Fortunately, Chief O’Brian was distracted by a gesture from the officer on the porch. He rose, very authoritative in his gray uniform.
“Well, I guess I won’t be bothering you good folks any longer. Mr. King, I’m sure you want to be getting your little girl home. Sara, sorry for the disruption.”
Sara murmured something, she wasn’t sure what, just glad for the moment to see him leaving her classroom. He paused for a second on the porch to say something that made the girls giggle again, and then he and the young officer headed off toward the police car.
Sara swung to face Caleb. “Why didn’t you tell Chief O’Brian the truth about Rachel?”
Caleb’s strong-featured face tightened. “I didn’t lie to the man.”
“You told him only part of the truth,” she snapped, keeping her voice low so that the children on the porch couldn’t hear. “And you involved me in saying less than the truth, as well.”
Caleb had a remarkably stubborn jaw. “My child’s nightmares are not his business.”
“It might be important that Rachel was so upset last night about the Old Man. It might mean...” Sara let that thought trickle to a stop, afraid of where it was going.
“Ya.” His face was bleak. “It might mean that my Rachel saw something bad. And if so, it’s for me to deal with. Not you. And I’m certain sure not the police.”
He stalked out of the schoolhouse, leaving Sara with nothing at all to say.
* * *
The gentle clink of plates accompanied the evening routine of helping her mamm with the dishes. Sara, her hands in the warm, soapy water, found the chore comforting after the stresses of the day.
“I can finish up, Mamm, if you want.” Her mother looked a bit tired, but she wouldn’t want to hear Sara say so.
“No need.” Her mother polished a plate with her usual vigor. “I don’t mind. I remember when you girls used to make so much noise with washing dishes I had to get away.”
Sara smiled. True enough. When she and Trudy and Ruthie did the dishes, they’d chattered and laughed and argued the whole time. But now Trudy and Ruthie were married, as well as her two oldest brothers, and Trudy had twins on the way.
Funny. Sara, the oldest, had been the first one to plan a wedding, but Tommy Brand had managed to postpone it for one reason or another for nearly five years. And when he did get married, it was to someone else.
“I’m wonderful glad Caleb King was with you when you saw that poor man.” Mamm set a bowl on the shelf. “I wouldn’t like to think of you finding him all alone.”
Mamm didn’t like to think of her doing anything alone. She was still trying to marry off her maidal daughter.
“Ya, I’m glad he was there, too.” Sara kept her tone neutral. “Lily and Lovina had stayed after school to help, so they were there to watch his little girl.”
“They’re gut girls, even if that Lily is a bit flighty,” Mamm said. “So, Caleb is a fine-looking man, ain’t so? And I hear Josiah King is wonderful glad to have his nephew there to help out while he’s laid up. Maybe Caleb will even decide to stay, ya?”
“Stop matchmaking,” Sara said with mock severity. “I’m not looking for a husband.”
“Ya, but they’re nice to have, all the same.” Her mother’s eyes twinkled.
“And then who’d be here to help with the dishes?” Sara retorted, smiling. “If I—” She stopped at the sound of voices in the living room, where Daed had been settled in his favorite chair, reading The Budget, the Amish newspaper.
She exchanged glances with her mother. “That sounds like Chief O’Brian.”
“You’ll be wanted, then, ain’t so?” Mamm handed her a towel. “Dry your hands and hurry in.”
Sara touched her hair to be sure it went smoothly under her white organdy kapp and shook out the apron that matched her green dress. She reached the living room just as her daed called out for her.
“Chief O’Brian is here to talk about that poor man you found.” Daed pushed his glasses up on his nose, looking as if he wished anyone else had been the finder.
“Nothing to be alarmed about, Eli,” the chief said easily, maybe aware of Daed’s tendency to be upset about the Englisch world intruding on their lives. “I thought you’d want to be up-to-date about what was going on.”
“It’s kind of you,” Mamm said, a swift look at her husband reminding him to be hospitable. “You’ll have some coffee and maybe a piece of apple pie, ya?”
“That sounds fine, Emma.” Chief O’Brian’s expression relaxed, something that was the usual result of Mamm’s warm friendliness.
Sara gestured him to the sofa and took the rocking chair, waiting for him to begin and hoping it wouldn’t be questions about Caleb or Rachel.
“Well, we identified the man who died,” he said, setting his cap on his knees. “His name was Jase Kovatch.”
“Kovatch.” Daed pronounced the name carefully. “I can’t say as I know him.”
“No, don’t suppose you would. The police did, and that’s not exactly a recommendation,” Chief O’Brian said.
“He’d been in trouble, then?” Sara asked.
The chief nodded. “Minor stuff, mostly. Drunk driving, petty pilfering. No family that we can find, and I can’t see as anyone’s going to miss him much except maybe some of his drinking buddies.”
“That is a sad way to live.” Mamm set a mug of steaming coffee and a big wedge of apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream on the end table next to him.
“Sure is.” Chief O’Brian took a bite of pie and spoke thickly around it. “I just can’t figure out what he was doing up on the ridge to begin with.”
“Small-game season,” Daed said promptly. “Out after rabbits, maybe.”
The chief shook his head. “No gun,” he said succinctly.
Sara’s mind chased after reasons for the man to be out there and came up empty. This time of year, people went into the woods with shotguns, looking for small game. Bird-watchers and nature lovers were sensible enough not to wander through the woods during hunting season, especially not when deer season started next month. Then all the hunting cabins would be filled to bursting.
She realized the room had fallen silent. Chief O’Brian was looking at her.
“I can’t think of anything that would take the man up there,” she said, hoping she hadn’t missed a question.
“You haven’t seen him around? Noticed anyone maybe taking an interest in the school, for instance?”
“No.” She could only shake her head, perplexed. “Why?”
O’Brian shrugged. “I went up top today, along with a couple of men. We didn’t find anything unexpected. But I noticed one thing about that place.” He paused, looking grave. “It has the best view a person could have of your schoolhouse.”
His words sank in, and alarm ricocheted along Sara’s nerves. She didn’t need to look around the room to know that they were all thinking the same thing.
Everyone wanted to believe that their corner of the world was safe. Unfortunately, danger was not limited to the back alleys of big cities. Even innocent schoolchildren weren’t safe from evil in the world.
“Now, I don’t want you folks to get all upset