Chapter 11

Katie gave her riding lessons and then went in for lunch.  It wasn’t long before the rest of the crew joined her.  All day Katie pondered where to look and what to search for.  Finally, she decided to start in the attic.
    Katie had never been in the attic before.  It was filled with boxes and old trunks.  She went and opened all the trunks but all she found was old quilts.  The boxes were all labeled, and she was glad.  Katie went through every box that had Billy’s name or anything to do with the Army but found nothing.
    By the time she finished in the attic, it was almost time for supper.  Katie couldn’t believe she had spent that much time up there.  After dinner, the crew went out to finish their work.  Katie asked Mark to stay in.  She told him that she was going to go through all the information and papers she had collected on Billy’s death so far, and she wanted him to help.  Katie thought that maybe Mark might see something she had missed.
    They spent hours looking at papers, sharing thoughts, and just chatting.  Mark looked over and noticed that Katie had fallen asleep.  He gently pulled off her boots and covered her with a blanket.  It wasn’t long before Mark also fell asleep.
    They both awoke the next morning surprised to find themselves sleeping side by side in front of the fireplace.  They just looked at each other for a few moments, smiled, said good morning, and then went off to get ready for the day.
    After her riding lessons, Katie went to gather up all her papers.  As she was doing so, she saw the deed.  She decided to look over it very careful once more and see if maybe she had over- looked something.  Katie realized she had never read the part that stated what all was included.  It read: Included is 250 acres of pasture and land, 2 story ranch house, workers’ quarters, 5 storage barns, 10 horse stables, 5 tractors and various farm equipment, 10 deluxe horse trailers, 3 full size trucks, 3 old full size work trucks, and $100,000 in savings at the First Country Bank to be used to buy horses, equipment and/or whatever is needed.  She had no idea all of this was included.  Katie just sat there is amazement.
    She later found all the tractors, equipment, trailers, and trucks in the big barn on the hill behind the house, that Mark and his crew had not gotten to yer.  Katie informed Mark of this and he was delighted to look them all over and to make sure they were in running order.  It wasn’t long before the crew began putting it all to good use.
    Katie was still no closer to finding a clue to Billy’s death.  She decided to ask Mark where the best place to go and think was.  He told her that when he worked for Mr. Jones, he would take a horse ride over to the river that runs at the back of the property and had a place fixed up out there.  Katie told Mark to saddle her horse and not to let anyone disturb her. 
    She took a nice, quite ride back to the river.  It was beautiful.  This place seemed familiar to her, then she realized that she and Billy had been there before.  Billy told her that he went out there to think and get away from everything.  She remembered him telling her something about a special place that no one knew of where he would go.  It was like a secret hide out.  Katie had a feeling that maybe there would be a clue there to help her, but she couldn’t remember where it was. 
    She stayed there until dusk then decided to head back to the house before everyone came looking for her.  As she got on her horse, something across the way caught her eye.  Katie realized it was a ribbon tied to a tree.  It was a tree that had Billy’s name carved in it and an arrow.  She looked to where the arrow pointed and recognized Billy’s hiding place.
    Somehow she felt Billy was showing her the way.  The ribbon couldn’t be more than a month or so old, but who would tie a blue ribbon around a tree?  Katie decided it was too dark to look in Billy’s secret hiding place tonight so she would come back tomorrow.  She jumped on her horse and arrived back at the house just in time for dinner. 
    At dinner, she asked if anyone had been back to the river and tied a blue ribbon on a tree.  No one had.  Then one of the stable boys said he took a ride back there the other day and saw the tree with Billy’s name and an arrow carved in it, but there was no ribbon on it.  Somehow Katie knew that someone was helping her find the clues to Billy’s death, but this time she didn’t think it was Brian.