Stephen strode into the café near three. “Hey, good news, Eva. You may borrow the buggy. But Glenn would feel more comfortable if you demonstrated your abilities to me first.”
“Okay, I’ll take you for a ride. We can both look for Heath for an hour or so.”
Beatrice closed in on us like a vulture. “I was planning to invite Eva over to dinner again. Ham and scalloped potatoes. Too much food for me to eat all by myself.”
“Does that invitation include me?” Stephen’s voice sounded jovial, as if restraining laughter.
“I was thinking just the two of us,” she said.
“I understand.” He gave me a wink. “Eva, do you still have time to hitch up the buggy? We could do it another day if you’d prefer.”
“Ach, I want to meet Autumn today.” I pivoted toward Beatrice. “Thank you for your kind invitation. How about tomorrow night?”
Beatrice’s features hardened. “I’ll have to wait and see.”
Stephen and I walked around a greenhouse and into the small barn next to a chicken coop. He opened the barn’s wide door to expose a gray buggy and an automobile, much to my surprise. Not that I assumed the Yoders didn’t drive vehicles. Both of them must.
Stephen called Autumn, who trotted right over to him. I pulled a carrot I’d pilfered from the kitchen out of a pocket in my apron and gave it to the mare. She nibbled it and then swallowed the rest.
“Oh, you are a pretty girl. And you seem friendly too. Gut.”
Stephen pulled Glenn’s gray buggy out of the small barn, and I hitched up the docile mare. So far, so good.
“She’s gorgeous.” Getting to know her, I stroked the roan mare’s neck. “She needs grooming.”
“After our ride. We’d better head out while there’s daylight.” Stephen beckoned me to get in and handed me the reins. As I climbed aboard, he jogged around to the passenger side. I realized he was testing my competence. If I couldn’t climb in the buggy by myself, how would I manage?
At an easy pace, I navigated the buggy through farmland, passing homes, farms, and silos. Both Stephen and I called Heath’s name and stopped several times to ask farmers and children if they’d seen the dog. After an hour, Stephen suggested we turn around.
A few blocks from the nursery I heard barking. “Wait. I hear a dog.”
Stephen pointed. “There he is, tied to that porch. What the—”
“Wunderbaar! ” I noticed a change in me. I’d never expected to be elated to see a dog, especially such a large and energetic one covered with mud.
“Pull into the driveway, Eva.” The moment we stopped, Stephen vaulted out of the buggy and ran over to Heath, who seemed ecstatic, his tail wagging.
A middle-aged Englisch man dressed in jeans and mud-spattered work boots rounded the house, carrying a shotgun. “Hey, what you doing with that dog?”
Without hesitation, Stephen lumbered toward the man and said, “I could ask you the same question.”
“That mutt killed one of my lambs.” The man raised the rifle’s barrel a few inches. “I should have shot it.”
“I don’t believe you.” Stephen moved closer to the man. “Heath wouldn’t hurt a flea.”
“Tell that to my dead lamb.” The man lifted the gun a few more inches. “Get off my property, and don’t come back unless you have the cash to pay for my dead animal.” The man lunged forward and poked Stephen’s chest with the shotgun’s muzzle. “Now, leave. You’re trespassing.”
Stephen held his ground. “I will as soon as you give me Heath.” At the sound of his name, the dog started barking and yanking on the rope.
The Englischer’s face turned beet red. “He’s my dog. His name is… Duke.”
“Since when?” Stephen asked, a hand on one hip.
“Since I bought him as a pup.” The Englischer poked Stephen again, but this time Stephen grabbed hold of the gun’s muzzle, twisted it out of the man’s hand, and flung it several yards away. The two men wrestled. Stephen maneuvered the man into a choke hold and held him like a vise. I’d never seen grown men fight. The Amish are nonresistant, a click beyond pacifists, who might march in a demonstration. Weren’t Mennonites nonresistant too?
Half of me was terrified. The other half was fascinated.
Heath bared his teeth, his hackles raised. While the man struggled to get free, I ran over and untied the dog. Tail waving, Heath charged over to Stephen.
“Hey, stop that.” The man grabbed for Heath. The dog sprang up and nipped him on the arm. “Ow!” The man’s face contorted. “You’ve turned my own dog against me. I ought to call the police.”
“You sure you want to do that? You would be charged with theft. This dog belongs to Glenn Yoder.”
“Then what was he doing on my property in the middle of the night? He killed one of my lambs. Do you understand? My flock is my livelihood.”
My heart was beating triple time. Ach, everything was happening so quickly that I’d forgotten to tether Autumn, who was grazing on weeds and grasses at the side of the road. I hurried over to her and grabbed the reins. Heath bounded after me and licked my hand. Then he jumped into the buggy.
The Englisch man shook his fist as Stephen backstepped toward the buggy.
“That dog bit me and killed one of my lambs. I’m calling animal control and the police.”
The man trailed Stephen, who seemed unfazed.
Stephen came to a halt. “Where’s your proof he killed the lamb? In fact, where is this dead animal?”
“You insinuating I’m lying?” He balled his fist.
Stephen seemed to grow in stature. He glanced my way. “You still driving, Eva? Better get in the buggy.”
“Yah, but I wish we had your pickup to rely on.” My face must have been white, drained of blood.
“You want me to drive?”
“Nee, I can manage.” My hands shook as I hoisted myself into the buggy.
“Let’s get out of here before that guy really goes ballistic.” Stephen climbed in next to Heath. “One thing for sure, Eva. I can safely tell Glenn you know how to drive a buggy.”
“But I forgot to tether Autumn.”
“When you meet Glenn, you are welcome to relate that tidbit, but as far as I’m concerned, you did the best you could under the circumstances. He will be delighted to get his dog back.”
As I steered Autumn toward the nursery, Stephen wrapped his left arm over the dog’s back. “I wonder what brought him down here to begin with.”
The same thought was weaving through my mind. “Do you think that man snuck into the café last night?”
“I can’t imagine why he would. Unless he bears a grudge against Glenn for some reason.”
“If he did, where did he get a key?” I looked out the back window to make sure he wasn’t following us in a car or truck.
“That’s a missing piece of the puzzle. In any case, I don’t want to tangle with him again.”
“He could have hurt you. I’m thankful you and Heath are okay.” I wanted to ask Stephen where he’d learned to fight so well, but he answered before I could speak.
“I grew up in foster care and on the streets in Philly until age thirteen. Then a Mennonite couple adopted me and brought me to New Holland.”
“How about your parents?”
“My mother told me she didn’t know who my father was. A one-night stand, and she never got his name or saw him again.”
“Where does she live?”
“In the state penitentiary. I tried visiting her a few times, but it was no good. She wants nothing to do with me. I consider my adoptive parents my real parents.” He swiped his mouth. “I bet they would not have approved of that tussle I just had.”
“Yah, I suspect not if they’re Mennonite. But he could have killed you.”
He stroked Heath. “I never thought I’d have to defend myself again.”
I noticed a buggy approaching, pulled by a black horse resembling Jake’s father’s standardbred. The driver, his chin cleanly shaven, wore a baseball hat and sat next to a young Englisch woman. As we neared, I pulled the reins to slow Autumn and take a good look at the driver. Was it Jake, or was my imagination tricking me?
As we passed each other, his gaze locked onto mine. Then, in an instant, he was gone.