SummerHill Secrets, Volume 1 (20 page)

By “crowds,” I knew Levi was talking about several different groups of Amish teens in the Lancaster area. Some were rowdier than others.

Rachel’s voice sounded pinched. “So you think Ben won’t show up tonight?”

Levi picked up a long piece of straw and stuck it in his mouth. “He’d be real dumb if he did.”

From behind a cube of hay, a white kitten darted toward us, followed by six or seven more.

“C’mon over, little boy,” I said, coaxing the white one.

Rachel laughed. “That one’s a girl.”

I reached for the tiny barn cat. “What’s her name?”

Levi laughed. “We don’t name mouse catchers.”

“Well, have a good supper, little one,” I whispered to the kitten, secretly deciding to name her Lily White. Looking around, I hoped her mousey supper wasn’t too close by.

Rachel was eager to get on with things. Probably because afternoon milking would be starting soon. “Should we meet right here tomorrow?”

Levi nodded, making a piece of straw dance between his teeth. “Each one of us can have a lookout post.” He pointed to the three spots in the hayloft. “Merry can have the one facing SummerHill Lane away from the house. I’ll take the post overlooking the house and yard, and Rachel’s spot will be over there.” He pointed to the one facing the field. It was the least exciting of the three, but Rachel didn’t protest. Following orders made by male family members came naturally to her.

“What’ll we do if someone comes prowling around, like, uh, Ben?” I asked.

Rachel whistled softly. “Can you do that?”

I nodded.

“That will be our signal, then,” she said.

“Okay, we’re set with a signal, but what about getting help?” I asked.

Rachel smiled. “Levi has all that planned.”

“Did ya ever see a man get himself caught up in a lasso?” Levi said.

“Oh no,” I said, shaking my head. They weren’t kidding, these Zook kids. They had thought of everything, right down to the smallest detail.

Levi stood up. “We’ll meet here at dusk tomorrow.” Since the Amish didn’t wear wristwatches and only went by standard time (even when the rest of us switched to daylight savings), living by landmarks of time, such as dusk, worked well for them.

I glanced at my watch. “When exactly is dusk?”

“You’ll know,” Rachel said sweetly. “It’s when the sun starts going to bed for the night.”

Why hadn’t I thought of that?

Monday started out fine, except Lissa freaked out on the bus going to school. She must’ve been having a bad day. “I can’t believe this mess,” she said. “I asked Skip to go to Spring Spree and he said yes.” She sounded horrified.

“What?”

“You heard me, Merry,” she said. “Your brother’s a senior!”

“I thought you knew that.” She was unraveling before my eyes.

“Well, if it hadn’t been for one of Jon’s older sisters telling her girl friend, and that girl telling her mom, who told my mom,” she gasped for air, “things might be cool. But this second, even as we speak, my mom’s having a fit about it. I might not get to go.”

“Why? Because Skip’s almost three years older than you?”

“You should’ve seen her. I tell you, Merry, my mom’s super upset about this.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

She dive-bombed me, nearly hugging me to death. “Oh, thanks, Mer. Would you really?”

“Excuse me?”

She began to plead with me. “If you just talk to my mom, I know it’ll change everything.”

Honestly, I’d never seen Lissa so wired.

“You’re kidding. You think your mom’s gonna listen to me? C’mon, Lissa. I’m Skip’s sister, for pete’s sake!”

“But she worships you,” Lissa insisted.

“Look, Lissa.” I lowered my voice and put my head up close to hers. “You have to settle down here.” I glanced around. In the front of the bus, Chelsea Davis looked like her eyes were about to pop.

Lissa leaned against the back of the seat. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“You okay?” I whispered in her ear.

“I’m fine.”

“Good, I’ll be right back.” With that, I dashed to the seat beside Chelsea.

“What’s she moaning about?” Chelsea asked. Sounded like she was having a bad day, too. These things seemed to come in waves.

“It’s nothing,” I replied.

She poked through her pile of books. “Did you ever find out what happened to that drawing of Elton’s?”

“It’s mine now,” I said. “Elton gave it back to me the other day.” I almost said he’d nearly burned it up, but I wanted to save that news for the principal. Which is where I was headed first thing, the minute I got off this bus.

“When can I see it?” she asked.

“What for?”

“Just curious.” I had no idea what she was getting at. I turned around to check on Lissa, who was staring out the window now, calm and collected.

Chelsea cracked her chewing gum. “Did anyone ever tell you that you overdo it, Merry?”

I turned to face her. “Like how?”

“Like truly this and truly that. Don’t you ever get sick of dramatizing everything?” She was acting really weird. “Well, do you?” She was in my face. The strong smell of her cinnamon gum offended my nose.

“I really don’t know what’s bothering you.” I excused myself and stumbled back down the bus aisle to Lissa.

As soon as I got things squared away at my locker, I rushed to the principal’s office to make an emergency appointment. When Mr. Lowry was finally available, I began to talk sense to him about why Elton Keel, gentleman and docile human being, would never want to purposely get himself suspended.

“Elton’s not a firebug,” I insisted. “He merely took his frustrations out on this picture.” I pulled it out of my notebook. “See this?

It’s truly a masterpiece. How could an insensitive firebug create something so wonderful?”

Mr. Lowry surveyed the charred drawing.

“I only wish I hadn’t been so insensitive,” I continued. “If I had held on to this in the first place, none of this with Elton would’ve happened. Don’t you see, sir, it’s a self-esteem problem. Plain and simple. It’s mostly my fault that he’s not in school today.”

Mr. Lowry’s crinkly eyes narrowed into slits as he steered his gaze away from the drawing and back to me. “You are absolutely right about this young man’s talents, Merry. And I’d be delighted to offer leniency in this matter, but rules are rules, and your friend will have to wait out his suspension.” His eyes popped open. He stood up and leaned on his desk. “I’m very sorry.”

Reluctantly, I stood up, waiting for him to return the sketch. Hoping he’d catch the hint, I stared at the hand that held the drawing. Finally, I just plain asked him for it. “Uh, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have that back.”

Someone behind me snickered. I spun around. It was Cody Gower, sporting a sly grin. My throat turned to cotton. How long had he been standing there?

“That’s a reasonable request,” Mr. Lowry spouted, motioning Cody in while he dangled Elton’s drawing between his thumb and pointer finger. Like it was contaminated or something. “On second thought, I think I’ll keep this in Elton’s file for the time being.”

My heart sank.

The purpose of visiting the principal today was to try to help Elton. But by the solemn look on Mr. Lowry’s face, it appeared that I may have made things worse.

By third-period class, everyone in school had heard the rumor. Merry Hanson was in love with a retard.

“Is it true?” Lissa asked as I deposited my books at my locker.

“What?”

She gave me a penetrating look. “You have been awfully nice to Elton lately, loaning him your camera and—”

“Christians are supposed to be nice,” I said.

I noticed Lissa’s eyes. They were disapproving, and when she spoke again her voice sounded breathy and nervous. “You can tell me anything, Mer. We’re friends, right?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“Well?”

“What’s the point?” I punctuated my words with the slam of my locker. “Spreading rumors of this magnitude is a very nasty guy thing to do.”

“Oh, so you’re saying it’s not true.”

“Bingo!” And with that realization, Lissa’s face burst into a bubble-gum smile. She scampered off to class looking downright relieved.

Even Chelsea cornered me after school. Rumors get moldy with age. As far as I was concerned, the comments floating around school weren’t worth repeating, and I told her so.

“Just drop it,” I said, feeling a deeper emotion than simple anger as I stood watching her peer into her locker mirror. I was worried for Elton. Really worried.

There had to be a way to stop this nonsense before Thursday. I couldn’t stand the thought of him returning to school, only to experience Cody Gower’s pathetic jokes.

Outside the building, I waited for the bus, ignoring whispers and the catty looks of several girls. Important things were on my mind. More important than dealing with so-called friends and their rumor-laden second-guessing. Tonight at dusk I would turn detective. Spending the evening spying with my Amish friends would be a refreshing change from this ridiculous day. Whether or not we caught Ben Fisher at his tricks didn’t matter. I needed a break from the modern world!

The bus dropped me off at the willow grove. Standard procedure. Only today, something was different. Elton’s bike was parked a short distance off the road.

The bus lurched forward, spewing exhaust fumes in my face. I held my breath till the fumes dissipated, and then I let my eyes comb the trees in search of Elton.

It wasn’t long till I spotted him, down in a hollowed-out place nearly hidden from the road. The spot had been one of Faithie’s and my favorites.

Elton was holding my Polaroid, aiming at the Zooks’ barn. Watching him use the camera made me feel good about my decision to loan it out. As I watched him from afar, the frustration of the day began to seep away. Elton was making good use of his time away from school, making the best of an unfortunate situation.

I admired him for that.

Slowly, I headed into the grove toward the thickest part, delighted that Elton had returned. What a truly beautiful way to spend the afternoon—with a camera and sketch pad.

Not wanting to startle him, I stood back a few feet from where he sat in the grassy hollow.

Click.
He took a picture and let the camera rest beside him.

“Hi,” I said as he turned around. “Looks like you’re hard at work.”

Elton’s eyes twinkled.

“Doing another drawing of Zooks’ barn?”

A faint blush of color crept into his face. He shook his head no.

“What, then?” I asked. “Your first picture of the barn was incredible. There’s no way you can improve on it.”

He put his hand on his heart, as if to thank me. Then he picked up the instant picture and handed it to me.

“Oh, you’re drawing cows today?”

He nodded.

“That’s something I’ve never tried.” I handed the picture back, wondering if I should tell him about my encounter with the principal today.

Then the sound of bare feet pounding the earth broke the stillness. I whirled around to see Rachel coming toward me. She was out of breath. “Merry, come quick!”

“What is it?”

She grabbed my arm. “Levi wants us to meet in the hayloft before Dat and Mam get back from the bishop’s.”

“Why, what’s happened?”

“Ach, nothing to worry much about,” she said.

“Well, it must be something,” I persisted.

I could tell that Rachel was bashful about talking in front of Elton.

“I’m sorry,” I said to him. “This is Rachel Zook, my friend, and I have to go with her for a little bit. I’ll see you later, okay?”

The corner of his mouth began to twitch, and he put his right hand up in front of him, as though he wanted to wave.

I ran with Rachel out of the willows and toward the pasture, glancing back as we crawled over the picket fence. Elton was still fooling with my camera the last I saw him.

Rachel started talking. “Mam and Dat went to some doings at the bishop’s. Levi says it’s about Ben Fisher, but we can’t be sure. Anyhow, Levi wants us to go over our spying plans one more time before tonight, while no one’s home.”

“Good idea.” I matched my stride to hers. “Maybe Ben’ll repent at the meeting and you won’t have to worry.”

“For his sake, I hope so.” She cast a furtive glance my way; her lower lip trembled. “Shunning’s the last thing a body wants.”

By the time we ran up the barn ramp and into the hayloft, I was gasping for air. I dove into the sweet, sweet hay, my heart pounding in my ears.

“We probably don’t have more than an hour before everyone gets back home,” Levi explained. He closed and latched the heavy double doors, making the loft darker and more secretive. Then he began rehearsing our plans from yesterday. “Maybe we should practice hiding at our lookouts.”

“Yes, let’s!” Rachel shouted with glee as though this were a game.

Levi tweaked a piece of straw and put it in his mouth. “Okay, we’ll have a practice. Everyone pretend it’s dusk. Now…sneak into the barn and take your post quietly.” He lowered his voice. “Tonight when we all meet, Mam and Dat,
Grossdawdy
and
Grossmutter
will be in the house. They mustn’t know we are out here.”