“Is that normal?” Liam asked.
Logan couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t remember any of their local ranches having horses stolen. Tack went missing once in a while and it usually showed back up, but horses didn’t go missing. However, Bozeman was a much larger area than Beacon Creek; horse thieving might be a regular occurrence here.
“No, it isn’t,” another voice said from behind Logan. A middle-aged woman wearing boots and a long skirt with a white, short-sleeved blouse walked up to the pastor and stood next to him.
“Everyone, this is my wife, Bethany.” The pastor put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and drew her in for a side hug.
Everyone in the group waved, or said, “Hi” or, “Ma’am.”
She nodded and smiled at the group. “A few of the ladies in my weekly Bible study have said they’ve seen an increase in items going missing. One even had her purse stolen by a homeless man she hadn’t seen before. The situation is escalating, and the sheriff’s wife told me yesterday that her husband does suspect something nefarious is going on with Big Bart and his gang.”
Bethany stood tall next to her husband. She had to be around five feet eight inches tall. She had brown hair and sharp hazel eyes. Mrs. Langdon appeared to be a woman with confidence and presence.
Harper walked toward the pastor’s wife and smiled. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Harper. We’ve spoken on the phone.”
Bethany clapped her hands together. “Yes, I’m so happy to see you. The women in my Bible study wanted to come out today to help, but one of our women is in the hospital, and they’re all taking turns right now making meals and watching her children. She has eight kids all still at home, and her husband runs their ranch with only a few hands to help.”
Harper shook her head. “Oh, don’t worry about us. We’ll be just fine. How is the lady doing? Will she be alright? What happened?”
Of course the nurse inside Harper would be interested in the medical situation of someone she had never met.
“Thank you for asking, but Marjorie will be fine. She had surgery yesterday and won’t be released from the hospital for a few days yet.” Bethany smiled at Harper, but didn’t seem inclined to say anything more about the patient.
“Forgive me, I’m a nurse. Whenever I hear anyone is sick or injured, I kick into medical mode and try to find out all I can so that I can help. Occupational hazard, I think.” Harper shrugged.
“Or just you being nosy.” Chloe laughed.
The other girls in the group laughed along with Harper and the pastor’s wife.
The pastor clapped his hands together. “Alright, where did you plan to start today?”
Elizabeth spoke up. “We were here a few weeks ago, and I thought we should go back to the same area…the Farmer Basket just off Bleaker Street.”
Bethany nodded. “Yes, I know that area. It’s smack dab in the middle of where Bart has set up shop.” She chuckled. “You’re sure to find plenty of women living on the street there. Wait here, I have a bag of tracks for you to pass out as well as some gift cards we had donated this past week.” The pastor’s wife left the group and headed back into the church.
“We’ve just begun our own homeless ministry,” the pastor explained. “Several members have started a food and clothing ministry to take in donations that will go to those in need, including the homeless. One of the families in our church had an uncle who had been homeless until they took him in, and now they’re all going out on a regular basis to witness to the homeless in our city.” The pastor smiled, and a little bit of pride shone in his eyes and the way he held himself taller.
“Have any of your church members had issues with Bart?” Logan asked.
The pastor nodded. “A few have been run off by Bart and his gang of ruffians, but now when we go out, we go in larger groups.”
“I’m saddened to hear that your church members have had issues with Bart, but I’m also excited to hear that they haven’t given up,” Elizabeth said. “So many people would have given up after being harassed by bullies. In fact, some of my own friends have said it’s too dangerous to come back. But I don’t believe in giving in to fear tactics. I think we should stand up to bullies and let them know they can’t scare us.”
The determination in Elizabeth’s voice was evident, as was the strength in her convictions. She was not going to let one bad apple stop her from helping those in need.
Chapter 14
After Elizabeth and Harper thanked the Langdons for their help, the group got back into their SUVs and headed off to the Farmer Basket. It was as good a place as any to park and get started with their mission.
It really was a mission in the sense that they all wanted to give those living on the street some of the most basic necessities of life, as well as point them toward God. The goal was to eventually get them off the street, but more importantly, it was to help them find their Lord and Savior.
“Alright, does everyone know what they’re supposed to do and who they’re partnering with?” Elizabeth asked.
Logan stepped forward. “I think we should stay in larger groups like the Langdons do.” The serious expression on his face stopped Elizabeth from disagreeing with him.
She tilted her head and thought about what he’d said. She herself had seen firsthand how Bart and his crew had no compunctions about cornering or assaulting women who were in a group. “Alright, what size and composition of group did you have in mind?”
While she had no desire to be partnered with Logan, he would be helpful in a small group. Maybe he could go with three of the girls to help keep them safe.
As she was considering who else to have in her group, Logan answered her. “I think we should split up into two groups. Half the men go with half the women. There really is strength in numbers.”
“Only two groups? But we won’t be able to get to as many people today if we only have two group. I was hoping we could do at least four groups.” Elizabeth worried that they wouldn’t be able to help all those who needed it. And she hoped that she would be able to find the woman from last time, or at least find out if she’d gotten off the streets and joined the program Elizabeth had told her about.
Logan stepped closer to Elizabeth and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, we’ll all stay here all day, if that’s what it takes. We won’t leave until we’ve given away all the bags, alright?” He tilted his head down closer to Elizabeth, and a jolt went straight to his heart when their eyes met.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened when she looked right into Logan’s eyes. At first when he touched her, a warmth radiated from his hand and calmed her. But when she looked into his baby blues, her world tumbled and shook, and she could only hear the rushing of her blood in her ears. It sounded as though she was about to go over Niagara Falls in nothing but a barrel. She licked her lips and tried to clear her throat. She had to get her emotions in check before anyone noticed anything.
Logan blinked and dropped his hand before he could do anything stupid. At that moment, all he wanted to do was grab his Lizzie and hold her tight…and never let go.
“Ah…well. That is…if you agree to my plan.” He stumbled past his words and worried that all the men with him would know exactly what he was thinking and feeling. If they did, he’d never hear the end of their ribbing.
When Elizabeth couldn’t take the intensity of the emotion flowing between the two of them, she turned her head and noticed that they were alone. She frowned and looked around her and found all their friends were back at Harper’s SUV. They looked to be putting something inside the bags. How did she not hear them walk away? She shook her head and decided that she needed to be in a different group from Logan.
He confused her, but also distracted her. Today was not a time to be distracted. Distraction could be dangerous. She had to keep her wits about her and be on guard all day long, and not because of the homeless. While some of them could be dangerous, it was Bart and his friends she needed to keep an eye out for.
Without another word between then, they both began to head over to their friends.
“What’s up?” Elizabeth tried to sound casual, but even she could hear the strain in her voice. She was embarrassed all her friends had seen the emotionally charged exchange between her and Logan. She didn’t want to think about what it could mean—not now. So she turned her attention to the rest of her group and tried to paste on a smile, knowing it wasn’t very realistic.
Chloe bounced over to her twin and smiled between Logan and Elizabeth. “While the two of you were staring into each other’s eyes, we all decided to break up into two groups. Logan was right, it is safer this way.” She handed her sister a tote bag full of smaller gift bags containing the items they had packed the night before.
Elizabeth looked inside one of the bags and smiled. “I see you’re putting the tracks the Langdons gave us inside each bag. Smart.”
They had planned on filling up the tote bags with the small gift bags and taking them out to give away. Once they ran out, they would go back to the SUV to refill so that they didn’t have to carry very many bags all at once.
Harper walked over with her tote bag full to the brim. “Since there are ten of us, it’ll be easy to split up into groups of five. We have already picked the groups.”
Jonathan handed Logan a black tote bag with a picture of a bull and rider on one side. He shrugged. “At least we don’t have flower-covered bags like the girls.”
Logan chuckled and took his tote bag. “Works for me. What group am I in?”
Chloe grabbed his arm and said, “Mine. Come on, let’s get moving.” She turned toward her twin. “Come on. You too.”
Elizabeth sighed and resigned herself to having a difficult day. She knew she would be safe, but wasn’t too happy about having to spend it all with Logan by her side. She was going to have a long talk with her sister once they were home. Chloe had to stop trying to force them together.
Behind her, Jonathan and Harper followed along with shy smiles, and Elizabeth couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. She knew her friend had a thing for Jonathan, but she hadn’t realized he might be interested in her. But then again, why wouldn’t he? Harper was beautiful, smart, and a lot of fun. What guy wouldn’t want to be with her?
She ran to catch up to her sister and called back over her shoulder, “Come on, you two, let’s catch up to Chloe. I know where we should start.” Elizabeth took the lead of their little group and led them to where she had seen Mary the first time.
“I want to see if Mary has come back, or if the assistance group helped her get a job and maybe even a home of her own.” Elizabeth looked down the street and stopped in her tracks. “What? I don’t understand.”
The rest of her group stopped right behind her and looked down the street.
Logan looked both ways and whistled. “You never said there were so many. How many streets look like this?”
Elizabeth and Harper looked at each other and shook their heads.
“It wasn’t like this last time. There must be at least four times as many living on the streets.” Elizabeth took two steps and stopped, her heart pounding in her chest.
Harper’s face fell and she looked back at Jonathan. “I wonder, does the pastor know how many are out here these days?”
“Could it be that all of the homeless have congregated in one spot?” Logan ran a hand down his face and began to count. There were at least fifty people laying on broken cardboard boxes along the sidewalk, while another fifteen where walking down the street pulling pushcarts behind them, or pushing shopping carts in front of them. Some had both.
“Didn’t the pastor say that he thought Bart might be bringing in the homeless?” Jonathan took his hat off and ran a hand through his dark hair.
Elizabeth’s heart broke thinking about all these poor people and how Bart and his gang must be treating them. “There’s so many. Do we have enough bags to help them all?”
Harper shook her head. “We have one hundred bags total. I’m going to call Mia and ask her to come over to this street. I think we should focus our efforts here.”
Logan nodded. “Good idea.”
When the other five joined them, the excitement had faded from their faces.
Mia bit her lip and looked down the street. “There are more here, but one block over must have had at least forty homeless hanging out on the sidewalks.”
“This doesn’t even account for the other streets, the park, or any alleyways.” A tear trickled down Sophia’s cheek. “How did this happen?”
“I don’t know, but we need to find out.” Elizabeth took a step toward the closest person in rags and took a deep breath. She coughed when she caught a whiff of the street odor. The acrid scent pierced her nostrils, and she tried hard to keep a straight face.
“We need to get them cleaned up and find out where they’re all from.” Harper’s voice was right on Elizabeth’s back.
“And how are we going to feed them all?” Chloe stood on her sister’s other side. “Alright, come on. Let’s stop feeling sorry for them and give them some goody bags with first-aid kits, t-shirts, and Farmer Basket gift cards.”
The three women made their way to three different women and began to hand out their bags.
Logan and Jonathan looked at each other with grim faces.
“It’s a good thing we all came today,” Jonathan said.
“I wish the Manning brothers were here.” Logan took a gift bag out of his tote and made his way to a guy leaning against a storefront.
The man gave him a weary look and had a toothpick in his mouth. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Hi, I’m here with my friends and we have some basic necessities for you all.” Logan handed the man who reeked of stale alcohol one of the gift bags. He hoped it had a man-sized shirt in it. Since he hadn’t taken the time to look inside, he really didn’t know what was in it, other than what Elizabeth had just mentioned.
The man, who looked to be in his thirties but could be younger, spit his toothpick out on the ground and opened the bag. When he smiled, his crooked, yellow teeth caused Jonathan to turn back to the old man in front of him. “Perfect.”
Logan narrowed his eyes and looked around. He noticed several men intently watching what they were doing. A red flag went up, and he immediately walked toward Elizabeth.
“Jonathan, come here.” Logan waved his friend over before getting the girls all together as well. “Look.” Logan pointed to several men making their way to the people they had already given bags to.
The yellow teeth guy ripped the bag out of the old man’s hands. “That belongs to Bart. He’ll give you what you need, when you need it.” Then he pushed the old man down on the ground.
“Hey!” Logan yelled, and ran to the old man who was lying in a ball on the ground. “Why did you do that? He didn’t even fight back.”
Yellow Tooth laughed. “Because he opened the bag and was trying to keep it for himself. Everything belongs to Big Bart, and they know it.”
“No, these bags belong to those we give them to. Not to Bart. And not to you.” Jonathan stood next to Logan and had his phone up to his ear. “Yes, there’s an old man who is injured. We need an ambulance on Sycamore and Pine.”
Yellow Tooth laughed again. “He’s not worth anyone’s time or energy. Look at him—he’s about to meet his maker anyway.” The crook walked over to the next person, who handed her bag to the man without any question.
“It’s only been three weeks since the last time we were here. How has it gotten so bad in such a short time?” Elizabeth asked a woman cowering next to her.
The woman, wearing battered jeans and a t-shirt that had seen better days, and who was in need of a long bath, looked around before whispering, “Bart brought in his gang from another state, and they brought a large amount of street people with them. It’s been like this for a week.”
Elizabeth looked around to make sure she wasn’t being watched. She slipped a gift car
d she had kept in her pocket to the woman. “Thank you. I’m sorry you have to go through this. We’re going to do what we can to help.”
The homeless woman shook her head. “There is no help for us.” She turned and walked away from the group, heading in the opposite direction of Bart’s guys.
Elizabeth prayed that the woman would be safe, and that she would be able to use the gift card for some food without getting caught by Bart or his henchmen.
“Logan, we have to do something for these people.” Elizabeth’s heart was breaking for the way the men and women on the street were being treated. Granted, they had only been there for a few days, but she couldn’t believe that the sheriff wasn’t all over this. He had to know about all these people living on the street, and what Bart was doing. He had to.
He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. If he wasn’t careful, his anger would get the best of him and he’d do something stupid. What Elizabeth—and all of these people—needed was a level-headed person to come up with a plan to help, not a hot-headed idiot who used his fists instead of his mind.
“We will help them. Somehow, we will find a way.” Logan prayed for wisdom and guidance in what to do next. His initial thought was that they should leave—this could become a very dangerous situation—but he couldn’t leave the injured man at his feet. At least, not until the ambulance arrived.
Harper was down on her knees checking out the man, and she opened up one of the first-aid kits in the gift bags. “Sir, where does it hurt?”
The man said nothing. He lay there looking at the concrete beneath him.
“Sir, I’m a nurse. If you tell me where it hurts, I might be able to help you.” Harper’s heart had to be breaking for this man. She didn’t even know his name, but Elizabeth knew she was going to keep him in her prayers. “Please, let me help you.”
Second Chance Ranch Page 11