CHAPTER ONE
"I'll not kneel and confess to a sin I did not commit!"
KatieAnn Mast's adamant cry echoed in the small room. Heat rushed into her cheeks and burned her eyes. Great! Blazing red cheeks and eyes that spark fire. That'll make a good impression. Not stomping her foot required a strong, concentrated effort. She looked from Bishop John to her mamm and then down at her sturdy, black shoes.
"KatieAnn, all things can be forgiven, you know," Bishop John began. "The Bible says if we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and will forgive our sins."
"You believe that, jah?" Mamm practically whispered.
"Of course I believe that, but Mamm, I didn't do anything wrong."
"The money and watch were found in your bag. Deborah, of course, will not press charges. It's not our way. She's happy everything was returned." The bishop stroked his beard.
"I did not take the money or the watch. I do not steal."
"KatieAnn, the money and watch were found in your bag."
Did the man think she hadn't heard him the first time?
"If you just ask for forgiveness, all will be well, and there will be no danger of the bann." Mamm's eyes pleaded with her as they filled with tears.
"I'll be shunned for something I didn't even do?" KatieAnn was horrified. This was her family. These were her people. Wouldn't they give her the benefit of the doubt? They had known her all her life. "I thought we were innocent until proven guilty."
"The evidence is pretty strong." Bishop John yanked at the hairs of his beard.
KatieAnn expected him to pluck his chin bald. "I'll tell you like I told Deborah." She forced herself to stay calm when she wanted to shout. "I don't know how the deposit bag and watch got into my bag. I did not put them there. I've taken the deposit to the bank for Deborah many times and never stole the money. And what would I want with an Englischer's watch?"
"You did like pretty jewelry during your rumspringa."
KatieAnn couldn't believe her mamm brought that up. "That was two years ago, Mamm. I've been a baptized church member for two years now. Besides, liking jewelry doesn't mean I'd steal it!"
"Please, KatieAnn, I don't want to lose you." Mamm was on the verge of an all-out crying jag.
"The Lord Gott wants you to do the right thing." The bishop focused a stern gaze on her.
"Does the Lord Gott want me to lie? That's what I would be doing if I said I stole those things. Then I'd have to kneel before the church to ask forgiveness for lying." She hoped she didn't sound too disrespectful. That would not help her case in the least.
"Think on these things, KatieAnn." The bishop's admonishing frown drew his dark, bushy eyebrows together in a unibrow. Like a wooly worm had crawled across his forehead and died there. KatieAnn stifled a laugh that would surely kumm out as hysterical. That would never do at such a time as this.
"This week is an off Sunday, so you have until next Sunday's church meeting to make a decision. Maybe you can talk some sense into her, Ida." With that the bishop turned and strode from the kitchen.
Mamm sank onto a sturdy oak chair and dropped her head into rough, work-worn hands. "This can't be." The sobs began.
KatieAnn knelt and wrapped her arms around her mamm's shaking shoulders. "It will be all right, Mamm. Somehow this will all work out."
She would try to comfort her mamm, but who would comfort her and help her out of this mess?
* * * *
KatieAnn ate little supper and contributed only a few obligatory grunts to the table-time conversation. She wanted only to get the meal over with, clean the kitchen, and escape to her room so she could mull things over yet again. Some clue must have escaped her, some tiniest speck of information that would absolve her of any blame or suspicion.
Mamm ate only slightly more of the ham, cabbage, and potatoes than KatieAnn, but did make an effort to converse with her husband and sons. Thomas and Eli wolfed down their food as though they hadn't eaten in a week—same as always. Daed ate more slowly and kept throwing surreptitious glances in KatieAnn's direction. Supper dragged on forever.
Finally her bruders had eaten everything except for the plates and were ready to leave the table. Eli would find some errand to run so he could stop by the Beachy house to visit Sarah. Thomas would probably sit on the front porch and whittle until the late-November air rendered his hands too cold and stiff to wield the knife.
KatieAnn and her mudder cleared the table in silence. "I can clean up the kitchen, Mamm. Why don't you go sit with Daed?" Her mamm looked ready to burst into tears again, and she simply couldn't deal with that right now. She also didn't want to hear how she should confess and be done with this whole ugly business.
"Danki, KatieAnn. Maybe I will." Mamm reached a shaky hand up to push a piece of dark golden hair back into her bun.
When did that silver creep into Mamm's hair? KatieAnn hugged the older woman and blew out the breath she'd been holding. Now she'd make quick work of the dishes and sneak upstairs, if all went according to her plan.
* * * *
KatieAnn pulled on a long, flannel nightgown and brushed her waist-length auburn hair. She gently massaged her scalp with her fingertips. She would have to pin her hair and kapp more loosely tomorrow, though she doubted too-tight hair pins were the source of her pounding headache. She rolled her shoulders forward and back and then tilted her head from side to side in a vain attempt to release the knots of tension.
On her knees beside her bed for her evening prayers, the only word she could utter was, "help." Gott knew her heart and mind so the actual words weren't necessary. She sighed and blew out the oil lamp before diving beneath the blanket and quilt. Perhaps, in the silent darkness, she could make some sense of the last fifteen or so hours of her life.
Just this morning, she'd arrived at Deborah's Old Time Bake Shop before the first rooster even thought of crowing. The pink and purple fingers of dawn had barely begun to scribble across the sky. Using the key Deborah gave her more than a year ago, she let herself in the back door. After a couple hours of baking, she would unlock the front door. Customers often wanted to grab a homemade muffin or pastry on their way to work.
She hung her navy quilted bag on the empty coat tree in the employees' room. Her bruder James' fraa, Mary, was expecting their third child. KatieAnn usually spent her lunch break knitting a blanket for the boppli while nibbling at a sandwich or leftover muffin from the morning's baking. Her black cape and bonnet went over the bag on the same hook so there would be plenty of room for the rest of the staff to hang their outer garments. In the big kitchen, she turned on the lights and ovens, and scrubbed her hands at the sink. Just like always.
KatieAnn liked getting to work early to mix the dough for the goodies they would sell. Later, after the breakfast rush, she'd prepare her original "knots"—just the twisted portion of pretzels in various flavors. After two years at the bake shop, she'd found that, while she liked baking the old favorites, she most enjoyed developing her own concoctions. Deborah trusted her and let her experiment with new ideas. Correction. Deborah used to trust her. KatieAnn wasn't exactly sure how Deborah felt now.
All right, KatieAnn. Think!
Deborah entered the shop about a half hour later. KatieAnn already had kaffi brewing. From the big commercial ovens, the delicious aromas of muffins and Danish filled the shop. She had just started on the doughnuts.
"Mmm! Smells gut in here." Deborah said the same thing every morning on her way into the office to work on the bank deposit before customers began streaming in. Yesterday had been extremely busy, so Deborah had told her she might take longer than usual to prepare the deposit. She said she should be available to help in the shop by the time it opened for business. KatieAnn wasn't worried since the rest of the staff was due in soon.
Frannie Kauffman arrived first. She was a widow in her forties. All her kinner were grown, so she put in a lot of time at the shop. KatieAnn's gut freind Grace Hershberger was next to open the door. As usual, eighteen-year-old Lizzie Graber crept in as the customers entered. That girl! Even though she was the bishop's niece, she was not terribly reliable. She was nice enough, for sure, but mostly interested in finding a husband.
Lizzie tried to sneak in amongst the customers waiting for Deborah to unlock the door, but as always, her fellow employees and boss saw her. "Sorry I'm late." Lizzie sailed past Deborah on her way to the employees' room at the back of the store.
Deborah shook her head and rolled her eyes. She greeted Mrs. Sampson who purchased her usual blueberry muffin and kaffi and made small talk with each of the other customers. When the first onslaught of customers had been waited on, Deborah headed back to her office. She poked her head in the kitchen and held up a hand. "Girls!"
KatieAnn turned from her mixing bowl to look at Deborah. Light glinted off a shiny object dangling from Deborah's fingers. What on earth was she holding?
"This belongs to Mrs. Sampson, ain't so?" Deborah shook the object in her hand.
KatieAnn wiped her hands on a checked dish towel and scooted over to get a closer look. The rather large gold-and-diamond watch sparkled as it twirled in Deborah's fingers. The piece was a bit too fancy, as far as KatieAnn was concerned. She used to like pretty jewelry back before she joined the church, but this watch was downright gaudy. "I believe that does belong to Mrs. Sampson."
"I'll drop it off to her on the way to the bank. I'm leaving in a few minutes."
"Okay." KatieAnn and Frannie went back to work. Up front, Grace laughed with a customer. This would be another busy day, for sure and certain.
Deborah rushed from the office. Her hands were full with the deposit bag, watch, and books. "These books are due at the library today. I might as well drop them off while I'm out. Ach! I have to mail some bills too. Where did I leave them?" She dropped everything on a counter and scampered off in search of the mail.
"Whew!" Frannie sighed when the last of the doughnuts had been arranged on the big silver trays.
"I'll take them out." Frannie's arthritis sometimes gave her fits. Though the older woman never complained, KatieAnn could tell the trays were sometimes hard for her to carry.
A sudden influx of customers kept KatieAnn, Grace, and Lizzie scurrying about. Frannie refilled the empty kaffi maker several times to keep it perking.
"Everyone must have smelled fresh doughnuts this morning," Grace called as she whizzed past KatieAnn.
"Well, we did have the sign posted about the new cookies-and-cream doughnut debuting today." KatieAnn turned back to wait on a customer.
"I think you scored a winner with this one." Grace laughed. "You may sell out in record time."
They bantered back and forth and chatted with the customers until Deborah appeared, pale and shaking. Conversation died as all the workers stared at their boss. KatieAnn gave voice to their question. "Deborah, was ist letz?"
Deborah's voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "Th-the deposit and th-the watch. I can't find them."
"You dropped them down on the kitchen counter," Frannie reminded her. "They must have fallen."
Deborah shook her head. "Nee. I looked."
"Well, they couldn't have just walked off," Grace said. "We'll help you look."
"Maybe you took them into the employees' room when you got your cape," Lizzie suggested.
"I don't think so."
"I'll double check." Lizzie raced away, bumping into the front counter and almost toppling a display of muffins on a stand beneath a glass dome.
"That girl!" Deborah muttered. "A regular bull in a china shop."
A loud crash sent everyone running to the back of the shop.
"Someone stay out front, please." Deborah scurried around the counter as quickly as her plump legs could carry her.
KatieAnn and Grace reached the employees' room first. "Ach, Lizzie! Are you all right?" KatieAnn reached out for the girl. Lizzie leaned against the wall gasping for breath. The coat tree lay on the floor with capes, bonnets, and tote bags scattered around it.
"What happened?" Deborah panted as she entered the room. "Lizzie?"
"I-I'm okay. I'm sorry. I was rushing and bumped into the coat tree."
"Are you sure you're okay?" KatieAnn let go of Lizzie's arm when she saw the girl was steady on her feet.
"I'm fine. Let me just pick up this stuff."
KatieAnn righted the coat tree while Grace picked up and shook off the capes and bonnets before rehanging them. Deborah turned away to continue her search.
Lizzie reached for KatieAnn's bag, but she grabbed the wrong end. Knitting needles clanged on the floor as a ball of green yarn rolled out. Then, with a thud and a clink, out plopped the bulging vinyl deposit bag and the gold-and-diamond watch. Lizzie gasped.
"Ach! How did those get in my bag?" All the strength left KatieAnn's legs. Her hands shook, and her knees threatened to buckle. She crouched on the floor beside Lizzie. "I-I did not put those there." She looked up into Deborah's horrified face. Grace stared, open-mouthed. "H-honest, Deborah. I didn't put those in my bag." Tears threatened to pour.
Only Lizzie seemed unaffected and continued to chatter. "Well, maybe you just wanted to get them out of the way and brought them to a safe place."
"I never came into this room after I started baking."
"Nee?" Deborah stared at her.
"You know me, Deborah. I would never take something that didn't belong to me. I've even taken your deposits to the bank before with nee problems."
"Of course you wouldn't steal!" Grace was quick to defend her. "Anyway, Frannie can vouch for you. She was with you in the kitchen the whole time, ain't so?"
"Jah. Well, she went out front once to take some muffins."
"Could a customer have slipped back here?" Grace looked from KatieAnn to Deborah.
"I suppose it's possible," Deborah conceded.
"But why would they put these things in KatieAnn's bag that was under her cape?" Lizzie voiced what the others most likely were thinking.
"Who knows?" Deborah pulled the bag and watch from Lizzie's hands. "I'm just glad they've been found. Let me recount and get this out of here. Back to work, girls."
KatieAnn jumped up and trailed behind Deborah. "You do believe me, don't you, Deborah?"
Deborah turned. She patted KatieAnn's arm but her tight smile was obviously forced. "Of course. I've always trusted you." She turned and marched into the office to recount the deposit.
KatieAnn struggled to swallow the boulder-sized lump clogging her throat. Did Deborah and the others think she'd taken the money and the watch?