by C.P. Murphy
Chapter Twenty
By the end of the day the search party had grown from twenty men to every available man in the village. Businesses shut down so that the owners and workers could join the search, even the brickyard and shipyard. Daniel took full advantage of the situation and made it clear to everyone that if they couldn’t communicate with Henry, then they were to report to him. Henry wasn’t thrilled of Van Martin taking over but he felt his body drain its energy and figured he could use all the support he could get. Patrick continued in the search even after the other men had practically accused him of foul play. Thomas insisted on searching by Patrick’s side, confident that the stranger was bound to lead the group to Amelia. When that happened he wanted to be the one who took all the glory and make them all believe that he loved her.
By the time that darkness fell upon the sky, the Samuels family learned more about what happened the night before. Emma had explained that she had seen the missing girl, and that she was very much distressed. She showed them the bruise that was forming on her cheek bone and told them how Amelia had slapped her for no apparent reason. All were shocked that Amelia would behave that way, and it built more concern among them. Later they discovered that the last known people who had seen her were the two elderly ladies she had walked with for a while before they turned to walk down a different street. They both said that they felt bad and they should’ve followed their instincts and not allow her to continue her walk alone. Henry assured them that none of this was their fault. That conversation confused him, knowing she was last seen just rods away from their home. Where did she go? He wondered.
It became too dark to search any longer and the search party called it a night. Henry and his family weren’t happy about the situation but they all fully knew that there was nothing they could do that late at night. Patrick also objected to the break, but he was out numbered. He would have continued by himself if it weren’t for Thomas and his father getting in the way. “I don’t think he should be alone until Amelia is found. He had her ribbon, for all we know he could have her somewhere too. It’s too risky to leave him be.” The others agreed, and they locked him in the ice house and had two men guarding the door throughout the night.
“You can’t do this,” Patrick demanded, but it fell to deaf ears. Nobody trusted him.
Henry paced back and forth in his parlor, too eager to just sit and wait for Amelia’s return. He glanced around the room and looked at all the worried faces. Knowing they were all looking to him for strength, he told them they should eat something and to take a drink to calm their nerves. The entire Samuels family was there, deciding that they didn’t want to leave the house in case they received any news. Even Ruth and her sons stayed. She got all the younger boys to bed but it wasn’t an easy task to do since they all knew something was wrong. Charles has asked for Amelia, saying she was the only one who could comfort him in bad times. She prayed that he would come to understand what was going on.
“Father,” David spoke after a long silence. “Do you think that Buchanan has anything to do with her disappearance?” He hadn’t known Patrick but there was something in the man’s eyes that told David to trust him.
“I’m sure of it,” Henry spoke but was interrupted by his youngest daughter.
“No,” Anna shouted. “Father, you can’t. Trust me when I say I know that he couldn’t have done anything to harm Amelia.”
Henry thought Anna was foolish, and that she knew nothing. Truth was he didn’t give her enough credit. “We found Amelia’s hair ribbon in his house and I know for a fact she was wearing it when she served me my morning meal yesterday.”
“But that doesn’t mean he hurt her in any way,” Anna continued to plead. She had heard from the others they had locked Patrick up and wished that she could free him. If anyone could find her sister, it was him but the villagers wouldn’t allow it.
Henry heard enough from her and directed his conversation to David. “I will see that the man is hung if he has done something to her.”
Anna could hold off no longer, she cried. “No Father, no,” was all she could say, but it did her no good. She was the only one left who had any faith in Patrick Buchanan.
The next day the searching started again. Though Thomas would like to see Patrick locked until this whole thing was over, the constable had returned and said that they had no cause to hold him any longer. Henry remained in charge of the search party because the constable made rounds around the village to assure that nobody else was missing or hurt in any way. The women of Millersport were panicking and feared leaving their homes even though the constable said they could if needed.
The Samuels home became the headquarters for the searchers and men had come and gone all day long. Anna, Ruth, Minnie, and Beth did all they could to keep their minds off of the situation. They didn’t need to occupy their time in the kitchen since many women had sent over dishes of food; casseroles, stew, smoked meat, and plenty of fresh baked bread. They encouraged any of the searchers, who stopped by to update the family of what was going on, to eat to keep up their strength. They were good at convincing the men to eat but not good at convincing each other. None of them had an appetite. They fussed over Beth and told her to get rest but the pregnant one wouldn’t have it. She didn’t know it was possible to have motherly instincts before her child was born but something was telling her that something serious was wrong with her sister-in-law.
Outside of the home the men furthered their look for Amelia. Some were in groups like the day before but others were alone to spread out and gain more ground. Henry had asked, with a broken heart, if they could also search in areas like wooded lands, in cellars, along the river, and the creeks. That is when things looked bleak. A group of men that included Henry and David had walked to the creek just north of the Samuels house. They discovered that a plank to the bridge had been removed and blood splatter covered the grass nearby. Fear devoured them to think of what it could have meant.
Their search was again unsuccessful and not one trace of Amelia was found. They rowed a boat over the water but to no avail. Once again the villagers were questioned but nobody had any information. The constable asked several men to travel to the next town which was only five miles away from the village line. They visited all the businesses to see if anyone had seen a girl of Amelia’s description but nobody had. They stopped people out on the streets and asked the same question over and over. It was apparent that she wasn’t there either. Then one grocer said that there was one man who entered his store on the evening of Wednesday who looked a little odd. He said that man seemed to be nervous about something. His shirt was torn, and he had scratches on his face. When asked for a description of the man, the grocer could not give details. He said it was after dark and the man had been wearing a hat. He couldn’t describe his hair or eye color and said he didn’t note the size of the man. The searchers thanked him for the little information that the grocer gave but it wasn’t enough to help in their search. It was possible that the mysterious man had nothing to do with Amelia’s case at all. They kept the information in their minds and then returned to Millersport.
Once again, darkness came and still no hope in finding the girl. If calling it a night again wasn’t bad enough, it also rained. Thunder and lightning were driving all the searchers into their homes, even the ones determined to continue the search.
Henry and his family were frustrated and scared. They gathered in the family sitting-room and prayed that they would find Amelia. It started off as an out loud prayer lead by Henry but none of them could find the strength to end the prayer. In different sections of the house, each one of them talked to the Lord as strength to get through the night.