Alarmed at the crunch of tires on gravel, Paige pulled Petunia behind one of the tall pines to hide. As the motor was cut, she didn’t dare poke her head around the tree trunk for fear of being discovered. Petunia nudged at her thigh, wanting to return to the daffodils, but Paige held her collar tight. A plastic tag that had been stapled to the nylon strap bit into Paige’s hand. She let go of the collar, and Petunia bolted for the meadow.
Hearing heavy footsteps, Paige realized she had been discovered. This wasn’t the end. She’d do all in her power to stop these swindlers from profiting off her hard work. Raising her fists, she determined to teach them a lesson they’d never forget. Two men were approaching in street clothes. Paige didn’t know what to expect from Elaine’s lackeys, but she had thought they’d be burlier. It took her a second before her brain let her shift from demonizing the two to recognizing them.
“Sterling, Austin, what are you doing here?”
Sterling ran a hand through his hair. “We’re not sure.”
“I am.” Austin hurried to Paige’s side. “The goats are next door behind the white house.”
“Why do you think so?” Paige had been there only two days ago. There was no way the goats could be there.
Austin puffed out his chest. “Because my dot led us there.”
She turned to Sterling for a second opinion. His expression said it all. He put a hand on Austin’s shoulder. “I don’t know if the dot malfunctioned or if they found us out and left it there as a joke, but it doesn’t look good.”
“We’ve got to at least check it out.” Austin sounded like a whiny teenager.
Paige almost agreed with Sterling and then thought how Deputy Dunn had given her the benefit of the doubt when there was so little evidence. “Of course, we’ll check it out. Won’t we, Sterling?”
She placed a hand on Sterling’s arm to stop him from protesting further.
He saw the blood on her hand. Lifting it, he inspected the cut on her palm. “What happened?”
The concern in his eyes over the small wound was endearing. “It was nothing. I scraped myself on a tag or something put on Petunia’s collar.”
“On my tag,” Austin clarified. “I put one on all the goats. That is number 257.”
Petunia had wandered back near them, and Paige bent over and checked the tag. He was right.
Austin clapped his hands together once. “That proves it.”
“Proves what?” Sterling said.
Austin stood strong. “I loaded 257 on the truck myself, latched all the does in and recounted them. She was taken away on the truck with the others.”
Paige tried to wrap her head around what she was hearing. “You’re certain?”
He dropped his chin with such force, his hair fell into his eyes. “Yes.”
Sterling double checked the tag and peered at Austin before finally speaking. “So what you’re saying is this goat escaped after it was taken? From the new location where it was being held?”
“Exactly.”
“I suppose I owe you an apology.” Sterling put out his hand.
Paige could hardly believe what Austin was saying. “You really think my goats are next door? But why wouldn’t I be able to hear them?” Her feet had begun to move almost on their own accord. Hope rose in her heart as she ran across the small gulley on the other side of the barn. She didn’t care who saw her. She just wanted them back.
The front yard hadn’t changed at all, and she didn’t bother going near the house but went straight to the back. The sagging fences were untouched but that didn’t mean much. She trotted across the front of the house again and over toward the garage. Austin and Sterling were following her but were still a ways behind, trying to be more cautious.
“Back here!” she called to the Sterling and Austin as she rounded the corner. They flanked her and peered across the way.
As her view expanded, her hope shrank. Blackberry bushes had claimed the area west of the garage, creating a sea of thorns impassable by man or beast.
“They’re not here.” She refused to cry. Not in front of them. She knew they had both tried so hard on her behalf.
Sterling put his arm around her. “We’ll find them somehow. We’ll keep searching.”
“And I know where to start.” Austin had his cell phone out. The same readout that was on his computer flashed on his cell. “You do know that this is the last house on the street, right?”
“Yes.” Paige said.
He didn’t stay to explain but sprinted down the driveway toward the main road and turned right. They ran after him. Paige was getting winded, and by the time they hit the end of the road, Austin was a good quarter mile down a small dirt road to the right.
The intern pivoted and pointed with both hands to the left like a one of those ground controllers who direct airplanes into gates. “See? It’s new.”
Sure enough, a road had been cut through the thick brush. The fresh blacktop still looked wet. A low rattle alerted them to a coming vehicle. Paige flashed her eyes over her shoulder and back up the road, but no one was there. The nose of a large truck emerged from the woods on the new road, and Austin screamed, “Hide!”
He dove into a drainage ditch parallel to the asphalt, and the next thing Paige knew, Sterling’s arm was around her, pulling her down into the muck. The ditch wasn’t empty. Her hands bit against rocks as she lay face down in a position like she was doing push-ups, but in a few inches of water. Sterling had his arm across her back. Since the ditch wasn’t wide enough for both of them, his body lay on top of her, but surprisingly it didn’t weigh her down.
She tried to focus on his warm breath by her ear instead of the little creatures she could imagine crawling around her as the empty livestock truck rolled slowly by. It seemed an eternity before it was gone, and they could climb out of the two-foot depression. The front of Paige’s shirt was soaked, and her black pants had a stripe of mud down the center of each leg. But after wiping herself down with her palms, she was none the worse for wear. Sterling was clean except for one knee where his black slacks had been torn clear through. The exposed skin looked scraped up. His elbow wasn’t in great shape either. He’d obviously been bearing his own weight, and she was grateful.
Austin came up to them, amazingly dry with an “I-told-you-so” expression on his face. “I could see a metal building about a half mile down there. They’ve probably got the goats inside.”
Paige beamed at him. “You did it, Austin. Thank you.” A four-inch long banana slug was creeping up his shoulder and would soon be on the boy’s neck. “Don’t move,” Paige said.
“What?” Austin glanced at his shirt and saw nothing.
She gently removed the creature and put it back in the brush. When she turned back to the men, Austin was almost green. “That was on me?”
“It can’t hurt you.” Paige assured him, but Austin shuddered.
Sterling grabbed them both. “We have more company.”
They couldn’t all three jump in the ditch again. Besides, there wasn’t time to hide. A white van with no writing on the sides pulled out of the new driveway. The driver waved at them as he went by. He was wearing a security guard uniform.
Sterling waved back. “That’s good ol’ Chuck going for pizza.”
Austin seemed to be returning to his normal color. “Let’s call the police, and then I’m going to shower.”
Though Detective Dunn had been kind, the police chief’s statement echoed in Paige’s mind. “No crime has been committed. I gave Elaine power of attorney.”
“Only for five more days.” Sterling said. “Why don’t you two go back to the house and get cleaned up? I’ll see what we’re up against.”
Paige caught Sterling by the sleeve. ‘Are you sure it’s safe?”
He touched her cheek. “I’ll be fine. The security guard just left.”
“Uh, Paige.” Austin’s voice seemed terrified.
Was someone coming? Had something happened to th
e goats? She turned and saw a squished slug on the outside of his forearm. He couldn’t touch it. “Look, slug slime. I’ve got to shower.” His face seemed pale, and he was shaking.
Paige felt she should go for Austin’s sake. He’d begun dancing in place, shaking his arm to free it of the goo. “Sterling, don’t do anything foolish.”
He pecked her cheek. “You know me better than that.”
As she walked back to the farmhouse, she was haunted by his reply. She hoped she knew him, but did she really?