Read Online Off the Grid (Amish Safe House, Book 1) by Ruth Hartzler - Free Book Online Page B

pounding, and she hoped that the Schlabachs would have
a home headache remedy on hand.
    Kate wondered what in fact was being done
about the murder. Of course, the police were hardly likely to keep
her informed of their progress. She missed her world. She doubly
missed her badge. It was hard to believe how different a crime
investigation was without it. Once again, Kate thought that she had
never been on the civilian end of a crime before, and she most
certainly did not like it.
    Still, Kate was not the sort to walk away
from an open case. Despite the convenient escape offered to her,
she insisted on seeing the event through the end. Kate figured that
Beth had disapproved of her wandering off to talk to the police
right after the funeral. Her boss had warned her that the community
was strict about their isolation from the modern world, which, of
course, was part of its appeal in hiding her in plain sight.
    When Kate, Beth, Rose, and Isaac arrived at
the Schlabachs’ haus , Kate knew, of course, that the place
would be devoid of technology. And four kids - was that what Beth
said? How did they keep sane without television, Nintendo, and
iPads to distract them from tearing up the house? Kate’s elderly
friend, Helen, had two grandchildren who were constantly fighting
and getting into mischief. Kate had managed to dodge a weekend or
two of babysitting the pair. She could not imagine having four
children to keep up with.
    The door opened to reveal a woman who looked
to be in her late twenties. She wore the same simple dress and
over-apron that Kate had grown accustomed to seeing. Wisps of red
hair peeked out from under her bonnet, and her cheeks were
decorated with a pretty splash of freckles.
    “Good afternoon, Esther.” Beth smiled at the
other woman.
    “Beth, it's so good to see you.” The young
woman smiled over the older woman's shoulder at Isaac. “Good
afternoon to you too, Isaac. How is your leg doing?”
    “I can't complain. It gets sore in the cold
still, but Gott saw fit to let me keep using it a while
longer,” Isaac answered.
    The young lady smiled, and her eyes trailed
over to Kate.
    “Esther,” Beth said. “This is Katie, the
young lady recovering from an accident.”
    “ Jah , hullo , Katie. I
apologize that I haven't been down to greet you yet. I thought you
might want to rest a while before you took company. How are you
getting along so far?”
    Kate was a little taken aback by the
familiarity. She nodded in greeting. “It's nice to meet you,
Esther. I’m getting along fine, denki . I'm just taking it a
day at a time.” Kate smiled to herself at her use of the
Pennsylvania Dutch word.
    “That's about all we can do, isn't it?”
Esther was warm and friendly. It was a stark contrast to how Kate
had initially imagined that the community would be.
    After a moment of small talk, Esther
escorted them inside. She was so busy helping others, that it was
hard to believe that she was a mother of four. Many people from the
funeral were already there, all chattering among themselves. A
table in the back was laden with pots and pans. The smell of
roasted chicken, fresh bread, and other foods made Kate's stomach
rumble. She watched as Beth gave a basket of shoo-fly pies and the
apple bread she made early that morning to Esther. She felt a small
wave of remorse for not having anything to offer herself. She had,
however, helped Beth make the funeral pie, a delicious concoction
the ingredients of which included cinnamon, raisins, spices, and
brown sugar.
    Kate was overwhelmed by greetings and
introductions, and was dragged from one person to the next by her
over-eager hostess. This man raised cattle on the hill over yonder;
this woman ran the knitting circle. She quickly lost track of who
was the school teacher, who were the ministers, and who chopped
wood for the elderly every winter.
    Despite her withdrawals from WiFi and cable,
Kate could not help but admire the way everyone seemed to band
together. She was