by Debby Giusti
“My feet are happy in these shoes,” Kayla said with a wide smile. “I’ll be able to run and skip and jump again.”
Julia’s heart hurt. Tears burned her eyes. What kind of mother was she not to have realized her daughter needed new shoes? Money had been tight, but she would have cut back on something else. If there had been anything else to cut back on.
Abraham was staring at her.
She averted her gaze, feeling foolish and emotional. Plus, she was still so tired.
He stepped closer. “You need shoes. Something sturdy.”
She looked down at her flats. The aches in her legs were, no doubt, from wearing shoes without support and too many hours on her feet working in the diner while Mrs. Fielding watched the children.
“What do Amish women usually wear?” Julia asked.
He held up a pair of black leather lace-up shoes.
“They’re not very fashionable.”
He laughed. “The farm is not a place for fashion.”
“You’re probably right.”
She tried on the shoes and was surprised at how the soft leather cushioned her feet. Now she understood what Kayla was saying about her feet feeling happy.
“May I wear them home?” she asked.
“Yah.” Abraham paid for the shoes. “Now we will get ice cream for an afternoon treat.”
Kayla’s eyes widened. “Mr. Abraham, that sounds gut.”
He chuckled. “You are quite the linguist, Kayla.”
“Mamm says I’m smart.”
“Your mother is right.”
He smiled at Julia, and for a moment she felt the weight lift from her shoulders. Then she thought again of the gang that was after her son.
Her pulse raced as she glanced around the store. “Where’s William?”
Abraham’s face drained of color. He turned to look. “Stay here.”
But she couldn’t. Not when her son was missing.
She grabbed Kayla’s hand and followed Abraham out of the store. Her heart pounded a warning when she thought of the men in the sports car.
“Where’s William?” Kayla asked.
“I don’t know, honey.”
Why had she let him out of her sight?
Abraham hurried around the corner and headed to the rear of the building.
“Please!” Julia lifted up a partial prayer to a God who never listened.
She turned the corner with Kayla in tow and stopped short, seeing Abraham a few feet ahead. He was staring at the buggy where William stood, raking his fingers through Buttercup’s mane.
Stepping closer to Abraham, she sighed. “My heart stopped beating about two minutes ago.”
“I should have looked here first. He loves the animals.”
“I...I thought something had happened to him.”
“We could not find you, William,” Abraham said when the boy looked up and noticed them. “Next time, you must tell your mother where you are going.”
“I don’t have to ask her permission.”
“A child does not disrespect a parent.” Abraham’s voice was firm. He pointed to the buggy. “Get in.”
The boy huffed and climbed all the way into the rear.
Abraham hefted Kayla onto the second seat.
“What about getting ice cream, Mr. Abraham?”
“Not today, Kayla.”
William slumped in the back of the buggy, his eyes downcast, looking sullen and unresponsive. A look Julia knew too well.
Julia climbed in beside her daughter. She didn’t want to sit next to Abraham. Not when her son had caused them such a scare and had been so disrespectful.
She wrapped her arm around Kayla and pulled her close.
Abraham flipped the reins and turned the buggy onto the main road. Buttercup began to trot as they left town.
Clouds covered the once-bright sun and warned of an encroaching storm. Everything had gone from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.
After what William had done today, Julia was sure Abraham would insist they leave, but if he forced them away, where would they go?
SIX
Julia had trouble falling asleep that night. She kept hearing footsteps and imagining her son had left the house and was now in the middle of a street fight just as had happened in Philadelphia.
She got up twice and each time stared out the window, seeing the main house and the still countryside. Surely she and her family were safe here in Kansas, yet the Philadores were looking for her son. A heaviness settled on her shoulders as she thought of William’s phone call to David and how easily one slip of the tongue could have revealed their whereabouts. How had life gotten so complicated?
Returning to bed, she pounded her fist into her pillow and flipped onto her side, facing away from the window and the first light of dawn that peeked around the edge of the curtain.
She dozed for all too short a time and then jerked awake, still fearful for William’s well-being. After pulling herself from bed, she slipped on her robe and stepped into the hallway where she glanced at Kayla, sleeping peacefully in the room across the hallway. The doll Charlie had given her was still clutched in her arms.
Julia shook her head at the sad irony of a child who clung to a doll as a substitute for the love she longed to receive from her father.
She continued along the hall and stopped on the threshold of William’s room, noting how high his bedding was piled. She moved quietly into the room and lifted the edge of the quilt, expecting to see William. Instead of her son, she found two pillows waded into a ball.
Her heart stopped.
She threw the quilt off the bed, then turned and ran down the steps. Fighting back tears, she checked the remaining rooms before she returned to the kitchen. She pulled open the door and raced across the yard to the main house.
“Abraham, wake up.” She pounded on his door. “Abraham.”
The door flew open. His hair was tousled, his face puffy with sleep. “What is wrong?”
“William.” Tears filled her eyes. “He’s gone.”
* * *
Adrenaline had kicked in as soon as Abraham heard the insistent knocking on the door. Seeing Julia, her eyes wide with fear, her mouth drawn and her face pale, sent a jolt of panic to wrap around his heart.
“Did you search the house?” he asked.
“I did.”
She glanced back at the dawdy house. “I heard something a few hours ago that sounded like footsteps, only I talked myself into believing it was just the house creaking.” She put her hand to her mouth. “Oh, Abraham, how could I have been so foolish?”
“I will search the grounds. Change into street clothes, then wake Kayla and get her dressed. She can wear her Amish dress, if she wants. We will ask Sarah to watch her while we look for William.”
Grabbing a flashlight, Abraham raced to the barn and outbuildings, calling William’s name. From there, he crossed the road and entered his neighbor’s barn. He checked the stalls to make certain the boy was not hiding in one of the dark corners and then ran to the phone shack.
The answering machine blinked.
He entered the code and listened as a male voice left a message. “William, this is David. Look, I can’t get to Kansas City in time, but my brother Pablo will be there. He’ll meet your bus. You can fly with him back to Philly. Pablo said he’ll keep you safe.”
Either William had lied or somehow David had gotten Harvey Raber’s phone number. Abraham made a fist and wanted to smash his hand through the wall. Instead, he reached for the phone and tapped in the number for the Amish taxi, grateful that the taxi driver prided himself on being available around the clock.
“Randy, this is Abraham King. I need your services. Come as quickly as possible.”
The taxi pulled into the driveway not more than twenty minutes later. Ab
raham forsook his waistcoat and grabbed a black hooded sweatshirt from his room and slipped it on as he hurried to the dawdy house.
Julia opened the door before he knocked. She was dressed in jeans and a sweater with a lightweight jacket. “Did you find him?”
He shook his head and explained about David’s message on the answering machine.
A faint gasp escaped Julia’s lips, then she turned to where Kayla sat at the table, rubbing her eyes, and motioned the child forward. Her hair was pulled into a makeshift bun. She wore her Amish dress and carried her kapp in one hand and her doll in the other.
“You called a cab?” Julia asked, seeing the car in the drive.
“An Amish cab. Randy is a good driver. We will go first to Sarah’s house. Kayla can stay there while we look for William.”
Julia nodded and ushered Kayla into the car. Randy seemed to understand that speed was of the essence. He turned the car radio to an easy listening channel, which would ensure Abraham and Julia could talk without being overheard. Instead of conversing, both of them seemed lost in their own thoughts and were silent as Randy pulled the taxi onto the main road and drove quickly to Sarah’s farm.
Abraham was the first to alight from the car once it stopped in front of the farmhouse. Julia and Kayla followed close behind him. He knocked on the door, hoping Sarah was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
She peered through the window before opening the door. “What’s wrong?”
“William left the house sometime in the night. We need to find him. He may have taken a bus to another city. Can you watch Kayla while we are gone?”
“Yah, of course.” Sarah reached out to Julia and squeezed her hand. “Do not worry. Kayla will be fine with us.”
“Thank you, Sarah.”
Julia hugged her daughter. “We’ll be back as soon as possible. Mind Miss Sarah.”
“I will, Mama.”
As soon as the door closed, Julia hurried back to the car. Abraham climbed in next to her. “The bus station in town, Randy. As fast as you can.”
Julia dropped her head into her hands. “I’m so worried.”
“We will find him.” Abraham wanted to reassure her, but he was worried, as well.
“Why would David leave a message on your neighbor’s phone?” she asked.
“He probably thought William had access to the voice mail. The boys cooked up this rendezvous in Kansas City, never realizing the implications.” Or the danger to William, he failed to add. Thankfully, the outgoing message on Harvey’s answering machine was generic and did not mention his business or its location.
“David’s brother is working with the Philadores,” Julia said, her voice low. “I saw him a few times and knew his mother. She’s a nice woman, struggling to keep her kids safe. William didn’t have much to do with Pablo, which doesn’t bode well for the two of them meeting up in Kansas City.” She shook her head. “How does William plan to get there?”
“I keep the motor coach schedule on the bookshelf in the main room. William must have seen it yesterday before he called David. A bus left the Yoder station at six this morning, heading first to Topeka and then on to Kansas City.”
“He doesn’t have money to buy a ticket.”
“Check your wallet.”
She opened her purse and pulled out her wallet. Her face dropped. “He took money from my purse.”
Julia shook her head. “I never thought my son would steal from me.”
“He probably plans to pay you back, although I am not sure how he will earn the money. But then, kids do not think things through.”
“Oh, Abraham. What am I to do?”
“We’ll check at the bus station. Surely the clerk will remember if a young boy bought a ticket. If he did not, then we will search through Yoder and the surrounding area.”
“And if he bought a ticket?” she asked, her eyes filled with worry.
“Then we will go to Kansas City.”
“What if Pablo is waiting there for him?”
“We will face that when it happens. Right now, we need to determine if William was on that bus.” Abraham reached for her hand. “We will find him, Julia.”
“I was too hard on him.”
He shook his head. “The boy needs to understand what is expected. This is not your fault.”
“He’s a child.”
“At fourteen, he is almost a man. An Amish youth would be plowing fields, driving wagons and taking care of livestock. You underestimate your son.”
“He didn’t grow up on a farm. He grew up in a middle class neighborhood outside of Philadelphia, until his father gambled away everything we had.”
She raked her hand through her hair. “Charlie didn’t want children. He said I never gave him any time after William was born. He didn’t realize what parenting involved and thought only of what he wanted.”
“What happened after you had Kayla?”
“That’s the irony,” she said with a sigh. “He adored his daughter while ignoring William. He knew his father didn’t love him. He didn’t hold that against Kayla, but he held it against Charlie.”
“Your husband left you soon after Kayla was born?”
“Not until she was in preschool. I kicked him out. He was taking all the money he earned along with whatever he could find from my paycheck. He gave me no choice.”
She turned to look out the window and lowered her voice. “Plus he became abusive.”
“What?”
She held up her hand. “Not physically, although he threatened me. That’s when we moved. I didn’t think he could find me, but he sent a package to the new house. It was a present for Kayla. She opened it before I realized what she was doing and found the doll she now calls Annie.”
Julia tugged at a strand of hair and glanced at Randy, who was oblivious to their discussion.
“William looked into the box,” she continued. “I knew he was searching for a gift for himself, but there was nothing. We moved again, this time into the city. I didn’t want Charlie to know where we were. Not long after that, I saw in the paper that he had been arrested for embezzling money from a police department fund for officers who had been wounded or killed in the line of duty.”
“He was found guilty?”
She nodded. “And sent to prison. Soon after that, William started talking about various gang members and what the Philadores were doing in the neighborhood. He only saw what he wanted to see. He didn’t realize how they intimidated people and shoved their weight around. That’s when I took both children out of school and taught them at home. A sweet neighbor watched them while I worked at night. I kept my thumb on William, only he still slipped away from me at times, which is what he’s done again.”
Abraham glanced out the window. “The bus station is on the corner of the next block. You stay with Randy while I check inside.”
“I want to go with you.”
As the taxi pulled to a stop, Julia stared through the car window. “How did William find his way here?”
“Probably from the bus brochure. A map on the back of the brochure shows where the station is located. The Amish rely on buses to visit relatives and friends in neighboring towns, and the buses run frequently.”
“He can’t be gone, Abraham. I can’t lose him.”
But when they entered the station and saw only a few Amish people waiting for the next bus, Abraham had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He headed for the clerk.
“We are looking for a young boy, age fourteen, who may have bought a ticket to Kansas City in the last few hours.”
The clerk nodded. “Brown hair, wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt?”
“William loves that sweatshirt. You saw him?” Julia glanced around the small station. “Is he still here?”
“He took the earlier bus to Topeka and then on t
o Kansas City, which was his destination. Is there a problem?”
“What time will that bus arrive in Kansas City?”
“With all the stops along the way, it won’t get there until eleven this morning. You’re looking for him, I presume? Might be able to catch up to him in Topeka.”
The clerk glanced at his watch. “On second thought, I doubt you’ll get there in time. If you’ve got a car, my suggestion would be to take the back roads to Kansas City. You should arrive just before the bus. The next motor coach heading that way leaves here in an hour, but it won’t arrive in Kansas City until later this afternoon.”
“Thanks for your help.” Abraham grabbed Julia’s hand and they hurried outside and back to the cab.
“How do we get to the city?” she asked.
Abraham peered through the open passenger window at the driver and raised his voice to be heard. “Hopefully, Randy will drive us to Kansas City.”
“I haven’t been to the city in almost a year, but I know the back roads,” the taxi driver acknowledged with a nod. “Climb in. I’ll get you there.”
Abraham glanced at the sky, where dark clouds hovered on the horizon. They would be driving into a storm. But that was the least of their problems. They had to find William, and find him before Pablo Davila did.
SEVEN
Julia wanted to get behind the wheel and drive, only she would probably exceed the speed limit and crash into another vehicle, as jumpy as she felt. Why were the miles passing so slowly and the minutes so quickly?
William was on a bus heading straight into the hands of the Philadores. Maybe they should have called law enforcement, but she didn’t trust cops. She glanced at Abraham who stared out the front window, his jaw tight and neck tense. He looked as worried as she felt.
She rubbed her hand over her stomach and tried to calm the nervous jitters that wreaked havoc with her composure. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time, although she continued to sit still and stare at the road, knowing if they didn’t get to Kansas City in time, they wouldn’t find William and her life would be over. She would have to go on because of Kayla, but losing her son would break her heart in two.