Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2

by Samantha Price

  “We moved five years ago. Do you know if he ever visited me and my mother a long time ago?”

  “I don’t know. He never mentioned it. Anyway, I know that Creighton’s seen you both and he’ll have a pretty good idea who you are, Bethany. I just wanted to let you know our lawyers will be in contact with you. Oh, your mother’s name was Sibyl Parker, wasn’t it?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Phew, we’ve got the right girl. I just had to be sure. Now go out and join the others and if a nasty man comes to speak to you, that’ll be Creighton, your half-brother. Whatever you do, don’t tell him who you are and don’t talk to him. He might be young, but he’s a dangerous man. Mark my words, that young man is your enemy. He’ll think nothing of telling you all kinds of lies, and he detests me.”

  The woman opened the door and pointed to the end of a broad hall. “Everyone’s down in the ballroom.”

  “Thank you,” Bethany said.

  When they reached the other guests, they noticed a long table filled with food. There was a lady dressed in black handing plates to people.

  “Looks like we take a plate and fill it,” Ettie said. “Eat up, Bethany. We don’t know where our next meal’s coming from.”

  They both took plates from the lady in black and filled them from the buffet. Then they stood at the side of the room which spilled out onto the terrace.

  “I didn’t expect that news,” Ettie whispered before taking another bite of a salmon-filled pastry.

  “I’m in shock. A week ago I knew nothing about my father, and now I find out that he cared about me.”

  “So did his brother and sister by all appearances.”

  “Yes, Cheryl seemed kind, but one thing she said bothered me.”

  “What was that?”

  “She said everyone in the family knew about me, but when Ian's son, Greg, came to my store, he said nothing to me.”

  “He might have been waiting for you to mention something to him. After all, he might think you don’t know who your father was. Another man could have raised you and your mother could’ve kept it from you, for all Greg knows. He was most likely playing it safe.”

  “Could be. And maybe that’s why he was asking a lot of questions and then left me his card with his phone numbers on it.”

  “It’s possible.”

  Ettie stared over Bethany’s shoulder. “There’s a young man who’s been glaring at us since we walked in. Do you think it might be Creighton?”

  Chapter 11

  “Where is he?”

  “Just to the left of the piano.”

  Bethany had a quick glance at him and looked away. He was staring intently at her with both feet firmly on the ground and his hands in his pockets. “He doesn’t look happy, and he’s the only person not speaking to anyone. I hope he doesn’t come over and say anything to me. I’d have to leave.”

  “Maybe we should go now. If the family had a huge fight the night of Ian’s murder, we’re only going to add fuel to an already volatile situation. Even though we don’t know what the situation is.”

  “You’re right. We’ve paid our respects so I think we should go. I don’t know that the rest of them will be as welcoming as Cheryl.”

  “I’ll just have another one of those pastries. They’re delicious.”

  Before Ettie reached the buffet table, a man stood in front of them. “Hello again.”

  “Who are you?” Ettie asked before she remembered her manners.

  “I’m Ian’s son, Greg. I’ve met Ms. Parker before.”

  “Yes, and please, you can call me Bethany. Ettie, this is Greg. He came into my store a few days ago—remember I told you about him?”

  “Oh, yes. I’m Ettie Smith. Nice to meet you and I’m sorry for your loss.” Ettie knew that this man was most likely Bethany’s cousin.

  “Thank you. It was good of you both to come such a long distance.” He frowned at both of them and scratched the side of his face. “The detective still doesn’t know why he was there in your store, Bethany, and neither does anyone else.”

  “I don’t know either,” Bethany said with half a shrug of her shoulders.

  “It’s quite a mystery,” Ettie added.

  “Anyway, I’m glad you found your way to the house here. I didn’t see either of you at the funeral.”

  “Your… now let me see. She would’ve been your aunt—she invited us.”

  “My aunt?” He looked amused. “Well, I’m glad you came anyway. If you’ll excuse me, I have to make the rounds and speak to everyone.” He looked intently at Bethany. “Have you still got my card?”

  “Yes, I do, and I will call if I find anything out.”

  “Thank you.”

  “We were just leaving anyway, weren’t we, Ettie?”

  “That’s right. We were.”

  “Are you going back to Lancaster tonight?”

  “We’re staying here in town and then leaving tomorrow,” Bethany said.

  “I hope you enjoy your stay, even though it’s a short one. Thank you for being here. I do appreciate the effort it must have taken to come here.” He nodded goodbye to the both of them before he walked away.

  “There are two people in the family speaking to us.” Ettie looked around to see if the angry young man was still looking at them. He was no longer standing in the spot where he’d been.

  “I still don’t know if he knows who I am. I nearly said something, but it’s not the place.”

  “Nee, it’s not. We should say goodbye to Cheryl before we go.”

  They looked around the room and couldn’t see her.

  “She might be back in the room where she was talking to us,” Bethany suggested.

  “We could have a look.”

  The two of them headed back down the hallway and found the room where they’d been speaking to Cheryl. They opened the door of what appeared to be a study and looked around. There was no one there. “Whose home is this?” Ettie asked.

  “It’s Cheryl’s home.”

  “That’s right.” Ettie stepped into the room and had a look around.

  “What are you looking for, Ettie?”

  “Nothing and everything. You stay by the door and let me know if anyone’s coming.”

  “What for?”

  “Trust me. Just do it.”

  Bethany had no idea what Ettie was up to, but there was no time to argue. She’d ask Ettie what she was looking for when they left the house.

  A few minutes later Bethany saw someone coming. “Ettie, quick! Someone’s coming.”

  As fast as lightning, Ettie was back by her side, and they continued walking out of the house.

  “Did you see who it was?”

  “What? The person I saw coming?”

  “Jah.”

  “It was Creighton.” She corrected herself, “The man we thought must be Creighton.”

  “The angry one who was staring at us?”

  “Jah. What were you doing in there for all that time?”

  “Looking for clues. I don’t know if I fully trusted Cheryl and what she said. She didn’t seem that pleased to see you.”

  “I thought she seemed pleased, and she was so kind at the funeral.”

  “That’s another thing. Why was she so attentive toward others when her brother had just died? Someone should’ve been handing her tissues. Maybe she was on the lookout to see if you turned up, and that’s why she was so quick to approach us and invite us to her house.”

  “You don’t seem to be very trusting, Ettie. Have you had bad experiences with Englischers?”

  “Well, yes and no.”

  “People do handle disappointments in different ways—not everyone’s the same.”

  “There was an element of secrecy about the whole thing with you even though she said everyone knew about you.”

  “They’re hardly going to welcome me into their family at my uncle’s funeral.”

  “Something about the whole thing doesn’t sit right with me. I’ll nee
d a while to think things through.”

  Bethany nodded. “I think you’re right. I’ve been told I have a family, but I don’t feel I have a family.”

  “There’s more to family than blood, Bethany. Sometimes your friends are more like family than your family can ever be.”

  Bethany nodded. “It didn’t help that I found out today that my father is dead. Nothing’s going to make me feel happy after that news.”

  “I’m sorry that you learned it that way.”

  “It doesn’t matter how I learned it; the facts are that he’s dead and I never got to meet him. No one will be able to verify if he was the man I vaguely remember. Maybe I dreamed it all.”

  “Remember what Cheryl said? She said your father made an effort to win your mother back. Perhaps that’s when he visited you. And Creighton’s age fits in with that time-line if Randall married another woman right after that and they had Creighton within a year of being married.”

  “It could be. You might be right. I wonder why my mother was so set against him. He seemed to be a kind man.”

  “Perhaps that’s something that we’ll never know.”

  On the way to the hotel in the taxi, Ettie said, “Greg didn’t seem to know about you.”

  “Nee; he didn’t say anything that showed that he knows I'm his cousin.”

  “Give me a look at that card he gave you.”

  “It’s back at the store.”

  “He didn’t mention anything about a family fight or tell us the things Cheryl told us.”

  “Cheryl said their lawyers would be in contact with me. I don’t care what my father left me; he wanted me to have something. He must never have forgotten me.”

  They went back to their double room at the small hotel Ava had booked for them.

  “This is a stark contrast to Cheryl’s house.” Ettie looked around the room. It contained two single beds and little else. “Still, this is all we need since we’re only here for one night.”

  “I’ve never been in a home like Cheryl’s.”

  “Did you see all those statues in the room that she called us into?”

  “Nee, I didn’t take much notice. I was concentrating on what she was saying.”

  “There were gold statues everywhere, and even the wallpaper was gold in between the furry bits. It can’t be real gold; maybe they were gold-plated.”

  “Did you have a better look around when you had me keep watch?”

  “I was looking for some kind of clue, but on my way out I couldn’t resist touching the wallpaper, and it was fuzzy—furry.”

  “Everything looked so expensive. If only I could’ve met my father. If I had, I would’ve known where I came from and understood who I am better.”

  “Maybe it’s more important to know where you’re going? You’re part of Gott’s familye, and that’s more important than your earthly familye.”

  “You don’t know how many times I’ve told myself that, Ettie, but I still have a longing in my heart that won’t go away. When I was growing up everybody had parents and many siblings. No one my age had only one parent and nothing more.”

  Ettie could see the pain in Bethany’s eyes, but she didn’t know what to say to make her feel better, or indeed if anything she could say would make her feel differently. “Now that we’ve come here, we know that your father never forgot you. That must give you some peace.”

  “It does, but it also gives me more unanswered questions. I wonder why he never came around to visit me—apart from possibly that one time that I vaguely remember.”

  “Perhaps he tried to, and your mudder told him to go away. He visited once and maybe he tried to visit you again. And if he thought it was better for you that he stay out of your life completely, he would’ve made that sacrifice for your well-being.”

  “Do you think so, Ettie?”

  “I do. I know what it’s like to be a parent. A parent will do anything for their children. It’s clear your father never forgot you.”

  “Denke for coming with me today.”

  “You’re welcome, and I enjoyed myself. Anything is better than sitting home sewing, and that’s what I do with most of my days.”

  Chapter 12

  When they arrived home the next day, Ettie was glad to be back in Lancaster County. The long bus ride they’d taken two days in a row had tired her out. When the taxi brought her home from the bus terminal, she turned the door handle, opened it quickly, and then shut the door behind her so Snowy wouldn’t escape.

  When Snowy didn’t rush at her, she looked over at Elsa-May’s chair to see her staring back at her.

  “Well, how did it go?” Elsa-May said as she kept knitting.

  “Where’s Snowy?”

  “Asleep in the corner over there.”

  “He does sleep soundly.”

  “Snowy’s no watchdog, that’s for sure and for certain. Sit and tell me what happened. Snowy and I were getting worried about you.”

  Ettie walked to the bedroom to put her bag down, while saying, “We found out some very interesting things.”

  “Did you? Like what?” Elsa-May yelled.

  “Make me a cup of tea and I’ll tell you,” Ettie called out from her room.

  While Ettie unpacked the few belongings she’d taken on the trip, she heard Elsa-May rustling around in the kitchen. She glanced down at her new slippers by her bed, glad that they had escaped Snowy’s attention. Either that or Elsa-May had kept her bedroom door closed.

  Ettie sat back in the living room and waited for her tea. From where she was, she could see into part of the kitchen. Snowy was now awake and in the kitchen, looking up at Elsa-May expectantly.

  “He doesn’t wake up to meet me, he wakes up when you go into the kitchen.”

  Elsa-May chuckled. “That’s because whenever anybody goes into the kitchen he thinks he’s going to be fed or at least get a treat.”

  “Perhaps that’s because that’s what does happen when he goes in there.”

  “Who could say no to that face?”

  Ettie saw Elsa-May give him a treat.

  “I’d like cookies too, please, with my tea.”

  “Of course,” Elsa-May called back.

  Ettie always had to have something to eat with the tea. It made the tea taste so much better.

  Minutes later, Elsa-May came back into the room with a tray of tea and cookies. She placed the tray on the table in front of the couch.

  “I can see he still follows you everywhere.” Snowy bounded over to Ettie and tried to jump up. “Down,” Ettie ordered. “I’ll pat you after I have my tea.”

  “He follows me everywhere even when he’s asleep. I suppose he’s not asleep; he’s probably half-asleep when he sees me on the move.” Elsa-May laughed as she sat back in the chair. “I’ll just let the tea steep before I pour.”

  Ettie reached for a cookie to nibble on.

  “What did the pair of you find out? I’m anxious to know.”

  “Firstly tell me how the store went today.”

  “Extremely well. Bethany’s going to have a steady trade there.”

  “I’m so glad. We went to the funeral…”

  “Jah, I know you went to the funeral, but what happened? Speed it up. I’m anxious to find out.”

  “I have to tell you from the beginning so you can picture the whole thing in your mind.”

  “Go on.” Elsa-May relaxed back in her chair.

  “The first thing was that we arrived at the church, and we were given an order of service. When we sat down, we saw that Randall Whitmore was named as Ian’s brother. We found out that Randall died only weeks ago. As soon as Bethany saw that it said Randall was deceased, she collapsed into a flood of tears. I started crying as well because she would never get to meet him.”

  “I’m not surprised, Ettie. You’d cry at anything.”

  Ettie knew that was not the case. She hadn’t cried about anything in years, but today she was too tired to argue with her sister even though she was greatly ann
oyed by her comment.

  “A lovely lady called Cheryl came up to us and offered us Kleenex. It turns out she is Ian and Randall’s sister. She invited us to the wake afterward which was held in her home.”

  “Did you go?”

  “We did and no sooner did we walk in the front door than she called us into a room and told us something.”

  “What is it, Ettie? I don’t like it the way you draw things out like this. Out with it! Tell me what happened.”

  “The night Ian died there was a family gathering, and there was a squabble about something, and it could’ve been about Randall’s will because Randall wanted to leave Bethany something along with Bethany’s half brother, Creighton.”

  Elsa-May’s jaw dropped. “Bethany has a half brother? Randall was married?”

  “Jah, he eventually went on to marry, but he wasn’t married when Bethany was born. Cheryl said he tried to make amends with Sibyl, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. He married someone else and had Creighton. Creighton is not happy about Bethany getting left anything.”

  “If Randall died weeks ago wouldn’t things like his will be settled by now?”

  “They couldn’t find Bethany.”

  “Who couldn’t?”

  “Randall’s lawyers couldn’t find her. Remember that she moved here five years ago? They only had her old address.”

  “She was always here. You mean she moved houses five years ago.”

  “If you know what I mean why are you always correcting me? I find it irritating, Elsa-May.”

  “I like things to be correct. Anyway, that’ll never happen with you so just continue with the story. What else did you find out?”

  “It was in that article in the paper about Bethany’s quilt shop that one of the family members saw Bethany’s name and put the pieces together.”

  “That’s why he was in the store?”

  “The only way of contacting her was through her store. They didn’t have her home address, only her business address.”

  “Well done finding all that out, Ettie.”

  Ettie smiled and didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t remember the last time Elsa-May said anything nice about her at all. “Denke.” Ettie nibbled some more on the white chocolate cookie in her hands. “I also met Greg, the man who must be Bethany’s cousin. He’s Ian’s son. He seemed nice, but he didn’t mention anything to Bethany about her possibly being related.”