Running Stitches

by Carol Dean Jones

  Chapter 5

  Another week had passed and no further word was received from Andy. Sarah and Sophie were getting worried about what might have happened to him. Sarah called Amanda at the police station to see if perhaps he’d been recaptured. “Good Morning, Officer Holmes,” she began.

  “Hello Sarah. I was hoping you would call. Have you seen Andy?”

  Sarah didn’t want to lie to Amanda, but she didn’t want to betray Andy’s trust. She managed to avoid answering by responding, “That’s just what I wanted to ask you. I’m worried about him.”

  “Well, there’s been no word from Andy on this end, but then I hardly expect him to just walk into the station. I wish he hadn’t done this to himself. He might have gotten released at his next parole hearing. Gabe talked to the prison folks and learned he had been a model prisoner. His computer class was going along, and everyone liked him.”

  Sarah was relieved that she didn’t have to answer Amanda’s question. An idea was taking form in her mind. “Tell me, Amanda, what would happen if he did turn himself in? Would that work in his favor?”

  “Why do you ask?” Amanda responded, with a note of suspicion in her voice.

  Oh my. I’ve said too much. “I was just wondering since you said it was unlikely that he would turn himself in. I just wondered what would happen if he did.”

  Amanda suspected Sarah knew more than she was sharing but decided to play it out. “It would work in his favor, for sure.”

  “In what way?” Sarah asked.

  “Well, the judge would take it into consideration when deciding what the penalty would be for escaping. He would also consider the reason Andy took off.”

  “What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

  She knows something, Amanda thought. “Well, he may have had a very good reason – sickness in the family, something like that. The judge would take that into consideration, as well. It would definitely work to his advantage if he were simply to turn himself in.”

  Sarah remained quiet as a plan began to materialize in her mind. She would need to talk to Charles about it. “Thank you, Amanda. I appreciate you talking to me about it. We’re all worried about Andy.”

  “It was good talking with you, Sarah. Remember, you need to call us if you learn anything. I wouldn’t want you to be caught up in this by helping him. You know you would be guilty of harboring a fugitive, and there would be repercussions.” Amanda admired Sarah and felt terrible about threatening her, but it was for Sarah’s own good to be reminded that helping Andy was a crime.

  The minute she hung up, Sarah picked the phone up and called Charles. “We need to talk,” she said as he answered the phone.

  “This sounds ominous,” he responded with a chuckle.

  “It’s serious, Charles. It’s about Andy.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  She then dialed Sophie. “Can you come over? Charles is on his way. We three need to talk.”

  “You told Charles?” Sophie bellowed. “What did I tell you about that? He’s a retired cop, and his alliances are with the department. He’ll turn Andy in. He’ll have to!” Sophie was extremely upset, and her voice was shaking despite the volume.

  “Sophie, I have a plan, and we need Charles. Come on over. I think we can help Andy best this way.”

  The three friends settled around Sarah’s kitchen table. Sarah placed the coffee pot on a trivet in the middle of the table along with a coffee cake she had quickly made from a mix. Sophie poured coffee for everyone and sighed. “Okay, Toots. What’s this all about?”

  “What would the two of you think about playing detective?” Sarah responded.

  “What do you have in mind,” Charles asked suspiciously.

  “This is what I’m thinking,” Sarah explained. “Let’s see if we can convince Andy to voluntarily turn himself in to Amanda. She has led me to believe that he could minimize the sentence the court would impose if he turned himself in and if he had a good reason for running off in the first place.”

  “And what might that reason be?” Charles asked. “And what do you know about all this? Have you seen Andy?” His voice was accusatory.

  “Please don’t use that tone with me, Charles,” Sarah said. “I’m not a criminal.”

  “You are if you’re harboring a fugitive,” he responded with a frown.

  “Told you so!” Sophie said to Sarah, holding herself in her famous peacock position. “I knew you shouldn’t involve him.”

  “Yes, we should,” Sarah retorted. “We need him.”

  “Are you sure?” Sophie asked.

  “Am I still here?” Charles asked, looking at first one woman, then the other. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here and tell me what this is all about.”

  Sarah began talking, and Sophie added details until Charles was caught up on everything the women knew as far as why Andy ran and what Amanda had said. “Here is what we’re thinking,” Sarah added. “We’re thinking about talking Andy into turning himself in…”

  “Why would he do that?’ Charles asked, “What about his daughter?”

  “Okay, that’s where we come in. What we want to do is convince Andy that he should turn himself in so that the repercussions of his escape will be minimized and we, with your help, will find Caitlyn.”

  “Wow. That’s a tall order. What makes you think we can find her?” Charles asked.

  “We have you!” Sarah said with confidence.

  Charles closed his eyes tight and rubbed his forehead with both hands while shaking his head. “You have me? Now, tell me, what makes you think I’m willing to get involved in this?”

  “Because you care about this lady,” Sophie said flipping her outstretched palm toward Sarah.

  Charles finally opened his eyes, looked at Sarah and said with a half smile, “Well, that’s true.” All three were quiet for a while, sipping coffee and sampling the coffee cake which had grown cold but was still tasty. Finally, Charles spoke saying, “Okay, let’s give it a try. If, and that’s a very big if, if Andy is willing to turn himself in and trust us to do the dirty work, I’m in. But if he’s still on the loose, I’m out of this. I have no desire to spend any of my remaining years behind bars with you girls.”

  “Don’t worry,” Sophie said looking as serious as Sophie was ever able to look. “We’ll be at the women’s prison planning our escape.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Charles said, again shaking his head as if to say he could hardly believe he was mixed up with these two. “So where’s Andy now?” Charles asked.

  “Oh no! You can’t have it both ways,” Sarah said emphatically. “If you don’t want to be involved in harboring, then you stay out of it until Andy is safely back in custody. Then we’ll talk.”

  Turning to Sophie, Sarah said, “Come on, Sophie. Let’s go see what Andy thinks of our plan.”

  Sarah gave Charles a quick peck on the cheek and said, “Lock up when you leave, please. Oh, and will you take Barney for a walk?” Without waiting for an answer, Sarah and Sophie were out the door and hurrying to the car. Again, Charles shook his head in wonderment.

  Chapter 6

  Sarah was exhausted. She had very little sleep the night before and would have loved to sleep in, but today was the second quilt class, and it had been rescheduled to mornings instead of evenings. Ruth usually did classes after the shop closed, but she was excited about the sampler quilt and wanted her customers to be able to see the class in action.

  The classroom was at the back of the store but was divided only by a half wall; customers were able to watch without causing much disturbance. “I’d like to see your log cabin blocks before we go on to the next block,” Ruth announced. Everyone pulled their blocks out and laid them on their work tables. Everyone, that is, except Dottie.

  “I wasn’t able to finish mine,” she announced in a somewhat whiny tone. “The kids just wouldn’t leave me alone.” She pulled out the logs that she had cut, but nothing had been sewn.

  “I see your
six light logs, Dottie, but I only see four dark logs,” Ruth said.

  “I ran out of material,” Dottie offered. “I had enough when I started, but I must have made some mistakes cutting. Or maybe I lost them. Can I get more of this one?”

  “Sure,” Ruth said, “but please do that after class.”

  “But I wanted to finish it today,” Dottie complained.

  “We’re going on to the next block, Dottie. Please work on today’s project along with the class and finish your first block at home. If you need help with it, you can stop in the shop and I’ll help you.” Dottie looked displeased but nodded. The barrette, which had been struggling to hold back her mass of red curls, flew off. Dottie climbed under the table to retrieve it, knocking her tote bag over in the process. Five marbles rolled across the floor.

  “Those kids!” Dottie grumbled.

  Ruth looked at the other blocks and was pleased to see that everyone else had finished theirs. “Did you measure your blocks and square them up?” Everyone nodded yes. “When we start putting our blocks together, you’ll see why this is so important.”

  Sarah stifled a yawn. She hadn’t been able to sleep the night before. She was worried about Andy. Now that she and Sophie had a plan, she was eager to get started. She was especially eager to get Charles involved, but she needed to get Andy to agree to turn himself in. The problem was Andy was nowhere to be found.

  She and Sophie went to the motel where he said he was staying, but he had checked out. They had no way to reach him; they had no idea where he might have gone. They would just have to wait until they heard from him again. In the meantime, if the police picked him up as an escaped convict, he would serve the maximum term, and it could be years before he could connect with his daughter.

  “Okay, let’s get started on this week’s block,” Ruth was saying. Sarah set her worries aside and gave Ruth her full attention. “Today’s block is the monkey wrench. This is a very easy block and for the newer quilters, it will give you a chance to learn an easy way to make half-square triangles.” Pointing to the quilt, Ruth added, “You’ll see one in each corner of the monkey wrench.” They were squares divided diagonally into two triangles.

  “How was this block used to communicate with the runaways?” Danny asked.

  “Good question, Danielle,” Ruth responded, but noticed the young woman was frowning. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you prefer to be called Danny.” Now the grandmother was frowning. Ruth decided to ignore the exchange and went on to explain. “It’s suspected that the monkey wrench, being a tool, may have been a way of saying that it was time to pack up and get ready to leave. Again, no one knows for sure.” Danny smiled and nodded her thank you.

  Everyone finished their block during the class this time. Even Dottie. Ruth suggested they each put their two finished blocks up on the design wall just to get a feel for what it was going to look like finished.

  “They don’t look too good side by side,” Sarah noted.

  “Yes, but look at the quilt on the wall. There will be a two inch strip between each block. That’s called sashing. Maybe you should start thinking about what fabric you’ll want for your sashing.” Although Ruth didn’t say it, Sarah knew she should choose her border fabric first to ensure that the sashing was compatible. She had enjoyed the class and had, momentarily, forgotten about Andy and his problems.

  * * *

  When Sarah returned home, she went into the sewing room, opened the oak cabinet where she kept her fabric and again looked at the bottom shelf.

  Still empty! “What did I expect?” she said aloud.

  Andy’s quilt wasn’t there the previous week when she and Sophie went in to get it; it wasn’t there yesterday or this morning when she checked again.

  What could possibly have happened to it?

  Sophie thought Sarah had misplaced it, but Sarah knew exactly where she put it. It had been on the bottom shelf of her oak cabinet since the day Andy gave it to her. Nevertheless, she searched all the other storage spots in the house, knowing full well she hadn’t put it in any of those places.

  Sarah knew she should tell Charles it was missing, but she hesitated to involve him. She realized that the only possibility was that someone had been in the house, and that would certainly upset Charles.

  And why hadn’t Barney stopped the person?

  As before, she closed the cabinet and shook her head. What could have happened to it? Sarah sat down on the futon and thought about the first time she heard about Andy’s tie quilt. She had met Andy just outside her house and she told him she was planning to make a quilt with her husband’s ties. He got excited and told her about the tie quilt his grandmother had made using his father’s old ties. That night, he left the tie quilt at Sarah’s house for her to look at it but, unfortunately, that was the night his brother, George, turned up at Andy’s house demanding the quilt. This led to the fight which resulted in George’s death and, ultimately, Andy’s incarceration. George had told Andy there was something sewn into the quilt which would lead to family money. Andy didn’t really believe the story but hadn’t had a chance to check it out before he was arrested.

  In the meantime, Sarah still had the quilt. Or, at least, she DID have the quilt. Now it was gone. Sarah sighed, turned off the light, and got ready for bed.

  I’ll have to tell Andy it’s gone. He’ll be devastated!

  Chapter 7

  Sarah had just finished her third class and still no word from Andy. Ruth had seemed distracted all through the class, and Katie had done much of the teaching. They’d started their third block, the bear paw. Ruth didn’t offer any history about the block, but during the break Katie reminded them that Ruth had previously talked about it. “Some think it was designed as a message to the runaways to follow the bear tracks in order to get through the mountains,” she said. “But others say it probably meant to follow the tracks to water. At least, it was a pretty clear sign to follow the bear’s tracks!” she said with a smile. Sarah noticed that Katie had been watching her mother attentively throughout the class.

  After their class, Sarah joined Ruth in the kitchenette where Ruth was making a cup of tea. “Will you join me?” she asked Sarah.

  “I’d love to,” Sarah responded. “Are you okay? You seem distracted today.”

  “Oh, I’m okay, Sarah,” Ruth said halfheartedly. “My brother called last night and told me my father is seriously ill. I’m just trying to decide what to do.”

  “Are you thinking about going to Ohio?” Sarah asked. She knew Ruth had been out of touch with her family since she left home many years before. Her family was Amish, and Ruth described her father as old world and very strict. He was extremely upset when Ruth married outside the Amish faith and had cut her off from the family.

  “I don’t want to upset them by attempting to visit, but I’d love to be there for my mother right now. I’m just not sure what to do. I haven’t been home for over twenty years.”

  “What about the shop? Would you close for a few days?”

  “Katie can handle it. She knows as much as I do about running the shop, and I should only be gone two or three days. And Nathan can always come in for a few hours if she needs him,” Ruth added with a smile. Nathan Weaver was Ruth’s husband. They’d been married for many years; yet they behaved like newlyweds. Sarah was always reminded of her own marriage whenever she was around them. She and Jonathan had had that same kind of loving relationship. She still smiled when she thought of him even though he had been gone for nearly twenty years. It doesn’t seem possible.

  “Oops! Look at the time!” Sarah said abruptly. “I was supposed to meet Sophie at the cafe ten minutes ago! Gotta run. Let me know if you get any news about your father and if there’s anything I can do to help,” she added as she gave Ruth a hug and hurried out the door.

  As she entered the cafe across the street from Stitches, Sophie waved to her from the back. She was already settled in their favorite booth and was enjoying a steaming latte piled high wi
th whipped cream. “Hi. Sorry I’m late.”

  “No problem, kiddo.” Sophie was wearing her purple running suit, although she never ran, and her comfortable walking shoes, although she rarely walked. She had taken the bus to the cafe so she could ride home with Sarah. “Where’s your quilting bag? I wanted to see today’s block.”

  “Oh! I left it in the shop. We can stop in there after lunch.”

  They both ordered burgers and fries and chatted about this and that through lunch. Sophie asked what classes Sarah was going to sign up for this year at the center. Sophie never took classes but was always interested in hearing what Sarah was doing.

  Sarah had taken several computer classes but was now using the computer lab on her own. She signed up for a swimming class but just couldn’t get the hang of it. Truth be known, and she rarely admitted it, she was afraid of deep water. She had dropped out of the class when they moved to the deep end and, instead, enrolled in water aerobics which she loved.

  “I don’t know, Sophie. I haven’t been over to check the schedule.”

  “Well, I was talking to a bunch of women in the coffee shop the other day, and they were all planning to sign up for the hula hoop class!” Sophie scrunched her face up and, shaking her head, added, “Can you just see that bunch of old ladies trying to get that hoop going?”

  Sarah laughed heartily and teased Sophie by saying, “And did you sign up?”

  “Sign up!” Sophie squealed. “Do you really think that hoop would fit over this body?”

  “Now, Sophie! You aren’t that big, and you know it. I think it would be fun.”

  “Well, then, my dear, you go right ahead and do it. It’s certainly not for me!”

  Although they were just joking at first, Sarah found herself giving it some serious consideration. “It actually does sound like fun and great exercise. I just might give it a try.”

  “Humph,” Sophie responded.

  Turning to a more serious topic, Sophie said, “I’m getting very worried about Andy. Do you think he might have been arrested?”