Hortons Bend

desperately wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. “Wake up!” his mind demanded but the gale winds subsided and Brody calmed himself. Did he really want to help Jeanie King out this much? What would be accomplished other than artifacts being returned? The Horton’s were strange people and they might call the police if he were caught. Hell they might shoot him and then call the police. Brody was at an impasse of a million questions. None of the answers satisfied a single damn question he had either but it didn’t seem to stop him. Every hurdle soon had a detour and he couldn’t understand why he had a sudden desire to help this woman. He found his thoughts mulling over possibilities. “It would have to be this weekend….tonight” was his first thought. What about Lacy? He couldn’t bear to lie to her again. Should he tell her? Tell her what? “Oh honey by the way…..I’m going over to Horton’s Bend to return some burial goods that were stolen five years ago….oh and I guess that it will have to be at night since I need to trespass?” Insanity. Pure insanity was all it was. She would leave him that night. Lacy would leave and divorce him. This he knew and had no question about it. Not to mention the fact that he could be arrested. “And how am I going to get a boat to go upriver?” his mind almost screamed. What about his neighbor Jimmy Tabor? He had already seemed offish to his friend last time. What about Darwin? If she has made up her mind then another storm will rise up on Monday but there was time to resolve that. His mind reverted back to the river. An excursion by boat just won’t work. His trespass would have to be accessed through the property. Brody began to look up at the sun. He did not feel serene but rather compelled. “I can do this and not worry Lacy” he reasoned to himself. It was at this moment that he realized that he was talking to himself out loud. He looked away from the sky and over at his accomplice. Jeanie King was no long looking at the sun but staring straight at him with those pale blue eyes. He woke from his dream sleep and walked towards her. Paul Brody suddenly had an epiphany of his own.
    Chapter 12
    At five o’clock on that Friday, a Volvo station wagon pulled to a stop just beyond a bridge crossing an unnamed creek near Samuel Horton’s property. Robert Ragland sat in the passenger side of the car and silently gave thanks that Roger Curtis at least chose a shady spot to park. Ragland was not pleased to be spending his Friday evening doing some type of surveillance on something that Curtis was impossibly vague about. This was the second time he had been asked to sit out here in the boonies and he saw no real rhyme or reason for it. The last time Curtis seemed pleased to see some fellow driving an ancient SUV onto the nearby farm. If it’s trespassing then why don’t the local authorities handle this? Ragland began to glance through the day’s newspaper for the second time and wished he had brought along a novel that he had just started. Curtis remained silent for the first hour and on occasion glanced around. Abruptly he started the Volvo and drove for fifteen minutes before choosing another spot to park. Within a short amount of time, a resident of the area had stopped once to ask them if they needed some help. It happened to be a nosy woman with three small children piled into the front of an old rusty Ford pickup. Ragland never said a word and let Curtis explain why two men just happened to park in their quiet little neck of the woods. Even the kids seemed nosy spying over the rim of the door. After the woman left them, Curtis began to make a little conversation for the first time. “We’ll go get some lunch up at the diner near the crossroads shortly” he said. Before Ragland could add anything Curtis had more to say. “But we can’t eat there. We need to come on back so make sure you get a bathroom break in if you need it.” Ragland sighed and returned to his paper but it didn’t go unnoticed by Curtis. “Look Robert…..I didn’t want this either. The commissioner asked us to do it and I don’t think either of us are in any financial situation to have to look for another job.” Ragland looked over at his companion and nodded. Curtis continued “Bob…..I’ll tell you what. We’ll get the dinner. Come back and then take another break around 8pm. Maybe go to a convenience store for a soft drink. We’ll come back and stay till