The Crow’s Call: Amish Greenhouse Mystery Book 1

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

  “I saw your friend Amy today,” Lydia’s mother said as they stood in the kitchen, preparing supper.

  “Oh? Did you visit the greenhouse or see her someplace in town?”

  “At the greenhouse. I went there to get some hunnich.”

  Lydia smacked her lips. “Yum. I love their all-natural raw honey. It’s super good on pancakes, and it goes well with peanut butter on toast or in a sandwich.”

  Mama nodded as she grabbed a potato peeler from the utensil drawer. “I’ve been meaning to say something to you all afternoon, but with customers coming and going to pick up quilted items, I never got a chance.”

  “What did you want to say?” Lydia asked as she chopped cabbage for a coleslaw.

  “I just want you to know how pleased I am about you and Jared courting and even more so now that I know he’s proposed marriage to you.”

  Lydia’s brows shot up. “Where in the world did you get such an idea? Jared and I aren’t courting much less planning to be married.”

  “Really? But I thought—”

  “Where did you get such an idea, Mama?”

  “I heard you talking to your friend Nadine. I couldn’t be sure of everything you said, but I got some of the conversation—the important part that is.”

  “What did you think you heard me tell her?”

  “That you and Jared are courting and that he proposed marriage.”

  Lydia’s mouth gaped open. It seemed she’d been caught between a stone and a brick wall. It was time to tell her mother the truth.

  “I have something to confess, Mama.”

  “Oh, and what is it?”

  “I’ve been secretly seeing Rudy Zook.”

  “Did you say Rudy Zook, or are my ohre playing tricks on me right now?”

  “No, your ears are not playing tricks. Rudy’s a kind and gentle man, and I love him very much.”

  “You can’t be anscht, Lydia.”

  “I am as serious as anyone can be.” Lydia was aware that her parents, especially Mama, had never approved of Rudy because he worked in a general store and didn’t make much money since he was not the owner. Mama had pointed out once that a man like that would be unable to support a wife and children properly, so the poor fellow would probably never find a woman willing to let him court her. In addition to that, Rudy stuttered, and Mama thought his speech impediment and crooked nose made him a less than desirable boyfriend. For these reasons, Lydia had kept her relationship with Rudy a secret, and whenever they’d gone anywhere together, it was someplace out of the area. If her parents had gotten wind of her feelings for Rudy, they’d do everything in their power to turn Lydia against the idea.

  “But you’ve been seeing a lot of Jared since Amy broke up with him.” Mama broke into Lydia’s thoughts. “I was so sure …”

  Lydia held up her hand. “Jared and I are just friends. The reason you’ve seen me with him so much is because we were talking about Amy—trying to figure out some way to get them back together. It also bought me some time to pray and decide how and when I should let you know the truth about Rudy and me.”

  Lydia’s mother set the potato peeler aside and collapsed into a chair at the table. “Oh, dear. I’m afraid I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

  “You’ve changed your mind about Rudy?”

  “No, not really, but if he’s the man you love then I guess I have no choice but to give you my blessing. But I’ll need time to prepare your daed for this news.”

  Lydia leaned down and gave her mother a hug. “Danki, Mama. I appreciate you paving the way with Dad. I can hardly wait to tell Rudy.”

  “Life can sure throw us a curve ball sometimes, and I’ve managed to swing and miss this time.” Lydia’s mother placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward, pressing her fingertips against her forehead. “The mistake I made was in telling Amy what I thought I heard you telling Nadine.”

  “About me and Rudy?”

  “No, Daughter. I told Amy that I heard you telling Nadine that you and Jared were planning to get married.”

  “Oh, dear. Oh, dear.” Lydia rocked back and forth with her arms crossed over her chest. “Amy must be so upset with me—and angry with Jared too. She no doubt feels that we’ve betrayed her.” She moved quickly toward the back door.

  “Where are you going, Lydia?”

  “I need to go over to the Kings’ house right away and talk to Amy. She needs to know the truth.”

  “I understand, but it will have to wait until tomorrow morning.”

  “How come?”

  “The bishop and his wife are coming here for supper this evening. I can’t believe you could have forgotten that.”

  “I remembered earlier, but the shock of what you said to Amy must have caused me to forget.” Lydia placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “Can I go as soon as we’ve finished eating supper?”

  With a determined expression, Mama shook her head. “That would be impolite. You can go over to see Amy first thing in the morning.”

  “Okay.” Lydia didn’t feel that she had much choice in the matter. It was bad enough that she’d been deceiving her folks for the last several months by seeing Rudy on the sly. She didn’t want to rile Mama any more by leaving the house this evening while their company was there.

  Amy might not sleep very well tonight, but tomorrow when I go over to see her, she’ll feel a lot better. Lydia rubbed her chin. But then maybe hearing that Jared and I were planning to be married didn’t upset my friend at all. She did, after all, break up with Jared, so perhaps she doesn’t care about him anymore.

  Later that evening, Mom, Sylvia, and the children were settled in the living room after their meal. Henry said he was going outside to the barn.

  Amy put away the last of their clean supper dishes and stepped outside to enjoy the setting sun. She stood on the porch, looking toward the west as the sky turned brilliant colors. The sight helped alleviate some of her depression after hearing about Jared and Lydia. The Lord sure knows how to dress up the sky.

  She continued watching a little longer then headed to the barn. Maybe Henry would enjoy seeing the gorgeous sunset too.

  Once inside the darkened building, instead of calling out to her brother, Amy used her flashlight to climb the ladder to the loft. She found him there, looking at a car magazine, with a battery-operated light, like they used for campouts.

  “Hello.”

  Henry quickly laid the magazine aside. “What’s up?”

  “I came to find out if you’d like to see the sunset. It’s really beautiful.”

  “Sure, let’s go take a look.” He followed her down the ladder.

  When they stepped outside and looked toward the sky, it had turned an incredible pink.

  Henry whistled. “Wow, that’s gorgeous!”

  Amy waited a minute, and then she spoke. “I noticed the magazine you were looking at.”

  “What about it?” His tone had become defensive.

  “When did you get it?”

  “Not long ago.”

  “You’re not thinking about getting a car, are you?”

  Henry stared straight ahead. “I’m only looking at it. The magazine belongs to Seth.”

  “Oh, that’s good.”

  “I best go check on the horses’ water before I get ready to go in the house. Thanks for showin’ me the sunset.” Her brother turned back toward the barn.

  “You’re welcome.” Amy had misgivings about how honest her brother had been with her. What if Seth has put some silly notion into Henry’s head about getting a car when he’s old enough to drive? It happened to Ezekiel when he went through his running-around years.

  Amy paused and looked up at the sky and the diminishing sunset. Should I say something to Mom or let it go?

  The next morning, when Amy entered the greenhouse still feeling depressed, she discovered that all their pots of fall flowers had died. She felt stunned. “How could something like this have happened?”

  Amy raced out of
the building and back to the house. “Where’s Mom?” she asked Sylvia, who sat feeding the baby.

  “I think she’s still in the kitchen. She said she had a few things to do there before she joined you in the greenhouse.”

  “Something terrible has happened!”

  Sylvia’s eyes widened. “What is it? Has Henry been hurt?”

  Amy shook her head. “I didn’t see our bruder outside anywhere. So as far as I know, he’s fine.”

  “What is it then?” Sylvia’s chin quivered as she placed Rachel against her shoulder and began patting the baby’s back.

  “All the mums and other fall flowers are dead.” Amy’s body trembled with the pent-up anger she felt.

  “Hasn’t Henry been watering them?”

  “I check every day to be sure, and none of them have appeared to be dried out. I just don’t understand what happened.” Amy tapped her chin. “I wonder if …” Her voice trailed off. “I’d better go tell Mom.”

  Belinda was removing a jug of cold tea from the refrigerator to take to the greenhouse when Amy burst into the room.

  “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Mom, but all our mums and other fall blumme are dead.”

  “What?” Belinda put down the jug. “But how can that be?”

  Amy shrugged. “I—I don’t know. I’m sure they’ve been getting enough water and fertilizer.”

  “Come on, Amy, we’d better go see if we can figure out what happened to those plants.” Belinda tied a black scarf on her head and hurried out the back door.

  When they entered the greenhouse and Belinda’s eyes beheld the disaster, she brought a shaky hand up to her forehead. “This is worse than I imagined.” She looked at Amy. “We have no more fall blanse left to sell.”

  Amy joined Belinda as they walked up and down the rows. “Do you think this could have been done on purpose?”

  “Who would do such a thing, and how would they gain access to the greenhouse when we’re not here?” Belinda pulled a tissue out from under her dress sleeve and blew her nose. “Where’s your bruder?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since breakfast.” Amy moved closer to Belinda. “You don’t think Henry would do something so horrible, do you? I mean, he has to know that we were counting on the money we earned from the sale of these plants.”

  The tissue slipped from Belinda’s hand, and she bent down to pick it up. In so doing, she noticed a bottle of weed killer under one of the wooden counters where this section of plants sat. “Oh, my!”

  “What is it, Mom?”

  When Amy leaned over, Belinda pointed.

  “That’s really odd. We never keep weed killer near the flowers, shrubs, or anything else it could damage or kill. I wonder how this got moved from the storage area where it’s kept.”

  Belinda picked up the container and realized very quickly that it was almost empty. All of the weed killers they sold were completely full. “I am convinced that whoever did this used weed killer to destroy the plants, and then they set the near-empty bottle underneath this counter.” She clasped her daughter’s hand. “Oh Amy, what are we going to do?”

  “The first thing I plan on doing is finding Henry and questioning him about this. He may be smiling more these days, thanks to that stupid crow he messes with, but I can tell by some of the things he says and does that his heart is still bitter.”

  Belinda stood up tall and pulled her shoulders back. If her boy was responsible for this, she would deal harshly with him. But if there was even a possibility of his innocence, she couldn’t punish him. What they needed more than anything right now was something else they could sell that would bring in some money. “I’ll handle Henry. Please go find your brother and let him know I need to see him.”

  Amy found Henry in the barn and said, “Mom needs you in the greenhouse.”

  “Tell her I’ll be there in a few minutes. I still have a couple of chores to do.”

  “Please, Henry.” Amy pointed in the direction of the greenhouse. “Mom needs to see you right now.”

  “Okay, okay.” Henry ambled toward the greenhouse and Amy followed. Mom might need her help getting the truth out of him.

  When they entered the building, Mom stood near the door with her hands on her hips and a stony expression. It was a good thing no customers had shown up yet, because it wouldn’t be nice for anyone to hear this conversation or see all the dead plants. They would need to get them cleared out quickly before anyone arrived.

  Amy waited quietly while Mom told Henry what had happened to the plants and about the weed killer she’d found. “Do you know anything about this, Son?”

  A flush appeared on Henry’s face and neck as he broke eye contact with Mom. “I hope ya don’t think I would do such a terrible thing.” He shuffled his feet. “I work here too, ya know, and I count on the money you pay me.”

  “Of course, but you’ve also complained about working here, and since you have access to the greenhouse with the new key Amy had made for you and eventually entrusted you with, I felt the need to question you.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Well, you can question me all ya want, and my answer will still be the same—I am not the one who destroyed the fall plants.”

  Amy wanted to believe her brother, but he’d lied to them before and snuck out of the house when he was supposed to be in bed. He could be holding back the truth so he doesn’t get in trouble. Amy tapped her foot. But if Henry is telling the truth, then someone has access to our greenhouse and must have come in during the night. That means they either had a copy of our key somehow or picked the lock on the door. Was it the same person who did the other things to our property? Does someone really dislike us that much, or could they be trying to make things difficult so we’ll give up and close the greenhouse for good?

  “Standing here debating this matter is not accomplishing a thing.” Mom broke into Amy’s contemplations. “The three of us need to get busy hauling all the dead plants out behind the barn, where no one will see them.”

  “Who cares if anyone sees them or not?” Henry’s voice grew louder with each word he said. “When people show up here today, they’re gonna see that we have no fall flowers or plants to sell.”

  “We still have a few hanging baskets that Sylvia put together,” Amy chimed in.

  “But they’re not specifically fall colors,” Mom replied. “Also, what are we going to do about the orders Sara placed recently? She’s expecting one of us to deliver them sometime this week.”

  “As soon as we finish hauling the dead plants out, I’ll go to the phone shed and give her a call.” Amy’s heart thudded dully in her chest. “She’ll probably end up ordering from the new greenhouse.”

  Mom gave a nod. “Be that as it may, we can’t promise something we are unable to make good on.”

  Henry pulled his hat off and fingered the brim. “Here’s somethin’ else to think about. Once Sara sells her flower shop, the new owner might decide to buy from the other greenhouse. He or she could be more interested in dealin’ with a place that’s closer to town and is run by the English.”

  When Amy saw her mother’s eyebrows draw together, she could have kicked her brother for saying that. Mom didn’t need one more thing to worry about.

  “It’s just a shame we had to lose all those beautiful mums and other fall foliage.” Amy stood near her mother next to one of the wagons filled with dead plants.

  “Jah, but there’s not much we can do about it now.”

  “I keep wondering who could have done this and why we’re their target.”

  Mom looked at Amy and slowly shook her head. “This is really going to set us back.”

  Amy heaved a frustrated sigh. They’d hauled out about half of the ruined plants when a horse and buggy pulled into the parking lot. Amy stood in the doorway watching as Mary Ruth climbed down from her buggy and went to the hitching rail to secure her horse.

  Amy waved as Mary Ruth headed their way. “Our first customer of the day is here,” she
called to Mom.

  “What? Oh, no.” Mom’s facial features slackened. “I had hoped we could finish this job before anyone showed up. Is it someone we know?”

  “Jah, it’s Mary Ruth, and she’s coming this way.”

  Wearing a cheerful smile and holding a toy wooden horse, Mary Ruth entered the greenhouse. “Guder mariye.”

  “Morning.” Amy managed to smile in return.

  “I believe this belongs to your nephew.” Mary Ruth handed the toy to Amy. “I found it the day after you and your family came for supper at my place, but I kept forgetting to bring it over until now.”

  “No problem. Allen hasn’t asked for it, so most likely he hasn’t even missed the toy.”

  Mom came up to them, pulling a wagonload full of dead plants. “Good morning, Mary Ruth. I hope you’re not here to buy any of our harebscht blanse, because we don’t have any now.”

  Mary Ruth touched her parted lips as she looked at the pathetic plants with an incredulous stare. “What in the world happened to those?”

  Mom explained, while Amy grabbed another wagon and piled on more dead plants.

  “I’m sorry to hear about your autumn plants.” Mary Ruth gestured to the two wagonloads waiting to be taken out. “I don’t need any myself, but I’m sure you’ll get lots of customers coming in for fall foliage.”

  “You’re right, and we may as well put up a sign here at the front of store so people will know when they first come in that we have none to sell.” Mom’s shoulders slumped as she heaved a heavy sigh. “This is certainly not what we needed right now.”

  Amy hadn’t seen her mother look this despondent since she’d returned from her visit to Ezekiel and Michelle’s place. She wished she could say something to cheer Mom up, but she too felt the pain of this latest act of vandalism. It was a mystery to her that anyone would want to do this to them.

  “I may be able to help with your problem,” Mary Ruth spoke up. “Lenore and I planted more mums and dahlias than we know what to do with, so I’d be happy to let you have most of them to offer your customers.”