Free [Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey by Wanda E Brunstetter

eyeballed Titus as though daring him to come closer.
     
    Titus stood still a few seconds. He lunged again. This time Callie lunged, too. She sank her teeth into Titus’s hand, and he let out another yelp. The cat let go, gave one final hiss, and tore off into the woods.
     
    Titus rushed into the trailer to get a bandage and some antiseptic. It was a cinch that he wasn’t going to catch the cat this morning. Maybe he’d scared her badly enough that she wouldn’t come back. Hopefully the critter had enough smarts to head for home.
     

     
    Paradise, Pennsylvania
     
    “Sure wish we’d hear something more from Titus,” Fannie said to Abraham as they sat at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. “I went out to the phone shanty and checked our voice mail this morning, but there were no messages from him.”
     
    “He called when he got to Kentucky, and he’s only been gone a few days,” Abraham said. “Give him some time; I’m sure he’ll call again soon.”
     
    “Maybe we should plan a trip to Kentucky to see him. I’d feel better if I knew what it was like and saw for myself that he was doing okay.”
     
    Abraham shook his head. “I don’t think Titus would appreciate us checkin’ up on him. He needs to make it on his own without our interference. Besides, Timothy and I are in the middle of planting season, and I don’t have time to be making any trips.” He patted Fannie’s arm gently. “You know what your problem is?”
     
    “What?”
     
    “You’re too protective of our kinner … especially the twins.”
     
    Fannie took a sip of her coffee and was about to say something more on the subject, when the back door swung open and Timothy stepped into the room.
     
    “Guder mariye
,” he said.
     
    “Mornin’,” Abraham mumbled around a mouthful of toast.
     
    “Help yourself to a cup of coffee and come join us at the table,” Fannie invited.
     
    “Don’t mind if I do.”
     
    “How’s your back doin’?” Abraham asked as Timothy poured himself a cup of coffee and then pulled out a chair at the table and sat down.
     
    “Better. The adjustment Dr. Dan gave me yesterday really helped.”
     
    Fannie smiled. “That’s good to hear. It’s never fun to have a sore back.”
     
    “I’ll be ready to join you in the field as soon as I’ve finished my coffee,” Abraham said.
     
    “No hurry. Take your time.” Timothy looked over at Fannie and smiled. “I thought you might like to know that I had a voice mail message from Titus yesterday.”
     
    She perked right up. “Really? What’d it say?”
     
    “He mostly talked about the trailer he’s renting from Allen. Said it’s a mess and will need a lot of work to make it livable.”
     
    Fannie frowned. “Didn’t Allen know the place needed work when he suggested Titus move in there? What was he thinking?”
     
    Timothy shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe he didn’t know the place was so bad.”
     
    “He should have known since he owns the place,” Abraham interjected.
     
    “Well, I’m just glad Titus left a message for me, because it’s strange having him gone, and I sure do miss him.”
     
    Fannie sighed deeply. It didn’t seem right that the twins were separated. They’d always been so close. Now that Titus was living two states away, he and Timothy might drift apart.
     
    She directed her gaze toward the window, focusing on two finches eating from the feeder hanging in the maple tree. She thought about how mother birds push their babies out of the nest so they can make it on their own and wondered if Abraham was right. Maybe she was overprotective where her two youngest boys were concerned.
     

     
    Pembroke, Kentucky
     
    Suzanne had just gone outside to hang some clothes on the line, when Titus rode into the yard on his horse. She found it interesting that he rode horseback, when almost everyone else in their community traveled by horse and buggy. But then, Titus seemed a bit different from the young Amish men she’d