Accused (Amish Romance Mystery) (Amish Secret Widows' Society #3) (5 page)

Chapter 8.

I have come as a light into the world,

that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

John 12:46

As Angela approached Robert’s
haus,
her heart began to pound. She hoped that he felt the attraction for her that she felt for him. She stopped her horse just past the
haus
in front of the barn.

“You looking for
Onkel
Robert?”

Angela looked to the direction of the voice and saw Jacob in a nearby field. “
Jah
. Hello, Jacob.”

“He said to tell you he’d be back soon. He wasn’t sure what time you’d be coming and he had to go into town for some supplies.”

When Angela got down from the buggy, Jacob said, “I’ll fix your horse.”

“
Denke
, Jacob.”

Angela watched Jacob as he unhitched the horse, rubbed him down and set him into the paddock adjacent to the barn. “That’s very kind of you.”

“There’s fresh water in there for him. I just filled the trough. I can make you tea if you’d like some?”

Angela nodded. “That’ll be lovely. I wouldn’t mind a cup of meadow tea.”

“Follow me.”

“Do you want me to help you with the tea?” Angela asked.

“
Nee
, I make tea for
Onkel
all the time. Sit down here.” Jacob pulled out a chair from the kitchen table.

As Angela sat, she wondered what she should say to Jacob. She was nearly going to ask him how long he’d lived with his
onkel
, but considered that might bring back memories of his parents’ accident. “So, you like
skul
?”

“
Jah
, I like it
gut
enough.”

“What do you think you’d like to do when you grow up?”

Jacob poured the hot water into two cups. “I’d like to be a pilot like my
daed.”

“
What? You mean, fly planes and such?”

“
Jah
, someone said that’s what my real
daed
did.”

“Your real
daed
?” Angela put her head to the side. “Wasn’t Ross Geiger your real
daed
?”

Jacob shook his head. “I was adopted.”

Angela was a little shocked, but tried not to show it. “You were? I didn’t know. Do many people know that you were adopted?”

He set a cup of tea in front of Angela. “Just my
onkel
I guess, maybe the bishop, I s’pose. And my real
daed’
s
schweschder,
my
ant
. She’s an
Englischer
too.”

“To be a pilot means your real, I mean, your biological
daed
was an
Englisher
?” Angela hoped that she wasn’t crossing the line talking to Jacob about his birth parents without Robert there. It seemed that Jacob was quite open with the information about his adoption.

“
Jah
, and I’m going to leave the community as soon as I’m old enough and I’m going to get my pilot’s license and
Onkel
Robert won’t be able to stop me.”

“Do you know much about your
daed
, the pilot?”

“His
schweschder
told me that he died, some time ago.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Jacob pulled a plate of cookies out of the cupboard and placed them on the table. “
Onkel
says that death and life are just a cycle and we shouldn’t be sad about something that
Gott
has set into place.”

“What about your biological
mamm
?”

“I don’t know about her; my
ant
wouldn’t tell me about her. She said that the least said, soonest mended.” Jacob sat next to her. “I’m sorry that I wrote to you pretending to be
Onkel
Robert.”

“I accepted your apology yesterday, Jacob. Don’t concern yourself, all is forgiven from my part.”

“I know it was wrong and I felt bad about doing it. I just wanted
Onkel
to be happy.” Jacob smiled at Angela. “I think you’d make him a
gut
fraa
.”

Angela smiled back at Jacob. “
Denke
.”

They both lifted their heads to the sound of hoof beats.

“Sounds like it might be your
onkel
home,” Angela said.

Jacob ran to the front door and Angela stood behind him.

“I’ll fix the horse,
Onkel
.” Jacob ran to take the reins from Robert.

Robert walked past Jacob and playfully messed his hair with his large hand. “
Denke
, Jacob.” Robert looked up at Angela, who was standing just inside the front door. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. We didn’t arrange a firm time so I took the opportunity to go and buy something nice for us to eat.” He looked over at Jacob. “He’s been taking care of you by the looks?” Robert asked.

“
Jah
, he looked after the horse, then he fixed me a cup of tea.”

“Come along. A cup of tea sounds
gut
.” Robert led the way back into the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea. “He’s a
gut
boy most of the time.” Robert placed a package on the table then sat down. “I bought some cupcakes for us.”

“
Ach
, I love cupcakes.”

“Who doesn’t love cupcakes? I know Jacob does. We have them on special occasions.” Robert looked out the kitchen window. “He’s still fooling around with the horses.”

“He must be a
gut
help to you.”

Robert took the lid off the package of cupcakes. “
Jah
, he is. He loves the horses. I didn’t punish him. I gave him a stern talking to and he saw the error of his ways. As you said, his heart was in the right place.”

“I’m glad. He seems a kind and caring boy.” Angela’s eyes ran over the rainbow array of cupcakes. She chose a cup cake with pink icing, topped with a dark pink flower topped with small silver balls.

“I’ll have a chocolate cup cake.”

“Jacob’s been telling me his plans of becoming a pilot.”

“
Jah
, I’ve heard those plans too. I used to have fancy plans when I was his age, before I knew better.”

“Robert, I didn’t know that Jacob was adopted.”

Robert put his head to the side. “He told you?”

Angela nodded. “Not that’s it’s any of my business, but from what he’s said, his biological
daed
died and now both his adoptive parents have died. Must be hard on him.”

Robert nodded. “He doesn’t have things so bad. He’s got me and he’s got a home here.”

Of course, he’d have to think of the positive side of things,
Angela thought. “He talks of his biological
daed’s schweschder
. Does she live close by?”

Robert lowered his head and was silent for a moment. “I don’t allow her around him.”

Angela remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

“It disturbs me to speak of her or even think of Jacob’s
daed’s schweschder,
Juliana Redcliffe. She was the one who was the witness against Ross. It seems as though because Ross told her to stay away from Jacob that she was out to get him in whatever way she could.”

“Juliana Redcliffe was the one who said she saw Ross hit the man on the head, Jacob’s
ant
?”

Robert nodded.

“How do you know this?” Angela asked.

“Ross told me about her. It was common knowledge at the time; everyone knew. Made it all up, of course. Seems she wanted to get back at Ross for some reason.”

“Why?”

“She wanted to visit Jacob, and Ross wouldn’t have it. Ross wanted Jacob to be brought up Amish and not have the influence of the outside world. That woman would have brought the outside world into his life. She already filled his head with pilot nonsense.” 

“He spoke to me of her, so he must have met her at some point,” Angela said.

“
Jah,
he did meet her. She went against my
bruder’s
wishes and spoke to him several times when he walked home from
skul.
It went on for a while before someone told Ross that they saw an
Englisch
woman speaking to Jacob. Ross knew who it would be straight away.”

Angela broke off a piece of cupcake and popped it in her mouth.

“That woman filled Jacob’s head with nonsense of his
daed
being a pilot.”

“Was he a pilot?” Angela asked.

“I’m not sure what he was. Ross would have known. All I knew is that Ross’
fraa
, Linda, met Jacob’s biological
mudder
somewhere. She wasn’t interested in bringing up the child. She wanted to adopt him out and that’s all I know of his birth parents. That’s all I was told.”

“Do you have any idea of the name of the man who died? Any idea at all?”

Robert shook his head from side to side and looked across at her. “What have you heard?”

“I’ve heard that the man was Juliana Redcliffe’s boyfriend or live-in lover or such. I guess that could be just a rumor and no one seems to know his name.” Angela knew she wasn’t supposed to tell Robert anything until the widows found out more, but now that he knew a lot more than he’d been admitting to, she considered that it no longer mattered.

“
Jah
, I heard the same,” Robert said.

“Robert, this gives Juliana a motive. A motive to have your
bruder
blamed for something. It’s a vital piece of information.”

Robert rubbed his forehead hard.

“Do you think that she deliberately blamed Ross?” Angela asked.

“I’m sure of it. I didn’t want to tell you about it before. I wanted to see what you’d find out, or rather what Elsa-May might find out, without any influence from me.”

Angela blew out a deep breath. “I understand that, but the police don’t know that Juliana, the witness against Ross, was Jacob’s biological
ant
or that she knew the murdered man
.
Don’t you think that you should tell them, and also tell them that she was trying to talk to Jacob and Ross told her to stay away? The detective said to Emma that there was nothing linking the witness to Ross. Ross must have never told the police.”

Robert rubbed his ear. “Ross would have been confident that the truth would come out eventually.”

“
Nee
, that doesn’t seem right. It would have got Ross off straight away, I’m sure of it. It’s a major fact and I don’t know why you haven’t made a point of telling the police. There must be more to it.”

“Every time I’d find out a piece of information I’d go in and tell the police. I kept going in there to tell them different things I found out, but they got irritable with me and didn’t want to know. I don’t know what more I can do. I even wrote them a letter explaining everything to them.”

Angela knew it couldn’t have been easy for Robert to speak of such delicate things to someone he’d only just met. Maybe she should talk of something else, but she could not get the whole murder incident off her mind. “Tell me if I am missing something. No one knows the identity of the murdered
mann
? The witness who named Ross as the murderer was Jacob’s biological
ant
?”

“That’s what I’m sure of.”

Angela wound the string of her prayer
kapp
around her finger. “Have you thought that the dead man might be Jacob’s biological father?”

Robert’s face remained expressionless and he slowly said, “I have considered it, but it would be too terrible a thing.”

Angela said, “The police said that they have a DNA sample, so all they would need is a swab from Jacob to see if they are a match. That way you’d know for certain.”

Robert shook his head. “He already knows both his
daeds
died so how would that help him?”

“It’s a piece in the puzzle to find who the real killer was, so your
bruder’s
name will clear.”

Robert cleared his throat. “Either way, it’s upsetting for him.”

“You’re right. It’s upsetting either way. You have to decide what’s more important to you and what’s more important to Jacob. Surely it’s
gut
to know the truth on a matter.”