I watched the local six o’clock news. The anchor stated that Logan Kilkorn was accusing Lady Elsmere of stealing one of his foals, and he would be suing her for ten million dollars. It showed a clip of Logan accusing Lady Elsmere of trespassing and taking one of his foals by force. Another clip showed Lady Elsmere on the portico of the Big House denying the accusations, saying Last Chance had been recovered, but did not address the circumstances of the horse’s return.
I turned off the TV after watching the report again on an affiliate news channel. The story was going national. Hopefully, it would blow over in a few weeks. It was obvious Asa found Last Chance on Kilkorn’s property.
I wondered if Logan Kilkorn was serious or was just blowing smoke because he got caught with his pants down. It seemed a foolish thing to do, but then I thought Logan Kilkorn was a foolish man. Since the media had broken the story, I could ask questions now, so I decided it was time to get Baby. Asa was sleeping comfortably in her room, Shaneika went back to her office, and the police hadn’t shown up at my doorstep with a warrant. Maybe we could get through this without a lot of hoopla.
I left Asa a note and crept out of the house. I needed to check on my bees, so I went through my bee yard. The captured swarm was doing very nicely in its new hive box and the buzzing of the bees sounded pleasant. When the hives are functioning normally, they have a particular hum. And best of all, I didn’t see any unusual discharge on the front of the entrances, which meant all the hives seemed in good health. Satisfied, I handed out some apples to some wandering sheep, my mama llama that spat at me after she ate the apple, and Morning Glory who moseyed up to the fence.
“I thought you weren’t speaking to me,” I said, scratching her ears. Glory shook her head and took the apple. “That’s all I’ve got. Cleaned out.”
Seeing there were no more apples, Glory ambled away to munch on grass.
“You’re terrible. An ungrateful nag,” I yelled.
My American Paint Horse didn’t even flick her ear as my insults fell on deaf ears.
Seeing I was being ignored, I went through the gate that connected Lady Elsmere’s property with mine. My left leg was already getting tired causing me to wish I had brought a cane or driven my golf cart. You remember I fell off a cliff, don’t you?
I opened the back door to the kitchen of the Big House or, at least, I tried. It was locked! Never in the years that Lady Elsmere had owned the Big House has the back door to the kitchen been locked except after 7pm. I knocked and cupped my hands to peer through the glass in the door. I saw Bess wipe her hands on an apron and trot over to unlock the door. I asked, “What gives?”
Bess looked troubled. “We are locked up tighter than a whiskey barrel.”
“Because of Last Chance?”
Bess threw herself in a chair and moaned, “You just don’t know. You just don’t know.”
I sat beside her, concerned as I had never seen Bess without a cheerful smile on her face, even when exasperated. “Did Baby do something?” I looked around for my dog. He must have heard my voice because I heard the huge English Mastiff pad down the grand staircase. He came into the kitchen with his nails clicking on the kitchen floor. Happy to see me, Baby rushed over with his tail wagging fiercely. I had to grab it to keep it from swatting me as his tail could really pack a wallop.
Bess got up and put some roast beef in his bowl. The only way we could talk was if Baby was distracted. He gave me an apologetic look before he lumbered over to the food and water bowls that Bess kept for him. I knew food came first with my dog, so I didn’t take it personally.
Bess got a bottle of bourbon from a shelf and two shot glasses. She poured the golden liquid in both and handed a glass to me. She drank hers in one gulp.
I was astonished. I had never seen Bess this unnerved before. “Bess, what is it? Maybe I can help.”
“Lady Elsmere, my daddy, and this farm are in big trouble. We may lose it all before it is all over.”
“Are you talking about Kilkorn’s threats? He’s a big bag of wind. Lady Elsmere should sue him for libel.”
Bess poured herself another drink. “If we go to court, Lady Elsmere will lose.”
Sitting back in my chair, I said, “What? You jest.”
Bess leaned closer to me. “That colt Lady Elsmere brought home?”
“Yeah?”
“It has the wrong chip in it and the incorrect tattoo number on its lip.”
“So, Kilkorn put another chip in the foal and fixed the tattoo number.”
Bess poured herself another drink.
I slowly moved the bottle away from her. “What else?”
“Mike doesn’t think the foal is Last Chance. He says the foal acts differently than Last Chance, and it’s why Jean Harlow rejected him.”
“I didn’t know Jean Harlow rejected him.”
“She did.”
“Is this foal doing okay? I mean it isn’t dead or anything like that?”
“Mike put it with a surrogate dam. He has a round-the-clock groom checking on him.”
“Put this in perspective for me. Are you saying Logan Kilkorn may be right?”
Bess faintly said, “Yes. Lady Elsmere’s reputation will be destroyed, not to mention that people may go to prison for this.”
“Is there any way to be sure?”
“The vet can order a DNA test, but we all want to find Last Chance, make amends to Kilkorn, and find our foal before this all goes public.”
“It has already gone public. Haven’t you seen the news and the reporters outside your house?”
“No charges have been filed yet. As long as the police are not involved, we have time to discover the truth and find our horse.”
“Here I was thinking Kilkorn was making idle threats.” I stood up abruptly causing Baby to glance at me with water dripping from his mouth folds. “I’m going to find Mike.”
“He’s in Barn #3.”
“Tell Lady Elsmere that I’ll be back. Maybe tomorrow.”
“I’ll tell her you were here, Josiah.”
“Thanks, Bess. Baby, come.”
My Mastiff followed as he had finished eating and was ready for an adventure. Sleeping next to Lady Elsmere was not his idea of a fun night. Besides he missed his Kitty Kaboodle, a stray litter of cats that were Baby’s pets.
I couldn’t walk anymore as my left leg was throbbing, so I borrowed one of the farm’s golf carts and was off to see Mike.