A Simple Wish by Charlotte Hubbard

Author:Charlotte Hubbard [Hubbard, Charlotte]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-08-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

When Loretta answered the door on Wednesday morning, she was startled to see Bishop Tom and Preacher Ben on the porch wearing very serious expressions. “Gut morning,” she said as she opened the door. “Is everything all right? Is someone ill and needing our help?”

Rosalyn came from the kitchen, still holding her dish towel, as the two men stepped inside. “You’re just in time to try some chocolate zucchini muffins,” she said cheerfully. “It’s a new recipe—a different way to use up all the zucchini in the garden. I think they grow several inches each night, and we have so many!”

Preacher Ben smiled, following Rosalyn to the kitchen. “I can’t tell you how many different ways we’ve eaten zucchini this week, and today Miriam’s grinding some and freezing it in quart bags.”

“Maybe we’ll have a minute to sample those muffins after we speak with your dat,” Bishop Tom said as he and Ben hung their black straw hats on wall pegs. “Is he down in his shop?”

“Jah, he’s been working on his clocks since breakfast,” Loretta replied. “Go on downstairs and knock on his shop door.”

Bishop Tom nodded, his expression a mixture of regret and purpose. “Nazareth has started a rag rug, and I’d like you girls to go help her with it for a while,” he said. “Our business involves a church matter not intended for your ears.”

Loretta’s stomach tightened as the bishop headed for the basement stairway with Preacher Ben behind him. Not daring to speak while the two men could hear her, she shot a questioning glance at Rosalyn. Rosalyn shrugged, appearing more nervous now that she’d assessed the men’s somber moods—and because they’d been asked to leave.

The tattoo of their guests’ boots echoed in the stairwell. Loretta listened silently as Preacher Ben and Bishop Tom crossed the large open area of the basement’s concrete floor.

The footfalls stopped. After a moment, Loretta and Rosalyn heard a loud knock.

“Cornelius, you’ll need to unlock your door,” Bishop Tom said loudly.

Loretta’s eyes widened. She was aware that Dat always worked with his shop door closed, but why would he lock it? As young girls, she and Edith and Rosalyn had been instructed not to enter his workroom—not even to clean—unless he gave them permission. The sisters had rarely seen his workshop in the Roseville house, and they’d never set foot in this one.

“Ah, gut morning, gentlemen!” their father called out. “What brings you here on this fine September day? A problem amongst our members?”

Once again Loretta and her sister exchanged worried looks. Dat sounded startled—loudly cheerful— as he greeted his visitors, which prompted Loretta to slip out of her shoes and walk quietly across the front room to the grate in the floor that allowed heat to circulate. Rosalyn followed her silently—but the clank from below them signaled that Dat had anticipated their eavesdropping and shut the grate.

Returning to the kitchen, the sisters stood beside the sink. “What’s going on?” Loretta whispered. “This seems very strange.”

“I have no idea, but I have a bad feeling about it,” Rosalyn replied softly.

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