The sky was dark and overcast, a mixture of black and gray. The moon was a thin sliver, cold glowing gray whenever the clouds moved long enough for it to be seen, before more thick clouds slid in front of it again. Martha could see her breath as she hurried from the back door of the B&B for her cabin. She had one foot on the first step when she paused. She turned her head, trying to place what she had seen that made her feel so uncomfortable.
There, off in the distance, near the old wooden fence which ran all around the many acres of land on which the B&B sat, was a dark shadow, unmistakably the shape of a pickup truck. Martha thought for a moment, trying to remember the lay of the land out that way.
There was an old dirt path there, that ran along that section of fence from the paved road which stretched in front of Eden. Who could be parked there, and why? Martha didn’t know what time it was exactly, but it had to be past nine.
Martha took her foot off the step and turned, intending to go inside and tell Miriam. She paused again halfway across the yard. Miriam was so tired from running the B&B, that surely Martha didn’t need to bother her over something that was probably a whole lot of nothing.
Martha, you’re a big girl, you can take care of yourself, she told herself silently. The idea of going across the wide lawn, more landscape than lawn actually, scared her, but at the same time, it thrilled her. Some local had just had car trouble probably. That’s all it would be. And if not… well, Martha would be careful. She should check it out before she went and bothered Miriam in any case.
Martha made up her mind and turned again, this time marching for the fence, and the truck beyond. It was a bit of a trek, and the further away from Eden and her small cabin she got, the more uneven the ground became. The grass here was high as well, forcing Martha to grip her long skirt in her hands and hike it up a few inches while she stepped high, lest she be caught up on thick tufts of grass.
As she finally neared the fence, she ducked down and paused. There was a large bush here, and she positioned herself behind it as she peered at the truck. She was less than fifty yards away, and she could make out the features of the seemingly empty vehicle.
It was a dull red color, though the paint was faded or chipped away altogether in many spots. It was older, though Martha didn’t possess enough information on cars and trucks to take a guess as to how old. It was beaten up and worn, and it looked like a lot of the trucks used by the Englischers in those parts - farm trucks, used for work, not just for transportation. The wheels were dusty, and mud, long since dried, had been thrown up along the side of the truck.
Both the driver’s side window and the passenger window were rolled up, leaving the silver sliver in the sky to gleam across it whenever it managed to peek out from the clouds. Martha didn’t see anyone around the truck, and she was unsure of what to do next. She decided maybe she could take note of the license plate. Maybe she could call the sheriff from the phone in the barn. She didn’t know if it was against the law to park your truck on someone else’s property, but she was certainly beginning to feel uneasy about the truck, especially after what had so recently happened to the door.
And so forward she went, picking her way over the last of the long spots of grass, coming to the fence and pausing for a moment before nimbly making her way over it. She was ten yards or so down from the truck, and she kept on going forward until she could just read the numbers on the plate.
The truck was off, no engine noise, no lights. She started to memorize the numbers and letters when a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. Martha screamed out into the chill night air, and then she whipped around. She found herself face to face with James.
“What are you doing?” Martha asked in a shrill voice. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, and she fought to catch her breath.
“What do you mean?”
“You snuck up on me!” Martha said, a hand on her chest as she still fought to regain composure.
“Well, you sort of snuck up on me too,” James said, not bothering to hide his grin.
“That’s different!” Martha said. “I live here.”
“I know, I know,” James said, holding up his hands in a show of surrender. “You’re right.”
“Do you know who owns this truck?”
“No,” James said with a shrug. “Jonas and I were just worried about you, and Miriam. I thought I would come out and take a look around, and maybe keep an eye on you both. I saw this truck, so came over to investigate.”
Martha didn’t know what to think about all of that.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said finally.
“I feel like I do. I want you two to be safe.”
“Why wouldn’t we be safe?”
“I don’t know,” James said. “With all the trouble Miriam’s had since she moved in here and now the door, it seems like someone wants her to close the B&B.”
Martha smiled. “Really, thank you for coming here, but you don’t have to stay out all night.”
“I just want to make sure you’re okay. Is that so bad?”
Martha was glad it was dark out, as she felt herself blush. “No, it’s not so bad.”
“All right then. I can walk you back home.”
Martha bit her lip. A man, walking her home so late, the two of them alone? Even standing out here by the truck and speaking, she wondered what her father would think.
“No, I can get back,” she said.
“All right, good night, Martha,” James said. “I’ll call the sheriff from your barn, if I may. This truck shouldn’t be out here.”
“Denki. Good night,” Martha said, and she turned and made her way back to her cabin. She resisted the urge to look back after every few steps she took. She knew James was still there, watching her. She hurried to her cabin and went inside, and then prepared herself for bed. As she lay in her bed, staring up through the dark to the ceiling, she found herself thankful that James was out there, keeping an eye on everything. It really did make her feel safer.
She wondered if what he said was true. Was she unsafe? It sure felt that way since leaving home and coming to work at Eden. Gott had a plan for her, as he did for everyone. Martha just didn’t know how much trouble was going to be thrown at her before all was said and done. Still, Gott knew, and that was all that mattered. Slowly, the young woman drifted to sleep.