A Plain Malice: An Appleseed Creek Mystery (Appleseed Creek Mystery Series Book 4)

by Amanda Flower

  “Nee.” He paused. “He was frustrated that the schedule had to be changed because of the Zugg’s sheep getting loose.”

  I had forgotten that. “How did the sheep get out?”

  “There was a hole in the fence. Z-Zugg was lucky only one animal slipped away.”

  “Did he find it?”

  “Ya. She hadn’t gone very far.”

  “Did you see anyone near the milk?”

  “All the Englischers were around the milk,” the deacon jumped in. “It would be difficult to see if anyone tampered with it. That’s what you are implying, aren’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “It is getting l-late,” the bishop said. He looked at me. “Please tell the passengers that we hope that they enjoy the r-remainder of their stay.”

  The deacon nodded at me. “Be careful as you ride along with the bus tour. We would hate it if anyone else was harmed.”

  Was that a threat?

  After the buggy rocked out onto the street, Timothy said, “I hope you have the deacon on your suspect list.”

  “You bet I do.” I squeezed his hand. “He just jumped up a few notches.”

  That night in my room at the inn, the events of the day played like a movie reel in my mind. The image that struck me the most was the shock and dismay on Mr. Troyer’s proud face right after Ruby and Dudley fell. Coming in a close second was Deacon Sutter’s satisfied expression when the bishop said there would be no more Amish bus tours in the district.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I woke up in the middle of the night and wondered where I was, and then I remembered. I hadn’t shut my curtains before falling into bed. Moonlight streamed in through the windows in the French doors and shone on my face.

  I held a hand over my eyes to block the light. That didn’t work. Then, I covered my face with a pillow and felt like I was suffocating. I wriggled out of my cozy cocoon and stumbled to the French doors and opened them. The water of the Kokosing River glimmered like a line of liquid silver under the light of the full moon. A lone doe drank from the water’s edge. The sight took my breath away. The crisp spring night air floated into the room. The smell of the lilacs and muddy ground washed over me, bringing me fully awake.

  I groaned as I shuffled back to bed. I needed sleep. I had a full afternoon of tour guiding the next day. Thankfully, because tomorrow was Sunday, the tour wouldn’t begin until after lunch in case any of the guests wanted to attend local church services.

  My cell phone made a binging sound. I grabbed it from the night stand. I had an incoming call through Skype.

  On the tiny screen, I saw Tanisha sitting at her desk in her classroom in Milan, Italy. Her long black braids fell over her shoulders and she wore plastic-rimmed glasses “for style” even though her vision was twenty-twenty. I had to admit the purple glasses did look good on her, but then again everything looked good on Tanisha. “Hey, you’re up. I didn’t really expect you to answer,” she said.

  I rubbed my eyes.

  “Did I wake you?” She sounded worried.

  I dropped my hand. “No, can’t sleep.”

  “Turn a light on. I can’t see you. You look like the shadow of death.”

  That was cheerful. I reached across the bed and turned on the lamp at the nightstand. “Better?” I asked.

  “Much.” Tanisha moved her head back and forth as if trying to find a better angle to see me. “Where are you? That doesn’t look like your bedroom.”

  “I’m staying at the Dutch Inn.”

  Tanisha sipped espresso from a tiny coffee cup. “Did you go on vacation?”

  “Not exactly. I’m still on Appleseed Creek. I guess you would say I’m on an assignment of sorts for Chief Rose.”

  Tanisha had met the chief when she visited me over Christmas. “Tell me everything.” Tee rubbed her hands together. “This will be good.”

  “Where do I start?” I rubbed my other eye. Maybe I should close the French doors. As much as I loved the lilac scent in the room, I think I was having an allergic reaction to it.

  “At the beginning, don’t skip anything.”

  “I was at the Troyer farm…”

  She wiggled in her desk chair. “I knew this would have something to do with Timothy.” She pretended to fan herself. “Mr. Amish Hotness.”

  I laughed, thinking of Gertie. “You have some competition.”

  “You?”

  “Oh no, not me, a hundred-year-old woman.”

  “You’d better start at the beginning. I have ten minutes left in my free period, so hurry up.”

  After I had told her the story, she said, “Chloe, you are like a magnet for dead people.”

  That wasn’t exactly a title to be proud of. “I just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.” I paused. “A lot.”

  “No kidding.” She twirled one of her braids around her index finger. “I wish I could help you. You know I’d be there in a minute if I could.”

  I smiled, wishing I could give my best friend a hug. “Timothy, your hero, is here.”

  “That’s true. I can count on him to take care of you. Let me tell you I gave him a talking to about how special you were when I was there.”

  I knocked the heel of my hand on my forehead. “Tee…”

  She laughed. “As your best friend, it’s my job. It wouldn’t have mattered if I had given him the talk or not. He already knew. He’s smitten.”

  “Smitten?”

  “It’s a vocabulary word this week,” she said. “Timothy is staying there too?”

  “He’s on a different floor,” I said dryly.

  “That is so sweet. He’s your Amish knight in shining armor. I need to find me a Timothy too. Not too many hot former Amish guys running around Milan. I’ve looked.”

  “What about Rocco?”

  Tanisha had started dating an Italian teacher at the school she taught English as a second language at. She groaned. “Rocco is history. More importantly, how could there possibly be another murder in Appleseed Creek?”

  That was an excellent question.

  * * * * *

  Sunday in Amish Country was a quiet time. According to the itinerary, the travelers could have the morning to sleep in or go to church, so I assumed I was free to go to church myself. Before Timothy and I left, I knocked on Hudson’s door. The only answer was snores. I decided waking him up was a very bad idea.

  Jane was again at the desk that morning. I wondered if she ever got a break from it. It was the only place I have seen here the entire time we had been at the inn. She chatted with Timothy about the weather.

  “Jane,” I said. “Can you tell Hudson whenever he emerges from his room I went to church and will be back by lunchtime?”

  She straightened up. “Yes, I’ll slip a message under his door. The children and I will be leaving soon for the Sutter farm. That’s where the district service will be today.”

  I thanked her and was about to open the inn’s front door to meet Timothy at his truck, when it flew open. A figure stomped into to room and knocked into my shoulder, sending me stumbling to the side. He had his head bent. “Excuse me.”

  “Mr. Kepler,” Jane said. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Earl said without looking up. He went straight for the elevator and jabbed at the button.

  Timothy appeared in the doorway. “Chloe, are you ready to go?”

  “I--,” I stared as the elevator doors closed on Earl’s face. He looked like he had been crying. “Yes, I’m ready.”

  Timothy and I arrived at church early because he was in the choir. Becky was a member too. She’d walked from our house and waited for us on the lawn. I was disappointed to see Hannah Hilty and her two henchwomen, red-cheeked Emily and rail-thin Kim, waiting on the lawn with Becky. Becky didn’t appear pleased with the company.

  Hannah ignored the girls and only had eyes for Timothy. “Timothy,” Hannah crooned. “We were just talking about you.”

  I bet.

  Becky
sidled up to my side and rolled her eyes.

  “Hi, Hannah,” I said.

  “Oh, hello, Chloe.” She pretended to be surprised to see me with Timothy. “How are you?”

  Becky smoothed an imaginary wrinkle in her A-line skirt. “Where’s your boyfriend? Shouldn’t he be out of school for the summer?”

  Hannah’s boyfriend played basketball for Kentucky State.

  Hannah sighed. “He’s back home, but we are no longer together. I don’t know what happened. It was going so well.”

  “He went running for his life,” Becky muttered under her breath.

  I stepped on her foot.

  She suppressed a cry and scooted away from me.

  “Maybe it was the long distance,” Timothy said.

  I inwardly groaned. Timothy’s natural concern for others played right into Hannah’s clutches.

  “I don’t know,” Hannah said in a pathetic, ‘please come rescue me’ voice.

  Becky opened her mouth as if she was going to offer up another suggestion. I shook my head just once. She closed her mouth and grinned. It must have been a whopper.

  Hannah reached out and touched Timothy’s arm. He didn’t recoil from her touch as I would have liked him to. “He just didn’t have substance. He wasn’t the right guy for me.”

  “Chloe, I heard you were leader of the bus tour that killed those people,” Kim, who towered over me, said.

  I didn’t even bother to ask how Kim knew this. Appleseed Creek was small and everyone knew everything about everyone, English, Amish, Mennonite, it didn’t matter. Also, Hannah and her friends took a particular interest in finding out information about me.

  “The bus tour didn’t kill anyone. But, yes, two people on the tour died under suspicious circumstances.”

  “It seems like you always find your way into trouble.” Hannah blinked innocently at me.

  “It happened at our farm,” Timothy said with a frown.

  “Oh, Timothy.” Hannah backpedaled like a champ. “I would never, ever imply your family had anything to do with what happened to those poor people.” Hannah glared at her friends. Kim and Emily inched toward the church.

  Hannah cleared her throat. “Chloe.” She pointed over my shoulder and into the church parking lot. “Someone is waiting for you.”

  I glanced back and saw Curt in the parking lot leaning against his green truck. He waved at me. My gaze flitted back to Timothy. The skin around his eyes tightened.

  Hannah hooked her arm through Timothy’s. “Curt loves to talk about you, Chloe. I overheard your name when he spoke to the pastor a little bit ago. It was so darling. Someone has a crush.”

  “Hannah, that might be the dumbest thing you’ve ever said,” Becky snapped. “Curt knows Chloe and Timothy are together.” She leaned closer to Hannah. “And so do you.”

  For a millisecond, Hannah’s right eye narrowed, but then her face cleared. “Becky, you are too cute.” She tugged on Timothy’s arm. “We’ll just be off to choir and let you and your friend visit.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I returned Curt’s wave, and he walked over to me, carrying a plastic grocery bag in his right hand.

  “You’re here early,” I said.

  “I figured you’d be here because Becky had choir.”

  I noted he didn’t say Timothy, but that didn’t mean anything. “It’s nice to see a friendly face after a run in with Hannah.”

  Curt pulled at the sleeve of his flannel shirt. The plastic bag swung back and forth as he moved. “She’s a brat.”

  I grinned.

  Curt shook the bag. “I have something to show you.”

  “What is it?”

  He laughed. “It’s a surprise. Follow me.” He circled to the back of the building.

  I glanced back at the church. Blue sky and cotton clouds outlined its white steeple. Members trickled in for the service. It wouldn’t start for another twenty minutes.

  “Red, are you coming?”

  Behind the church was a small playground for the children. It wasn’t much, just a swing set and a slide, but on such a beautiful day, a half dozen girls and boys ran around whooping with joy. Their mothers and fathers stood a few feet away, supervising and hoping the playtime would wear out the children enough they would be quiet in church.

  With all the kids and parents, the only open seat was a bench swing suspended from a metal frame. Curt headed straight for it and sat. I perched on the other end of the swing, careful not to get too close. “So what’s in the bag?”

  He handed it to me. “Open it.”

  The plastic crinkled as I pulled out a black T-shirt and unfolded it. A silver dove flying out of the cage was on the front. Under the image it said, “Faith Beyond Bars.”

  “It’s pretty. What does it mean?”

  Curt licked his lips. “You know I talked to Pastor Chris about making up for my mistakes and doing something good.” He pointed at the T-shirt. “That’s what I came up with. It’s a prison ministry. I read about another on the Internet. Every few weeks, I’ll visit the Knox County Jail, and tell the guys my story and how I changed.” He spoke quickly as if he were afraid he might not say everything he needed to. “I’ve been inside the county jail enough times to know what it’s like. Maybe if someone came in there and talked to me about my life and what it could be, I would have changed my ways a lot sooner. The pastor and a few volunteers from church will go with me. They can tell the guys all the Bible stuff that I’m just learning.”

  My mouth fell open. Of all the things Curt could have told me, I never would have guessed this.

  “The church is going to help out too by donating a small portion of the mission money. It’s a just a hundred dollars, but it will be enough for me to buy snacks for a couple of meetings at the prison. This summer, I’d like to have some type of picnic for a fundraiser. I’m not sure yet.” He yanked on his father’s dog tags. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  I closed my mouth. “I—I—wow, Curt.”

  He flipped the dog tags over and over again with his fingers. “Maybe it’s a dumb idea.”

  “No,” I yelped. “No, it’s not. It’s a wonderful idea.”

  He led out a breath. “You don’t think it’s stupid.”

  “Never. I don’t know if I could do such a selfless thing.”

  “You could, Red. You could do anything.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek.

  Curt sat up a little straighter. “Can you help out?”

  I shifted my position on the swing to face him dead on. “What do you need me to do?”

  His shoulders relaxed. “I thought since you are so good with computers, maybe you could make a website for us. Pastor said that he would share the link through the church’s website.”

  “That’s very easy for me to do. I’m me happy to help. I can get started after the bus tour leaves. Until they’re gone, I’m going to be pretty busy.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m their temporary tour guide and staying with them at the Dutch Inn for the next few days.”

  “Do you think that’s safe? One of them might be a killer.”

  Even after all this time, it felt strange to have Curt worry about my safety. Our friendship certainly had come a long way.

  “Timothy is staying there too.”

  “Oh, he is.” Something flashed in his eyes. “I don’t think it’s right of Troyer to use you like that.”

  “Use me?”

  “He’s making you stay there because he wants you to clear his father’s name.”

  I scooted away from him. “Why do you think that?”

  “Hannah said so this morning.”

  “You spoke to Hannah about me? You said yourself Hannah is a brat. Timothy doesn’t want me on the bus. It was Chief Rose’s idea.”

  He balled his hands on the top on his jean-clad thighs. “That’s even worse. All she cares about is making an arrest.” There was bitterness in his voice.

  I refolded the T
-shirt. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  “I worry.”

  Part of me wanted to ask him why, but a large part was afraid he’d tell me. “Is this what you wanted to meet with me about over coffee?”

  “Most of it.” He took a breath. “There’s something else I need to tell you but not today. I need more time.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. I started to hand the T-shirt back to him.

  He shook his head. “No, you keep it.”

  “Thank you.” I held it on my lap. “I’m proud of you. This is an amazing idea, and I’m so glad you’ve talked to the pastor about getting the church involved.”

  He looked down at his white knuckles. “You think I can do it?” he whispered.

  I touched his arm. “Of course. You have so much to offer these men and women in trouble.”

  He reached up and covered my hand with his. I felt his gaze on my face, but I didn’t meet his eyes. Delicately as possible, I slid my hand from his grasp and clamped it onto the T-shirt.

  A father whistled. “Kids! Play time is over. Head into church.”

  The children squealed and dashed for one more ride down the slide, one more kick on the swing.

  I stood. Curt grabbed my wrist. “Thank you.”

  I smiled even though I wasn’t sure what he thanked me for.

  Chapter Nineteen

  After church, Becky followed Timothy and me back to his truck. I fell back with Becky, and she grabbed my hand. “Can I go with you?”

  I eyed her. “You could read over those applications.”

  She frowned. “That’s not very subtle, Chloe.”

  I laughed. “I’m just teasing. Of course, you can come with us. You can even ride in the bus today if you like.”

  “Where’s the tour going?” Becky asked.

  I removed the agenda from my purse. “It’s a short day because almost everything is closed. We’re going for a drive through the countryside and then a stop in Utica at an ice cream factory.”

  “I love that place,” Becky said. “Sign me up.”

  I grinned. “You wouldn’t rather stay at home and read those college applications?”

  She gave me a look that would put the most sullen English teenager to shame.