Kappy King and the Puppy Kaper

by Amy Lillard

  Edie stopped. Kappy knew she spoke the truth. Jimmy needed the beauty and the simplicity of an Amish life as much as Edie needed to escape from it. “I don’t know. He’s pretty resilient.”

  “Would you listen to yourself?” Kappy took a bite of her sandwich and waited for Edie to come to her senses.

  Edie straightened her spine and braced her elbows on the table. “I don’t have to decide this now. I need to be worried about who killed Mamm. Everything else can be decided later.” Mind made up, she gave a quick nod. But it was far from settled and they both knew it.

  * * *

  “I’ve got an idea,” Kappy said just before bed.

  “About who killed Mamm?” Edie’s excitement withered as Kappy shook her head.

  “About the car.”

  “What car?”

  Kappy sighed. “Your car.”

  “What about it?”

  “We get one of the deputies outside right now to move it over to Jay Glick’s house. Then when we want to go somewhere we can just walk over there, get the car, and leave.”

  “We could park it at your house.”

  Kappy shook her head. “There are too many protesters between here and my house. But no one’s behind.”

  Edie seemed to mull it over. “What about Jay wanting to buy my land?”

  “If you’re going to move, you have to sell it to somebody.”

  Edie nodded in a That’s true sort of way.

  “And the chance of selling it to him will be what motivates him to let us park there.”

  “Motivates?” Edie asked.

  Kappy gave a small shrug. “I have a word-a-day calendar. It was on last week.”

  “Do you really think it will work?”

  “We’ll never know unless we try.”

  Edie checked the clock. It was almost nine. “You think he’s still awake?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  Edie slipped on her flip-flops and together they walked out the back door. There was still a deputy in the backyard, though if Kappy was remembering correctly, there had been a shift change since that afternoon.

  Edie let the screen door slam behind her, the motion coinciding with the deputy’s as he slapped the back of his neck. Obviously, the mosquitoes were already bothering him. Arms crossed, he leaned his rear against the front of his car, and even in the dusky light, she could tell he wished he was someplace else.

  He caught sight of them and straightened. “What are you doing out here?” he asked once they got close enough he could talk without yelling.

  “We want you to take my car and park it at Jay Glick’s house,” Edie said.

  The deputy frowned. Unlike the men in the front, he didn’t wear a traditional policeman’s uniform. He had on those battle pants that looked like he was in the army and a knit shirt that stretched across his ample middle. “Who’s Jay Glick?”

  “He’s the neighbor who lives right back there.”

  “I don’t have authorization to move your car.”

  “Really?” Edie batted her lashes at the man. “You seem like the kind of man who’s in charge. You aren’t in charge?”

  He blustered a bit. “I didn’t say that.”

  “I need a man who can make a decision,” Edie said.

  Kappy resisted the urge to take a step back. How the words managed to sound like a challenge and a proposition all at the same time was beyond her. Seemed like Edie had picked up a few things in the Englisch world.

  “Tell me what you want again,” he said.

  Edie took a step closer to the man. He straightened but didn’t retreat. Kappy wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.

  “I just want you to take my car—you know, the red one in the front—and move it to my neighbor’s house. That way when I need to leave and go get things—you know, like groceries and stuff—I won’t have to bother people as busy as you and Jack Jones.”

  He turned and indicated the house just on the other side of the field. “That neighbor?”

  Edie smiled. “That’s right. If you leave my car there for me, then tomorrow I can go visit my poor brother in jail.”

  Okay, now she was laying it on a bit thick. But it seemed she had the deputy hanging on her every word.

  “I don’t see why not,” he said. “I mean, we weren’t told to keep you in the house.”

  Edie nodded. “That’s right.”

  “And if I’m not supposed to keep you in the house, then it stands to reason that you’re free to leave.”

  “Right again.” She held the keys out to the man. One more bat of her eyelashes was all it took. He snatched the keys from her grasp and started around the front of the house.

  Edie raised one hand in the air. Her grin was a mile wide, her eyes expectant.

  “What?” Kappy asked.

  “High-five me.”

  Kappy just stared at her. That wasn’t on her word-a-day calendar.

  Edie grabbed Kappy’s hand and smacked it against her own. “High-five. It’s like saying good job.”

  “Oh,” Kappy said. “I got it.” She had seen Englischers in town do that but never quite understood what it meant. And having that moment with Edie . . . Well, it gave her a strange feeling of happiness and trepidation.

  They shared a quick smile.

  “Come on,” Edie said. “Let’s go talk to Jay and tell him about our plan.”

  Darkness had fallen by the time they made their way to the Glick house. Only the soft glow of the kerosene lamps burning inside gave them any direction.

  “At least we know he’s still awake,” Edie said, indicating the yellow lights.

  “Go knock on his door,” Kappy said.

  “You go knock on his door,” Edie countered.

  “It’s your car.”

  “It was your idea.”

  “So you could go see your brother.”

  Edie shook her head. “He’s not going to talk to me.”

  Kappy was about to point out that Jay seemed pretty willing to talk to her that afternoon when Edie planted one hand in the middle of her back and pushed her toward the door.

  “Just go,” Edie urged. “He likes you better than me.”

  Kappy stumbled, caught herself, then made her way up the porch steps. She could protest and say that no one felt Jay Glick liked them, but she figured Edie was right. If he didn’t refuse to talk to Edie because of the Bann, he would certainly refuse based on the fact that she had shut the door in his face that afternoon.

  She took a fortifying breath and raised her hand to knock.

  The door was wrenched open under her knuckles. She took a step back.

  “What are you doing on my porch at this time of night?” Jay Glick trapped her with his hard stare.

  “Um, well, I . . . See, I was hoping that you would let me park Edie’s car in your driveway. What with all the protesters, we can’t get out to visit Jimmy in jail.”

  “You driving an Englisch car, girl?”

  “No. See, I mean, Edie would drive the car and park here. I would just ride with her to keep her company. You know.”

  Jay continued to stare at her. Then he swung his gaze past her to the yard where Edie waited. Kappy turned just as Edie waggled her fingers in a semblance of a wave.

  “Bah,” he said.

  But he didn’t have time for any more as the deputy pulled Edie’s car into the driveway.

  “Don’t you think it would’ve been a good idea to ask me first?”

  Kappy gave him the sweetest smile she could muster. “Actually, I was banking on you being a good neighbor and sharing the land.”

  Land. That seemed to be the magic word. Once she said it, Jay’s demeanor shifted.

  “Well, okay then. I guess it’ll be okay if you parked here for a couple of days. How long are you planning on having those protesters?”

  “I would be more than happy if they left tomorrow,” Kappy said. “But Detective Jones says as long as they aren’t causing any problem
s, they have the right to protest.”

  Jay gave a sympathetic nod.

  “Jay? Who’s out there?”

  He turned as Anna Mae bustled up behind him. “Kappy King and . . . the neighbor.”

  “Here we go again,” Edie scoffed.

  “Why, Kappy. You can’t stand out there all night. Come on in here.” Anna Mae waved her into the house. Kappy cast one look over her shoulder, caught between the neighbors’ hospitality and the friend she was leaving behind.

  “Don’t mind me.” Edie crossed her arms and frowned as Kappy was led inside.

  The interior of the Glick house was much like all the Amish houses in the valley. At least most of them. Kappy could say that her house was a mite different, but the same thing could be said about her. The same thing was said about her. But Jay and Anna Mae’s was filled with plain furniture, floors covered in dull linoleum, with dark green shades on the windows.

  “Would you like a piece of pie?” Anna Mae led her toward the kitchen table. Joshua and Jeremiah were already seated there eating a healthy portion of their own. They were the two youngest of the four Glick boys. One day Jeremiah would inherit the farm while Joshua worked odd jobs around the community to make a living.

  “I really can’t stay,” Kappy explained.

  “Nonsense.” Anna Mae bustled over to the cabinet and started pulling down dishes. “You have to try a piece of this pie. It’s a brand-new recipe.”

  Though Anna Mae made the best shoofly pie in the valley, the owner of the title of all-time best pie maker belonged to Alma Miller, the bishop’s wife. Yet that didn’t stop the friendly and the not-so-friendly competition that went on year-round.

  “I really should be getting back home.”

  “One little piece of pie won’t hurt,” Anna Mae insisted with a bright smile.

  “Leave the woman be, Annie,” Jay said.

  Her husband’s harsh words did not dim the twinkle in her eyes or take one ounce of rosy color from her plump cheeks. “I’ll just get you a piece to go, jah?”

  “That would be great, Anna Mae,” Kappy said. “I’d really appreciate that.”

  She hovered at the edge of the kitchen, completely uncomfortable with the situation. Up until a few days ago she hadn’t set foot in anyone else’s house in longer than she could remember. She’d only been invited into the homes of those who still held church in their houses instead of in their barn or bonus room. Now she seemed to be welcomed all over. The sensation was a little unnerving.

  “I did find one farm over near New Wilmington,” Joshua said. Obviously, he had picked up the conversation she had interrupted when she came in.

  “New Wilmington?” Anna Mae half turned, the shock on her face apparent. “That’s so far away.”

  “Jah. I know. But what choice do I have?”

  “Well, you can choose to wait and see if you can find anything closer.” Her piece said, Anna Mae turned back to dishing up pie.

  Joshua dropped his head, his disappointment clear. “How can I ask Susannah to marry me if I don’t have anyplace to live?”

  Kappy felt like she shouldn’t be hearing this conversation, but she was stuck there until Anna Mae made her to-go plate.

  “The Lord will provide,” Anna Mae said with more confidence than her shoulders indicated. “Here you are.” She turned around, holding out a foil-covered plate to Kappy.

  “Danki,” Kappy murmured. “And thank you for letting us leave Edie’s car here.”

  Anna Mae only smiled in response.

  “Has the daughter decided what she’s going to do with her farm?” Jay asked.

  “Not that I know of.” Kappy started for the door. “Sorry I have to leave so soon, but I really need to be getting back.” It was an outright lie, but she felt confident the Lord would forgive her. Just this once.

  “I’ll walk you out.” Anna Mae trailed behind her all the way to the door. “I put an extra piece of pie in there.” She lowered her voice to where only Kappy could hear. “You know, for the daughter.”

  “The daughter thanks you,” Kappy returned. What could she say, really? They wanted to buy the land that now rightfully belonged to Edie, but both of them were reluctant to even speak her name.

  Anna Mae beamed at her once more as Kappy thankfully slipped out the door.

  She wished she had thought to bring a flashlight. It was going to be slow going walking back to Ruth’s house in the dark. She was sure by now Edie had already made it home.

  “It’s about time.”

  Kappy’s heart nearly jumped out of her body. She pressed a hand to her chest as if to keep it in place. “Edie! You scared me! What are you doing out here?”

  “I wasn’t exactly invited in.”

  “I thought you would have gone home already.”

  “I couldn’t very well leave you here.” Edie stood from her perch on the porch steps and dusted off the seat of her lime-green shorts.

  She could have. But for some reason Kappy was glad that she hadn’t. Walking back to the house in the dark would be much more tolerable with a little company.

  “So did they say anything?” Edie asked as she fell into step with Kappy. She pressed her thumb to her cellphone and a bright light came from it.

  “Did your phone turn into a flashlight?”

  “Nah. Flashlight app.”

  Whatever that meant.

  “So what did they say?” They started across the fields between the houses.

  “Jay asked about the land, and Anna Mae gave us some pie.”

  “Us?”

  “Jah. She cut you a slice as well.”

  “I guess they want the land pretty bad, huh?”

  Kappy scoffed. “Be serious. They’re just being neighborly.”

  “I don’t know,” Edie said. “A Bann is no light matter.”

  “Jah? Well, neither is Anna Mae’s pie.”

  Edie laughed. “Is she still trying to win the pie competition?”

  “Every year. Her and Frannie Lehman, but Alma Miller is still the champion.”

  They walked in silence for a few moments. Kappy was lost in thoughts about how change was slow to come to Blue Sky. She wondered if Edie thought the same thing.

  “Do you really think Jay saw a man in green running across the fields?” Edie finally asked.

  “It was blue. He said he saw a man wearing blue. Nathaniel saw a man wearing green.”

  “Whatever color he was wearing,” Edie said, “do you think he really saw someone?”

  “Why would he lie?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, if he saw someone running through the fields, they would have been running away from Ruth’s house and toward the Glicks’.”

  “Right,” Kappy said slowly, the ideas continuing to form. “They could have stopped at his house.”

  “Maybe hid out in the barn.”

  “Then it would stand to reason that he knew the man. Maybe he’s even covering for him.”

  “That’s entirely possible,” Edie said. They arrived back at the house. Edie gave a small wave to the deputy stationed out back.

  “I guess because he’s still here, that means the protesters are, too.”

  “Probably.”

  “I wonder how long before they get bored and give up.”

  “I don’t know,” Edie said as they let themselves in the back door. “But I hope it comes sooner instead of later.”

  Chapter 14

  Apparently, Jack had gotten Kappy permanently added to the list of visitors who could come in and see Jimmy. Heather waved them both back and buzzed one of the deputy guards to inform him they were there.

  Now they sat in the same room as they had before, no closer to getting Jimmy out of jail than they had been when they started.

  “Jimmy,” Edie began, “did you have any time to think about the name of Mamm’s special visitor?”

  “I thought about it all night.” He looked as if he’d been up for days. Dark circles underlined his bloodshot eyes. His
mouth turned down at the corners, an expression that was unusual for the happy-go-lucky Jimmy.

  Edie wore a pinched look as well. This whole ordeal was taking its toll.

  “What about before that day?” Kappy asked.

  Edie swung her attention to Kappy and pinned her with a sharp gaze. The question wasn’t on their list of things they had agreed to ask Jimmy, but the idea had just occurred to her.

  “Did she have any visitors before that day? Visitors she called important?”

  “I don’t remember.” A whine had crept into his voice. He was getting frustrated, that much was obvious.

  But Edie pressed on. “What about somebody she argued with?”

  Jimmy shook his head, his eyes closed. Then he stopped mid-shake. “There was Johnny.” He opened his eyes and peered at them, first Kappy and then his sister.

  “Who’s Johnny?” Edie asked.

  Jimmy shrugged. “Just Johnny.”

  “And she argued with him?” Edie asked.

  Kappy sat back in her seat. She folded her arms and resisted the urge to jump in the questioning. She didn’t want Jimmy to feel overwhelmed.

  “All the time.”

  “Okay, Jimmy. Now listen. This is important. What did they argue about?”

  Jimmy’s soft gray gaze turned serious. “All sorts of things. But mostly the land and the puppies.”

  Edie glanced back at Kappy, then she faced front. “What about the puppies?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t like arguing. When they started that, I would climb into the hayloft and cover my ears.”

  “Did they argue often?” Edie asked.

  “They argued enough,” Jimmy replied.

  “What’s enough?” his sister asked.

  “Enough that I don’t like him coming around anymore.” Jimmy crossed his arms and stuck out his lower lip as if to emphasize his words.

  “Did he come around much?”

  “Enough,” was all Jimmy said.

  Kappy and Edie exchanged another look. “Did they argue every time?”

  Jimmy didn’t have time to answer. The short female deputy from the previous day opened the door before he could respond. “Time’s up.”

  Jimmy’s expression fell. “You have to go?”

  “But I’ll come back. You’ll be okay until then?” Edie asked as Kappy stood.