Amish Country Arson (16 page)

“
Ach nah! Why my school?” Emma yelled
to the silence and broke into tears. She climbed from the buggy and
walked as close as she dared to the foundation. She had trouble
believing her eyes, but there the disaster was.

Not anything left to be save. Her school was
gone. In her mind, she saw the room as it had been with the
blackboard on the back wall. The library books shelves Adam built
on the north wall under the row of window and all the books. Her
desk and the rows of pupils' desks were just a memory. At the entry
way, the coat pegs, lunch box shelf and wood box now reduced to
ashes.

Emma clenched her hands tight together at
her side and glared toward Heaven. “Lord, how could anyone be this
hateful toward children to destroy their school? I do not
understand a person who is so spiteful.”

Instantly, the answer to comfort her popped
into her head as if it came from the Lord. Emma remembered the
verse, “And to him that smites you on the one cheek offer also the
other; and him that takes away your coat forbid not to let him take
your shirt, also. Emma knelt on ground blackened by ashes scattered
by the breeze over the yard, turning the grass gray. “Lord, I'm
sorry for my outburst. I spoke out of anger, because I felt such a
loss for the children, and jah, I admit it. The loss is mine,
too.

Please give me the strength to talk to my
pupils when they arrive this morning. I must try to make them see
what you have just shown me. We must turn the other cheek and pray
for the arsonist to come to his senses, before he harms someone in
a fire.” Emma took a deep breath. “And forgive the children if they
do not quite see, as clearly as I do, your message. They are young.
They are the ones who have lost the most, their beloved school. It
will be hard for them to remember the saying I drilled into them.
JOY means Jesus is first, you are last, and others are in between.
We all need to embrace our faith and beliefs this day. Amen.”

Emma wiped her eyes when she heard a buggy
coming. It carried the first of her pupils. As soon as she sent all
of the children home, she drove to the nearest phone shed to call
the sheriff. Emma explained what happened and added there would be
no need for the fire trucks. The damage was done. The fire had
burned itself out except for the smoldering ashes.

“
I'll be right out to look around. You
want to wait for me, Mrs. Keim?” the sheriff asked.

“
Jah, I will wait,” Emma said
solemnly.

She drove back to the school yard and stayed
in the buggy until Sheriff Dawson drove in. The tall, lean man
parked his patrol car under a tree and came to meet her. Grimly, he
stared at the smoldering pit. “This is quite a loss. I can tell
from the look on your face you're suffering. I'm so sorry.”

Emma hopped from the buggy. “Denki, I feel
bad for the pupils as much as for myself. It hurts them to think
someone can be this mean.”

“
Well, let me look around. I might find
some evidence left behind. We found some at the other fires,” the
sheriff said.

Emma knitted her fingers together in front of
her and leaned against her buggy. “I'll stay here out of your
way.”

Dawson strode over to the foundation and
searched in front and around his shiny, polished shoes until he
reached where the door had been. He pulled a purple disposable
glove and clear evidence sack out of his jacket pocket. After
Dawson slid the glove on, he bent over to pick up a sliver of white
plastic which he bagged. A few feet from the former entry way, he
picked up a small plastic lid and put it in the bag. “Here is what
I was looking for. This tells me it was the same fellow that set
all the fires.”

Emma closed the distance between the sheriff
and herself. “What is it you found?”

“
A piece of a small orange juice bottle
sold in most grocery and convenience stores. That's what the
kerosene was in. The fires haven't quite burnt all of the plastic
bottles, and the lid is always somewhere close. Hoof tracks of a
large farm horse are always where the fires started. The person is
Amish or wants us to think he is.

We have a partial print on the lid found in
Rudy Briskey's cornfield and DNA from the blood on Jonah Stolfus's
barbed wire fence. We just need to catch the guy that matches our
evidence.”

Emma folded her arms around herself in a hug
and stared at the ashes. “I sure hope you do and soon. Plain
people's luck may run out. Someone will be killed in one of these
awful fires.

Sheriff, I do not like to point fingers, but
I have always felt Joe Jostle's boys might have been in trouble
before they moved here. Especially, the older one, Albert. He is
taking full advantage of rumspringa now which means he drinks,
smokes and takes liberties with English girls while he disrespects
his elders.

My brothers say they saw Albert Jostle using
a small orange juice bottle to mix liquor in at a timber party.
Right after that, Albert walked into the timber and came back to
tell everyone to run from a fire.

The whole family is standoffish for some
reason. The parents are better than they were, but they still do
not try to fit in much. I feel they are standoffish, because they
are hiding something in their past.”

Sheriff Dawson pushed his hat back off his
forehead. “Thanks for bringing this up. I'll check out the family
and see if there's anything they're hiding.”

Emma wiped a tear from her cheek. “I'm going
to stop by my parents now and tell them about this. I do not feel
like sitting home alone anyway. Daed is one of the school board
directors. He can get a hold of the other two.”

When she walked into the kitchen, Hal stopped
kneading bread to rush to her. “Emma, I was beating the dough so
hard I didn't hear you drive in. This is a school day. What are you
doing here?” She sensed the news wasn't good from the look of woe
on Emma's face. “What's wrong? Adam all recht?”

“
Jah, Adam is gute. Some horrible
person burnt the school last night clean to the ground.” Emma hated
to say the words which made the event so very true.

“
Ach nah, the school is gone?” Hal led
Emma to the table and pulled a chair out for her.

“
Jah, it is. I waited for the children
to come and sent them home. Watching the hurt looks on their faces
when they saw the smoking pit that used to be their school was the
hardest thing I have ever had to do. I called the sheriff. He came
out and looked around,” Emma said. “Where is Daed? I need him to
tell the other directors for me.”

“
Your father's walking around the hay
field, checking the fence. Deer are hard on fences this time of
year when they jump from field to field. He should be back by
lunch. Did Sheriff Dawson find anything?” Hal asked
anxiously.

“
Jah, another piece of a small orange
juice bottle that held the kerosene and the lid that might have a
finger print on it. A horse's tracks coming in the yard, close by
the school door where the fire was set and back to the road. Large
enough tracks to be a draft work horse.”

Hal looked confounded. “There doesn't seem to
be any reason behind any of the fires. Why would anyone burn the
school?”

“
I keep thinking about the boys from
the Hosteller compound. Those three boys look like they could be
responsible and call their actions pranks,” Emma said. “Maybe I
should have kept quiet, but I mentioned them to the sheriff. He
said he would check on the Jostle boys past before they came here.
Especially Albert.”

“
Noah and Daniel think the same thing,
but you can't accuse the boys without proof,” Hal warned. “The
person who burnt the Stolfus barn cut his leg on the barbed wire
fence when he climbed over it. The sheriff has a sample of blood.
If he gets a DNA match from that, he will know he has the right
person.”

Emma put her hands over her face. “The
sheriff told me. That is all well and gute, but in the meantime,
what are my pupils to do for a school? It will take maybe two weeks
to organize and a day or two to build the school. We will be so far
behind by that time the children will never catch up.”

Hal looked thoughtful. “Don't worry yet.” She
chuckled. “Funny Jane had to say that twice to me recently. Just so
you know, I picked that advice up from her, and I can't swear that
it has taken hold of me yet. What you need is a make shift school
until you can move back into a new building.”

“
Have you any suggestions?”

“
Jah, has Adam filled the upstairs
above the store with furniture?”

Emma's face lit up. “Nah, he does some
varnishing there sometimes is all.”

“
There's your answer. Ask that generous
husband of yours for the use of the shop's upstairs until the new
school is built. You will need tables and seats. We can get the
bench wagon sent to Adam's furniture shop. Wa-la, a makeshift
school,” Hal said, wiping a tear off Emma's cheek with her
finger.

Emma felt as if a great mountain had been
lifted off her shoulders. She paused to listen. “It is very quiet
around here this morning. Where are Mammi Nora and Aendi
Tootie?”

It was Hal's turn to look sad. “Packing. Dad
is ready to go home. He says he wants to leave before winter sets
in. They are leaving in the morning.”

“
It has been a long time they have been
here They are probably ready for the peace and quiet of their own
homes and less excitement than they had here this time,” Emma said
wisely.

“
Would you and Adam like to come over
tonight for supper since this is their last night here?” Hal
invited.

“
Jah, that would be gute. I could use a
happy distraction for a change. We will come early enough for me to
help you cook,” Emma said.

“
That's great! I've missed your hand in
the kitchen,” Hal said, smiling as if Emma had given her a
gift.

“
What would you like to fix for this
last supper?” Emma asked.

“
My, that sounds so biblical. Why don't
we ask our guests of honor what they would like to eat,” suggested
Hal. “I'll see if they will stop packing long enough to discuss
this with us.”

She went to the foot of the stairs, and Emma
stood behind her. “Mom, Dad, Aunt Tootie, could you come down here
for a minute?”

The three appeared on the landing.

“
Why?” Jim asked.

“
Oh, Emma is here,” cried Nora. “Come
on, Tootie. We can take the time to visit with her. Jim, it must be
coffee break time.”

They tromped down the stairs and followed Hal
and Emma to the table.

Jim puzzled, “Wait a minute! Emma, why are
you here in the middle of the morning?”

“
That's right. This is a school day,”
Nora said.

“
It would have been, but someone burnt
the school last night.” Emma brushed tears from her
cheeks.

“
That is just plain too awful,” Aunt
Tootie asserted, stamping her foot.

“
That's the way we feel about it,” Hal
said. “Now sit down, and I'll pour the coffee.”

“
What are you going to do for a school,
Emma?” Nora asked.

“
Hallie had the answer. We will hold
school in the top of Adam's store until a new school can be built,”
Emma told her.

“
That is great news. When times are
tough, the tough get going,” Jim said, giving Emma a
hug.

Hal said, “Now before Emma leaves to make
plans for setting up the school room, I've invited Adam and her to
come for your gute bye supper tonight. We want to know what each of
you would most like to eat so Emma and I can fix your favorite
dishes.”

“
Let me think a minute.” Aunt Tootie
took a sip of coffee.

“
I sure like your raw apple cake,” Jim
said.

“
The Pennsylvania Dutch green bean dish
you fix is my favorite,” Nora said.

“
Aunt Tootie?” Hal
questioned.

“
How about the chicken corn soup we had
at one of the worship service luncheons? That was really tasty. I
loved your shoo fly pie, but Jim is right. The raw apple cake is
good, too,” Tootie said wistfully.

“
We can have the soup, both desserts
and homemade ice cream,” Emma told her. “Plus, fried potatoes and
tomato gravy.”

Hal planned, “For meat, I'll open some canned
pork roast.”

Jim said, “We're leaving John out. What do
you think he'd like to have for this supper?”

“
I know,” Hal said. “He will want a big
pan of Emma's light, fluffy biscuits.”

Nora laughed. “Slow down. You cook too much,
and there won't be any room for our plates on the table.”

“
Now, Mom, don't discourage us. Emma's
left overs are gute especially when my two cooks take off for home
and leave me in the kitchen alone,” Hal teased.

Emma stood up. “I should leave now if I'm
going to ready a substitute school for Monday. I will find Daed and
talk to him before I take off. See you three tonight,” She hugged
her mammi, dawdi and aendi before she left.

Nora and Aunt Tootie fixed a light lunch of
creamed corn, sausage cakes and vanilla pudding. After they ate,
Hal hunted up the ingredients for the evening meal while Nora and
Aunt Tootie did the dishes. She liked to be prepared so they didn't
have to rush later on. Besides if she stayed busy, she didn't have
time to feel sad about the loss of the school or think about how
much she'd miss her parents and Aunt Tootie.

Mid afternoon, the women sat down at the
table for a coffee break. They reminisced about the summer and fall
and how quickly their vacation had passed.