Wild Rescue (19 page)

Chapter 76

I wondered why
Pastor Andy didn’t ask me to talk abut the alpacas, which is probably why I started calling my sister Reverend Ashley. Later I taped a sign on her door: “Saint Ashley of the Alpacas.”

We thought about parking our ATVs in the barn to keep them out of sight, but Ashley was afraid that would scare Whitney. We drove them into the woods behind the house and hid them behind some brush. We didn’t want the thieves to show up and see somebody in the house.

I found a two-by-four we could wedge under the door handle to the den. We tried it out with Ashley inside and me locking her in. She pushed and pushed but couldn’t get the door open. We also made a hiding place beneath the stairs where we could wait for the intruders. I would call 911 from the Morrises’ cordless phone as soon as anyone entered the house.

Though the TV wasn’t as good as the one upstairs, I watched the Cubs game in the den so no one could see it glowing from outside. They led the Cardinals until the ninth inning. Two outs, two on, two runs ahead, the pitcher gave up a home run and the Cubs were down a run. They almost scored in the bottom of the inning, but a guy got thrown out at home for the third out. I don’t believe in luck, good or bad, but I’d say the Cubs have had their share of the bad.

We checked the alpacas one more time before we holed up for the night. Ashley said she thought Whitney didn’t seem to be humming as much. I said she should take Whitney to church and see if she could teach her “Amazing Grace.”

Chapter 77

Bryce and I sat in the dark
under the stairs, listening, the heavy blanket from the safe draped over the opening. We had pillows and a flashlight, the two-by-four, and Leigh’s can of Mace. (She noticed it was missing, and I asked to borrow it one more night.)

It got creepily quiet, and every creak and noise made me think someone was there.

Bryce asked what I was going to talk about in Sunday school the next morning.

“Psalm 23,” I said.

“I thought that was about sheep.”

“Yeah, but any animal will do.”

“What’s the point of the . . . you know, the message?” He seemed interested, not just wanting to make fun of me.

I shrugged. “I guess I’ll talk about how peaceful they are and how much they trust their owners. That they don’t worry about anything when they’re being taken care of.”

I pulled out my notes. “I wrote down the verbs, all the stuff a shepherd does for his flock. ‘Leads, renews, guides, prepares, honors, anoints.’” I had written several sentences for each, using characteristics of alpacas I had found on different Web sites.

“That’s pretty good,” Bryce said. I was waiting for some joke, but he said, “Don’t you wish Dad could be here to read that?”

“I always wish Dad could be here. Except . . .”

“What?”

“I don’t know. I wonder why God let him die. I don’t think we’ll ever figure it out, but I wonder if part of it has something to do with us becoming a family with Sam and Leigh.”

“God would kill Dad for that?”

“No, I don’t mean that. It’s like the verse that says whatever happens to a Christian, God can make something good out of it, even if it’s bad.”

“And what if Sam and Leigh never believe in Jesus?”

“Guess we have to rest like the alpacas, believe God knows what he’s doing, and have a little faith.”

Chapter 78

My back ached
and my butt felt so numb I doubted I could ever stand. You could have hit me with the two-by-four and I never would have felt it. All I heard was the creaky house and the wind. I put my head back against the wall and closed my eyes.

When the Morrises’ cordless rang, I nearly threw the thing through the wall. I looked at my watch—11:45.

The Morrises didn’t have caller ID.

“Should we answer?” I said. “It could be Mr. Morris.”

“It could be Eddie and his people.”

“It could be Mom.”

“Just pick it up and don’t say anything,” Ashley said.

“Hello?” Lewis said upstairs. “Hello? Thank you for calling!”

I mashed the Speakerphone button and heard something like a rushing wind. “Sam?” I said.

Click.

Ashley shook her head. “Why did you do that?”

I couldn’t speak. Had I just given us away?

Chapter 79

The phone rang again,
and I felt like throwing up. Bryce looked at me, and we didn’t have to say anything. We just let it ring. The answering machine picked up upstairs, and when the beep finally sounded, whoever it was hung up.

“What time is it?” I said.

Bryce hit the light on his watch. “Midnight. Couple minutes before.”

Suddenly my heart leaped.
My medicine!

I have to take medicine for a seizure disorder. If I don’t, my brain gets messed up and I can pass out.

I pulled the capsules from my pocket. “I need water.”

“Bathroom’s down the hall.”

“I’m not going alone.”

I couldn’t see, but I’m sure Bryce rolled his eyes. “Come on,” he said.

We felt our way down the dark hallway and found the bathroom. I cupped my hand under the faucet, popped the pills into my mouth, and slurped until they went down.

After another half hour of seat-numbing sitting, we were antsy for the robbers. It was like waiting for Christmas, only you didn’t want it to come. I wanted to catch these thieves, but if any part of our plan went wrong . . .

Finally, Bryce said, “Let’s go upstairs and have a look.”

Chapter 80

I could tell Ashley was scared
by the way she stayed really close, but I was just as scared. What if Eddie had parked at the gate and walked to the house? What if he and whoever was helping him were already inside or watching through the windows?

We had left the range light on in the kitchen, so we stopped when we got near the top of the steps and looked around. Everything was quiet. Ashley pushed me, but I stayed where I was.

“Come on, Bryce!” she whispered.

Something moved outside—past the patio door. Animal or human, I couldn’t tell, but something was out there. I motioned for Ashley to go back downstairs. We hurried, trying not to make noise on the steps.

Back in our hideout, I told Ashley what I had seen.

“They’re out there?” she said.

“It could have been Mr. Bear, which might be worse. I say we stay here until we hear them come in the house.”

“Wouldn’t they have pulled the trailer close to put the stuff in?” Ashley said. “They’re not going to lug that safe all the way to the road.”

“Maybe they’re making sure things are clear, and then they’ll pull it up to the house.”

“Either way, I think we should call the police. It’ll take them a long time to get out here.”

“The plan was to wait until they—”

“Plans change,” she said, and I could hear the emotion in her voice. “It’s better if they catch them pulling out with all the stuff than to not catch them at all. What time is it?”

I hit my watch light again. A half hour had passed, and it seemed like two weeks. “Okay, I’ll call.”

I hit the Talk button and started dialing. The beeps sounded, but when I held the phone up to my ear there was nothing. I clicked the Talk button off, then turned it on again and listened.

“No dial tone,” I said. “I’ll use my cell.” I dug it out and punched it on. Nothing.

“Don’t tell me you left it on!” she hissed.

“I thought I recharged it.”

She grabbed it and punched the top button, frantically trying to turn it on. Then she took the other phone and tried again.

I tried to smile. “Maybe the bear cut the line.”

“Not funny,” she said. “What now?”

“Plan B.”