Amish Refuge

Abram eyed the darkening sky. If only they could outrun the rain that seemed imminent. A harbinger of what would come?

“The day is turning dark,” Miriam said from the rear. “What happens if it storms?”

“Sometimes we find shelter. Today we will continue on.” Although, he knew Nellie could be skittish if lightning hit too close and thunder exploded around them. He would not share his concern with Miriam. From the tension he heard in her voice, she was worried enough.

Approaching a bend in the road, Abram pulled back on the reins and slowed Nellie’s pace. He wanted to ensure nothing suspicious appeared ahead of them as they rounded the curve. His gut tightened when he spied police cars in the distance swarmed around a buggy. His pulse thumped a warning and his throat went dry.

“What is it, Abram?” Miriam leaned forward. Her hand touched his shoulder.

“A roadblock. There are a number of Petersville police cars and a deputy’s car from Willkommen. It appears they are searching a buggy.”

“What can we do?” she asked, her voice faltering.

He yanked on the reins. Nellie made a U-turn in the roadway and began retracing the route they had taken.

“The Petersville police suspect you murdered your mother. We must return home.”

Moments later a car engine sounded behind them. Abram glanced around the side of the buggy. A black sedan with a flashing light on the roof was racing toward them.

“We are being followed. The car looks like the one I saw the night you escaped.”

“It’s Serpent.”

Once they rounded the bend, Abram steered the buggy to the edge of the road and pulled back on the reins.

“You must hide.” He pointed to a thicket. “There, in the woods.”

Miriam crawled to the front of the buggy and held Abram’s outstretched hand as she climbed to the pavement.

“Hurry,” he warned. “Go deep into the woods. Find cover there.”

Abram’s heart pounded as he watched her flee, knowing he had made a terrible mistake. They never should have left the security of his house.

The black sedan raced around the bend and pulled to a stop. A man dressed in a navy shirt and khaki pants stepped to the pavement. He slapped Nellie’s flank as he approached Abram.

“What is it you want?” Abram asked.

The man wore a scarf around his neck. Although muscular, he had small eyes with drooping upper lids, flattened cheeks and a short, upturned nose. His mouse-brown hair was thin on top but long on the sides.

“Why’d you turn your buggy around?” he demanded.

Abram pointed to the sky. “The clouds are dark. Rain is in the air. I do not wish to drench my buggy, my horse or my clothing.”

The man stepped closer and peered past Abram into the rear of the carriage. “Someone was with you?”

“As you can see,” Abram tried to assure him, “I am alone.”

The man turned his gaze to the forest. He took a step forward. “There. I see movement.” Just that fast, he ran toward the thicket exactly where Miriam had gone moments earlier.

Abram hopped from the buggy and started to follow.

A second car, this one from the Willkommen sheriff’s office, pulled up behind the black sedan.

“Abram, stop.”

He turned, spotting Ned Quigley, the newly hired sheriff’s deputy.

“Did you see the guy driving the black sedan?” the deputy asked.

Abram beckoned him forward. “He ran into the woods.”

“Stay with your buggy,” Quigley said. “I’ll find Pearson.”

Pearson. Evidently Serpent had a name.

Abram ignored Quigley. He would never stay put when Miriam was in danger.

He pushed through the bramble. The deputy followed close behind.

Pulling in a ragged breath, Abram searched the forest. He had to find Miriam. He had to find her before Serpent did.

* * *

Miriam’s heart nearly exploded in her chest, seeing Serpent follow her into the woods.

She couldn’t outrun him, but where could she hide?

Her breath hitched and a roar filled her ears, nearly drowning out his footfalls as he trampled through the underbrush.

Overhead thunder rolled and the forest darkened with the encroaching storm.

A lump filled her throat and she struggled to keep the tears at bay. She couldn’t cry. Not now, not when she needed to outsmart the snake that was so heinous.

More footsteps sounded. How many men were searching for her?

Abram had been right. She should have stayed undercover at his farmhouse instead of throwing herself into harm’s way. More thunder rumbled as ominous as the situation she was in.

A cluster of rocks was visible through the pines. Would they provide a hiding spot?

Carefully she picked her way through the bramble, averting the twigs and branches that would snap if she stepped on them. Any sound would alert Serpent.

She gulped for air, her lungs constricting with the tension that made her hands shake and her heart lurch.

Careful though she tried to be, her foot snagged on a root. She toppled forward and caught herself just before she landed in a pile of dried leaves. Thankfully, at that very instant, a bolt of lightning crashed overhead and a blast of thunder covered the sound of her fall.

Regaining her footing, she scurried behind the rocks, willing herself to meld into the outcrop of granite. The skies opened and rain fell in fat drops that pinged against the rocks, the trees and the floor of the forest.

A deep guttural roar sounded, like a wild beast’s bellow. Serpent was standing only a few feet away on the other side of the rock, venting his anger. If only he would be deterred from coming closer.

More footsteps. Her heart nearly ricocheted out of her chest. She flattened her hands and cheek against the granite trying to disappear into the stone.

“I know you’re here.” Serpent’s voice, laced with fury.

Could he hear her heart beating uncontrollably in her chest?

“Pearson?” another voice called, deep and demanding.

Serpent grumbled.

“There he is.” Abram’s voice.

Relief swept over Miriam.

“You’re on a wild-goose chase,” the first man said as he drew closer.

“I saw something,” Serpent replied.

The deep-voiced man snickered. “You saw that skunk standing at your backside.”

“What!” Serpent groaned.

The putrid and unmistakable stench of a skunk’s spray filled the air.

Leaves rustled wildly, followed by the sound of footsteps racing back to the roadway.

“Looks like Pearson learned his lesson about chasing varmints in the woods.” The deeper voice chuckled.

“He has other lessons to learn,” Abram said, his tone sharp and without the joviality of the other man’s. “Tell him to leave me alone.”

“I’ll tell him,” the man answered. “Although I doubt it’ll do any good.”

The voices became fainter, but even though the danger subsided, Miriam continued to tremble. Serpent had been too close.

Abram would come to get her, she felt sure, when the men had left the area. She and Abram would return to the farmhouse where she would remain until the roadblock was lifted.

But would Serpent continue to search for her? And if he found her, what would happen then?

SIX

The next morning Miriam stood at the kitchen window and peered at the mountain road, searching for any sign of a dark sedan. Yesterday Abram had returned to the woods and found her as soon as the two lawmen had left the area. Grateful though she was, Miriam was still concerned about her safety.

She had risen early to help Abram’s sister. Apples needed to be peeled and pies baked for market, but the nervous churning in her stomach made her want to hide upstairs, away from the peering eyes of anyone who might pass by the farm.

Emma seemed oblivious to Miriam’s anxiety and chatted amicably as she worked. Stepping away from the window, Miriam wrapped her arms around her waist, debating how to still her unease.

“As I mentioned last night, I have many pies to bake,” Emma said as she placed a bowlful of apples on the table. “You will help me?”

Longing to allay the tension that tightened her shoulders, Miriam reached for the apple peeler. Using her hands would be therapeutic and might take her mind off the man who wanted to do her harm. Plus, Emma and Abram had provided her safe lodging. The least she could do was to help with the baking.

After peeling more than a dozen apples, Miriam heard Abram outside and, stepping to the sink for a drink of water, she peered from the window. “Does your brother ever stop working?”

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