Ephesians 6: 10 -13.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Beth, Isaac, and Rose were shocked by the death of Mr. Byler, and even more shocked that Kate had been the one to find him.
From what Kate could gather, there was no reason in the world for someone from the outside to attack him. He was hard working. He kept up his farm and helped out his neighbors whenever he could. He'd been there many times over the years for his community. From what it sounded like, he didn't have an enemy in the world. He hadn't even gone out into town in years, since his wife passed away.
There were no clues as to why anyone would want to kill him.
Beth was concerned that Kate had already had another shock after her supposed buggy accident, and also upset that Kate had to be interviewed by detectives who had come to the Kauffman farm to interview her.
Kate, of course, was not intimidated by detectives, but she had been worried that they wouldn’t swallow her story and would find it suspicious that an Amish girl could so easily fight off an armed attacker. However, it had all gone more smoothly than she could have imagined. The detectives seemed more interested in her description of the perpetrator than in what Kate had done to get rid of him.
This morning, Rose was driving into town to deliver her sewing to an Amish store. Rose took in all kinds of sewing, and was paid well. The women chatted happily on the way, although Kate had to keep up her guard. It was hard to be friends with someone when you couldn’t tell them anything about yourself.
Rose drove the buggy into an Amish parking lot, and the two girls got out of the buggy. Rose tied up her horse, and then turned to Kate. “I could be a while; is there somewhere you want to go?
Kate knew where she wanted to go; she just didn’t know how to get there.
“Yes,” she said. “Where’s the police station?”
Rose raised her eyebrows and looked as if she were about to say something, but didn’t. She simply shrugged and drew Kate a little map on a sliver of paper, and Kate consulted it as she walked through the closely packed streets of the tiny, unfamiliar town. The police station was a two story building which took up half a block. The other half of the block gave way to a parking lot, ringed by a chain link fence, and with quite a few black and white squad cars sitting in it.
The front door was all glass, and Kate pushed through it and found herself in a small waiting room, with a long desk before her. A man in a police uniform was sitting behind the desk. She made her way up to him, waited for him to stop typing on his computer before she spoke.
“I was wondering if you could help me.”
“Well, I sure can try, Miss,” the man said with a smile. He was forty or so.
“I need to speak with someone about the murder of Joseph Byler.”
“Do you have some information?” the man said.
“Not exactly,” Kate said, shaking her head softly. “I need some information.”
“What do you mean?” the cop asked, his head tilting to the side.
“I just needed to know a little bit about the deceased. I was just wondering if there were any leads.”
The cop laughed, and then looked at Kate, and then he laughed again. “You aren’t serious, are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I know there’s, uh, some things you may not know, about how, well, our world works, but I can’t just give you information about a crime we’re working, you know?”
Kate felt her face flush, and she quickly swallowed down her anger. She had to remind herself that she was a nice Amish woman. Still, the man had gone from kind and helpful to mocking in no time at all, and Kate found herself wondering if all Amish people were treated this way. If they were, it was maddening, and she didn’t know how they put up with it.
“I found the body,” Kate said, trying one last time.
“Oh, that was you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“What about the officers who came? They know me; can I speak with them?”
The man behind the desk sighed, and he leaned forward. “Listen, lady, I’m sorry for what you saw, I really am. Not everyone is made out for that type of thing. But let us handle it, okay? We’ll take it from here, and we’ll find who killed your friend. We don’t need your help, and honestly, I doubt you’d be much help to us anyway. So just go home, sit tight, and I promise, I’ll make sure we get news to you.”
Kate was steaming, and she turned quickly and marched out of the police station. The man was so dismissive of her. And he had promised to get back to her? He hadn’t even taken down her name. Kate felt helpless.
Kate decided to walk back to the buggy and wait for Rose to return, but Rose was already there, standing next to the buggy and talking to a young man. When Kate approached, the two stopped talking, and both looked awkward.
“Hiya, Katie, this is Samuel Esch. Samuel, this is Katie Lambright.”
Kate smiled to herself. Of course, he was Samuel, the young man Rose had a crush on. “Hello, Samuel.” Kate turned to Rose. “Rose, do you mind waiting for me, please? I have something else to do. It’ll be at least thirty minutes.”
Rose smiled. “Jah, that will be fine.”
Kate nodded to Samuel and then walked away. Now what to do? Her plan to give the two time together had left her at a loose end. She stole a glance over her shoulder and saw the two chatting happily away. Well, it would be worth it. Samuel seemed just as shy as Rose, and it was obvious he was interested in her. They’re both just too shy for their own good, Kate thought.
Kate had no idea how to kill time, so decided to go for a brisk walk. After all, she was certain that, despite the hard farm work, she was putting on some weight with eating so much good, Amish food. As she was pretending to be Amish, she could hardly go for a morning five mile run as had been her habit. Kate figured the walk would do her good.
After walking around aimlessly for some time, Kate returned to the buggy parking lot. If Samuel had still been talking to Rose, she would have headed back the other way to give them more time, but as it was, there was no sign of Samuel at all.
“Denki for that, Katie,” Rose said as soon as she approached.
Kate noted that Rosie’s cheeks were flushed. “I wanted to give you some time alone. How did it go?”
Rose blushed furiously. “Sorry you had to go for a walk,” she said, ignoring the other part of Kate’s question. She got into the buggy, and Kate followed her. Rose clicked along the horse, and soon they were trotting down the road.
“That’s fine,” Kate said, patting her stomach. “I’ve put on some weight, so I needed to work it off.”
Rose chuckled. “Nee, you’re fine, Katie. It’s the outside of a person that Gott looks at.”
“I wasn’t thinking about Gott,” Kate said without thinking.
“Oh, you were thinking about menner!” Rose replied as quick as a flash. “A mann should only care about your inside person too. What if you were very pretty on the outside, and uncaring on the inside; then what would happen?”
“I’ve actually never thought about it that way,” Kate said truthfully. “Anyway, you haven’t told me what happened with Samuel. He really seems to like you.”
Rose shook her head. “Nee, I don’t think he does. He’s never asked me on a buggy ride, and if he liked me, he would. Why, there was even a Singing the other week, and he didn’t even offer to drive me home from that.”
Kate thought it over. It was obvious to her that Samuel was attracted to Rose. “Perhaps he’s very shy; could that be it?”
“I suppose,” Rose said. “I just don’t know.”
“Why don’t you ask him on a buggy ride?”
Rose looked at Kate, shocked, and then she burst into peals of laughter. “Oh, Katie, you are just too funny.”
I wouldn’t ask Officer Weaver out on a date, either, Kate thought, even though I’m an Englischer, and it’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Kate suddenly frowned. Why I am thinking about him in that way?