A Sister's Test (16 page)

Ruth offered Grace a weak smile. “Danki. You’re a good sister.”

By the time Martha arrived at the Larsons’ place, she was panting for air. She gave a couple of sharp raps on the front door and leaned against the porch railing, trying to catch her breath.

A few seconds later, Donna Larson opened the door. “What a nice surprise,” she said, motioning Martha to come inside.

Martha stepped into the living room. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I—”

“Not at all. Did you come to see how the little sheltie we bought from you is doing?”

“I. . .uh. . .yes, it would be nice to know how the dog’s getting along.”

“Real well. In fact, my grandson, Drew, is out in the barn feeding it right now.”

“Speaking of Drew. . .” Martha cleared her throat a couple of times.

“What about him?”

“I was wondering where he’s been all morning.”

“Right here. He went to the barn to feed the dog and do a few chores.” Donna motioned to the sofa. “Would you like to have a seat?”

Martha shook her head. “I can’t stay long. I need to get back home and see how Mom is doing.”

“Is something wrong with Judith? She’s not sick, I hope.”

“Not physically, but she was quite upset when she discovered that all the clean clothes she’d hung on the line had been shredded.”

Donna’s face blanched. “When did that happen?”

“Sometime this morning after Mom and Ruth hung some clothes out to dry. The material for Ruth’s wedding dress was ruined.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“We found footprints in the dirt that appeared to be heading in the direction of your place.”

Donna’s forehead creased as she pressed her lips tightly together. “I hope you don’t think Drew had anything to do with the clothes being cut.”

“Well, I—”

“Drew does tend to be a bit rowdy, but I know he would never do anything like that.”

“Like what?” Ray asked as he stepped into the room from the kitchen.

Donna turned to face her husband. “Someone shredded the clothes on the Hostettlers’ line this morning. Martha says there are footprints leading from their place to ours. She thinks Drew may have done it.”

“I didn’t say that—”

Ray’s bushy brows puckered as he frowned. “Drew’s been in the
barn with me all morning, except for the short time he came into the house to pack his suitcase. He’ll be going home in the morning,” he added, looking at Martha.

“I see.”

“I’m sorry about the clothes and all the other things that have been done at your place over the last several months.” Ray tapped his foot and stared right at Martha. “I’m watching your place whenever I can, so my advice to you is to quit trying to play detective.”

Martha recoiled, feeling like a glass of cold water had been dashed in her face. “Sorry to have troubled you.” She turned and rushed out the door.

“I think we should stop at the bakeshop before we go home,” Ruth said to Grace as the two of them left the sheriff’s office. “Sheriff Osborn didn’t offer much help other than to say he’s spoken with Gary Walker and that Gary claims he’s innocent.” She wrinkled her nose. “They don’t allow smoking in the offices, but it sure smells like a lot of smokers work there. After a few minutes, I could barely breathe, much less think clearly enough to ask the right questions. Maybe a couple of doughnuts will make us feel better.”

“The sheriff does seem to smoke a lot,” Grace agreed. “Or at least, someone who works in his office does.”

“So should we head to the bakeshop?”

“Don’t you want to get the material for your wedding dress first?”

Ruth shook her head. “We can do that after we’ve had our doughnuts.”

“Okay.”

They hitched their horse to the rail behind the bakeshop and headed for the building.

Sadie greeted them with a smile. “I’m surprised to see you today, Ruth. I figured with this being your day off you’d be home sewing your wedding dress.”

Ruth grunted. “I would be if the material I bought hadn’t been torn to shreds.”

Sadie frowned. “How’d that happen?”

“Someone shredded all the clothes Mom and I hung on the line this morning.”

“Not
someone
,” Grace put in. “It was Gary Walker; I’m sure of it.”

“Gary Walker, the reporter?”

Ruth and Grace nodded at the same time.

“He was here earlier,” Sadie said. “Came in to get a maple bar.”

“How long ago was that?” Grace questioned.

“A few minutes after we opened.”

Ruth was about to comment, but Sadie cut her off.

“He said he had one thing he needed to do, and then he’d be heading out of town and wasn’t sure if or when he might be back again.”

“That
one
thing was to destroy the clothes on Mom’s line,” Grace said with a groan.

Ruth touched Grace’s arm. “I hope Gary is gone for good this time and never returns to Holmes County.”

Grace released a gusty sigh. “I pray that’s true.”

W
hat’s got you looking so happy today?” Abe asked as Martin walked across the room carrying a large sheet of leather. “You’ve been wearing a silly grin on your face all morning.”

Martin’s smile widened. “Guess I’m excited about getting married. It won’t be long now; just a few more weeks.”

Abe’s heart clenched when he thought of how happy he’d been as he’d looked forward to his own wedding day. He had never expected to lose Alma at such a young age, and the thought that he might be left to raise six kinner by himself had never even entered his mind.

“Have you found a place to live yet?” Abe asked, knowing he needed to think about something else.

Martin dropped the leather onto one of the workbenches and turned to face Abe. “Found a little house to rent that’s not far from here. It’s owned by Ray and Donna Larson, the English neighbors who often drive for Ruth’s family.”

“Didn’t realize the Larsons owned any land except their own.”

“Oh, jah. They own a couple of places. From what I’ve heard, they tried to buy Roman’s place some time ago, too.”

“I do recall Roman mentioning that, but I didn’t realize they’d bought other pieces of property.” Abe leaned against his desk. “The Larsons seem like pleasant enough folks, and I’m sure they’ll make good landlords. Even so, it’ll be nice when you and Ruth can have a place of your own.”

Martin nodded. “I’d like to build a house like Cleon and Grace’s place—one with plenty of space and lots of bedrooms for all the kinner
we hope to have someday.”

Abe grunted. “After what went on at my house last night, I’d gladly have given you a couple of my
beschwerlich
kinner.”

Martin looked stunned. “I’ve never heard you refer to your kids as troublesome before. What happened last night?”

Abe gave his beard a quick yank. “Right before supper, Esta’s puppy piddled all over the kitchen floor.” He grimaced. “If I’ve told her once, I’ve told her a dozen times not to leave that critter in the house unattended.”

“Doesn’t your sister monitor things like that?”

“She’s supposed to, but with six kinner to look after, not to mention cooking and cleaning, a lot goes on that Sue doesn’t seem to know about or catch in time.”

“I suppose it would.”

“To give you another example of how things went last night, Molly spilled her milk on her plate of stew. Then she started howling and dumped the whole thing onto the floor.” Abe shook his head. “Sue was so upset about having to clean the floor again, she broke into tears.” Abe moved away from his desk and turned on the air compressor for one of the sewing machines. “I love my kinner, but they sure try my patience at times.”

“I guess that’s how it is with most parents, although I’m still looking forward to Ruth and me having children.”

“And you should be.” Abe nodded to the sewing machine. “Guess it’s time we quit jawin’ and get back to work.”

As Ruth and her family sat around the supper table that night, she noticed deep grooves lining her father’s forehead. Had Mom told him about the shredded clothes, or was something else troubling him?

“How’d your dental appointment go, Dad?” Ruth asked. “Did you have much pain with that root canal you were supposed to have done?”

Dad groaned. “Seems like all I do these days is go to the dentist. Dr. Wilson had me so numbed up, I couldn’t feel a thing.” He grimaced. “After the appointment, when I ran into Steven Bates, I felt pain.”

“Pain from your tooth?” Martha asked.

Dad shook his head. “Pain because one of my used-to-be loyal customers won’t speak to me anymore.”

Mom reached over and patted Dad’s arm. “Did you say hello to him?”

“I was going to, but he walked by like he didn’t even see me.” Dad wiped his mouth with a napkin and frowned. “Looked right at me when I came out of the dentist’s office, and then he stuck his nose in the air and hurried into the building without so much as a word.”

“Do you think he’s still angry about those cabinets that fell off your delivery wagon a while ago?” Ruth asked.

Dad gave a quick nod.

“If you two don’t mind cleaning up the kitchen without me this evening,” Mom said as she pushed away from the table and picked up her dishes, “I think I’ll go to bed.”

“We don’t mind,” Ruth was quick to say. It was obvious by the dark circles under Mom’s eyes that she was all done in. She probably didn’t want to listen to Dad’s complaints tonight, either.

Dad’s forehead furrowed as he stared at Mom. “Are you feeling
grank
?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sick—just tired. I’ve been fighting a headache most of the day, too.”

“Probably came about because of the clothesline incident,” Martha said with a scowl.

Dad’s eyebrows shot up. “What clothesline incident?”

Ruth looked up at her mother. “You didn’t say anything to Dad about what happened?”

She shook her head.

Dad’s face filled with concern. “What happened with the clothesline?”

“Someone shredded all the clothes we hung on the line.”

Dad strode across the room to where Mom stood at the sink. “Someone shredded the clothes, and I’m just hearing of it now?”

“I didn’t want to worry you, Roman.” Mom placed her dishes in the sink. “Besides, I knew what your response would be.”