Plain Missing by Emma Miller

Author:Emma Miller [Miller, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-01-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Twilight slowly fell on the valley, the mountains and the endless expanse of old-growth trees and weathered rock all absorbing the light from the setting sun. As evening crept in, the woods seemed to come alive with rustling, snapping of twigs, and the chirping of frogs and crickets.

“How long are we going to sit here?” Mary Aaron asked, keeping her voice low.

“Until the owner of this truck comes to claim it,” Rachel whispered back. They’d been sitting in the cab of the green pickup for the better part of an hour, and not seen nor heard a soul at the abandoned sawmill. There was no registration in the glove box and not a single slip of paper on the floor or under the seat that might indicate whom the vehicle belonged to. Rachel had taken down the license plate number though, thinking that if all else failed, maybe she could get Lucy to run it.

“And if he doesn’t come? Will we sit here all night?”

“Maybe.”

It had been easy to park the Jeep a few hundred feet away, where it couldn’t be seen from anyone driving up the overgrown lane from the road. Rachel hoped that if the owner came, he wouldn’t notice her tire tracks in the grass.

Mary Aaron shifted on the seat. She was behind the steering wheel and had less room to stretch out. “Will your parents be wondering where you are?”

“They know I’m still trying to find answers. You heard Mam last night.” Rachel ran her finger along the dashboard of the old truck, drawing a line in the dust. It didn’t appear as if anyone had sat on the passenger’s side in a long time. “They won’t worry about me.”

“Atch, I think they’ll still worry. I imagine parents worry their whole lives about their children. But your mam and dat know they can’t tell you what to do.” Mary Aaron sighed. “I try to imagine what that would be like. To make up your own mind: when to come home, when to eat, what to wear. For most of us here, the women, at least, we live under our parents’ roof, by their rules. Then when we marry, we have a husband’s wishes to answer to.”

“It’s the way it’s always been, the way it still is for most women in the world,” Rachel mused. “Not just Amish, but women everywhere.”

Mary Aaron stared out into the woods. “Supposedly it’s what God intended. But who says that? The preachers. The bishop. Good men, but men.”

Rachel studied her cousin. “You sound more like a college Englisher than an Amish woman about to be baptized. Next thing you know, you’ll be protesting in front of the mayor’s office, carrying a sign.”

Mary Aaron suppressed a giggle. “I don’t think the mayor of Stone Mill has an office. Doesn’t the town council meet at the bookstore?”

“You know what I mean.” Rachel hesitated and then went on. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you? About being baptized? Marrying Timothy? He told me he wanted to post the banns for you two this fall, but you haven’t wanted to talk about it.

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