Accused (Amish Romance Mystery) (Amish Secret Widows' Society #3)

Accused (Amish Romance Mystery)

Amish Secret Widows’ Society Book 3

Samantha Price

Copyright 2014 Samantha Price

All Rights Reserved

License Notes

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Thank you for respecting the author's work.

*****************

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.

My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance;

and I will fill their treasures.

Proverbs 8:19-21

Feeling foolish was the last thing that Angela expected to feel when she came to Lancaster County. She was assured by her
Ant
Elsa-May that Robert would be a match for her. That was the sole reason she agreed to correspond with the man. Now, after at least forty letters and many months had passed, she sat in his living room while he sat glaring across from her as if she’d escaped from some far away insane asylum.

“How is it that you know nothing of me?” Angela pulled a bundle of letters, which were tied with a purple ribbon, from her drawstring bag. “You’ve written me all these.” Somewhere in Angela’s embarrassed fog she hoped that if he saw the letters it might bring something to mind.

He glanced at the letters in Angela’s outstretched hand and gave a dismissive wave. “I know nothing of them.” His dark brown eyes looked directly into hers. “Is it possible that you have the wrong person?” His voice hinted of desperation.

Angela shook her head and placed the letters in her lap. “I just can’t understand it.” She drew one of the letters from the pile and pointed to the name and address on the back of it. “That’s your name and this is your address. I’ve been writing to you at this address for months.”

Robert bounded to his feet and ran his long fingers through his thick, dark hair. “Give me a look at one of those letters.” He examined the letter for a moment, shook his head and said, “That has to be the only explanation.”

“What?” Angela asked again, “What has to be the only explanation?

Robert either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her. He strode purposely toward his front door and yelled, “Jacob, come here.”

“I’m busy,
Onkel
Robert. Can I talk to you later?”

Angela hurried to the door and stood behind Robert. She stood on her tiptoes to look over his shoulder at Jacob, who was in the field closest to the
haus.
Angela had heard of Jacob, the nephew that Robert had taken in and cared for as his own. Robert always mentioned in his letters how much he liked Jacob.

“Now,” Robert repeated, firmly, pressing his hands into his hips.

Jacob lifted up the long rein attached to the horse. “I’m busy with the horses.”

It appeared to Angela, from all the straps attached to the horse, that Jacob was breaking the horse into harness.

“I said now, Jacob.” Robert moved out of the doorway and onto the porch.

Angela stayed a little behind Robert and watched Jacob walk toward the
haus
shuffling his feet.

“Jacob, this is Miss Bontreger.

“Hello, Miss Bontreger.” Jacob smiled when he looked at Angela.

“Hello, Jacob.” Angela noticed that when Jacob’s eyes moved back to Robert, the smile left his face altogether.

“Do you know anything about letters? Have you been writing letters to Miss Bontreger pretending to be me?”

Angela’s mouth fell open.
So that’s what happened.
She was glad she did not gasp audibly; she felt foolish enough just being there.

Jacob glanced over his
onkel’s
shoulder toward Angela then looked to the ground. “Well, I thought it would make you happy if you had a
fraa
. Maybe then you won’t be angry all the time.”

Angela moved to stand next to Robert and out of the corner of her eye she saw that Robert was red in the face with anger.

In a controlled tone Robert said, “I am only angry because you do things such as these. If you didn’t continue to do these things then I would have no cause for unhappiness or anger. Go to your room.”

Jacob dragged his feet past Robert and Angela.

“Wait a moment,” Robert said.

Jacob stopped still and looked up at his
onkel
with large, sad eyes.

“Don’t you think you have someone else you should apologize to?” Robert asked.

Jacob looked up at Angela. “Sorry, Miss Bontreger.”

Angela did the best she could to force a smile. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jacob, being reprimanded in front of a visitor. “Apology accepted, Jacob.”

Jacob walked into the house.

Robert turned to Angela, red-faced. “No words, I simply have no words.” He put a hand to his forehead. “No words except to say that I’m very sorry. I hope you can forgive my rudeness earlier. I had no idea who you were and we’re not used to having visitors.”

“That’s quite alright. My visit must have come as a shock.”

“Jacob and I keep to ourselves most of the time.” Robert ran his eyes up and down Angela. “Come back inside and I’ll fix some tea and cookies.”

Angela put her hand to her heart. “I feel terrible for intruding on you like this. I feel silly.”

Robert put his hand up. “Not another word. It’s me who’s in the wrong – completely. Please, come back inside.”

While they drank tea Robert asked, “So, how many letters did he send you?”

“Quite a few and over some months. He even sent me money to travel here to meet him, I mean you did –
ach
, it’s a bit confusing. I’ll give you the money back, of course.”

Robert shook his head. “So that’s where his money went. Nonsense, you’ll not give anything back. I feel deeply troubled with the disruption that Jacob and I have caused you.”

Angela forced another smile even though she felt sick to the stomach. “No harm done.”

Robert disappeared into the kitchen then came back with a tray of cookies.

Angela brought the teacup to her lips, saddened that the letters weren’t from Robert. He was exactly the kind of
mann
she would have liked. He was tall, strong and responsible.
Robert must be a caring mann to have looked after Jacob all this time.
Elsa-May was right about him. I wonder what he thinks of me? Seems he’s not looking for a fraa at all,
Angela thought.

Robert put both hands over his face and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy.”

“His heart was in the right place. He was trying to make you happy.”

“I wouldn’t have dared to do a thing like that when I was a
youngin
. I would’ve got such a hiding I wouldn’t have been able to sit for a week.”

Angela knew she was partly responsible. She should have realized that it was a child writing to her, but the writing style was so mature. “Are you going to punish him?”

“I’ll stop him looking after the horses for a week. He likes to train the horses. We’ve got a new one out there at the moment. The gray one he was working with.”

“Did you teach him to break horses in?”

“I showed him the basic things, but he has a knack of knowing how to handle the horses and they respond well to him.”

“
Jah
, keeping him away from the horses will upset him and make him think twice about doing such a thing again.” Angela was glad that the boy escaped a whipping. She would feel horrid if such a thing happened on her account.

Chapter 2.

 
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

The Day Before

It was a most beautiful day in Lancaster County. The sun was high in the sky and a gentle breeze kissed Emma’s face. As her buggy clip-clopped forward, Emma became transfixed by the shadows made on the road as the sunlight filtered through the trees. She was glad the cold weather was over; spring was well and truly here.

Emma knew as soon as she arrived at Elsa-May and Ettie’s
haus
that Ettie was in a particularly disagreeable mood. The elderly sisters had lived together for years from the time shortly after both their husbands died. Elsa-May was the elder and usually the more outspoken of the two. Ettie mostly agreed with everything that Elsa-May said. From their appearance, no one would guess that the two sisters were related. Elsa-May was a large, robust woman whereas Ettie was small and thin. Emma guessed them to be in their late seventies or early eighties – she never asked and they never told.

When Emma tied up her horse and entered the sisters’ house, she noticed that there was barely a smile on Ettie’s face. Emma was at the house for the widows’ meeting. The group of five widows met together at least once a week and enjoyed a time where they were free to speak whatever was on their minds. Cake and sweets of all kinds were a vital ingredient at the meetings.

“What’s the matter, Ettie? You don’t look very happy,” Emma said.

“Listen to what Elsa-May has to say and see what you think of it,” Ettie said.

“I’ve been writing to a niece of mine, Angela Bontreger; she’s twenty eight and has never married. I told her about Robert Geiger. I simply encouraged her to write to him.” Elsa-May looked pleased with herself and bit off a portion of chocolate brownie.

Ettie narrowed her eyes at her
schweschder.
“You could have told me that before today, Elsa-May. Do you think that’s a
gut
idea, to have Angela throw herself at him? Just because two people are Amish and aren’t married doesn’t mean they are going to get along with one another.”

“Where does your niece live, Elsa-May?” Silvie asked as she pushed a few blonde strands of hair back from her pretty face tucking them under her prayer
kapp.

“She lives in Bloomfield.”

“Is she your niece too, Ettie?” Maureen asked since Elsa-May and Ettie were sisters. Maureen had always been a close friend to Emma and it was she who invited Emma to join the widows’ group shortly after Emma’s husband died.

Ettie shook her head and kept looking down at her needlework. “
Nee
, she’s Elsa-May’s late husband’s niece, his
schweschder’s dochder
.”

“How long has she been writing to him, Elsa-May?” Silvie asked as she blinked her attractive, blue eyes. Just like Maureen, Silvie had been widowed for quite some time. Both Maureen and Silvie were in their early thirties, slightly older than Emma.

Elsa-May chuckled. “She’s been writing to him for around five months and he’s invited her to visit. She’s very excited. She arrives tomorrow.”

Ettie pressed her lips tightly together and shook her head.

“What’s the matter now, Ettie?” Elsa-May asked.

Ettie lowered her needlework and looked at Elsa-May. “No
gut
will come of it.”

Elsa-May snorted. “Come of what?”

“Meddling. Nothing
gut
ever comes of meddling.”

“Nonsense. We meddle all the time.” Elsa-May laughed. “That’s what we do.”

The two sisters often ended up annoyed with each other; it was mostly Ettie who backed down before things became too heated.

Emma spoke up to try and soothe things between the two
schweschders.
“What harm can it do, Ettie? If they meet and don’t get along, then that’s one man who she can cross off her list. Who knows? They might get along just fine and get married.”

Emma’s words weren’t of much use as Ettie still had a stony expression on her face and her lips were so tightly pressed together that they formed a thin line.

It seemed as though Elsa-May could not keep the smile from her face despite Ettie’s disapproval. “You’ll all get to meet my niece of course. She’s a lovely girl.”

Silvie brought her teacup to her lips and before she took a sip, she asked, “Why has she never married?”

“She’s quite shy, which doesn’t help matters. Her
mudder
told me she was in love with a boy and was holding out for him for the longest time, but he married someone else.”

“That’s sad,” Maureen said.

“There might not be too many
menner
in Bloomfield,” Silvie said.

“If
Gott
wants her to be married, He’ll put someone in her path,” Ettie said. “It’s not for us to do His work.”

“You’d do something to help yourself though, wouldn’t you, Ettie? So just keep out of things that don’t concern you.” Elsa-May folded her arms across her chest.

Emma was shocked by Elsa-May’s words and glanced at the other widows’ faces to see that they were also startled by her words.

Ettie shot her head up and dropped her needlework into her lap. The tension between the sisters hung heavily in the room.

Emma quickly spoke again to avoid any further unpleasantness. “Maybe that’s what
Gott
has done now, Ettie. He’s put it in Elsa-May’s head to encourage Angela to write to Robert. Angela didn’t have to write to him. No one forced her to do it. Now, Robert’s invited Angela to meet him.”

“It’s still okay for Angela to stay with you, isn’t it, Emma?” Elsa-May asked.

“
Jah,
I’ll be pleased with the company. I get lonely in the big old
haus
with just me and Growler.” Growler was Emma’s cat that she had reluctantly taken in when his previous owner was murdered just months ago.

Emma turned to see Ettie staring at her open-mouthed. “What is it, Ettie?”

“You knew about all this?” Ettie asked.

“Yesterday Elsa-May asked if Angela could stay for a time. I said she could stay as long as she wanted.”

Elsa-May quickly added, “She can’t stay here, can she? Our
haus
is barely big enough for the both of us at times.”

Maureen cleared her throat in a nervous manner. “Speaking of
haus
guests, do you still have your
schweschder
staying with you, Silvie?”

“
Jah
, she’s still there. I suppose it’s nice to have a little company, but I’d most likely prefer to borrow Growler as a
haus
guest.” Silvie gave a little laugh. “Sabrina’s like a bee in a bottle; she always wants to go places and do things. I let her take the buggy by herself. She’s out most days. I have no idea where she goes; I’m just glad for the peace. I know she’s scouting around looking for a husband; that’s for sure and for certain. Before she goes home, she’s making sure that she’s met all the boys in the community.”

The widows laughed.

“Have you heard from that nephew of mine, Silvie?” Elsa-May asked.

“
Jah
, Bailey writes me twice a week. Still hasn’t said anything about visiting me or joining the Amish. Does he still write to you two?” Silvie asked of Elsa-May and Ettie.

“We get the occasional letter. He speaks fondly of you, Silvie,” Elsa-May said.

Silvie’s cheeks turned a shade of pink and she looked down into the chocolate cake in her lap.

“You can’t push him, you know,” Ettie said.

“I know, Ettie. It was he who suggested that he might join us in the future. I would never push him into something. It would never work that way. He has to want to join us.” Silvie swallowed hard. “He has asked me to visit him.”

“You should go,” Elsa-May said.

Silvie met Elsa-May and Ettie’s
Englischer
nephew, Bailey Rivers, months ago when he was working on a case in Lancaster County. Bailey Rivers is an undercover detective and at the time Bailey and Silvie met, Bailey was working undercover and staying within the community under the pretense of wishing to join the community.

Bailey assured Silvie that his deception was necessary for his job. Silvie suggested that he change his job. Bailey had hinted that he might become Amish when he finished the case that he was working on. The only catch was that the investigation had already taken him many years and there was no telling how much longer it would take.

“Are you unsure of leaving Sabrina alone in the
haus
when you visit him?” Emma asked. Sabrina was Silvie’s
schweschder
who had been visiting her on an extended stay, mainly because there were more
menner
to choose from in Lancaster County than in her hometown.

“
Jah
, partly that and partly that I haven’t traveled much outside the community.” Silvie gave a little laugh. “I’m a little nervous travelling alone, finding my way and that kind of thing.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Maureen asked.

“
Denke
, Maureen, but if I go I should probably go alone. I might take you up on it. I’ll have a think about it.”

“The offer’s there if you want it. Just give me some notice so I can arrange time off from work.” Maureen was a likeable woman with a large smile. She was a generous woman in heart, body and mind. Everyone who knew her liked her.