A Kentucky Belle in an Isekai World

3: Discovered

Anthony (Tony) Kane woke up at the crack of dawn because it was time to milk the cows.

He worked two jobs, one on a small dairy that didn't have a milking machine, and one at his local library, in the afternoons.

Normally, his sister Hope Ann would have been up at the same time to feed their chickens and walk the dog, but only his parents were up.

"Where's Hope?" Tony asked as he grabbed a quick breakfast to go.

"Hmm?" his mom said, looking up from her crossword puzzles she did most mornings.

"Hope, she's not up. Is she sick?" Tony said.

"Hope?" his father said.

"Yes...my sister, Hope, usually up whistling 'Good Morning' from that one musical right about now," Tony said, gesturing with the milk like "duh."

"What an odd thing to joke about." His mom frowned. "Why are you saying that? It's not funny."

"Yeah, that's not funny, Tony," his dad said.

"Is she gone for some reason I  was supposed to know about?" Tony said uneasily.

Doctor's appointment? Did she go visit family? Why wouldn't anyone have mentioned that to him?

"Still not funny," his dad frowned.

"If you wanted a sibling, you could just have said it and not made fun of us." His mom frowned. "We tried, you know. That's not amusing. And it's too late now. Why bring it up?"

"Mom, now, this isn't funny," Tony said. "I'm talking about my sister, Hope, who's always being a pain in the neck. Why are you treating this like it's some kind of prank? Because it's not funny either."

"Stop it." His dad was getting mad.

"You guys stop it!" Tony began to get freaked out.

"Maybe you had better just go to work." His mom looked angry.

"Maybe I better!" Tony left in a hurry.

What was with that messed up practical joke?

He dialed Hope's cell phone. It rang, but she didn't answer.

Tony dialed again.

He tried three more times before he even got to work, and nothing.

"What's wrong, Tony?" Caitlyn, one of the other people who worked at the dairy, asked, putting on her work gloves.

"My parents were acting weird this morning, and my sister's not home, and she's not answering her phone," Tony said. "Which is weird for her. If I called this many times, she'd know it was important."

"You have a sister?" Caitlyn said.

Tony looked up. "That's not funny, Cate."

"I wasn't trying to be funny. You've never mentioned it," Caitlyn said.

"Uh, you've met my sister," Tony said. "She's picked me up from work when my car was in the shop? Tall, blonde girl? Loud. This isn't ringing a bell?"

He was being a little rude, but she was freaking him out.

Caitlyn shook her head. "Maybe I wasn't here that day."

"You were there. She helped us load milk into the delivery truck!" he almost blew up.

"I don't remember anyone else being there the time you had your car in the shop." Caitlyn sounded scared. "But you know, I have terrible memory. I'm sorry.... No need to get mad."