I wouldn’t call the place in front of Appleseed Pond a parking lot. More like a muddy field. The Bug bumped along the uneven, half-frozen ground. I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter with each thump. The little car wasn’t built for this type of terrain. As I climbed out of the car, there wasn’t a soul around.
A twig snapped to my left and Abby stepped out from behind a tree. “I’m glad you came.”
“Why couldn’t you talk to me back at my house?”
“No one can see us together,” she whispered. “It could be dangerous.”
“Dangerous? Why?”
She didn’t answer.
“Does this have something to do with the haircutting? With your uncle Ezekiel?”
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I don’t know anything about Ezekiel,” she said in a rush. “I don’t.”
I opened my mouth again.
“Follow me. The pond is only a half mile in. It’s beautiful this time of year and frozen over. We are too close to the road here. Someone will see.”
I waved my hand. “Lead the way.”
We walked for several yards in silence. Only the crunching sounds of our boots on the ground and the twittering of birds that didn’t bother to fly south for the winter disturbed the quiet.
“I’m sorry we had to meet like this. Between the farm and stocking at The Apple Core, I have very little time to myself.”
“Are you still stocking for Christmas at the shop?”
“Yes. Leah expects better sales this year and ordered extra of everything. She, Debbie, and I will finish tomorrow morning before the shop opens. I’ll be happy when it’s done. I’m more comfortable on the farm.”
I cleared my throat. “Abby, why did you want to talk to me?”
“I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” She stopped in the middle of the path. “Can you stop it?”
“Can you tell me something that will help me stop it?” I plucked a dead leaf from a tree.
She turned away from me, her face hidden by the edge of her bonnet. I wondered if Amish women really wore bonnets for modesty or as a way to conceal their feelings from the rest of the world. “Things went too far. This wasn’t what we wanted.”
“Things? What things? What do you mean ‘we’? You, Leah, and Debbie?
Before she answered, Appleseed Pond came into view at four times the size of Archer Pond on Harshberger’s campus, which was inappropriately named Archer Lake. About a quarter mile across, it appeared frozen solid. Instead of floating in its chilly water, Canadian geese waddled across its glassy surface, squawking at each other as they went. The dead stems of reeds and cattails circumnavigated the edge. Leafless willow tree branches dipped into the pond and froze into their prayerful positions.
A doe ate grass poking up through the snow on the other side of the pond. Her head popped up as we drew closer to the water. She turned and fled into the woods with her white tail upright in retreat, and I turned to Abby. “How did I not know this was here? It’s beautiful.”
For the first time since I’d met her, Abby gave me the smallest of smiles. “It’s one of the best kept secrets in the county. Most Englischers don’t know about it because it’s on Amish land, and they don’t pay attention to anything they can’t see from their cars. Courting couples in the district have skating parties here in the winter and picnics in the summer. At least they did before.”
“Before what?”
She raised the hood of her cloak over her bonnet. “Before we got a new bishop.”
“It seems like few in the community are happy with Bishop Hooley.” I dropped my leaf and it slid onto the frozen ground. A chickadee clung to one of the willow branches with his talons, choosing to hop up its length rather than fly.
“Why would they be happy with him? He’s a tyrant. Everything’s different now. I never before thought about leaving the Amish, but now I don’t know if I can stay.”
“Before you said it’s gone too far. What did you mean?”
“Th-the district. The bishop holds us back.” She walked around the edge of the pond.
I watched my footing. The pond was frozen, but on closer inspection, the ice wasn’t as thick as it appeared from farther away. “What went too far?”
She looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. “I can’t.”
“Can’t what.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do this. Everything will be fine,” she said more to herself than to me. “I know it.” She stopped in front of another trailhead. “You should stop meddling in Amish matters. We will solve this in our own way and in our own gut time.”
I blinked. Her demeanor had completely changed. Gone was the frightened young girl. A new assertive person, one with resolve, had taken her place.
What wasn’t she telling me? She asked me to meet her at the pond as some sort of confession but couldn’t bring herself to actually do it.
“Abby, what did you want to tell me?” I said in a hushed voice.
Some of her strong façade cracked. “I can’t do this. I can’t tell you.”
“I’m only trying to help.”
She wrapped her arms about her waist. “I can’t.”
“I thought you didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
She glared at me. “You cannot understand. You’re Englisch.”
“Did Leah tell you not to talk to me?”
“Leah is my friend.”
“I know that.”
“She protects us.”
“Who? You and Debbie? She didn’t protect you from getting your hair cut off.”
Abby blinked away tears. “I must go.” She pointed down the trail. “It’s faster for me to walk home this way. Follow the trail back the way we came and you will reach your car.”
Before she disappeared into the trees, I said, “If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.”
She didn’t reply. Instead she just kept walking.
I stood on the edge of the pond and watched the geese squawk at each other as they slipped across the ice. Maybe I would ask Timothy if he’d like to go ice skating here. Tanisha was right. I shouldn’t be afraid to ask him out on a date. If he were truly part of the English world now, he should know how it works. I doubted Hannah was as discreet.
I turned my thoughts from Timothy and Hannah and back to Abby. She and her two friends, Leah and Debbie, knew much more about the haircutting than they were telling Chief Rose or me. How would I convince one of the girls to talk? Abby seemed like the weakest link, yet just now, she had not cracked. I frowned. I should tell Chief Rose and let her try. I bet she was pretty good at getting a confession when she needed one.
A twig snapped. I turned expecting to see Abby returning on the trail or another deer rushing through the thicket. Instead I saw the two people I least wanted to come across while alone in the woods.