Martha paced the kitchen floor and kept glancing at the clock on the far wall as she waited for Dad and Grace to come out of Mom’s room. By noon, Mom still hadn’t responded to anything Dad or Grace had said to her, and at Grace’s insistence, Dad had phoned the doctor and gotten Mom an appointment for this afternoon. Then he’d called Rosemary and asked if she would give them a ride to the doctor in Millersburg. Grace and Dad had gone into Mom’s room forty-five minutes ago to help Mom get dressed.
What could be taking so long? she fretted. Surely it couldn’t take Mom this long to get dressed.
Martha had known for some time that her mother was upset over the attacks that had been done to them. After the last several acts of vandalism, Mom had acted jittery for days. But she’d never freaked out like she had last night or gone into her own world, refusing to talk to anyone.
Martha sank into a chair at the table and let her head fall forward into her open palms. She feared the worst where her mother was concerned. Mom rarely got sick, and whenever she did, she usually bounced right back. What if Mom didn’t bounce back this time?
What if …
Martha jumped when she heard her parents’ bedroom door open. She raced into the hallway and was pleased to see Mom standing there, fully dressed. Grace and Dad stood on either side of her with their arms around Mom’s waist.
“How are you feeling?” Martha asked, rushing to her mother’s side.
Mom blinked a couple of times and gave Martha a blank stare.
“She’ll be better once she sees the doctor,” Dad said with a nod.
“Would you like some lunch before you go?”
“I’ve already eaten,” he replied.
“No, I meant Mom.”
“She might feel better if she had something to eat,” Grace said. “Would you like some tea and a boiled egg before you go, Mom?”
“I … don’t care for any.”
Hope welled in Martha’s soul when Mom replied to Grace’s question. If Mom was speaking again, maybe she would be all right and wouldn’t need to see the doctor after all. She was about to voice that thought when a horn honked from outside.
“That must be Rosemary,” Dad said. “We’re supposed to be at the doctor’s in half an hour, and if we don’t go now, we’ll be late. We can get something to eat on the way home.” He ushered Mom quickly out the door, calling over his shoulder, “If you’re coming with us, Martha, you’d better get a move on.”
“She’s going to be all right,” Grace whispered as Martha headed out the door. “She has to be all right.”
As Ruth washed the breakfast dishes while Esta dried, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Molly sitting on the floor, playing with one of her dolls.
“Can I go over to Anna’s when we’re done with the dishes?” Esta asked. “I want to take Winkie along and show her the new tricks I’ve been teaching him.”
Ruth nodded. “I suppose it would be all right. But only if Gideon goes with you.”
Esta wrinkled her nose. “How come he has to go along?”
“Because you’ll need someone to drive the pony cart.”
“I can drive it. Cinnamon’s a tame pony and does just what I say.”
“That may be, but I won’t have you out on the road by yourself in the pony cart.” Ruth added a few more squirts of detergent to her sink full of dishes. “Either Gideon goes along, or you’ll have to stay home.”
Esta’s lower lip jutted out. “Gideon’s always so cranky. Can’t Josh go instead?”
The back door flew open, and Josh tore into the room. His face was red and his breathing labored. “You’d better come quick, Mama. Gideon fell on a broken beer bottle out by the barn, and he’s bleedin’ real bad!”
A broken beer bottle? Ruth had no idea how a beer bottle would have gotten there; no one in their family drank anything with alcohol in it. She supposed it could have belonged to one of the men who came to Abe’s harness shop, but what would they have been doing up by the barn?
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Ruth opened a drawer and grabbed a clean dish towel. “Esta, stay with Molly while I check on Gideon,” she instructed as she rushed out the back door.
Ruth found Gideon lying on the ground not far from the barn, moaning and clutching his leg. Nearby lay the shattered remains of a beer bottle.
“Gideon, let me have a look at your leg,” she instructed.
The boy groaned and pulled his bloody fingers away from the spot he’d been holding. Ruth bent for a closer look, and her stomach clenched when she saw how deep the cut was.
“You need to go to the hospital for stitches,” she said, wrapping the towel securely around Gideon’s leg.
“Can’t you just slap a bandage on it?”
She shook her head. “The cut’s too deep and wide for that. Besides, we can’t take the risk of infection setting in.”
“But Papa’s gone shopping in Berlin today,” Gideon said. “So how am I gonna get to the hospital?”
“I’ll call for a ride and take you there myself.”
Gideon looked like he might protest, but to Ruth’s surprise, he nodded and said, “Jah, okay.”
After Rosemary dropped Judith, Roman, and Martha off at the doctor’s, she decided it was time to pay the sheriff another visit. He needed to know about this latest attack, and he needed to find a way to make the attacks stop. She hoped he was in his office today and not out patrolling.
When Rosemary entered the sheriff’s office a short time later, she was relieved to find the sheriff there.
“What can I help you with?” he asked, as she took a seat on the other side of his desk.
“There’s been another attack at my brother’s house.”
He lifted both arms and laced his fingers together as he placed his hands behind his head. “What’s happened now?”
“Someone threw a brick through Roman and Judith’s bedroom window last night.”
“I see.”
Irritation welled in Rosemary’s chest. Didn’t the man even care? Wasn’t he concerned that someone may have gotten hurt?
“My brother and his wife are over at the doctor’s right now,” she said through tight lips.
“Was one of them hit by the brick?”
She shook her head. “But they could have been.”
He dropped his arms and placed both hands on his desk. “If they weren’t hurt, then why the trip to the doctor’s?”
“Judith’s been a nervous wreck since the last several attacks, and this one … well, it sort of put her over the edge.”
He leaned slightly forward. “Did she suffer a nervous breakdown? Is that what you’re saying?”
“We’re not sure, but she wouldn’t talk to anyone for a while, and—”
“I’m sorry to hear about the broken window and Mrs. Hostettler’s shattered nerves, but unless I’m given some evidence to go on, there’s really not much I can do.”
Rosemary released an exasperated sigh. “It’s my impression that you promised my brother you’d keep a closer eye on his place.”
He gave a curt nod. “I did say that, but I’m a busy man. You can’t expect me to spend all my on-duty hours camped across the road from the Hostettlers’, waiting for the next attack to occur.”
Rosemary’s face heated up, and she gripped the strap on her purse. “You don’t have to be so harsh.”
“I’m just stating facts as I know them.” Sheriff Osborn gave her a half smile. “As I’m sure you know, that brother of yours is a stubborn man. He’s given me little or nothing to go on and rarely notifies me when there’s been an attack.”
“He planned to tell you about this one,” she was quick to say. “He got detained when we had to take Judith to the doctor’s.”
The sheriff picked up his pen and jotted something on a piece of paper. “I’ll stop by Roman’s place later today and see what information I can get out of him.”
“Will you check around the place for evidence?”
“Of course.”
She rose from her chair. “Thank you, Sheriff.”
As Rosemary left the sheriff’s office, she felt a small sense of relief. At least he’d been notified about the brick and the broken window, and he was planning to speak to Roman about it. She knew Roman might not appreciate her having gone to the sheriff without his permission, but that didn’t matter. They had to find out who was behind the attacks and, in the meantime, protect Roman’s family.
As Rosemary headed to her car a few minutes later, she was surprised to see Carl Davis walking up the sidewalk across the street. She hadn’t seen him since the day he’d stopped by her house, but she knew after talking with Grace the following day that Carl had suggested Anna come live with him so she would be safe. Of course Grace had vetoed that idea because she feared Carl might try to take Anna away again, and Rosemary couldn’t blame her for that. She’d had the same thought when Carl had visited with her.
She hurried to her car, hoping Carl wouldn’t see her. The last thing she needed was for him to find out about the latest attack. He’d probably be even more determined to take Anna from Grace.
Rosemary opened the door, slid quickly behind the wheel, and started the engine. A short time later, she pulled up to the doctor’s office. She found Martha and Judith sitting in the waiting room, while Roman paced the floor.
“Where have you been?” he growled. “We’ve been waiting for thirty minutes!”
“I had an errand to run.” She glanced at Judith then back at Roman. “What’d the doctor have to say?”
Roman shook his head and motioned to Judith. “I’ll tell you later.”
As Ruth sat in the backseat of Donna Larson’s car, with Gideon at her side, her mind replayed the events that had happened since she’d found Gideon on the ground with a cut leg. After she’d taken him into the house, she’d gone to Abe’s shop and phoned Aunt Rosemary, hoping she’d be free to give them a ride to Millersburg. Aunt Rosemary obviously wasn’t at home, for all Ruth had gotten was the answering machine. Then she’d called Donna Larson and was relieved when Donna answered and said she’d be glad to give them a ride to the hospital. Since Ivan was alone in the harness shop, she didn’t feel free to ask him to go up to the house to watch the children while she was gone, so she’d left a message on her folks’ answering machine, asking if either Mom or Martha might be free to watch the children. In the meantime, she’d put Esta and Josh in charge of the younger ones, which she hoped hadn’t been a mistake.
The trees lining the road blurred as they sped along in Donna’s car, and Ruth offered a silent prayer. Dear Lord, please protect the kinner while I’m gone.
A short time later, Donna pulled up to the hospital emergency entrance. “I’ll let you and Gideon out here and then find a place to park.”
“We could be awhile,” Ruth replied. “If you have some errands to run while you’re in town, you’ll probably have time to do them.”
“I might run over to the post office, but I shouldn’t be long. I’ll come inside and check on you as soon as I get back.”
“Thanks.” Ruth opened the car door and stepped out; then she turned to help Gideon. Hobbling on one foot, he gave no resistance as she led him into the emergency room. Once he was seated, she went to the front desk.
“If you’d like to have a seat, someone will be with you soon,” the woman behind the desk said after Ruth had filled out some paperwork.
Ruth took a seat next to Gideon. “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered.
“I–I’m scared of gettin’ stitches.” His chin quivered slightly. “It’s gonna make my leg hurt worse; I just know it.”
Ruth reached over and touched his arm. “When I was a little girl, I fell and broke my arm. I was scared then, too.”
“You were?”
She nodded. “But my mamm was with me when I went to the hospital, and I knew God was with me, too.”
Gideon looked over at her with tears clinging to his lashes and smiled. “Danki for comin’ with me today, Mama.”
Ruth swallowed against the lump lodged in her throat as she gently squeezed his fingers. At least one good thing had come from Gideon’s accident.