18. Chapter 13
Chapter 13
W hen Jon reached the farmhouse, there was no one in the kitchen. He opened the sliding glass door and slipped inside. He found Samuel on the living room couch, reading a book, Ringo curled up next to him.
"Hey, Samuel. Is, uh, Eddie around?"
Samuel looked up in surprise. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly 7 p.m. "Nah. He drove north for a rescue conference. He's back tomorrow. Is somethin' wrong?"
Jon wasn't sure how to start. He didn't like the idea of telling tales, but it also felt wrong to keep this to himself. Not when the health and wellbeing of the animals was involved.
He cleared his throat. "I'm a little confused. The Amish… they're like a super conservative Christian religious sect, aren't they?"
Samuel looked more puzzled. "Yes. Why so?"
Jon took a deep breath. "I just saw somethin' I might have seen in the woods of the bayou. I'm havin' a hard time wrappin' my head around it."
"I don't understand. What did you see?"
Jon took a seat on a rocking chair and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Do the Amish have magic practices? Like voodoo? Spells, potions, stuff like that?"
Samuel gave a bemused smile. "What? Nah! That is not our way. Or their way, I should say. What makes you say such a thing?"
"Because where else would Elijah have picked it up?"
Samuel blinked, thought about it, then his face did something complicated. There might as well have been a cartoony ton of bricks falling on his head. "Oh," he said quietly.
"What are you thinkin'?" Jon pressed.
Samuel gave him a regretful look. "I take back what I said. There is such a thing. It's called braucherei. It's like… Amish folk medicine or magic. It's superstition, I guess. Preachers forbid it—'least our preachers did. There wasn't any in my community, not that I knew of. But I heard whispers of it."
"What kind of whispers?"
Samuel frowned as if trying to remember. "There was a woman in our church with a sickly baby, and it was said she'd visited a braucher in a neighboring congregation. Her baby got better, but it was like a shameful thing she done. I remember my ma talkin' about how it was terrible, and she'd better confess to the bishops and to God. Or sometimes when a farmer had bad luck, they'd say a braucher cursed him, like maybe someone who was envious or spiteful paid a braucher to curse him. Or kids'd find some sticks or stones on the ground in a weird pattern and say it was a hex. Stuff like that. I never put much stock in it. I had other things on my mind. Seemed foolish to me."
Wow, Jon thought. People were people the world over. Sounded a lot like voodoo to him. "Okay. Well, I think Elijah might be mixed up with this braucherei."
Samuel looked concerned. "Nah! I can't imagine so. Why would you say that?"
Again Jon had a pang of conscious about telling tales. But he'd started this conversation. It was a bit late to regret it now.
"Okay. Well, I've been noticin' small things with the animals. Like Priscilla's infected leg gettin' better, and a salve I didn't recognize. I found little star things made of twigs placed around the chicken run. Elijah denies knowin' anythin' about it. Then tonight, I followed him into the woods. He was makin' somethin' in a little bowl and doing gestures and incantations over it. It was in German, so I have no idea what he was sayin'. But it looked pretty witchy to me. And, believe me, I know witchy."
Samuel looked so upset that Jon felt bad for telling him. "Elijah? You saw Elijah doin' that? For true?"
"Yeah. Just now. Look, I'm not sayin' he's done anythin' terrible. It's not like he's sacrificin' goats. But if he's givin' the animals made-up medicine, that's dangerous. You know? And I don't like this whole secretive vibe. It's creepy."
Samuel considered this, his expression pained. "When you grow up in a place where so much is forbidden, you learn to hold your secrets tight. But… braucherei? Where would he pick up such a thing?"
His words were bitter, and it occurred to Jon how difficult it must have been for Samuel, growing up gay and Amish. By comparison, he'd had it easy. His mama had been disappointed and upset, but she'd come around within days—mostly due to Aunt Jolie preachin' at her. "I bet. You think maybe that's why Elijah was banished? This braucherei stuff?"
"Could be." Samuel shook his head. "I can't hardly believe it."
"You still have any Amish contacts? Maybe you could ask around and find out."
Samuel straightened up. "Or we could just ask Elijah."
Jon considered this. "You're right. You're right. That's the respectful thing to do. You should just ask him." He stood to leave.
Samuel grabbed his wrist. "Oh, no. You're not gettin' out of it that easy. Come on. Let's go make some coffee."
Jon had the feeling Samuel was scared. Hell, maybe he was too. But he shook it off. He wasn't gonna be frightened of Elijah. Whatever he was playing at, he was just a kid.
Only there had been nothing childlike or amateurish about him in the woods, and Jon's gut knew it.