The Mockingbird's Song

by Wanda E. Brunstetter, Kristin Billerbeck, Kristy Dykes, Aisha Ford, Birdie L. Etchison, Pamela Griffin, Joyce Livingston, Tamela Hancock Murray

  “Her name is Maude, and she lives down the road from us in a rundown shanty.”

  “That’s sad.” He slowed his horse before the turn. “Well, we’re here. Glad we made it back before it got dark or decided to rain.”

  Dennis guided Midnight up the driveway. “What’s that on the greenhouse?” He pointed. “It wasn’t there when we left for the picnic.”

  As they approached the building, on the way up to the house, Sylvia’s thoughts became fuzzy, and her ears began to ring. Every visible window on the side of the building had been splattered with black paint.

  Oh my! Who could have done this, and why? Was it the same person who did all the other acts of vandalism?

  Sylvia stood with Dennis, Jared, and her family, staring at the black-painted windows. This was yet another unnecessary act for her and the rest of them to deal with. It seemed as though they were being targeted, and it was getting old. It bothered Sylvia that Mom had refused to notify the sheriff, but she understood why her mother didn’t want Ezekiel to know.

  This kind of thing gets me upset and makes it hard to trust the Lord, she thought. “Why did such a beautiful day have to be ruined like this?” Sylvia drew in a few raspy breaths as she looked at her mother.

  Mom shook her head slowly. “This is our family’s business—the way we make our living. I can’t understand how or why anyone could be so mean.”

  “Unfortunately there are some not-so-nice people who like to do destructive things.” Jared frowned. “I hope you’re going to call the sheriff’s office.”

  “No, we’re not.” Mom spoke in a low-pitched voice.

  “Why not?” Dennis asked. “Don’t you want the person who did this to be punished?”

  “First of all, we don’t know who did it.” Mom looked at each of them with a serious expression. “We need to pray harder for God’s protection and that the person who did this will fall under conviction.”

  “I bet it was Seth,” Henry spoke up.

  “Why would you think it was Seth?” Amy questioned. “He’s supposed to be your friend. Right, Henry?”

  “Jah, but Seth invited me to go someplace with him this afternoon, and I turned him down ’cause I was goin’ on the picnic with all of you.” Henry’s eyes narrowed as he folded his arms across his chest. “And a lot of good that did me. Spent most of the day lookin’ for birds by myself.” He glanced briefly at Sylvia, then back at the painted windows.

  Sylvia’s chin dipped slightly. Although she had enjoyed her time alone with Dennis, it was rude of them not to include Henry—especially since he enjoyed birding so much. I sure wasn’t thinking, and my brother has good reason to be upset.

  Mom gestured to one of the windows. “I don’t think Seth would do something like this just because you had other plans today.”

  “He might though.” Henry frowned. “He was pretty miffed when I said I couldn’t go with him.”

  “Where did he want you to go?” The question came from Jared.

  Henry shrugged. “Don’t know for sure. Just hang around with him and some of his friends, I guess.”

  “I’m afraid Seth’s friends are not good company, Son.” Mom put her hand on Henry’s shoulder. “There’s no telling where they would go or what they might do. You were better off with your family today.”

  “I suppose.”

  “If this is the sort of thing Seth and his friends deem as fun, then I’m relieved you were not hanging around them today.” Mom’s gaze remained fixed on Henry. “Have they done something like this before, or said anything to you about doing this sort of thing to anyone else?”

  “No. I haven’t heard anything.” He shook his head forcefully. “I’m just suspecting them, is all, but I aim to ask Seth about it. If he and his friends had anything to do with painting the windows black, I’m gonna tell their parents.” Henry’s shoulders slumped. “Just makes me sick to think that my friend might have been involved in this.”

  Sylvia figured Henry felt betrayed by her for ignoring him at the pond, and also by his friend who was possibly responsible for blackening their windows. My poor brother.

  When Sylvia heard Rachel fussing from the buggy, she realized the children were probably both awake. Since Jared’s horse was secured well to the rail, Sylvia had thought it best to let them sleep while she and the others went to take a closer look at the greenhouse windows.

  “Rachel’s awake, and Allen probably is too.” She looked at Dennis, who stood close to her side. “I’d better get those two out and take them up to the house.” Sylvia glanced at the ugly windows again and frowned. I hope what Mom is doing by not involving the sheriff isn’t a mistake. I wonder how Dad would have handled this and all the other vandalism that’s taken place.

  “I’ll go with you,” Dennis was quick to say. “I’ll carry one of your kinner, and you can carry the other.”

  “Danki.” Sylvia followed Dennis to the buggy. She appreciated his thoughtfulness so much. Once again, she couldn’t help thinking about Toby and how Dennis reminded her of him in many ways.

  “Let’s take a walk around the rest of the greenhouse,” Jared suggested, “Maybe not all the windows were painted.”

  “Good idea.” Belinda led the way. To her relief, only the one side of the greenhouse windows had been painted black. All the others looked clear.

  “Whew! That’s a blessing.” She reached out to Amy and clasped her arm. “This means we won’t have quite so much work to do in the morning.”

  “You won’t have to do it alone either,” Jared said. “I’ll be over bright and early to begin scraping.”

  “It’s very much appreciated. Hopefully we can get the job done before any customers show up.” Belinda’s brows furrowed. “The last thing we need is for people to spread the word about the vandalism that’s gone on here from time to time. If too many people know, Ezekiel’s bound to find out. He still has some friends in this area, you know.”

  “Don’t you think he has the right to know?” Henry grunted and folded his arms.

  This was not the first time one of Belinda’s children had asked this question.

  She shook her head forcefully. “We’ve had this discussion before, Son, and my answer is always the same. If your brother knew what was happening here, he’d pack up and move back to Strasburg, no matter how much he’d be giving up by leaving his home there.”

  “I realize that, Mom.”

  Amy released a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe anyone would do something like this in broad daylight.”

  “Maybe we should check with your closest neighbor and ask if they saw anything going on here while we were gone,” Jared suggested. “Amy and I can go over there right now.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Henry said. “While you’re doin’ that, I’m gonna go check in the barn and the rest of our place to make sure nothing else is wrong.”

  I hope nothing else is amiss around here. We’ll have our hands full enough trying to remove all that black paint. Belinda closed her eyes. Please keep us from harm, Lord, and also, I pray that this would stop and the person responsible for the vandalism would fall under conviction.

  Amy remained close to Jared as they stood on her neighbor’s front porch, waiting for someone to answer the door. She was glad he’d come with her, because something about Virginia made her feel uncomfortable. Although the woman had never said anything unkind to Amy, she always seemed a bit curt as if she couldn’t wait to get away from her. Amy had a feeling the neighbor lady didn’t much care for her and probably not the rest of the family either.

  She held her breath a few seconds and released it slowly. Maybe this is a mistake, coming over here. Virginia may not want to talk to us.

  After Jared’s second knock, the front door opened, and Earl greeted them with a smile. “Well hello there, Jared. It’s nice to see you.” He glanced at Amy. “What brings you two by here this evening?”

  Amy spoke first and quickly explained about the painted windows.

 
; “We were wondering if you or your wife saw anybody hanging around the greenhouse this afternoon,” Jared put in.

  Earl shook his head. “I saw no one, although Virginia may have.” He turned and called his wife’s name.

  A few seconds later, Virginia showed up. Her short red hair was in disarray—as though she’d just gotten out of bed. “What’s up?”

  “These people want to know if either of us saw anyone hanging around their greenhouse today.”

  Virginia pursed her lips. “From our house we can only see one side of the building.”

  “Did you see anyone in our yard at all?” Amy questioned.

  “Nope. I’ve seen nothing out of the ordinary while we’ve been home. Course we weren’t here all day. Earl and I went out for lunch this afternoon. When we got home, we took a nap—me in the bedroom and him in his easy chair while watching TV.” Virginia picked at her thumbnail. “We were up late the night before, and so I ended up sleeping nearly two hours during my nap.” She hesitated a moment. “I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if that scruffy old woman—oh yeah, Maude—may have been hanging around your place. As I mentioned previously, I’ve seen her there before.”

  “Yes, I remember you saying that.”

  “Maude seems suspicious to me—the way she wanders up and down the road, like she’s lookin’ for something—or maybe ready to snatch something that doesn’t belong to her.” Virginia’s bland expression changed to one of sympathy, and she spoke in a soothing tone. “Sure wish I could be of more help to you, and I hope you find out who’s been messing around your place.”

  Amy gave a brief nod. “Thanks for your time.” She and Jared said goodbye and stepped off the porch.

  Amy walked along, holding tightly to Jared’s hand. “Virginia seemed like a different person to me, especially toward the last of our conversation.”

  “What do you mean?” Jared asked.

  “Like I mentioned before, she’s usually not very talkative or friendly.”

  “People can change, right?”

  “I hope so.”

  After they crossed the street, Jared stopped walking and looked directly at Amy. “Someone needs to convince your mamm to call the sheriff.”

  “That’s a good thought, and I totally agree, but when my mother sets her mind on something, no one but my daed has ever been able to change it.”

  “Guess I’ll have to start coming by here more often to check on things.” Jared squeezed her fingers as they headed up the driveway. “It’ll give me another good reason to see you.”

  Amy smiled. “How glicklich I am to have found a man like you.”

  “And I am lucky to have you, mei lieb.”

  A ripple of joy shot through Amy’s soul whenever Jared referred to her as his love.

  Virginia ambled into the living room and flopped onto the couch. “I’m having a tough time, Earl.”

  He looked at her with a curious expression. “What do you mean?”

  “I need to speak kindly to those people, because if I’m nicer, they’ll be more apt to invite us to their wedding. On the other hand, I wish they’d stop coming over here and bothering me. I mean, why would they think we knew anything about the vandalism?”

  Earl looked at Virginia as if she’d lost her mind. “Because we live across the street.”

  A warm flush crept across Virginia’s face. “Please don’t look at me like that, Earl.”

  He took a seat in the recliner and picked up the remote. “Now can we stop talking? I’d like to watch one of my favorite TV shows.”

  “Sure, whatever!” Virginia got up and limped out of the room. She went out the back door and walked around the house, trying to imagine how it would look with more flowers. Even some hanging baskets on the porch would look nice.

  She came toward the front of the house and shuffled across the driveway. Looking toward the greenhouse, she could see only one side of the building. So at least what she’d told Amy and Jared was the truth.

  Virginia heard the blaring TV through the open living room window and cringed. “I’m sure Earl is napping in his recliner again, and he isn’t even watching whatever program he has on.”

  As raindrops began to fall, she reached down and rubbed her leg, which hadn’t hurt much earlier in the day. I wish Stella was still here. At least then I’d have someone to talk to. Doesn’t Earl even care how much I hate living here?

  Early the following morning, before breakfast had even been started, a knock sounded on the back door. Sylvia hurried to see who it was. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Dennis on the porch holding a scraper.

  “I came to help scrape paint off the windows. Has anyone started on it yet?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “We thought it would be best to eat breakfast first, which I’m about to start. Would you like to join us?”

  “No, that’s okay. I had a cup of coffee and a doughnut before I left the house, so I’ll head on out to the greenhouse and get busy. Once all the windows are cleaned off, I’ll need to get going. I got a call this morning from a man who needs his horse trained to pull a buggy, and he’ll be bringing the horse later this morning.” Dennis gave Sylvia a dimpled smile. “Am I still invited for supper on Wednesday?”

  “Of course. Are you sure there isn’t something special you’d like me to fix?”

  He shook his head. “Whatever you decide to cook is fine, and I look forward to seeing you.” Dennis tipped his straw hat and stepped off the porch. “See you soon, Sylvia.”

  She watched as he sprinted across the yard and disappeared around the corner of the house. What a thoughtful man.

  When Sylvia returned to the kitchen, Mom, Amy, and Henry were there.

  “Who was at the door?” Mom asked. “I heard someone knocking as I came down the hall.”

  “It was Dennis. He came to help scrape paint off the windows, and he’s headed out to the greenhouse now.”

  “That’s so kind of him.” Amy looked at their mother. “Don’t you think so?”

  Mom moved her head slowly up and down and turned to look at Sylvia. “Did you tell him we’d planned to eat breakfast before starting on the windows?”

  “I did, and I even invited him to join us, but he said he wanted to get started on them now. He has a horse to train today, so he’ll have to leave here as soon as the windows are done,” Sylvia replied.

  “We could have gotten by without him.” Mom grabbed a bowl of boiled eggs from the refrigerator and placed them on the table. “After all, Jared said he’d help with it, plus Amy, Henry, and I will be scraping. I’m sure we can manage to get the job done before any customers show up.”

  Sylvia said nothing as she set the table. Mom obviously didn’t feel Dennis’s help was needed, but it made no sense. The more hands working, the sooner they’d get the job done. Her fingers clenched around the glass she held in her hand. Why is my mother being like this toward Dennis? He’s trying to fit in and is acting out of kindness toward our family. What could be wrong with that?

  Sylvia wished she could help too, but the children would be getting up soon, and she’d have to fix their breakfast. Besides, she couldn’t leave Allen and Rachel alone in the house or let them run around the yard while she was busy scraping windows.

  Another knock sounded on the door, and this time, Amy went to answer it. She returned with Jared at her side.

  “Guder mariye, Jared.” Mom smiled when he entered the kitchen.

  “Good morning, all.”

  If Mom can be so nice to Jared, why not be cordial to Dennis? Shouldn’t they both be treated kindly and with respect? Sylvia greeted him, and Henry gave a nod in his direction.

  “We’re about to eat breakfast.” Amy moved closer to Jared. “Would you like to join us?”

  He shook his head. “I came here to work, not eat. Besides, I already had some breakfast.”

  “Dennis is here too,” Sylvia spoke up. “He’s out at the greenhouse, scraping windows.”

  “Is
that so? Guess I’d better join him.” Jared gave Amy a quick hug and headed out the door.

  “How ya doin?” Dennis asked when Jared showed up.

  “I’m fine. How about you?”

  “Can’t complain.” Dennis gestured to the scraper Jared held. “Looks like you also came early to help clear off these windows.”

  “Jah. Amy and her family are getting ready to eat breakfast, but with the exception of Sylvia, they’ll be out to help soon, I expect.”

  “No problem. We might have the project done by the time they show up.”

  They worked quietly for a while, and then Dennis pointed at the window he’d been working on and posed a question. “Has this kind of thing happened many times before?”

  “More than it should have, unfortunately.” Jared’s forehead creased. “I think someone wants Belinda to shut down the greenhouse.”

  “How come?”

  Jared shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe to be spiteful, or it could be someone who’s just plain mean.”

  “Any ideas who may have done it?”

  “Not really. But I have a hunch that it might be one of the owners of the new greenhouse on the other side of town.”

  Dennis stopped scraping and tipped his head. “You’re kidding? Don’t they believe in fair competition?”

  “Maybe not. According to what Amy told me, the man who owns the other greenhouse came by here to check things out soon after his place opened for business.” Jared pulled his scraper down the window in front of him. “The Kings’ greenhouse has been around a good many years, and they have lots of steady customers. Also, with it being Amishrun, Amy has mentioned that the tourists seem to enjoy coming by and asking all sorts of curious questions.”

  Dennis pushed the brim of his hat upward. “May I ask what?”

  “Oh things like, ‘Why aren’t you open on Sundays?’ ‘How come you use a horse and buggy instead of a car?’ Sometimes they sneak pictures here.” Jared’s eyebrows rose.

  Dennis shook his head “I know what that’s like. I’ve had a few cameras pointed at me too.”