by Jenny Moews
Still the boy had not woken enough to talk yet. Hannah fretted over him with every slight movement Timothy made. A tech came in and told Hannah and Quinn they needed to take Timothy down for brain imaging to monitor his contusion. They were instructed to wait in the room as they would not be allowed into the imaging area with the patient. Hannah did not take this news well and started pacing after the tech pushed Timothy, still in his bed, out of the room.
“Come on. Let’s take a walk.” Quinn shoved his hat on his head and led Hannah by the hand out of the cramped hospital room, leaving her no chance to argue with him. “You need some air. It’s stuffy in here.”
He led her out to a small courtyard he’d found while foraging the hospital dining area for food. He tried small talk but Hannah was quiet and withdrawn. She seemed so out of her element in the world of ‘Englishers’ as she called them. He could tell she was struggling with it.
“You know, it must be hard for you to be away from home like this. I can imagine that this is a strange world to you.” “I’ll admit I am uncomfortable. I grew up on a farm much like the one I live on now, and I’ve never spent this much time out in the world. My father would be very unhappy about that.”
“So tell me about your father. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention him before.” The two of them found a quiet bench and sat down. It was good to be out in the fresh air after having sat in Timothy’s tiny hospital room for so long.
“There’s not much to tell. He was a plain and simple man who abided by the Amish faith. He and my mother were good parents. They took very good care of my sister and me. We worked on the farm with him. He taught us both how to work hard and live a simple pure life.”
“You have a sister then?”
“I had a sister. Her name was Marietta. She was five years older than me. Marietta died giving birth to her first child.” Hannah sighed and continued her story. “In her eighth month she started bleeding. Her husband didn’t want anything to do with English doctors even though the midwife told him she would die without modern help. The baby was stillborn. We buried him with Marietta. Her husband moved with his own family back to Ohio soon after that. My mother was so heartbroken she died a couple of years after Marietta passed. I was still home when Marietta died, and it was hard for my parents when I left to marry Eric. After mother passed, my father sold the farm and lived with Eric and me for a few years until he passed. He had a stroke and couldn’t run the farm alone. We spent every penny of what money he made off the sale of his farm for his medical care. I just couldn’t let him die the way Marietta did, not when the help for him was out there. So, I’m not unaccustomed to modern medicine. I just have trouble being away from my own folk and out in this fast paced world. Everyone is in such a hurry all the time. I don’t know how to keep up.”
“I think you’re fine just the way you are. I can’t see you living in this crazy mess here in the city.” Quinn laughed about that. It was hard to imagine Hannah living in the modern hustle and bustle of the city. Everything about Hannah screamed home. The ever present smell of fresh baked bread around her and her simple graceful manner made Quinn want to have the quiet life. It made him want to come home for good.
“I’ve always been a good girl. I never longed for more than what I had. I was content being a wife and mother. It was a safe life. I knew where I belonged and now… Now I just feel like I don’t belong anywhere. Everything is changing. My faith has been shaken, but I’m determined to bring my children up in a plain folk home. I’m sure that Eric would want it that way. I just hope I can do that and still be a good Amish woman. I don’t want to be independent of the Amish. I just don’t know if I make my own way and still be Amish. The plain folk don’t believe a woman can be on her own without a man to take care of her, but I’m not going to marry just to keep the farm.”
“No, and you shouldn’t have to.” Quinn wanted to get off the subject of the church’s idea of a marriage arrangement for Hannah. The thought made him ill. “So, what about Eric’s family?”
“Eric’s family is a little more complicated. They converted from English to Amish before Eric was born. Eric has two older brothers, but when Eric was about ten, his mother left. She couldn’t handle the Amish life anymore. His two brothers went with her. The last we heard, his mother passed away, and no one knows where his brothers are. Eric stayed behind with his father. He’d never had a life away from the Amish. His father was very bitter. He would never be able to remarry at all as long as his first wife lived. Eric moved his father in with us because he started getting sick with dementia. We weren’t able to keep him long like we did my father. He just kept running off and getting lost. So Eric put him in an old folk’s home. It was hard for Eric.”
Quinn could tell this talk was making Hannah sad. He changed the subject again. “You know I have an older sister too. Her name is Bella. Her and her husband, Wayne, have the farm I grew up on. It’s a peanut farm back in Portales, New Mexico. My parents are retired and they live the good life now down in Florida.”
“You grew up on a peanut farm?”
“Yup, sure did. Bella keeps asking me to go back and help her run it, but she knows me. She knows I’m a lawman. I don’t think I could ever not be what I am. Not that I don’t like farming. I guess I just always wanted to be a hero and live in the city catching the bad guys.”
“Your family is all spread out. How do stand being so far apart from each other?”
“It’s hard, but we keep in touch. Most holidays, everyone goes back to the farm to visit and catch up with each other. I’ve not been back there since before Kathleen died. I think I just felt ashamed. I couldn’t face my family. I felt guilty about everything. I didn’t want to see them disappointed in me.”
“I’d like to meet your family. I’m sure they’re very proud of you for catching the bad guys.”
“I’d like you to meet Bella. She’s a hoot. You’ll never know a more outspoken and strong independent woman. Her husband is a saint for putting up with her constant mouth going all the time.” Quinn smiled at the thought of his spitfire sister and her mercurial temper.
“Amish women are strong. They just learn at an early age to be subservient to God and the men in their lives.” Hannah felt the need to defend her way of life, but she wasn’t sure why.
“Hannah, I can see the value of the way you live, and I can respect it. I’ve just never known any woman to be subservient as you say. I understand it’s your belief to be subservient. I just think there is a line between subservient and completely dependent. It seems to me that a woman should be able to take care of herself the same as a man.”
Hannah was starting to feel the same way. Why shouldn’t a woman be able to take care of herself and her family if she needed to or even wanted to? These were the thoughts she had been wrestling with since Eric died. These thoughts scared her and would lead her straight to hell if she didn’t put a stop to them. “I think maybe I better get back. They said they wouldn’t be long with Timothy. You can stay outside for a while if you want.”
Quinn started to protest, but thought better of it as he watched her walk away. Hannah seemed like she was struggling with some issues and needed some time to think. Besides, he needed to check in with the office and he still needed to call Ollie back. He sat back on the bench and dialed the office. He had another message to call Ollie and everything was running smooth so far without him there.
He checked his cell for messages and sure enough Ollie had left several. Quinn had his phone turned to silent while he was at the hospital. I hope Ollie’s got something good for me. Quinn punched in Ollie’s cell number and waited for him to answer. Ollie had his call waiting music set to Fall Be Kind by Animal Collective. It wasn’t Quinn’s kind of music, but it suited Ollie’s eclectic unusual personality.
“Hey, Ramsey, you’re a hard man to find. Don’t you ever answer your phone or return your messages?” Ollie sounded short but Quinn knew his pal probably better than anyone other
than his own mother.
“Yeah well, I been kinda busy the last few days. I’m in Tulsa waiting for the Hershberger boy to wake up enough to talk to me. I got some questions I need answers to. So what’s up?”
“I heard about the kid. He went missing and you took a hound dog into the brush to track him down. He’s gonna be good, right?”
“He’s gonna be fine, got a broken arm and a nasty bump on the head, but the doctors say he’ll make it.”
“That’s good news, and speaking of news I got something for ya. We got a fingerprint off an old can of pork and beans the forensics took from the campsite. Print belongs to an ex-con by the name of George McVey, goes by Georgie. Georgie has done some time for petty stuff breaking and entering and other small crime. But, he just got released about six months ago on an armed robbery conviction. Served seven of a ten year sentence, got out early for being a good boy, but that ain’t the kicker. Turns out he’s got a dark blue 1992 Ford F250 registered in his name, got Texas plates on it. I’ll fax you over the information shortly along with the plate number. File says he’s now fifty-five years old”
“Any idea what he may have been doing out the woods on the Hershberger farm?’
“Not a clue. But that’s where you come in. As I recall it you’re the one with the hound dog. Sniff him out, Quinn. I’ll call you if I come up with any more intel. I’m including his file from his last stint in the Oklahoma State Penn with that fax. There ain’t much there, but maybe something will jump out at ya. Talk later, and answer your phone now and then, will ya?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks Ollie. I’ll get back to you if I find anything else out here on my end. Maybe you wouldn’t mind putting out an APB on our new friend Georgie.”
“I already did. Talk later.”
“Talk later.” Quinn hit the end call button and shoved his phone back in his pocket. There was nothing quite like bringing in a new player to the game board. Okay, Georgie McVey, where are you and what do you want with the Hershbergers?”
Pattie Sue pulled her horse and buggy up in front of the house Hannah had rented from the Fishers. The buggy was loaded down with supplies to help Hannah get started in her new home. Several members of the community were already there unloading boxes of Hannah’s belongings from the farm house. The house would be set up and well stocked before Hannah brought the boy home from the hospital.
She clucked to herself. It was a nasty business with the boy wandering off and scaring his poor momma half to death. Jumping down off her buggy, Pattie Sue called out to some of the younger men in the yard to help her unload the supplies. In the kitchen, she got to work stocking the small pantry and made small talk with Rachel Yoder and Millie Troyer, as they unpacked Hannah’s kitchen.
“Pattie Sue, Millie was just telling me that Timothy was mumbling something about finding lost gold and saving his family when they brought him out from the woods. That poor boy was looking for lost treasure in those thorn bushes. He thought he needed money to save the farm, I guess.”
Pattie Sue stopped what she was doing and looked up at Rachel. “What was that, something about lost treasure?’
Millie spoke up in her timid voice. “No, he said it was gold. He had to find the gold to save his family. I heard him say exactly that when they brought him out of the woods.”
“That’s just nonsense. There’s nothing in those woods but thorn bushes and the dried up old creek bed of Willow Creek.” Pattie Sue shook her head and put on her sternest no nonsense face. “Hrumph… That boy needs a good talking to for running off and scaring his poor mother like that. It’s not like Hannah hasn’t enough heartache without her son running off on a wild goose chase.”
“Oh, Pattie Sue, don’t you think the boy was just looking for any way he could to try to stay on the farm? It must be terribly hard for him to be moving from the only home he’s ever known and so soon after losing his father. You know, I heard he was in the buggy the whole time the night his father passed.” Rachel acted like she was sharing some terrible secret.
“Rachel Yoder, that’s idle gossip, but as it’s no secret I’ll tell you straight out. Yes, Timothy was in the buggy sound asleep. Hannah told me herself. So now it’s none of our affair. I’d best be getting back to mind the store. I don’t have no time for gossip.” Pattie Sue picked up a basket she’d brought in with her that was now empty turned her back on the two younger women and stomped out the backdoor.
Rachel commented after Pattie Sue left. “I wonder what bee flew in her bonnet this morning.”
Millie only giggled and went back to stocking Hannah’s silverware in a drawer.
Outside, Pattie Sue loaded up in her buggy, as she left she muttered to herself. “I can’t believe it, looking for that lost gold in those cursed woods. What was the boy thinking going into that evil place?”
A Dark Amish Night
Chapter Fourteen
Hannah waited in the hospital room for Timothy to be brought back. She mentally scolded herself for her behavior with Quinn. She had no business being so close to him, much less coming into any kind of physical contact with him. Even letting him hold her as she cried was a mortal sin among the plain folk. Not only was he not her husband, but he was an Englisher. This had to stop. Her children would not be safe living outside of the community if she got all of them shunned, or worse excommunicated from the church for good. She was in danger of going to hell if she didn’t control herself.
Still, she was very grateful to Quinn. To withdraw from him completely would be rude. How could she do that to the man who’d saved the life of her son and even now protected him from the men who killed Eric? She couldn’t do it. Quinn was her friend. For better or worse Hannah needed him. There would just have to be some ‘ground rules’ as Quinn had once told her. That was it. She would talk to Quinn and set up some boundaries for the two of them before they went home. It would just have to work. Hannah was determined to keep Quinn as her friend and protector and still maintain her plain folk purity.
She felt like a stone had been lifted from her neck. Her decision seemed the wisest course of action and Hannah felt good about making a decision like this on her own. Perhaps she could make a way for herself and still be a good and pure Amish woman.
Quinn came back to the room before Timothy did. Hannah took a deep breath. Well, it’s now or never, I guess. “Quinn, sit down with me. I really need to talk to you.”
Quinn sat down in the chair across from Hannah and reached for her hand. “What’s wrong?”
Hannah gently pulled her hand away from Quinn’s grasp. “First I want to apologize for being rude to you in the courtyard just now. I should not have just walked away from you like that.”
“Hannah, it’s no problem, really. You’ve a lot on your mind. I can see you need some time to figure out all these changes that are happening, and then this deal with Timothy. I bet your nerves are shot.”
“It’s true. I am dealing with a lot, but what I want to talk to you about is something else. I want us to set some ground rules for our friendship. I have to think of my children and my faith. I’m committed to be a pure person of the Amish faith. That means I have to live my life with the purest of minds. This bond we seem to share can go no further than it already has. I cannot be a girlfriend or a wife to you, but I want to be your friend. I owe you my own life for saving my son. You’re a good man and I want to be able to go on being your friend.” Hannah sighed. “In order for us to be friends you have to respect that I am off limits as anything more than a friend.
“We must not touch each other at all. No hand holding, no hugging, our bodies must never be close enough to touch. When you need to talk to me, you really should go to the Bishop first. Quinn, if I don’t get control of this situation I will be shunned. Think about my children and what a shunning could do to them. Please understand. I cannot be alone with you anymore. If we were ever seen alone by another plain folk it would ruin me. Even the things you Englishers think of as innocent are n
ot the plain folk ways. The community would never accept a relationship between you and me.”
Quinn’s mouth went dry. He’d seen this coming, though. He was not going to give Hannah up without a fight, but he would give her the space she needed to work through all the changes in her life and to deal with Timothy getting all the help he needed to get better. But one way or another, this “relationship” was going to work out. Quinn was a patient man, willing to let things take their own course. In the meantime, he would resume the hunt for Eric’s killer. Right now, that meant getting some straight answers from Timothy. Quinn hoped the boy would be able to talk to him soon, but Quinn wanted to be sure Timothy was well enough to talk first. He sat for a minute and thought very carefully about what to say to Hannah.
“Hannah, I’m going to be honest with you, because I don’t know how to be any other way. I’m falling in love with you, but any fool can see that you’re not ready for that. I’m going to do the things you have asked. I’ll put some space between us. I’ll even go through the Bishop to talk to you, but I am not going away. So I want you to get used to having me around because I’m here to stay.”
Hannah lowered her head. “I’m falling in love with you too, and that scares me more than you can ever know. I could burn in an everlasting hell for the things I feel for you, Quinn. When we get back home you have to stay away. The wellbeing of my children and their futures depends on it.”
“I understand, but one day when this is all over and you and the kids are safe, with the ones responsible for Eric’s death behind bars, you and I are going to renegotiate this relationship. Hannah, I meant it when I said I’m not going away. I’ll give you all the space you need, but get used to me. I plan on being here for you and the children for a long, long time.”
Hannah was just too weary to argue. Quinn had at least agreed to give her some space. But he’s here now and that’s what matters. He’s here now.