The next morning, as they were eating breakfast, Jake came bursting in with a horrible announcement, "Most of my cattle has been rustled. I need yer h...'p findin' the bastards what done it. Kin ya come with me right now?"Neither Caleb nor Susan hesitated in rushing to Jake's aid. Caleb said, "Let me gather up my kit an' I'll be with ya as soon as Susan kin fix us some food ta take along." Caleb went to pack his saddle bags while Susan made them up a sack of food to last 3 or 4 days. She had the. I closed my eyes and listened to the leather and springs in the seat squeak as Mr. Earl got up and stood and faced me. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this,” he said as if we had planned this as a date. He caressed my face, and every goosebump on my body rose and every hair pricked up. “Coach Krisby is my neighbor, and also a drunk. About a month ago, he came over and spilled a lot of delicious information.” I opened my eyes and saw him sitting in the seat across from me. “See, he. It was a Wednesday in mid July and I had taken the seadoo out for a spin. Being mid week the lake was very quiet. I arrived back at the dock to see Jackie standing on the beach with a life jacket in her hand. She was wearing a black and white bikini and looked incredible. “I saw you playing out there, Tom. Take me for a ride” she asked “It’s hot and I need to cool off” “Love to. Hop on and hang on” I said “What do I hold on to” she asked “There is a strap in front of you but it’s better. "Yeow! Damn it! That hurt!" I exclaimed rubbing my face.She calmly walked back to her chair, picked up her tea and said, "I feel ever so much better, now."We looked at each other, her with narrowed eyes at me, and me with a red cheek that I was still rubbing. I sighed."You did tell me the name that you were using in Alaska, you know. My uncle just contacted someone in the international insurance industry. We kept our eyes open for people registering plates from Alaska, in other states. As I.