Amish House of Secrets (5 page)

“Okay, I’ll get Ettie onto things right away and we’ll phone you back at the hotel.”

As Maureen hung up the phone, she hoped that she would not find out any bad news. The dear old lady deserved some good news, but it seemed as if the only news she would be getting was knowledge of where Harold had died. At least her mind would be put to rest.

It appeared Emma was thinking along the same lines. “I don’t see what
gut
can come of this investigation, Maureen. Maybe we should have kept out of the whole thing. It’s a far stretch of the imagination to think that he might be alive. He would’ve come to find her, or she would have heard of him through a friend or relative.” Emma sighed. “How long do you think it will take Ettie to find something out?”

Maureen took a deep breath and looked at the digital clock on the bedside table. “It’s 12.30 now. I reckon she’d have some information for us later this afternoon.”

Chapter 6.

The same came for a witness,

to bear witness of the Light,

that all men through him might believe.

John 1:7

Wil walked into his barn and wiped the frustration from his face. He sorted through his tools wondering which ones he should take with him to the new
haus.
The phone rang, and he hoped it was Emma.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hello, Mr. Jacobson. I have some troubling news for you. It seems that your bank has declined the transaction. I need to see you. When can you come into the office here?”

The caller had forgotten to say who he was, but Wil recognized him to be the realtor who had sold him the
haus.
“Um, I’m free right now, if you want me to come there now.”

“Okay, come straight in.”

“Alright, I will see you in just a bit.” Wil replaced the receiver on to the hook. His eyes fell to the ground then he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He had made a mess of things. He had hoped that the money would be through in time, but it was clear that this time things would not work out for him as they had in the past. He’d often gone out on a limb and things had always come right; this time they hadn’t.

He looked down at his dusty clothes and knew he would have to change into some clean clothes before he went into town. He hurried inside to change, grateful that he already had the buggy hitched and ready to go.

Once he reached the office the receptionist led him to the realtor’s desk. He sat heavily on the chair behind the desk, not waiting to be asked to have a seat.

“Hello, Mr. Jacobson. What’s this about the bank not putting the money through?”

“I need a few more days.”

“Until you sort it out with your bank, it’s best you give me back the keys to the property.” The realtor leaned forward and put out his hand.

“But, I’ve already done so much work to the house. It’s already mine; I’ve done a lot of work on it. And Emma, my fiancé, gave me the money to do renovations while she’s on her trip. Why can’t I just keep working on the house until I clear things up with the bank?” Wil knew the only way out of this was to buy time.

“Mr. Jacobson, I’m just trying to do my job and I’m not doing my job very well if you have the keys in your possession under these circumstances. I took you at your word that this was a cash transaction, and that’s the only reason I let you have the keys early.” The realtor whispered, “If the boss knows I’ve already handed the keys to you, I’ll be in all sorts of strife.” He lifted his eyebrow. “Know what I mean?”

Wil remained silent, and the realtor continued, “I’ll keep it off the market for a while to give you a bit more time – two days. The money is coming, isn’t it?”

Wil nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Wil did his best to sound confident.

“After two days I’ll have to start actively marketing the house again. I won’t stop anyone looking through it if they want to, but I will do my best to stall them.” The realtor frowned at Wil. “Are you borrowing the money?”

Wil shook his head. “I won’t need to.”

“But it is coming, from somewhere, isn’t it?”

Wil nodded. “I already said it would be there.”

The realtor typed something into his computer. Wil leaned over and tried to see what he typed, but he tilted the screen away from him. “Well, that’s it, let me know as soon as you’ve got the money in the bank.”

“Thank you. I’ll be in touch.” Wil said as he stood up. Wil knew he should contact Emma directly. He remembered the name of the hotel where she was staying with Maureen, but he decided to wait until she came back, that way she could have a worry free time away.

As he walked back to his buggy, he felt sick to the stomach about Emma’s money that he’d already spent. What if the money didn’t come through as he’d planned? There was only one thing for it; he’d have to call the company from where he was expecting the money.

Half an hour later, back in his barn, Wil had finally gotten through to the person with whom he needed to speak. “Mr. Jacobson, sorry that you’ve been given the run-around. I have your plans in front of me.”

“You do? Do you like the concept?” Wil’s heart was beating so fast and heavily that he thought he might have a heart attack. So much was riding on the answer that he was about to hear.

“I’m afraid that there would not be enough call for us to manufacture the plough. It would be too costly for us. Maybe you could try a smaller firm; we do things on a large scale. It’s not the kind of thing we’re interested in; people are using machines now for that kind of thing.”

“I know they’re using machines, but there’s a big movement that’s going in the other direction nowadays. People are moving toward organic farming and don’t want to use machinery,” Wil said.

“That’s very true. However, they’re still in the minority and it wouldn’t be a wise financial move for us to go with your design. As I said, you may try your luck with a smaller company. We’ll keep your name and address on file if we may?”

“Certainly, go ahead. And thank you for your time. I appreciate it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jacobson.”

Wil hung up the phone. That was that. He had to tell the realtor that he could not go ahead with the purchase of the house. He would also need to find the words to tell Emma that he not only lost their
haus
, but he had spent a portion of the money that she had given him.

* * *

“Now, to call Wil. I hope he’s near his barn,” Emma said.

“What are you going to say to him, Emma? Remember, no
gut
comes from anger.”

“I’m too numb to be angry Maureen. That was my money he was renovating the house with and now it’s all wasted if the sale isn’t proceeding.”

Emma called the phone in Wil’s barn, but there was no answer. She remembered the name of Wil’s lawyer, so she called him. The lawyer’s secretary was not going to give over any information, but relented when Emma said that she was Wil’s fiancé and was away and could not reach Wil.

“Okay, I’ll look up that file.” A minute later the secretary came back to the phone. “It seems that Wil was expecting money to come through, and it didn’t come through in time.”

“Is that all you can tell me?” Emma asked. After the secretary had assured Emma that that was all she could tell her, Emma hung up the phone and looked up at Maureen, who was standing over her. “They said that Wil’s money didn’t come through.”

“From what?” Maureen asked.

“I don’t know. Wil won’t talk about his finances. He’s vaguely told me that he has investments and things. I don’t know what they were talking about; what money didn’t come through in time?”

“Try calling him again,” Maureen said.

Emma called Wil’s number once more, hoping he’d be near his barn and this time he answered.

“Emma, how are you?”

“I’m fine, Wil. I’ve found the old lady who owned the
haus,
and she said that the sale of her house hasn’t gone through. What happened?”

“
Jah
, I’m sorry about that, Emma.”

“Well, what happened?” Emma didn’t want apologies she wanted answers.

“I thought I was getting money come through, but it hasn’t come yet.”

It was the same old vague answers that Wil gave her every time regarding money. She had to pin him down. “What money, and where was it coming from?”

Wil blew out a deep breath. “You remember that plough I was working on?”

Emma could not remember, but knew Wil always had several projects that he was working on at the one time. “I vaguely remember.”

“Well, I sent the plans off to a company and I was hoping they’d buy the plans from me.”

Emma closed her eyes and pushed her fingers into her forehead. “I don’t understand. Has the firm ever suggested that they might give you money for it?”

“
Nee
, not in so many words, but you don’t understand how these things work. I knew someone who sent in a plan for something similar to that same company, and they gave him three hundred thousand dollars for it.”

Emma knew nothing about business, but the story sounded totally unrealistic to her. “Who was that person, Wil?”

“I can’t say who, but I distinctly remember someone telling me about it.”

Emma shook her head. Was Wil going to be like Maureen’s David? At some point in the future would she tell someone the story of Wil and what he’d done – the man she nearly married? “How much of my money have you already spent on the house?”

“Only twelve thousand.”

Emma clutched at her throat. “Only?”

“Well, I could sell some of the timber back. I could see if they’ll take the other things back too.”

“See what you can do.” Emma was doing her best to contain her anger. She had given Wil twenty thousand dollars to renovate the
haus
as her contribution; seeing that she thought that he had bought the
haus
with his money.

“I’m sorry about your money, Emma. You sound angry, but I’m upset about it too.”

Emma was too angry to think of comforting him. “We’ll talk when I get back.”

After she finished her call with Wil, Emma could scarcely hold back the tears as she relayed the entire story to Maureen. “What am I to do, Maureen? What am I to do?”

Maureen put her arm around Emma’s shoulder and gave her a tight squeeze. “You’ll forget about it while we’re here and we’ll enjoy ourselves. Now, wipe away those tears and we’ll have a walk outside in the sunshine.”

Before Emma answered she sat and looked around the hotel room. The covers on the twin beds were bright pink, the wallpaper was swirls of green and purple and small ceramic sailing ships were dotted along the walls. Emma missed home. The homes in the community were plain and not fussy at all, and the colors were always muted and pale. She knew if she stayed in that hotel room any longer than she had to she would surely get a headache. “
Jah
, a walk sounds
gut
.”

Together they stepped out of the hotel room and into the bright Florida sunshine.

* * *

It was five o’clock when they got back to the hotel.

The man on the reception desk of the hotel said, “I’ve got a message for you, Mrs. Kurtzler.”

Emma took the slip of paper. It read, ‘Phone Ettie back.’

Maureen and Emma walked up one flight of stairs to their room.

“I can’t wait to hear what she’s found out. I hope it’s not something bad,” Maureen said as she pressed the buttons on the telephone. She put the phone on loudspeaker so Emma could hear what Ettie said as well.

“I’m sorry to say that it’s not
gut
news, Maureen,” Ettie said.

“What did you find out? Is he dead?”

“Worse than that, I’m afraid. He’s married, or at least he was married. A year after the war ended we have a marriage record for him and one Miss Cutter.”

“He’s alive?” Maureen asked.

“He’s alive, and he married Josephine Cutter,” Elsa-May said.

Maureen’s mouth fell open as it sunk it that Dorothy’s love had married her best friend, the one who had disappeared. She looked at Emma, who was as shocked as she.

“That’s not all,” Ettie said. “I’ve found a death record for a Josephine Fielding and no death record for Harold Fielding.”

“Do you have an address for him?” Maureen asked.

“I’ve got a current address for him, get a pen.”

Maureen penned the address and hung up the phone.

Emma looked over her shoulder. “It’s not far from where Dorothy lived in Lancaster.”

“I wonder how long he’s lived there for? Why did he avoid Dorothy and marry her best friend?”

“It doesn’t make sense; not if you’ve read the letters. It’s awful. Dorothy won’t want to know that. Let’s not tell her just yet,” Emma said.

“
Nee
, we can’t tell her. Let’s have Ettie and Elsa-May go visit Harold. He might tell them his side of things,” Maureen said.

“
Jah
, Maureen. Quick call them back and see if they’ll do it.”