“The look on Alice’s and Adeline’s faces is all the proof I need,” he muttered vehemently. “If this is those guys’ way of catching our attention—trying to get that cell phone back—well, I won’t let them get away with slaughtering your animals, Leah. That’s just wrong.”
Jude stopped his ranting to look closely at her. “Are you all right—I mean, except for this shooting spree?” he asked as he slung an arm around her shoulders. “Ordinarily you’ve got a strong stomach.”
Leah shrugged, bewildered. “I don’t know what came over me,” she said weakly. “I’m fine now, really. The sooner we clean up this mess, the better I’ll feel.”
He nodded.
Jude hurried toward the barn, and after a moment Leah followed him. “Guess we’ll be eating a lot of beef and veal for a while,” she remarked glumly. “Maybe Abner will be willing to sell some extra steaks and roasts. I’ll take some in when I deliver my ducks and chickens.”
“I’m sorry this happened,” Jude said as they walked back to the pen. “I know you were counting on a nice check when you sold the six steers—which is why I plan to speak with Sheriff Banks instead of just forgiving and forgetting. And what if Stevie or the girls—or you—had been hit by bullets passing through the fence?”
Leah’s eyebrows rose. Jude was feeling protective of her and the kids, but it wasn’t the Plain way to seek out English law enforcement to deal with vandalism or other troublesome incidents. “Why not discuss this with Jeremiah instead?” she asked. “What sort of information could you give to the sheriff that would help him locate those boys?”
Jude grunted. “This isn’t just about today’s gunshots. It’s about the way I believe Dexter and Phil have been tempting the twins away from our faith.”
“All the more reason to talk to Jeremiah, who understands that angle. The sheriff may well refuse to go on a wild-goose chase, trying to find a Phil or a Dexter who owns a gray pickup,” Leah reasoned softly. She tried not to think about the size of the check she’d been anticipating . . . the hay, supplements, and veterinary expenses that money would’ve covered. “After all, we can either sell the meat or eat it ourselves. We’re not facing a total loss.”
Jude gazed at her, inhaling the chilly morning air to settle his agitation. “You’re probably right,” he admitted with an impatient sigh. “It just seems that we Amish pacifists are as defenseless as your cows, because we’re targets for English pranksters who think we’ll take whatever they dish out.”
They paused at the gate to the enclosure. “I hope Abner doesn’t turn away your beef, sweetheart,” Jude said. “His regular English customers—and our Plain neighbors who butcher their own animals—might already have lots of meat in their deep freezes.”
“Jah, I’d thought of that, but it can’t hurt to ask. Maybe God will use this incident to bring about justice in His own way.” As Leah looked at her forlorn remaining cow and the four calves alongside her, she sighed loudly. “Let’s get the carcasses into a wagon so I can butcher them at the barn,” she suggested. “That way, poor Maisie won’t have to watch me.”
“And then I’ll call Abner for you,” Jude offered. “No sense in taking him more beef than he can sell.”
Nodding, Leah headed back to the barn to hitch Rusty to the wagon. She’d tried to make the best of this nasty prank, but one thing was certain: it would take a very long day of butchering to deal with the meat from eight slain cattle.
Chapter 21
“Not much farther,” Alice panted as she jogged alongside Adeline. “Then we’ll be able to see if the truck’s in the parking lot.”
“Cutting across the back pastures saved us a lot of time and distance, but I need to catch my breath before we meet up with Phil and Dexter.” With a final burst of energy, Adeline topped the hill and focused on the backs of the last buildings before the main street of Morning Star turned into a county road. “This would’ve been easier if Dat had put the wheels back on our buggy, seeing’s how we’ve stayed home like gut little girls these past few weeks.”
“Puh! He’ll be mad at us all over again now, for running off.”
“Well, I can’t let the guys get away with shooting Leah’s cows, can you?” Adeline demanded. She inhaled deeply, shaking her head. “It’s one thing for Phil to be mad about a missing cell phone. It’s another thing entirely to gun down a bunch of defenseless calves and their mamms.”
They crossed the last several yards of grassy pasture, toward the low rock wall that marked the back boundary of the car dealership. Once they’d clambered the wall and hopped down onto the asphalt behind a row of parked cars, they gazed toward the pool hall.
“There’s the truck.” Alice looked down, studying the condition of her clothes. “Let’s be sure we’ve got all the loose grass off our jeans—”
“And we’ll act like we’re really glad to see Phil and Dexter when we spot them,” Adeline strategized aloud. She smoothed her unbound hair and adjusted the blue tank top she wore under the quilted jacket Mammi Lenore had sewn for her. “Better to get them outside, away from the other guys, before we lay into them about what they did.”
“Do you think they’ll really admit they shot all those cows?” Alice asked as a worm of doubt squirmed in her stomach. “We know it was their truck, but if they deny they fired any shots, what’ll we do?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s go.”
Adeline led the way to the edge of the car lot and a few moments later they were approaching the back of the pool hall. Even at this early hour, when most folks were eating breakfast, loud music throbbed inside the building. Several old
