The River Rolls On (Bellingwood Book 10) (19 page)

"May I see?" Eliseo asked.

Agent Lane opened the envelope again.

After looking at the hair, Eliseo said, "She's right, it didn't come from the horses. They're brushed often enough that I would have noticed that much clipped off. Let's see what the little boys look like. I'll be right back with them."

He went into the feed room and then came back out and gave a sharp whistle. He handed the bag of carrots to Polly and said, "You keep them occupied while I check their tails."

Polly sat down on a bench and put the bag beside her. She fed carrot bits to Tom first and then Huck. The donkeys nuzzled her shoulders and pushed their heads under her hands, looking for more. She was glad to oblige.

That was one thing she appreciated about her animals. They were always glad to see her, no matter how long she'd been away. There was no judgment and no expectation, just affection.

"Yes, ma'am," Eliseo said. "It looks as if our boys have had some unexpected grooming. See here?" He held Huck's tail up. "Just a few snips on the underneath of both their tails. It wasn't noticeable from afar."

"When do you think this might have happened?" Aaron asked.

He nodded as Polly fed the donkeys more carrots. They were thrilled to be part of the action. Tom stepped close to Agent Lane, looking for attention. She took a step back, so Polly put her hand on his halter and drew him back with another carrot bit.

"I haven't given them a good brushing since last Thursday or Friday," Eliseo said. "I would have noticed it then." He put his hand on Huck's head. "That was Thursday. They have the run of the place and with the weather so nice, I haven't been locking them in the barn." He shrugged. "It's easier than replacing doors."

"So anyone has access to them during the day?" Agent Lane asked.

"Yes" he said. "I'm not sure what else to say. If I'd thought they were in danger, I would have done something different." He turned his head toward Aaron. "Are they in danger?"

Aaron shook his head. "I don't think so. This was meant to scare Polly, to tell her that they're close enough to cut the hair off a donkey's tail." He chuckled. "That's something I would have liked to have seen. How in the world did they get those donkeys to be so obedient?"

Eliseo patted Huck's head. "You see how quickly they respond to treats." At the word, both donkeys looked up at him. "No, you beggars, you've had enough."

Polly handed him the bag of carrots and leaned in to hug Tom's neck. "You two have to be more careful of strangers," she said. "What am I going to do with you?"

Agent Lane put her hand out to shake Eliseo's. He took it and said, "If you think I need to lock the barn and take the donkeys out to my place, I can call Doc Ogden and borrow his trailer."

"I'm sure they're safe enough," she responded. "Thank you for your time. Miss Giller?"

"Yes?" Polly said.

"Are you ready to go back up to the house? We have other things to look into this afternoon and should be on our way."

The woman spun on her heels and headed back the way they'd come. Polly gave a perplexed look to both Eliseo and Aaron and mouthed "What?" to the Sheriff.

He shrugged and said, "Thank you, Eliseo. Let us know if you see anything else out of place, will you?"

"Of course, Sheriff. But I think we'd all appreciate it if you'd hurry and find these men so we can stop worrying about Polly."

"I'd appreciate it, too. This has gone on much too long for my taste and I'm ready to have my office back."

They looked up to discover that Marla Lane had cleared the barn and was striding up the sidewalk to the house.

"She's intense," Eliseo said.

"But she knows this case," Aaron replied.

Polly pursed her lips. "A lot of knowledge isn't worth a hill of beans..." She chuckled. "Did I just say hill of beans? Who am I? Anyway, she doesn't know the area, she doesn't know Joey and she doesn't know me. I think she could invest more time trying to understand those three things."

"I guess that's why she has me," Aaron said. "Come on. Best not to keep her waiting."

"I'll bet it's great fun riding in the car with her," Polly said as they walked out of the barn. She whistled for Obiwan and he ran over to join them as they walked through the gates.

Aaron smiled. "Oh yes, she's quite chatty." He put his hand on Polly's back as they approached the door. "Maybe I should sic Lydia on her."

"That's just mean."

"A little bit."

Marla Lane was waiting outside the office door for them, gently tapping her toe on the floor.

"Have a good time tonight," Aaron said. "I'm glad Lydia has somewhere to be so she isn't worrying about me while I'm working."

He headed out the front door before Polly could ask what he meant.

She ducked her head in the office. "I'm taking Obiwan upstairs," she said to Stephanie. "Is there anything I should know about?"

"Is everything okay?" Stephanie asked.

"Just another love note from Joey. At least there weren't any photographs this time."

Jeff came out of his office and stood there while Polly talked. "What was in there that sent you to the barn?"

"They cut tail hairs from the donkeys. Aaron says they're just trying to scare me, telling me that they can get close enough to do that. I think he's right. But, it makes me mad. I have bodyguards and they go after my donkeys."

Polly gave him a wicked grin. "Maybe I'll tell Ray that he and Jon should sleep in the barn until this is over. That would teach him to get all up in my business."

She realized from the expressions on the faces in front of her that they had no idea what was going on. She shook her head. "It's nothing. I appreciate them and what they're doing. I'm just testy over the negative attention."

"Come on Obiwan," she said. "Let's get you upstairs."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Setting the timer on the oven, Polly felt a little righteous, knowing that she'd actually prepared a meal. Obiwan barked and before she knew it, Han was tearing across the floor to greet her. The sound of footsteps on the back stairway announced Henry and Rebecca's return.

Henry gave her an odd look when he came into the dining room and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking," she said. "When I decided that I was going to be done feeling sorry for myself, I realized what a slacker I'd been for the last week."

"Okay, but why are you cooking?"

Now Polly was confused. "Because I'm tired of eating takeout. You have to be just as weary of it."

"Ohhhh," he said, looking around the room. "I see. You talk to Rebecca. I'll be right back."

Rebecca gave Polly a knowing smile and kissed the top of Obiwan's head. He'd been waiting patiently for her to give him attention.

"Did you have a good afternoon?" Polly asked.

"It was great. Mr. Sturtz said I should learn how to whittle. He said that there are images in wood and all I have to do is take away the wood that doesn't belong." She laughed. "I told him that was weird, but I'd give it a try."

Rebecca reached down into her backpack. "I made a face. It's weird, but it's a face." The piece she handed to Polly looked almost like Santa Claus, with a beard and a small face under a hat.

"That's good," Polly said. "In fact, that's really good."

"Mr. Sturtz helped me. He showed me how to get the texture in the beard and how to smooth out the little hat."

Polly shook her head. "Rebecca, this is great. Did you know you were going to make this when you started?"

Rebecca shrugged. "Yeah. Kinda."

"Do you want to do more whittling?"

"I might." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "It made him happy to teach me. He says that kids my age aren't interested in stuff like that anymore."

"He probably had a blast with you," Polly said. She turned the piece over in her hands. "Rebecca, this is cool."

"It was no big deal."

Polly handed it back to her. "It's a big deal. I'm impressed."

"Do you think Kayla and Andrew might like doing it? I was thinking we could go over this summer and he could teach us."

"That's a great idea," Polly said. "Bill would love that. How was Jessie and the baby?"

"Molly was inside with Mrs. Sturtz for a while. She says it's too loud out in the shop. Jessie says she thinks Mrs. Sturtz likes having a baby around."

Polly shuddered and then chuckled. At least Marie had Jessie's little girl to play with. Marie Sturtz would never push Henry and Polly to have children. In fact, she would rather they never had children before thinking that she was pushing that on them.

"Isn't it funny how things work out," Polly said.

"What do you mean?"

"Jessie is working there and Marie gets to play with a baby whenever she wants."

"It's a pretty cool setup. There's a playpen in Jessie's office with a bunch of toys. Jessie said that when Molly is crawling and walking, she might have to think about daycare, but for now she gets to be with her baby all the time if she wants to." Rebecca took out her sketchpad. "I drew pictures of the baby when I was there. Do you want to see them?"

"Of course," Polly said.

Rebecca opened the pad and Polly could see Beryl's influence. The pages were filled with different angles as Rebecca worked out the lines of Molly's face. Polly drew her fingers across the nose on one of them. "You're enjoying your time with Beryl, aren't you?"

"Sometimes drawing is the only thing I want to do," Rebecca said, dropping into a chair at the table. "Ms. Watson says that's because my emotions are going crazy and when I draw, they flow out of my fingers onto the page." She looked up at Polly. "People think weird things about art, don't they?"

Polly laughed and gave Rebecca a hug. "I guess they do. They try to put into words things that don't have words."

"But isn't that what art is?" Rebecca asked.

"You're right. It is."

Henry came back into the dining room with a grin on his face.

"Where'd you go in such a hurry," Polly asked.

"Just checking on something."

"You're being awfully cryptic. What's going on?"

"I'm going to take a shower. Today was a messy, dirty day. I'll be back in a few minutes." Henry left before she could ask him any more questions.

"What was that all about?" Polly asked Rebecca. "Do you know?"

Rebecca reached down and picked up her backpack. "I don't know anything. I'm going to put this in my room, if that's okay. I won't need it for school stuff anymore, so it doesn't have to be downstairs."

Polly was distracted by Henry's behavior, "Sure," she said. "Whatever you want. Are you staying up here for supper or eating with Evelyn tonight?"

"Probably up here," Rebecca said and left the room.

Polly didn't know what to make of it all, but knew it would come out when it did. She pulled dishes and silverware out to set the table and arranged asparagus in a casserole dish. She took the chicken and potatoes out, flipped the pieces over and re-set the timer after putting the pans back in.

A loud knock at the front door startled her. She peeked into the living room, to make sure Henry wasn't running to the door. His bedroom door was closed and so was Rebecca's.

"I'll get it," she called out.

She opened the front door to Lydia and Beryl.

"Come with us," Lydia said. "Right now."

"Is there a problem?"

"Oh sweetie," Beryl replied. "There's a huge problem. We're about to have a party and you aren't there. Come on!"

"But I have dinner in the oven."

Beryl scowled at her. "We heard. You've been buying takeout for over a week and tonight you decide to cook. What's up with that?"

"Henry?" Polly called.

He came out of the bedroom, fresh from the shower, his hair still wet and mussed. "Don't y'all get plastered tonight," he said. "We don't have enough beds left."

"You'll take care of dinner?" she asked.

He nodded and waved at her to leave.

Rebecca came out of her room dressed in a swimsuit and carrying a beach towel.

Polly chuckled. "Dare I ask?"

"Come with us," Lydia said. "You're gonna love it."

She followed them downstairs and Lydia said, "Shut your eyes," just before opening the doors to the auditorium.

Polly obeyed and let them lead her in.

"Don't scuffle, pick up your feet," Lydia whispered. "And keep your eyes closed."

It felt like she was walking on plastic and she wondered what they'd done to the auditorium.

Beryl counted out, "One. Two. Three. Open Your Eyes."

The room exploded with "Surprise!"

Polly opened her eyes to a backyard beach party. Three children's pools filled with water had lawn chairs surrounding them. Card tables were covered with sea blue cloths and LED tiki torches were planted in containers around the room. The floor was covered with plastic and canvas drop cloths. Polly looked for sand, but didn't find any and breathed a small sigh of relief. Beach balls, rubber rafts and brightly colored life preservers were scattered on the floor and Polly recognized the inflatable palm tree from Henry's bachelor party.

Two step ladders were spaced apart with a long ladder resting atop them. It was strung with white lights and underneath was a table filled with colorful glasses and a sea blue punch.

At the north end of the auditorium a badminton net had been set up. Stephanie and Kayla Armstrong were batting a beach ball back and forth across it. Rebecca ran over to join them.

"What is this?" she asked as she smiled at a room filled with her friends.

"We decided that since you had a hard time coming out and saying hello to us, we'd bring Bellingwood to you," Andy said, handing her a glass of punch with a bright pink umbrella sticking up out of it.

Jessie was sitting with Marie Sturtz and Henry's Aunt Betty around one of the baby pools. Marie waved and handed Jessie's baby, Molly, back to her mother. She jumped up and came over to Polly.

"How are you, dear? Everyone says you're doing fine, but I'm still going to worry." She took Polly's arm. "You shouldn't have to be trapped inside."

"It's getting better," Polly assured her. "My friends from Boston have come into town and they've made it easier for me to get out and about." She pointed at the card table where Joss and Sal were talking to Gerry and Tonya. Polly was glad someone had thought to invite them. As furious as she was with Ray and as frustrated as she was with everything that was happening, those two girls had done their best to keep her safe and give her a modicum of freedom.

"We're glad they're here." Marie dropped her voice. "You know, Betty tells me that Dick and a few of his buddies were ready to park themselves in their trucks with their shotguns at the ready all around Sycamore House."

"I've heard that," Polly said with a laugh. "But I'd hate for them to get hurt."

"Honey, none of us wants
you
to get hurt. You know how important you are to everyone here, don't you?"

"Thanks Marie. This is a little overwhelming, though."

"Any chance for a party," Beryl said, taking Polly's other arm. "We had fun planning this one. But no one would let me hire a stripper. I even offered to let Henry do it." She shook her head in mock disgust. "Bunch of stinking fuddy-duddies. Now come on, girls. Let's get Polly settled so she can put her feet in the water, drink her very boring, virgin punch and warm up in the glow of sisterly love."

Polly snorted with laughter. "Only you could make it sound dorky. This is wonderful."

As soon as she was seated, someone turned the lights down and the sound system on. The sound of waves washing against a beach provided a background for fifties and sixties beach songs.

"Take your shoes off," Beryl ordered. "We made sure the water was warm enough to be pleasant. If you put your feet in, others will think it's okay."

"You do it," Polly said. "You be the leader."

"Do I have to do everything?" Beryl bent over, took Polly's shoes off and dropped her feet in the pool.

"You are such a freak," Polly said. "But, you're right. It feels good." She leaned back in the chair and took a drink of her punch.

Sylvie opened the side door and stepped in. "Dinner is served. No hurry, just wander in when you're ready."

Polly stayed where she was and watched as women around the room tried to figure out whether to go or not. Betty Mercer, Henry's aunt, finally made up her mind and hitched the baby on her hip and headed for the door. She patted Polly's shoulder as she walked by.

Just as any good crowd of people will do, as soon as one went, the majority of the room followed.

"They're like sheep," Beryl said.

Polly swatted at her. "Stop it, you. I thought we were supposed to have fun. No bad-mouthing my friends."

Tonya sat down next to Polly. "Has Ray talked to you yet today?"

"No," Polly said with a laugh. "Is he scared of me?"

"He did tell us that he'd forgotten what you could be like when you were angry."

"What was he supposed to be talking to me about?"

"We're concerned with what happened this morning."

Polly stopped to think about it. Was that ride just this morning? The day felt like it had been at least a week long.

"Yeah. I figured. Have you heard whether or not anyone else has seen my truck out there?"

"Not yet, but he wants us to be extra vigilant when you're out and about." She glanced around the room. "I'm glad they did this tonight. Does it help?"

"Of course it does." Polly felt her muscles relaxing and turned on Beryl. "Did you spike my punch?"

"Who, me?" Beryl spun around and walked away.

"She's trying to get me drunk," Polly said. "Anyway, I should apologize for being such a baby. The ride this morning was nice and it was wonderful being able to eat at the diner yesterday, and I appreciate being able to walk outside with my dog..."