Lead Me Home

by Amy Sorrells

  “She’s not texting me back, and she won’t pick up,” Noble said, interrupting James’s thoughts.

  “I’ll go back to the house and see if she’s there,” James said. The barn and the cows, Noble, Laurie . . . everything around him seemed altered, surreal, as if he weren’t really there and the day was just a dream.

  Noble appeared helpless as he surveyed the rest of the cows that had to be milked.

  Laurie stood and gave Ethel a gentle push on her rump to get her moving out of the barn. “Why don’t you go with him, Noble. Eustace and Brock are here. We can get these last ones.”

  “With our help, you can for sure.”

  James was relieved to see Hank appear in the doorway, along with a couple of stock boys from his store. “Power’s out at the hardware, too. Figured it’d do these boys some good to help.”

  The two teens glanced at each other and then at the cows, apprehensively.

  “You sure?” Noble asked.

  “I’m sure. Now you two get going.”

  “I’ve got this, Noble,” Brock encouraged. “Go on now.”

  33

  “I think Shelby’s missing,” James said into his phone to Sheriff Tate.

  As James steered toward his home, Noble strained to see if he could catch a glimpse of Shelby’s truck in the driveway. At the same time, Noble’s cell phone rang.

  “Are you sure?” Noble’s stomach felt like it was falling to the ground. He turned to James, who still had Tate on the line. “Tell Sheriff Eustace is missing, too.”

  Noble listened as Mama explained to him that after they’d left, she thought Eustace had gone to get more hay, but the tractor was still parked and he was nowhere to be seen. “Maybe it’s too soon to panic,” Mama said. “But I’m worried he mighta got the idea in his head that he needed to go look for Shelby, too.”

  Noble considered this. Eustace was sure to have heard James talking about Shelby. But he wondered if he might’ve gone to look for a cow, too. “Are all the cows accounted for?”

  “That’s the other problem,” Mama explained. “With doing everything by hand, none of us remembered to record who got milked and who didn’t, so I don’t know. Seems like they all came in, in order, and that they were all here. But I don’t know.”

  “See if you can get a head count. He might have realized before us that one of the cows was missing, and if so, he could be out looking for her. . . . Hold on a sec, Mama. . . .” Noble held the phone to his chest and got out of the car. No sign of Shelby.

  James sat in the driver’s seat with the door open. He was still talking to Tate. “I see. . . . Yes. . . . Tell him thank you for checking on that so fast. . . . Right. . . . Okay. . . . Bye.”

  “What’d he say?” Noble asked.

  “He had a deputy check with Silas to see if he’d seen Cade and Shelby, and he hasn’t. He said he’d meet us at your place.”

  Noble kicked the ground and cursed. “Mama? You still there?”

  “Yeah—what is it?”

  “Looks like all three of them are missing—Cade, Shelby, and Eustace.”

  “Noble.” Mama’s voice cracked with concern. “Don’t let nothin’ happen to my Eustace.”

  “I won’t, Mama.” Noble tried to sound calm, sure, in spite of the fear burning inside him. “I won’t. Listen, we’re going to come back, me and James. Sheriff’s going to meet us at our house. We’ll figure out a plan when we get there. Stay put.”

  On the way back, they drove the perimeter of the Burdens’ property and discovered part of the electric fence down. Noble got out of the car to take a closer look. The grass and weeds were flattened, and the mud covered with the imprints of fresh hoof marks.

  He kicked the ground and cursed again.

  James’s car skidded to a stop in the wet gravel of Noble’s driveway and stopped short of the bumper of one of the two squad cars. Tate and another officer stood by Mama, the three of them next to the Gator at the entrance to the pasture between the barn and the house. Even from a distance, Noble could see the dark circles of worry under Mama’s eyes.

  “Reverend. Noble.” Tate stood by Mama and tipped his wide-rimmed hat toward them.

  “I figured he—Eustace—was out there with Dolly, but I took the Gator out, did a sweep of the pastures, and he’s not anywhere. And two cows are missing . . .” Laurie’s hand shook as she motioned toward the pasture. Tears filled her eyes and her mouth trembled. “Dolly and the one numbered 46 from Whitmore’s herd.”

  “He may be with them, then.” Noble nodded at James. “We checked the fence perimeter on the way here. There’s a break on the far northeast corner, near where Granger’s field turns to meadow and leads down to the falls.”

  “Those falls’ll be like rapids right now,” Tate warned, nodding to the other officer Noble vaguely recognized from town. “We better get a move on.”

  “Eustace’d do anything for Dolly.” Noble’s heart sank with doubt even as he said the words. Why hadn’t he checked on his brother and made sure he was safe in the barn before leaving with James?

  “It’s not your fault.” Mama’s voice sounded small, defeated. It was as if she’d read his mind.

  “The heck if it ain’t.”

  “No use worrying about who’s at fault for what,” James said. “We’ve gotta find these kids.”

  “I’m taking the Gator,” Noble said. “Get the gate for me, Mama?”

  “I’m coming with you,” James said. “You shouldn’t be out there on your own.”

  “But you gotta stay and look for Shelby—” Noble began to argue.

  “I sure would if I thought I could help.” James turned to the sheriff. “I think we’ll do better if we split up, don’t you?” He looked at Laurie. “Besides, while I’m less than thrilled at the thought of Shelby out there somewhere with Cade, you have to admit he’s got one heck of a truck. Eustace has got nothing.”

  “I think you’re right.” Tate took his hat off and wiped a thick layer of sweat from his brow, then stared hard into James’s eyes. “We won’t give up until we find them all.”

  “Careful, Noble,” Mama said, unclamping the chains holding the gate closed and pushing it open wide.

  James hopped in beside him, and Noble floored the gas on the Gator. He headed toward the patch of woods near where they’d found the busted fence. He saw a hawk circling above the trees. The closer he got, the more he could see the detail of the giant bird’s pale-yellow belly, the dirty brown of its wings. Soon another joined it, and another, making three of them circling above the trees. He imagined their beady black eyes focused on a rabbit or a squirrel or worse . . .

  Dear Lord, please . . . let him be okay . . .

  He drove the Gator as far as he could to where the pasture turned to brush and beyond that, thick woods. The two men pushed past thickets and vines, stepping high over the overgrown grass and goldenrod, following the edge of the woods toward the broken patch of fence.

  “Eustace! Euuuuu-staaaace! You here, buddy?”

  “Eustace?” James called behind him.

  Noble’s chest ached; the adrenaline of worry felt like fire running up and down his arms, his spine.

  “Euuuuu-staaace!” he called again.

  The two men stopped to listen. Noble strained to hear anything, a whimper, a branch breaking, the crunch of brush that might indicate his brother’s step. Instead, he heard the chirp of sparrows and the chatter of a squirrel in a high tree. He was about to push farther into the woods when he heard a sound nearby, something that sounded like a sigh, a moan.

  “Eustace! That you? Where are ya?”

  “Over here,” James said. His expression was grave as he looked down at something near his feet.

  “Oh no . . .” Noble approached and saw a newborn calf, still covered in birth fluids and blood from its mother. It was a sickly calf, and he’d seen enough of that kind to know it would not survive the hour.

  He bent down on one knee and put his hand on the side of the neck
to provide some comfort, but the calf’s eyes rolled back until the white edges of them showed, wild and terrified. It wasn’t a Jersey calf. It was a Holstein. Whitmore’s number 46 must’ve been pregnant. If she gave birth there, and in the middle of that storm, she most likely would have some injuries herself. The coyotes didn’t mess much with the cows, but if there was one in labor, giving birth, they would attack for sure. He’d seen it only one other time, before Dad left. Coyotes tore the whole hindquarters off the mother and all that was left of the calf was bones by the time they found them.

  Noble stood and looked around the woods. They had to find Eustace and those two cows. Dolly was a protector—all the Jerseys were. It was their instinct to protect the members of their herd. If number 46 had gotten away and been in labor, Dolly might have wandered off with her. And then Eustace would’ve gone after her.

  But where?

  Questions tumbled through his mind as he tried to piece together a scenario that would make sense, that would lead him to his brother. If Eustace had found that calf, Noble couldn’t imagine the emotion that would’ve overcome him. Once when they’d found a rabbit still alive, but barely, after a coyote attack, Eustace had gone near catatonic and crumpled on the ground right there, refusing to move, stroking the bunny’s head until it took its last breath. Almost as bad as when the owl got that cat and her kittens.

  The only thing that might’ve made him leave an injured calf was if Dolly was in danger.

  Or something worse.

  34

  “The tracks seem headed that way.” James pointed. The sun was low on the horizon, and he wished they’d thought to bring flashlights.

  “The falls aren’t far,” Noble said. “And the highway’s just beyond them.”

  James let Noble lead the way. He supposed he should pray, but he couldn’t. Foreboding filled his mind. Photographs he’d seen of Molly’s wreck. The concrete walls and steel table in the basement of the hospital where he’d had to go and identify her.

  “Didn’t Tate say the highway was washed out?” Noble asked over his shoulder.

  James tried to focus. “Yeah, but I don’t know where.”

  Leaving the calf behind, they pressed on, past the broken fence, down toward the swollen creek, finding occasional hoofprints.

  “Hey, look here.” Noble stopped and stooped, his fingers on the ground. “These are boot prints. They look about the size of Eustace’s.”

  “Maybe we’re on the right track then.” James felt a flicker of hope for Eustace, shadowed by uneasiness and a growing dread about Shelby.

  “Eustace!” Noble hollered.

  James pressed his fingers to his lips and let out a long, earsplitting whistle.

  “Sheesh! Where’d you learn to do that?” Noble said, rubbing his ear.

  “Years of helping Molly round up Sunday schoolers.”

  Molly.

  Lord, please don’t let me lose my baby girl, too.

  They plodded on. The swollen creek roared louder as they followed the broken and trampled brush they hoped was from Eustace and the cows.

  “Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen it so high,” Noble said. The muddy water roiled, large limbs sweeping past them. They passed the falls, walls of water coursing over the craggy rocks, landing in foamy rushes of rapids. “We should be getting near the bridge.”

  James felt the mud sucking at the soles of his tennis shoes. He struggled to keep up with Noble without tripping or losing a shoe at the same time.

  Noble stopped so suddenly James almost ran into him.

  “Oh no . . .”

  James looked up and gasped, and his gut wrenched inside of him as he struggled to process the scene in front of them.

  Noble froze when he saw the pickup truck balanced precariously on top of a boulder in the middle of the river. The top was smashed, and the back end of it was filling up with water.

  “Help!” a short man yelled from the riverbank.

  It was Cade. “Shelby’s in there!” he yelled.

  Beside Noble, James started to run, but Noble grabbed his arm. “Wait, James! It’s not stable!”

  The truck teetered, growing heavier by the second, the back end sinking fast and threatening to capsize onto the passenger side, where he could see the outline of Shelby’s head and shoulders through the cracked glass of the back window.

  Another movement caught Noble’s eye in the raging water.

  “Eustace! What the—?”

  This time, Noble started for the water, and it was James’s turn to restrain him. The reverend grabbed his arm with one hand and fumbled for his phone with the other. “We can’t risk losing you, too. We need Tate.”

  “We can’t wait for Tate.” Noble fought him. “Eustace can’t swim!”

  Noble could see every muscle in Eustace’s broad shoulders and back tensed through the wet T-shirt as he ran along the riverbank. “Eustace! Wait! Stay there!”

  Until now, Noble had always been able to protect his big brother. He nearly choked on the terror in his throat, the adrenaline of wanting—having—to do something shooting through his limbs.

  He stepped into the water, the current so forceful it knocked him to his knees.

  “Noble, you can’t go in there!” James grabbed his shirt from behind.

  Noble lurched back onto the bank. He noticed how still Shelby was through the window.

  Dear God, help us . . . help them . . .

  Metal creaked and groaned, and the truck tipped farther, the water nearly halfway up the side of the cab doors.

  “Eustace!” Noble shrieked as his brother lost his footing and struggled to keep from going under.

  “Shelby!” James screamed. He saw Eustace grasp a large limb of the tree stuck against the rocks. It was the only thing keeping the truck—and him—from toppling into the water.

  “James? You there?” Tate’s voice crackled from the cell phone.

  “Sheriff! We found them—all of them. But we need help. They’re in the river . . . under the Bethel Road bridge. . . . Shelby’s stuck. . . . You gotta hurry!”

  “We’re close. Hang tight.”

  By this time, Cade had joined them, shivering, on the riverbank. James thought he looked like a child, nothing left of his haughty, brooding attitude. He’d been so focused on Shelby and the truck, he hadn’t realized the implications of the fact that Cade was safe and Shelby was still in the truck.

  Noble must’ve realized this at the same time, because he pushed past James and grabbed Cade’s shirt, lifting him off the ground. “You creep! You left her!”

  Cade’s face reddened as his shirt tightened around his throat with Noble’s grip. “Door . . . wouldn’t . . . open . . .”

  Noble let go of him, shoving him to the ground.

  James was afraid he might not have been so kind. Up the bank a ways, he noticed Dolly and the other cow munching on grass as if still in the pasture with nothing at all awry.

  Metal screeched against rock, and the sound of shattering glass turned their attention back to Eustace, who had just punched a hole through the passenger window. He leaned into the cab, and the truck pitched farther toward the water.

  “Stop! Eustace, it’s gonna go!” Noble yelled.

  James held tight to Noble’s arm as he struggled to go into the water. He could hear the faint sound of sirens approaching. But what he saw in the water amazed him.

  “Wait,” James cautioned. “Watch.”

  Eustace pulled and fought with the stuck door, even as Noble fought against the hold James had on his arm.

  Finally the door opened, but Eustace lost his footing in the current.

  Again the truck hitched and doddered.

  He couldn’t keep hold of Noble, who leaped into the water, but again the current knocked him over.

  James grabbed the back of his shirt again, pulling him back to the bank.

  Eustace regained his footing and paused until the truck steadied. James could tell Eustace was using all his strength to
stay upright and move toward Shelby in the truck.

  Dear God, she’s not moving. Please, Lord . . . not my baby girl . . .

  Noble watched, helpless, as Eustace pulled Shelby from the truck cab. Her blood soaked Eustace’s T-shirt. She didn’t move as Eustace cradled her limp body.

  “Lord, not Shelby,” James mumbled, falling to his knees next to Noble. “Not my baby girl, too. Please, God, no . . .”

  Sirens sounded and emergency lights flashed from the bridge above as Eustace lurched and plodded through the water toward the shore.

  Noble reached for Eustace, grabbing him to steady him as soon as he was close enough.

  Eustace kept going until he reached a grassy patch and laid Shelby gently on her back.

  “Shelby,” James said, stumbling toward them and falling to his knees again when he reached her side. He ran his hand across her forehead, her face.

  Paramedics and firemen had already scurried down the embankment and rushed in to attend to her.

  “Stay with us, darlin’,” one of the paramedics said.

  Noble heard James let out a cry of relief.

  She was alive.

  Noble went to his brother, who had found a stump to lean on nearby. His countenance reflected the same satisfaction as when he pinned a new butterfly to its mounting board, a look so gentle, so peaceful, Noble hesitated to disturb him.

  “You saved her life,” he said softly.

  Eustace didn’t move but continued to watch the emergency workers as Cade’s truck slid silently beneath the water.

  35

  Red and yellow lights from the emergency crews above flashed, almost like firelight, as James knelt, his face pressed close to Shelby’s. He could see the condensation of her breath on the inside of the plastic oxygen mask as she inhaled and exhaled, inhaled and exhaled.