“Did you see the polar bears or wolves or—”
“No. We didn’t get all the way to the arctic animals. I wanted to see the seals perform.” Joy wrinkled her nose. “Maybe next time. But we did get to ride the elephants for a little while. That was scary. They are so big.”
Hopefully Hallie would be able to go next time. But this was the first time the bishop had approved the trip for the youngies. Depending on feedback and behavior issues, it may not happen again.
Joy pulled the glass of lemonade nearer and took another sip. She grimaced but this time didn’t push it away. “I’m not really a fan of baseball. It reminds me of playing softball in school. But it did get pretty exciting, and even better…Hold on a minute.” Joy bounced out of the chair and grabbed her baggy purse from where she’d dropped it on the floor.
Returning to the table, Joy dumped out the contents of her bag. Forbidden makeup: mascara, blush, and lip gloss. Hallie carried lip gloss in her purse, too. Joy shoved aside personal hygiene items and an unopened box of caramel corn Hallie barely kept from reaching for. She loved that, too. Unfair.
Joy grabbed a baseball that rolled toward the edge of the table. “Aaron is so jealous. I caught this fly ball. And one of the baseball players signed it.” She held it out to reveal a scribbled signature Hallie couldn’t begin to read. “He wants it. But it’s mine, mine, mine.”
Not that Joy truly cared about it, but since Aaron wanted it, it would be the cause of many scuffles and arguments. Hallie knew how that worked. And even though Aaron and Joy were fraternal twins, and close, they could still fight with the best of them.
Joy tossed the ball back into her purse and slid the rest of the scattered contents in after it. “So, that man, the preacher’s son, who’s here…”
Hallie’s heart thudded. What could she say? She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. “Um, he might be here to see about courting Anna.”
“Anna? Is someone trying to set up an arranged marriage? Or is this more like a blind date, just to see if they suit each other?”
“I guess it’s more the blind date thing.” Though that didn’t exactly fit. But how could she tell her seventeen-year-old sister that he was looking for the scribe and she was really the one he searched for and yes, she had kept it a secret from everyone. That would kind of sound like sour grapes—especially after Anna called dibs and he’d declared interest.
Besides, she wasn’t interested.
Really.
Maybe it’d become true if she kept telling herself that.
* * *
Never in Kiah’s wildest dreams had he imagined being greeted by flashing toy soccer ball lights and a yard full of neighbors, both plain and Englisch. Some of the women walked around collecting cats.
“Put your hands up!” one of the men shouted. He wore a short-sleeve blue button-up shirt and jeans with a ball cap and a tool belt.
Kiah eyed the hand resting on the man’s belt—was he licensed to carry those tools? Then he slowly raised his work-glove-covered hands high over his head as he glanced around for Aaron. There didn’t seem to be any sign of him anywhere.
Except, wait. The buggy he’d arrived in was rolling away. He didn’t see anyone in it. Actually…Aaron—his partner in this random act of kindness—was hunched over in the front seat as if he was trying to hide, leaving Kiah to take the credit—or blame—alone.
Kiah lowered his arms and pointed. “My buggy—”
“Arms over your head!” The middle-aged man didn’t seem to care that Kiah was being abandoned. In fact, he frowned. “Hands up! Neighborhood watch!”
Huh? The neighbors watched George’s house?
Kiah raised his arms again but pointed with his raised hand. “My getaway buggy is gettin—”
“Stop talking! On the ground!”
Right. Apparently it didn’t matter that his borrowed buggy—and his ride—was leaving without him.
With a sigh, Kiah lowered himself to his knees.
“Flat on your face!” the neighbor yelled. Then he turned to a younger Amish man and handed him the ball. “I always wanted to say that.”
The Amish man looked as confused as Kiah felt. He tossed the flashing ball aside. “Should we call the police?” A third man approached.
Was Kiah going to be being arrested? For bombing bugs? Or was it for dumping the cats outside the house? The situation was going from bad to worse. Daed would never let him hear the end of this. Courting anyone would be forbidden. Kiah would likely be grounded until he was eighty. “What’s going on here?” George bellowed, thumping his cane on the ground and narrowly missing Kiah’s glove-covered fingers.
Oh, good. George would clear this up. Kiah pushed up.
“Get down!” The older Englisch man glared at him.
“I killed the ants!” Kiah shouted at the dirt. Hopefully George would hear. And he’d be eternally grateful. Kiah might even get an award.
“What’s that? You killed my ants? You murderer! Murderer!” And worse, George burst into tears. Great big sobs that were as loud as he talked. “My ants!”
“You’re confessing? Where’s the murder weapon?” An Englisch man who apparently watched too many crime shows ran his hands over Kiah’s body. Oh, the shame. Kiah’s face burned. “He’s clean.”
“Inside,” Kiah said. “But—” His arms were yanked painfully behind his back and toy plastic rings clamped on him. Someone tugged him to his feet, repeating a bunch of words that made no sense, and shoved him toward a pickup truck with a force that hurt his still slightly pounding head. The back door was held open by another Amish man who looked as confused as Kiah felt and Kiah was pushed in. The door slammed shut. Hopefully the police when they arrived wouldn’t administer a drug test, because the pain pill Kiah took had some sort of narcotic in it. At this minute, he couldn’t remember exactly what, though.
Maybe it was good that Aaron had disappeared. It would be worse if he’d gotten arrested, too.
Tears burned Kiah’s eyes, but he wouldn’t give in to the despair. Not yet. Somehow he’d make them understand. But how was he supposed to know that killing ants was against the law here? George’s wife had begged for Kiah’s help getting rid of them. Hallie’s daed should’ve told him they were endangered creatures. But wait, hadn’t he said something about an act of malice? Toward the ants or toward George who obviously loved the pests? Either way, it was his fault that Kiah would be arrested and would lose his chance to court and marry Hallie…um, Anna…um, someone.
Somehow he’d work around this. He could court Hallie—er, the scribe—by mail, marry her by proxy, and she could join him in his grounding…No. Wait. He’d be in jail. Maybe facing the electric chair. Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but still. A lump threatened to clog up his throat.
More neighbors arrived, and after talking to some wildly gesturing Englisch woman, and making a phone call, a couple Amish men entered the house.
Ted would never forgive him for involving his son in this huge misunderstanding, aka “crime.” When Daed found out, he’d be sent home on the next bus. Either way, his future plans were doomed. Doomed.
* * *
Hallie glanced at the clock again. Supper was prepared and ready to set out, and Mammi waited at the table, working on finishing her knitted gift for the new baby whose birth Mamm and Anna were assisting. First babies sometimes took forever, so Hallie wasn’t surprised they weren’t home yet. However, Daed and Daadi should’ve been home from Daadi’s dentist appointment by now, and even though the buggy Aaron and Kiah had used was visible through the open doors in the barn and the horse was in the pasture, she hadn’t seen either one of them. Aaron had probably called a friend or was doing his chores, but it seemed as though Kiah would’ve been underfoot by now. Unless he was helping Aaron. His daed was studying for his sermon in the morning while his mamm read a book and drank lemonade. They were both in the living room.
Joy was upstairs unpacking, and with nothing that urgently needed doing, Ha
llie told Mammi where she was going, slipped on her tennis shoes, and headed to the barn. Not that she missed Kiah. Really. Okay, she did. But she’d just peek in on him and not talk—make that flirt—because he planned to court her older sister. Talking should be okay because that was innocent getting to know a stranger. A friend.
Entering the barn, she breathed in the familiar scent of dust and animals. The hog grunted, the hens clucked, a calf bawled. She didn’t hear any human noises, though. The big area where the buggies were kept was empty of people, so she headed down to the stalls and pens. The hand-operated water pump squeaked. It came from the cow barn. She peeked in from the top of the four steps leading down. Aaron stood at the other end of the room priming the pump. He was alone. Except for a cat she’d never seen before. Must be a stray.
“Where’s Kiah?” Ugh, she shouldn’t have blurted it out like that. Now Aaron would think she was interested.
Aaron glanced up as water gushed. “Um, I don’t know. Best case, he’s at George’s. Worst, he’s in jail for breaking and entering.”
“What?” That came out a little loud. Breaking and entering? She frowned.
“There was a crowd of neighborhood watchers waiting when I came around the house. I sort of went around, got into the buggy, and left. I didn’t do anything wrong. He’s the one who broke in.” Aaron looked defensive.
“You left?” Kiah was a guest, even if he was a criminal.
Aaron huffed. “I’m not going to jail for this.”
“Did he rob someone?” Hallie clenched her dress in her fists. How could Aaron abandon him?
“No! We were setting off bug bombs. You know that.” Aaron shook his head. “George’s wife has been asking for help with their ant infestation for eons. Everyone has been afraid to step in and do it on account of upsetting George.”
For good reason.
So Kiah wasn’t a criminal. Hallie sagged in relief. George’s door stuck. He usually didn’t have it locked. “Hitch up the horse. I’m going after Kiah.”
“You might need a bail bondsman.” Her brother got a long-suffering tone in his voice.
“A what?” What on earth was a bail bondsman?
“Money. To bail him out of jail.” Aaron turned his attention back to the pump.
Why didn’t they just call it money? “I have twenty dollars.”
Aaron looked at her and rolled his eyes. “Thousands.”
Thousands? “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head.
“I’ll take his daed with me. But he’s studying for his sermon tomorrow. Maybe the bishop?”
She whirled and ran out without waiting for Aaron to answer.
Kiah. In jail.
This was bad.
For Kiah.
Very, very bad.
Chapter 10
Kiah slumped in the front seat of the pickup. His shoulders and upper arms hurt from being twisted behind his back at an awkward angle. At least until the plastic kids’ handcuffs broke. He’d owe some kid a new toy. Not to mention his backside he’d already hurt by falling downstairs. And his head…This had been a very bad day overall. Except for meeting Hallie. Anna. He grimaced. No. Definitely Hallie. She seemed very right while something about Anna seemed off.
Tears burned his eyes, but he blinked them away. This was beyond shameful. If any of the Amish witnessing this remembered him from November, they would think that the helpful volunteer from Shipshewana had been scoping out the area for a crime spree.
The two Amish men exited the house, hands over their noses and mouths and coughing. They approached another man, this one Englisch, and said something Kiah couldn’t hear through the buzzing in his ears mixed with George’s loud wails from where he stood in the middle of the front yard. Lips twitching, the neighbor who seemed to be in charge approached the vehicle. As he opened the door, he schooled his expression, a stern mask falling over it. “Explain yourself, boy.”
“I didn’t know ants were endangered. I meant to do an act of kindness and help George get rid of pests. His wife had asked me to. But, uh, that went terribly wrong.”
“Hmm. Ants aren’t endangered. You had someone else with you?”
Oh no. He didn’t want to get Aaron in trouble. “All he did was help catch the cats. There were, like, thirty of them. Or more. I lost count. Wait. Was that the crime? Catching cats?”
The man’s lips did twitch. He glanced down at a cat that appeared, purring and rubbing against his leg. “No. Breaking and entering is, though.”
George’s wife touched the man’s forearm. What was her name? Mildew? No. That couldn’t be right. Mildred? Maybe.
“The door was unlocked, Ashton. It just sticks. This boy is welcome here. He fixes things.”
“He’s a murderer! Murderer!” George shouted to someone on the other side of the front lawn with what could only be perfect timing.
“I can fix your front door,” Kiah said. Should he offer to catch ants and replace them? Perhaps a nice little ant farm would suffice instead. Especially since those ants would be confined.
“See? He fixes stuff.” Mildred smiled up at her neighbor Ashton and patted his arm. “Let the boy go.”
Jah, please, mister, please.
Ashton motioned with his head for Kiah to slide out. As Kiah straightened, Ashton returned to his position in front of him and looked him in the eyes. “Normally the police would be called for this, but considering this involves Amish George…” The man chuckled. “In the future, don’t enter someone’s house without permission.”
“Yes, sir,” Kiah said.
“He had permission,” Mildred said. “Though, I thought he’d get to it a lot sooner than he did.”
“And definitely get permission before setting off bug bombs in someone else’s home.” The man glanced over his shoulder at George, who was still shouting murderer and probably enjoying the attention way too much.
“He had permission for that, too.” Mildred smiled at Kiah.
A buggy rattled to a stop on the other side of the street. Great, more gawkers. Kiah kept his focus on the neighbor man. “Yes, sir,” he said again. He thought again about Ted’s cautions. Had this reaction been what Hallie’s daed had warned him about when he’d talked about random acts of malice? If so, why couldn’t the man have been more straightforward? Although, Kiah probably wouldn’t have believed him if he’d said that George would have a meltdown over exterminated ants. It was a good thing George wasn’t aware of the previous killing spree he and Henry had gone on, stomping and squishing ants, when they’d stayed with George and Mildred after the tornado.
Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned his head that way as Bishop Nathan and Hallie came around the front of the pickup. Hallie’s eyes were red-rimmed as if she’d been crying. Oh, he hated that. He made a quick move toward her, but then stopped himself. Not only would it be frowned upon, but he was planning to court the scribe.
The bishop wore a concerned expression. His brow was furrowed, his mouth set in a frown. “Hezekiah Esh. What kind of mischief are you up to now? First you come to steal our scribe and—”
“He’s a murderer!” George hobbled across the yard, leaning heavily on his cane as he approached. Loudly.
“That’s pretty much it. I meant to help them out by eliminating their ant problem, but it seems to have gone horribly wrong.” Kiah grimaced as he looked at George.
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest,” Bishop Nathan murmured. “George’s favorite verse.”
“Indeed.” Mildred nodded. “This boy did me a huge favor, but George does love his ants.”
“How can you fix this?” The bishop’s voice was quiet. He eyed Kiah.
Kiah sighed. Why should he need to fix it? It was a favor! “An ant farm would seem to be a necessity as soon as I find one. Not sure how to go about doing that.”
/> “Mm-hmm.” Bishop Nathan made a sound of approval. Or agreement. Maybe both. “It might be easier than you think.” He hitched an eyebrow. “Our schoolteacher—whose name happens to be Ginny Hannah Baer and could be your GHB—has an ant farm at the school. She needs to find a home for the ants. School will be closing soon for the summer, and every one of the scholars seems to think they’ve studied enough about ants. They are quite tired of them.”
Was that the bishop’s way of saying that Anna wasn’t the scribe? Or was he tossing a red herring at Kiah? Because he’d seen the notes. And the purple pen.
Mildred leaned close. “Don’t tell George the scholars are tired of ants. He won’t take it well.”
“Well, you say? No. The cats stay out of the well,” George bellowed, shoving his finger into Kiah’s chest hard enough he moved back a step. “You let my cats loose.” He leaned on the cane as he bent and picked up one that made figure eights around Ashton’s legs. “Poor babies. You trying to murder them, too?” He glared at Kiah. “Don’t you dare put them in the well.”
Kiah sighed. “And here I thought vindictive woodpeckers and whippersnappers were the worst of my troubles today.”
Hallie made a sound that might’ve been a giggle.
Kiah looked at her.
The bishop’s eyebrows shot up as he swiveled his head around to stare at her. Then he glanced back at Kiah.
And he made another weird humming noise.
* * *
Hallie dipped her head to hide the heat burning her cheeks, but she peeked through her lashes at the very intriguing Kiah Esh. How could one person manage to find so much trouble in such a short amount of time? And without even trying. He was more exciting than Toby, Gott rest his soul.
If she dared to write about this, the readers of The Budget would be in stitches. It would also give her identity away…Maybe. She looked around. There were other Amish there. Lots of them. Jah, this would be in the next issue.
“I think we need to go somewhere and talk about this,” the bishop said, glancing at the group.
The Amish Secret Wish Page 9
