“Play it cool,” Alice whispered as her sister grabbed the back door’s knob. “Act like it’s old times and we’re back to being their girlfriends.”
“Jah, if they get nasty about the phone, let’s tell them Dat took it,” Adeline said in a tight voice. “After all, it’s the truth. We had nothing to do with that.”
“If they get nasty about anything, we’re heading for home,” Alice insisted, holding her sister’s gaze. “Now that I’ve thought about it, maybe it wasn’t such a gut idea to hightail it over here by ourselves. But we’re here. We’ll go inside—”
“At least to hear whether they shot those cows,” Adeline put in. She took a deep breath to keep her courage up, noting that Alice appeared nervous, too. “And then we should probably head for home anyway. We knew the guys could get rowdy, but I . . . well, I never dreamed they’d run around shooting defenseless animals.”
* * *
After a late breakfast, Jude sighed as he stood at the girls’ bedroom window, watching them cross the pasture in English clothes. “Like moths to a flame,” he muttered as he lowered the binoculars. “I don’t like it one bit that they’re heading toward the pool hall to see boys that are not only English, but are armed. I’m going to fetch Jeremiah so we can put an end to this mess they’ve gotten into.”
“Why would the girls want to keep associating with such violent boys?” Leah asked sadly. “I was hoping their improved behavior these past few weeks meant they’d put those fellows behind them for gut.”
“I heard ’em talkin’ after breakfast, while they was changin’ their clothes,” Stevie said from the doorway. “They were all riled up—really mad at those guys. They think Dexter and Phil should apologize to Leah and pay for the cows they shot.”
That’ll never happen, even though the twins are right. Jude turned, sorry his young son had seen Leah’s slain cattle—and sorry that Stevie was getting drawn into the fray his sisters and their English friends were creating. He set down the binoculars and started for the door. “If the girls call home, I want you to phone Jeremiah’s place right away,” he said.
“I’ll go sit in the phone shanty, so’s I’ll be ready when the phone rings,” Stevie said, pleased to have a job.
“We’ll let you know if Alice and Adeline come home, too,” Leah put in. “Be careful, Jude. Now that guns are involved, this situation’s a lot more dangerous.”
“I’ll see you both later,” Jude promised. He kissed Leah and clapped his hand on Stevie’s shoulder. “Denki for your help. Keep us in your prayers.”
As he loped toward the barn to retrieve the cell phone, Jude’s mind spun with a lot of ideas for bringing a potentially hazardous situation to a positive, safe conclusion. When he reached behind the loose board and grasped the phone, he scowled at it. I should’ve located Dexter and Phil and returned this infernal thing a long time ago. Guide me and my brother, Lord, as we settle this situation once and for all.
* * *
Alice put on her best flirtatious smile, the one that could always coax Phil to do what she wanted. As she and Adeline made their way between the noisy pool hall’s back tables, she noted a similar strained smile on her sister’s face. She ignored the remarks from the guys they passed, focusing on Phil and Dexter at a back table.
Would they be able to tell that she and her sister were scared out of their minds? It was best to play along with Phil’s mood and act as though the sight of all those bloody cows and calves hadn’t upset them. He and Dexter would tease them mercilessly—and play upon their fears—if they sensed she and Adeline were ready to run.
“Well, well, well.” A cocky voice rose above the loud country music. “Here comes Alice and Addie, just like we figured on, Dex!”
“Yessirree, Phil!” Dexter crowed, saluting the girls with his fork. “Do we know how to get their attention, or what?”
“Maybe if they’d answered their cell phone, a lot of cows would still be grazing in that fence near the road,” Phil added archly.
Hearing his belligerent tone, Alice wanted to grab her sister’s hand and dash past the pool tables, out the front door, but she sensed the guys would chase them down. Phil, the taller and heavier of the two, chugged the remainder of his beer and slammed his mug on the table with a loud laugh while Dexter brushed aside his shaggy black hair to leer at them. Half-eaten plates of fried eggs and bacon sat in front of them, along with several empty shot glasses. It wasn’t yet ten in the morning and they were drunker than Alice had ever seen them.
“Cat got your tongue, missy?” Phil taunted as the girls slowly approached their table.
“Or did our drive-by shooting get you so excited you just had to come see us?” Dexter teased. He grabbed the empty chair beside him and pulled it out. “Sit yourselves down, girls.”
“Yeah, and if you’re not gonna answer that cell phone I bought you, you can put it right there,” Phil said, pointing angrily at the scummy tabletop. “Don’t think for a minute that this relationship is over until I say it’s over. We’ve given you girls some gifts, and a little repayment of our kindness is in order—wouldn’t you say, Dex?”
“Yup, a little interest paid on our investment,” Dex replied with a short laugh. “After all, those Tinker Bell tattoos weren’t free—and we’ve hardly gotten to see them.”
“It—it’s not our fault we haven’t answered your calls,” Alice protested. Her throat was getting so tight she was surprised she could respond. She knew better than to pull away from Phil’s grasp as he pushed her into
