watched her climb into the buggy and hand a pie to Kayla. The girl hurried back inside.

  “Place the pie on the counter,” Abraham instructed. “We will have a slice after we eat this evening.”

  Kayla returned to the porch and waved goodbye to Sarah. Julia stood near the sink as if glued in place.

  “I am sure wearing an Amish dress is not what you expected.” Abraham tried to explain. “Jonathan felt the disguise would add another layer of protection.”

  “He’s right. It’s just a change.” She offered him a weak smile, and then, with a sigh, stepped closer to the sink and washed a glass left on the counter. “Sarah seems like a nice woman.”

  “She goes out of her way to be helpful.” Abraham took another sip of coffee.

  “You are courting, perhaps?”

  He furrowed his brow. “Did she say this?”

  “No, of course not. It’s just she mentioned her husband had died.” Julia reached for the towel and dried her hands. “I saw Sarah’s expression when she looked at you. I thought—”

  “You thought wrong.” For whatever reason, Julia’s comment irritated him. “William is still in the small room at the front of the house, probably refusing to change clothes. You best check on him.”

  Abraham grabbed his hat from the wall peg and stomped outside. His anger changed to concern when he spotted William heading into the barn from the driveway, still wearing his Englisch clothing. Abraham glanced back at his house and then at the phone shack in the distance. The door he had closed earlier now hung open.

  His heart stopped. The boy had left Abraham’s house through the front door a
nd had returned to the phone booth, probably to call his friend. If William had shared his whereabouts with David, the information could easily spread throughout the Philadelphia neighborhood and eventually to the Philadores. Within a day or two at the most, the gang would descend on Yoder, Kansas, in search of a fourteen-year-old boy who, in their opinion, needed to be offed.

  Abraham would talk to William, but first he had to alert Jonathan. He hurried to the phone shack, stepped inside and hit the button that would reveal the last number called. He jotted down the sequence of digits on a piece of scratch paper and tapped in Jonathan’s number.

  “We have a problem,” Abraham said in greeting. He quickly relayed what had happened and provided the phone number William had contacted. “Have Karl pick up the family and find another safe place for them to hide out.”

  “No can do, Abe, at least not now. Fuentes is beating the bushes, trying to find Will. Moving the family would be too dangerous. They have to stay with you until things calm down.”

  “You are taking too big of a risk, Jonathan.”

  “I’m keying the phone number William called into my computer. Give me a minute or two and we’ll see what I can find.”

  “Find a new hiding place for Julia and her children. If the gang learns their whereabouts, they will be sitting ducks, as the saying goes.”

  “Hopefully the kid in Philly will keep his mouth shut.”

  Abraham let out a frustrated breath. “The kid’s name is David Davila. If you count on him keeping silent, you are toying with William’s life.”

  “We’ll work as fast as we can, Abe, but nothing is done in the blink of an eye. You know that.”

  “I know when someone is in danger and needs protection.”

  “That’s why I placed them with you.”

  “While you are checking, run the name Nelson Turner. He asked for directions to Yoder. Said he was a writer.” Abraham provided the license plate number for the sports car.

  “Writer or journalist? I’ll check the plates, but my advice is to stay clear of anyone involved with the media. The last thing we want is Julia or her children’s photo in the paper or on some online news blog.”

  “That was my thought, as well.”

  Jonathan clucked his tongue. “I found the address associated with the phone number William called. Now I’ll cross-check it with known gang members in the area.”

  A sigh filled the line.

  Abraham pushed the receiver closer to his ear. “What?”

  “William’s friend, David, lives at the same address as a low-level punk who we think has ties to the Philadores. Pablo... Pablo Davila. They must be brothers.”

  “David is probably filling his brother in on William’s whereabouts as we speak.”

  “Point taken. I’ll pull some strings and see if we can speed up the process of creating new identities for the family. But remember, Abraham, Kansas is a big state. Fuentes is looking for a woman and kids wearing jeans and sweaters. Keep them dressed Amish for their own safety. As we both know, Fuentes is a killer. The last thing we want is for Julia and her son William to be injured or end up dead.”

  Dead, like Marianne and Becca. Abraham’s stomach soured. “Move mountains, Jonathan, and get this family to a more secure location.”

  “We’ll work this end, Abe, but I’m relying on you to keep them safe until then.”

  Safe and alive. Was Jonathan counting too heavily on Abraham? He had not been able to protect his own family. Would he be able to protect Julia and her children?

  FOUR

  Julia had watched her son scurry into the barn. Abraham had then raced across the country road to the neighbor’s farm. When she stretched on tiptoe, she could see to the end of the neighbor’s driveway where the small guardhouse-like building stood near the two-lane road.

  At first glance, she’d thought it an outhouse, but realizing the location was much too public for the modest Amish, she ran off a checklist of what could be contained within the shelter and came up empty. What she did realize was that something was wrong when Abraham bounded back across the road and followed the path her son had taken into the barn. Her stomach tightened as concern swept over her.

  She could tell Abraham was upset from the way he held himself, tense, unsettled and she feared angry, as well.

  She glanced down at the Amish clothing she was wearing and wondered yet again at the circumstances that had led her to Kansas. At least she and her children had eluded the Philadores and had escaped from the inner city. Yet, at the present moment, she questioned their security here on this Amish farm. If their generous host was upset with William, he could easily call Jonathan and ask that they be moved to another location.

  She let out a lungful of pent-up air, conjuring up memories of their five days in the hotel and the uncertainty of not knowing where they would be placed. As much as she appreciated the marshals’ desire to keep them safe, she did not want to face that uncertainty again.

  She glanced at the table where Kayla was pretending to feed her doll baby with wood chips she had collected from the box near the stove.

  “Stay inside with Marianne while I see what William is doing in the barn.”

  “Her name is Annie.”

  “What?” Julia stepped closer. “Who’s Annie?”

  “My doll. Abraham said he would call her Annie so I’m calling her Annie, too. It’s her Amish name. Plus, she’s in witness protection so she needed a new name.”

  “You aren’t to mention WitSec, Kayla.”

  “I won’t say anything to anyone except you and William and Mr. Abraham. And Marshal Preston and Marshal Adams and Marshal Mast, too. Will we see them again, Mama?”

  “I’m sure we will, but right now, I need to talk to William. You and Annie stay inside. I’ll be in the barn.”

  “Did William do something wrong?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because he’s acting like he’s not happy here. I told him living on a farm is better than in the city.”

  “What was William’s reply?”

  Kayla shook her head. “He didn’t say anything. He’s pretending he doesn’t want to talk to me ’cause he had to leave his friends. Only they weren’t really his friends.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “They weren’t nice to me.”

  Concerned, Julia threaded her fingers through her daughter’s blond hair. “Did something happen while I was at work? Something you didn’t tell me?”

  “No, Mama. It’s just that David wanted Will to sneak out of Ms. Fielding’s apartment. But I told him he had to stay inside so you didn’t have to worry.”

  At least one of her children had a good head on her shoulders. Kayla was wise beyond her years.

  “Your brother will get his life straightened out one of these days, Kayla.”

  “I hope so.”

  Julia hoped so, too.

  She opened the kitchen door and hurried to the barn. Her stomach roiled as she thought of what might be transpiring between their Amish host and her son. Worried, she stepped into the darkened interior and narrowed her gaze, hoping to see William before he saw her.

  He stood in one of the stalls, holding a pitchfork in his hands and staring up at Abraham.

  “You were not thinking of your mother and sister and of their safety, were you?” Abraham asked.

  Will shrugged.

  “When I ask you a question I expect more than a shrug.”

  “I dunno.”

  “I think you do know, William. Did you tell David you were in Kansas?”

  William shook his head.

  “I did not hear you.”

  Her son blinked. His face was pale and his eyes wide, as if he realized Abraham expected obedience even if William did not see the need to make a verbal reply.

  “I am waiting fo
r your response.” Abraham’s voice was firm, yet Julia heard no hint of anger, only a man who expected an honest answer.

  “I...I might have mentioned Kansas,” William said in a timid voice.

  “Might you have mentioned the town of Yoder, and that you were staying on an Amish farm?”

  “No, sir.” Her son’s response was immediate. If she could trust her mother’s instincts, William was telling the truth.

  “So your friend does not know where in Kansas, just that you and your mother and sister are living in Kansas.”

  “I didn’t mention Kayla or my mom.”

  Abraham nodded. “I see. So does David think you are living alone in Kansas?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Abraham leaned in closer. “Does David know anything about the witness protection program?”

  “Maybe, but not from me. I didn’t say we had a new name or that the marshals flew us here. I just said I was in Kansas.”

  “You called David’s cell phone?”

  William shook his head. “I called his house landline.”

  “That has Caller ID and would register the phone number you used.”

  “David’s mom won’t pay for anything extra,” Will insisted. “They don’t have Caller ID or Call Waiting or any other add-on.”

  “He could have punched in *69.”

  “Yes, sir, but I don’t think knowing the phone number was important to Davey. I told him I’d call him back.”

  Abraham studied him for a long moment and then gave a quick nod of his head. “Is there anything else you think I should know?”

  “Only that the Philadores are looking for me.”

  Julia’s heart broke, seeing the downward cast of William’s eyes and the pull at his mouth. When was the last time her son had been a happy, carefree boy? Would he ever be one again?

  “That is why you are here, William. You understand that, do you not? You are here so the Philadores cannot find you. That is why we do not want them to have any phone numbers they could trace.”

  “Even if Davey knew the phone number, he wouldn’t give it to his brother or to any of the gang members.”