"I told you before you ever got involved with that troublemaker he was no good!" the excited, loud words jubilantly rushed out of Deputy Taylor's mouth upon his arrival at the Sheriff's Office.

Gleefully, he noticed Cody sitting on the steel rack in the cell Sheriff Daniels had placed the little munchkin in. The sad expression on Cody's face was long. His pitiful puppy dog eyes, heartbreaking as they were, clearly depicted the exact way the boy felt. Cody looked like a scolded dog with its tail tightly tucked between its hind legs. If the boy was playing the sympathy card Sheriff Daniels was not buying the act.

However, Cody would not give Deputy Taylor, who he could not stand, the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Although, that was what he was doing way down deep inside. Cody was humiliated to be seen in a jail cell. He had never been arrested before.

He wondered to himself "Was it his fault that old barn needed a fresh coat of paint to liven up its dried out exterior and make the structure more appealing to the eye?"

Then, he questioned himself, "Was it right for the Sheriff to charge him with vandalism, like some juvenile delinquent, for doing so?"

The boy's one-sided conversation in his mind continued with, "Your guardian is going way too far in arresting you. Besides," he hesitated for a moment, wanting to know, "where was Matt? He was in on this crime, too."

Cody had always been told, "What's good for the goose is certainly good for the gander."

Some of the best conversations Cody had were the ones where he talked to himself. Occasionally, he even answered his own questions.

Sheriff Daniels sat at his desk examining the case file he had in his hand. If Cody needed a little tough loving that was precisely what the boy was going to get. The Sheriff would then ensure his young ward sincerely apologized to Old Man Penzler for what he had done to his property, and repaint the farmer's dilapidated, run-down barn any color he wanted it. No matter how long it took the boy to complete the task.

Passing the file he had been holding in his hand to Deputy Taylor, Sheriff Daniels instructed him, "This Warner Case ought to keep you busy for a while, Fred. Bring him in for questioning again. Something about his alibi the night he was detained does not ring true to me."

Deputy Taylor took the file from the Sheriff. He would rather deal with Cody and told the Sheriff, "I'll be more than happy to run that one to any facility you want me to, Brock."

Pausing for dramatic effect, he pointed his finger directly at Cody before finishing his comment with, "The sooner he is out of Potter County the better off we'll all be. He's nothing but a burden from way back. I knew it the first time I laid my eyeballs on him. I can spot them a mile away."

"I will handle Cody," Sheriff Daniels calmly replied.






Sheriff Daniels knew there was no love lost between Deputy Taylor and the boy. They simply did not like each other. Deputy Taylor had never explained the reason for his animosity towards Cody, and, Sheriff Daniels did not want to open that can of worms again. Especially not today. He had plenty of office work to do, which tended to sour his disposition as it was.

Cody wanted to tell Deputy Taylor, "Go make yourself useful and do what Sheriff Daniels gave you to do, Fredericka."

But, for as much trouble as he was in, Cody knew he better not say what he was thinking.

He had another thought on his mind he was afraid to vocalize, "Would the Sheriff really send him away?"

The notion terrified Cody.

He knew he would never vandalize anything else ever again. He quickly learned there are many other ways for a boy to have a good time than by destroying something that belonged to somebody else. He remained silent and still. As Sheriff Daniels gave Cody a stern look Deputy Taylor departed the Sheriff's Office to tend to the assignment he received from the Sheriff.

Cody started sniffling.

He thought to himself, "What if my guardian doesn't want me any more just because I made a stupid mistake?"

Cody was very sad. He could feel the dam about to burst wide open.

"Sheriff Daniels is the best thing life has ever offered you," his conscience told him.

Cody could not disagree with that statement. He only hoped he had not blown all the chances he would ever have of finding happiness over some dumb decision he made while he and Matt were out wilding. After all, Matt had dared Cody to graffiti Old Man Penzler's barn. He also supplied the spray can used to do so.

Sitting in his cell, Cody's mind kept racing a mile a minute and he considered, "Some times, maybe, he and Matt did carry their zany antics slightly too far."

Cody tried to slow the race cars circling the track in his mind, like they were rapidly approaching the finish line at the Indianapolis 500, down. With all these thoughts and ideas popping up all over the place, his head was spinning like a tilt-a-whirl.

Failing to do so, Cody knew he would prefer one of his father's worst, savage beatings over the notion his guardian no longer wanted him. It would hurt a lot less.

The cold, empty jail cell made Cody wish he and Matt had gone to the library for books to read. Like they were supposed to have done in the first place. Not sneak off to Miller's Cave, where they weren't supposed to be. But, most of all, he wished he had never encountered that lonesome barn that called their names out loud.

Cody reached up and wiped the water out of his eyes. Sheriff Daniels stood there silently observing the boy. It was A-Lesson-He-Would-Never-Forget learning time for Cody.