by Perry, Marta
The car kicked up more dirt as the tires squealed to an abrupt stop.
Katie coughed as she inhaled the fine mist and waved her hand in front of her face to ward off most of it.
What a rude, arrogant man! Maybe she should say a prayer for him.
“Good evening. How are you this evening, ma’am?”
“I am quite well, Mr. Adams. Thank you for asking.” She tried to keep her distaste for this man from showing on her face. “What can I do for you?”
“I was wondering if you had a chance to consider my most recent offer.”
“There is nothing to consider, Mr. Adams. I’ve told you repeatedly that I have no intention of selling my land.”
He moved closer, his smile wider but his eyes reminding her of the black eyes of a snake.
“My offer is more than generous, Mrs. Lapp. I have offered you the same amount as I have offered to your neighbor, Joseph King, even though your property is half the size.”
“It does not sound like a good business decision to offer more than you believe something is worth.”
He threw his head back and laughed. Unlike Joshua’s laugh, which she never tired of hearing, this man’s laugh sounded like nails on a blackboard and she could barely stand the sound.
“I am a kind man. I am willing to forego my small percentage of profit if it were to help a widow such as yourself.”
The phoniness of his friendly demeanor soured her stomach. How could he convince anyone to do business with him? He certainly didn’t seem trustworthy to her.
Another thought slowly seeped into her mind. Both Joseph King and Mr. Adams competed nonstop for her land. Just how badly did they want it? Bad enough to burn a field of crops? Bad enough to leave threatening notes on a stair post?
A sense of unease slid down her spine. It was hard to believe that Joseph King would do such a thing. But why not? Being Amish didn’t make a person stop being human. Even Amish struggled with envy and greed and anger and a wide variety of other faults. And Henry Adams?
It was getting easier by the second to suspect him. He reminded her of a creepy, crawling insect, only larger and fatter. All Katie could think about was getting Mr. Adams to leave.
“I appreciate your kindness but I must turn you down. My land is not for sale.”
The smile disappeared from his face.
“That remains to be seen, Mrs. Lapp.”
“Please don’t waste any more of your time. I will not change my mind.”
“Never say never.” The sinister, slick way the words fell from his mouth gave Katie pause. “I know you have had some misfortunes lately. I am offering you a way to ease that suffering.”
A sinking feeling settled in her stomach.
Could I be right? Is this man responsible for my current troubles? He doesn’t really want me dead, does he?
Katie fought the sudden urge to run and, instead, tried to sidestep around him. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to attend to my chores.”
He continued to block her path. “I know that more than half of your crops were destroyed in a fire. I also know you took a financial beating at the market.”
Katie’s heart pounded but she refrained from comment and moved past him.
“I also know, Mrs. Lapp, that someone has been leaving upsetting notes for you to find.”
She gasped and came to an abrupt stop.
How can he know about the notes unless he wrote them?
“You are mistaken, sir.” She offered a silent prayer that God would understand the reason for her lie and forgive her this transgression. “Where would you hear such a thing?”
“You should know that the gossip mill runs rampant in this town. Hang around the general store. You hear juicy tidbits on everyone and everything.”
“Then you should consider your source, Mr. Adams. Gossip is usually just that—gossip. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must ask you to leave.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Everyone has their price, Mrs. Lapp. In time I will discover yours.”
She watched as he climbed back into his fancy automobile and sped down her lane. She couldn’t shake the feelings of disgust and unease that rose in her every time he came around. She sincerely hoped he would tire of her constant refusals and take his offers someplace else.
Shaking off the unsettling feelings, she went about her evening chores. She was filling the horse’s troughs with fresh water when she heard a sound behind her.
“Well, there you are.” She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until she let it go and then she laughed. “I haven’t seen you for a couple of days. Did you wander off and visit your friends on other farms?”
The cat mewed loudly and, tail twitching, walked in continuous circles.
“What’s the matter, huh?” Katie stooped down and gathered the gray striped cat to her chest. “Why are you so upset? No fresh mice for dinner?”
The cat wouldn’t rest in her arms and resisted her attempts to pet her. Digging claws into Katie’s flesh, it meowed and tried to leap out of her grasp.
Katie bent over and released the animal.
What was wrong? She’d never been scratched before.
Katie frowned and continued watching the cat pace in ever-widening circles. She couldn’t imagine what was upsetting the animal. Then she heard a soft mewling coming from above her head. She looked up and had to look again to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Four tiny faces hung over the loft edge, crying and pacing as they tried to get down but didn’t know how.
“You’re a new mama! How in the world did you get up there in the first place, mama cat? And what are you doing down here without your babies?”
Katie’s gaze shot around the barn and then it dawned on her. Several bales of hay were always stacked on top of each other just inside the back barn door to make it easier to care for the horses. The cat must have used the stacks of hay as a stepladder to the loft.
Katie frowned and that uneasy feeling came rushing back.
Someone had moved the hay.
Levi would have had no reason to move those stacks and she certainly hadn’t. She cast a sweeping glance around the barn and didn’t see them anywhere.
Fear niggled at the corners of her mind but she refused to let it in. She had to get up to the loft and save those kittens before they fell to their deaths. She’d worry about the missing hay later.
She glanced up once more and offered a silent prayer that God would make them stay put until she could rescue them. She figured God wouldn’t mind her praying for a few kittens. They were his creations, too.
Jacob had always tended to the chores that required ladders and Levi did it after Jacob’s passing. Since her husband’s death in a fall, Katie had had a fear of heights, but she didn’t dare wait until morning when Levi would arrive. Those kittens were hungry and they saw their mother down below. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought about what could happen if she didn’t get up there in a hurry.
She’d wrap the kittens in her apron and bring them down to their mother. She hoped there weren’t more than four and that they didn’t run away when she approached. She had no desire to be crawling around the straw looking for frightened kittens.
The large stepladder was heavier than she realized. Dragging it across the floor, she struggled to stand it upright and drop it against the edge of the loft. She climbed three of the steps and then stopped and wrapped her arms around a rung. She felt dizzy and a little bit nauseous. A sick feeling like a mass of stone formed in the pit of her stomach. Every cell in her body wanted to get back down as quickly as possible but she knew she couldn’t.
With a steely resolve, she climbed the fourth step and then another.
Her head started to spin and little spots danced in front of her eyes.
Oh, Lord! Please give me strength!
She dared to glance up. She still had several feet to go.
Maybe if I close my eyes...
Clawing the edges of the ladder, s
he climbed a step and then another and another. Squeezing her eyes shut, she continued to climb. Suddenly the ladder shuddered beneath her and began to rock.
It all happened so fast Katie didn’t even realize the danger she was in. She was too high on the ladder to do more than flatten her body against the rails and clasp the top.
Someone below pulled the ladder away from the loft. Katie clung to the final rung with all her strength. The ladder swayed in open air and then slammed against the edge of the loft. She gasped as it swayed backward and crashed forward once again.
Katie’s foot slipped from one of the rungs and she screamed.
The ladder swayed from side to side, shaking her like a dog with a rag doll in its mouth. She hit her chin against a rung and her teeth bit into her lip. Blood lent a metallic taste.
Unable to hold on any longer, Katie found herself clawing at air. She screamed as her body slammed against the dirt floor. Pain radiated through every pore and she remained still for several seconds trying to get her bearings. She rolled over onto her knees and started to stand.
A shadow appeared in her peripheral vision. It was the shadow of a man and he held a shovel over his head.
Before she could react, that shovel connected with the back of her head. She went down, her face hitting the dirt. She groaned in agony, raised her head again and touched the back of her skull. Pulling her hand away, she stared at her bloodstained palm.
Katie didn’t have time to think about who had struck her or why. She simply closed her eyes and slid into oblivion.
*
“Katie! Open your eyes.” Joshua continued to press a towel firmly to the back of her head to stanch the bleeding but he didn’t dare move her until he knew if she’d broken any bones.
His heart pounded in his chest. He hadn’t believed his eyes when he’d entered the barn and seen Katie sprawled on the dirt floor. One glance at the ladder standing beside her and he knew instantly what had happened. He just hoped she hadn’t been too high up when she’d fallen.
“Katie! Come on, lieb. Don’t do this to me. Wake up.”
He shook her shoulder gently. “Open your eyes, Katie. You’re scaring me.”
Almost as if she’d heard him, he saw her eyelids flutter. She groaned and Joshua knew she was regaining consciousness.
“That’s it! Wake up.”
Katie’s eyelids fluttered again and again, until finally he stared into the beautiful blue eyes that he adored. He felt all his efforts to stay emotionally distant fade away.
Danki, Lord.
But somehow a prayer of thanks didn’t seem to be enough. She could have died and the pain that seized his heart was almost more than he could bear.
“Joshua?”
Her hoarse whisper was as welcome to his ears as a shout.
“Ya, Katie. It’s me.”
“The ladder... I...I was on the ladder...”
“That’s not important right now. How are you hurt? Where is there pain?”
Gently he lowered her head to the floor, letting the towel act as a cushion against the dirt. Gingerly he ran his fingers down her arm, feeling for any breaks. Finding none, he stepped to her other side and repeated his movements. Nothing seemed to be broken.
“Can you raise your arms?”
His pulse beat wildly and he held his breath. This was the moment of truth. This would tell whether she’d broken her back or her neck or injured her spine.
A sense of relief washed over him when she lifted her arms.
“Katie, can you move your feet back and forth?” Seconds ticked by and Joshua thought he might never draw a breath again when she didn’t move.
“Katie? Lift one of your legs, please.”
It seemed to take her another moment to comprehend what he asked but elation raced through his every pore when she not only pumped her feet but also moved both legs. Pulling up her knees, she tried to sit up.
“Whoa! Where do you think you’re going?” Joshua gently forced her shoulders back down. “You’ve just had a nasty spill. Give yourself a minute or two before you try to get up and walk.”
Katie groaned again and lifted a hand toward her head. Joshua caught it in midair. “I know. Your head must hurt. I’ll get you inside and tend to it just as soon as I’m sure I won’t make things worse by moving you.”
He leaned in closer and stared into Katie’s eyes. He hoped she wouldn’t see the tears he fought to hold at bay.
“You scared me. When I came in and found you on the floor, lying perfectly still, bleeding...” He reached down and brushed a loose tendril of hair from her cheek. The silky smoothness of her skin against his fingertips sent chills down his spine. To think that he’d almost lost her. He gritted his teeth and refused to let his emotions rule the moment.
“I should have known better. It takes more than a little spill from a ladder to stop Katie Lapp.” He slid his arms beneath her. “Let’s try to sit up. I’ll help you.” He supported her shoulders as she rose to a sitting position.
She caught her breath and clasped her head with both hands.
“What happened?” she whispered.
“I was hoping you could tell me. What were you doing climbing that ladder? There’s no reason for you to be in the loft.”
“Kittens. I was bringing them down to their mother.”
“What?” Joshua strained his neck to look up and then glanced back at her. “Well, if the mother cat was down here, she must have clawed her way back up, because she’s lying there nursing her brood without a care in the world. Unlike you, I’m afraid.”
He tilted her chin to the side to get a better look at the back of her head.
“I’m surprised you fell from the ladder. The Katie I knew as a kid could hold her weight on a vine and swing out over the pond without falling.” He chuckled at the memory.
“I wasn’t afraid of heights when I was younger. I seem to be now.” She offered a timid smile. “Besides, I didn’t fall. Someone threw me off.”
The laughter died in his throat. “Someone did this to you on purpose? Who would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know,” Katie replied. “I was too busy holding on for dear life to look below and see who it was.”
“Are you sure, Katie? Maybe the ladder tipped beneath your weight.”
“Then why is the ladder still standing? Ya, I’m sure. I don’t know who and I don’t know why, but I am absolutely sure of what happened.”
“Enough is enough. I do not care what Levi thinks. It is time we go to the police.” He slid one arm beneath her legs, the other behind her back and lifted her into his arms.
“What are you doing, Joshua? Put me down. I can walk.”
“I’m not letting you walk anywhere until I tend to that head wound and make sure that you are steady on your feet.” He held her tightly in his arms. She felt so tiny and light and fragile, a far cry from the little spitfire that stood her ground the first day he’d challenged her in the barn, the one who wasn’t scared of confrontation from anyone.
“Grab the oil lamp.” He paused just long enough for her to do as he asked. The lamp lit their way as he walked across the darkened yard.
Katie’s kapp brushed against his chin and he could smell the fresh fragrance of her hair mixed with the coppery scent of her blood.
He thought he was going to choke on his anger. This was no longer just a word scribbled on paper. This was sinister, evil. Someone had done this to Katie on purpose. She could have been killed.
His mind refused to even entertain the thought of a world without Katie in it.
He would find out who did this to her. He only hoped he’d be able to do it before anything worse happened to Katie.
Even through his concern, he realized that she wasn’t objecting or demanding that she walk to the house on her own. Was that because she was finally letting down her guard and allowing him to help her? Or was it because her head injury was more serious than he’d thought?
For a brief instant he di
dn’t care about the reason. It felt so good to cradle her in his arms, to protect her—even if it was just for a moment, just for this one reason.
He knew he was losing touch with the emotional distance he’d demanded of himself.
He couldn’t let that happen.
It wouldn’t be good for either one of them.
Katie made it quite clear she didn’t want to get involved in a relationship with any man. He couldn’t bear opening his heart and having her reject it again.
No. He had to get his emotions under control and retain his distance. But what would it hurt to enjoy the closeness for one more moment? He cradled her just a little bit closer, his arms and his heart aching at the thought of having to let her go.
Suddenly a thought popped into his head and dread filled his mind.
Had Katie been conscious when he’d spoken to her in the barn?
Had she heard him call her lieb?
She had had a bad fall and had been knocked senseless. Even if she had heard his words, she would have dismissed them as nothing more than confusion caused by her head injury.
Joshua didn’t want to think about any other possibility. His mind raced as he tried to remember those first few moments in the barn and then he relaxed. He was certain everything would be fine.
There was no way that Katie could have heard him call her “love.”
FOUR
When they reached the porch, Joshua snatched the lantern handle in his fingers, being careful not to loosen the hold he had on Katie’s legs. At the door, he had her reach down and turn the knob. Kicking it open the rest of the way, he paused in the doorway. The illuminated sight inside made his blood run cold.
He placed the lamp on the nearest porch table before putting Katie in the closest chair. Not wasting another second, he crossed the floor and beat the metal triangle hanging from the eaves. The clanging sound filled the night air.
“Joshua!” She covered her ears with her hands. “What are you doing?”
She steadied herself on the edges of the chairs and planters but she made her way to him. “Stop, Joshua. What are you doing? Everyone will come.”