A soft step behind the buggy interrupted his thoughts, and Ben stuck his head out the door.
“Why aren’t you where you’re supposed to be?” a harsh whisper asked. “Rogge has been waiting for fifteen minutes already.”
“Tell him I want to meet in the front.” Ben didn’t crane his neck to see the speaker. He didn’t have to. Rogge’s brother, Lyman, had a distinctive nasal tone to his speech.
“That’s not going to work,” Lyman whispered back. “Now pull around where you belong, and Rogge will meet you there in five minutes.”
Ben stiffened and the tension was reflected in his voice. “Tell Rogge to follow me out of town in ten minutes. I’ll be parked in the woods on the right just outside the town limits. No one will see us there.”
“What’s wrong with the old way?” Lyman had raised his voice.
“Just do it or I’m out of this tonight,” Ben snapped. He leaned forward and clucked to Longstreet. The horse jerked forward. Lyman let out a yelp as a buggy wheel clipped his foot. Ben knew he probably shouldn’t have been so rough, but he wanted Rogge to take him seriously. As he approached the edge of town, he checked behind him and to the sides before pulling down a small road into the woods. This small, overgrown path led to a hunting cabin. It was kept up enough so that vehicles could pass through one at a time. Rogge would figure out where he’d parked, even if his buggy wasn’t seen from the road.
Ben climbed down and waited. Sure enough, the soft rumble of Rogge’s car was soon heard coming down the lane.
The car jolted to a halt and Rogge got out, obviously angry. “So what’s this all about?” he demanded.
Lyman stayed inside the car, but Ben could see through the windshield that the brother’s face was grim. Ben kept his voice steady. “I thought it was time for a different routine. We’ll get caught doing the same thing every time.”
“You could have called me,” Rogge shot back.
Ben stepped closer. “We agreed a long time ago to make no phone calls, remember? No contact except at our scheduled meetings.”
Rogge snorted. “This isn’t more of that nonsense about quitting, is it? You had me scared there for a bit.”
Ben didn’t hesitate. “I am quitting in the next few weeks. I don’t want to stay in this business forever. It’s not right. Now let’s get this over with.”
Rogge glared at Ben, but he got a large bag from the car and gave it to Ben.
Ben slid it under the buggy seat. “Now, there’s something you can do for me.”
“Really?” A sly grin spread over Rogge’s face.
Ben produced a roll of bills and held them out.
Rogge’s grin disappeared. “Why are you giving me money?”
“I want you to have Lyman or your sister drop this off at a place called Byler’s Market. It’s that little grocery store just out of town. There’s a girl who runs the deli counter. Her name is Esther Kuntz. Have your brother or sister tell her this is to finance the trip for Katie Raber. Esther will understand. And make sure they don’t mention where the money came from. I don’t want Katie to know.”
Rogge’s eyes got big. “You’re buttering a broad’s bread?”
“Something like that.”
Rogge’s grin was back. “She must be a sweet one. Why don’t you give her the money yourself? Might get you more mileage that way.”
“I don’t want that kind of mileage, and I don’t want to explain. Will you just see to it that Esther gets the money and the message to give it to Katie Raber?”
“Anything for you, my longtime and prosperous business partner.” Rogge smirked as he turned on his heels and headed to the car without waiting for any additional comments.
Ben almost shouted, “This isn’t going to last much longer, Rogge!” But he decided Rogge wouldn’t listen anyway. As the last sounds of Rogge’s automobile engine died away, Ben checked the client list with his flashlight. There were a few new names with directions to the drop-off places attached. Most of them were at the usual gathering places on weekends. He would have to go to one on Friday and Saturday night. Beyond that, there was one stop to make at a residence, which he could do tonight. He got back into his buggy, turned it around, and drove away. Longstreet’s hooves were soon beating steadily on pavement. Ben drifted into deep thought, imagining Katie’s amazement and what she would say when Esther announced that someone had dropped off enough money for her trip to Europe. Would she faint? Scream? He smiled. Nee, Katie wouldn’t do any of that. She’d be thrilled—excited that her miracle had come through. That’s how Katie would look at this. She would think it was a gift from Da Hah—which maybe it was, Ben thought, but he doubted it. The money was tainted with sin and illegal activities. Da Hah probably didn’t work that way.
And if he’d tried to give Katie the money himself, there’d be too many questions. Katie was innocent, but she would still ask a lot of questions. She’d want to know where he’d obtained the money because it was such a large sum. Ben didn’t feel like lying to her. There were enough sins on his account that needed cleansing without adding that to the pile. And would Katie even take the money from him? They didn’t really know each other well. He sensed she’d had a crush on him, but that probably wasn’t enough to get her to accept this much cash. And Ben didn’t want to take the chance of clouding this special moment for Katie by arousing unpleasant questions or a tense situation.
Yah, Katie looked at things differently from what he did. She wasn’t hard around the edges. Her smile was always open and frank. The girl had suffered in her life, that much he’d figured out. Yet she hadn’t turned bitter. What would it be like to have such an open attitude? Ben wasn’t sure, but it was one of the reasons he was attracted to her.
That and the fact Katie was quite gut looking. Her beauty must have been covered up all those years by the drab dresses her mamm probably insisted Katie wear. That and Katie’s shy gaze that seldom looked up at someone. The girl absolutely glowed when she smiled. Now that he thought about it, Katie had seldom smiled the few times she’d attended Amish youth gatherings. But at the Mennonite youth gatherings she was so different, always laughing and talking. Almost outgoing, in fact.
He guessed the Mennonites were benefiting both of them in ways he’d never considered. Perhaps there was something to Da Hah working in a person’s life. Katie certainly thought so. Ben shook his head. He’d always had doubts, even though he took care to hide them. There was no sense in alarming his daett and mamm more than was necessary. Rumspringa was a time for sorting out one’s faith, was it not? The problem was he didn’t have much faith to sort out.
He ought to make a trip to Europe himself someday. Maybe he would find faith there in the land of the Amish founders. They’d been men and women of great faith who survived persecution and torture and faced death without wavering. He couldn’t do that. He wasn’t even sure he could make his “no” to Rogge stick even though he knew it was the right thing to do. How could he stand up to much of anything else? Certainly he couldn’t stand up to the torture of the rack or being burned at the stake.
Ben shuddered. Perhaps Europe wouldn’t do him much gut. But it would do Katie a lot of gut. He could tell that already. She would have her faith strengthened, and she would grow into even more of a glowing woman than she was now. And from her maybe he could draw strength. Maybe he already was. Wasn’t it Katie who had inspired his desire to break with Rogge? Yah, it was, Ben admitted. And he would accomplish that before long. Katie had no idea how much gut she was doing for him. From the look in her eyes, she thought he was doing her a great favor by spending time with her. That was more evidence of her innocence.
Most girls he knew quickly moved beyond the stage of starry-eyed wonder and started making demands on him. And it didn’t usually take more than a few dates to get there. But Katie hadn’t shown any signs of going that route. Her eyes were as full of joy when he dropped her off the other night as they had been when he’d picked her up. Could Katie love him? Oth
er girls had, but Katie was different. She didn’t throw herself at him or beg for his attention.
Katie probably never thought of what she could get out of him other than wanting him near. It sent strange feelings through him, like he was close to something he didn’t deserve. Katie was too gut for him. He’d never thought that of any other girl. They had all bored him after a few outings. Like his faith, they left much lacking and gave no promise of better things ahead.
But with Katie, something had certainly changed. What, he wasn’t quite sure of. But whatever it was, he didn’t want it to go away. Yah, he would have to be done with Rogge by the time Katie returned from Europe. There was no question about that. The past would be the past, and maybe they could grow close. And if Katie returned as invigorated in her faith as he expected she would, therein might lie his answer. Katie could inspire his own faith. She would tell him the stories of the land where martyrs had died, and the glow in her eyes would be enough to help him along. Somewhere he would find faith. He wanted to, and he couldn’t help but find it with Katie as his companion.
Ben pulled back the reins and the buggy bounced to a stop alongside a curb. The address he’d been given was just ahead, and it would be better not to drive in with a buggy. He didn’t want anything different about him that someone might remember or use against him. There was no reason this person needed to know he drove around in a buggy or that he was Amish.
It was easier to make deliveries at parties. But he had done this before, so he tied Longstreet to a fence post and took one last glance around. The buggy was far enough off the road to not be seen, and he wouldn’t be gone that long. He slipped through the darkness with a small bundle under his arm, and knocked at the garage door like the instructions said.
A bearded, burly man answered with a gruff, “What’d you want?”
“Delivery for Albert Kinsley,” Ben said as he glanced down at the package.
“Who’s it from?”
“Rogge.”
The man reached out his hand and took the package. “Thanks.”
Ben made his way back and untied Longstreet. He climbed into the buggy and turned it around on the road before driving off at a fast clip.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Katie had just shut down her register for her lunch break when Esther came hurrying toward her. Arlene glanced over from her checkout aisle to see what the excitement was all about. Esther took Katie by the arm. “It’s your lunch break, right?”
“Yah. But what happened? Why are you so excited? Did that handsome man I saw a moment ago at your counter ask you out?”
Esther gave Katie a baleful look. “Oh, forget about that. I didn’t even notice him. This is even better!”
“Then you’d better tell me, before you pass out.”
Esther laughed. “You’re the one who’s in danger of passing out. This news is about you!”
Katie thought fast. What could have happened that would put Esther into such a frenzy—that had something to do with her?
“Come with me! I’ll tell you and show you.” Esther grabbed Katie by the hand and led her to the lunchroom. After they’d taken their lunches from the refrigerator, sat down, and offered silent prayers, Esther said, “Do you want to guess?”
Katie shook her head, her mouth full of sandwich. Esther was always so dramatic about everything. No news could be this great.
Esther leaned closer. “Someone just dropped off an envelope of money and said it’s for your trip to Europe. And from the size of the bundle, I’d say there’s plenty and then some.”
Katie stopped eating. “An envelope of money? For me?”
Esther giggled, thoroughly enjoying herself. “Can you believe it! And I didn’t even know who the woman was who brought it to me.”
“Why did they give it to you? I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know,” Esther said with a shiver of delight. “But who cares? Maybe the person or persons wanted to make sure the gift stayed anonymous. Isn’t this wonderful? Now you get to make the trip. And the other three girls will be thrilled.”
“Did you know I needed the money?” Katie asked as she stared at Esther.
Esther shrugged. “Well, I mean, I kind of figured that would be an obstacle. Such trips take an awful lot of money. But what does it matter what I thought, Katie? This is a great thing to happen! And to think I got to be part of it.”
Katie tried to keep breathing steadily. “Well, thank you for being part of it. But this money…I don’t know…”
Esther interrupted her with a look of alarm, “I hope you don’t object to receiving the money, Katie. You’re not going to reject it, are you?”
Katie forced a smile. “I just wish I knew who gave it and why, that’s all. How can I thank the person? Are you sure this isn’t a joke? People don’t do things like this.”
“No, it’s not a joke. See for yourself! Here’s the envelope.”
Katie reached out and took it. She looked inside and her mouth dropped open.
“I told you!” Esther said, almost shouting.
“But who…”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. The woman who dropped it off looked quite nice and respectable.”
“I guess I can’t give it back. Who would I give it back to?”
Esther grinned. “That’s more like it.”
Katie peeked inside the envelope again.
“See?” Esther looked triumphant. “There ought to be enough and then some.”
Katie’s head was spinning. “Wow! It’s so much. How can I accept this? And who do I thank? This is beyond amazing. Da Hah does many miracles, but this…this…this is way too nice.”
“I thanked the lady on your behalf,” Esther said as she patted Katie’s arm.
Katie’s hand trembled, but she managed to put the envelope down. She finished her lunch in a daze.
“Well, I’m out of here,” Esther said after taking the last bite of her chocolate chip cookie. “I have a quick errand to run before I have to get back to work.”
As soon as she was alone, Katie took another look inside the envelope. This time she counted it to see just how much was there. It was well over five thousand dollars! “Who? Why? Who did she know that even had that much money to spare? Questions raced through her mind. Few people knew about the trip other than her family and some of the Mennonite youth. Did the gift come from one of her Mennonite friends? It must have. Likely Margaret or Sharon was in on this. Or perhaps some of their friends had heard about a young Amish girl being invited along to Europe who didn’t have the needed funds…
Even Nancy Keim could have been involved—or the organization she served with in Europe. Obviously whoever it was wanted the gift to remain a secret, probably not wishing to draw attention to himself…or herself. That was what godly people like the Amish and the Mennonites did.
How blessed she was to have such friends! And to have Jesse for a daett who would allow her to go on the trip. And here was the money to make it possible. What a miracle! Just like so much of her life lately. It seemed like one miracle followed another. First Mamm got married to Jesse, then Ben sought her out, and now someone had given her enough money to go to Europe! Surely this was a dream! And yet she wasn’t awakening from it. Maybe if she walked out to Arlene and told her about it that would help. If Arlene said this was real, then Katie would have to believe it.
As Katie made her way to Arlene’s checkout station, she thought better of it. Arlene had a customer who’d just approached too, so Katie went directly to her register.
Arlene looked up at Katie curiously. “What’s going on, Katie?”
Katie smiled. “I’ll tell you at quitting time.”
Arlene shrugged and tended to her customer. When she was finished, she looked over at Katie. “I’ll be right back.” With that, she slipped down the aisle toward the lunchroom.
Katie opened her register and greeted her first afternoon customer. The white envelope was in her dress pocket, and it would st
ay there, she decided, until after closing time. In the meantime she would act normally—as if that were possible.
“Nice weather for the week before Christmas,” the older lady in front of her said. “Have you been outside?”
“Not since this morning,” Katie said as she scanned the items.
“Stick your head out if you get a chance,” the lady said. “It’s gorgeous.”
“I’ll try,” Katie said. “I suppose I’ll get plenty of fresh air on the way home tonight.”
The lady glanced up. “Do you walk to work?”
Katie shook her head. “I drive.”
“Oh, a buggy?” The lady looked at her carefully, and then her face beamed. “Are you Amish?”
“Yah,” Katie said, scanning the last item.
“Sorry for my asking,” the lady said. “I hope I didn’t offend you. I thought you looked Amish, but I didn’t know the Amish worked in stores like this. I thought you Amish stayed on farms, milking cows or standing at a quilting loom. Oh dear, have I insulted you again?” The lady looked worried. When Katie smiled, the customer relaxed and smiled back.
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