The Amish Buggy Horse BOXED SET Books 1-3 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: Faith, Hope, Charity) (Boxed Set: The Amish Buggy Horse)

by Ruth Hartzler

  "His color stands out too much. He's a palomino, and I don’t know of any other palomino buggy horses in these parts. Driving him makes you instantly recognizable, so if you were driving a bay or even a chestnut, you would just blend in with all the other Amish."

  Isabel had to agree. "That makes sense. But what if Melissa drives Blessing? Won’t they think that she's me?"

  "Make sure you tell her that she must not drive him. I'll collect Blessing for you and drive him to your house in an open buggy in broad daylight tomorrow, if the weather clears, but for now, leave him where he is, and make sure no one drives him."

  "I will."

  "Oh, and Isobel?"

  "Yes?"

  "Please be careful. I’d be…" Peter hesitated before continuing in a soft voice, "very upset if anything were to happen to you."

  After the conversation, Isobel leaned back against a pole in the barn, her heart racing so hard that she felt it would burst through her ears. A warm, tingly feeling ran from the top of her head right down to her toes. He really cares for me, she thought. Her happiness was not even dampened by the dangerous situation in which she found herself.

  Psalm 23: 1 - 6.

  A Psalm of Peter. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

  Chapter 15.

  As soon as Isobel reached the door, Melissa opened it with a squeal of delight. "Isobel! Quick, come inside to the fire; it’s freezing out there," she said.

  Isobel followed her friend into the living room, where a roaring fire was blazing. As the two sat, warming themselves by the welcoming fire, sipping hot meadow tea and nibbling peanut brittle, Isobel told Melissa of the morning's events. As she progressed, Melissa looked more and more shocked.

  "Ach, Isobel, that's so schecklich!"

  "I suppose it is scary, Melissa, but I don’t feel scared, to tell you the truth."

  Melissa shot her a knowing look. "It's because of that handsome detective, isn't it?"

  Isobel's face grew hot and she ducked her head.

  Melissa chuckled. "I knew it!"

  "Oh, Melissa, I really do like him, but what can come of it? He's an Englischer. What I am to do?"

  Melissa frowned. "Well, Victor came back to the Amish."

  Isobel shook her head. "But you said that Victor had been thinking about it for a long time. And it’s not often that a mann does return to the Amish after he's been away for so long. Plus, Peter has all those feelings of unforgiveness over his bruder's death."

  "Trust in Gott," Melissa said. "Gott verlosst die Seine nicht." God does not abandon His own.

  "I think it’s more that Peter has abandoned Gott," Isobel said.

  Melissa shook her finger at her. "Nee, nee, you don’t know that, Isobel. From what I've heard, Peter is already back in touch with the bishop, and he's reconciled with his parents. He has one foot in the Amish door already."

  Isobel sighed. "He needs two feet in the Amish door, as you put it, if anything is ever to happen between us."

  Melissa just shrugged. "It doesn't seem as bad to me as it seems to you, I'm sure. Anyway, I have some corn draining. Come and help me make corncakes. We can have them with maple syrup."

  "And marshmallows?"

  Melissa laughed. "Of course, I always have marshmallows on hand for you, Isobel."

  The two friends walked into the kitchen, where Melissa took a pot of boiling water from the wood cookstove, while Isobel poured some cornmeal, honey, and salt into a large bowl. Melissa walked over and added the drained corn kernels and the boiling water, and then Isobel stirred.

  Melissa beat the whites of two eggs, and then folded them though the mixture. Soon the two were spooning the mixture into a griddle.

  Less than ten minutes later, the girls were back by the fire, eating corncakes laced with maple syrup and topped with marshmallows. Isobel felt safe by the comforting fire. How lovely it would be to be married to Peter, sitting by the fire in their own haus, and raising bopplis. Her face flushed and her ears burned at the thought.

  Yet something was standing in their way: unforgiveness. The ministers often quoted First Peter, chapter four, and verse eight: "Love covers a multitude of sins." Could love help Peter to forgive?

  Psalm 37: 3 - 7.

  Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

  Chapter 16.

  Isobel was nervous. When Peter had driven Blessing back in Victor's open topped buggy, her mudder had invited him to stay for dinner. He had agreed, and Peter was right now speaking to her parents in the living room, while she was checking on the Six Layer Dinner.

  Isobel paced up and down the kitchen. Peter and her parents were getting on well together. They were all speaking in Pennsylvania Dutch rather than in Englisch. It was as if Peter was already back with the Amish. But he was not, and that was the issue.

  Isobel could not allow herself to let her feelings run away with her. She was heading for heartbreak, of that she was certain. Sure, Victor had returned to the Amish, but what were the chances that Peter would?

  Isobel wrung her hands together, and sent up a silent prayer. "Gott, please help Peter overcome the unforgiveness and bitterness in his heart."

  "Isobel, why are you taking so long?" Her mudder's voice startled her.

  "Sorry, Mamm, just checking on the Six Layer Dinner."

  Her mother frowned at her. "Is it ready?"

  Isobel nodded. "Jah."

  Soon the four of them were seated at the kitchen table, and, after the silent prayer, were all tucking into the layers of beef, potatoes, tomatoes, green pepper, onion, and celery of the delicious Six Layer Dinner.

  "I saw Jakob at Samuel Beiler's Coach Shop today," her vadder said out of the blue. "He was getting new fiberglass wheels fitted to his buggy."

  Why on earth would her vadder mention Jakob now, and especially with Peter present? Isobel was mortified. She sank down lower in her chair.

  "How is Samuel?" Mrs. Slabaugh asked her husband. "He looked quite pale and ill at the last church meeting."

  Mr. Slabaugh shrugged. "Now that you mention it, he didn’t look his usual self. Anyway, back to Jakob."

  Isobel groaned inwardly. Whatever would her vadder say next? To make matters worse, Peter made no secret of the fact that he was keenly interested in the conversation. He had stopped eating and had put down his fork.

  "Jakob was not very friendly to me," her vadder continued. "I expect he's still taking it hard that you two are no longer courting."

  "You're not?" Peter blushed as everyone turned to look at him.

  "Nee," Isobel said, looking down at her fork in her embarrassment. "I broke it off with him at the funeral meal."

  Peter appeared to be trying to hide a smile, and was not doing so successfully at all.

  "And just as well," Mrs. Slabaugh snapped. "I did not approve."

  Isabel's forehead creased into a deep frown. "You didn’t? But you didn’t say anything, Mamm." Things were going from bad to worse. Her parents were discussing personal matters in front of Peter. This was strange, but even stranger was the fact that they appeared to approve of Peter, who was still an Englischer. Isabel shook her head to try to clear the thoughts that were all tumbling into her head, one after the other.

  At any rate, her parents must have thought they
had said enough, for there was silence for the moment. Isobel hoped nothing further would be said to embarrass her, but only minutes later, her vadder turned to Peter.

  "So, Peter, do you intend to stay as an Englischer for the rest of your earthly life?"

  Isobel gasped, and so did her mudder. "Jonas!" her mudder exclaimed.

  Peter winced, and shifted in his chair. "Nee, that's all right," he said to Mrs. Slabaugh. Turning to Mr. Slabaugh, he said, "I have been talking to the bishop for some months now."

  No one spoke. It was clear to Isobel that Peter was avoiding the question, and she hoped that her vadder would not push him on it.

  "Gut, gut," Mrs. Slabaugh said, clearly as an attempt to cover up what she obviously considered to be her husband's rudeness.

  "And what did the bishop say?" Mr. Slabaugh finally asked.

  Isobel saw the glare that her mudder directed at her vadder, but her vadder seemed intent upon getting an answer.

  Peter scratched his head and then let out a long sigh of resignation. "The bishop says I have to forgive. I have been working on forgiveness, but it isn’t coming easily."

  "Is that all that's standing in your way, then, son?" Mr. Slabaugh said.

  Mrs. Slabaugh simply shook her head and went back to eating her food, while Peter squirmed in his seat.

  "Matthew chapter six, verse fifteen," her vadder said. "'But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.'"

  "Scripture smart!" Mrs. Slabaugh hissed her disapproval.

  Unperturbed, Mr. Slabaugh pressed on. "And Mark chapter eleven and verse twenty five says, 'And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.' But of course, you know all that."

  Peter sighed long and loud. "Jah, I do know all that. I was brought up knowing that, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I would have to accept suffering as He accepted suffering. The bishop has lately helped me to understand that my own troubles are insignificant when I picture Jesus on the cross."

  Mr. Slabaugh nodded.

  "And now I do believe that I have forgiven the young mann who killed my bruder," Peter continued, "but as for returning to the Amish, have I gone too far? I am a police officer; I carry a gun. That is against everything we believe in. I could give that up in an instant, but have I gone too far away from the community to be able to return?"

  Mr. Slabaugh shook his head. "'Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,'" he quoted. "‘All we like sheep have gone astray; none is righteous, no, not one.’" It was Mr. Slabaugh's turn to shift in his seat, as, judging by her stern face and the clearing of her throat, Mrs. Slabaugh was clearly not pleased that he was being Scripture Smart by quoting so many Scriptures. Doing so was considered prideful.

  "No one has ever gone too far from Gott," Mr. Slabaugh continued, "as I am sure the bishop has told you."

  Peter nodded. "I know all that in theory," he said, "but it’s hard to take it all in."

  "Just trust in Gott," her vadder said. "Do not make it too complicated."

  Isobel was a little embarrassed, sitting there and listening to the meaningful conversation between Peter and her vadder. When everyone had finished their Six Layer Dinner, she cleared the plates, refusing her mudder's offer of help.

  In the kitchen, Isobel took the tapioca pudding from the gas refrigerator and added butter and marshmallows to the top, and then reached back into the refrigerator for the Molasses Oatmeal Pie in shortcut pie crust.

  Isobel reached into her pocket for the cell phone, which she had gotten into the habit of doing, as it made her think of Peter. With a gasp she realized it wasn't there. When had she last had it? Isobel thought for a moment. She remembered having it in the barn. After Peter had brought Blessing back, she had put him in his stall and fed him. She remembered having it then. It must have dropped out of her pocket. Nee, she remembered leaving it out near Blessing's stall when she threw him some hay. What if it had fallen into his stall and he'd stomped on it and broken it?

  Isobel looked out the kitchen window. She would not need a lamp, as the moon was full and bright, and there were no clouds in the sky. Without a second's thought for her own safety, Isobel rushed out the back door and headed for the barn.

  Romans 3: 21 - 24.

  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

  Chapter 17.

  As Isobel walked nervously to the barn, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Wave after wave of uneasy sensations washed over her. Her breath came in jagged gasps. Suddenly, she had the eerie sensation that she was being watched. Isobel clutched at her throat and wondered whether she should run back to the haus. Nee, surely she was only being silly; she was letting her imagination run away with her. It had been silly of her to leave the security of the haus, but she had made it this far, so might as well go on. Just a few more steps, and she would have the cell phone, which hopefully was still in one piece.

  Isobel reached the barn and turned on the gas lamp just inside the door, and then everything happened in a blur.

  She felt a bee buzz past her head and wondered why a bee would be out on such a cold night. At the same time, she heard a man scream.

  Isobel gingerly edged forward. Blessing was out of his stall. That was no surprise, as Blessing was known to open gates, but what was a surprise, was that he was sitting on a mann.

  Isobel's first thought was that Blessing was hurt. "Blessing!" she called as she ran to him, but then she tripped. Looking down, she saw that she had tripped over a gun, and the realization slowly dawned on her that the man had shot at her. It had been a bullet, not a bee. Still, there was no time to worry about that, as she was concerned for Blessing. She ventured closer to see if Blessing was all right, but he appeared to be not only unhurt, but pleased with himself, as he sat on the mann who looked remarkably like the photo of Clifton Raines.

  "Isobel!" The voice was Peter's, and was full of blind panic.

  "I'm okay; I'm in here," she called.

  Peter and her vadder appeared at the door to the barn, followed soon after by her mudder, who was breathless.

  "He shot at me," she said, "but Blessing knocked him down and he's sitting on him."

  Peter put one arm around her shoulder and pulled her so tightly to him that she could scarcely breathe, but then he released her and bent down to pick up the gun.

  "Did you hear the gunshot?" she asked him.

  He shook his head. "Nee, it has a silencer on it. We came because you called. I saw your caller I.D. and was worried when you didn't speak."

  Isobel was puzzled. "Called?"

  "Jah, you called Peter's cell phone," her vadder said.

  "Nee, I didn’t," Isobel said. "I remembered I’d left the cell phone near Blessing's stall earlier tonight so I came to fetch it."

  "Isobel, you shouldn't have done something so irresponsible as coming out here," Peter said. "Jonas, where is some rope?" Soon the two men had Blessing off Raines and were tying up the man. Peter also tied a strip of cloth across Raines' mouth, as he was saying some mighty unpleasant things.

  Isobel checked Blessing, but he appeared to be fine. Peter called for backup, and then apologized to Isobel. "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. I just couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you."

  Isobel noticed that her mother smiled and looked away. "I didn’t call you," she said as an afterthought. "That is strange."

  Peter laughed. "There's your answer." He pointed to Blessing, who had the cell phone in his mouth. There was a loud crunch, and it broke in two. Isobel
hurried into the stall to retrieve it.

  "I'm so sorry, Peter," she said, as she handed him the remaining pieces of the phone. "Blessing does like to put things in his mouth."

  Peter laughed. "Don't worry; we won’t be needing that phone any more. I’d say Blessing must have picked it up before, and somehow accidentally called me. I was the only number in your phone."

  "Jah, I suppose that must be it." Isobel could think of no other explanation.

  "The three of you go to the haus now, and I’ll wait here with Raines for the uniformed officers, and then I’ll call at the haus before I leave."

  The three of them did as they were told. Isabel was happy to be back in the warmth of the haus, but she and her parents were shaken. Why, she had been shot at, and she could have been killed. She was pleased that her parents did not scold her for going out to the barn. She could not believe she had been so thoughtless as to do such a thing - it was such a silly thing to do under the circumstances.

  It seemed to take forever for Peter to return to the haus. Isobel was sitting by the fire, sipping on hot cocoa.

  No sooner was Peter through the door, than Mrs. Slabaugh asked a question. "Now that you have the mann out there, does it mean that Isobel's safe now?"

  "I have a bit of a plan," Peter said, not directly answering the question. "We will tell Raines' lawyer that some harm has come to Isobel, and say we can't find Raines. The lawyer and Raines have no doubt already cooked up another fake alibi for Raines. This way we'll have the lawyer, too. Once we have them both arrested, you will be perfectly safe, Isobel."

  Isobel was relieved, but part of her wondered if she would ever see Peter again. Overwhelming sadness suddenly struck her.

  Peter was still speaking. "I'll call back here tomorrow" - at that, Isobel's heart sang - "and update you on what's happened. Meanwhile, I don't want the three of you to speak to anyone, anyone at all. Don't even answer the door, no matter who it is. We have to keep this quiet for the moment. Don't worry; it should be all over soon, possibly by midday."