“Threatening to kill someone in front of a sheriff is serious business,” I countered.
“Of course it is,” Joanna agreed wholeheartedly, “but since he isn’t targeting a specific person, they are just frivolous words.”
Something about Joanna Fisher reminded me soundly of Aaron Esch, and I took a deep breath at the realization. She wouldn’t be the easy nut to crack that I had originally guessed she’d be.
“Maybe he suspects someone?” I offered.
Joanna shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “He was only a boy at the time. I don’t believe he knows anything.” She paused and forced a smile. “But aren’t you here to discuss the recent fires and not one that happened nearly twenty years ago?”
Joanna was smooth, very smooth. But I did have other questions for her, so I went with the flow and asked, “Do you know anyone who would want to do your family personal harm, Mrs. Fisher?”
“Joanna, please call me Joanna.” She thought quickly and replied, “No one that I can think of. We get along quite well with all of our English neighbors and Abner teaches at the schoolhouse, so he doesn’t do business with outsiders.”
It was curious how she had automatically assumed any threat would come from the outside.
Daniel must have picked up on my exact thoughts. He asked, “What about anyone in the community, maybe one of the more rebellious kids?”
Joanna’s eyes widened to saucer size. “Are you insinuating that one of our own is doing these burnings?”
Daniel shrugged, “Just a thought.”
“I have no worries whatsoever that our young ones are involved with the fires,” she said angrily and then faced me. “That is exactly what Sheriff Gentry suggested and he refused to look any further than our own homes. Are you going to do the same thing, Serenity?”
The heat in her voice was genuine. Joanna Fisher might be a little over-the-top religious by my standards, but it was obvious that she was a good woman, and extremely worried about what was going on in her community.
“I have no intention of eliminating any potential perpetrators. I swear to you that,” I promised Joanna.
Joanna nodded in relief, “I’m glad to hear that. I really am. This bad business is beginning to keep the tourists away,” her eyes were desperate, “and that’s a good portion of many of our family’s livelihoods. And then who knows who will be next—maybe the schoolhouse or one of the barns with livestock in it. This has to stop.”
“I’m doing my best, Joanna.” I stood up. “But it certainly wouldn’t hurt for you to keep on praying we catch a break in the case. Because, trust me, we’re going to need one.”
Joanna came quickly around the table and hugged me. Her sudden movement caught me off guard and I could only stand rigidly while she squeezed me tightly. Daniel looked amused.
“Thank you for coming to our aid. The Lord is with you—I can sense it.” She pulled back to meet my gaze and said, “You and Daniel are welcome to our Sunday service tomorrow morning. We normally don’t allow Englishers to attend our Church, but we’ll make an exception in this case. It will also give you both the opportunity to meet the other elders in our community.”
Inwardly, I was very pleased with the invitation and the access that I was being given to the entire Poplar Springs Amish community, but I kept my face steady when I said, “We’ll be there.”
My boots crunched on the thin layer of fresh snow already coating the ground as Daniel and I walked to my car. The snowflakes were coming down heavier now, and the entire countryside was becoming obscured in a dull, gray haze.
I lifted my face, enjoying the shiver that the wet flakes striking my face caused, and said, “That was weird.”
Daniel grinned. “It always is.”
We reached the car and I was about to reply when Mariah appeared out of the gloom and touched my arm. I turned around and immediately recognized the expression of a person wanting desperately to share some kind of news.
“I’m sorry about the way I acted earlier.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know what to expect…and I didn’t trust you.”
“And you suddenly do now?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.
Mariah stepped closer and I watched the snowflakes gathering on her black coat as she spoke. “Please don’t say anything to Momma, but I was listening to you talk in the kitchen.” She must have seen my confusion, because she quickly added, “You see, the window is always cracked a little to cool down the room when the wood stove is cranked up.”
“That’s convenient for you,” I smiled. Mariah’s changeable personalities were annoying, but I had to give the girl credit for bravery.
“I wanted to make sure that you weren’t like Sheriff Brody before I talked to you.”
“I understand. Go on,” I urged.
“There are things going on with the Amish here…things that the sheriff, the elders…even my parents, don’t want to believe or concern themselves with. But it’s serious, Miss Serenity, you have got to listen to me.”
The urgency in her voice added to my own well-hidden feeling of panic.
“Why don’t we get in the car? It will be easier for us to talk inside,” I suggested.
“No,” she whispered harshly. “We don’t have time. Momma will catch us.”
I held up my hands, “All right then. Go on.”
“You need to arrest Asher Schwartz. He’s an evil man,” she said in a low, feverish voice.
“Arrest him for what?” I spoke while holding my breath.
Mariah almost got the words out before Joanna called her daughter loudly from the porch. I glanced over to see Joanna standing with hands on her hips, just as the wind gusted, picking up the snow in the driveway and spraying it around in a momentary white-out.
Mariah looked at me with determination and hissed, “Please, just do it if you can.”
Mariah twirled and ran to the porch. I remained standing there in the frozen wind, watching as Joanna hugged her daughter briefly before the two of them went into the house arm in arm.
“You drive,” I tossed the keys to Daniel.
He didn’t complain and started up the engine while I climbed into the passenger seat.
“Where to?” Daniel asked as he backed up.
“Back to Rowan’s, thanks for driving. I have an important call to make.”
I listened intently to Bill Sherman on the phone as the icy landscape became whiter. The pavement of the roads was completely hidden by the white stuff now and visibility was less than a mile.
“Thanks, Bill. You’ve been a big help.”
I tucked my cell back into my coat pocket and said, “Bill is a former colleague of mine at the precinct in downtown Indy. I had a hunch that he would know Asher Schwartz personally, and I was right.”
“Small world,” Daniel said.
“Bill is an undercover narcotics agent, that’s why I called him. And you know what?” Daniel was waiting for me to respond, but he was also paying a lot of attention to the worsening weather conditions. “Asher is big-time dealer…and Brody Gentry knows all about it.” My voice began rising with the heat of my anger. “As a matter of fact, Indy contacted Sheriff Gentry personally to discuss their suspicions that Asher was extending his business into the countryside. But Bill said that Brody didn’t want to hear any of it, even after Asher was arrested two years ago for selling BHO—you know, hash oil—to some minor in the next county over.”
“Why would the sheriff ignore Asher’s record?”
“Oh, he didn’t just ignore it. He pressured Judge Warren to completely expunge his record in this county. He was protecting Asher for some reason.”
“He had a record here?”
I nodded. “Along with the rap sheet in Indy, he had a slew of misdemeanor possession convictions and an assault on a jacked up girlfriend that nearly killed the wo
man.”
“It sounds as if Mariah is on to something. I think we need to have a little talk with Asher Schwartz.”
We came around the bend slowly and I looked up the hill at Rowan’s farm. The snow was coming down in buckets, but there was something else in the wind that I could also see—smoke.
“Oh…my God,” I stammered.
The flames shooting from Rowan’s main barn suddenly pierced clearly through the storm.
“Dammit,” Daniel exclaimed as he pressed down on the gas pedal and we lurched forward up the driveway.
16
By the time we slid to a stop alongside the barn that was on fire, I had already called 911. The backside of the barn was engulfed in flames and the plume of smoke that a minute before had been wispy tentacles on the wind was now a giant black cloud rising from the structure.
“Where’s Rowan?” Daniel shouted at Gabe as he grabbed the boy by the arm and held him in place.
“He went in after Dakota and the calf. They’re in there!” Gabe struggled against Daniel’s firm hold.
“You stay here with your sisters and Seth. I’ll go help him,” Daniel released the boy and plunged through the open doorway.
My heart pounded in my chest. I took a breath and calculated the speed of the growing fire and weakening of the structure. Lucinda suddenly had her arms wrapped tightly around my waist.
The little girl’s red face was soaked with tears. She looked up and cried, “Da’s going to die trying to save Dakota and Midnight.”
Mareena was standing a few steps back, holding onto Cacey, and watching the spectacle with the blank face of complete shock. Seth was crouched beside her. His arms encircled the dog tightly as it barked relentlessly at the doomed barn.
Midnight—the calf had a name now? Shoot. Anger nearly glazed my vision. Why were those stupid men risking their lives for a horse and a cow? Deep down I totally understood, but still, seeing Rowan’s children lined up and knowing that they might be orphans in the next few minutes made it unconscionable. And now Daniel was in there, too.
To hell with the Amish’s ideas about God’s will and preordained fate. I certainly couldn’t stand by and let it happen on my watch.
“Stay here and wait for the fire trucks!” I shouted at the kids.
I relished in the wet splatters of snow that hit my face just before I ran through the doorway of the barn. The aisle was dark with smoke, but I could still make out the frames of the stalls as I held my breath, stumbling along. I counted the stall doorways, trying to remember which one Dakota had been in.
Muffled voices reached my ears and a surge of hope sprang to life inside of me, but it was short lived when the barn’s interior was suddenly illuminated by a spout of blazing flames wicking up the wall. I could clearly see the fire dancing in between the skeletal remains of beams and joists that were left in the far part of the barn. I was betting that in less than a minute that section was coming down.
Daniel was struggling with Dakota’s lead rope as the terrified horse jumped away from Rowan’s hands. I quickly assessed that he was attempting to cover Dakota’s eyes with a cloth of some kind.
“Get him against the wall, Daniel. I almost got it that time!” Rowan called out.
Daniel pushed Dakota forcefully into the wall. The lines on his face popped with strain when he looked over at me.
“Get the hell out of here, Serenity!” Daniel shouted.
Instead of running for safety, I joined him alongside Dakota’s quivering, sweat soaked body. With all my strength, I pushed against Dakota’s side, helping to hold him in place while Rowan reached up and secured the cloth onto the horse’s halter.
It probably only took a few seconds to get the job done, but as I shoved Dakota with everything I had in me, time seemed to slow down. I noticed that we were in a small pocket of smokeless space that was surrounded by a billowing black and gray monster. Besides seeing the explosions of flames from the rapidly expanding fire, sweat trickled down my chest into the cleft between my breasts at the ever increasing rise in temperature. The deadly scent of hot, scorched wood was held somewhat at bay as the smell of the sweat soaked horse hair bombarded my nose.
“I got it!” Rowan took the lead from Daniel and signaled for us to follow him as he tugged on Dakota. Amazingly, the horse that had been too paralyzed with fear a moment ago to save himself was now prancing beside Rowan, almost knocking him over with his sudden desire to run.
The bright light from the snowy afternoon beyond the barn door shone through the opening, as if it was a lighthouse beacon in a raging storm. I could see Rowan’s kids silhouetted against the white background and the dog’s barking reached my ears once again. Everything inside of me was focused on that place of cold, wet snow and safety.
At some point after Rowan had taken Dakota’s lead rope from Daniel’s hands, Daniel had grabbed me, tucking me under his arm as we fled the stall just when the boards ignited with a sizzling hiss.
Daniel and I clutched each other as we ducked and surged forward. We were only a few steps behind Rowan and Dakota’s shadowed forms when I heard the calf bellow.
The sound was sharp and loud in my ears, hitting me like an invisible bullet. I dug my heels in and pulled Daniel to a stop.
“What the hell?” Daniel exclaimed hoarsely.
“The calf is in this one!” I twisted away from him and grabbed the latch to the stall door, turning it.
At the exact instant that the door flung open, the fire reached the hay bales stacked in the loft. With a horrifying SWOOSH the loft went up. The ceiling was breaking up above my head as I touched the warm fur of the calf’s neck. It bucked, recoiling from my touch, but luckily Daniel hadn’t left my side. He grabbed the calf around its chest and buttocks, restraining it with his strong arms until I positioned myself on its other side.
“This is a big calf—too big for me to carry,” Daniel coughed, “We’ll have to scoot him out.”
There wasn’t any time to discuss the logistics of it. I absorbed what Daniel said and placed my arms around the calf the same way he had. As the back half of the barn came crashing down, we worked side by side, pushing and pulling the calf with all our might.
Death was just behind us and I didn’t dare to glance over my shoulder. The barn’s structure shuddered at our backs for an agonizingly long second before it splintered. The roof smashed into the loft’s floor, the fire devouring the ceiling above us in a mighty gulp of smoke and debris.
Rowan met us at the doorway. He flung his arm around me and helped shove us all clear of the threshold, just as it gave way. It barely missed us as it crashed to the ground at our backs.
The calf bucked up at the shattering sound, breaking away and running freely towards the house. The momentum carried me and Daniel forward and we stumbled into the wonderful, welcomed coldness of a drift of snow.
“Your back is on fire!” Mareena screeched, pointing at me.
Daniel rushed onto his knees in amazing speed and rolled me sideways, pressing my back into snow. He grabbed the sleeve of my coat with one hand and gripped my shoulder with the other. In a quick tug, I was free of my coat and in Daniel’s tight embrace.
Gabe came to our side and shed his own coat, placing it over my shoulders in a sweeping motion.
Daniel continued to squeeze me against his chest for what I thought was a completely unnecessary amount of time, but I didn’t protest. My gaze quickly passed over Seth who was standing well away from the wreckage with Dakota in hand, and the three girls who were kneeling in the snow beside their father.
Rowan was staring at the enormous pile of burning wood and metal that had once been his stable with a strange look of calm acceptance that sent a chill racing through me. The rush of heat coming from the shooting flames was so hot that it was melting the snow where we sat, so I knew that the chill that I suddenly felt was not from the cold.
It was my gut telling me that Rowan had expected this all along.
When the two volunteer fire department trucks and the three police cruisers arrived, Daniel, Rowan and I were standing in the driveway. Rowan had ordered the girls into the house and the boys to catch the calf.
It had been less than ten minutes from the time that we had pulled in the driveway for the entire barn to be lost. There was no way that any emergency response by authorities could have saved the barn. The Amish community was just too remote for the fire department to reach it in time, especially during the snow squall that had suddenly whipped up. And the fact that the barn had been mostly made of wood and filled with highly flammable dry hay had added to the speed of its demise.
I buttoned up Gabe’s borrowed coat and waited for Sheriff Brody to reach our little group. Smoke was heavy in the air and the wind shifted, bringing a rush of the fumes over us. I coughed. Daniel tentatively reached over and stroked my shoulder. I took one step back and glanced up at him. He scowled for an instant and then looked away, shaking his head.
Rowan didn’t miss the interchange. His brows rose quizzically, but I ignored him, bringing my full attention to Sheriff Gentry when he finally stepped up to us.
“How many more barns are going to burn before one of you finally talks?” the sheriff asked in a raised voice.
Brody was speaking to Rowan and I closely observed his face go from curiosity about my relationship with Daniel to guarded disinterest with the sheriff.
“I’ve told you everything I know already. What more do you want from me?”
“Dammit, the truth,” Brody growled. He looked at me in annoyance and said, “I believe Rowan here, along with several others in this community, know who set the fire that killed my grandson.”
“Excuse me,” I thrust my finger forward, pointing at the giant bonfire that used to be a barn and seethed, “Don’t you think that we should all be focused on who lit this fire at the moment?”
“Maybe they’re all connected somehow, Miss Adams. I don’t know. What I am sure of is that the Amish have never been upfront with me during any of my investigations, past or present. How am I supposed to help them, when they won’t help themselves?”
Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) Page 12
