Are you sure it’s going to work out for you to stay here?” Rosemary asked as she pulled along the shoulder of the road several feet from Roman’s driveway.
Roman nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
“Does Cleon know what you’re planning to do?” she asked.
He nodded. “He’s agreed to keep quiet about it.”
“What if something happens while you’re asleep?”
“I’ll stay awake at night and try to sleep during the day. Cleon will be at the shop in the barn most of the day. I doubt anyone would be dumb enough to come around then, anyway.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Rosemary leaned across the seat and gave him a hug. “Please be careful, and if you need anything, I’m only a phone call away.”
“I’ll remember that. Thanks for driving me and Judith up to Walt’s place. I feel a lot better knowing I’ve left her in good hands.”
“You’re welcome.”
Roman opened the car door and stepped into the night. As Rosemary drove away, he sent up a silent prayer. Lord, please help Judith get better soon, and help me to find out who’s behind the attacks.
Luke pulled his truck off the road and parked it behind a clump of bushes about a quarter of a mile from the Hostettlers’ place. He didn’t dare drive it onto their property and give away the fact that he was there.
He reached under the seat and grabbed a flashlight. “Oh no,” he groaned. “I forgot to bring that mattress with me.”
Luke hesitated, wondering if he should go back to John’s shop and get the mattress. He decided it would take too much time. It was dark, and he needed to get to the barn and keep watch as soon as possible.
“I guess one more night on a bed of straw won’t kill me,” he muttered as he started in the direction of the Hostettlers’, being careful to stay hidden behind the trees. Some time later, he came to their driveway, but rather than walking up it, he stayed off to one side where a hedge of bushes grew.
He continued his walk up the driveway until he came to the barn; then he slipped his hand into his pants pocket and withdrew the key Martha had given him that morning. He’d just unlocked the padlock on the door, when he heard a noise. It sounded like a door had slammed up at Roman’s house. But how could that be? No one was supposed to be at home there.
Swish! Luke jumped when an owl flew past his head, and he dropped the key.
Thump … thump … thump … Another noise came from the house, and he whirled in that direction.
I’d better check things out before I get settled in the barn.
Using only the light of the moon, Luke crept along the edge of the lawn. He was almost to the house when he felt someone’s hand touch his shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Luke’s mouth went dry as he whirled around. Holding the flashlight in front of him, he directed the beam of light at the man who’d startled him. “Roman! What are you doing here? I thought you’d taken Judith to Geauga County.”
“I did take her, but I came back so I could keep an eye on my place.” Roman’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Luke. “What I’d like to know is what you’re doing on my property in the middle of the night.” A muscle on the side of Roman’s neck quivered as he held his hand in front of his face. “For heaven’s sake, put that flashlight down! You’re gonna blind me with it!”
“Sorry,” Luke mumbled as he lowered the flashlight.
“You came here to do another act of vandalism, didn’t you?”
“No, I—”
“I’ll just bet you didn’t. What other reason would you have for sneaking around my place in the dark?”
“I was heading for the barn so I could—”
“What? Do something to one of the animals there?”
Luke opened his mouth to reply, but Roman rushed on. “I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to deal with these attacks by choosing to look the other way, but I’ve come to the conclusion that there are times when God expects people to put feet to their prayers.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, I left Judith in Geauga County and came back home so I could keep an eye on our place and hopefully catch whoever’s been doing the attacks to us.” Roman leaned so close that Luke could feel his hot breath blowing on his neck. “It looks like the Lord’s finally answered my prayers and has helped me learn who the culprit is.” He grabbed Luke’s arm before Luke could offer a word in his own defense. “You’re comin’ with me.”
“To where?”
“To the phone shed. I’m calling the sheriff to let him know I caught you trespassing on my property in the middle of the night. I’m going to tell him that I think you were about to commit another act of vandalism.”
Luke shook his head. “No, that’s not why I’m here. I—” He glanced around nervously, hoping no one had seen the two of them out here. If the attacker had decided to strike again and had found them standing out here on the lawn, he’d be long gone.
“Look,” Luke said in the calmest voice he could muster, “why don’t the two of us go into your house and talk things through? If you’d just give me a chance to explain things to you—”
“You can explain it to the sheriff!”
“I’ll tell you what. If you promise to hear me out, and then if you decide I’m still the guilty party, I’ll phone the sheriff myself.”
“Fine then.” Holding onto Luke’s arm, Roman led the way to his house. Once they were in kitchen, he turned to Luke and said, “All right now, let’s hear your story.”
Luke took a seat at the kitchen table and proceeded to tell Roman how for the last several months he and Martha had been trying to find out who was responsible for the attacks. He ended by saying that he’d spent last night in Roman’s barn and had planned to sleep there again tonight, hoping the attacker would show up so he could catch him in the act of committing another crime.
“That’s some story you told.”
The room was dark so Luke couldn’t see Roman’s face clearly, but he knew from the tone of Roman’s voice that he didn’t believe him.
“It’s the truth; just ask Martha if you don’t believe me.”
“I’m not asking my daughter anything that has to do with you.” Roman grunted. “Besides, I told her to stay away from you some time ago, and I don’t think she’d go against my wishes.”
“She didn’t deliberately go against your wishes, but she wants these attacks to come to an end as much as I do.”
“As much as you do? What reason would you have for wanting the attacks to end?”
“Because I’m in love with Martha, and she loves me. I’d like your permission to court her.”
“That will never happen!”
Luke swallowed around the lump in his throat. This wasn’t going well, and if he couldn’t convince Roman that he and Martha had been working together and that he wasn’t the one responsible for the attacks, he’d probably be heading for jail before the night was over.
“If Martha and I aren’t working together, then why’d she give me this?” Luke reached into his pocket to retrieve the key Martha had given him but found it empty. That’s when he remembered that he’d dropped the key by the barn.
“What’s in your pocket?”
“Nothing. I mean, I did have a key to your barn, but I dropped it.”
“How’d you get a key to unlock my barn?”
“Martha gave it to me so I could get inside to spend the night.”
“I don’t think my daughter would be dumb enough to give anyone outside of our family a key to my barn.”
“She did give me the key. Let’s go to the barn now, and I’ll look for it.”
“I think you’re trying to pull a fast one; that’s what I think.”
“No, I’m not. Please, let’s go to the barn.”
“Give me a few minutes to think about this some more.”
Martha woke up in a cold sweat. She’d been dreaming that someone had broken into the barn, taken the wrench and glove she’d hidden in the hayloft, and had set the barn on fire. What if it was true? What if—
She threw the covers aside, jumped out of bed, and raced to the window. From the second floor guest room at Grace’s house, she could only see the top of Dad’s barn. No smoke or flames shot out from it.
Martha leaned against the window ledge. That dream had been so real. She drew in a deep breath and tried to relax. What she needed most was some assurance that she was doing the right thing in trying to solve the mystery of the attacks.
Last night, before Martha had gone to bed, Grace had told her that the sheriff had stopped by that day and said he thought he might know who was responsible for the attacks and that he’d let them know more when he could.
Martha shuddered as a new realization hit her. If the sheriff thought he was getting close to catching the one responsible, then he couldn’t be the culprit.
She turned on the battery-operated lamp by her bed and picked up the Bible lying on the nightstand. How long had it been since she’d read God’s Word and sought guidance from Him?
She opened the Bible to Proverbs, one of her favorite books. Her gaze went to the third chapter, verses 5 and 6. She read the passage out loud. “‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.’”
“I haven’t been doing that, Lord,” she murmured. “I’ve been trying to take matters into my own hands and haven’t trusted You to direct my paths. Maybe what I need to do is go out to the barn, get the evidence I have hidden in the hayloft, and take it to the sheriff in the morning.”
Martha removed her nightgown, put on a dress, slipped into her sneakers, and tied a black scarf over her head. If Luke was in the barn, as he said he would be, she wanted to explain to him her decision to turn over the evidence to the sheriff.
With that settled in her mind, she grabbed the flashlight from her nightstand and tiptoed out of the room so she wouldn’t wake Cleon, Grace, or the children.
Downstairs, she slipped quietly out the back door and hurried into the night air.
She found the barn unlocked and figured Luke must be inside, but when she stepped through the doorway, a sudden chill shot up her spine. She thought about that morning several months ago when she’d been doused with white paint because someone had rigged a bucket of paint above the door. Instinctively, she looked up. There was nothing.
I’m just being paranoid, she told herself. Everything’s fine. ‘Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord,’ she quoted from Psalm 31:24. It was a verse she’d learned as a child.
“Luke, are you awake?” she called, shining her flashlight toward the hayloft.
Woof! Woof!
“Quiet, Heidi; it’s only me.” Martha recognized her female sheltie’s bark and figured she must have taken the dog by surprise when she’d entered the barn.
Holding the flashlight in front of her, she moved toward the back of the barn where the kennels were located. Heidi wagged her tail when she saw Martha, and Martha was glad to see that everything was okay. She just needed to talk to Luke and get the evidence she’d hidden under the mound of hay in the loft.
She reached through the wire fence and patted the top of the dog’s head. “Go back to sleep, girl. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Martha made her way to the ladder leading to the hayloft and climbed up. “Luke, are you up here?”
No response.
She shinned the light around but saw no sign of him. I wonder where he could be? Maybe he’s in one of the empty stalls.
She dug through the mound of hay, opened the box, and picked up the wrench and glove.
Thump! Thump!
“Luke, is that you?”
No response.
There was a muffled grunt, and then an arm reached out and grabbed her around the waist. “Luke, I—”
Slap!
Martha gasped as a hand connected to her face. She dropped the glove, but her fingers tightened around the wrench.
“You’re gonna pay for every year I suffered. You and your family are gonna pay!”
Martha swallowed against the bitter taste of bile rising in her throat. Even without seeing the man’s face, she knew who it was.