Silent Stranger

34 - An Unexpected Visit

On Sunday, my last day of leave, I asked Sophie to join me at our little kitchen table to show her the plan I had been working on. She felt comfortable enough around me to go without wearing her bonnet, but she wouldn't step out the door without a head covering.

She studied my sketch.

"I can't sleep on the sofa much longer without ruining my back. In the spring, I want to knock down the east facing wall near the bedroom." I pointed to the area on the sketch. "I'll have a contractor build us another bedroom and add a second bathroom. We'll make it your private space."

She grabbed her pad and wrote for a long time: Please also add a separate heater. You always forget to mind the wood stove, and I end up cranking up the electric blanket. Then I get too hot, turn it off, get cold, and go through that vicious cycle all night long.

I was resigned to the fact that the cabin's temperature was a topic we would never agree on. "That's reasonable. I'll ask the builder to include it in the quote."

I glanced at my old sofa. "Next order of business. I need to replace that thing with something more comfortable until the new room is built."

Sophie clapped her hands and smiled, seemingly pleased at my idea. She wrote: Are we going shopping? Can I pick out the new sofa?

"As long as it isn't pink and with no unicorns."

Can we compromise? How about unicorn throw pillows?

"No!" As her big brother, I did have to set some boundaries.

Sophie suddenly sat erect, as if frightened.

"What is it?"

She pointed toward the door.

"Someone coming?" I got up from the table and went to the window to check. Sophie dashed by me to hide in her bedroom.

Her hearing was better than mine. I didn't notice the horse-drawn buggy until it came in to view from around the trees with a young, Amish man holding the reins. He pulled the horse to a stop.

It took me a moment to recognize Caleb wearing a Sunday suit and fancy straw hat instead of work clothes. I stepped outside to greet him. "Hello, Caleb."

"Hello, Mister Snyder."

"What brings you to my door?"

He reached beneath the seat of the buggy and came up holding my shotgun and handgun. "I came to return these." He handed them to me.

"Thank you. During the turmoil of that day, I left them behind." I needed to ask a question but worried about the answer. "Caleb, what did you and your friends do to Titus and his family? You promised to not use violence while also assuring us they would no longer be a problem. I can't reconcile how you could do that."

He explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "We tied them up and made them sit on the ground. Then we pulled every one of those bales and footlockers from the barn and set them on fire, right in front of them. We destroyed all the drugs. I told Titus he was welcome to stick around and try to explain to his dealers how a fortune's worth of their product disappeared. I told him they would never believe a bunch of Amish kids got the better of him. Those gangsters will think he sold all the drugs and kept the cash for himself. From the expression on Titus's face, I knew he feared for his life. He and his sons and his wives sped away in their car faster than we were able to leave his farm in our buggies. I suspect they're half-way across the country by now. Don't worry, we'll never see them again."

He paused before continuing. "Oh, and for all our trouble we confiscated his pigs and chickens and gave them new homes."

I chuckled. How could I not admire this resourceful young man?