Tuesday, December 19
A lot of unexpected things had happened in his life, but Neil couldn’t ever remember anyone telling him something so outlandish that it took his breath away.
“Are you serious?” he asked.
She was standing so rigid and stiff. So tightly wound up, he could practically see the tension emanating from her. A breeze blew through, pulling up the edge of her cloak to reveal a bright-blue wool dress. That dress, combined with her robin’s-egg-blue knit scarf and matching gloves, made him think of the blue jays that often nested in the woods. So bright and cheerful, yet so wary of everything and everyone around them.
It was hard not to smile at her—both because of her looks, which were so cute, and her words, which were completely ridiculous.
Her green eyes flashed in annoyance. “Of course I’m serious. Why would I ever joke about something like this?”
He was thinking that maybe the question should be more along the lines of why would anyone assume they were being shot at. It was quite a stretch to imagine such a thing. “I’m sure no one was shooting at you, Susanna.”
“No, you don’t understand. I heard gunshots.”
“I’m sure you did,” he allowed. “But someone was probably hunting in the woods nearby. I don’t know how things were in Ohio, but here, a lot of men go out hunting the day after Thanksgiving. It’s tradition.”
The muscles in her throat tightened as it became obvious that she was trying to hold her temper. “I know about hunting season, Neil. Actually, I thought it was just some hunters at first. But then the shots were fired closer.”
He bet she just thought they sounded that way. “Sometimes, the wind can—”
“Nee.” She shook her head. “Someone tried to shoot my buggy. They were aiming for me. On purpose.”
She was getting worked up. She really believed it. Though he didn’t know her hardly at all, even he could sense that she wasn’t the type of girl who enjoyed lots of dramatics.
Deciding to take another approach, he said, “I was right there after you wrecked. I didn’t see anyone lurking about.” He remembered something then. “I was even kind of surprised that no one came over to check on us. Those hunters had to have been nearby.”
Susanna stared at him a moment, obviously searching his face to see if he was being honest or patronizing. Finally, she sighed. “It’s okay if you don’t believe me. I know what I heard. I know what happened.”
“Did you ever talk to the sheriff about that?”
For the first time, doubt filled her eyes. “Nee. I feared the officers would do what you are doing now.”
“Which is?”
“Trying not to laugh.”
That sobered him right up. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you feel bad, but I do think you might have let your imagination run away with you.”
“Neil, like I said before, this isn’t really any of your concern. I didn’t ask you to meet me here and I really didn’t ask you to help me. Why don’t you go on your way now.”
He couldn’t believe how stubborn she was! “You are still going to do your bridge inspection?”
“I came here to do that. Of course I am.” She gave him a little sarcastic wave with one gloved hand. “Thank you for your interest, but there’s no need to stay. Hope you have a nice day.”
There was no way he was going to wander off while she walked and climbed around on a rickety bridge by herself. “I’ll help you. Stay here. I’ll get on the broken bridge and let you know what I see.”
“There is no need, Neil. I can do this.” Her chin rose a fraction. “Besides, you may not even know what I am looking for.”
His amusement about the situation was fast rolling into exasperation. “I promise that I’ll let you know if I see anything fishy.”
“Fishy?” Her eyes narrowed. “Is that some kind of pun?”
“Nee.” Unable to resist, he winked. “It was a good one, though. Jah?”
It looked like it was taking everything she had to fight a reluctant smile. But in the end, the smile won. “Maybe,” she said at last.
When their eyes met again, there was something new between them. Not friendship, not exactly. Yet. But it was a new type of connection. A bond. Maybe a new understanding of each other, perhaps?
Or, maybe, just maybe, a hint of attraction lay between them now. With a start, he realized that was what he was feeling. “Susanna, I’m not going to let you get on that bridge.”
“If Traci was your little sister, you would do the same thing.”
“I agree . . . but I must warn you that you have probably let your imagination get the best of you. Traci likely stepped on a broken board. No one would come on the property to sabotage things. You are probably wrong.”
Just like he’d set a match, her temper flared. “Don’t you understand, Neil? That is the point! I want to be wrong. I don’t want someone to hurt me or my sisters. All my family wanted to do when we moved out here was have what we’d always dreamed of having. A farm. Space. Rooms of our own. But everyone seems to think that was sinful of us.”
“It wasn’t sinful.”
She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Now things are happening that feel deliberate. If someone is targeting us, wanting us to leave, I need to know.”
“I understand.”
“Do you? My little sister could have really been hurt. I can’t ignore that. I don’t want it to happen again. That is why I have to check.”
Everything she said made sense. He wondered if she could be right. And, he wondered if his family’s attitude had encouraged others to go out of their way to hurt the Schwartz family. Had their selfishness and pity party encouraged others to deliberately hurt them?
“You know what? I’m sorry for arguing with you. You are right. If I had a family member who said she thought there was something suspicious about the board breaking, I would have come out here, too. It’s also your right. It’s your bridge.”
She exhaled. “All right, then.”
“Let me go, though. You stand on the side. I promise I’ll look carefully.”
At last she nodded.
Feeling like he’d just won a battle he hadn’t planned on fighting, he got on the bridge.
“Careful. It’s icy!” she warned, though she knew she sounded like a fool.
He ignored her and decided to get on his knees so he could look at the boards from close up.
He’d been on this bridge hundreds of times. When he’d been a little boy, he’d played pirate ship and all kinds of things on it. Later, he’d helped rebuild it. Then, of course, there were all the times he’d run over it full tilt, trying to get home in time for supper.
As he slowly crawled his way toward the center, he heard unfamiliar creaking and groaning. The boards were giving under his weight. Protesting it.
That had never happened before.
He stopped when he was close to the broken board. Taking care to keep as much of his weight on the other boards, he leaned closer. Took hold of the board that was broken in half. One half had fallen into the creek. But this side?
He had a clear view of how it had been broken.
He ran a finger over the break. Firmly anticipating seeing that it would be all splintered. But instead, about half of it had been sawed through.
Sawed.
Susanna was right. Someone had intended for a member of the Schwartz family to fall. Maybe to get hurt.
A knot formed in his stomach as he started imagining who could have done such a thing.