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“Sarah, kum.” Dan whispered to his sister. When she hesitated, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her with him out the front door. He managed to catch the screen door before it slammed shut and eased it closed without a sound. The last thing he wanted was to have them realize he and his sister were listening to the argument.
Once they were out of the yard, he let go of her. “We need to get away from the house and talk about a plan.”
“What kind of plan?”
“One that will help daed marry Ruby, that is what. Susan is after him.”
“After him! Is she going to hurt him?”
“Not really, but it will hurt all of us if she succeeds.”
“Oh my, she wants to marry him.”
“Yes, she most certainly does.” Dan nearly shouted out his answer, causing Sarah to take a step back. He let his head fall back on his shoulders and took a big breath to calm himself down. “I am sorry, sister, my anger took over.” He did not know where all this fury came from. One moment he was enjoying the fresh air he took into his lungs, and in the next breath, he heaved out black anger. Was this what being a teenager was all about?
“I can see it did. Are you feeling better now?”
“Jah, I am alright.”
Sarah reached out and took hold of his hand to help soothe him. He usually was the one calming her down, but not today. Their twin bond grew very strong when either of them acted out for any reason.
Dan looked at his sister and smiled, “I guess I got carried away.”
“It happens, though I do agree we need to figure out a plan for daed to marry the right lady.”
“Jah, and that would be Ruby Troyer.”
“Of course! She is the only one I want for a Maem. Say, Daniel—I mean Dan, did you start the water for the pumpkin patch?” Sarah laughed then said, “We had better go take care of Goliath. We can think of a plan as we walk there.”
“Sister, what do you think we should do?” The twins walked toward the back of the property where their pumpkin patch grew.
“Hmm, this will take some thinking, or we could just dig a big hole and let it swallow that crazy lady.”
Sarah stopped. “Daniel! What a horrible thing to say. What if daed heard you talking like that?”
“Well, don’t tell anyone. Especially if we hear someone else did just that. I think everyone wants Susan to disappear.”
After a couple of seconds, they both started laughing. Daniel tried to straighten up, but it proved difficult to do because he was laughing so hard. “How about we think of a plan, and we meet again to talk about our thoughts.”
“You water the pumpkin patch, and I will follow Susan today.” He stared at his sister as she took an exaggerated breath, very dramatically, as their Englisch friend, Carly, would say. “Good, I will seriously think of a plan.”
~*~
DAN WAITED FOR HIS sister, and he finally saw her come to the top of the hill road from the Bishop’s area. He waved with both arms above his head to signal her. She finally waved back, and he waited for her, pacing back and forth. Taking a deep breath, Dan tried to settle the butterflies in his stomach.
“I don’t know who named them butterflies, they seem worse, more like wasps.” He spoke under his breath.
“Wasps? Where are they, Dan?”
He jumped. His sister must have run down the hill because he had not heard her. “Nowhere. It is just my stomach.”
Sarah watched his stomach until she laughed at the face he made. “I do not think we are good spies.”
“We are not, but the need is there.”
“True.” Sarah bit at her bottom lip nervously. “I watched Susan pick a fight with the Bishop’s wife a little bit ago.”
“Did the bishop see it?”
“No, she waited until he went out to the barn. She is malicious in her ways, Dan.”
“She is sly like the fox that kept getting our chickens. Hey, where did you learn a big word like malicious?”
“If you paid attention in school instead of talking about getting together baseball games at recess, you would learn. But really, I heard Ruby use that word about Susan, so I remembered it.”
“I think we should stop following her.”
“I do not mind stopping since you want to help Daed with the harvest.”
Dan nodded. “If he will let me. Sometimes, I think he forgets we are getting older.”
They headed back toward their home. It was not unusual for them to be up early for chores, and Dan hoped no one suspected them of spying on Susan. They did not find out very much.
“I wish we could learn something bad about her that would make her go away,” Dan said.
“I know. I am not sure how, but we will work on it. We can not fail.”
He smiled at his sister when she put her mind on something she never quit. He always admired how she thought through things. Dan took hold of her hand, and they ran together toward home.
*~*
CARLY PAUSED FOR A moment, waiting to see if Sarah would come out of her hiding spot now that Susan was gone.
Something was up with the twins, and more than likely, their father and Ruby as well. Sarah appeared to be spying on Susan Lantz. Heck, anything to do with that Susan was wrong and she hated to think Sarah would get in trouble. The day Susan Lantz came into the store, Carly’s instincts started spinning. The detective, still inside her, refused to stay silent. Now that she knew Sarah, and possible her brother, were watching Susan, Carly needed to find out what would drive those two to act in such a non-Amish manner.
Carly must make time and visit with Ruby
The last few months, since opening her bakery, Carly hardly saw Ruby.
Pulling from her thoughts, she handed the girl from the mayor’s office a bag of muffins and then took the next customer’s order.
Learning all she could from the previous owner of the bakery certainly had paid off. Carly loved her business and creating new delights for her customers. She decided this week that she would close at one o’clock every weekday and three on Saturday. By the time the morning crowd cleared away, she didn’t have enough baked goods left to sell. Saturday was for the tourists as the office workers are not usually around.
She took a moment to look at the nearly empty trays. “Well, there is no reason for us to stay open longer.”
The store suddenly became silent.
“Well, that was quite a rush. We worked our butts off today!”
Carly jumped and her mouth opened in surprise. She’d forgotten Rachel was there. “Darn right we did, but Rachel you best not talk like an Englischer. If your parents ever heard you...”
The girl grinned back at her, and then they both started laughing.
Once they settled down, they began straightening up the place. Carly looked over at her. She hired Rachel because Ruby said the girl needed to work for her family. They were in the process of moving back into their old home, one that required a lot of work. It was a little farther than Anna’s farm, but still not a problem for Carly to pick her up in the mornings and then take her home after work. Closing earlier would help as well. Rachel prepared all the meals for her family.
“Rachel, make a bag up of the bread and muffins to take home.”
“Oh, thank you. My mamm loves your baking. Should I put the rest together for Hannah?”
“Jah, every room at the farm stay is full this week, so she will need all she gets.”
“What will we do with the leftovers once winter sets in?”
“Oh, I already have the school coming by to pick bread up for the children. Sometimes I see their lunch bags have very little in them to eat,”
“They will be so spoiled.”
“True, but in a good way.”
“Oh, Jah, it will be excellent.”
Carly knew once she opened the door at the school, she could never close it. She would add another tray of loaves for the school because so many of the children there need food. “You know, I was thinking, we should probably make smaller loaves for the children, the regular ones they can take home. We can sell them as well because there are a lot of single Englisch people that come here. I bet they would buy smaller ones.”
“I think you are right. Many of the Englishers stare at the loaves of bread but do not buy them.”
“Yes, I agree. Next week we will put the bread out and see what happens.”
“Good idea.”
Carly laughed at Rachel, knowing the girl was teasing her by using Englisch phrases. “I also thought the new item is going to be scones. They are easy to make, and we can put many different fruits and herbs in them.”
“You make me hungry.”
“Take a break and enjoy the cheese in the fridge.”
Carly admitted to herself that she could never handle the rush without the girl’s help. Their regular customers already called her by name. “For sure and certain, an excellent decision.”