“I’m sorry to hear what happened to your husband,” Henry said.
“Denke.”
He would only be there to discuss the lease; Emma knew that for sure and for certain. Levi and she weren’t close with the Pluvers even though they were in the same community. They might not have even spoken at all if it weren’t for Pluvers and their arrangement for him to farm their land. “My lawyer said that the lease is fine and can carry on as is.” Well, what her lawyer did say is that as long as Mr. Pluver was happy to carry on as usual the lease would suffice, but since the lease was in her name and her late husband’s name, it did give Pluver an ‘out’ if he wanted one.
He avoided eye contact with her as much as possible when he said, “That’s why I’m here. I can’t carry on with the leasing of your property.”
Another blow, Emma thought. It never occurred to Emma that Pluver would want to stop leasing her land. That was how he derived his income, after all. What would she do now with no income? With no income she would surely be forced to sell the farm, unless she could find someone else to lease it quickly.
“Why is that so? You’ve been leasing the land for years.”
“The business is going in another direction. Anyway, I will pay you ‘til the end of the month, and that’s all.”
Emma felt the weight of generations of Levi’s ancestors who’d worked the farm for generations fall heavily on her shoulders. “What prompted your decision?”
“The business is going in a different direction.”
That told Emma absolutely nothing. “Is there a chance you’ll change your mind?”
Bob stood beside his father and never looked at her or spoke to her once. Mr. Pluver said, “Nee, everything’s set in place. I’m sorry to do it at a time like this.”
Emma nodded and Mr. Pluver and Bob wasted no time to get into their buggy and drive away.
What would she do now? She didn’t even have Levi to talk things over with. She was on her own and about to lose her husband’s legacy. She wondered what else could go wrong. Emma walked back to the buggy and took out the pitchfork and the spade and placed it in the utility room of her kitchen – she was not going to be without some self-defense in her haus tonight. She might even keep one of the objects under her bed. Bob Pluver sent shivers up and down her spine and so did McAllister, the vulture.
* * *
Half an hour later, Emma was pleased to see Maureen’s happy face.
“So, how are you handling everything? It can’t be easy with Levi gone.”
Emma inhaled deeply. “I’m glad I went to Elsa-May and Ettie’s place. I think I’ve found new friends in them and Silvie, of course.”
Maureen remained silent and sipped her tea. “John, my bruder can come help if you need anything done around the place.”
“Denke, Maureen, but Wil’s only next door. He comes over nearly every day to make sure everything’s okay.”
Maureen raised her eyebrows. “Does he?”
“Stop it, Maureen. Don’t say it like there’s something going on.”
Maureen pursed her lips and leaned toward Emma. “I’ve always thought that he was in love with you. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s never married because he’s always been in love with you.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous. He’s always been Levi’s best friend and nothing more.” The situation with the vulture and Wil kept playing on Emma’s mind. “Oh, I’ve had a dreadful day.”
“Why what’s happened?”
Emma swallowed hard and steeled herself to speak. “Did you see a small balding Englisch man at the funeral?”
Maureen put her elbow onto the table and cradled her full face onto the palm of her hand. “There were a few Englischers. The one that John and I nearly ran over in the buggy?”
Emma recalled the scene of the vulture nearly being trampled by a horse as he backed away from Wil’s buggy. “Oh, was that your buggy?”
“Jah, we saw he’d grabbed onto Wil’s horse. Who is he?”
Emma pushed her lips out. It was hard for her to talk about the farm. “He wants me to sell the farm to him.”
“Nee. And he asked you at the funeral?”
Emma nodded.
Maureen’s green eyes flashed. “You wouldn’t sell, would you?”
“Nee, I mean – I had no reason to sell until today. Henry Pluver just came and told me he wouldn’t be leasing the farm any longer. Anyway, that’s not all I was going to tell you.”
“What else?”
“At the funeral, Wil scolded the man and told him to leave me alone, but today when we were at the craft store I saw them across the road. They were speaking to each other real friendly.”
Maureen frowned and pouted her lips out in an exaggerated manner.
Emma continued, “Then later I saw them together in a coffee shop and they were having lunch together. What do you think of that? They were speaking as if they were great friends.”
Maureen placed her teacup back on the table and nibbled on a cookie. “It’s quite clear, actually. It would appear that the two of them are in cahoots.”
“Ca… what?”
“You know, in it together. Either they are trying to buy your property together or the short man has paid Wil, to encourage you to sell – like a spotter’s fee or something. There could be a number of scenarios.”
“Nee, Wil would never do anything like that.”
Maureen completely ignored Emma’s comment. “Or, maybe Wil is buying it and has instructed the short man to act as his agent so you won’t know it’s really Wil buying it.”
Emma considered what Maureen had said. “Nee, I can’t see that any of those things are possible. Wil wouldn’t deceive me. What reason would he have for doing that?”
“Think about it, Emma. You’ve a large piece of prime farmland and it joins on to Wil’s property. They’d both be worth a heck of a lot more together than they would as two single farms.”
Emma looked at Maureen’s beady eyes. “Would they?”
Maureen nodded enthusiastically. “It’s too much of a coincidence that Pluver has pulled the plug on the lease now too. Someone’s trying to force you off your land.”
A chill ran down Emma’s spine. She would definitely take the pitchfork up to her bedroom with her tonight. Emma recalled how Wil was always looking for opportunities to make money, but would he try and use her to make money; the widow of his best friend? She hoped it was not true.
“You were in the same friendship group as Wil and Levi growing up, weren’t you?” Emma had left her family and friends a hundred miles away to marry Levi. Emma had traveled to her cousin’s wedding and met Levi. She stayed on and married him. She had not grown up in the community, but Maureen had.
“Jah, I was.”
“Wil was trustworthy then, wasn’t he?”
“Jah, I definitely thought he was trustworthy, but people can change. There’s definitely something funny going on with your farm. I just know it. If something smells like a snake it usually is a snake.”
Emma nodded as she wondered what snakes smelled like.
“Oh golly. I promised John and his fraa that I’d go there for dinner. Anyway, you should tell the group next time we meet. They’re very good at figuring things out.”
“Really? I might do that. Denke for visiting me, Maureen. Emma rose to her feet to walk Maureen out to her buggy. “You brightened up my day.”
“Come and visit me. It’s much easier if you visit me. And watch out who you trust, it sounds like someone really wants your farm.”
“I will. I will on both counts, I will visit you and I will watch who I trust.”
Emma closed her front door and bolted it. She never bothered much with locks, but today she did not feel safe. In fact, when she went to the stores or the gathering together she rarely even locked her doors. Could she trust Wil? Yesterday she was sure she would be able to trust Wil with her life, but today she was not so certain. Her once perfect world seemed to be getting
less so every minute. Ever since Levi died things seemed to get worse every single day.
She would not cook dinner tonight; she was not the slightest bit hungry. Emma pulled out the embroidery she’d bought earlier and the chocolate that she’d bought from the specialty chocolate store. She made herself comfortable on the lounge. Although she wasn’t hungry, the chocolate should sooth the sore throat she felt coming on. Emma got a sore throat every time the seasons changed. Chocolate was the only answer and she had a lot to get through. She pulled a rug over her knees to make herself cozy.
I’ll make a start on this sampler to keep myself busy. I wonder if I should ask Wil why he was talking to that man. Nee, I’ll just wait and see if he says anything to me. At least she knew she wouldn’t have to wait long because Wil would visit again tomorrow, just as he did every day.
Emma popped her feet up on the coffee table, smoothed out the fluffy blanket and popped a soft, center strawberry chocolate into her mouth. As the chocolate melted softly in her mouth, she concentrated hard on the embroidery so she would not have to think about Wil and what possible reason he could have for speaking to the vulture man.
At the next widows’ meeting on the Wednesday night, Maureen encouraged Emma to tell the ladies what had gone on with Wil, the vulture and Pluver.
After Emma had explained the whole thing, with a little emphasis on certain points from Maureen, Emma said to the group, “So what do you all think of that?”
“Something stinks.” As usual Elsa-May was the first to speak. “Someone’s out to diddle you, girl.”
“You think so? But even if they did buy the land, I would make sure that I got a fair price. How would they diddle me?” Emma asked.
“Well, dear, perhaps they think that you don’t want to sell, so they have to find devious means to get what they want. They may not diddle you financially, but they may diddle you to encourage you to sell when you don’t want to.” Ettie was softly spoken and Emma had to make a special effort to hear what she said.
The other ladies made murmurs of agreement.
“What should I do? I kind of don’t feel safe with the vulture man coming to the haus and all, and now I’m worried about Wil.” Emma chewed on the end of her fingernail.
“More tea?” Ettie picked up the fine china teapot.
Emma nodded and held the teacup toward Ettie hoping Ettie would not spill the boiling tea on her with her shaky hands. “Denke, Ettie.”
While Ettie filled everyone’s nearly empty cups, Silvie said to the group, “What should we do about it? How will we get to the bottom of things?”
Elsa-May’s eyes narrowed. “You, Silvie, will go and pay the vulture a visit and pretend that you want to buy land in the area.”
Emma turned to look at Silvie thinking she would be horrified with the idea.
Instead, Silvie nodded enthusiastically. “Jah, and I’ll say my husband and I want to buy it, so he might believe it a bit more.”
Ettie added, “Wear makeup, so you’ll look pretty and be sure to make eyes at him.”
Emma gasped at Ettie’s words. Ettie was normally so quiet and so proper.
When Ettie noticed the look on Emma’s face, she said, “That means to flirt with him.”
“I know what it means; I’m shocked that you’d encourage Silvie to flirt.”
“It’ll help her get information, Emma,” Elsa-May said.
Silvie held her chin up high. “I know what to do.”
Emma swung around from looking open mouthed at Ettie to look open mouthed at sweet, little blonde-haired Silvie. Was she really going to go against the Ordnung to wear makeup – and flirt? “Should we go against the Ordnung?” Emma felt in her heart she would be just as guilty if she let Silvie go ahead with the plan.
Elsa-May’s loud voice boomed. “Would Gott want you to be ripped off?”
“Nee, but He does say in the Bible that vengeance is His,” Emma pointed out.
“Humph.” Elsa-May leaned her bottom jaw out as she said, “Gott gave us a brain, so we could use it.”
“We’re using a little more than our brain here though,” Emma said. Yes, we are using our womanly ways, would Gott approve of that?
Everyone’s eyes flew to Emma.
“We just want to help you, Emma, that’s all,” Maureen said.
“Jah. You’re one of us now,” Silvie said.
“Gott put you in this group with us for a reason,” Elsa-May said. “Besides, the Ordnung changes all the time. The bishop’s allowing some people tractors now and others can have computers for their businesses. Think of it as, us being ahead of our time and Gott is not constrained by time; He is eternal.”
Ettie chimed in, “She’s right, Emma, and we’re not hurting anyone; we’re just trying to protect you.”
The others nodded and continued looking at Emma. Emma could feel everyone’s love and concern. Being protected is what she needed right now. Visions of her pitchfork and spade came to her mind. “All right then. Denke. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I am very grateful that you all want to help.”
“Okay, we’ll call it ‘Operation Vulture Takedown,’” Elsa-May said as she pulled out a yellow note pad and began to write.
Silvie giggled while Emma wondered what she had just agreed to.
Chapter 5.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
‘Operation Vulture Takedown’ was to begin tomorrow, according to the plan on Elsa-May’s notepad. The first step was for Silvie to visit the vulture’s office, flirt a little and see what she could find out.
Emma stepped out of Maureen’s buggy and thanked her for driving her to Elsa-May and Ettie’s haus for the widows’ meeting.
She stood on her doorstep and waved to Maureen as her buggy trotted up the driveway. She was grateful to be home and although she was lonely sometimes, at least it was a place in which she felt safe.
Emma was grateful to have some new friends who cared about her and her farmland. It was late at night and Emma hated nothing more than to come home to a cold dark haus. Next time she will leave a light on. She turned on the gas lantern just inside the front door and then turned the main gas light on in the center of the lounge room.
She hurried to the kitchen to boil some water, so she could take a hot-water bottle to bed with her. Maybe she would also sip some lemon tea. Emma did not think that she would be able to sleep. Normally she found it hard to sleep, but tonight with all the surprises at the widows’ meeting she was sure that sleep would evade her even more.
Emma had just passed Wil’s haus on the way back in Maureen’s buggy and the haus was in darkness. Never being out this late, Emma did not know if that was unusual or not for him. Farmers usually go to bed early, but Wil was not a farmer and Emma was not really sure how he made his money. Maybe he lived on the lease money from his farm as she did.
She filled up her hot water bottle and waited for the iron kettle to boil once more for her lemon tea. Emma hugged the hot-water bottle as she waited. What would Levi think of all this intrigue? He would be glad I’ve made some gut friends, I guess.
With lemon tea in hand and hugging her hot water bottle, Emma made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. She set the tea on her nightstand and the hot-water bottle in the bed and went back downstairs to fetch her weapons. She remembered she had a hammer in the utility room; that would save her carrying the big pitchfork upstairs. Emma found the hammer and carried it back upstairs and placed it under her bed. She sent up a quick prayer to Gott asking Him to protect her through the night.
Emma was conscious of the empty space on the other side of her bed. The space had once been filled and now it lay empty. She still kept to her side of the bed even though she could have slept in the middle; somehow it felt right to stay sleeping on the same side. While she sat on the
edge of her bed drinking the tea she moved the hot water bottle a little further under the blankets.
How did Maureen and Silvie cope, living alone? They still lived in the houses that they lived in with their husbands and they seemed to manage all right. Maureen had her bruder to help her with things, but Emma was not sure who helped Silvie.
That night she could not sleep. Every time she fell asleep she woke up after only a few minutes. She tossed and turned all night mainly due to the bad dream that the vulture was chasing her away from her haus and she couldn’t find her hammer anywhere. Emma woke up with a fast beating heart and her body covered in a layer of sweat.
She sat up in bed and noticed the teacup on the floor and realized that she’d left half a cup of tea in it from the night before, which was now spilled all over the floor. She must have knocked it to the floor during her bad dream. Emma slumped back under the covers. Somehow she felt safer in the daylight and in some way she managed to drag herself out of bed.
Elsa-May’s plan was that they would all meet at her haus again at three o’clock. Hopefully by then, Silvie would have some information after she had charmed Mr. McAllister, the vulture.
As Emma made herself some breakfast, she looked down at the floorboards. They needed cleaning, as did the rest of the haus. It had been sorely neglected since Levi had gone. She decided that she would spend the first part of the day cleaning the haus, starting with the kitchen.
On hearing a buggy approach, Emma dried her hands and went to the front door. It was Wil, which surprised her because he mostly walked to visit, since he lived so close.
“Hello, Wil.”
“I’m just on my way into town. Do you need anything?”
“Nee.” Emma had to stop herself from saying that she was there yesterday. “Nee, denke. I’m stocked up with all I’ll need for a while.”
Wil got out of his buggy and walked toward her. “Well, why don’t you come somewhere with me?”
The Amish Widow (Amish Romance Mystery) (Amish Secret Widows' Society Book 1) Page 4