Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2

by Samantha Price

  “Bethany, I'm very grateful for this. It means a lot to me, and I’ll tell you as soon as I can what it’s about.”

  “Okay, and when you’re done with that list would you bring it back here so I can shred it? I don’t want the names lying around anywhere.”

  “I will. Now, who makes the small quilts for you? Did you say Gladys?”

  Bethany nodded. “Gladys Timberlake.”

  “Jah, of course, I know Gladys.”

  “There’s no need to talk with her. She only makes these ones for me and I know that because she wouldn't have time to make them for anyone else. These are my own designs, as I said.”

  “Denke, Bethany, you’ve been a great help. And this quilt being so unique is going to help me more than you know.”

  “How about a cup of tea before you leave, Ettie? You look a bit pale.”

  “Nee, I'll have to get back to Elsa-May, she’s waiting for me.”

  “Is she alright?”

  “Jah, she is at the moment, although she did sneeze today, and she has a bit of a bad back.”

  “That's terrible. You’d better go home and look after her.”

  “I will and I'll be in touch soon.”

  Ettie hurried out of the store with the pages folded in the middle of the baby quilt. Bethany's comments about her looking pale made her feel squirmy in the tummy—maybe it was just nerves. She walked past a bakery and the smell of the freshly baked bread lured her in. A sultana cake with pink frosting caught her eye. Figuring that she and Elsa-May could do with some sugar, she bought it.

  Ettie was being driven home in a taxi when she passed Gladys' house. “Stop!” she called out to the driver from the back seat.

  The driver slammed on his brakes and turned around. “This isn't the address you gave me.” He glared at her.

  Ettie looked at the meter, handed him some money and opened the door. “Can you pick me up from right here in half an hour?”

  “I don't know where I'll be in half an hour, lady.”

  “How about you fetch me in around half an hour then—twenty minutes, forty minutes—something like that? Beep the horn when you're outside?”

  “Okay.”

  Ettie got out of the car, hurried to the house, and then knocked on Gladys' door. Had she not driven right past her door, she wouldn't have bothered to stop. She’d ask her outright if she’d ever made quilts for anyone else, or indeed, if she had ever made Bethany’s baby-pattern quilt for anybody else. If the answer were ‘no,’ Ettie would know that there was a definite connection between their baby boy and one of those people on the list Bethany had given her.

  The door opened, and Ettie saw the small elderly woman standing in the doorway. Even though Gladys was around the same age as Ettie, Ettie always thought of Gladys as an old lady, but never thought of herself as one.

  “Ettie, it's been so long since you visited me. Come inside.” When Ettie stepped inside, Gladys asked. “Where’s Elsa-May?”

  “She’s home. I’ll bring her next time I visit. I won't stay long. I was just going home in the taxi and I thought I would call in and see you.” She followed Gladys to a sun-drenched sitting room, while carrying the quilt and the pages from Bethany tucked under her arm, and the string-tied cake box in her hand.

  “Have a seat; this is where I sew.”

  Ettie looked around the room to see fabric all over the place.

  “Just make some space.”

  Ettie moved some material over so she could sit down on the chair next to Gladys. She placed the sultana cake beside her and the quilt on her lap. “My, it's such a lovely room here in the sun.”

  “Jah, and we haven't had much sun lately, have we?”

  “Nee, it's been raining so much. It's good to have some blue sky today.”

  “I see you have one of my quilts.” Gladys pointed to the baby quilt.

  “Jah. I was just at Bethany’s store and she told me that you make these for her. I told her how lovely I thought it was and Bethany said it’s her pattern.”

  “Bethany wanted a line of exclusive patterns that would be purely sold in her own store and not available anywhere else. I told her that anybody could copy the patterns, but she didn't seem to worry about that.”

  “So you make these, you only supply them to Bethany’s store and don't supply them for anyone else?”

  “I work seven days a week… Well, not on Sundays—don't tell the bishop I just said seven days.” Gladys laughed. “I work on my sewing nearly every day of the week, since making quilts is what I do best.”

  “Jah, you do a wunderbaar job.”

  “Denke. Anyway, I enjoy it, and why shouldn’t I do what I enjoy doing at my age of life?”

  “That's true, we should do whatever we want when we reach our age.” Ettie chortled. What Bethany had said was true—Gladys didn't make them for anybody else. “And you made this one?” Ettie pushed it forward.

  “I can tell just by looking that I did.”

  “Have a closer look.”

  “Jah. Why all the interest in this quilt, Ettie?”

  “It's just such a lovely quilt that I wanted to know more about it and know who made it.”

  “Didn't Bethany tell you I made it?”

  “Jah, and that’s why I dropped by to see you. I haven't talked to you in some time.”

  “It's always nice to see you. How is Elsa-May doing?”

  “She's doing fine. She has a little dog, which keeps her occupied these days.”

  “I’ve toyed with the idea of having another dog, but they’re so much trouble to look after.”

  “That's true, sometimes they are, but they’re good company when you’re lonely. I never thought I would have another dog after Ginger died, and I suppose I haven't, since Snowy is Elsa-May’s dog.” Ettie jumped when a car horn sounded. “That’ll be my taxi.” She was sure she’d only been there for five minutes. “I must go. I'll talk to you again soon.”

  “Please visit again, I don't get many visitors and I don't get out to many meetings anymore.”

  Ettie felt a little sad for Gladys living there by herself sewing day in, day out, just so she’d have something to do. Maybe Elsa-May wasn’t so hard to live with. “I'll be sure to bring Elsa-May next time. Here, I almost forgot about the cake I brought for you. It’s a sultana cake.” The least she could do was give Gladys the cake.

  Gladys’ face brightened up. “Oh, I love cake. Denke, Ettie.”

  Ettie, who was nearly at the front door by this time, gave a giggle. “You're welcome. I better get outside before this taxi drives off without me.”

  “Bye, Ettie.”

  Ettie waved while hurrying to the waiting taxi. “Goodbye, Gladys.” She opened the door and sat in the back seat. “Was that twenty minutes?” Ettie asked.

  “It was ten.”

  Ettie waited for him to give an explanation, but he didn't, and that was all he said during the whole ride.

  When Ettie finally arrived home, she pushed the door open to see Elsa-May sitting on her usual chair, knitting. “Where’s the boppli?” Ettie asked.

  “Still sleeping. You weren’t gone that long.”

  Ettie was relieved that the baby was okay. “I feel like I’ve been around the world and back again.” She sat down and told Elsa-May everything that had happened and what she’d found out, and then she handed Elsa-May the list of names.

  “It seems these are mostly Englishers and many are from out of town.”

  “I didn't notice that. I haven't had a chance to look at it properly.”

  “We need a way to find out about these people on the list, so how can we do that?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I suppose I'll have to go to the library tomorrow while you're looking after the boppli and see what I can find out about them from the Internet. But they're not going to publicly say that they've had a baby if they’re hiding that fact—so what use will that be?”

  “I don't know, Ettie, I don't know what we're going to do. But you're rig
ht, we can't keep the baby forever. Someone is bound to ask questions about the little fellow.”

  Chapter 4

  After the baby's second feeding of the day, Elsa-May put him back into his basket on the kitchen table. He closed his eyes immediately. Elsa-May and Ettie, both exhausted, went into the living room and sat down and drifted to off to sleep. They were woken by a loud knock on the door.

  The two women stared at each other.

  “Who could that be?” Elsa-May whispered to Ettie.

  “I don't know, but I’m nervous.”

  Elsa-May pushed herself up from the chair. “I'll answer it.” She pushed the door open a crack, just enough for her to see who was there. “Yes, what can I do for you?”

  When Ettie heard a male voice answer, she scurried to the window to see who it was. It was an Englischer. He was a tall man, untidy, and wearing sneakers and jeans, and a jacket with white and red stripes on the shoulders. His face looked hardened, like she expected a criminal's would.

  Then Ettie heard him say, “I'm the father of the baby. My wife told me she left the baby here.”

  “Yes we did find a baby here this morning, but we handed the baby over to the authorities.”

  “You did?” he asked.

  Ettie closed her eyes tightly, praying that the man would believe her sister.

  Elsa-May continued, “Yes, I called the local police, the ones on Main Street, and then they came out.”

  Ettie opened her eyes to see the man staring at Elsa-May. Ettie knew Elsa-May would be unhappy with the fact she’d lied, but she was doing it to protect the baby. Elsa-May clearly didn't believe that this man was the father of the baby, and neither did Ettie. This man had to be one of the Englischers that the mother had wanted to protect her baby from. Now the baby wouldn't be safe here if the man didn’t believe Elsa-May. And even if he did believe her now, he’d soon find out she’d lied to him. Ettie put her fingers in her mouth while she listened some more.

  “Do you mind if I use the phone?” he asked in a gruff tone.

  “We don't have a phone. We use that one down the street in the shanty. It's not ours, it's our neighbor’s, but anyone’s welcome to use it if they put the money in the tin.”

  The man didn't look too happy at Elsa-May’s suggestion.

  “Don't you have a cell phone?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Dead battery,” was all that he said as he continued to glare at Elsa-May.

  Ettie hoped the man wouldn’t force his way inside. She walked back to the kitchen, hoping the baby was still soundly asleep. If the baby woke up and cried just at that moment, the man would surely push Elsa-May aside.

  Seeing that the baby was still asleep, Ettie got paper and a pen from the bureau and went back to the window. Sure enough, she saw a black car that had to be his. It was one she’d never seen in their street before. From where she was, she could see most of the plate's characters. She scribbled down the three letters and the numbers she could clearly see, and then added combinations of what the other numbers might be. Hopefully, they wouldn’t need to contact Detective Kelly, but if worse came to worst they would have to.

  “Was the baby all right?” he asked.

  “Yes the baby appeared to be well and healthy. Who brought him here? Was it your wife?”

  He nodded his head. “We were having a disagreement, and she mistakenly thought I didn't want the baby. She's only young, and she thought I’d want her to get rid of the baby, but I didn't say…” He put his hand to his forehead pretending to be upset and fake tears came into his eyes.

  “Well, I hope you work everything out with your wife.”

  “The baby is… what police station did you say?”

  “I called the one in Main Street. They should know where he is if you go and see them.”

  “Thanks. I’ll go and get him back. Did you see my wife or did you talk to her at all?”

  “No, we didn't. We opened the door and saw the baby there, and no one was around.”

  “We? Do you live here with someone else?”

  “Yes, my son. He’ll be back soon. He phoned the police and then we both waited for the police inside the house. What is your name?”

  The man’s top lip curled into a snarl. “If I find out you’re lying to me, I'll be back.”

  Chills ran up and down Ettie’s spine on hearing the tone in his voice. She peeped out the window and saw him glaring at Elsa-May.

  When Elsa-May had closed and locked the door, she stepped back from the window and took a deep breath in and out. “Quick, Ettie, see which car he gets into.”

  “I’ve already written most of the license plate number down.” As the car drove forward, Ettie was able to see the last two digits clearly. “Got it!” she said. “What should we do now, Elsa-May?

  “I must say, that man frightened me.”

  “Me too, and if he comes back again for the baby what will we do? We’ll be no match for him especially if he brings a couple of his friends.”

  “Do you think he knew I was lying about the baby?”

  “Possibly, if he was watching when the baby was dropped outside the house. Come to think of it, if he knew, he could’ve pushed you out of the way and taken him. He didn’t call the baby ‘him’ or ‘her,’ I noticed that. I also noticed that he was pretending to be nice to start with then he turned nasty.”

  “When he didn’t get what he wanted he got mean.”

  Right then there was another knock on the door.

  Ettie jumped, and put a hand over her fast-beating heart. “He’s back.”

  “Look out the window to see. If it’s him, I won’t open the door again.”

  Ettie took a few steps and looked out the window. “It’s Crowley.”

  Elsa-May opened the door and grabbed Crowley by the sleeve, pulled him inside, and shut the door behind him.

  “What's going on?” He stared at Elsa-May with his hands on his hips and then caught sight of Ettie at the window.

  Ettie put the notepad and pen down on a low table.

  “We should tell him, Ettie.”

  Shaking her head, Ettie said, “What about the note?”

  “We can't worry about the note.”

  “What about the man?” Ettie said.

  “None of us is safe.”

  “The note must be referring to that very man.”

  Crowley folded his arms across his chest, looking from one to the other as though he were at a tennis match. “Just tell me what's going on,” he demanded.

  “What if we tell him, Ettie, but ask him to keep it quiet? He can give us his word.”

  “Good idea,” Ettie looked at Crowley. “Come and have a seat and we’ll tell you what’s happened.”

  “I cut my game short. My new friends are cross with me so that’s the least you can do.” He sat on a chair across from the elderly sisters.

  Chapter 5

  The sisters told Crowley the whole story: about finding the baby boy at their door, about the quilt, and the list of names Ettie had gotten from Bethany, and the old lady Ettie had visited. They ended their story with the man who’d just knocked on their door.

  “I got his plate number.”

  “Good; we’re going to need that. Who has the baby now?” he asked.

  “He’s in the kitchen,” Ettie said.

  “He’s quite well and healthy. We’ve been feeding him and looking after him. We’ve got great grandchildren; we know what we're doing,” Elsa-May said.

  “I've got no doubt that you both know how to look after babies, but there’s a certain process that needs to be put into place when a baby is abandoned.”

  “Show him the note, Ettie.”

  Ettie went to the kitchen and brought back the note and handed it to Crowley.

  “It just says not to give the baby to Englischers and some rubbish about his life being in danger. Once someone abandons a baby, they shouldn’t have any say in what happens—in my book. The law has a different view. A search will begin for the mot
her and once she’s located, she’ll receive counseling, and the idea will be to put the baby back into her care.”

  “I don’t think it’s the fact that she doesn’t like Englischers. She said the baby was in danger. It seems that the baby is in some danger, and probably from that man who came to the door.”

  “He said he was the father—what makes you think he isn’t?” Crowley asked.

  Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other.

  “How would he have known the baby was here?” Ettie said. “And he kept saying ‘the baby’ rather than ‘he’ or ‘she.’”

  “You’re making a mountain out of this whole thing. I think that he must've followed the mother and saw her drop the baby here early this morning, and then he's come back to get him. He’s probably still watching the house right now. Give me that plate number, Ettie, I'll get an ID on the owner of the car.”

  “Unofficially, I hope?” Elsa-May asked.

  He shook his head. “I'm sorry. I'm going to have to call this in. It's not just about the baby it’s about the mother and the father. It’s something that affects more than one person.”

  “But we only told you because we trusted you, and you said you’d keep it quiet.”

  “I didn't know it would involve an abandoned baby. This is much bigger than both of you realize.”

  “All we care about is protecting the baby and following the mother’s wishes, or the wishes of whoever dropped the baby here. I can feel from the letter that the person was afraid for the baby, and that man was scary. Maybe the mother is in danger, too.”

  On hearing Elsa-May’s words, Ettie knew she was right. This wasn’t an Amish baby as they’d first thought. This was an Englisch baby who was in danger and someone thought the baby would be safe, hidden, amongst the Amish. Now they’d ruined everything by trusting Crowley—an Englischer.

  “We have psychiatrists in the Police Force. They’ll be able to determine things from the note, Elsa-May.”

  Elsa-May’s lips turned down at the corners. “Detective Crowley, I have years of experience with people—mothers, fathers, daughters, grandchildren. and great-grandchildren, so I think I would know better than some twenty-five year old who’s had his head stuck in a book for four years doing some useless degree.”