Hidden In Amish Country

TWO

“Sadie? Sadie, can you hear me?” a strange voice pleaded, over and over again.

Why wouldn’t he just be quiet? Her head was pounding with every word he uttered. Irritated, she dragged her eyelids open to confront the man who kept talking to her when she just wanted to rest. Two blurry figures stood beside her bed. That didn’t seem right. She blinked, and they wobbled before coalescing into one man. His messy brown hair and dark brown eyes gave her the impression of an excited puppy. He was obviously happy to see her.

But who was he?

Panic stirred inside her at the sudden realization that she had no memory of the man standing before her, a ridiculous grin stretched wide upon his face. He, however, obviously knew her.

“Who—who are you?” she gasped out, feeling like the panic was a steel band around her chest, making it difficult to take in a full breath of air.

His grin faltered and those brown eyes sharpened.

“Are you messing with me, Sadie?”

Sadie. The shock went through her. Her name was Sadie. The sound of the name was unfamiliar.

“My name is Sadie?”

The man’s formerly grinning mouth was now a grim frown. His brow was furrowed. Concern emanated from him.

“Your name is Sadie Ann Standings,” he began slowly, as if her ability to process information had disappeared along with her memory. She fought the urge to sigh in impatience. “My name is Kurt. Kurt Standings. I’m your brother.”

She’d forgotten her own brother?

“You’re my brother?” she blurted. She didn’t doubt him, but it was so much to take in at once.

He shrugged. “Stepbrother, but our parents have been married since we were both eight years old. When they married, my dad adopted you, gave you our last name. That was sixteen years ago.”

Which meant she was twenty-four. Why couldn’t she remember any of this? He reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. She jerked it away from him, then winced at the hurt on his face. Still, she was relieved when he didn’t try to touch her again. The thought of a stranger touching her so familiarly was disconcerting.

“Here,” he said, pulling his wallet from his back pocket and drawing out a picture. A young woman with light brown hair and a younger version of the man standing before her stood behind an older couple sitting on a couch, smiling at the camera. She glanced at it and then back at him, awaiting the explanation. He jabbed a finger at the young woman. “That’s you. This is your mom and my dad.”

She looked closer and saw a clear resemblance between the two women.

“Where are our parents?” Shouldn’t they have come the moment they heard she was in the hospital?

His face grew sober. “I’m sorry, Sadie. Dad and your mom, Hannah, were killed in a fire two years ago.”

The loss swamped her, even though the people he talked about were strangers.

“What was your father’s name?” she asked softly.

“Our father, Sadie. Your biological father was long gone. Our dad’s name was Tim.”

“Hannah and Tim,” she whispered to herself, wishing she could remember.

“Look, we need to get the doctor in here.” Kurt took the control near her bed and pressed the button.

Within minutes, a doctor and a nurse were in the room. The female doctor flashed a light in her eyes and asked her endless questions, most of which Sadie was unable to answer. She didn’t recall her family, where she went to school, anything about her job. She couldn’t even tell them what she had been doing when her car had crashed.

“You swerved to avoid colliding with an Amish buggy and hit a tree instead.” The doctor lifted her eyes from her laptop and slid her glasses up to rest on the top of her head. “The car was totaled, or so I hear. You’re very fortunate that no one else was hurt.”

Sadie detected a faint note of censure in the doctor’s voice but wasn’t sure why.

“I guess.” If only she could remember!

The doctor nodded. “You must have been going very fast to have hit the tree so hard.”

“What about my memories? Will they come back?” This total blankness was intolerable. She couldn’t imagine dealing with it for the rest of her life. A movement caught her attention. Kurt was frowning, his face disturbed. When he noticed her watching him, he smiled, but she could still see the strain in it.

The doctor’s expression softened. “There’s no way to know that. You may regain some memories, or you may regain all of them. In some instances, the amnesia is permanent. Your brother and your friends will undoubtedly be willing to help you fill in the missing memories.”

“Of course, we will, sis. Don’t you worry about it.”

Which was silly. Obviously, she would worry about it. It was somewhat unsettling to have someone of whom she had no recollection talking to her with such familiarity. She wondered vaguely if they had been close siblings.

As the doctor was leaving, another stranger entered the room. Sadie felt her eyes widen. This stranger was taller than Kurt, and his dress was very simple. Blue button-down shirt, dark trousers, sturdy brown boots. His hair was dark, and so were his eyes. The lower part of his face was covered with a beard. No mustache, though. She blinked at the sight of an Amish man standing in her hospital room. The beard signified that he was married, or at least she thought it did. Huh. It struck her as odd that she could remember how the Amish dressed, but that she couldn’t recall her own name.

“Ben!” Kurt strode to the door, astonishment stamped on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“Kurt. You know her?” He jerked the hand holding his hat toward where Sadie lay watching from the hospital bed. She could see the surprise in the rigidness of his posture.

“Know her? She’s my sister.” Kurt’s voice retained its puzzlement.

Ben, whoever he was, hadn’t said what he was doing there yet. Sadie listened avidly. Maybe he would have some details about what had happened to her. It was a rather desperate hope.

“Ah.” Ben shifted. His eyes sought out Sadie. He blinked when he saw her watching him. A slow smile, that reminded her of a sunrise, took over his face. She’d been so focused on the beard that she hadn’t noticed how gentle the deep brown eyes surrounded by several feathery laugh lines were. “It’s gut to see you awake. You crashed in front of my house. My neighbor and I pulled you from the car. I found this after you were gone.”

He pulled out a smartphone in a bright pink case and set it on the table beside her. It didn’t look familiar, but then, nothing really did.

“Thank you for bringing it. And thanks also for helping me,” she told him. “Do I know you?”

His thick eyebrows climbed up his forehead. “We’ve never met before.”

She liked the way he talked, slow and soft.

Kurt stepped in before the silence could become uncomfortable. “She’s got amnesia or something. Can’t remember a thing. Her doctor popped in and said she may or may not remember everything.”

That was a lot of information to be giving a stranger. Ben might know Kurt, but he had no true connection with her. She frowned at her brother, trying to let him know to stop telling his friend about her.

A knock sounded on the door. She sighed, wishing to be alone with her thoughts to sort out what she had learned. Kurt opened it. From her position on the bed she could make out a dark blue uniform and a gold badge. Finally. The police had arrived. Maybe she could get some answers. Kurt swung the door wider. “Hey, Keith. Do you have some news about my sister’s accident?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” The officer entered the room.

Sadie sat up straighter. Kurt knew the officer, and the man hadn’t said anything when he’d named her as his sister. Which meant she was, indeed, Kurt’s stepsister. She noticed Kurt straightening his posture out of the corner of her eye as the officer approached her. She felt bad. To her, Kurt was someone she didn’t know, but to him, she was his sister. If only she could remember!

“Keith? What caused my sister’s accident?” Kurt’s question brought her back to the present.

“There was a small jagged hole in the brake line. You most likely tore the line by going over rocks or rough terrain too fast. The line could have been slowly dripping for weeks without your being aware. You might have noticed your brakes feeling mushy. Too many people wait too long before getting their brakes fixed.”

Kurt thanked the officer for his help. Sadie frowned. She had thought he would want to know what caused the accident, but she couldn’t help noticing that his expression was even grimmer than before. His friend, Ben, seemed to notice something was wrong, as well.

“Kurt, are you well?”

Ben’s voice was smooth and deep, unhurried with a slight accent. Not too noticeable, just somehow rounder than the speech she’d heard from others since she awoke.

Her brother glanced at her in a considering way. Then he apparently decided she needed to know what was going on.

“Sadie, you couldn’t have had a leak for a long time.” He drew in a deep breath. “You had the entire brake system, including the lines, replaced last week.”

She shivered, though his meaning wasn’t processing. “What are you trying to tell me?”

“This wasn’t an accident.”

“What do mean, it wasn’t an accident?” Her voice came out strained, like she had to squeeze each and every painful word out.

Kurt—she couldn’t think of him as her brother—gave her a look that was overflowing with sympathy. She was grateful he didn’t attempt to touch her again.

“Someone tried to hurt you. Someone deliberately made it so that your car would run out of brake fluid while you were driving.”

She shuddered. The fear and panic she had felt since awaking with no memory threatened to pull her under. Already she could feel the blackness dragging her down. She fought her way through it. The doctor had said that her memories might return.

The other man, Ben, shifted beside the bed. “If you feel your sister was in danger, shouldn’t you have told the police officer who just left? You knew him.”

That, she thought, was a valid question. Narrowing her eyes, she switched her eyes back to her stepbrother. He sighed, then he grabbed the chair and motioned for his friend to sit. While Ben cautiously settled himself, his eyes wary, Kurt strode to the other side of the room and pulled a second chair to the side of the bed. Sadie had the uncomfortable feeling that she was about to be interrogated.

“Okay, look, Sadie, I know you don’t remember me, but I need you trust me. Okay?”

She nodded. “I believe that you are who you say. I’m sorry. I just don’t remember anything!”

He sighed. “I know. I know. Look, the truth of the matter is that I think you are in danger, but I have no proof.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s possible that it might be my fault. I think you might be in trouble because of my job.”

Startled, Sadie forced herself to sit up straighter. She noticed that Ben sat forward, his gaze sharpening as he stared at her brother. The intensity of his glance made her momentarily lose focus on the conversation. When her brother began to speak again, she mentally shook herself and returned her attention to Kurt.

“Explain, please. How is it your fault that I may be in danger?” She stressed the word may, as she was still hoping it was all a bad nightmare and she would soon wake up with her memories intact.

“I can’t get used to you not knowing things.”

He wasn’t the only one. Irritation stirred that he would find her amnesia an inconvenience. How did he think she felt?

“Kurt,” Ben interrupted him, his deep voice rich with reprimand.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. That sounded really selfish. Sorry. I don’t mean to be insensitive.” He shoved a hand through his dark hair. “I’m a reporter. Nothing big. Smaller stories, mainly section B. I’ve slowly been getting more important stuff, though. Recently my boss put me on a new story. I can’t tell you much about it, confidentiality and all, but I think I might have found something serious. Unfortunately, it’s nothing I can take to the police. I have no actual evidence. Right now, I just have suspicions.”

“One of your suspicions is that someone knows you’re looking?” Ben asked.

“Yeah.”

Sadie glanced from one man to the other. “I still don’t understand how that affects me.”

Kurt sighed. “It affects you because I think someone is telling me that you’ll get hurt if I don’t stop digging.” Frustration rang in his voice. “I’m so close to finding something, so close, and I’m going to have to stop.”

“Are you sure you can’t go to the cops? That Keith seemed to like you well enough. Maybe he’d be able to find the information you are seeking.”

Kurt snorted. “The moment it’s learned I went to the police, any chance I have of uncovering the facts are gone. My boss will never trust me with another major project again.”

It wasn’t her fault. She knew it wasn’t her fault. But she couldn’t stop the trickle of doubt and guilt that wound its way through her. A new fear surfaced.

“Will they still come after me, do you think?”

He didn’t answer her, which was an answer in itself.

“Kurt, you have to protect your sister.” Ben shoved his chair back. The sound of the four legs scraping the floor made her cringe. Ben stood and paced away from the bed. “Your family must be a priority.”

She appreciated him stepping in to speak up for her, virtual stranger that she was.

“I know I have to protect her,” Kurt snapped. “I just don’t know how to do that. Even if I stop digging, they’re still there and will most likely come after me and probably her. I have to get more information so I can go to the police. Once they are involved, I’m sure we can find more protection.”

Ben didn’t let up. “And until then? How do you intend to make sure she is safe before then?” The Amish man slowed his pacing and took a deep breath. She could tell he was struggling to remain calm, although she had no idea why he was so invested in what happened to her. Was it just because he was friends with Kurt?

“You don’t need to worry,” Kurt said, lifting his chin and crossing his arms. “I’ll figure something out.”

Sadie’s jaw dropped open. She couldn’t hide her surprise. Maybe she felt this way because she couldn’t remember her brother, but she was not impressed with him right now. Shouldn’t he be more concerned about her? And about his own safety? Although, she had to admit, she had no idea what he had gotten himself into. That was a definite negative about having amnesia.

She flicked a glance toward Ben. He obviously wasn’t any happier with Kurt than she was. Even through the beard she could tell that his jaw was clenched. His brows were lowered, and his dark eyes were flashing. “I stood beside my seven-year-old son and watched your sister’s car slam into a tree. I will never forget the sound it made. When I got to the car, I thought she was dead. It was horrifying. There was gasoline on the ground. My neighbor and I pulled her from the car, wondering if the car would explode at any moment. I came here this afternoon because neither my son nor I could stop wondering if the woman we had tried to save would survive.”

Silence followed his words.

She was touched by the care he had shown her.

“Your son, is he all right?”

Ben’s glance settled on her. The kindness in those deep, sad eyes struck her. “Yes, Nathaniel is gut. He is very worried about you.”

Kurt sat forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “I’m worried, too. Don’t think I’m not. I just don’t know what to do. I can’t even think of many friends you could stay with. It would be one thing if you could remember, but you’d be so vulnerable without your memory. Unless...”

Suddenly he sat forward. Excitement lit up his face. “I know exactly what I can do and where you can go.”

“Where?” Sadie shivered with apprehension. She might not remember Kurt, but at least she was certain of who he was. The idea of staying with someone she didn’t know made her uneasy.

Her stepbrother gave her his wide cheerful grin. “It’s perfect. No one would think to look for you there, and I could continue digging until I find what I need.”

“Where?” she asked again, growing more tense by the second.

“You can stay with Ben. No one would look for you in Amish country.”

Ben gaped at his friend, certain he had missed something. Kurt was desperate; he could comprehend the feeling, even empathize with it. In addition to that, he and Kurt had known each other for several years. Ben was a carpenter by trade, and they had met several years back when Kurt was writing a story on local businesses. He had included a section on businesses within the Amish community and had come out to interview Ben. They had formed a connection. When Lydia became ill the following year, Kurt had gone out of his way to assist and to be a support to his friend. He was the one and only Englischer that Ben considered more than a mere acquaintance. In fact, when Ben had decided to move away from the district where he and Lydia had both grown up, Kurt had helped him locate a new home.

Even so, the idea of the attractive young Englisch woman staying in his home was ridiculous. A widower did not ask a single woman to stay with him unchaperoned. It just wasn’t done. He knew it would not be appropriate, and the gossip that would surely sprout from such an event could be devastating. Not to mention the trouble he would get in with the bishop.

Nee. He wanted to help. Truly he did. But not this way.

He tried to convince himself that he was making the right decision, but he couldn’t keep the worry about what would happen to her once she left the hospital out of his mind. And almost as important, what he’d tell Nathaniel. His son had been almost in tears when Ben left to come to the hospital, afraid that the woman was dead.

With a start, he realized he was actually considering taking this woman into his home. He needed to put a stop to this foolishness.

“I am a widower,” he told his friend sternly. “I cannot have a single woman living in my home, even temporarily, without a chaperone. You know this. That’s not our way.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” a soft voice said. He turned his head and looked straight into eyes the color of warm caramel. Eyes that intrigued him, although he couldn’t say why. “Please, don’t worry about me.”

He would worry, though. He knew he would. He just couldn’t think of anything else to do. As he gazed into those eyes, he was reminded of someone, but the memory skirted just outside of his reach. This woman was familiar, somehow, but he knew that he had never met her. He shrugged the feeling away.

Kurt shifted in his chair, dragging Ben’s attention away from the lovely Englisch woman with a bandage on her temple. He knew he was doing the right thing, but his conscience wasn’t easy about it.

“I don’t want to get you in trouble with your church. You know I don’t. But isn’t there a relative who could stay with you for a short time? Someone who could provide you with the chaperone you need? It will be for a short time. A week. Maybe two.”

Before he could reply, Sadie turned her attention to Kurt with a puzzled frown on her face. “Don’t I have a job? How is it that I can get away with just vanishing?”

Ben blinked. That was a very good question.

“You work as a high school counselor. There’s no way you could go back to your job in the condition you’re in. I have already contacted them and told them you’ve been in an accident. Obviously, they know nothing about the amnesia yet, but once they know, they’ll agree. You have some sick time saved up, although only about three weeks. If it takes longer than that, you’ll have to take unpaid leave.”

Ben let their conversation wash over him without really hearing it. Every instinct he had was screaming at him that if he left her in the hospital, Sadie would still be in danger. The image of her pale and lifeless-appearing body trapped in her vehicle filled his mind. Englischers could be a very reckless and violent people. He still remembered the father of a childhood friend being murdered years ago by an Englischer. The killer, a local teenager, was still in prison.

He shook his head. He couldn’t hold the actions of one man against all Englischers. Kurt, despite his lack of common sense at times, had proven himself to be a good and loyal friend. Ben knew that their family had suffered tragedies.

He couldn’t get involved, though.

He opened his mouth to tell his friend how sorry he was that he couldn’t help. Instead, he found himself saying, “Let me think about this and see if there’s a way I can make it work.”

Relief filled Kurt’s eyes and a wide grin broke over his face. What had he done? He glanced again at Sadie. Unlike her brother, she was frowning. He could see the slight furrow in her brow.

“Ben, I appreciate your willingness to consider helping me out. I know that you are friends.” She waved a hand between two men. “I don’t mean any offense, but I don’t know you. I don’t even know Kurt, not at the moment, but he is my stepbrother. But we haven’t met before today.”

Kurt stepped closer to the bed. “I would never let you stay with anyone who wasn’t trustworthy. Ben is as fine a man as they come. I promise.”

The exasperated glance she threw at her brother had Ben biting the inside of his lips to keep from smiling. She may have been injured, but she had fierceness inside her. He was glad to see that.

“How do I know that I can trust your word?” she asked. Kurt looked a little hurt at that, but it was a fair question. She shook her head and then winced. “It’s just that if I am in danger, and right now we can’t really prove that I am, I hate the thought that I would somehow be bringing that danger into his home. He has a little boy he has to look after.”

His heart warmed that she was thinking about his son. He needed to get back home. He had left Nathaniel with Caleb and Lovina. If he didn’t go soon, he’d be getting home after it started to get dark. He hadn’t gotten a driver since he hadn’t planned on being gone that long.

“I need to head for home. I just came to assure myself and Nathaniel that you were well.”

She was, for now.

Ben slapped his hat back on his head as he exited the building and strode briskly to where he had left his buggy. It had grown colder while he’d been inside. The chill bit at him. He ignored it. It would grow much colder. Dealing with harsh weather was just a part of his life. He had lived his entire life in this part of Ohio. He expected he’d probably die here, as well. Although, he was over an hour from where he’d grown up. He refused to allow guilt to take root. He’d moved out of the heart of Amish country in Homes County to get away from the memories of his dead wife. And to escape the expectations of his family.

Would Sadie’s brother talk her into staying with him? he wondered as he pulled away from the town. He didn’t know if Kurt’s worries were founded or not. However, he had never known Kurt to be fanciful. Kurt might sometimes act without thinking, but he did seem to be very observant, which was probably why he had been entrusted with what appeared to be a dangerous assignment at his job.