As soon as they'd moved away, I swung the car left and hit the gas. There was nothing but open road in front of me and I knew that a little speed would help burn off the anger that threatened to consume me. I punched my foot to the floor and felt the car take off. Flying down the road the speedometer climbed: sixty, seventy, eighty. Soon, I hit ninety and watched the factory disappear in my rearview mirror.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement and the next thing I knew, I hit the brakes and was sliding sideways along the sand covered asphalt. I pulled my foot off the brake and wrenched the wheel to the other side as the car continued to slide.
"Oh shit!" I hollered as the Mustang went sliding over the edge of a grassy bank, and then everything went dark.
Chapter Thirteen
Grace
"C'mon Blackie, let's get home and get some supper," I said to the brown work horse who'd been waiting under the shelter Dat had long ago built for Toby after I'd cried and told him I thought it was inhumane to make an animal wait outside in the sun or rain or snow. I could feel the tears welling up as I pulled myself up into the buggy and prepared to head for home.
It had been
another extremely long day at the store and I was feeling the weight of everything crashing down on me. I'd spent the day sifting through Dat's papers, trying to organize the supply orders and the bills, but Dat seemed to have carried the information in his head rather than recording anywhere and now the office looked like a tornado had blown through it.
What I could piece together didn't paint a pretty picture. As best I could gather, the store was in some big financial trouble. It looked like Dat had been robbing Peter to pay Paul and the entire set up appeared to be in danger of collapsing leaving the store in a very precarious position. I wasn't ready to panic, though. Mamm had told me that Dat had always managed to put a little extra away for a rainy day, and I was feeling certain that I would be able to locate the money as soon as I cleaned out the office.
The velvety black night sky stretched out across the countryside and without the glow of electric lamps to interfere, I could see the various constellations shining brightly. This was the one think I loved about being home. I always loved how close I felt to the land and the sky. I loved the city for its busy bustling movement and the way it always felt alive and ready. But in Chicago, buildings rose out of the concrete landscape blocking out the sunlight often making me feel closed in and walled off.
I breathed deeply and smelled the scent of damp earth mixed with fresh cut grass. It was the scent I associated most with Corner Grove, that and Mamm's cooking. I bit my lip to hold back the wave of emotion that threatened to come crashing down as I struggled to suppress memories of Mamm standing in front of the stove frying chicken or bent over the counter rolling out pie crusts laughing as she tried to teach Danny how to emulate her technique. My brother would invariably end up with a lopsided lump of dough covered in flour. His silent laughter making Mamm laugh all the harder. I couldn't believe I'd never see her or Dat again. I choked back a sob as I turned into the drive and found Honor leaning against the fence post. She was barefoot with her arms crossed over her chest and an obstinate expression on her face.
"Honor, what are you doing out here?" I asked as I pulled the buggy around to the side of the house and hopped out. "It's late; shouldn't you be inside helping Danny clean up after supper?"
"I'm sick and tired of this family, Grace," Honor muttered as she helped me pull the harness and reins off Blackie. "It's absolutely ridiculous around here."
"What are you talking about?" I asked as I led Blackie to his stall and made sure he had plenty of feed and hay. I grabbed the hose and filled the trough with fresh water before grabbing the brush and going over his coat. "Honor, what's got you so worked up?"
"Verity brought a stranger into the house," Honor said grumpily. "He's on the couch and I think he needs a doctor, but she says he's fine. I'm sick of her bossing me around and acting like she knows what's best!"
"Wait, back up, what stranger?" I asked as I turned and looked at her. Honor was well known for her dramatic storytelling skills, so I always tended to wait to hear the full story before drawing any conclusions about what she was saying.
"The stranger who put his car in the ditch!" Honor said impatiently. She had finished hanging the tack on the wall of the barn and had joined me in Titus' stall. "The guy put his Mustang in the ditch and Verity, Danny, and I got him out of it and hauled him to the couch. I told Verity to call 911, but she said it wasn't necessary. He wasn't hurt that bad."
"Are you telling me that there is a strange man in the house?" I asked.
"Grace!" Honor yelled. "You never listen to me!"
She turned and took off toward the back door of the barn running out into the cornfields. I was too tired to chase her. Instead, I hung up the brush and secured Blackie's stall before heading into the house. I wasn't exactly sure what I'd find, but I knew that it would probably be a lot less dramatic than the picture Honor had painted.
"Verity? Danny?" I called as I opened the door and entered the kitchen. The smell of dinner hung in the air and I felt my stomach growl as I looked around and saw a covered plate sitting on top of the stove. I called again, "Verity?"
"Grace, I'm so glad you're home!" my sister said as she walked into the kitchen carrying a tray that held a glass of water and a host of first aid supplies. "It's been awful busy around here today."
"Honor told me," I said eyeing the tray and looking back at Verity. "What's going on?"
"One of the English crashed his car into the ditch across the road and we helped get him out!" she said as her eyes shined with the excitement.
"When did this happen?" I asked.
"This morning after we milked," she replied as she removed the bowl and glass from the tray and moved to the sink.
"This morning?" I exclaimed. "What is he still doing here? Do you know anything about him? He could be dangerous! What were you thinking, Verity?"
"Calm down, Grace," she said smiling. "He's staying over at Mrs. Yoder's place and he had a meeting with Uncle Amos this morning. He's very interesting, you know!"
"Verity," I said sternly. "This is not okay, and you know it."
"But Grace..." she pleaded, ”he's talking to Danny."