“Rebecca will wonder where we are,” he said. “We will go now and take a path that leads through the woods. The spot where we will cross the road is thick with trees on both sides of the pavement. We will move slowly and keep watch lest Victor be close at hand.”
“I’m all right, Joachim. You don’t have to worry about me.”
But he was worried. He was worried about the fatigue written so plainly across her sweet face. She was too thin and too pale, and no matter how strong she tried to appear, she needed rest and nourishment.
He had to get Sarah to his house to keep her safe. Hopefully, she wouldn’t run away again because next time he might not be able to save her.
* * *
Once they arrived back at the Burkholder house, Joachim held the kitchen door open for Sarah and motioned her inside.
“Rebecca has lunch ready,” he said, as they stepped over the threshold and into the warmth of the Amish home. “A good meal is what we both need.”
His eyes were filled with understanding as he looked at her and smiled. “Is that not right?”
“I am hungry,” Sarah admitted, grateful for Joachim’s focus on food instead of mentioning her foolish mistake of thinking she could outwit Victor.
Just as Joachim had mentioned, she needed to gain strength before she journeyed to Willkommen. Besides, Victor said Miriam might be arriving at his house in a day or two. This wasn’t the time for Sarah to run scared.
“Joachim, you are ready for a cup of coffee?” Rebecca asked as she entered the kitchen, her needlework still in her hands. From her casual gait and nonchalance, she evidently had not realized what had transpired after Sarah left the house.
“Yah,” Joachim said with a nod. “I will wash my hands, and then I will also be ready for the meats and cheeses you have placed on the table.”
He and Sarah both washed at the sink. Rebecca filled mugs with coffee and motioned Sarah to sit next to her at the table.
Joachim sat across from both women and bowed his head.
Sarah and Rebecca followed suit, with each person praying silently.
Thank You, Lord, Sarah mentally intoned, for Joachim rescuing me in the woods, and thank You for providing this place of shelter from the storm. Send Miriam and let me help her escape whoever is holding her captive so she and I can be together again.
She glanced up to find Joachim staring at her. Her chest tightened, and a warmth tingled her neck. Glancing away, she reached for the meats and cheeses and placed a slice of each on a piece of bread.
Hungry though she was, Sarah kept thinking of Victor’s mother, knowing Ms. Hazel was at the mercy of her son. What would become of the frail woman if Victor left the area for good?
“You are thinking of Victor?” Joachim asked.
“His mother. She’s bedridden. A sweet lady who is too infirm to help herself.”
“Victor is not to be trusted.” Rebecca said with a decisive nod.
Sarah reached for her coffee, not willing to let her expression reveal her own struggle, knowing she had wanted to believe Victor when he’d first taken her from the cabin where she and Miriam had been held. He had told her he would keep her safe from the men who planned to traffic both sisters across state lines. Had it been the drugs that made Sarah believe—at least for a day or two—that he would protect her?
Joachim placed his mug on the table and cocked his head. “A vehicle approaches.”
Sarah recognized the sound. Her stomach tightened, and she clutched her hands. “What if it’s Victor?”
“Stay inside.” Joachim left the table. “Do not let anyone see you.”
He opened the door and stepped onto the porch. Rebecca ran to open the window over the sink.
“It is a pickup truck,” she relayed to Sarah. “A man is driving. Red hair.”
She glanced back at Sarah. “Yah, it is Victor.”
Sarah wanted to find a closet and hide.
“The pantry.” Rebecca pointed to the walk-in alcove. “He will not see you there.”
Sarah’s heart nearly pounded out of her chest. She hurried into the pantry. Peering around the curtain that divided the cupboard area from the kitchen, she watched the truck pull to a stop.
“Hey, Amish.” Victor’s raised voice floated through the partially open window. “I spotted the woman I told you about. She disappeared in the woods. If you see her, let me know.”
“Why do you need to find this woman?” Joachim asked, his voice calm and rational in contrast to Victor’s nervous high pitch.
“Sarah worked for my mother. Now she’s gone. In fact, if you know of an Amish girl who wants a job, I need to hire someone.”
“Dependable help is hard to find,” Joachim said.
“As sickly as my mother has become, I doubt she’ll live long. I plan to get the house ready to sell. Come over tomorrow. I have work for you, and remember to let me know if you see that woman.”
Victor turned his truck around and drove off.
Sarah’s heart hammered in her chest. If she had been outside on the porch, or even standing next to a window, Victor would have spotted her.
Joachim entered the kitchen and hurried to where she stood, her eyes wide and back to the wall.
“He is gone,” Joachim assured her.
Sarah was too frightened to move. Victor had found her once. He could find her again no matter what Joachim did to try to stop him.
* * *
Fear. Joachim had seen it in Sarah’s pretty blue eyes when he had come back inside the house after Victor had driven away.
“He is gone,” Joachim assured her again. From the look on her face, he knew his words did little to quell her upset.
A knock sounded at the front door. Sarah took a step back and gasped.
Joachim glanced at Rebecca. “You are expecting someone?”
“Levi Plank has been helping me while Mamm and Datt are away.” She peered from the kitchen window. “Yah, it is Levi.”
Her voice took on a lilt Joachim had not heard, and the blush to her cheeks made him pause.
“Levi is a friend,” Rebecca assured Sarah. “You do not need to be afraid.”
But her words did little to change the concern written so plainly on Sarah’s face. She backed even farther into the pantry and covered her mouth with her hand; all the while her eyes sought out Joachim. He nodded his encouragement before he stepped toward the door.
Years before, the young Amish man had been his brother Eli’s friend. Both the same age, Levi had been the quiet, pensive one whose personality contrasted sharply with Eli’s charisma.
Rebecca opened the door, her eyes twinkling with interest, a warm and welcoming smile on her face as she invited Levi inside. “I have a surprise that I did not expect. Joachim has come home.”
In the five years that Joachim had been away, the quiet youth had grown into a muscular man whose grip was strong and firm when the two men shook hands.
“This is a gut surprise,” Levi said. Then as if overcome with enthusiasm, he pulled Joachim close and slapped his back. “You have been missed.”
The