He nods. “I am good at drawing pigs and horses.”

“Do you like drawing faces?”

Uncertain, he looks at his father. “We are not supposed to make pictures of faces.”

Deborah shoots a questioning look at me.

“Most Amish believe photographs and other images are vain displays of pride.” I turn my attention to Billy. “But your datt spoke to Bishop Troyer and the bishop made an exception for this.”

William nods again at his son.

“Would you like to help me draw a face?” Deborah asks.

Restrictions and rules momentarily forgotten, he nods enthusiastically. “Ja.”

“Good! I could use your help.” Casually, she opens the sketch pad and picks up a charcoal pencil. “I was wondering if you could help me draw a picture of the man you saw through the window at the Plank farm the other night.”

A shadow passes over the boy’s expression. He looks uneasily at her pad. “The bad man?”

“Yes, the one with hair like Sam’s.”

He nods, but his uncertainty is palpable.

Deborah opens the FIC catalog. From where I stand, I can see the rows of mug shots. “I thought we could start with the easy stuff. Like the shape of his face. Was it round? Square? Oval-shaped?”

Billy looks confused. “I have never seen anyone with a square face.”

Chuckling, she slides the book across the table to Billy. He looks down at it where every conceivable face shape is outlined in black and white. Square. Oval. Round. The boy stares at it with the rapt fascination of a child.

“Which of these face shapes best fits the man you saw in the window?” Deborah asks.

“But he had hair and eyes!”

“We’ll add those later,” the sketch artist says patiently. “For now, let’s find the shape of his face. Can you pick one out for me?”

Billy stares down at the drawings, his expression intent. After a moment, he puts his finger on one of the pictures. His nails are bitten down to the quick and dirty. “Like that, but he had eyes. He had a nose and a mouth, too.”

“Okay. Let’s add the eyes next.”

The sketch progresses with excruciating slowness. Deborah is infinitely patient. Several times, Alma and William jump in to translate a term for Billy. The boy sometimes uses fruits and vegetables when he is referring to colors. “Like a peach” or “like corn right before harvest.” Hair is “like a dog.” Round is “ball.”

Four hours and three cups of coffee into the process, it strikes me that despite Deborah’s talent, the sketch is not going to happen. Billy is unsure about too many of the details and changes his mind more than a dozen times. Deborah spends much of her time reworking the sketch.