Page 23 of The Pact

“I think all of us are going to make an exception this time,” I whisper.

I glance at the boys, who are seated side by side on a railroad tie. Glock has given them a bottle of water to share. He kneels in front of them, checking the Amish boy’s ankle.

“What do you say we get these little guys back to the road so they can be checked out and go home?” Tomasetti says after a moment.

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

I’m in my office at the police station, paging through the latest round of employment applications, when my first-shift dispatcher, Lois, peeks her head in. “Chief? You’ve got some visitors in reception.”

“Dare I ask?” I say.

She grins. “It’s the Kuhns and Dennison families.”

I smile back at her. “By all means, send them in.”

Two days have passed since Glock, Tomasetti, and I rescued Kevin and Aaron from that burning farmhouse. The boys were transported via ambulance to Pomerene Hospital, where the emergency room physician treated them for minor frostbite, and Aaron for a sprained ankle. Considering the weather conditions and the fire, both boys are very lucky.

I’m in the process of shutting down my computer when Kevin Dennison shuffles in. He’s wearing a blue puffy coat, a green stocking hat. Aaron Kuhns, dressed in clothes he might wear to worship—black coat, black felt hat, blue shirt, and suspenders—hobbles in on crutches. An abrasion the size of a quarter mars the left side of his face.

Both sets of parents follow the boys in. Susie and Levi Kuhns are also wearing their good clothes. Jeff and Monica Dennison look as if they just left work.

“Chief Burkholder.”

I rise as Levi Kuhns crosses to my desk. “We would like to thank you for bringing home the two boys.”

I give his hand a firm shake. His wife, Susie, shoves a foil-covered pie at me. “Hinkelbottboi,” she says, using the Deitsch term for chicken pot pie.

“Danki.” I take the pie, noticing that it’s still warm from the oven.

“If there’s anything we can ever do to thank you, I hope you will let us know,” Levi tells me.

I set the pot pie on the credenza behind me. “Actually, there is something, Mr. Kuhns.”

The Amish man cocks his head. Not expecting me to take him up on his offer so soon. “What is it?”

I let my gaze slip to his wife and then back to him. “I’d like for you to start using a slow-moving-vehicle sign on your buggy.” I soften the request with a smile. “I can bring one out to you tomorrow.”

Blinking, he starts to mention something about ornamentation. Then his wife touches his arm and he falls silent. “We would appreciate that, Chief Burkholder,” she tells me. “Danki.”

The Amish couple step aside as Jeff and Monica Dennison move closer. I notice tears on Monica’s face as she rounds my desk. As her arms go around me, I hear a sob. I’m not much of a hugger, but I return the gesture.

“Thank you, Chief Burkholder,” she whispers. “Thank you to your whole department for bringing Kevin home to us. When I think of all the things that could have happened…” She shakes her head, leaving the sentence open-ended, as if not wanting to imagine the possibilities.

Jeff Dennison sticks out his hand. “It’s good to know our town—our children—are in such good hands.”

“I’ll pass the compliment along to my department,” I tell him.

Levi Kuhns puts his hands on his son’s shoulders and nudges him forward. Looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, but too intent on doing the right thing to let it show, Aaron steps toward me. In the back of my mind, I recall the way he looked the night he jumped from that second-story window. He’d been terrified, and yet he’d kept his head.

“How’s the ankle?” I ask.

“Just a sprain.” Looking down at the floor, the boy runs the toe of his boot over the scuffed wood planks.

Behind him, his mother clears her throat.

Aaron raises his gaze to mine. In the depths of his eyes, I see an earnestness that’s a little too rare these days. “I want to … um, apologize for causing such a big ruckus, Chief Burkholder. Me and Kevin shouldn’t have took off the way we did. I mean, without telling our parents.”

He slants a look at his friend and a smile whispers across their features, as if they’re remembering some secret adventure.