Material Witness

by Vannetta Chapman

  “Levi, this gift wasn’t left to us.”

  Melinda wasn’t able to hear much of the rest. Sadie began whispering to Levi, then they both stepped out onto the porch. As they walked away, she heard Aaron’s name, heard the words medical expenses. She glanced down, tears stinging her eyes. When she looked up again, Deborah reached across the quilt and patted her hand.

  “It wasn’t for us that I wanted to know,” Melinda whispered.

  “Nor I. It seems Elizabeth wanted us to unravel this puzzle, but we can’t force them to travel along the trail she has laid out.”

  They stood and began folding the quilts while Callie carried coffee cups to the sink. Shane and Gavin discussed vacation plans now that the case was closed. Melinda realized again how much their community owed these two.

  As they were gathering their things to leave, Levi and Sadie stepped back inside. “We’ll look,” he said.

  Melinda reached again for Deborah’s hand.

  “One place,” he added. “And only tonight. I won’t be spending the rest of my days chasing after some make-believe treasure.”

  “You said the last quilt had a code above the bottom right corner, correct?” Sadie looked toward Deborah.

  “Ya, the date 1952 and the symbol for water.”

  “Are you sure the numbers refer to a date?” Levi asked.

  “No, but what else could it be?” Melinda pushed up her glasses. “A date seems most obvious.”

  “What could be important about 1952?” Gavin asked.

  “We were at war with Korea,” Shane said.

  Callie tucked her hair behind her ear. “Elizabeth II became queen.” When everyone stared at her she pretended offense. “What? I watch a lot of late-night History Channel.”

  “I have a feeling it would have been something more personal,” Esther suggested.

  “And something related to water.” Melinda walked over and ran her hand across the quilt Deborah had folded. The center square was clearly visible — water, blessings, family, and 1952. Deborah and Callie had seemed to have discounted the pond for a very good reason, but what else could it mean?

  “Could it be the pond after all?” Shane asked.

  Deborah slipped a smile Callie’s way. “I remembered the pond being dug when we were teens. We had a church singing out there the weekend it first rained and filled it up.”

  “Needed that pond for the livestock.” Levi walked to the shelf running along the wall in the living room above the cast-iron stove. He picked up one flashlight for himself and tossed another to Shane. “But the pump house, now that was built in the early 1950s.”

  Shane caught the flashlight, tested the strength of the batteries, and nodded. “These are good.”

  “You’re sure it was built in the ‘50s?” Callie asked.

  “Ya. Had the pump serviced this last year. Carter and his son were out here. Old man mentioned he’d helped his father install the original pump in the early ‘50s.”

  “Water,” Melinda said, placing her quilt on the couch.

  “And blessings.” Esther set her quilt on top of Melinda’s.

  “There’s one way to find out.” When Deborah’s quilt was placed on top, the three quilts made for a perfect trio.

  Melinda couldn’t help that her pulse raced as they all walked calmly out the door, down the steps and across the yard. Max stretched — front paws out in front of him, rear high in the air — then fell into line with them. She knew it was wrong to have worldly thoughts, to care about wealth — and wealth that wasn’t even hers. Regardless of what the will said, whatever was in the pump house rightfully belonged to Levi and Sadie.

  Still, it was exciting to think Elizabeth Hochstetler had placed something there for safekeeping over fifty years ago, and they were about to uncover it. She couldn’t help feeling God had used them in some way, used their love and talent for quilting to solve this mystery.

  The question that remained was what exactly had Elizabeth hidden?

  Callie held back as everyone crowded into the little pump house, fitting in around the pipes and mechanisms she couldn’t begin to name.

  “Come on in, Callie. You’ve earned a front-row seat.” Gavin’s voice was low, solid, and comforting. She understood, suddenly and with something of a jolt, how much she’d grown to care for him. He was the brother she’d always wanted, and she couldn’t imagine not having him in her life.

  Tugging on his hand, she pulled him out of the door of the shack and into the night. Max didn’t make a sound, but he brushed up against her as he trotted past, settling a few feet in front of her. She could see the outline of him as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  “Thank you, for all you’ve done.” When Gavin didn’t answer, Callie pushed on. She couldn’t see his expression, but perhaps that was best. “I don’t mean only during this mess, but since I’ve come to Shipshe. Since I was involved in Stakehorn’s murder. You’ve always been there for me. Always been a solid friend. That’s rare in this world. I realize now that God put you in my life for a reason, and I …. I want to tell you that you mean a lot to me.”

  He reached out then, pulled her into a side hug. “Somebody has to watch out for you. Every once in a while Shane is busy.”

  She laughed, wiped at tears that inexplicably wanted to fall. She didn’t think she used to be this weepy. What was happening to her? Living in the country was supposed to make you hardy, but it seemed to be turning her soft and gooey.

  “For what it’s worth, I hope you two are happy.” Gavin gave her shoulders a final squeeze, then released her.

  “Aren’t I a little old to be someone’s girlfriend?”

  “Don’t rush it. You two need more time alone, time when you’re not in the middle of an investigation. You’ll feel better then.”

  When Callie shook her head, Gavin crossed his arms, stared off across the fields that were blanketed in darkness.

  “You two will figure it out. Say yes when Shane asks you to go —” Gavin was interrupted by a loud commotion from inside the pump house.

  “Sounds like we’re missing all the action,” he said. “I have a feeling you should see this.”

  So Callie let him lead her back inside, even though part of her was more interested in what he was about to say than in any treasure that might have been hidden for two generations.

  They walked into a room flooded with light, leaving Max to take up post once more by the door.

  A kerosene lamp was burning brightly and had been positioned over the pump casing.

  Shane had his flashlight, as well as Levi’s, trained over a three-by-three-foot square of ground next to the main machinery. They’d brushed away the dirt and found a door in the floor, which they had already managed to pry open.

  “Sadie noticed the ground sounded different when she walked here,” Deborah explained. “Turns out it’s a root cellar.”

  “Not exactly full of roots,” Levi called out, climbing up a short ladder with his arms full of canning jars.

  He handed them to his wife carefully, as if they were fragile eggs that had survived a storm but might now shatter at the slightest touch. Sadie turned and began passing the dusty jars around the room. Levi ran his arm across his brow, then disappeared back down the ladder, returning with another armful. By the time he’d passed those out, everyone was holding a jar.

  “Looks like you all were right.” He wiped at the sweat and dirt on his face. “Mamm went to quite some trouble to hide these, for whatever reason. So even if all we have are some very old canned vegetables …”

  He paused, stared down at the quart jar in his hands a moment. When he raised his eyes, a grin played across his lips. “Danki. You pushed me to look for them. Her hands put them up, all those years ago, before I was even born. I don’t know why my mamm would have hid them, but she did. And now she wanted us to find them. They were precious to her, and that makes them precious to me, even if they’re only squash and carrots.”

  “My jar doesn’
t look like vegetables, Levi.” Gavin had rubbed the dirt off his container and was holding it up to the light. Callie leaned closer to better see what was inside. The glass of the jar had darkened with age, but she could tell the contents were shiny and circular.

  “We might as well all open them at the same time,” Levi muttered.

  The jars weren’t fastened with wax, but the tops had been rusted on tight. Slight popping sounds filled the night as each person broke the seals age had created, which protected the contents of their jars against fifty years of weather, nearly twenty thousand mornings and nights, critters that crawled through the earthen cellar, and men and women who walked above.

  Callie refused to glance up even when she heard murmured cries of surprise. She was determined to remove the top to her jar and see its contents before she looked at anyone else’s.

  “Stocks? Who puts stocks in a jar?”

  “Mine has bills. Hundred-dollar bills.”

  “Where would she have gotten this much money?”

  “Maybe from her in-laws — my grandparents.”

  The lid on Callie’s jar wouldn’t budge no matter how she cranked on it.

  “Mind if I help you, Callie Grace?”

  The words were more gentle than a caress and sent a delicious shiver down her spine. When she nodded, Shane encircled her with his arms and gave the lid of the jar one tug. It made a small popping sound as the seal broke.

  “You almost had it,” he lied, smiling down at her.

  And suddenly she didn’t care what was in the jar. She turned in his arms, gazed up into his eyes, and knew whatever was in the jar wasn’t nearly as precious as what she was seeing.

  Which was silly.

  He’d opened a jar for her, not braved a dark night and protected her from a monster.

  But the truth was that Shane had saved Callie from more than one monster. He’d saved her from at least three, and she knew — looking deep into the darkest, kindest eyes she’d ever seen — that he would defend her from more, as many more as she managed to encounter.

  “Are you going to look in that jar, or stand there and hold it?” Gavin asked. “Mine had gold pieces. Imagine that. She must have had the bank get them from Fort Wayne.”

  Callie thrust her jar into Gavin’s hands. “You can check mine for me.”

  Shane grinned as he passed his jar to Deborah. “Guess I’ll hand over mine as well.”

  “You two aren’t even going to look?” Deborah laughed as she juggled her jar to accept Shane’s.

  In the background, Callie could hear Sadie’s and Levi’s voices. They sounded happy. She wasn’t sure what this meant to them or how it would affect the sale of the quilts. All she knew was that she needed to be alone with Shane for a few minutes.

  So she slipped her hand in his and tugged him toward the door of the pump house.

  “Where are they going?” Melinda asked.

  “They’re not curious,” Deborah explained.

  “We’re curious all right,” Shane growled.

  Then he followed Callie out into the night, out under the cover of a million stars.

  Epilogue

  CALLIE COCKED HER HEAD and studied her fiancé as he walked out on to the back porch to join her.

  “Get plenty to eat?” Shane asked.

  “Of your mother’s cooking? I might have to lie down in the Buick when we drive home.”

  He sat on the swing next to her and set it to rocking. They gazed out over the valley as the sun painted the sky golden on a perfect Thanksgiving afternoon.

  “Warm enough?” Shane asked, pulling a throw blanket around her shoulders.

  “I am, but you can still kiss me if you want.”

  So he did, and it made her toes tingle as always. Callie thought Max gave her a reproachful look, but he was as full as she was and couldn’t do more than moan softly.

  “Gavin told me to say yes,” she admitted, when Shane stopped kissing her and returned to staring at the sunset.

  “Gavin told you to marry me?”

  She slapped his arm, but he grabbed her hand and wouldn’t let go. “He said, ‘Say yes when Shane asks you to go …’ but he never finished the sentence, and I didn’t know where you were going to ask me to go.”

  “This was when we found the money?”

  “And two weeks later you offered me this ring.” Callie looked down at the sparkling diamond. Not too big. Not too small. Just right. Shane Black knew how to do things just right.

  “I’m glad you said yes.” He nuzzled her neck and she let out a yelp.

  “Everything all right out there?” Shane’s father asked from the kitchen.

  “Yes,” Callie and Shane answered in unison.

  Callie thought about Shane’s remark. “To marrying you or to meeting your parents?”

  “Both.”

  “I am too.” She snuggled into his arms while the stars began to make an appearance. All she could think of as her eyes grew heavy was that Deborah was right. God did have a plan. “I am too.”

  Discussion Questions

  1. In chapter 5, Callie attempts to explain to Deborah the heart of her relationship with Mrs. Knepp. She compares it to not being accepted into a group in high school, then admits that “in my mind there was always going to be a day — sometime in the future — when we could call a truce.” Can you relate to Callie’s awkwardness at not being accepted by someone or a group of people? How did you react? Has there been a time when you held on to a grudge and wished you hadn’t?

  2. In chapter 10, Melinda realizes, maybe for the first time, that the killer could be after her son Aaron. She has a moment of panic, and then remembers the words found in Jeremiah 29:11. Only part of the scripture is included in the chapter. The entire verse is one of my favorites.

  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” declares the LORD, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

  Has there been a time in your life when this scripture has brought you comfort?

  3. Joshua’s meltdown in chapter 11 was so much fun for me to write, because I’ve been there with my own child! So often when I see young mothers with young children, I’m reminded of a professor’s wise words: “You’re seeing three minutes of a three-hour movie.” Isn’t that the truth? We don’t really know what’s going on in someone else’s life. Can you relate to Deborah’s problems with Joshua, and if so, would you have handled it the same way or differently?

  4. After Shane and Callie kiss, she realizes she must make a leap of faith — she can no longer straddle the fence of their relationship (chapter 13): “There was no middle ground. It was either trust and take the leap, or back up and somehow endure this thing alone.”

  Callie’s relationship with Shane very much parallels her spiritual journey at this point. In other words, sometimes God uses people to help us make those leaps of faith. Have you experienced a similar moment?

  5. At the beginning of chapter 17, Melinda recalls her mother’s advice, the biblical advice to “lean not unto your own understanding.” She knows this is good advice, but knowing it and being able to do it are two very different things. What are some practical things we can do to depend on God’s understanding during times of crisis?

  6. In chapter 20, you read from Esther’s point of view that “God had worked in her heart. He had given her back her faith in the goodness of life.” This is no small thing! Esther had previously lost more than her husband, Seth, to a terrible accident. She had lost her faith in the goodness of God. Do you think it’s possible to ever completely heal from such a tragedy?

  7. We have a nice image of Deborah ministering to Melinda in chapter 23. “When she applied pressure to the small cut, fresh blood poured out, staining the cotton.” Sometimes it’s the small daily things that remind us of Christ’s sacrifice. What has occurred in your daily life recently to remind you of the gift of grace?

  8. The Swap! Oh my. In chapter 25, we see that Aaron and Matt have once agai
n pulled The Swap! Why are they doing this to their parents? Are they bad children? Do they understand it’s wrong? And in this case, does the end justify the means? (P.S. did you ever do anything similar when you were a child, or since?)

  9. We learn about Shane’s background in chapter 26, about the tragic death of his sister, how the person who killed her was captured and imprisoned, and how that affected his family. This scene helps us to understand how Shane has become the man, and the officer, that he is. In reality, can God use something terrible in our lives for good?

  10. In chapter 30, Levi reveals his attitude toward his brother. He knows he will never be able to win Thomas’ freedom, but he still has hope for his salvation when he says to Shane, “Because you didn’t kill him … I will have time to try and win my bruder’s heart. Time to pray for him and time to minister.” How is this an expression of God’s grace?

  Glossary

  ack — oh

  aenti — aunt

  bedauerlich — sad

  boppli — baby

  bopplin — babies

  bruder — brother

  daadi — grandfather, informal

  daed — father

  danki — thank you

  dat — dad

  Dietsch — Pennsylvania Dutch

  dochder — daughter

  dochdern — daughters

  eck — corner

  Englischer — non-Amish person

  fraa — wife

  friend — friend

  freinden — friends

  gelassenheit — calmness, compo-sure, placidity

  gern gschehne — you’re welcome

  Gotte’s wille — God’s will

  grandkinner — grandchildren

  grossdaddi — grandfather

  grossdochdern — granddaughters

  grossmammi — grandmother

  gudemariye — good morning

  gut — good

  in lieb — in love

  kaffi — coffee

  kapp — prayer covering

  kind — child

  kinner — children