Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 3 Read online

  “Things will be sorted out in due course. He’s still in custody at present.”

  He looked over at Florence. “On a different note, I made some inquiries and found out that your friend has a hearing tomorrow. He might get out, if all goes well. He’s served his time.”

  “A hearing?”

  “Yes.”

  “He never mentioned that.”

  “You’re still in touch with him?”

  Ettie kicked Florence’s foot, hoping she’d keep quiet about their visit to the prison to see Morrie.

  “Something wrong, Ettie?”

  “Nee, just that my foot was going to sleep.”

  He frowned at Ettie and looked back at Florence. “You keep in touch with him?”

  “Yes.”

  Elsa-May said, “Detective, how about a cup of coffee?”

  “No, thank you. That’ll only keep me awake. I’ll be on my way. I thought you ladies would appreciate an update on things.” He stood up. “I’ll look into those points you raised, Ettie.”

  Ettie stood up and walked him to the door. When she closed the door, she turned around to face Florence who was right behind her.

  “Ettie, he’s getting out.”

  “I heard.”

  “It’s a parole hearing, he might not get out.”

  Florence turned around to look at her older sister. “Elsa-May, you must believe he’ll get out.”

  “Why must I?”

  After sitting back down, she said, “Because he’s been in there long enough. He didn’t do it deliberately.”

  “I think we all need a cup of hot tea,” Ettie said.

  Florence followed Ettie and Elsa-May into the kitchen. “I know what you’re thinking. That we shouldn’t mix with the outside world. He’s an Englischer and not likely ever to join us.”

  “It has to be your choice if you see him when he gets out,” Ettie said as she filled the pot with water.

  “What do you think, Elsa-May?”

  “It’s a hard decision but you’ve stayed on the narrow road for all these years, it would be a shame to fall off the road when you’re so close to your journey’s end.”

  “Denke for cheering me up. So I’ll soon be dead.”

  Elsa-May chuckled. “We’re all not long for this earth. All of us, our bodies will wear out sooner or later, and you’d want to be ready.”

  Florence nodded.

  Ettie joined them at the table. “You could visit him but don’t bring him into your life. I know you loved him once, but if you’d stayed with him things might not have been so rosy.”

  “I have thought about that. It might be the idea of love, and remembering what we had. I might be remembering it better than it actually was.”

  “That’s right,” Elsa-May said.

  “I’m glad you’ve both been with me through my hard times. It’s not easy having no home, having to be a burden on others.”

  “We’ve loved having you here,” Ettie said.

  “You both make me see sense.”

  Elsa-May changed the subject. “What do you think of the way everything turned out?”

  Ettie breathed out heavily. “It’s not over yet.”

  “It won’t be over until they release Dustin,” Florence said. “I knew he wasn’t guilty. I said that right from the start.”

  “Jah, you did.” Ettie pushed herself up from the table to take the pot off the stove.

  Chapter 25

  The next day, Ettie answered a knock on the door.

  Ava stood in front of her.

  “Ava, come in.”

  Ava walked inside and the three elderly sisters told her what Detective Kelly had told them the night before.

  “Well, that’s why I’m here. After I was helping my mudder at the markets, I stopped to have a cup of coffee and they had a television on the wall. I heard that Andy Watkins was arrested for Allissa’s murder.”

  “What else did they say?” Ettie asked.

  “That’s all I heard.”

  “So, if they have arrested him, that means Dustin should be freed,” Florence said.

  Ava shrugged. “I guess so. That would make sense.”

  They’d only just sat down when there was another knock on their door. Ettie opened it to see Detective Kelly standing there with Dustin next to him.

  “He wanted to come here to thank you. Is Florence here?” Kelly asked.

  Ettie stepped aside. “Come in.”

  Florence hurried toward him. “You’re free?”

  “Yes.” He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “I need to go home and get cleaned up, but I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

  “Ettie and Elsa-May helped too.”

  “And Ava,” Ettie added.

  He nodded. “I know. I thank you all, and you too, Detective Kelly.” He glanced at Kelly and then turned to the elderly sisters. “If it weren’t for all of you, I might have spent the rest of my life in jail.”

  Kelly gave him a pat on his back.

  “Can we get you anything?” Elsa-May asked.

  He shook his head. “All I want is a proper bed and a hot shower. The shower first.”

  “I’ll drive you home,” Kelly said.

  “Thank you.” Dustin looked at Florence. “I had nothing to do with your house burning down.”

  “I never thought for one moment that you did anything wrong.”

  “Darrin’s admitted to that," said Kelly, "and a few other things, as I told you yesterday.”

  “I’m just glad that the truth has come out,” Dustin said.

  He smiled before he walked out with Kelly.

  Ettie looked at Florence to see her face beaming. “I’m so happy how things ended.”

  “Me too,” Elsa-May said.

  The three sisters along with Ava watched out the living room window as Dustin walked with Kelly to the car.

  “That was very nice of your detective to help us in the way that he did. He didn’t have to.”

  “Eh! I suppose he’s all right,” Ettie said.

  “He’s getting better,” Elsa-May added.

  Ava laughed. “What’s happening is that the two of you are wearing him down.”

  After that….

  Three weeks later, Florence and Dustin were waiting for Morrie when he was released from prison.

  Florence wanted to be there when he got out.

  He’d found an apartment close to Dustin, and Morrie did his best to adapt to life on the outside.

  Keeping to her faith, Florence kept her distance even though Morrie shared with her the news that he’d accepted the Lord as his Savior while he’d been in prison. They organized a regular meeting place where they had coffee together once a week.

  “We’re going to get married,” Florence announced to her sisters six months later.

  “What?” Ettie asked staring at her in disbelief.

  “Can I come inside?” Florence asked.

  “Of course you can.”

  Elsa-May hurried toward Florence, leaving her knitting on the chair she’d just been sitting on. “You’re marrying Morrie?”

  “I am.”

  Ettie was pleased for her sister and pleased for Morrie. Knowing from her sister’s letters that Morrie had been to the last few of her Sunday meetings, she guessed that Morrie was joining the community.

  “He’s talked to the bishop?” Elsa-May inquired.

  “Jah, he has.”

  Ettie asked, “Won’t he miss the outside world?”

  “Nee, he says it’s too fast for him. He doesn’t like the pace of things. Don’t you see? Things have worked out. I’ve missed him so much and never dared to even think something like this would happen.”

  Elsa-May tilted her head to one side. “So, he believes in marriage now?”

  Florence giggled like a girl. “He does.”

  “Sit down and tell us everything,” Elsa-May pulled her sister over to the couch.

  Once Florence was seated, Elsa-May
picked up her knitting and sat back down on her chair.

  Ettie sat down beside Florence and enjoyed listening to a most unusual love story. She already knew the facts from all of Florence’s recent letters, but it was more exciting to listen to them in person and watch the excitement bloom on her sister’s face.

  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed;

  for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea,

  I will help thee; yea,

  I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

  Isaiah 41:10

  Amish Barn Murders

  Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 9

  Copyright © 2016 by Samantha Price

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The personal names have been invented by the author, and any likeness to the name of any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  It was slow at the market and Thea Hersh had only sold six cheeses, rather than the twenty she would have sold by this time on a normal day. It seemed as though people had vanished all of a sudden.

  “Slow day.”

  On hearing a deep voice next to her, Thea looked to her side at the young Englisch man who ran the stall next to her. Her father had warned her not to speak to any of the stallholders who weren’t Amish, but she couldn’t be rude. She smiled at the relatively new stallholder she’d only spoken to a handful of times in the past weeks.

  He continued, “I haven’t seen this place so quiet since I’ve been here.”

  “I know what you mean,” Thea replied. “And I came here this morning hoping to make a tidy sum today, but it seems I’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

  He took a step toward her. “Did you want the money for something special?”

  Thea looked at the young man. Her father’s warning about keeping separate from the Englischers rang in her ears, but she was only talking to him. Many in her community had to speak to the Englischers during the course of their business. Thea’s eyes turned up to the sky. “I need to get my bike fixed.”

  “What’s wrong with it?” He took two more steps until he was standing in front of her and offered his hand. “I’m Austin, by the way.”

  She shook his hand and looked into his kind brown eyes. “I’m Thea.”

  “I know,” he said. “I’ve heard your father speak to you.”

  “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. We had a stall on the roadside, but we’re hoping to sell more here with all of the people going by on foot. So, what’s wrong with your bike?”

  “I think the wheel is twisted. Well, it’s looked that way for some time, but I was still able to ride it, but now I can’t. Now I have to walk everywhere.”

  “Can’t your boyfriend fix it for you?”

  Thea smiled and felt her cheeks flush. “I don’t have one.”

  “What about your father?”

  “I daren’t ask him to do one more thing. He’s so tired when he gets home at night.”

  “I could fix it for you.”

  “You could? Are you sure?”

  Austin smiled, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’m pretty handy with things like that. I’ve fixed my own bikes and my brothers’ bikes. Bring it in with you tomorrow and I’ll take a look at it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thank you so much, Austin.” Thea stepped sideways and her cheese display tilted, beginning to topple over.

  Austin lunged forward and grabbed the stack of cheeses before they fell on the ground.

  “Good catch. Thank you.”

  Austin had the cheeses balanced against his midsection, and Thea leaned forward to take them from him. When they were standing close together with only the cheeses in between them, Thea’s friend, Thomas, appeared. The pair jumped apart causing the cheeses to fall on the ground.

  Thomas glared at Austin and then looked at Thea. “What’s going on here?”

  “See what you’ve done, Thomas?” Thea bit her lip. She was always accused of speaking first and thinking later.

  Thomas, being taller than most men, looked down at Austin. “Stay away from Thea.”

  “He’s got a stall here and he was just helping me.”

  “Look after your own stall,” Thomas said to Austin.

  “Thanks for your concern, but I believe I didn’t catch your name,” Austin said.

  Glaring at Thomas for his uncalled for rudeness, Thea said, “Austin, this is Thomas. Thomas, this is Austin. My father will be here soon, Thomas.” Thea knew Thomas and her father did not get along very well; she wasn’t sure why. All Thea knew was that something had once happened between Thomas and Grace, one of her older sisters, before Grace had gotten married.

  Thomas crossed his arms in front of his chest. “That’s good; I’ll wait for him. Shall I tell him what I saw between you two?”

  Austin walked a few steps back to his stall, ignoring Thomas' comments.

  “Nothing was going on. The cheese fell, Austin caught it and I was taking it back from him. There was nothing happening at all,” Thea insisted.

  “Is that right, Queen Bee? That’s what you must be to have all that honey. Did you have your worker bees make it for you?” Thomas walked over to Austin and deliberately knocked into his display of honey and the jars toppled over and landed on the table.

  Austin hurried to steady the bottles. He caught all but one that toppled out of his hands and smashed on the ground. That got the attention of other stallholders and some customers. Everyone looked over at the two boys while Thea looked on in horror.

  “You’d better go home and collect more honey from your bees, Queen Bee.”

  Austin stepped up to Thomas and looked up into his face. “I killed the last person who called me ‘Queen Bee.’”

  Thomas laughed and stepped away.

  Thea rushed over to stand between the two men. “Thomas, look what you’ve done.” She pointed to the ground and the broken jar of honey.

  Thomas shouted, “He threatened me and you heard him.”

  “Leave him be. Why are you here anyway?” Thea demanded.

  “I’m picking up a couple of things. I didn’t come here to have my life threatened.”

  Thea looked over at Austin who was doing his best to pick up the broken glass and sticky honey. When she turned back to Thomas, she said, “Well, if you don’t want anything, please go.”

  Thomas looked over his shoulder at Austin, sniggered and walked away.

  Thea grabbed a box of tissues that she had behind her stall, leaned down and helped Austin wipe the honey from the ground. “Sorry about that, Austin. He can be unreasonable at times.”

  “I thought Amish people were peace-loving and all that.”

  “They are, they mostly are, except for him. I don’t know what gets into him sometimes. He’s been funny since he got back from his rumspringa.”

  “Have you thought that maybe it’s jealousy?”

  “No, I don’t think so.” Thea looked at Austin and saw a little smile on his face, but he kept quiet.

  Six o’clock rolled around and the stall holders packed up, as the market was now closed. Even though Thea hadn’t sold very much that day, she had enjoyed Austin’s company after Thomas had left.

  Thea’s father, Levi, showed up a little earlier than usual. “Go to the buggy now, Thea, I’ll finish packing up.”

  “It’s okay, Dat, I can do it. You
wait for me; I’ll be out soon.” It was usual for her father to wait for her in the buggy and she normally wheeled the leftover goods out to him when she was ready.

  Levi looked over at Austin and from the way he stared at him Thea knew that Thomas had spoken to her father about the altercation earlier that day. “Don’t believe everything you hear, Dat. Thomas was here making trouble.”

  Turning around to look at his daughter, Levi ordered, “Go to the buggy, Thea, and wait for me there.”

  Thea drew her eyebrows together, looked at her father, and then glanced back at Austin. She walked away not daring to say goodbye to her new friend. Instead of going directly to the buggy, Thea watched from a distance hoping her father wouldn’t have words with Austin. She was right to be concerned; she saw and heard her father speaking with the young man. Austin was visibly shaken, and nodded as her father spoke. Her father was not yelling, but was speaking loud enough to attract the attention of the other workers who stopped to see what the commotion was.

  Thea heard her father say, “Stay away from my daughter! I don’t want to see or hear that you’ve talked to her again.”

  Austin nodded.

  Then her father said, “I heard what happened and I won’t have my daughter put in the middle of an argument.”

  “I wasn’t doing anything wrong. The cheese toppled over and I was helping her.”

  “Save your stories. I don’t want you to speak to her again.”

  “I have the stall next to hers. I’ll most likely see her tomorrow.”

  A baker nearby heard the ruckus and stepped up. “What’s going on, Levi?”

  “This young man has been disrespectful to Thea.”

  The baker looked at the young man and then looked at Levi. “I’m sure it won’t happen again.”

  “It won’t happen again,” Austin said with an emphatic nod, as he appeared to be growing more frustrated.

  As Levi finished packing the cheeses, he turned around and caught sight of Thea. He narrowed his eyes and pointed outside to where the buggy was. Thea obeyed immediately and as she walked out to the buggy, she hoped the situation would calm down. She’d never heard her father raise his voice before, neither had she heard him say things of that nature to anyone. It made her wonder what Thomas could’ve possibly said to her father that made him so cross.