Mary Alford - Amish Country Kidnapping

“Isaac. We still keep in touch. He and I go hunting together several times a year, and I help him with his planting like I used to with your dad.”

She looked away, surprised by the admission. When he’d left, Rachel had thought Noah had shut both her and the Amish ways out of his life, and yet he kept in touch with Isaac. He just hadn’t wanted her.

Before she could think of anything to say, someone came into the room. The sheriff motioned to Noah. From his grim expression, she was sure something terrible had happened.

Noah stepped out of the room. Her heart accelerated. Please, Gott , do not let it be Eva.

Time seemed to stop while her last conversation with Eva came to mind.

Can you believe it, Rachel? Soon, I will be teaching at the same shool where you and I attended as kinner . I cannot imagine doing anything else. Eva’s eyes lit up every time she spoke about the future.

Perhaps someday you will meet a man like Hannah Wagler did and fall in love , Rachel had teased.

Her sister had blushed and eventually giggled before changing the subject. At the time, Rachel hadn’t thought much about it. Now she wondered if perhaps Eva had kept parts of her life secret even from Rachel.

When Hannah first came to Eva and mentioned her plans to marry Isaac Yoder, the bishop’s sohn , come November, Eva could not believe that the community leaders would select her to train as Hannah’s replacement.

Her sister pored through all of Hannah’s past issues of the Blackboard Bulletin , an Amish teachers’ magazine. Eva could not wait to complete her apprenticeship.

Noah came back in. The sight of him had her jumping to her feet. “Is there news?” she asked while trying to glean something from his expression.

He hurried to her side. “We haven’t located her,” he said as if reading her thoughts.

“But you know something.” She could see it in his eyes.

“Yes, we found this.” He held up something in a plastic bag. Rachel’s hand covered her mouth. It was Eva’s quilted bag. She had had it with her at the church service.

“You recognize it,” Noah confirmed.

She nodded. “It belongs to Eva. I made it for her seventeenth birthday six months ago. She took it with her wherever she went. Where did you find it?”

“Not far from where the men forced us off the road.” He paused a moment. “Rachel, it’s looking more like the man who attacked you and ran us off the road took Eva against her will. I’m guessing they were waiting for her when she left the Lapps’ place, much like they were for us.”

Rachel sank back into the chair, covering her face with hands that shook. She should have insisted on picking her sister up at Anna’s. Eva had assured her everything would be fine, and Rachel was trying to give her sister more freedom, but she’d had doubts. Why hadn’t she listened to them?

“This isn’t your fault. You can’t blame yourself. These guys are ruthless.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Isn’t it? I should not have let her walk home alone. It was dark and cold. This is my fault.”

Noah clasped her hand once more. “Eva is growing up. She’s not that little girl who used to tag along all the time.”

He was right. Eva was scheduled to join the church in a few weeks’ time.

“What do we do now?” she asked because she had to do something to help.

“If you feel up to it, we could go to your place and take a look around. See if anything is missing. The crime scene unit finished a few hours ago. They didn’t find anything useful, I’m afraid, although we weren’t expecting any fingerprints since you said the man who attacked you wore gloves.”

Rachel rose. “ Jah , I’m ready. I want to do something for Eva.”

Noah smiled at her. “Good. I’ll let Walker know, and then I’ll come get you.”

Alone again, the plastic container holding Eva’s bag called out to her. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. Picking it up, Rachel examined the bag she’d lovingly quilted for her sister. Specks of dark red covered the broken shoulder strap. Blood.

The plastic bag slipped from her fingers. Drawing in a breath, she struggled to keep from being sick.

“What happened to you, Eva?” she whispered while all sorts of possibilities, none of which were good, raced through her head.

She closed her eyes. Nothing made sense. Someone had kidnapped Eva and tried to do the same to her. What could they possibly want?

The door opened. Rachel spun away and tried to reclaim her composure.

“What’s wrong?” Noah asked from near the door.

Squaring her shoulders, she faced him. She had to stay strong. “Nothing. I’m oke .”

He came to where she stood. “We don’t know anything for sure.”

She managed a nod and Noah pressed her hand before releasing it.

“We’re all set with the sheriff. Let’s get out of here.” He held the door open for her.

Noah stopped at the front desk where a woman around the same age as Rachel’s mamm answered phones. She’d been introduced to the woman earlier.

“Janine, we’re heading out to Rachel’s house to take a look around. If you need me, you can reach me on the radio.”

“Okay, Noah. I’ll let Stephanie know, as well. She’ll be starting her dispatcher shift in a few hours.” Janine smiled sympathetically at Rachel. “It was nice to meet you. I’ll say a prayer for your sister.”

Touched by the woman’s kindness, Rachel waved and followed Noah out into the dawning of a new day filled with threatening gray clouds. At this time of the year, the weather could turn from pleasant to winter cold without a moment’s notice.

Noah unlocked a new patrol car and caught her staring at it. “It’s the backup unit. It looks like mine is going to be out of commission for a while.” He opened the door for her, and she climbed inside.

Driving to the farm, Rachel couldn’t keep from glancing over her shoulder, expecting the men who ran them off the road to reappear. Her nerves were all but shattered.

“No one’s back there,” Noah said quietly, and she shifted in her seat to face him.

“I know,” she said but still couldn’t relax. Her sister’s welfare was foremost in her mind. The last time she’d seen Eva, she was excited about attending the youth group singing. Now Eva was missing. Would she ever see her sister again?

“How are your grandparents?” Noah asked, drawing her attention from her worried thoughts. Growing up close to her family, Noah knew her grandparents well.

“They are gut . They moved to the San Luis Valley community in Colorado several years back to live with Aenti Deborah. They said they couldn’t handle the Montana winters any longer.”

Her grossdaddi suffered from severe arthritis, and the cold became harder to endure with each passing year. He and Grossmammi moved to San Luis Valley because of its lower altitude.

Rachel thought about what her mamm ’s reaction would be to learning her youngest daughter was missing.

“How am I going to tell my grandparents and mamm about Eva?”

He held her gaze. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re still trying to piece together what happened to her.”

Slowing the car, he pulled onto her drive. As much as Rachel wanted to believe Eva would somehow turn up and this would prove to be some crazy misunderstanding, the little voice in her head assured her nothing could be further from the truth.

She’d lived all her life surrounded by hard work and peaceful family settings. She knew crime existed, but not in her community. At least not until now.

“You must miss Beth a lot.” He glanced her way curiously.