by Karen Harper
She realized then she had not taken them into the side parlor where she’d found her father’s medications, but she’d seen nothing in there to link to an intruder. She’d already blurted out to Josh about Daad’s quilting and didn’t need anyone else to know. Ray-Lynn would probably want to spread the word far and wide, and then Lydia would be in trouble, as if she wasn’t in deep enough already.
And two awful new thoughts hit her. If Sandra had been killed for getting involved in Lydia’s search for her birth parents, was Ray-Lynn, who was helping her, safe? And that strange, warped warning in her house and her bed—was she herself in physical danger, too?
* * *
Saturday morning as Lydia waited in Dr. Bryan’s hospital office, she was proud of herself for getting five hours of sleep, but then, she’d been exhausted. The furniture store would be open today, though she wasn’t going back in until Monday, depending on when Daad was released. She wanted to be sure she was home with Mamm to take care of him, at least a half day.
Her stomach had cramped when the nurse at the cardiac care desk had herded her into the doctor’s office instead of letting her go straight to Daad’s room. Dr. Bryan wanted to speak with her privately first, the nurse had said. Had Daad suffered a setback, and the doctor wanted to break the news to her? Maybe he was going to release Daad and only wanted to give her some special instructions, especially since he’d said that Mamm might not be a good nurse for Daad at times, because she was taking those sleeping pills.
Lydia’s exhaustion made her understand better why Mamm took those pills, however scary the side effects were. Yet, even without any medication, Lydia now felt as if she was moving and talking but was not herself, like it was all a dream, a nightmare. All she’d wanted was to learn some things about her birth parents and it had led to so many problems.
Dr. Bryan came in and closed the door behind him. He was carrying his little laptop computer again, but he put it on the desk, then leaned over to shake her hand.
“Lydia, we’ll keep your father until Monday morning, but your mother has hired a local driver to take her home this evening and come back when he’s released. I think he may actually rest better if he’s alone tonight and tomorrow.”
Lydia nodded. Surely her parents hadn’t been arguing when Daad was ill. Maybe it was just having Mamm there that kept him talking and awake when he should sleep.
The doctor said, “By the way, I talked to your mother about her sleeping pills. I just said you’d scooped up pill containers and didn’t realize you had hers, too. I talked to her about the possible side effects. She said she was aware of them but didn’t think they were bothering her that way. Though they can be addictive for some people, I think I convinced her to go off them until your father completely recovers.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Of course, she’s been off them a couple of days already. But here’s the thing I really wanted to discuss with you. Your father’s blood pressure pills you brought me—they resemble Hytrin. Here,” he said, getting up and lifting a huge book from the shelf behind him, “let me show you the picture.”
He sat down in the chair beside her and flopped open the big book called Physicians’ Desk Reference. He pointed at a page with colored pictures of pills. “See the Hytrin capsules here? Bright red, slightly oval shaped?”
“Ya—yes. Did I bring the wrong container?”
“The right container, but the wrong pills. It’s obviously not your fault. Those pills—” he reached over to his desk and shook the container she’d brought him yesterday “—are not Hytrin.” He unscrewed the safety cap and spilled one out onto the page next to the photo in the book.
Daad’s pills were red, they looked the same but— Lydia gasped. “Those aren’t oval but round. They look like red M&M candy or Red Hots!”
“Sharp girl. M&M’S are exactly what they are.”
“But don’t those have an M on each piece?”
“They do, but the Ms have been carefully scraped off with a fingernail or sharp object, probably a knife. I experimented—easy to do.” He showed her the side that had been scraped. She could barely see where the M had been, and the chocolate was barely visible beneath the red color.
“Did you ask my father?”
“He insists he never noticed a problem. I suppose Amish homes are a bit darker with only lantern light. He said he took the pills into his furniture store once or twice. He does wear glasses for close work, and if you don’t pay real close attention, you could swallow these with water before the sugar or the chocolate inside melts. I believe your father. So the question is, who would do this? It’s not a joke or prank. It’s deadly, or could have been, at least. He needs to be on his medicine, not sugar and chocolate.”
“Did you ask my mother, too?”
“After I talked to him. She claims she has no idea—he got the pills, took the pills. She’s quite upset, especially because she thought I was implying that, when she didn’t realize what she was doing—you know, the side effects of her sleeping pills—she’d switched his. But I told her I was not implying anything of the kind.”
“No, of course not. They don’t get on sometimes, but nothing like that.”
“I’ve had my nurse phone your father’s prescribing physician and the pharmacy. They are both puzzled, and I believe them.”
“But that’s—terrible.” Her mind raced. Surely, Mamm was telling the truth about not tampering with Daad’s pills. But he’d taken them to work. She should look into that, she should—
“Lydia, I’m advising you to let your local law enforcement know about this. I’m going to have to report it here in Wayne County.”
“I will. All right,” she agreed, but Sheriff Freeman was so busy with the investigation of Sandra’s death.
The doctor went on, “I’ve got him on good BP meds now, but your family must be wary, be careful. You need to ask yourself who had access to these pills after he brought them home and who would want to harm or kill your father.”
* * *
It was only noon with broad sunlight glaring off the snow, so Lydia asked Ray-Lynn to drop her off at Josh’s. Although she had shared so much with Ray-Lynn and the sheriff, she was not yet ready to accuse someone of trying to murder her father. She had to think it through, not jump to conclusions yet. And be careful who she told.
“I think Daad’s getting released Monday morning,” she told Ray-Lynn, half-afraid she would read her mind that something new was bothering her. “So I’ll help Mamm get him settled in. I’m pretty sure I can come with Josh for your Wednesday evening manger scene at the church.”
“That’ll be great. We can use any help you all can give with those animals since you said Hank can’t stay for the whole thing. Now, you just be careful walking home from Josh’s and going into that house alone, daytime or not—maybe ask Josh to go over with you and wait till you’ve looked around inside.”
“At least I’ve got all the extra keys now, because I’m sure Mamm has hers in her pocketbook. Oh, and Mamm should be home tonight anyway, so Daad can get more rest. And me, too, if Mamm and I don’t take to arguing.”
“Lydia, I’m glad you won’t be alone, but people can easily have extra keys made, you know. Right up at the hardware in town. Ding-dang, that might be an idea.”
“What?”
“If Clint Fencer comes in for his usual lunch today, I can ask him on the sly if anyone’s made extra keys lately. But then Jack would probably kill me for interfering in his work again,” she added with a sigh.
Ray-Lynn shook her head, and Lydia couldn’t help but wonder again: Had someone been in their house before recently? Someone who switched Daad’s pills? Someone who wanted to kill him? And did that point to Gid, who was ready and able to take over the store, whether Lydia, who had cold-shouldered him, was available or not? Surely, Mamm’s side effects from her medicine would not cause her to dump his pills, then change them. Mamm liked M&Ms and usually had a sack of them in the pantry, but then
there was often a dish of them at the store, and Lydia wasn’t sure who replenished that. No, that’s right—Gid had given Naomi petty change for that and asked her to get some just last week. Lydia should look at them, see if the red ones were missing. She’d check Mamm’s sack of them, too. Oh, how had it all come to this?
Lydia realized she was gripping her hands so tight together that her fingers had gone white. She had to tell Ray-Lynn about Daad’s pills, so she could tell the sheriff.
“There’s something else, something I hope you will tell the sheriff.”
“If it has something serious to do with Sandra’s death, how about you tell him yourself? He’s been a little touchy lately about my coming up with official things he doesn’t know. I don’t want to let you down, but... Or why don’t you write it down and I’ll give it to him? Then I can honestly say I don’t know what it’s about,” she suggested, digging a scratch pad and pen out of the console between the two of them.
“Oh, sure. All right. I understand.”
She scribbled down what the doctor had said and gave his name. Folding the paper in fourths, she handed it to Ray-Lynn. She fought to pull herself together as Ray-Lynn turned into the drive by Josh’s barn. All she needed was to lose control in front of Ray-Lynn, who would tell the sheriff that much, at least. But Lydia knew all too well she’d get another grilling from Sheriff Freeman, not about Victoria or Sandra’s deaths, but about someone trying to hurt her father. Was there any way all three things could be connected?
* * *
As Lydia went in the front door of Josh’s barn, the alarm-system donkeys began to bray and were soon joined by the familiar gurgles and snorts of the camels.
“Who’s there?” came Josh’s shout from the loft where Sandra had fallen.
“Me, Josh! What are you doing up there?” she asked as she walked toward the back of the barn.
He appeared above her and quickly came down the ladder. She could see he’d nailed it back tightly to the loft, but he hadn’t replaced the lowest rung he’d given the sheriff.
“That crazy cat,” he told her. “She took each kitten by the scruff of the neck and carried them back up there, so I’m feeding them—and don’t like it. But I can’t see moving them again.”
He hugged her, and she clung to him. He had shaved again. Her lips grazed his smooth cheek as she said, “Thank heavens, the possible accusations are past, the media people are gone and Christmas is coming.”
“How’s your father?”
“They’re going to release him Monday morning, so I think I’ll be able to help you at the Community Church on Wednesday, to really start the Christmas season for the valley.”
“Okay, what else is wrong? There’s something else.”
It amazed her that he knew her that well. She blurted out about the way the kitchen, bathroom and her bed had been tampered with. “Now keep calm,” she said, as she felt his muscles tense. “There’s more.”
“You know who did it?” he demanded. “Gid?”
“I don’t know. But someone substituted candy for my father’s blood pressure pills. He’s blessed to be alive since he’s been taking sugar and chocolate instead of his medicine. It’s like someone wants him hurt or dead. His doctor’s going to write it up, and I wrote a note for Ray-Lynn to give Sheriff Freeman.”
He pulled her hard to him again. “That points to Gid again, doesn’t it?”
“Does it? What if Leo Lowe thinks I’m out to hurt his father, so he tries to hurt mine? What if Connor—”
“Connor?” he interrupted, holding her out stiff-armed and staring into her face.
“Yes, what if Connor wants our land to expand his? I know there’s been bad blood between Mamm and Connor—his family—but I can’t believe he’d do something like that. Only, Connor was the first one to knock on my door after that awful night. He said his mother sent him to see if I was all right, but he seemed so eager to know how Daad was, like he might be checking up on his own handiwork.”
“How about I sleep here in the barn tonight—I’ve done that before—and you stay at my house? No one has to know. The only other good option is that I sleep in your kitchen by the back door, but I can’t leave the animals alone with all that’s going on. How about Ray-Lynn staying with you?”
“She suggested that, but I turned her down. Mamm will be home later today.”
“Does your mother know about your father’s medicine?”
“Yes, the doctor told her, too. It will be the two of us tonight, so you won’t have to worry.”
But I will worry, Lydia thought. Spending the night with just her mother, without Daad there as a buffer, might be as unsettling as being in the house with the intruder.
21
Lydia was grateful to have Mamm with her that night—and not. Silent snow was falling outside, but Lydia wished it could be more quiet in here. After their meal, she’d explained about the intruder and the things tampered with. She told Mamm she wished now that she’d called in the sheriff.
Mamm had exploded. “But who? And in my house? My kitchen and bathroom? And then you paraded the sheriff and Ray-Lynn through here? And now you say you wrote to him about Daad’s fake pills! He’d better not think it was me, always looking at the mate, they are, when there’s a family problem.”
She jumped up from the table and went straight for the cupboard where Lydia had put the honey jar.
“Mamm, don’t touch that in case Sheriff Freeman has to use it later for evidence.”
“Nonsense,” she said, snatching the jar down, turning the sink faucet on full blast, thrusting it under the spray and rubbing it vigorously. “No one will want this jar for that. No one in this household has done anything wrong! Now I’ll have to clean tonight.”
“No, you don’t. I haven’t touched my bed yet.”
“What? Left it that way, messed and dirtied? Every bit of that has to be cleaned, the bathtub, too. I won’t say, ‘What is this world coming to,’ because I know! An intruder in my house. We need to check the windows and relock the doors!”
Lydia got up from the table and went over to where Mamm had scrubbed the honey jar, even dumping the rest of the thick contents into the swirl of water.
“Mamm, I was thinking, we’d best not spring all this on Daad right away. I’m sure his pills being fooled with was enough of a shock.”
“To us all. I think that doctor blamed me because of the so-called side effects of my sleeping pills. Like I would put candy in his pill bottle and not know it! Daad said he took the pills to work with him a couple of times, but no one in this house would harm his pills! When he first got them, I made him take them in front of me so he wouldn’t forget. He’s so forgetful sometimes.”
She started to cry. Lydia pulled out the closest chair and sat her in it.
“Lydia, I’m sure I’m not doing things I don’t know,” Mamm choked out as Lydia handed her a tissue from the box on the counter.
“Of course you’re not, or we’d see signs of it. This is all too much right now, but I do think we need to have the locks on our house changed.”
“We’ll ask your father.”
“He won’t be home until Monday and, like I said, do we want to spring all of this on him now? I think we should make the decision to change the locks. I can stop at the hardware store on Monday morning, ask Clint Fencer to come out to take care of it. And then we dare not put an extra key in the unlocked barn. I have that one now and Daad’s keys from the store.”
“But who would do this? Though I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, it’s that Sandra’s fault one way or the other. You know what your father whispered to me before they took him away to do that test and fix his heart? He said, ‘If I die, I’ll tell Sammy you’re still grieving for him.’ In Heaven, he meant. So how do we know he didn’t put that candy in his pillbox himself, like he wanted to die? What would be so bad in his life that he’d want to die?”
“He just meant he was facing heart surgery, and that’s never a
sure thing. Heart attacks aren’t like the common cold.”
But all Lydia could think of were the words on the quilt Daad had been working on so hard: Father Forgive, or more like, Forgive Father. Forgive him for setting himself up for death? Was he that unhappy? Was that why he, too, had pushed her toward Gid when he usually wanted only her happiness—so the business would be well cared for after he died? No, no, that line of thought was crazy. The Amish abhorred suicide, for all life was sacred.
Fighting not to dissolve into tears herself, she kept quiet about those fears. Instead, she sucked in a sob and put her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “We’ll get him home, get him better, Mamm.”
When she knelt and hugged her mother hard, she hugged her back. No, surely it could not be Mamm who wanted to harm Daad, even if she might have been on those sleeping pills and not quite known what she was doing.
Hoping her voice was steady, Lydia suggested, “How about we clean the house together in the morning?”
“As long as I help you change your bed now. Or do you not want to sleep there anymore? Lydia, if you were only married, had a marital bed with Gid, then you’d always feel safe.”
Lydia stiffened and set her mother back in the chair. Little cold fingers of doubt—of terror—crept up her back. Mamm doing strange things she did not recall because of her medicine was one thing, but wasn’t her desperation to get Gid and her together another motive? Because of Daad’s heart attack, Lydia knew she’d have to work closely with Gid now. And Mamm seemed almost eager to erase the signs of the intruder.
“Ya, let’s change my bed together,” Lydia said, but she was thinking that, first thing in the morning, she was going to check out the sack of candy in the pantry to see if the red ones were low or missing.
* * *
Despite the fact that Sunday was to be a day of rest, Lydia and Mamm worked hard, cleaning the house, tending the horses. Lydia was relieved that Mamm’s M&Ms stash in the pantry had quite a few red-coated ones, but were there enough? That wasn’t such a large medicine bottle, and it had been only about one-third full. Lydia had tried scraping the M off several red pieces with a kitchen knife and then her fingernail. Both worked quite well, although a bit of the chocolate showed through, just as it had in the doctor’s office. But the change in color wasn’t that noticeable. And, as Dr. Bryan had said, it was dim in Amish homes. Most people would just shake one pill out and down it quickly.