"Hey, baby," I said in a quiet tone. And I smiled when she slumped lower, looking like she was going to relax.
Chapter 5
Henry Sutter
It was just sunrise on Sunday morning, and Henry was awake and about to tend to some of the chores at his house in Butte before taking his friend to church. He had bought an older home, and he had several projects in progress, one of which was the floors in the kitchen. He stood on subflooring while he waited for his coffee to brew.
It was 7am, and Henry was thinking about everything he had planned for today. He would have been up to his elbows in his flooring project by now, but he planned on staying clean. Henry had gotten himself a job to do every weekend, and it required him to have a somewhat polished appearance on Sunday morning. There was a ninety-six year old woman who lived in the house next to him, and he accompanied her to church every week. She had come to him one day after he first moved in to ask him if he could give her a ride that Sunday.
Henry agreed, and week after week their routine had grown and evolved. Now they stopped for doughnuts, and then he accompanied her to Sunday school and church every weekend. It was a small, old Baptist church, and Donna's pastor was nearly the same age as she was.
But Henry enjoyed it, and they had gotten to know him at the church and the doughnut store. He had a whole Sunday morning ritual. He would knock on Donna's door at eight-fifteen for Sunday school at eight forty-five and church at nine-thirty. All he had to do between now and then was manage not to get too dirty.
Josh was going to the farm this morning. He would let the horses into the pasture and then put them back later today. Henry knew it wasn't necessary to go to the ranch. He could take a day off and not worry about Candice or the others. Josh had called him last night, saying how Candice had a breakthrough with one of those ranch guests, letting the woman touch her and pet her with no resistance. This was progress.
Today would be the first time for him to take a full day and not drive to the ranch at all. Henry smelled the coffee as it was brewing, thinking about how, when he was finished at church, he was about to use his day to get a hundred different things done around his house.
Just then, his phone dinged in a weird way that told him the barn camera was triggered. It was aimed at the common area of the barn, and none of the horses could trigger it, so it rarely went off.
He glanced at the clock.
Josh was supposed to come in this morning, but not for a few more hours.
Henry reluctantly picked up his phone and opened the app for the farm security cameras. There were several cameras on the property, but the one in the barn was set up to trigger the notification to his phone.
It only took him a few seconds to open it and see that someone was in there. It was dark in the barn, but he could see right away that it was a stranger. It was a woman who was nothis mom, so he watched closely… Henry froze and blinked at his screen, unable to believe what he was seeing.
She didn't even hesitate.
She went straight for Candice's stall, opened the door, and walked inside.
Henry's heart fell.
He could only imagine the chaos that was about to ensue.
It had to be the woman from yesterday, the ranch guest that Josh was talking about.
He pushed the button to speak aloud from the camera, but it was mounted high and on the other side of the barn, so he didn’t have much hope that she would hear him.
She didn't.
He called to her several times from the tiny speaker and waited there to see if she would come out of the stall.
Nothing.
He watched for a few more seconds after that, thinking surely Candice would do something to make her leave the stall. The door did not open, and the woman did not come out.
Henry considered calling someone to intervene, but those horses were his babies, and he had to go over there himself.
He didn't overthink it. Henry poured his coffee into a thermos and slid on a pair of boots that were by the door.
He was in such a hurry to get to the ranch that it seemed like it took an hour, even though he was speeding and got there quickly. He took the back way into the ranch, using the dirt road that took him straight to the horse barn. He had to stop to open a small swinging metal gate, but it was still the quickest way in.
Henry was wound up, and he pulled up next to the barn in a hurry and walked in with a determined stride. He flipped on lights and yelled out as soon as he opened the door.
"Hellooo?" he called as he walked. "Hellooo?" he said again, louder this time.
Henry knew this barn like the back of his hand, and he wasted no time getting to Candice's stall. It was quiet in the stall, and he cringed as he approached, thinking about the scene he might find when he looked inside.
