“It sounds bigger than a rat,” Rachel said, fighting her growing anxiety. “We’d better go see.”
The two women clutched arms and walked toward the noise. It appeared to be coming from a closet. As they approached the closet door, the noise stopped.
Miriam reached for the closet handle. “Stand aside, Rachel, as the animal will likely run out once I open the door.”
Rachel did as she was told, but when Miriam pulled the door open, all she could see was a silhouette huddled in the corner.
“Who are you?” she said.
A young man who looked about eighteen or nineteen years of age stumbled out of the closet, and then stood up. He looked stiff and sore. Rachel figured he’d been stuck in the closet for hours. Rachel then noticed a can of paint with a screwdriver sticking out of its lid right by the closet door. Clearly, he had been trying to pry the can open. “Are you a treasure hunter? What were you doing with that paint?” she asked, while not actually expecting an answer, at least not an honest one.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking alarmed and panic-stricken. “I’m not a treasure hunter.”
“What do we do now?” Rachel asked Miriam.
“I’m not sure. I think we’re going to have to call the police.”
At the mention of the police, the teenager’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, please don’t call the cops. My parents will kill me!” He sighed and took a deep breath.
“Then tell us what you’re doing in our home,” Miriam said.
“Um, I…” His voice trailed away. The boy looked down at the floor and let out a long breath. “I went into the closet looking for paint and stuff, but the door jammed and I couldn’t get out.”
Miriam shook her head. “Nee, I mean, tell us what you’re doing here, in our home.”
After a brief silence, he glanced up and spoke softly. “There’s this strange guy named Aaron that works that the B&B in the center of town. He’s a friend of my older brother’s, so I’ve known him for a while. Not too long ago, he approached me and said he’d heard I was looking for my first job. He promised me a nice, paying position there if I helped him out with a little problem.” The boy twiddled his thumbs.
Rachel and Miriam exchanged worried glances. “What was this little problem he needed your help with?” Rachel asked as she returned her attention to the frightened teen.
He sighed long and hard. Then, he spoke in a solemn whisper. “All he said was that management didn’t want to deal with competition. He told me that he didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but he wanted repairs to take a while and for any damage to be contributed to the weirdoes that hunt for lost treasure over at Eden. I think Aaron figured if you guys assumed that the looting and vandalism were the work of treasure hunters, you’d just get sick of it and leave town.”
“Is this the truth?” Miriam asked, and the young man nodded. “We’re no threat to them, financially or otherwise,” she said. “We can all be friends and deal with each other as neighbors. There is no need for hostility or animosity.”
The boy nodded. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I shouldn’t have agreed to it, but I needed money, and I was just trying to get a nice, paying job with the company. I’m a good worker. I just won’t get given a shot. Nobody wants to hire a kid like me,” he confessed, clearly upset.
Rachel felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. “Well, if you didn’t keep setting us back by destroying the property, perhaps we could have offered you a position of some sort. You didn’t actually think you wouldn’t get caught, did you? I doubt the stores are any more likely to hire a criminal than a struggling teenager.”
The boy frowned, a solemn expression on his face. “I’m so sorry, ma’am, but please, I thought you weren’t going to call the sheriff if I admitted to the whole thing and came clean?”
Miriam responded before her daughter was able to. “Okay, we will speak to the sheriff and inform him that we don’t wish you to be penalized for your actions. If we see you back here, though, we’re going to have to have you arrested. We don’t want to have you arrested, but we not do appreciate theft and vandalism. We work hard for what we have.”
He nodded. “I’m truly sorry. You’ll never see me back here again, I promise.”
Miriam nodded. “We would appreciate it if you’d be willing to call the sheriff and give him your story personally.”
At first, the teen looked apprehensive, but he soon agreed.
“We don’t have a telephone yet, but -”
Before she could finish her sentence, he pulled a phone from his pocket. “No worries, I have my cell.”
As they stood together, the young man called the sheriff’s office. He spoke for at least five minutes. While Rachel could only hear his side of the conversation, the young man did tell the sheriff everything he had told them.
He hung up and turned back to the women. “So, he said he’s going to check into a few things and be here later today, but that it’s fine for me to go in the meantime. He has my name and contact information, so that should be enough. Again, I’m really sorry, and hope I haven’t caused too much pain and damage for you guys.”
Rachel sensed the remorse in his words. “Thank you for at least revealing who sent you. I think my mudder suspected them, but we had no proof of any sort. I just hope the sheriff thinks this is sufficient evidence for him to do something about it.”
“I hope he does,” the boy said, with a nervous smile. “Well, I’m going to go. I hid my bike in some bushes up by the side of the road.”
“Be careful, and think about your decisions a little more next time,” Miriam said.
* * *
Just before lunch time, Rachel was scrubbing away at the remaining bits of paint on the floor, when she heard a knock at the door. When she swung it open, Sheriff Dobbs greeted her with a smile.
“Good afternoon,” he said.
“Good afternoon, Sheriff. Please come inside.” Rachel motioned for him to enter. They walked into the lobby area to meet with Miriam.
“Hello again, Mrs. Berkholder,” he said. “I got a report earlier from a teenage boy that the other B&B pretty much hired him to cause damage to the building in order to delay your attempts to open soon.”
Both women nodded.
“Well, I stopped by and spoke with the manager, and he said the boy was nothing but a disgruntled ex-employee.”
“What? An ex-employee? That doesn’t make sense.” Rachel shook her head.
“Didn’t he say he was only doing it to get his first job?” Miriam asked her.
Rachel nodded, and then looked at Sheriff Dobbs. “It’s true, and he didn’t look like he was lying when he said it. I was looking him straight in the eyes. He was too afraid of getting in trouble to lie to us.”
The sheriff chuckled. “I’ve heard all that before, so don’t pay any attention to it. Some kids can act their way right onto the big screen nowadays,” he said. “I spoke to the general manager himself. He’s been the general manager at the B&B for years and he’s worked with the boy personally. He knew his name, phone number, and a lot more than just that, too.”
“The boy told us that the man was a friend of his older brother. That’s why he knows all of his information,” Rachel said.
The sheriff shrugged. “Okay, but even if that’s true, there’s no proof of it. I have to look at everything at face value, and there’s nothing conclusive to suggest that whether the boy or the manager are being honest or lying. It’s one man’s word against another’s. For all I know, they really did sack the kid. Then, maybe he heard about them coming here and threatening you, so he figured he’d cause some damage and make it look like they came through with their promises.” Sheriff Dobbs shrugged again.
Rachel made her disagreement known. “I honestly don’t feel the boy was lying to me. And besides, couldn’t his statement at least help in some way?”
“Not really,” Dobbs replied.
“Even if the boy is willing to be a witness, that’s still not enough
to at least get them to back off?” Miriam asked.
The sheriff turned his head slightly. “Look, if we find some evidence or can somehow connect them in a way that supports his version of the story, I can stop them from bothering you guys ever again, but until then, I’d suggest you both just focus on restoring this place and opening.”
“Thank you, Sheriff. We’re working on it, but these setbacks don’t help us any,” Miriam said as she walked him to the door.
When he reached the door, the sheriff turned back to face both women. “I promise, if you stumble upon any sufficient evidence, we will stop them, but right now, the charges would never stick. Not with their connections to the mayor.”
Chapter 15
Another quiet morning had begun in Eden. It was a beautiful day, and the sun shone through the many windows of the building. Rachel walked back and forth, dragging a large broom with her. She swept each of the rooms thoroughly. Despite the fact that all the rooms were not yet finished, and the place was half in tatters, she still felt the need to maintain some form of cleanliness, even in the dirtiest and dingiest of places.
Rachel heard a pattering of footsteps, and looked up as Miriam stepped into the room. “Beautiful morning, isn’t it? I only hope the serenity of the weather carries over into our affairs.”
Despite Miriam’s words, Rachel could see that her mudder was feeling sad. “Mamm, you know we must always keep the faith,” she said, in an attempt to encourage her.
“I maintain my faith, and I always will, but sometimes inevitability is a real, actual thing. What if we aren’t able to fix this place? We’ve been working very hard at it and it’s still a mess. It’s as if we haven’t even lifted a finger. Who knows how long it might be before we’re ready to open?”
Rachel rubbed her temples and thought it over. Her mother’s fears were understandable, but one thing they had held onto was the idea of never losing hope. Even in the darkest of days, Rachel knew that a light could still find a person and lead them to safety. That simple way of thinking ignited her response.
“It might take us a while to get it open, but I know we will. Isaac is more than willing to help, and the community will too. You heard the bishop. They are all behind us, hoping we succeed. We can’t let them down, can we?”
Miriam smiled, but her eyes were red, and she looked as if tears were in a battle to escape down her cheeks. “I think it’s time we take another look at the inventory of everything we want to work on and have done to this place. We probably need to rearrange our priorities now, so the important things get completed first.”
Rachel nodded. As they tossed around some ideas, there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” Rachel said.
“Are we expecting someone?” Miriam asked as Rachel was half way across the room.
“Nee,” she called over her shoulder.
When Rachel pulled open the door, she saw Isaac and another Amish mann standing beside him. The other man was older, about her mudder’s age, and was clean shaven.
“Gude mariye, Rachel,” Isaac said. “I hope we aren’t a burden this fine morning, but my friend, Jonas, here owns a construction company. He’s from an Amish community about a hundred miles west of here.”
The man extended his hand and bowed his head slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rachel.”
Just then, Miriam arrived. “Gude mariye, gentlemen.” She smiled at Isaac and glanced over at his friend. “Hiya, I’m Miriam Berkholder. I see you’ve already met my dochder, Rachel.”
“Indeed, I have. Thank you, ma’am.”
Rachel was slightly confused as to why Miriam and Jonas were smiling at each awkwardly, but paid no further attention to it as her mudder welcomed the two menner inside.
“Would you please join us for some kaffi and some schnitz und knepp?”
“Denki, that would be lovely, Miriam,” Isaac replied.
After they were seated and Miriam had returned with steaming mugs of kaffi and plates of schnitz und knepp, Isaac spoke up. “Jonas here is a gut friend of mine, and he owns his own construction company. We spoke the other day and I mentioned Eden and the problems the two of you were having, and he agreed to come take a look at your haus.”
“Oh, that is wonderful, but I’m not sure we can afford to hire contractors,” Miriam admitted.
“Well, you know I’ll still continue helping around here and help you both to get things in order, but you need someone like Jonas who knows his craft. Besides, Jonas and two of his crew already have a place to stay when they come to town to work – they stay in the grossmammi haus at the Fisher familye’s farm.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to show him around and see what he thinks, would it?” Rachel said, only too aware of her mudder’s reluctance. “I’m sure he knows a lot more about repairing these walls and doors than either of us do.”
Miriam nodded. “I suppose it won’t hurt to have a look.” She smiled shyly. She motioned for Jonas and Isaac to follow. The first room she showed them was the one that had been the primary target of the vandalism and damage.
“Okay, so the first thing we want to do is make sure the structural integrity of the building is up to procedural standards. This hole right here,” Jonas said, pointing to the wall, “could indicate that the walls might need structural work.”
“Structural work?” Miriam parroted.
Jonas nodded. “Jah. This hole is nothing to fix, but if they have actually tried digging through to find a treasure chest, or whatever it was that Isaac said they were looking for, then these various dents and holes in the wall could have led to a week infrastructure. That was apparent to me when I saw a few of the doorways on the way to this room.”
Rachel let out a long, deflated sigh. It already looked like the bill was piling up to more than they could afford, and she knew Miriam would not be happy about it. She looked up to see Isaac staring at her.
“Don’t worry too much, Rachel. Just let him look around and see what needs to be done.” He looked at her with kind eyes, but the warmth behind them was not enough to erase her fears and concerns.
After taking the menner through each of the rooms, the basement, and a quick tour of the surrounding land, the four headed back to the haus to regroup. As they walked, Miriam tripped over the uneven path and stumbled backward. Jonas came out of nowhere to catch her. She fell softly into his arms.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she apologized.
“No worries at all, ma’am,” Jonas said with a wide grin. He helped her back to her feet.
Is my mudder attracted to Jonas? Rachel wondered. He’s unmarried, given that he has not grown a baard. She sure has been acting strangely since he arrived.
Soon, they were all sitting together in the living room, going over the damages, the problems, and the additions that they needed to have built. Jonas scribbled some numbers on paper and after a lengthy discussion with them all, he finalized his estimate and slipped the paper on the table in front of Miriam and Rachel.
Miriam and her Rachel exchanged glances. “There’s no way we can afford this,” Miriam said.
“With supply costs and labor, it’s going to be a difficult renovation. That’s probably the lowest price any construction worker could offer. I kept basic costs to a minimum, but if you both want this place to be as beautiful as it once was, it’s going to be worth every cent.”
Miriam nodded. “I appreciate that, and I know you would’ve kept the costs low, but it’s just that we don’t have the money. There is no way we can pay for this right now. I appreciate the gesture, I truly do, but unless we can lease out the farmland that goes with the haus, I don’t see us being able to afford that bill. I will ask the bishop to ask the members of the community. Perhaps someone will be able to lease it. Then we will be able to have you do the renovation work. I should’ve looked into it sooner, but I’ve had so much on my mind.”
“Oh yes, I’ve been meaning to ask you about the farmland,” Isaac said. “Do you wish to lease it out just
for the coming season, or long term?”
“Long term for sure,” Miriam said. “I certainly don’t want to do any farming.”
Rachel nodded. “Jah, if we can lease out the land, we could easily restore this place and be on our way to opening it.”
Jonas smiled. “Well, the work is going to take quite a bit of time, but you’re right. This place will be worthy of being called Eden again.”
The thought of that made everyone happy, even Isaac, who was clearly feeling very comfortable with Rachel and Miriam these days. Rachel considered that it was almost as if he was becoming part of their familye, and she could not deny how much happier she was when he was around. The way he smiled at her always seemed to cause her stomach to stir in a way which was uncomfortable yet pleasant at the same time.
“I’ve actually been looking for land to lease for crops,” Isaac said. “Your land would be ideal, as it adjoins my farm.”
Miriam turned to Rachel, her face empty and full of uncertainty. “You want to lease our land for your crops, Isaac?” she said softly.
He turned to her with a big smile. “Yes, I’d appreciate the opportunity very much. I’ll dedicate all of your plots of land to my corn crops.”
Rachel was unsure whether Isaac he was offering to lease their land out of his own farming needs, or whether it was his way of helping them without being too conspicuous. Either way, the notion filled her with joy, and the realization that the B&B might actually open after all, made her happy for Miriam. Eden did not look like much right then, but it meant a lot to her mudder, and that’s all that mattered.
After a few moments of silence, Miriam finally spoke. “I couldn’t imagine leasing the land to anyone better,” she admitted.
Rachel recognized the look of delight in her eyes.
Isaac looked over at his friend, Jonas, and shared a smile. “Well, let’s go over the details later. I’m delighted that I’ll be able to lease your land, Miriam.”
“I’m glad to have had the pleasure of meeting you both,” Jonas said, before walking toward the exit. Isaac followed him out, but before leaving, turned to Rachel to say goodbye.
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