[Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  After Nelson left the room, Suzanne took a seat on the sofa beside Mom. “I stopped by the Beilers’ store the other night, and Esther informed me that she’s been feeding Titus’s cat and his horse while he’s gone. She also said that Callie has four kittens, which I had no idea about.”

  Mom’s lips compressed. “I find it strange that Titus didn’t mention the kittens. Especially since you’re the one who took Callie over to his place.”

  “That’s what I thought, too.” Suzanne shrugged. “But then, I don’t understand a lot of things about Titus.”

  When Titus got off the special bus that transported Amish and Mennonites from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Kentucky he was near the Beilers’ store, so he went inside to say hello.

  “It’s good to see you,” Esther said when he joined her near the front counter. “How was the party? Was your mamm surprised?”

  Titus nodded. “She sure was. I think me being there was the biggest surprise of all.”

  “I’ll bet it was hard to leave so soon.”

  “A little bit, but I knew I needed to get back to work, and I was anxious to see Lightning. How’s he doing, anyway? He didn’t give you any trouble, I hope.”

  Esther shook her head. “Not a bit. Callie and her babies are fine, too. Those little kittens are sure sweet. I was going to head over there pretty soon and check on them, because I didn’t know what time you might get here today.” She smiled sweetly at Titus. “Unless you’ve lined up a driver to pick you up, I’d be happy to give you a ride home.”

  “I don’t have anyone coming for me, so I’d appreciate the ride.”

  “I’ll run in the back room and tell Mom and Dad where I’m going; then I’ll go out and get my horse and buggy.”

  “I can get ‘em for you,” Titus offered. “Are they around back?”

  “Jah. Ginger’s in the corral, and the buggy’s parked near the shed.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you out front in a few minutes.”

  Eager to get home, Titus hurried to get Ginger hitched to the buggy. When he drove it around to the front of the store, Esther was waiting for him.

  “Would you like to drive, or would you rather I did?” she asked.

  “I don’t mind driving.”

  “Great. Did you get your backpack?” Esther asked as she climbed into the buggy.

  “Sure did. Put it in the back of the buggy before you came out of the store.” Titus took up the reins and directed the horse onto the road.

  “Did your mamm like the little keepsake box you made for her?”

  Titus nodded. “She got a lot of other nice gifts, too.”

  “Do you think your folks will ever come here to visit?” Esther asked. “I’d like to meet them sometime.”

  Titus chuckled. “If Mom had her way, they’d come for a visit tomorrow. The only trouble is, there’s not enough room in the trailer for them to stay with me right now. Maybe someday, if I should decide to buy the place, I can either add on or build something new.”

  “I didn’t realize you were thinking of buying the place from Allen. Do you have enough money for that?”

  “Not right now, but I’m saving up for a down payment.” Titus considered telling Esther about the money he’d found but decided it was best if he kept it to himself for now.

  Their conversation turned to other things—the weather, more about Mom’s party, and Callie and her kittens. When they pulled into Titus’s yard a short time later, he was surprised to see a beige-colored horse grazing in the pasture next to the trailer.

  “Where’d that horse come from?” he asked Esther.

  She shrugged. “I have no idea. It wasn’t there when I came to feed the animals last night.”

  “Hmm … guess he must belong to one my neighbors. I’ll chase him out of the pasture, and hopefully he’ll go back to where he belongs.” Titus handed the reins to Esther, grabbed his backpack, and climbed down from the buggy. “Danki for the ride home, and also for taking care of the animals for me.”

  “You’re welcome. See you soon, Titus.” Esther hesitated a minute, like she wanted to say more, but then she waved and directed her horse toward the road.

  Titus stepped into the barn, and seeing that Callie and her kittens were still there, he felt satisfied. At least they hadn’t found a way to get into the house.

  Next, he went to the stall where Lightning was kept. The horse whinnied and nuzzled Titus’s hand. “Did you miss me, boy?” Titus rubbed Lightning behind his soft ears. “I sure missed you.”

  After a few minutes spent talking to his horse, Titus headed to the trailer. When he entered the living room, he halted and stood there in total disbelief. The cushions from the sofa were on the floor, all of Titus’s books had been pulled off the bookshelf and were strewn about. The rocking chair had been turned upside-down, along with the lamp table and lantern, which was now broken.

  He dashed into the kitchen for a look around, and discovered that all the cupboard doors hung wide open, and several dishes lay shattered on the floor.

  Titus’s next stop was his bedroom, where he found that most of his clothes had been pulled out of the closet and scattered on the floor. Even his mattress had been yanked off the bed and overturned. The whole place was in complete disarray!

  “Who could have done this, and why?” he grumbled. “Oh, boy! Think I’d better call Allen right away.”

  Titus pulled out his cell phone to make the call, but soon realized that his battery was dead. He’d have to go out to the phone shanty to make the call.

  He hurried outside, and had no more than opened the shanty door when he discovered that someone had been in there, too. The phone cord had been jerked from the wall and thrown on the floor, and several boards had also been ripped from the wall, and even the floor. What a welcome-home present! First a horse grazing in the pasture that didn’t belong to him, and now this. What was going on, anyway?

  CHAPTER 29

  With heart pounding and head swimming with questions, Titus saddled Lightning and rode out of his yard at a fast pace. When he arrived at the Beilers’ a short time later, he quickly tied his horse to the hitching rail and bounded onto the porch. The door opened before he had a chance to knock, and Esther stepped out.

  “You look upset,” she said. “Is something wrong?”

  “There sure is. Someone broke into the trailer while I was gone and made a big mess.” He gulped in a couple of deep breaths. “When you came over to feed the animals, did anything look suspicious, or did you see anyone snooping around?”

  Esther stood with her mouth slightly open; then she slowly shook her head. “Of course I didn’t go inside the trailer, so I don’t know how things looked in there. I wonder who would do such a thing.”

  He shrugged. “I need to use your phone to call Allen. My phone shanty was vandalized, too, and the phone’s not working.”

  “What about your cell phone? Did you get rid of it?”

  “No, but I can’t use it right now because the battery needs to be charged.”

  Esther motioned to their phone shanty out back. “Go ahead and use the phone. While you’re doing that, I’ll go inside and tell Mom and Dad what happened at your place.”

  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?
r />   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.”

  CHAPTER 30

  Suzanne 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 Alle
n 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.