by Jan Drexler
“Oh, Elizabeth! Hush now. None of us deserves Jesus’s love. None of us deserves his saving.” Dulcey rose up on her elbow, still grasping her hand. “And you said you tried to pull yourself free of Reuben? Honey, we can’t never save ourselves. Only Jesus can. Pray for him to give you the faith you need to look to him and him alone.”
“Faith? Not help to be safe from men like Solomon?”
“God never done promised to keep us safe on this here earth. But he promised he would never leave us or forsake us, just like it says in the Good Book. Our bodies may be beaten, and we may even be killed. But our Jesus suffered worse an’ he always promises to be right here by our side. And when the time comes, he done promised to take us safely to heaven. He has a home there waiting for us.” Dulcey settled back on the couch. “Think about that. Turn to Jesus.”
Elizabeth was full of questions, but Dulcey’s eyes were closing with exhaustion. “I will think about it.”
Elizabeth blew out the light, then waited until Dulcey’s hand relaxed in hers and her friend’s deep breathing told her she slept.
Dulcey’s dress might be dry by now, so she went out to the clothesline. In the gentle breeze, the dress had dried quickly. She reached up to pull the pins off the line, but then a hand clapped over her mouth and an arm grabbed her waist and pulled her against someone large and strong.
“You did just what I wanted you to, Elizabeth, my dear. I was waiting for you to come outside.”
Solomon. Elizabeth struggled against his hold. She had to call for help, to warn Dulcey.
His grip over her mouth shifted to cover her nose. As gray clouds swirled, she fought to get free. To get one breath of air.
A chuckle sounded in her ear. “You’ll do what I want, I guarantee it.”
Her lungs demanded air, but the blackness overtook her.
17
Aaron woke suddenly with the morning light. The weather had changed during the night with the wind swinging to the north and banging the shutter on his open window, then he had heard Jonas come home sometime after midnight. His sleep after that had been fitful, full of dreams. Now, trying to come fully awake, he sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face and scratching his beard. He couldn’t shake the feeling of his dreams. The feeling that something wasn’t right.
He dressed and went downstairs, careful to keep his wooden leg quiet so he wouldn’t wake the rest of the house. He peered into the front room. Elizabeth had said she would sit up all night, but she wasn’t there. Dulcey slept on the couch, one hand curled on her stomach. Perhaps Elizabeth had gone home once Dulcey had gone to sleep, but that hadn’t been her plan last night.
Starting a fire for breakfast was the first chore. He didn’t know when Lydia would be home, so he went ahead with the morning kitchen chores. Abraham had laid the kindling last night, so he struck a match and started it burning. Then he took the coffeepot from the back of the stove and filled it with the last of the water in the pail on the dry sink. Measuring the coffee grounds, he set it on the stove, then fed the fire with larger sticks.
Next, he went out to the wood box on the porch to bring in more split firewood. He stopped. Something hung on the clothesline, dark against the light fog that covered the fields. He took a step closer to the edge of the porch. It turned, swinging from one pin, like a crow, dead and hanging by one foot. Now he recognized what it was. Dulcey’s dress, hung by a clothespin on one side, the other shoulder sagging toward the ground.
Footsteps sounded behind him in the house and Jonas stepped out onto the porch. “What is that?” he asked as he walked up beside Aaron.
“I think it’s Dulcey’s dress hanging on the clothesline. It spooked me, too, when I first saw it.”
“Who is Dulcey, and why is it there?”
Aaron described how he and Elizabeth had found Dulcey on the road the night before.
Jonas shook his head. “But Elizabeth wouldn’t leave clothes out on the line in this damp weather. And why hang it with only one clothespin?”
The unsettled feeling he had woken with now pushed Aaron off the porch and toward the clothesline, Jonas right behind him. The dress was clean, but damp from hanging in the morning mist. The second clothespin was on the ground.
Aaron swallowed. “Have you seen Elizabeth?”
“She hadn’t come home when I left Katie last night. I figured she decided to spend the night at Ruby’s.” Jonas turned to him. “Elizabeth and her friend were both here when you went to bed last night?”
“She was going to wash out Dulcey’s dress, then sit up all night in case Dulcey needed something.”
“And she’s not in the house?”
Aaron shook his head. “Not in anyplace I looked.” The house was large, but there weren’t many rooms.
“We have to look for her. We’ll go to every house in the area and ask if they’ve seen her, and we’ll recruit helpers at the same time.”
Jonas went into the house to wake Abraham and tell him about Elizabeth’s disappearance while Aaron fingered the dropped clothespin. He would take Jonas’s spring wagon and retrace Elizabeth’s steps from last night. Maybe she had gone back to Gideon and Ruby’s place. Or perhaps Solomon’s house. She wouldn’t have gone to confront him, would she? She had to know that he’d want to hurt her the way he had hurt Dulcey. A chill ran through him at the thought.
He finished unpinning the dress and took it inside the house.
By the time Aaron had the horse hitched up, Dulcey was awake and dressed. She came out on the porch along with Jonas and Abraham.
“We’ll go in different directions to cover more ground,” Abraham said. “I’ll go to the Stuckeys’. Jonas, you head toward the Lehmans’ and stop at every house in that direction.”
“I’ll start with Solomon Mast.” Aaron’s insides squeezed together as he remembered the veiled threat Solomon had made after Reuben’s cabin had burned. “Someone needs to go there first. If she isn’t there, I’ll go to Gideon’s, then head north to the Beilers’ and the Zooks’,” Aaron said. “Dulcey should come with one of us. If Solomon is out looking for her, she shouldn’t be alone.”
“I’ll ride with you,” Dulcey said. “I got to help you find Elizabeth.”
Aaron moved over on the wagon seat and Dulcey climbed up.
“Are you feeling better this morning?” he asked as he clucked to Rusty and they headed for the road.
“A mite stiff and sore, but I slept better than I had done for a long time.” Dulcey didn’t meet his eyes. “We got to find Elizabeth. Do you think Masta Solomon done taken her away?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think she left by herself. She wouldn’t have left you alone, for one thing.”
She nodded. “I know that. We just need to pray for Jesus to watch over her.”
Dulcey closed her eyes, her lips moving. Aaron tried to pray with her but couldn’t think of what words to say. The prayer from the Christenpflicht he was memorizing for membership class didn’t seem to express the panic that threatened to overtake him.
As they drew near the top of the hill, Dulcey laid a hand on his arm. “Don’t take me when you talk to Solomon, please. Let me out somewhere and I’ll meet you again when you’re done.”
“All right.” He pulled the horse to a halt at the drive leading to the burned-out cabin. “This is where Elizabeth used to live.”
“With her husband? The one called Reuben?”
“That’s right. There’s a possibility she might have come here, but it’s also a good place to hide. I’ll meet you here after I get done talking to Solomon.”
After Dulcey climbed down from the wagon, Aaron drove Rusty up the hill and turned on the Millersburg Road, heading toward the red brick house on the rise. The place was quiet, but Solomon, or Miller, as Aaron now knew he was, must have seen him coming. He stepped out onto the porch in fancy clothes, the kind a businessman would wear in town. It appeared that Simon Miller was ready to show his true colors instead of pretending to be Amish.
“What can I do for you?”
“Elizabeth is missing. I was wondering if you had seen her last night or this morning.”
“So, she has run off? I was afraid something like this might happen.”
“Why?”
“She refused to marry. The woman has no sense of morality at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has gone off where no one will ever find her. You know what women like that are like. She’ll find a place with others like her.”
Aaron’s fists clenched around the reins. For once, he was glad for his wooden leg, otherwise he would have launched himself off the wagon seat to plant a fist in Miller’s smug face. Instead, he lifted the reins to drive off, but the other man took a step closer.
“In fact, she was quite dismayed at the news I gave her.” His smile broadened to show his white teeth. “I have found Reuben Kaufman’s true heir, his son. I will be acting as guardian for the boy until he comes of age. When she found out she would be left penniless, she became quite unhinged, even though I offered to marry her. Perhaps she’ll come to her senses eventually.”
“When did you talk to her?”
A slight hesitation. “Why, it was yesterday afternoon, I think. Sometime in the late afternoon, if I remember right.”
Aaron let a smile lift the corners of his mouth. “I caught you in another lie, Simon Miller. I know for a fact that Elizabeth was at her sister Ruby’s house then. I saw here there.”
The other man’s eyes narrowed. “Simon Miller? I haven’t heard that name since the war and no one will hear it again.”
Before Aaron knew what was happening, a gun was in Miller’s hand, pointed at his chest. A very familiar braided lanyard dangled from the pistol’s handle, Simon Miller’s trademark. Aaron ducked to the side, throwing himself off the wagon seat, just as a shot rang out and Rusty jumped, taking off running with the wagon behind him.
A burning sensation in his side told Aaron he had been hit, but before he could check to see how serious it was, Miller planted a black boot on his head. Aaron’s eyes closed as his enemy lifted Aaron’s cane and it descended toward his head.
The first thing Elizabeth noticed was the sickening odor. She opened her eyes, but the only light came from a few narrow sunbeams swirling with dust motes. She was lying on a cold floor with her hands tied behind her and a gag in her mouth.
Struggling, she pushed herself to a sitting position and leaned against a wall behind her. The faint light showed walls built of stone and a rock floor. Somewhere to her left, water trickled in a dark expanse. To her right, the rock wall continued in a circle. The light came from cracks in a wooden door at least seven feet above her.
She drew her knees up and huddled against the wall, trying to remember what happened.
Solomon. Her mind cleared and it came back to her. She had woken up on the seat of his buggy after she lost consciousness when he seized her at the clothesline. He had been talking. Whether it was to her or to himself, she couldn’t tell. But from his mutterings, she understood that he was focused on one thing, owning Reuben’s farm. When he saw that she was awake, he laughed.
“You will marry me, my dear, because you are the key to more than just Kaufman’s quarter section. After I marry you, your father’s farm will be next. You are an important part of my plan.”
“Why?” Elizabeth’s throat was raw as she spoke. “Why does the land mean so much to you?”
“Land is wealth. You understand that, don’t you? When I own enough land, everyone will know how important I am.”
“I will never marry you. You can’t make me marry you against my will.”
The darkness hid his expression, but the moon was still bright, and his teeth flashed in its light.
“That’s the beauty of my plan, Elizabeth. Kaufman’s son will arrive on Saturday from Mississippi, and that lawyer Hoben has instructions to deliver him to me as your representative.”
She tried to twist her arm out of his grip, but he only tightened his fingers.
“We will marry as soon as the ministers admit me into the church. We will be the perfect Amish family, and little Jefferson Davis Kaufman will be our son.” He chuckled.
“I won’t do it.”
Then he turned her arm around so far that she was afraid he would break it.
“You will, because if you refuse, that little boy will meet with a terrible accident. And I know you wouldn’t want to live with his death on your conscience. Your family will be devastated when they hear that you took your own life.”
At that, she launched herself toward the side of the buggy and the safety of the dark woods, but Solomon pulled her back so forcefully that her head hit the edge of the buggy seat and everything had gone black.
She shivered in the damp chill and her head ached. She must get out of this pit and warn the community. Thanks to Gideon’s warning, the ministers would be watchful, but Solomon had fooled all of them. All spring and summer they had welcomed him into their midst and worshiped with him. Even considered him for membership. Only Aaron had been suspicious of the man all along. She felt the burn of shame as she remembered how close she had been to agreeing to marry him.
And now she was trapped. Helpless. How was she going to escape? With her hands tied, she couldn’t hope to climb out, and with the gag she couldn’t call for help. She pushed herself to her feet and walked around her prison, looking for a way out. The passage where the trickling sound came from was also where the worst of the odor was. With no light coming from that direction, she couldn’t see how she would be able to get out that way.
She sank down to the floor again and laid her forehead on her knees. Was there no way out? Was there no hope? Solomon was right. She would marry him and go along with his charade for the sake of Reuben’s son. A little boy she had never met. She would spend the rest of her life protecting that boy . . . Solomon knew her so well.
But Aaron would never understand her change of heart. Her chance at happiness with a man she could trust was gone.
Dulcey’s words from last night echoed in her head. “Turn to Jesus,” she had said.
Full of doubt, Elizabeth closed her eyes.
I don’t deserve anything from you, Lord God. But have mercy on me. Save me from this pit I’ve gotten myself into.
Suddenly, noise came from above her and dirt sifted from the ceiling. The wooden door opened with a bang and light streamed in, blinding her.
“Here’s some more company for you, my dear.”
A body dropped down and landed in the center of the floor. Elizabeth squinted as Solomon leaned over the opening.
“No, he isn’t dead yet, but he soon will be. Enjoy your last moments together.”
The door slammed closed again and Elizabeth heard Solomon driving away. She crawled forward on her knees and saw that the body Solomon had tossed into the pit with her had red hair. She pushed with her elbow until she was able to roll him over on his back. Blood soaked his shirt.
“Aaron.” His name echoed in her mind but was muffled from the gag in her mouth. Was he dying as Solomon had said?
His head moved to one side. “Elizabeth?” He raised a hand to his head. “Is Solomon gone?”
She shook her head to show him she couldn’t speak, then he reached for her gag and untied it.
“Solomon isn’t here.” She coughed. “He said you were dying.”
“I don’t feel like I’m dying, but he shot me and then hit me over the head. I hoped he thought he had taken care of me for good.” He sat up. “Turn around and I’ll untie your hands.”
“You’ve been shot? And the fall down here was enough to kill a man.”
“I came to while Solomon was driving me here but pretended to be out. He was talking about you and I had to find out where you were.” Aaron stopped and cupped her cheek in his hand. “His talk didn’t make much sense, but I heard enough to know that his mind isn’t right. Perhaps it never has been.”
After he finished untying Elizabeth’s hands,
he tapped his wooden leg. It was in two pieces, broken in his fall.
“I’m glad this is the only leg that broke.” He unstrapped the leg and pushed it to the side. “We will have to work together. I need your help to get out of here.”
“But you’re bleeding.”
Aaron pressed a hand to his side. “It’s just a crease. I’ve had much worse than this.”
Elizabeth helped him stand.
“It sure smells bad down here.” Aaron looked around. “Have you been able to explore much?” He pointed toward the dark passageway. “What is that way?”
“That’s where the odor is coming from. I didn’t see any light down there, so I didn’t try going in that direction.”
Aaron looked up at the door in the wooden ceiling. “If I had two good legs, I could boost you up there, but we have to work with what we have.” He nodded toward the darkness. “Let’s see where this goes.”
Leaning on Elizabeth, he used her for a crutch. They went three steps into the darkness, then four. The sound of the trickling water grew stronger and so did the stench.
“Let’s stop here for a minute and let our eyes get used to the darkness.”
Elizabeth’s arm encircled his waist. She could feel the strong muscles under his shirt and his confidence as he peered into the darkness. A sense of wonder broke over her.
“I prayed, and you came.”
“What do you mean?”
“I prayed for the Good Lord to save me from this pit, and he sent you.”
Aaron laughed. “Solomon sent me down here.”
Elizabeth had no doubts. “Then the Lord used Solomon. Just like in the Bible story about Joseph and his brothers. Solomon meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
After a moment, she felt him nod. “You’re right. I used to think God wasn’t interested in me, but the more I learn, the more I realize how good he is.”
Elizabeth peered into the dark space in front of them. “I can see a little. It looks like it isn’t a passageway at all. It’s just more of the same wall all the way around.” She couldn’t see the source of the water, but the faint light gleamed off wet walls. She looked down. “But what is that on the floor?”
