Amish Safe House. Debby Giusti

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СКАЧАТЬ are tired from your journey?”

      The boy nodded. “Tired and bored.”

      Abraham chuckled under his breath. With all the chores that needed to be done on the farm, William would not be bored for long.

      “Grab that bucket and fill it with feed for the horses in the paddock,” Abraham said when they entered the neighbor’s barn. The bucket was heavy when filled, but William carried it to the trough and then repeated the process.

      “Now we will muck the stalls.” Abraham handed the boy a pitchfork and pointed to an empty stall. “Start there.”

      From the look on William’s face, Abraham knew he was not happy, but he worked hard, and if he complained, he did so under his breath.

      “Next we will lay fresh straw.”

      William followed Abraham’s lead and a bed of straw soon covered the floor of the stalls.

      “You have done a good job.” Abraham patted the boy’s shoulder. “We will go home and do the same in my barn.”

      An almost imperceptible groan escaped Will’s lips. Abraham pretended not to notice and led the way back to the country road that divided the two farms.

      Raber’s phone shack sat at the edge of the road. “Wait here, William.”

      Abraham opened the door and stepped into the booth. He checked the answering machine to ensure Jonathan had not called and left a message.

      “Is that where the Amish keep their phones?” William asked when Abraham joined him again.

      “Yah, Mr. Raber takes orders by phone for the furniture he makes. The Ordnung, the rules by which various Amish communities live, forbids phones within the home. Keeping the phone away from the house and near the property line allows Mr. Raber to stay in contact with his customers while also obeying the rule.”

      William pointed to the roof. “Are those solar panels?”

      Abraham nodded. “They run the answering machine. You know about solar energy?”

      William shrugged. “A little.”

      “Perhaps you will be an engineer when you get older.”

      The boy shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

      “Why not?” Abraham asked.

      “School’s not cool.”

      Abraham would not ask what the boy thought was cool. From what Jonathan had said, William was drawn to the street gangs with their rap music and fast cars and even faster lifestyle. Was that what William thought was cool?

      The sound of a car engine drew Abraham’s attention to the road. A souped-up sedan raced over the crest of a distant rise, going much too fast along the narrow country lane.

      William stared at the car, no doubt attracted to the gaudy chrome and the heavy bass destroying the peaceful quiet.

      “Hide in the phone shack.” Abraham opened the door and nudged William inside.

      The car approached. Abraham walked to the curb. The driver stopped and rolled down the passenger window. “I’m looking for Yoder. Made a few wrong turns, it seems. Can you give me directions?”

      “You are headed the right way. The town is about four miles ahead.”

      “I’ll need a room. Can you recommend lodging?”

      “There is a hotel south of town. At the intersection of Main and High, turn left. The hotel sits about five blocks south on the left.” Abraham stepped closer. “You are not from this area.”

      “I was in Kansas City on business and had a few days off so I decided to explore this part of the state. My hobby is writing articles for travel magazines. A story on Yoder and the Amish people might sell. If you have time, we could schedule an interview.”

      The last thing Abraham wanted was publicity about Yoder or his Amish neighbors. “Not much is going on around here. You might find more tourist attractions in Hutchison. They have an Amish community there.”

      “I’ll check it out. Thanks for the information about the hotel.” The man handed a business card to Abraham. “You know where to find me for the next few days in case you have time for a cup of coffee, or we could talk over lunch.”

      The driver waved and drove away.

      Abraham made a mental note of the license plate before he opened the door to the phone booth. His heart stopped. William stood with the phone to his ear. His eyes widened and his face flushed. He dropped the receiver onto the cradle and lowered his gaze.

      “Who did you call?”

      The boy shook his head. “No one.”

      “I will ask you once more, William. Who did you call?”

      “I... I thought about calling a friend of mine from Philly.”

      “What is his name?”

      “David.”

      “His full name.”

      “David Davila.”

      “Did the call connect?”

      Will shook his head. “No way. There wasn’t time.”

      “Did you call your friend from the hotel in Philadelphia?”

      The boy’s face reddened.

      “What did you tell David?”

      “Only that we were moving, but I didn’t tell him where.”

      “Did you mention Kansas?”

      “I just said we were leaving the city.”

      Abraham pointed the boy toward the road. “The phone is off-limits. Is that understood?”

      “Yeah, sure.” William pushed past Abraham.

      Abraham glanced back at the phone. William was his own worst enemy. The Philadores did not care if the boy was fourteen or forty-three. He was on their hit list. If Abraham could not protect William from himself, the boy and his sweet sister and pretty mother might die.

       THREE

      Julia felt a swell of relief when she spied William and Abraham return to the farm and enter the barn.

      A short time later, the clip-clop of horses’ hooves pulled her attention back to the road. A buggy turned into the drive and stopped near the barn. A woman dressed in the typical Amish calf-length blue dress, black cape and matching black bonnet climbed to the ground.

      Abraham СКАЧАТЬ