Free Simple Secrets (The Harmony Series 1) by Nancy Mehl Page B

photographs of the town down through the years. I began to scan them. Sam pointed to a shot taken of a dry goods store on what must have been opening day. The proprietors stood proudly in front of their business. Off to the side stood a bearded man in dark clothing. He stared straight at the camera. His fierce expression chilled me, and I shivered involuntarily.
    “Amil Angstadt,” Sam said. “I’m sure he had no idea he would show up in the picture, but there he is. Sweetie showed me this photo years ago, but she won’t talk much about him. Pretty scary, huh?”
    I nodded my agreement. So this was the man who had caused so much pain in my family.
    “Here,” Sam said triumphantly, pointing to a picture a few spots away. “Ever since you mentioned this Glick person, I kept thinking I’d seen the name somewhere. This is a picture of the church building in 1980. That’s Glick standing in front.”
    I looked closely. Sure enough, someone had written “Jacob Glick” in the margin of the photograph.
    “Glick wasn’t actually a part of the church.” I jumped at Abel Mueller’s voice coming from behind me.
    “Then why is he shown in front of the building?”
    “He worked around the church,” Abel said. “I have some old memoirs written by people who attended Bethel down through the years. They refer to him as a church custodian. Appeared to be a rather solitary fellow. No family. Not well liked. He was asked to leave town—more than once.”
    “And why is that?”
    Abel shrugged. “According to what I’ve managed to glean though some old letters and diaries, Glick was very interested in finding a wife. Mennonite women are encouraged to marry within the faith. Since he refused to join the church, church leaders rebuffed his efforts. He finally gave up and left town. And that was the end of Jacob Glick.”
    I wished with all my heart that a bus out of town had signaled the end of Glick, but unfortunately, unless my uncle had taken leave of his senses, a rock in the side of the head had been his actual means of departure.
    Glick was an unusually unattractive man. I assumed his looks hadn’t helped him in his quest for companionship. Dark hair, bushy eyebrows that had grown together, and an unusually long nose worked together to produce a rather frightening visage. His beady, black eyes held an odd hint of wildness to them. This was a man most women would run from instead of toward.
    “Not what you’d call a good-looking guy is he?” Abel asked.
    I shook my head while Sam snorted his agreement.
    Abel cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to pry, but is there some reason you’re interested in Mr. Glick? I mean, he’s not part of your family. He wasn’t even part of the church.”
    Wishing I’d come up with a reason for asking about Glick sooner, I blurted out the only thing that came to my mind. “I found his name on something at my uncle’s. I was just curious. It’s no big deal.” Well, at least I hadn’t out-and-out lied. I wasn’t sure about the “big deal” part, but maybe that would prove true, as well. I decided to change the subject before I was asked more uncomfortable questions. “Sam said Old Order Mennonites didn’t believe in having their pictures taken. Is that why there are no pictures of the church members or the families here?”
    Abel nodded. “Yes, but there are a few. Ida Turnbauer told me that the cousin of one of the church members was a photographer. It seems a few folks contacted the man privately and had family pictures taken. They weren’t normally shown to anyone outside of the family, but I know they were treasured mementos.” He pointed to a grouping of family photos showing people dressed in the same kind of clothing depicted in the picture at Benjamin’s.
    “Why are these here? I would think the families would have kept them.”
    “Most of them did. These were either left behind when the families moved away or donated by relatives who still live in Harmony.”