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Ashton looked up from his seat at the kitchen table. “All right. Let’s go.”
He offered her his arm again and she accepted, hobbling slowly to his truck. He was about to open the door for her when she spoke.
“Thank you, Ashton,” she said quietly.“I appreciate your help with my misfortune.”
He covered her hand briefly with his as it rested on his arm. He noticed that she didn’t pull away.
“I’m glad I was there at the right time,” he replied, helping her into his truck.
“Well, I’m glad you were there when I needed help,” she said, smiling up at him.
He felt his heart soar at her words. Was there hope for them yet?
“Have you found Henry?” Jesse yelled over the roar of the tractor as he drew to a stop beside Ashton’s truck.
Ashton leaned out the window and Jesse switched the motor off.
“No,” Ashton replied. “He’s just vanished. I’m going to have to replace him.” He grimaced. “Henry was a good boar. He was easy to get along with and all his offspring were healthy. I’m going to miss him.”
“If only you knew how he went missing,” Jesse said. “It’s a mystery, that’s for sure.”
“Sure is,” Ashton agreed. “I must call Mac later. I need to order a part for my tractor.”
“There’s never an end to things that need fixing or replacing, is there?” Jesse asked cheerfully.
“That’s life on a farm,” Ashton replied.
The conversation moved on to other things, but at the back of his mind, the mystery of Henry’s disappearance continued to niggle. He’d been hoping that the boar would show up again, but it seemed that it was not to be. He’d vanished, and it worried Ashton as to what might have happened to him.
“Did you notify the police of Henry’s disappearance?” Jesse asked, jerking Ashton’s mind back to the present.
“No. Maybe I should. I kept hoping he’d come back somehow. I guess I thought he’d just wandered off and would come back when he was ready. You really think he was stolen?”
Jesse shrugged. “What other explanation is there?” he asked. “You’ve found no sign of him, and he hasn’t returned on his own.”
Ashton’s shoulders slumped. “If that’s the case, he’s gone forever. It’s been too long since he disappeared for the cops to do anything. He’s probably been turned into ham by now.”
“Only by the unwary,” Jesse chuckled. “Eating him would not be a good experience.”
“It takes a strong stomach to enjoy the taste of boar,” Ashton agreed. “That makes me wonder if someone stole him to breed him.”
“I guess you might never find out,” Jesse said. “But it still wouldn’t hurt to report it to the police.”
“I might,” Ashton replied. “But I’d better get off the road because someone’s coming.”
“I’ll catch you around,” Jesse said, starting up the tractor.
Ashton pulled into his driveway, his mind still on the conversation with Jesse. Perhaps he should report it to the cops, but he would do it after the weekend. A couple more days wouldn’t make a difference.
“Ashton, you look taller every time I see you!” Winifred peered up at him through her thick spectacles. “Or maybe I’m just shrinking.”
Ashton chuckled. It was a running joke between them; he’d known the old lady since he was a child.
“I’m sure I’m not really any taller,” he assured her, bending to hug her. “How was your week?”
“Oh, it was all right, dear. My arthritis was better this week, so I was able to go out in the garden. It does my heart good to tend my flowers.” She wrinkled her nose. “But there was an awful smell this week. I couldn’t quite work out what it was. Maybe someone was using fertilizer. That’s what Lily said when I asked her if she could smell it. But it did smell an awful lot like animal manure.”
“That’s too bad,” Ashton sympathized. “It’s much nicer to smell flowers when you’re working outside.”
