THE WILL 22

THE NEXT MORNING AFTER DOING CHORES TOBEY TRYED TO GET AWAY AND GO CHECK SOME THINGS IN TOWN, BUT THE CUSTOMERS FOR HIS HAY BARN KEPT SHOWING UP. FINALLY WHEN HE GOT A BREAK HE TOOK HIS TRUCK OUT SIDE THE GATES. HE SHUT AND LOCKED THE GATES THEN TURNED THE TOWARD TOWN. he went by the real estate office but nobody was there. then he drove to alexis house. a gardner was mowing the lawn when he pulled up but alexis car was gone. aggrivated he got out of the truck and went to the door. peering through the windows he could see a perfect house in side. he tryed the door and the door knob turned in his hand. inside everything was pristene. he walked through the house slowley. it didnt even looked lived in. as he came to the dinning room he was stopped dead in his tracks. on the table lay a 357 smith and wesson pistol, next to it was a air line brochure with a flight to buenos aires circled and in the middle of everything a white, womans shoe with the heel gone. the heel he carried in his pocket fit. next to the shoe was a note addressed to him: i tried but it wouldnt all come together. catch me if you can. tobey was stunned. he stood there stareing at the pile on the table. he folded the note and put it in his pocket. he turnned as if in a fog and walked out the door pulling it closed behind him. at the street curb the sleezy real estate man was setting a sighn on the corner advertiseing the house for sale. in tucson a shapley woman in a snug skirt was boarding a plane travel bag in hand a fresh start lay ahead. on her feet were a new pair of white high heel shoes. she never looked back.

THE WILL 21

dave the deputy didnt spare the horses all the way to jacobs farm. tobey was just a bit scared as the speedometer needle was tickling the century mark. but when they pulled into the farm yard it was plain there was something wrong. the place looked abandoned. dave and tobey got out of the care and stood looking around, weeds grew in every corner, trash was scattered from a burn barrel . they started to walk over to the shop. there they found jacobs under a farmall h tractor on his back with the front tool bar crushing his chest.the tractor had been jacked up with a hi lift jack but not propped in any way. the jack had tilted to one side dropping the tractor on jacobs. dave carefully walked around to the far side and felt of jacobs vein in his neck. he shook his head sloww" he has been dead a while." he got up and walked back to his car and useing the radio called for a wrecker and a ambulance.dave stood there transfixed. it was plainly a accident, but he still had a funny feeling. as he stepped to where the jack lay under the front of the tracter he saw it. he stooped down and picked up a white peice of high heel from a womans shoe. it lay in the rubble next to the jack.he rolled it around in his fingers for a second then put it in his shirt pocket. it was late afternoon before they got the place cleaned up. dave wrote it up as a accident bu tobey wasnt so sure. when tobey got back to his hay yard he found roberto superviseing hay being loaded. he stood to one side while a man was stacking the hay on his truck. the man jumped down and counted bills in payment and drove out. tobey chewed on roberto." i told you to stay out of sight! besides your weak from the first gun shot what are you thinking?" " ime ok, all i did was count the bales they loaded. here s the money!" roberto explained. " come on, ill drive you home. then ill come back and do the chores.: tobey pushed roberto to his truck.. tomorrow he had some things to check out.