Her Forgotten Amish Past. Debby Giusti

as she walked past Becca and headed to the stove. Zeke returned to the table without comment.

      Becca’s heart beat erratically. The tall, muscular man had been looking for someone. Did Zeke and Hattie not realize he could have been looking for her?

      She glanced first at Hattie and then back at Zeke. Grateful though she was for their hospitality, she was a stranger in their midst. A stranger with a made-up name and no knowledge of the life she had lived or even her age. A man had chased her last night, and she had been chased again this morning. Now another man with a haughty manner had stopped at the farm.

      Tears stung her eyes, but they were a sign of weakness, at least that’s what a little voice whispered in her head. A voice from the past perhaps? How could she know what was memory and what was her own mind playing tricks on her?

      “Becca, are you all right?” Hattie asked.

      “If you don’t mind, I need to go to my room.” She left the kitchen and climbed the stairs, stepping into the bedroom just as the tears started to fall.

      She closed the door behind her and moved to the window, wanting to ensure the studio van was out of sight. Her heart lurched when she saw the vehicle stopped on the side of the mountain road. Larry Landers stood in front of the Montcliff Studio logo on the side of his van. He held binoculars to his eyes and was staring back at Hattie’s house.

      Becca jerked away from the window. Fear gripped her anew. Her pulse raced. Who was the man from the movie studio and why was he spying on her?

      Pulling in a deep breath, she moved closer and peered again from the window. A black car like the one she had seen this morning had pulled behind the studio van and a bearded man with his hair pulled into a bun was talking to Landers.

      Was he asking about an Englisch woman he had seen walking along the roadway? As she watched, the bearded man turned and stared at Hattie’s house, seemingly zeroing in on the guest room window. Again, Becca stepped back, her heart in her throat.

      She dropped her head into her hands. The worry and anxiety that had circled through her mind collided in a wave of emotion, like a giant tsunami washing over her. Hot tears ran down her cheeks and dampened her dress, but she couldn’t stop their onslaught.

      Struggling to remember anything, she thought back to the woods where the branches had caught at her dress. Was Larry Landers the person who had chased after her last night? Or could it have been the bearded man with the bun? If only she could have seen the man’s face, but all she could remember was the blood on the carpet. So much blood.

      She thought of something else that made her pulse race even more.

       The knife.

      Her heart stopped.

      The knife that had dropped from her hand was covered with blood.

       FIVE

      “Tuck your hair into this hat,” Hattie instructed the next afternoon as she handed a wide-brim black hat to Becca. “My husband’s clothing fits you well, yah? The hat will sit low on your head and cover your hair. It will also cover the swelling on your head and the bruise on your cheek.”

      “And what happens if I go inside and need to remove my hat?” Becca asked.

      “You will leave it on. A young boy will not be noticed but stay in the buggy if you are concerned. You will see with your eyes as Ezekiel drives through town. Something might bring back your memory. A store, a street, a person. You must be watchful.”

      Hattie adjusted the hat on Becca’s head. “And you must be careful lest you see the man who chased after you through the woods.”

      As well as the man who had pursued her into the pasture and the tall man who had stopped by the farm yesterday. Becca’s sleep had been fitful, interspersed with dreams of running from two men holding binoculars. She wouldn’t worry Hattie, but the sweet Amish woman was right. Becca needed to be watchful not only in town but also here on Hattie’s farm.

      “I’ll be careful, Hattie. You can be assured of that. Zeke is good to take me to town. I appreciate everything both of you have done.”

      “Soon your memory will return and you can decide whether to go back to the life you knew or to move on and make a new life for yourself. Gott