Shunned and Dangerous (An Amish Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

aunt. “Excuse me?”
    “Harley Zook. He fixed that shutter I was telling you about last week. He showed up around lunchtime, nodded and smiled at me from the window, and made everything right again. He was here and gone in under twenty minutes.”
    Eight circles of batter formed into pancakes on the griddle as Claire dissected her aunt’s words. “Did Harley fix stuff around here often?”
    “All the time, dear. He’s so quick and thorough it’s really not any surprise people are lining up all over town and beyond to hire him for all sorts of fixes. And the way he’s taken that young man under his wing? It’s inspiring, really.” Diane took a moment from the almost-bubbling circles of batter to liberate the glass pitchers of syrup from the refrigerator and pop them in the microwave for a quick warming.
    “Young man?”
    “Patrick. Patrick Duggan.”
    Claire plopped onto one of the two cushioned stools at the breakfast bar and eyed her aunt across the room. “And who is that?”
    “The young man Harley has working for him as an apprentice, of sorts.”
    “Okay . . .”
    Diane removed the pitchers from the microwave in time to flip the latest round of pancakes. “Patrick is the son of Carl Duggan.”
    “Carl Duggan,” Claire repeated softly, the name ringing a bell she couldn’t quite pinpoint. “Why does that name sound familiar? Have we met?”
    “He’s the man who killed Harley’s brother, John, all those years ago. And that’s the crime that—”
    “Prompted Jakob to leave the Amish in favor of becoming a policeman,” Claire finished for her aunt. “Wow. Harley hired the guy’s kid?”
    “The day after Carl’s arrest, members of the Amish community tried to pay his wife and son a visit. They wanted Rita and Patrick to know that there were no hard feelings.” Diane paused, pre–pancake flip, and pointed a spatula at Claire. “The outside world could certainly learn a thing or two about forgiveness from the Amish, wouldn’t you say?”
    She had to laugh. Only it was laced with sarcasm she didn’t bother to hide. “
Forgiveness?
”
    Diane returned the spatula to the griddle. “The Amish are pacifists, you know. They believe in turning the other cheek.”
    “And what about Jakob? They haven’t turned the cheek where he’s concerned, unless you count turning it
away
from him.” She saw her aunt’s raised eyebrow and knew it was a reaction to the hint of bitterness in Claire’s voice. Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, Diane. I just don’t understand how they can work beside a murderer’s son, yet they can’t forgive their own for leaving to pursue a noble calling. I mean, think about it . . . Jakob became a policeman, not an axe murderer. Though, from what you’re saying, he might have been better off in that pursuit.”
    Diane added the latest round of pancakes to the plate, her lips drooping in an uncharacteristic frown. “The decision to be baptized for the Amish is a commitment. One they hold in the highest regard. If Jakob had left before baptism, he would still be allowed to have a relationship with his family. But he didn’t. He chose to be baptized, to become a true member of the Amish community, and
then
he left. That is why they turn their backs. He broke his word.”
    Claire held up her hands as she slid off the stool. “I hear what you’re saying. I even get the idea in its most basic form. I just don’t agree with it is all. Especially not for someone as good and decent as Jakob Fisher.”
    Wordlessly, Diane lifted the pancake platter and pitcher of syrup and made her way toward the dining room, Claire close behind with the juice pitcher and coffeepot. “It’s nice to hear you be so passionate about Jakob.”
    Her aunt’s word choice and the poorly disguised hope with which it was spoken brought an instant warmth to Claire’s face, a warmth she rushed to extinguish for both herself and Diane. “Any passion you’re picking up, Aunt Diane, is for what’s