Roman looked up when the barn door opened, and his eyebrows furrowed when all three of his daughters stepped up to his desk.
“What are you three doing out here, and who’s keeping an eye on your mamm?” he asked.
“Mom’s taking a nap, and we decided this was a good time for us to talk to you about something,” Grace said as she shifted a sleeping Daniel in her arms.
He stood and motioned to his chair. “I’m sure that boy’s getting heavy. Maybe you’d better sit here.”
“Better yet, let me take him,” Cleon said stepping up to Grace. “I’ll sit with him over at my workbench, so you’re free to talk with your daed and sisters.”
“Danki.” Grace handed their son to him.
“What’s this all about?” Roman asked, lowering himself into the chair again.
“It’s about Mom,” Martha spoke up. “We think she needs to go away for a while.”
His forehead wrinkled. “Go away?”
All three sisters nodded.
“We were thinking it might be good if you took Mom up to Geauga County to stay with Uncle Walt and Aunt Mary,” Ruth said.
He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk. “How’s that gonna help anything?”
“Mom will be safe from the attacks there,” Martha said. “Being in a safe place with people she knows might help her nerves to settle.”
Grace nodded. “Maybe she’ll be able to get off the medication that’s making her act so spacey and out of touch with what’s going on around her.”
Roman sat massaging his forehead as he contemplated the idea. Maybe taking Judith to Geauga County would be a good thing. He could let people know that he planned to take Judith to visit his brother, Walt, for a few days and that he would be staying there with her until she got settled in and used to the idea of being away from home. Hopefully, the culprit would hear that Roman was leaving and plan another attack, believing that no one was at the Hostettler home. Roman would return home sooner than planned without telling anyone. Then he’d hide out in the house. With any luck, he could catch the person in the act. Of course this plan would mean that he’d have to get Martha out of the house, too.
Roman looked up and smiled at his daughters. “I think you’ve got a good idea. I’ll get in touch with Walt right away and see if it’s agreeable with them. If it is, I’ll see if Rosemary’s free to drive us up there. She’s been wanting to go up to Geauga County to see where Walt lives, anyway. We can spend a few days having a little family reunion,” he added.
“I’m glad you’re in agreement with this,” Ruth said with a look of relief.
“Of course this means I’ll have to put my plans to begin building the new shop on hold awhile longer, but that’s not as important as getting your mamm away from here right now.” He looked over at Martha. “I think it would be a good idea if you went with us to Walt’s.”
Her mouth dropped open. “How come?”
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving you home alone. It might not be safe.”
“But I can’t go,” she argued. “I’m needed here to care for my dogs. Not to mention my job at Irene’s.”
“Martha can stay with us,” Grace was quick to say. “That way, you won’t have to worry about her being alone in the house, and she’ll be able to fulfill her responsibilities to Irene and still care for her dogs.”
Roman nodded. “That sounds fine to me.” He looked back at Martha. “You can go to the barn to do what you need to do with the dogs whenever Cleon’s around, but I don’t want you going there alone. And no going into the house while I’m gone, either. Is that clear?”
“Jah,” Martha said with a slow nod. He could tell by her frown that she wasn’t happy about it.
“When do you think you’ll be able to leave for Geauga County?” Grace asked.
He shrugged. “I’d like to head out tomorrow morning, but that will depend on whether Rosemary’s available to take us or not.”
“If she’s not, maybe you can hire Ray Larson to drive you and Mom up there,” Ruth suggested. “He’s driven you plenty of other places.”
“That’s true,” Roman said with a nod. “But Rosemary’s been wanting to see Walt and his family, so I think it would be best to wait until she’s free to drive us.”
“I have several errands I need to run in Millersburg, and I’ll probably be gone the rest of the day,” John said as he slung his jacket over his shoulder and headed for the door. “See if you can get those cabinets finished up while I’m gone, okay?”
Luke nodded. “Unless we get a bunch of customers, I should have them finished by closing time.”
“Great. See you tomorrow then.”
A short time later, the shop door opened, and in walked Rod and Tim, two of the English fellows Luke had been hanging out with for some time.
“What are you up to?” Tim asked, coming to stand near Luke.
“I’m trying to finish up a set of cabinets for my boss,” Luke replied.
Rod glanced around. “Where is your boss, anyway?”
“He had an appointment in Millersburg today.” Luke dipped his paintbrush into the can of stain. “So what are you two doing here?”
“Came by to see if you’d like to go to New Philly with us. There’s a new sports bar that just opened there, and we thought—”
Luke shook his head and pointed to the cabinets. “You’d better count me out. I’ve got work to do.”
Rod stuck his head close to Luke. “Since your boss ain’t here, then you oughta be able to take off a little early, don’t ya think?”
“Not if I want to keep my job.”
“Puh!” Tim grunted. “You’re such an old stick-in-the-mud these days. Haven’t wanted to do anything fun since you started hanging around that little gal who raises dogs.”
Luke grimaced. He’d never told Tim or Rod that he’d been seeing Martha.
“Don’t look so stunned.” Rod leaned over and rapped Luke on the head. “There isn’t much that goes on around here that me and Tim don’t know about.”
“Do you know that Martha’s folks had a brick thrown through their bedroom window the other night?” Luke asked pointedly.
Rod looked at Tim then back at Luke. “Nope. Never heard a thing.”
Luke spread some stain over one of the cabinet doors as he contemplated what to say next. If Rod and Tim were responsible for the attacks, they’d probably never admit it, but he felt that he needed to ask.
“I know you two have pulled a couple of pranks around here over the last few years,” he began. “I thought you might have had something to do with the brick that was thrown.”
Rod shook his head. “Nope. The only pranks we’ve been involved in were some outhouse tipping and vandalism at a few of the local schools. We’ve had nothing to do with what’s been done at the Hostettlers.’” He looked over at Tim. “Ain’t that right, Tim?”
Tim nodded. “We might like to have a little fun now and then, but we’re not stupid enough to single anyone out or do anything that might get the law on us.”
“The law could get on you for vandalism at the schools if they knew you were the ones who’d done it,” Luke reminded.
Rod squinted his dark eyes at Luke. “Who’s gonna tell—you?”
Luke shook his head.
Tim grunted and poked Rod’s arm. “Lay off Luke, would ya? He’s never given us any reason not to trust him, so don’t be accusing him now.”
Rod scowled at Tim. “I never said I didn’t trust him. Just wanted to know if he was planning to rat on us or not.”
“Doesn’t sound like he is to me.” Tim looked back at Luke. “Do you want to go to New Philly with us or not?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’d better not. Don’t want to risk getting my boss mad at me for sloughing off.”
Rod nudged Tim’s arm. “Let’s go then. We’re burning daylight.”
Tim nodded and headed across the room. “See you soon, Luke,” he called as they went out the door.
Luke grimaced. If Rod and Tim knew he’d been hanging around with them all this time just so he could find out if they were the ones responsible for the attacks, who knew what they might do?
I just don’t think either Rod or Tim has anything to do with those attacks, Luke thought as he continued his work. It’s got to be someone who has a grudge against someone in Martha’s family.
Luke sucked in his breath. An image of Toby flashed into his mind. He may not have any specific grudge against the Hostettlers, but he does have a grudge against me. I think I’ll go over to Toby’s house after I close the shop for the day and have a little talk with him. It’s time we get a few things straightened out between us. If Toby’s responsible for the attacks, maybe I can get him to admit what he’s done.