chapter 25
THE NEXT AFTERNOON, everyone had cleared out of Reuben and Tobias’ farm.
Aaron couldn’t believe the swap had worked. He hadn’t told a soul, but he had bumped into Miss Callie the night before …
He’d heard Max outside, and he’d snuck out to make sure the dog was okay. He was sitting on the back porch, in his chair, with Max at his side when she walked out.
“Come out here much?” she asked.
He liked that she didn’t ask how he’d got out there. People thought he couldn’t get around without help, but he could if it was something important — like Max. And he was getting stronger every day. Getting into the chair on his own hadn’t been that hard tonight.
“He sounded like he needed a freind,” Aaron explained.
“I guess he misses our place a little. To tell you the truth, I do too.”
They sat there like that awhile, in the dark, one on each side of Max, and then Aaron remembered what had woken him up — before he’d heard Max. It was a dream about the movie. He’d actually been one of the young cowboys.
“You ever watch John Wayne, Miss Callie?”
“Sure. My dad loved The Duke.”
“Can I ask you something?” When Callie nodded, he hesitated a moment, not wanting to sound stupid, not wanting to reveal too much, but curious. And who else would he ask? Finally he plunged forward. “Why did they call him that?”
Callie laughed, reached out, and rubbed the soft spot between Max’s ears. “John Wayne said it was because he was named after a dog.”
Aaron thought about that a minute, his hand deep in Max’s fur. “No kidding?”
“No kidding.”
“Huh.” Since she hadn’t called him on asking about the actor, he decided to try another question. “You ever watch The Cowboys?”
This time she took a minute to answer. “Oh, yeah. That was one of his best.”
Aaron wasn’t sure he wanted to watch any more movies at Justin’s. Maybe he’d suggest they play Uno or Dutch Blitz next time. This movie had stuck in his head too much for his liking. He was glad that of the two movies he’d seen, the one he’d been chasing around in his mind had been one of John Wayne’s greatest.
“To tell you the truth, I still watch some of those old movies every now and then. I like them more than the new ones. There’s something about John Wayne that always reminds me of a better time.”
“Ya?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you like about him?” Aaron asked.
She again took her time answering. “Like when that kid died. I hated that part. I still do. But when John Wayne said … What was it? Death can come for you …”
“Anyplace, anytime.” Aaron couldn’t have stopped the words if he’d tried.
“Yeah. Anyplace, anytime. But if you’d done all you aim to do and if you’d done your … What was it he said? If you’d done your …”
“If you’d done your best.”
“Right. Then you’d be ready for it. Or something like that.” She didn’t ask how he knew the part she’d forgotten, and she didn’t ask if he needed help going back inside. She just said goodnight to Max and touched him on the shoulder.
And that was when Aaron knew he was ready for whatever happened the next day. Not because of what John Wayne said in some movie, but because of people like Callie and Shane and his family. Somehow he believed everything was going to be all right.
“We’re going to have extra chores for a month,” he muttered.
“If we aren’t killed,” his bruder reminded him.
“It’s wunderbaar to see you two are so cheerful about our future. Now help me load Aaron’s chair.” Martha was trying to put it on the back of the cart but wasn’t having much luck by herself.
Matthew hurried to help her.
Aaron squirmed in the seat to watch them. The farm was deserted. Everyone had gone visiting, which was normal for Sunday afternoon.
His mamm thought they’d left with his dat.
His dat thought they’d left with his mamm.
Why had it worked today when they’d been caught the day before? Maybe because everyone thought the danger had passed with Creeper going to the deserted farm, going where Shane had laid his trap. Maybe because everyone was exhausted. Maybe because he’d prayed all night it would.
One thing was certain.
Neither of their parents expected them to try such a stupid thing again, not after yesterday’s punishment. His arms were still sore from working so hard.
But helping to stop the killer was more important than worrying about how harsh their punishment would be. What had started with them needed to end with them.
Matthew and Martha climbed up on the cart seat, and Matthew directed the pony away from the barn. They were about to pull out onto the lane when they heard a bark.
“Max?”
Trotting the cart over to the front porch they found the gold-colored dog tied to a tree. Water and food sat in the shade.
“Looks like someone else was forgotten,” Martha murmured. “Miss Callie never would have left him here.”
“Unless she was going somewhere she couldn’t take him.” Matthew stared down at the dog.
“What should we do?” Martha asked.
“I say we take him with us. Max is a gut guard dog.” Aaron had stayed close to Max the last couple of days, when he wasn’t doing extra chores.
“All right. We have enough room, barely. It’s going to be crowded though.” Matthew hopped down and helped Max into the cart.
They started down the lane, but stopped again when they saw Martha’s mamm in her buggy pulled over a few feet shy of the main road. Matt directed the pony into some tall grasses and watched. Callie was sitting in the cart with Deborah. They were holding up a quilt as if they were studying it in the afternoon light.
“I thought they were gone already.” Aaron turned to Martha as if it were her fault.
“They should be. They left a gut fifteen minutes ago. I thought they were following everyone else.”
“Huh. Doesn’t look like it.” Matthew leaned forward for a better look. As they all watched, Deborah turned left onto the two-lane road. “Looks like they’re going the opposite direction. Everyone else went to my grossdaddis — to the right.”
Matt said, “Giddyap,” to the pony pulling their cart, hurrying to catch up to where they could see Deborah’s buggy. They were almost to the main road when a Jeep pulled out with a screech. They could see where it had been parked across the road beneath some trees. The driver didn’t look their way. He was completely focused on Deborah’s buggy, gripping his wheel and scowling.
As he turned, he was close enough that they could make out his features.
“Why is he here? He’s supposed to be at the abandoned farm!” Matt pulled down on his wool cap.
Aaron’s stomach started to churn, and he thought he might lose what little he’d eaten. He heard his bruder’s question, felt Martha tense beside him. It seemed to him even Max’s breathing changed.
But all Aaron could think about was the face he’d seen and that it was the same face that had stared at him on Thursday evening, the same face that had knelt over Mrs. Knepp. The same face that had tried to run over him with a car.
“What do we do?” Martha asked. “Do we still go to the abandoned farm?”
“Why? He’s not going to be there. It’s the same direction as my grossdaddi’s. Creeper is following your mamm and Miss Callie.” Aaron felt sick like the time he’d eaten six apples. “Why is he doing that? We heard Miss Callie tell him to go to the abandoned farm. We were sitting outside the window. Shane is there waiting for him. Who is going to protect Callie and your mamm?”
“We have to make a decision here, guys. I can barely see them.”
“Our plan is to help catch the killer — I mean, Thomas.” Martha clutched the front of the cart so hard Aaron noticed her knuckles turning white. “I say we’d better follow his car.”
So Matthew turned left onto the two-lane.
At that moment, Aaron knew there was no turning back.
Melinda stared at Noah in disbelief. “What do you mean they aren’t with you?”
“I thought they were with you.”
“Don’t tell me they did it again.”
Noah checked her buggy one more time, as if the boys might appear. “Maybe they rode with someone else.”
“It’s the swap!” Melinda’s cheeks turned a bright red. “Whatever they had planned yesterday, they’re doing today!”
“Honey, stay calm. The festival is over. Whatever they had planned yesterday, they couldn’t do today. Let’s check with the rest of the family and ask if anyone has seen them.”
Melinda tried to force the panic down into her stomach, but it refused to stay there. It kept finding its way back into her voice, her face, even her eyes.
Finally she convinced Noah to go with her to the phone shack.
“I’ll look after Hannah,” Esther said, moving baby Simon to her left arm so she could reach down and take Hannah’s hand. “Deborah and Callie aren’t here yet either. Maybe the boys are riding with them.”
Melinda nodded as if that made sense, but it didn’t make any sense at all. The afternoon meal was already starting. Why wouldn’t Deborah and Callie be here already?
Once they were at the phone shack, she dialed the police station’s number and asked to be patched through to Shane. The phone was slick in her hands and she clutched it tightly so she wouldn’t drop it.
“Melinda, what’s wrong?”
“I can’t find the boys. Deborah and Callie are missing as well.”
“What do you mean ‘missing’?”
“I mean I can’t find them. What do you suppose I mean ‘missing’?”
“All right. I want you to stay calm.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m frightened. What if something happened to them?”
“Where are you?”
“Down the road from my parents’ place.” She gave him the address. “We left to use the phone at the shack near the county road. What should we do? What if they’re hurt?”
“Probably they’re running late. I want you to go back to your parents’, and I’m going to send an officer out. She’ll have a cell phone, and we’ll be able to stay in contact. I imagine by the time the officer arrives, the boys and Deborah and Callie will be there.”
Melinda mumbled her thanks and hung up the phone.
As they made their way back in the buggy, she tried to find some comfort in what Shane had said, but she couldn’t help thinking something terrible had happened.
“Gotte will be with them, Melinda. He’s provided Shane to help us, and Shane won’t let anything happen.”
Melinda knew Noah was right. She felt it all the way into the marrow of her bones, so she did what was left for her to do — what was often left for a mother to do. She bowed her head and she prayed for the safety of her children.