“Hey, I forgot to tell you something,” another rancher named Clarence Todd said next. “I got my missing calf back! My son found him nosing around the barn door. What a relief! I can’t even tell you…”

“Good to hear,” Eli said. “Really good.”

Everyone echoed that sentiment, and Amos added, “I think that leaves only one animal unaccounted for at this time.” He glanced at his notes. “A pet donkey belonging to your neighbor, Joanne Berg, and her little girl.” Looking up, he said, “She’s told me how much Caroline misses Eeyore. I know we’ll all keep an eye out.”

“My son and I will do another search,” Clarence promised. “Joanne couldn’t make it to the meeting today, and she asked me to speak for her.”

After a brief silence, Cord turned directly to Eli. “How capable do you think the little bast—sorry—Eric is of recognizing the wrong he did? How capable of redeeming himself, staying on the straight and narrow?”

“I’m probably not the best person to say,” Eli replied. “But he’d need to be supervised. Check in regularly with our office. Amos, you up for that?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“He’d have to return to school. He dropped out during his final year of high school. Sara and I both talked to him, and we had him see the school counselor but Eric just wasn’t…receptive. He said he needed a ‘break,’ but oh, yeah, he’s going back to school this fall.”

“I’d add a psychiatric assessment to that, and therapy if necessary,” Cord said.

“I already told him as much,” Eli responded. The discussion continued along those lines, and then a vote was taken. Everyone present was willing to accept the terms that had been outlined—with the proviso that this would be Eric’s one and only chance.

Eli was grateful, saying he and Amos would make their agreement known to his nephew. He was determined to help Eric, to hound him, whatever it took. The boy’s companions in crime would receive the same treatment and they’d all be obliged to avoid contact with each other.

In other words, his nephew was getting a second chance. Oh, boy, that kid owed him! And speaking of what was owed…

He pulled Eric’s letter of apology to Carly from his pocket and handed it to Cord.