Truth Will Be Told

By Frances E. Pitts

Seventeen year old Amy Harris has discovered her mother missing. Finding out what has happened to her is a challenge.

Just who does want to know what happened?

Since Amy’s father was also deceased, George Ingram welcomes his grand-daughter to his horse ranch. The Kentucky hills prove to be a great place to find peace after such a traumatic happening. George Ingram and his two ranch-hands take Amy under their wings. Amy and George vow to find out what has happened to Vera Harris. A climb on horseback up through the back hills of the ranch leads to a hazardous trip. What happened to her saddle?
Why doesn’t Uncle Johnny want her at the creek?

Amy’s love for the ranch leads her to important clues.

George and Amy gathered facts and clues and turned them over to a sheriff from another county who takes this case to court.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669830092

Frances E. Pitts

I was born and raised in North Carolina and have spent all of my adult life living in the south. I am now living in Georgia with my husband of 57 years where we have raised our six sons who have given us seven beautiful grandchildren. I enjoy writing my stories and sharing them with others. I also spend much of my time doing my assorted hobbies of sewing, doll making, jewelry, knitting and volunteer work. I am not one of those people who can sit and do nothing for very long.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 by Frances E. Pits.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/15/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

839952

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Early times

Chapter 2 Location and family

Chapter 3 Day by day

Chapter 4 Discovering a keepsake

Chapter 5 Too far too soon

Chapter 6 Unanswered questions

Chapter 7 Determined times

Chapter 8 Searching for help

Chapter 9 Pins and needles

Chapter 10 Looking twice

Chapter 11 Step by step

Chapter 12 The fall dance

Chapter 13 An accident?

Chapter 14 Hiding the evidence

Chapter 15 Cold, cold night

Chapter 16 Waiting for news

Chapter 17 Just the facts

Chapter 18 The funeral

Chapter 19 Just what did happen?

Chapter 20 A forgotten clue

Chapter 21 Tying clues together

Chapter 22 The dark day

Chapter 23 Waiting for results

Chapter 24 Here a spot, there a spot

Chapter 25 Thanksgiving

Chapter 26 Whispered secrets

Chapter 27 Puzzle pieces

Chapter 28 Names, dates, and times

Chapter 29 Shopping for something special

Chapter 30 Long-awaited festivities

Chapter 31 Something missing

Chapter 32 The well-thought-out gift

Chapter 33 Gift of love

Chapter 34 Christmas Day

Chapter 35 Unearthing new clues

Chapter 36 Court procedures

Chapter 37 Telling it all

Chapter 38 Behind the scenes

Chapter 39 Clues surface

Chapter 40 Truth will be told

Chapter 41 Time runs out

Chapter 42 A new start

Chapter 43 Life goes on

Chapter 1

Early times

The sky was made up of boiling black clouds rolling behind Amy as she rode on her mare Glory up through the back pasture. She felt a few large raindrops hit her on the back as she rode. Come on, Glory. Grandpa will be worried if we don’t make it back before the storm. She could hear thunder in the distance.

We don’t have much time before this thing hits, she told her mare. Glory galloped on over the next hill and headed for the gate that led to the barn. George Ingram stood waiting just inside the open doors of the barn. He ran his hands over his balding head. Amy knew he was getting concerned about his only granddaughter just by the look on his face.

I’m sorry, Grandpa, she said as she climbed down from the horse. I stayed out longer than I should have.

Just as she said that, a streak of lightning hit close by.

That’s why I was worried, Grandpa told her. I’ve already seen a few other strikes.

I know, Grandpa. I’ll be more careful next time, she told him.

Amy put the horse in her stall and removed the saddle and tack. After feeding her some oats, she and Grandpa walked to the old ranch house together. Oscar, Grandpa’s old hound dog, ran to his side.

I know, Oscar. You were worried too, weren’t you? he asked the old dog as he ruffled his fur. They had just walked inside when they heard the rain start coming down hard.

It looks like it’s going to be a big one, Grandpa said as he looked out the front window.

It sure does. I’m glad we weren’t caught out in it, Amy told him.

So am I. These summer storms can come up unexpectedly. You have to be careful out there, Honey, he said as he gave his granddaughter a hug.

XXXX

Amy Harris had come to live with her grandfather when her mother mysteriously disappeared several months ago.

Amy had come home from school and found the house empty. Her mother, who worked at home as an artist, was nowhere to be found. Her car was still in the driveway. There were no signs of forced entry.

Amy noticed the living room was a little disheveled. She called out to her mother but got no answer. This wasn’t like her. Vera had always left a note for her daughter when she knew she wouldn’t be there when Amy got home from school.

Where could she be? thought Amy.

Amy started to straighten up the room a little. She picked up a tissue from the hearth. Underneath it, she noticed a tiny drop of what looked like blood where the tissue was. It was then that she called the sheriff to come help her find her mother. She was frightened. When Sheriff Johnson got there, she told him everything she had seen. The police did an extensive search but found no clues to what had happened.

It remained a total mystery to everyone these last few months. Amy had already lost her father two years before in a terrible car crash. Now her mother was gone too. Amy was just barely seventeen. It had been especially hard on Grandpa, who was Vera Harris’s father. Amy was also left with such uncertainty to her life now. Her grandfather and her uncle Johnny were her only living relatives now. Johnny was Vera’s brother and lived at the ranch with his father George Ingram. He always seemed to be a little cranky around Amy. She had the feeling that he would rather not have her live there. She tried to stay out of his way so as not to bother him.

Chapter 2

Location and family

The Ingram ranch consisted of the big old ranch house, 150 horses, a few chickens, a barn cat mouser, and of course, Oscar the hound. George Ingram ran the ranch with his son Johnny and the help of Hank Rutherford the hired man and his son Jeremy. Hank and Jeremy lived in the room above the barn. Hank had been with the ranch for over ten years now and was as much a part of this place as the front gate. The Kentucky ranch covered roughly 130 acres of rolling green pastureland. It was beautiful land, and Amy loved riding and exploring the lovely countryside. There was a sign over the front gate to the ranch. It just said HOME.

XXXX

The Ingram family was well-known in the nearby town of Sampson. They had been a local fixture since the late 1920s when George’s parents moved there. The elder Ingrams were also ranchers and were known for their special breed of horses. George’s beloved wife Katherine passed away after having a stroke about twelve years ago. He had dealt with depression for quite a while after losing his soulmate of over fifty years. Amy had come along at the time he most needed someone to care for. Having her around had filled his days with hearing her chatter about school and the horses and anything else she could think of to rattle on about. He loved this child, and she was certainly in need of someone to fill her void of losing her mother. It seemed that the timing could not have been better for both of them.

Amy spent a good deal of her time doing chores around the ranch. After her jobs were finished, she always found time for the horses. Her favorite was the mare, Glory. This mare was just the right size for a young girl. Amy hadn’t been around horses much before she came to live with Grandpa, but she was a fast learner. She and Glory had become best friends. Every time Amy walked into the barn, Glory would whinny and throw her head. Amy always tried to have a treat in her pocket for her to nibble. It wasn’t really any wonder why Glory loved her so much. Grandpa had finally figured out what had been happening to so many of his fresh carrots and apples. Many an hour was spent cleaning stalls and grooming horses. She loved it.

Today was not unlike the other summer days. Amy had gotten Glory out early and was exploring the lower range where the creek bed ran. It was already getting hot, so she let Glory walk along the edge of the creek to get her feet wet. Amy sat on the bank and watched as Glory drank from the cool water.

Had enough, girl? she asked the mare. Come on. Let’s go down to that little place where the creek widens. She talked to the horse as though the animal understood everything she said. She talked to her about losing her mom and about how much she missed her. The horse seemed to understand it all. After all, they were best friends. She stroked the horse’s mane as Glory gave a whinny of appreciation.

It seemed as though it didn’t matter how many times she had ridden over the ranch; there was always something new for her to explore. As she rode along she let her eyes wander all along the creek banks. It was funny how sometimes things just looked a little different to her.

I never noticed that recessed area on that side. The water looks really deep there. She directed Glory toward the more narrow part of the creek and walked her across. She looked over the edge of the bank, but she couldn’t see back under the ledge. The water was too high. It appeared to be like an underwater cave of some sort.

What are you doing down here? yelled Uncle Johnny.

Amy was startled. She hadn’t seen or heard anyone approaching.

I . . . I . . . I was just out for a ride with Glory, and we were checking out this little pond, she stammered. We weren’t hurting anything.

There are some places you need to just stay out of, he told her rudely.

Now get on home! he called back as he roughly turned his horse around. Amy did as she was told. He had scared her with his angry tone. She had no intention of making him any madder. Amy knew she should love her uncle, but that was a hard thing for her to do. She was always uncomfortable around him. He hardly ever even spoke to her.

The rest of the ride was not pleasant at all. She just wanted to get home and be as far from her uncle as she could, for now at least. It didn’t make sense to her why he got so mad about just looking around a creek.

Amy decided not to say anything to Grandpa about how her uncle had treated her. He and Johnny were already not very close. It seemed they argued a lot when she wasn’t close by, but she didn’t know what it was about. Maybe he would just cool off after a while.

At dinner that night, Johnny didn’t come down to eat. Grandpa said something about him going into Sampson, the nearest town, to talk to someone about buying some horses. Amy was a little glad that she didn’t have to face her uncle so soon. Hank and Jeremy had errands to do in town, so they had eaten early.

You didn’t ride long this morning, Honey. It was such a nice day I figured you and Glory would be gone a good while, Grandpa said.

It got hot so we came back early, Amy told him.

Did you see Johnny while you were riding? he asked.

Well, yes, I did. She hesitated. Down by the creek where it widens into a little pond, she said.

That’s funny. He told me he went out to look up in the hills for a stray horse, commented Grandpa.

That’s where I saw him, Grandpa. I didn’t go up on the hill.

Okay, I just wondered about it, he told her, looking a little puzzled.

Amy was a little glad to let that conversation drop. They finished up their dinner, and she cleared the table. Together they washed the