Premeditated Peppermint

by Amanda Flower

  “Christmas in Amish Country is like none other,” Eric said as he walked across the square with the collar on his wool coat popped up and his hair perfectly in place. “Living in New York City, I don’t have much time to enjoy the simpler things in life. I have always respected the way people in this fascinating culture have been able to live in a simpler way.”

  I stifled a snort as I stood with Cass and Charlotte at Swissmen Sweets’ candy booth. The Christmas Market would close in fifteen minutes, which was a good thing because we were almost completely sold out of candy. I had a feeling the first time Eric had even thought about Amish Country was when he found out that’s where I had gone after I left New York. I’m guessing it was Rocky who really new about the Amish.

  A group of Amish children ran by Eric as he continued to walk and speak in front of the camera. Eric waved at the kids, who waved back. Roden followed the children with his camera. Pike held his boom high to catch every sound.

  “Cut!” Linc cried when the children were out of the shot.

  Roden and Pike lowered their equipment.

  “This is the perfect shot!” Linc’s booming voice broke through the other chatter on the green.

  “I think we need to run through it again,” Eric said. “I think I can do better.”

  “The shot was perfect. Those kids running through, we couldn’t have timed it better. That’s our shot. I will say when we need retakes.”

  Eric frowned. He wasn’t used to someone dismissing his opinion.

  Linc panned his hand in front of himself as if he were the one holding the camera. “Roden, we need to capture as much of this as possible. We might not use it all, but it’s better to leave footage on the editing room floor than to miss a shot.”

  Roden stood a few feet behind him holding the camera awkwardly on his shoulder. He look tired.

  “Hold the camera still,” Linc snapped at the camera man.

  Roden’s jaw twitched as if he was barely keeping back whatever it was he wanted to say.

  “We only have one chance to get this shot. Don’t screw it up.” Linc’s voice was sharp. “I can’t have any other screwups on this shoot.”

  Was that how he saw Rocky’s death? As just another screwup? I was liking Linc less and less the more I learned about him. He also went up a couple of notches on my suspect list, and he already had the number one spot.

  Pike had lowered his boom and straightened. I bet he didn’t want to be in Linc’s line of fire.

  “Linc!” Margot called as she bustled across the square. She pushed tourists aside as she went. “It’s so good to see you.”

  I hid behind Charlotte, hoping that Margot wouldn’t see me. Between Margot and Linc, I was more afraid of Margot. In the span of a few minutes she’d put me in charge of moving a camel and made me Mother Mary. It was best I disappeared before she gave me another assignment. I made a hasty retreat back to Swissmen Sweets’ table, but not before I looked back at the Christmas trees. Daniel was no longer there. I wondered if the Keims had decided to close up early for the day.

  Charlotte and Cass were busy with a line of customers. I was happy to see that our peppermint-themed table was such a hit.

  “You will love these mint meltaways,” Cass told a young woman with a toddler in her arms. “They are great bribery tools for kids too.”

  The young mother laughed and accepted the candy.

  When she was gone, Cass asked, “What’s going on over there?”

  I turned and saw Margot talking to Eric and Linc. She pointed at different spots on the square. “I really don’t want to know.”

  Then Margot turned and pointed at me.

  “Busted,” Cass said.

  Eric and the crew pivoted to see what she was pointing to, and Linc headed our way.

  “There’s our star!” Linc pointed at me.

  I pointed at myself as if to ask, “Who me?”

  “Of course, this will be the perfect scene of you and Eric walking together. That way we can capture everything that is happening around you but be focused on your relationship.”

  “I thought we weren’t going with the relationship angle,” I said.

  Eric wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite. All you have to do is walk and smile pretty for the camera.”

  Cass glared at him. Eric noticed and dropped his arm. At least someone intimidated Eric.

  “I have candy to sell,” I said. “I thought this show was about the candy.”

  Linc smoothed his mustache, which looked like a wooly bear caterpillar on his upper lip. It wasn’t a good look. “Okay, forget the other shot. What about this? We shoot you selling candy, maybe you can tell us how the candies you sell relate to your Amish culture. Then later we will shoot in your kitchen, getting footage of you and, we hope, your Amish grandmother, making the candies. I know that the footage sounds out of sequence, but that is what editing is for.”

  “I haven’t had time to ask my grandmother about all this yet. Besides, she might not want to be on camera. Not many Amish do.”

  “She will have the time of her life,” Linc said. “Here.” He backed away. “Just act natural.”

  “Natural?” I slipped behind the table. Charlotte was standing next to me with wide eyes.

  “Just do it,” Cass whispered. “Pretend no one else is here.”

  That was easy for her to say. She didn’t have a camera pointed at her face. Suddenly I didn’t know what to do with my hands. Out of desperation, I picked up a box of fudge.

  “Okay. Eric, stand across from her at the table. Remember to look friendly!”

  Eric stood across from me and picked up a bag of peppermint taffy.

  “The scene is set,” Linc said. “Let’s start filming, and Bailey tell us about the candies.”

  “The candies?” My mind went completely blank. I couldn’t remember my middle name. How was I supposed to remember how these candies related to Amish culture?

  While my brain searched for something interesting to say, Linc looked around. “Roden, Pike, what are you doing? We are in the middle of a shoot.”

  The two men stood off to the side with Josie.

  “Josie, Bailey could use a little touch-up,” Linc said.

  Touch-up.

  The girl came over with her makeup kit, holding a makeup brush like a sword.

  I winced.

  “Trust me. You want to look good on camera.” She ran the brush over my cheeks. “You need a little color. You are awfully pale.” She applied another brush to my eyelids. “There, much better. Now you won’t like a corpse on the screen.”

  “Umm . . . thanks.”

  Roden and Pike were in their spots to the right of Eric and me so they could capture our conversation from the side. Roden lift his camera onto his right shoulder. He panned the camera back and forth across the square. Even in the cold and snow, beads of sweat popped up on his forehead.

  “Roden, stop messing around and get a wide-angle shot and then zoom in on Eric as he walks this way from the gazebo. Pike, for the love of God, you get your head in the game too. Eric, you walk in with the intro again.”

  Pike held his boom out as far as he could without getting it into the shot of the camera, and Roden panned the square, taking in everything from the merchants at the Christmas Market to the preparation for that evening’s live nativity.

  “Good, good,” Linc said. “Eric, go!”

  Eric walked toward the camera. “We are here in Harvest, Ohio, in the middle of Amish Country for a real Amish Christmas. As all of you know, there is nothing I love better than simple ingredients in my award-winning recipes.”

  Eric’s cooking style was anything but simple. The man used dry ice in at least a third of his recipes.

  “I’m here in Amish Country to meet up with my dear friend, Bailey King, of Swissmen Sweets, an Amish candy shop right here in Harvest. Bailey has told me so many nice things about this place. I knew I had to come check it out this holiday season.”


  Another lie. Eric didn’t find out about my connection to Amish Country until the media broke it because I was caught up in a murder investigation.

  “And here is my friend Bailey now. Hi, Bailey,” Eric said with so much forced cheer that he made my teeth ache.

  I took a breath and smiled. “It’s good to see you, Eric.” And then I went into a description of the candies on my table.

  Ten minutes later, Linc clapped his hands. “Cut!”

  I blinked. I had completely lost track of time while talking about the candies. In fact, I had completely forgotten that the camera was even there.

  Roden lowered the camera from his shoulder with a slight wince and heavy sigh.

  “Beautiful, Bailey. You are a natural,” Linc said.

  “How did I do?” Eric asked.

  “You did fine.”

  Eric scowled. He didn’t like to be outshone.

  “We can use that for your screen test. The network will love you.” He grinned.

  “Screen test?” Eric asked. “What screen test?

  “You are a natural,” Cass exclaimed. “We are definitely going to ask for a raise when your show is picked up.”

  “Her show?” Eric asked. “What show? I’m the one with the show.”

  Cass narrowed her eyes at Eric. “This doesn’t involve you.”

  “Cass,” Eric said.

  “Jerk,” Cass replied.

  “Cass,” I said.

  She glanced at me. “I’m just calling it like I see it.”

  I felt a headache coming on.

  Chapter 26

  Linc and the rest of the film crew moved to the side to discuss the next shot while Cass and Eric had a standoff right in front of my table.

  Eric laughed. “I appreciate your honesty, Cass. It’s one of your best qualities. Unfortunately, it also gets you into trouble.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not the one in trouble here.”

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “I’m visiting my best friend.” Cass linked her arm with mine. “And it would serve you well to remember that I have her back.”

  Eric waved his hands. “I don’t have any intention of making trouble for Bailey.”

  “What about the dead ex-girlfriend slash executive producer?” she wanted to know. “Don’t you think that made some trouble for Bailey?”

  “That wasn’t my fault. I would never have done anything like that.”

  “If it served your goals, you just might.”

  Eric scowled, which marred his handsome features.

  “Guys, guys, please. I have to play Mary in an hour. I could use some serenity so I can get into character.”

  “Enough,” Linc said. “We got the shot at the candy table that we wanted with Bailey. Now we need to get a few more shots of the market in general and reset for the live nativity.”

  My stomach dropped when I realized that I would be the Mary in the live nativity on Eric’s show.

  I worried over being Mary as Melchior walked by my booth, his long lead trailing behind him through the snow. The crowd divided to let the camel through. No one attempted to stop him or grab his lead.

  “Go on, camel whisperer. It’s your time,” Cass whispered.

  I straightened my shoulders and walked out to the camel. “Hey there, Melchior. Let’s get you back to the manger scene, okay?”

  He blinked his long lashes at me.

  I leaned over to pick up his lead, and he bared his teeth. The rope was frayed. I eyed the camel, wondering if he had chewed through it. If that was the case, there was no hope of keeping the camel in place. An alarming thought.

  “Easy there,” I said. “I’m just going to help you back across the square. It’s much quieter over there, and I think you would be happier on the side away from the commotion.” I held my breath and picked up the lead. I was certain that I was about to get slapped on the side of the face with camel spit at any moment. That would be the icing on the cake of the awful day I’d had. I tugged lightly on the lead, and much to my surprise Melchior followed me with no further protests. The crowd clapped. Maybe Cass was right and I was the camel whisperer.

  “Roden, are you getting this?” Linc asked in a harsh whisper.

  Roden slowly lifted the camera onto his shoulder.

  Margot met me at the manger. “Thank goodness you brought him back.” She made a move to pet the camel, and Melchior showed his teeth again. She retracted her hand. “Oh, all right, you beastie. I’m beginning to wonder if bringing the camel here was a good idea. He is turning into much more work than I thought he would be. My friend insisted that he was a calm animal.” Her face cleared. “As long as you are here, we will be fine. It’s clear that he has taken a shine to you.”

  I tethered Melchior back to the tree. This time I tied him there with a double knot. I wasn’t sure I would be able to untie the knot when the time came, but I would deal with that later. Of course, if Melchior chewed through the rope, it wouldn’t matter how tightly I tied it. I turned away from the tree and found Pike and Roden right behind me. I jumped.

  Roden lowered his camera. “We can edit out the jumping.”

  “For sure,” Pike agreed.

  “Bailey!” Margot shouted. “Thank heavens you are here! We still can’t find the shepherd’s staff that was left at the manger scene last night. I can’t believe the gall of the person who would have stolen it. From the nativity of all places. Are you sure you didn’t see it when you were here early this morning?”

  “I didn’t,” I said for the second time. I didn’t add that I had been a little too distracted by the dead body in the middle of the gazebo to notice a missing shepherd’s hook.

  “Well, you do have a camel,” Cass said, “so I don’t think many people are going to be looking at the shepherds or their props.”

  “It’s just not acceptable,” Margot disagreed. “We need this live nativity to be perfect. It’s going to be on television.” She pointed at Roden and Pike just in case I wasn’t aware that they were there.

  “I’m sure the staff will turn up. Could it be in the church? Aren’t all the props and costumes for the live nativity stored in the church? Perhaps Juliet knows where it is.”

  “I’ve already had her look,” Margot moaned.

  I patted her arm. “I’m sure it will turn up.”

  Pike untied Melchior’s lead.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  The camel ducked his head, and Pike scratched him on the nose. “Do you want to go for a walk, old boy? I know you must not like to be tied up that way.”

  The camel nuzzled Pike’s hand. The rest of us stared at him openmouthed.

  “What?” Pike asked in his surfer dude voice. “I worked at a zoo when I was in college. I took care of the animals. I loved being around the creatures, but it wasn’t the right job for me. There was just too much s—”

  “Maybe it would help Melchior if you would take him for a walk,” I interrupted Pike. I could see where his sentence was going, and Charlotte had been exposed to enough since she’d moved into Swissmen Sweets. She didn’t need any more shocking revelations.

  Eric, Josie, and Linc joined us at that point.

  “We could use some stills of Eric with the camel. It could be good for promotion.”

  Eric fussed with his scarf until it looked like he didn’t care, and he threw it on. I knew he cared and the laissez-faire scarf wearing was for effect.

  “Powder!” Josie rushed at him with her makeup brush. She swiped the bristles across his face and then stepped back and nodded. “Much better. There will be no shine on my watch.” She pointed at me. “You could use another coat.”

  I waved my hand. “I’m fine.”

  She held her brush at the ready. “If I don’t do this, you will look awful on camera. Your shine is terrible. In fact, I could give you a full makeover. I think that it would do so much for you. A little eyeliner goes a long way.”

  “Bai, I thin
k a makeover would do you some good,” Cass agreed.

  I frowned at her. “How?”

  “Excuse us just for a moment.” Cass pulled me away from the nativity and Josie. “You want to talk to Josie about the murder, don’t you? She is a main suspect.”

  “Oh!” Some questions answered for the price of a makeover.

  “Right.”

  We returned to the nativity, and Margot was back. “Bailey, it’s time for wardrobe. You need to head over to the church to dress for your role.”

  “Umm, Margot, about that. Are you really sure that no one else at the church wants to play the part? I would hate to take it away from someone else.”

  “Don’t you worry about that at all.”

  “I’ll go with you for moral support, and Josie will come too,” Cass suggested.

  Margot squinted. “Why does the makeup girl need to go?”

  “To do her makeup and make Bailey appear more virginal. I think it would really sell her as Mary, don’t you?” Cass responded.

  “Oh yes.” Margot clapped. “That is a lovely idea! We want our Mary to be the very best.”

  Cass grinned. She knew she’d won.

  “Hurry, we don’t have much time before the live nativity parade.”

  “What’s the parade route?” I asked, praying it was short.

  Margot smiled. “It goes right through the center of the village. The tourists love it every year. You get to ride a donkey.”

  Cass wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go to the church. We will swing by Swissmen Sweets and grab some candy. I can always tell when you need some fudge.”

  Before we left the square, I felt eyes on the back of my head. I turned and found Pike walking Melchior around the square, watching me with a scowl. Perhaps I had misjudged the young sound guy. Maybe I shouldn’t have eliminated him from my list of suspects so quickly. A shiver ran down my spine.

  Chapter 27

  Even though I wasn’t a member of the church on the square, I had been there many times since I had moved to Holmes County. Juliet was an active member of the church and had managed to pull me into many activities there. Aiden was also a member of the church. His mother reminded me that he was “a good Christian man” as often as she could.