CATTLE RUSTLERS 3 (The 3rd in an 8 part series..)
Rev. Waters couldn't get Red Hawk's words out of his mind as he sat in his study. Where was God when he created heaven? None of the teachers at seminary ever touched on the subject. He never thought to ask the question. It was difficult enough to try and describe heaven, let yet another unknown place. If Satan was in the presence of God as described in Job 1:6-7, he must have been in heaven since that's where God resides. Or, maybe God was in a place elsewhere, the place where He did the creating. While I'm looking at the book of Job, I see another question. We teach that Christ is the only begotten Son of God in John 1:14, "of the ONLY begotten of the Father." We explain the sons in Job as angels or some such special beings. No wonder Christians get confused. We need to ask God more questions rather than taking the easy way out. Now, more than ever, I wish I had been with John and Red Hawk during their discussions.
Water's wife entered the office and said, "I just talked with Milly Jones, and she said a stranger stopped at their place the other day to ask directions. His car was pretty fancy and he had an out of state license. Milly's daughter thought the plate was pretty, and took a picture of it. You may have the cattle buying stranger's identity from the picture." "That's great news!" the Revered gushed excitedly. "I'll call the sheriff and he can trace the owner." He picked up the phone and gave the sheriff the news. "Maybe this stranger has nothing to do with this mystery, but at least we'll find out whether or not it's a piece of the puzzle."
The sheriff called Waters the next day. "I got hold of the owner of the car," the sheriff said. "It's a dead issue. The man is a banker, and he was on a trip to find cattle for a couple of investors at the bank. I'm afraid this lead is a dead end." "Well, it's one of those things that's both good and bad," sighed Waters, " good he isn't part of some scheme, and bad because we're still without a lead. Have you done a thorough investigation at the barn to see how the livestock were taken away?" "The deputy's working on it right now," the sheriff answered. And Red Hawk came over to help. He's a pretty keen tracker, as are most of his people."
Late that afternoon, the deputy returned from the Shepherd farm, tired and obviously unsuccessful. "Ben, I'm at a loss to figure anything out of this," he reported dejectedly. We went over everything with a fine tooth comb. Red Hawk is pretty sharp, and he couldn't believe anybody could move the cattle, horses, pets and poultry without leaving some evidence. We couldn't even find a hen feather, let alone any tracks, and every pen was closed perfectly tight. It's not usual for thieves to cover all their tracks. You'd think there would be some kind of disturbance someplace. One of the state boys is coming over tomorrow to run finger prints. I'll be surprised if anything shows up except from the family. Gloria's sister is still there, and she plans on staying there for a spell in case anyone tries to contact any of the family." The sheriff rose from his desk and told the deputy to go home and get some sleep. "Tomorrow's another day, and we'll work on this case until we get a break."
It was raining the next morning, and the sheriff muttered about no tracks for sure now. His phone buzzed, and it was a man from a cattle auction barn. All auction barns in the area had been contacted and warned about the missing cattle and horses. So far, none had found any suspicious animals brought for sale. He had also talked to the couple of area horsemen who traded or trained horses, and drew a blank there, too. Les arrived and he, too, was muttering to himself. Finally he told the sheriff, "What I can't understand is why any thieves would take the time or trouble to steal a half dozen hens and a pair of pigeons." They're not worth much, and certainly not worth enough to risk jail time. What do you make of it?" The sheriff replied, "That has me stumped, too. We must be missing something."
"Les said, "Unless we're missing some clue, it would appear to be the perfect crime. You know, it is early in the case, and all we have is missing people and livestock. Sooner or later, something has to break." The sheriff agreed, adding, "I think we'll have another talk with Red Hawk and the reverend. Somehow, I feel religion is mixed up in this." Les asked in surprise, "You don't think Red Hawk had anything to do with the disappearance, do you?" The sheriff shook his head and said, "No, but we may be able to get an idea about what Jon was thinking up to the disappearance. The media will have pictures and information today, and maybe that will bring us some leads."
The sheriff picked up the phone and dialed Rev. Waters. "Pastor, we don't have any information on the Shepherds, and I'd like to have another talk with Red Hawk, and have you sit in with me. Can you go along with me if I can set up a meeting tomorrow?" Waters was quick to agree with the sheriff's request. "I've been thinking about our previous conversation with Red Hawk, and I believe there may be something we missed in that conversation," Waters said. "I feel Red Hawk can help us focus a bit more."
Shortly after lunch a state trooper arrived to dust the Shepherd place for finger prints. Les told the trooper, "We don't want to overlook anything, but I'll be surprise if we find strange prints out there. Whoever pulled this off was very, very professional and neat." If there are any, I'll get them," the trooper replied confidentially. The sheriff entered the office, greeted the trooper, and the trio left for the Shepherd place. "You haven't found anyone who has seen them or who knows where they may have gone?" asked the trooper. "No, and that's the amazing thing," the sheriff replied. "We're missing all the livestock, too, and no one has seen anything unusual. You wouldn't think the people and all the livestock could vanish in thin air." "Well, I hope I can give you something to work on," the trooper said as they arrived at the farm.
While the trooper went about his business, Les and the sheriff took another look around. Gloria's sister had headed home to take care of things there, but would return later in the day. She told them nothing unusual had happened, but it sure was lonely with everything gone. "Gloria had a rooster, and he announced the time. It seems strange not to hear him," she said wistfully. The sheriff suggested they take another look at the pickup. "We went over it pretty good, the other day, " Les said, "But, it won't hurt to take another look." As the two went about examining the truck, the trooper emerged from the barn. "I'll check the door handles on the porch and doors now," he told the two lawmen. "Then, I'll head out to see what, if anything, I got. They really kept everything neat." As the sheriff and Les continued checking the truck, the trooper came out of the house. "I'm finished, here, and I'll be contacting you tomorrow, probably," he said. "Les, why don't you take this man back to the office?" the sheriff said, adding, "I'll just poke around here until you come back." Les and the trooper left for town, and the sheriff began going over the pickup cab yet
again.
The sheriff began looking behind and under the seat. He began talking to himself, as he sometimes did, to make an issue more clear. "Maybe what worked for Jon could work for me," he chuckled. "No harm in trying. "Let's see, Jon was always quoting from Matthew. I don't know the verses, but I remember they had to do with seeking and knocking. We should always continue to see the truth, and that's exactly my job and what I'm doing. The truth and light is behind that door, so if I keep knocking on it, it'll be opened. That solves the mystery. Sounds simple enough, even for me, who is moistly ignorant of the bible. We always go to the bible as a last resort when we realize we can't solve the problem without heavenly help."
The sheriff rummaged where the seat and back rest came together. It had been searched before, and nothing had been found. As he worked on separating the two parts, a bee buzzed his head and alighted on his neck. He jerked away, and when he did, the seat pulled just a bit further from the back rest. He could see something buried at the bottom. He pulled the seat just a bit further, and he saw a small book or tablet. "Hello, what have we here?" he said, becoming excited and jubilant in finally finding something. "Can it be my feeble attempt at prayer was heard by God? Looks like He sent that bee so I'd knock a little longer. Let's see what we have here," he said as he opened the little book.
(To be continued)
~Rev. Walbear
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