He approached the house and had his hand on the back doorknob when he heard voices coming from a broken basement window off to the side below him. “I stashed the weed here. Nobody’s gonna check an old wreck like this place. How much do you want?”
“How much do you have?”
“Enough. If you want stronger drugs, I can get that too. I borrowed some from the pharmacy last night. The place was easy pickings. Their security system didn’t even have power.”
Joshua’s skin crawled when he realized what was going on. He took a step back and his heel crunched a piece of broken glass.
“What was that? Check it out.” The voice became a harsh whisper.
Joshua walked away quickly and hurried out to the street. At the corner, he saw Nick in his patrol car. Joshua hesitated. Should he tell Nick what was going on? Would Nick assume he was involved?
It would be better to say nothing. It wasn’t Amish business. It had nothing to do with him. He hurried on toward the church. A few minutes later, he heard the sound of a siren behind him, but he didn’t look back. He kept his head down and walked faster. He only slowed when Nick shot past him without stopping. Joshua blew out a long breath and waited for his racing heart to return to a normal pace.
It took him and his coworkers three hours to finish the new entryway for the church. Pastor Finzer came out of the rectory to view the finished project. There were tears in his eyes.
“Gentlemen, I can’t thank you enough for your work here. It’s wonderful to see the house of the Lord ready to welcome worshipers again. A little paint and elbow grease by yours truly and I don’t think people will know the difference between the old and the new parts of the structure. It’s beautiful.”
He shook everyone’s hand. “Please let me buy you lunch at the Shoofly Pie Café. It’s the best Amish cooking for miles around.”
Knowing that Mary was working at the inn that day, Joshua agreed and walked along with a group as they headed that way. Passing the section of woods where he had seen the men, Joshua slowed to see if Nick had gone that way. There was no sign of him.
The pastor noticed Joshua’s interest. “That place belonged to the family that founded this town. It’s a shame it was allowed to fall into ruin.”
“I saw two men go in there earlier.”
“Teenagers, perhaps. They’ve been known to hold parties there. I’ll check it out.”
The thought of the gangly young pastor stumbling into a dangerous situation forced Joshua to reconsider keeping silent. He stopped walking. “They weren’t teenagers. I got the impression they didn’t want to be seen.”
Pastor Finzer stopped, too. Concern creased his brow. “Are you sure?”
“I heard there has been some looting around town.”
“Sadly, that’s true. Perhaps I should mention this to the authorities.”
“You must do what you think is best. The fellow staying with Gina Davis said there is a tip line folks can call.”
“That’s right. I almost forgot. Go on to the café. I’ll catch up with you.” The minister walked rapidly back toward the church and Joshua breathed a sigh of relief.
At the inn, he checked at the front desk and learned Mary was running an errand. She wasn’t expected back for half an hour. He found a seat at the café counter, ordered lunch and waited for Pastor Finzer to join him.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Step outside right now,” Nick growled.
Chapter Eleven
Joshua wanted to knock Nick’s arm aside, but resisting would gain him nothing. He should have told Mary about his record when he had the chance. It would’ve been better coming from him than from her father. Now it was too late.
“I said, come outside.”
Joshua turned on the bar stool. “Say what you need to say here. I am not ashamed.”
“Outside!” Nick walked out of the building. Joshua followed slowly. He didn’t have a choice. At least he wasn’t being hauled away in handcuffs.
The sheriff didn’t stop walking until he was half a block up the street. Then he turned on Joshua. “I knew there was something about you the minute I laid eyes on you. If I hadn’t been so busy with this mess, I would have run a background check on you sooner. Not many Amish men turn up in my database. Imagine my surprise when Joshua Bowman was at the top of the list when I checked this morning.”
Joshua pressed his lips shut. Nick didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.
Nick glared, but drew a deep breath. “Have you told her?”
“I thought I would leave that to you.”
“Don’t get smart with me. Have you told Mary that you’re a convict?”
“That I was wrongly imprisoned? Nee.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“I was going to tell her. Not that I expect you to believe me.”
“You were picked up for dealing drugs. What do you know about a burglary last night at the pharmacy?”
Joshua folded his arms and glared. “If I know something, I must be involved. If I’m involved, that means I violated my parole, and I’m on my way back to prison, which is exactly what you want, isn’t it?”
“Where did you get that chip on your shoulder?”
“Your justice system gave it to me.”
Nick reined in his temper with visible difficulty. “I skimmed through your case file.”
“Then you know everything. I won’t waste my breath explaining.”
Folding his arms over his chest, Nick relaxed slightly. “It left me with some unanswered questions. I would’ve handled the investigation differently.”
“My story would’ve been the same no matter who asked. I didn’t do the things they accused me of doing.”
“Just like that, I’m supposed to believe you? You had a dozen chances to tell me you are out on parole. Why didn’t you?”
“Because I knew exactly how you would react. Like this. Besides, I didn’t see what difference it made. I came to look over some property for my father. I didn’t choose to be trapped with Mary, but I started liking her. And this community. After I saw the extent of the damage here, I wanted to help these people rebuild.”
“I think you’re done helping. Hope Springs can get along fine without you.”
“Don’t you mean Mary will get along fine without me?”
“You’re a smart fellow. That’s exactly what I mean. Mary has had enough trouble in her life. She doesn’t need to get involved with you.”
“I happen to care for Mary a lot. If she were your Englisch daughter, I would say that you are right. But Mary is Amish. She knows that forgiveness comes first. She knows a thing that is forgiven must also be forgotten.”
“You don’t know anything about Mary.”
Joshua reined in his own rising temper. “I know her better than you think. I also know you want to protect her.”
“That’s right. That’s why you are leaving. I have a car waiting that will take you to Ada’s place so you can pick up your stuff, and then my deputy will take you home. I’m also going to let your parole officer know that you were here without his knowledge. He’s not going to like that, and he’s going to keep a closer eye on you from now on.”
Joshua strove to put his bitterness aside. He didn’t want this animosity between himself and Mary’s father. Not if there might be a future with her. He hung his head, trying to be humbled before God and this man. “When my sentence is finished, may I come back?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
Joshua looked up. “Because you don’t want the criminal element in your town? Or because you don’t want Mary seeing some guy you don’t like? It’s her choice. The Amish understand that. They don’t interfere in the courtship of their children.”
“Someday when you have a daught
er, remember this conversation.” He pointed up the block where an unmarked white car was waiting. “There’s your ride. Get going.”
* * *
Mary learned that Joshua had been looking for her when she returned from her errand. She checked in the café, but he wasn’t there. She combed the area she thought he might be working in several times without seeing him. When she spotted Delbert cutting lumber at the back of the grocery store across the street, she approached him and waited until he finished the cut and the saw fell silent. “Delbert, have you seen Joshua? He was looking for me a while ago and now I can’t find him.”
“I saw him talking to the sheriff. They went that way.” He pointed up the block.
“Danki.”
She walked in that direction and saw Nick at the drugstore on the next corner. He was standing with his deputy, who was busy writing a report. The store owner was gesturing wildly. There was no sign of Joshua. She walked up to Nick. “I’m sorry to bother you, but have you seen Joshua?”
“He’s gone home,” Nick said without looking at her.
“Back to the farm?”
“Back to Bowmans Crossing.”
“I thought he wasn’t leaving until Wednesday.”
“Something came up and he caught an early lift.”
“What came up?” She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that he was gone.
Nick looked at her then. “You knew he was going to leave sooner or later.”
Sooner or later, yes, but not without saying goodbye. Mary turned away to hide her distress. What a foolish woman she was to think she meant something special to him. “You’re right. I knew he was leaving. I just didn’t want him to go.”
Tears stung her eyes as she walked away from Nick. When she turned the corner and there was no one to see, she broke down and sobbed.
* * *
Joshua received a heartfelt hug from his mother when he arrived home. No one had expected him until Thursday. His father and brothers were all out working in the fields. He looked forward to doing the same. To getting back to a simple life with plenty of hard work and little time to mourn the loss of Mary’s company.
His mother gestured toward the table. “Sit down. I’ve just made some brownies. We have been reading about the damage at Hope Springs in the newspapers. It must be terrible.”
“It is. The community is making progress, but a third of the homes were destroyed. Electricity has been restored to many of the English businesses and homes that are left, but some of them are still living Amish.”
That made her chuckle. “It’s good to have you home. Will the town recover?”
“The people are determined. There’s still a lot of cleanup that needs to be done. Mary thinks it will take years for the place to look normal again. I think she’s right.”
“Mary is the woman you wrote about? The one you were trapped in the cellar with?”
“She’s the one.” He tried to remember exactly what he’d said about her. Probably too much. She occupied a central place in his mind.
His mother got down a plate and began cutting her brownies. “Is she pretty, this girl you couldn’t leave behind?”
“Not as pretty as you, and I did leave her behind.” He bitterly regretted that he hadn’t been allowed to tell Mary goodbye. Would she think he didn’t care enough to find her, or would Nick tell her the truth? Was she grieving or was she relieved to have Joshua Bowman out of her house and her life? Would he ever know?
His mother put a plate in front of him. “What will you do now?”
“I want to go back to Hope Springs. There is still so much work that needs doing.” And Mary was there. Mary and Hannah, the two people who had come to mean the world to him.
His mother took a seat across from him. “Your father and I have been talking about that.”
“You have?”
“Our bishop made a plea for supplies and money to aid the Amish folks there. You know they will share the financial burdens among themselves, but the expenses will be high and some families will suffer because of it. We must help if we can. Your brothers have agreed. I wish I could go along, but your father and your brothers could not do without me. I would like to meet your Mary.”
“She’s not my Mary and there is something I haven’t told you about her.”
“So serious. What is it?”
“She is adopted. Her parents are Englisch.”
“That is not a terrible thing, although it is unusual.”
“The woman that adopted her is married to Sheriff Nick Bradley.”
Sitting back, his mother stared at him with wide eyes. “Perhaps we should not mention this to your father just yet.”
“As much as I want to go back, it isn’t up to me. I’ll need to convince Officer Merlin it isn’t a risk to let me go there. I don’t think he’ll agree. Nick Bradley doesn’t want me seeing Mary.”
“Is she a good Amish woman?”
“She reminds me a lot of you.”
“I could be a better Christian.”
“Mary isn’t perfect, but she has an Amish heart. She is a good mother. She cares for her elderly grandmother with tenderness. She is sometimes outspoken, but she repents when she steps over the line. She would do anything for her friends and neighbors in need. Ja, she is a good Amish woman.”
Better than he deserved. Maybe he shouldn’t go back. Maybe this was God’s way of telling him that she was better off without him.
“Let us pray about this and wait to see what the Lord wills. Your father can be a very convincing man. I should know. He convinced me to marry him when I had three other perfectly good offers.”
Joshua laughed. “Mamm, were you a wild girl with a string of fellows?”
“I was. Until I wed. Eat your brownie and don’t fret. God has a plan for us all. We must have faith in that.”
* * *
“Why wasn’t I informed that you were away from home?”
Officer Oliver Merlin sat at the kitchen table in the Bowman home on Thursday morning as promised. He finished the last bite of a cinnamon roll and licked his lips. Joshua’s father and mother sat with him. Joshua was too nervous to sit in one place. He leaned against the spotless kitchen cabinets. He knew his brothers would be hovering nearby outside.
“My son was only doing what dozens of other young Amish people were doing. He was helping those in need. It was God’s will that he was in Hope Springs when this disaster struck. He was not involved in any crime.”
Officer Merlin dabbed his face with a napkin, then folded his hands together and leaned on his forearms. “I am not your son’s enemy, Mr. Bowman. Nor am I your enemy. I am required to keep detailed records of my parolees’ activities. My job is to see that Joshua can become a functioning member of society and stay out of trouble.”
“Would you like another cinnamon roll, Oliver?” Joshua’s mother pushed the plate in his direction.
“Don’t mind if I do. These are just about the best I’ve ever had.”
“Danki. You are too kind.”
Isaac frowned at his wife before he leaned forward, too. “You can put my son back in prison with a word.”
“My opinion can sway the court for him or against him, that’s true, but it’s his behavior that forms my opinion and that is what a judge will evaluate.”
“My son is already a good member of our Amish community. He adheres to our ways. He needs no judge but God.”
“I appreciate your religious convictions. I admire the Amish. I don’t want to be intrusive, but I don’t have the all-seeing eye of God. I need to observe Joshua at home as well as at work. I may show up at any time. I can even visit his friends to make sure they aren’t involved in criminal activities. Joshua is motivated to do well, but he has a chip on his shoulder where law enforcement is
concerned.”
“Can you blame me?”
Joshua moved to brace his arms on the edge of the table and glare at his parole officer. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I was there to convince my brother to come home. The police who arrested me wouldn’t listen. No one believed me. The prosecutor made it sound as if I had been making drugs for months. The woman who said I did this, under oath, did it to get her own sentence reduced. People acted like we were freaks. I saw the papers—Amish Brothers Arrested for Cooking Meth by School. Buggies Used to Smuggle Drugs to Rural Teenagers. I wasn’t with my brother until two days before I was arrested. Do I have a distrust of English law enforcement? Ja, I do.”
It wasn’t until his father laid a hand on his shoulder that Joshua realized he was shaking with anger. His father spoke quietly in Pennsylvania Dutch. “We forgive them. We forgive them all as our Lord forgave those who persecuted Him unto death.”
Joshua nodded, shamed by his outburst. “Forgive me.”
“I’m not here to retry your case, Joshua. Do innocent men go to jail? Yes, they do. Do guilty men go free? All the time. I’m here because I don’t want you to go back to prison. I want your family and your friends to understand that. They may think they are protecting you by clamming up when I ask questions, but they aren’t. If we can’t be honest and forthcoming with each other, this may not work. I don’t want that. I like it when my people stay out of trouble.”
Joshua’s mother placed her folded hands on the table. “What about Luke? Can he come home soon?”
“I can’t make that determination. I can report that he has a stable home environment waiting and his family will be supportive if I’m called on to testify.”
Joshua walked to the window. He stared outside without seeing his father’s farm. It was Mary’s face he envisioned. “Will I be allowed to return to Hope Springs and continue with the recovery efforts?”
Amish Redemption Page 14