[Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey (29 page)

Titus hurried out to the shanty and dialed Allen’s number. He was relieved when Allen answered right away, and then he quickly explained what had happened.

“What do you think I should do?” Titus questioned. “Do you think the break-in has anything to do with the money I found?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to call the sheriff right now. If you’ll wait in the Beilers’ phone shanty, I’ll call you back and let know what the sheriff wants you to do.”

“Okay.”Titus hung up the phone. While he waited for Allen’s call, he listened to the steady
csst … csst … csst
… of the cicadas as he stared out the open door at a herd of cows grazing in the field across the road. Things had been going along so well until now. What did the break-in mean, and would whoever did it come back?

He popped each of his knuckles and drew in a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. In all the time he’d lived in Pennsylvania, no one in his family had ever had their home broken into. It was unsettling and made him wonder if things were really as peaceful here in Christian County, Kentucky, as he’d thought them to be. He guessed living in a rural community was no guarantee that a person and their belongings were safe. The world was full of evil, and there was probably no place a person could go where they wouldn’t have to worry about crime.

The phone rang sharply, causing Titus to nearly jump out of his chair. He grabbed the receiver on the second ring. “Hello.”

“Hi, Titus; it’s me, Allen. I talked to the sheriff, and he wants you to head back to the trailer. He and I will meet you there. Don’t go inside, though, okay?”

“No, I won’t.”

When Titus stepped out of the shanty, Esther was waiting for him. “Did you get ahold of Allen?”

“Jah. He called the sheriff, and I’m supposed to meet them both at the trailer.”

Her face registered concern. “Do you think that’s safe?”

“Don’t see why not. I was in the house already, and no one was there.”

“Please be careful.”

“I will.” Titus started walking toward his horse, and Esther followed.

“I was wondering if you’d like to come over here for supper tomorrow evening?” she asked.

“Sure, that’d be nice.”

“All right then; we’ll see you around six.”

“Sounds good.” Titus climbed on Lightning’s back and rode off.

When he arrived at the trailer, the sheriff was already there. “The place is a mess,” Titus said as they entered the living room.

“I see what you mean.” The sheriff shook his nearly bald head. “Looks like someone might have been looking for something—maybe that money you found in the phone shanty.”

Titus nodded. “I’ve been thinking that, too.”

“I think you ought to stay somewhere else tonight. I’ll have some of my men come out, and we’ll look for any evidence that might let us know who might have broken into your place.”

“Titus can stay with me tonight, and then I’ll take him to work tomorrow morning,” Allen said as he entered the trailer. He halted just inside the door. “Wow, they really did a number on the place, didn’t they?”

Titus grimaced. “The sheriff thinks whoever did this may have been looking for the money I found in the phone shanty.”

Allen nodded. “He’s probably right.”

“Do you think they’ll come back?” Titus asked the sheriff.

“I doubt it, but if they do, I want you to notify me right away.”

“Guess you’d better grab whatever you need for the night so we can get going,” Allen said. He looked over at Titus. “I haven’t had supper yet, and I’m sure you haven’t either, so we can stop at one of the restaurants in Hopkinsville before we go to my house.”

“That’s fine, but I need to feed my horse before we go, and also the cat in the barn. She’s nursing a batch of kittens so I need to make sure she’s fed.”

“Sure, no problem.”

When the sheriff left, and Titus had gathered up the clothes he needed, he went out to the barn. After he’d put Lightning away and fed the animals, he noticed that the horse he’d seen in his pasture was still there.

“I don’t know who that horse belongs to,” Titus told Allen, “but I’m thinking we ought to capture the critter and put him in the barn for the night so he doesn’t wander off.”

Allen gave a nod. “I’m willing to try if you are.”

Titus got a rope from the barn, and then he and Allen headed for the pasture. It took a couple of tries, but Titus finally managed to get the rope around the horse’s neck.

“Look there,” Allen said, pointing to the horse’s flanks. “He has a number painted on his flanks, which makes me wonder if he came from the horse auction near here.”

“It’s too late to do anything about it tonight,” Titus said. “We can call and check on it in the morning.”

Allen nodded. “Hopefully before tomorrow’s over, we’ll have some answers about the horse, as well as the break-ins.”

S
uzanne had just started hanging out some wash on Tuesday morning, when Allen’s truck pulled into the yard. She was surprised to see Titus step out of the passenger’s side and follow Allen into the woodshop. Titus almost always rode his horse to work, and it seemed odd that Allen had given him a ride.

Curious to know what was going on, Suzanne finished hanging the laundry and headed for the shop. When she entered the building, she heard Titus telling Nelson about a beige-colored horse he’d found in his pasture when he arrived home from Pennsylvania last night. From the description he gave, it sounded like the same horse that had rammed her buggy.

She stepped between Titus and Allen. “I had a close encounter with a runaway horse the other day. It rammed into my buggy and ran wildly down the road.”

“Were you or your horse and buggy hurt?” Titus asked with a look of concern.

“No, thankfully not, but it did shake me up a bit.”

“I can imagine.”

“I’m wondering if it was the same horse that ended up at your place.”

“Could be,” Titus said with a nod. “There’s a number painted on the horse’s flanks, so Allen put in a call this morning to see if the horse might have been one that was sold at the auction.”

“What’d you find out?” Suzanne asked.

“Nothing yet. I’m waiting to hear back,” Allen said.

Just then Allen’s cell phone rang. “Maybe that’s the guy from the auction now. Think I’ll take the call outside.” Allen pulled his cell phone from his pocket and stepped out the door.

“How was your trip to Pennsylvania?” Suzanne asked Titus. “Was your mamm surprised?”

“She sure was—especially about me being there.”

“It’s good that you were able to go.”

“Jah, but what I came back to made me wish I hadn’t gone.”

“You mean finding a stray horse in your pasture?”

He shook his head. “That was only part of it. What really upset me was—”

“That was the sheriff,” Allen said when he returned to the shop.

“What’d he say?” Titus asked.

Allen frowned. “Guess they didn’t find any helpful evidence, but he thinks it would be best if neither of us spends any of the money you found until the sheriff is sure it’s not stolen. He also said that you can return home now, but he wants you to let him know if you see or hear anything suspicious.”

“What’s this about you finding money at your place?” Nelson asked before Suzanne could voice the question.

Suzanne felt a ripple of apprehension zip up her spine as Titus told how he’d found an envelope full of money in his phone shanty, and how the shanty, as well as the trailer, had been broken into and ransacked while he’d been in Pennsylvania. It had been some time since they’d had any break-ins in the area, and the last time it had happened, the whole community had been on edge for many weeks afterward.

“The sheriff thinks someone out of the area may have stolen the money Titus found, and then hidden it in the phone shanty because they were on the run,” Allen said.

“But why would they break into the trailer?” Suzanne asked.

“Because the money’s not in the phone shanty anymore,” Titus spoke up. “Allen and I split the money, and we put it in the bank before I left for Pennsylvania. If the person who put the money in the phone shanty went looking there and couldn’t find it, they might have thought the money was in the trailer.”

Allen’s cell phone rang again.

“Maybe that’s the sheriff calling back,” Nelson said.

Allen glanced at the phone and shook his head. “It’s the guy from the horse auction.”

Everyone got quiet while Allen took the call. When he clicked off the phone, he turned to Titus and said, “We were right. The horse was sold at the auction, and it got away before its new owner could get it loaded into the horse trailer. The man’s been notified, and he’ll be going over to your place this evening to get the horse.”

“I hope he gets there before six,” Titus said. “I’m supposed to go over to the Beilers’ for supper this evening.”

I’ll bet Esther’s happy about that
, Suzanne thought.

“I’m sure it’ll be okay if he comes while you’re gone,” Allen said. “He knows what the horse looks like, and I told him you’d put it in the barn.”

“Guess that’ll be fine then,” Titus said. “Since Lightning will be with me, I won’t have to worry about the man taking the wrong horse.”

Paradise, Pennsylvania

“Guder mariye, Mom. I decided to stop by on my way to work to see if you and Dad have heard anything from Titus since he returned to Kentucky,” Zach said as he entered the kitchen, where Fannie sat at the table, drinking a cup of tea.

“He called and left us a message when he got off the bus.”

“Have you heard anything since then?”

Fannie shook her head. “But he’s only been back a day, so I don’t expect we’ll hear from him again anytime soon. Why do you ask?”

Zach pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. “Allen called me last night. The trailer where Titus has been staying got broken into while he was gone, so Titus spent last night at Allen’s.”

Fannie’s eyes widened. “That’s baremlich! Why didn’t Titus let us know about this?”

“Maybe he knew Allen had called me and figured I’d give you the message.” Zach shrugged. “Or maybe Titus decided not to say anything because he didn’t want to worry you.”

Fannie gripped the handle of her teacup so tightly she feared it might break, so she quickly set it back down. “He’s right; I’m very worried. If this had happened when Titus was at home, he could have been hurt.”

“You’re right, but God was looking out for Titus because he was here with us and not in the trailer.”

“Have the police been called? Did they catch the person who broke in?” Fannie picked up her teacup again and took a sip, hoping it would help calm her down.

“Allen said he called the sheriff, and the sheriff thinks the person who broke in may have been looking for the money Titus found in his phone shanty.”

Fannie nearly choked on the tea in her mouth. “What money? What’s this all about, Zach?”

Zach ran his fingers down the side of his face. “I’m not really sure, Mom. Allen just said Titus had found some money, and that they suspect it may have been stolen. If that’s the case, then whoever stole the money and hid it in Titus’s phone shanty might have come looking for it while he was gone.”

A jolt of fear coursed through Fannie’s body. She pushed her chair aside and hurried across the room.

“Where are you going?” Zach called when she reached the door.

“Out to the field to speak with your daed. He needs to have a talk with Titus and convince him to come home where he belongs.”