“Hey!” Shelby exclaimed. “The lock is busted! Stop!” Reaching up with his feet the slender young man pushed against the trunk hood. His older sister, Hailey, pressed down harder. “Sis!” he complained.

“Okay, Shelby, I won’t shut you in,” Hailey let go of the hood. “It was tempting. What are you ripping out of that stenchmobile anyways?”

“This briefcase,” Shelby stated, stumbling out of the twisted trunk.

Shelby fussed with the latches. He explained, “This is the car which hit the cow and landed in the swamp. The crusher is coming tomorrow.” Unable to open the case he handed it to his sister, “Here, toss it in the fire. If someone wanted this stuff, they would have gotten it by now.”

Examining the case Hailey ran her fingers over it, “It looks expensive. Give me your pick. I’ll get it.”

Hailey took the slim piece of metal and inserted it into the lock. She stated, “When they catch them boys for chasing Ed’s herd with the four-wheelers, there is going to be hob to pay. Officer Mike said he’s puzzled because a flight attendant and the car rental described someone different than the city slicker driving the car.”

“You’re losing your touch, Sis,” Shelby observed.

Placing her cap backwards, Hailey defended, “There’s three locks on this thing. I already picked two.” With a wiggle and a twist of her wrist she stated, “And there is number three, Smarty.”

Shelby’s eyes widened, “H-o-l-l-e-e Cow!”

Unmindful of the wet grass, Hailey sat. Stunned, she whispered, “Oh, my God, Shelby. You nearly burned this! Oh, my God. Look at all this money!”

Shelby sat beside his sister. “We’re rich!” he gasped.

“No, Shelby,” Hailey countered. “That cow has landed us up to our eyeballs in crap. I  feel it in my backbone. This looks about as crooked as Ozzie’s tail.”