I slowed down when I spotted a mailbox, and rumbled up the pothole-filled drive. I skidded to a stop when a single story house came into view with a very familiar red pickup truck parked alongside it.
Eleanor shook her head. “This can’t be—”
Before Eleanor had a chance to finish that sentence, or before either of us had a chance to step a foot out of the car, shotguns were leveled at both of our heads. We raised our hands and waited for Curt and Curtis Hill to realize that it was us before they shot our heads off.
Curtis was the first to lower his weapon. “Mrs. Barton, is that you?”
I bobbed my head profusely. Curt swung his shotgun barrel down and onto his shoulder, waving us out of the car. Eleanor and I cautiously stepped out of the car and I said, “Sorry. I had no idea you boys lived here.”
“You can’t just whip in here like some kind of badass, you know,” Curtis said. “It’s just not safe.”
“Sorry. I didn’t think that I had. It was just that I was avoiding that last pothole. It looks big enough to sink a car.”
Curt lowered his head. “We like it that way. That way if the government ever drops by, it will catch them for sure.”
“The government? Why would they be stopping by when you boys are law-abiding citizens of Tawas?” Not, not, definitely not!
Curtis chuckled, stroking his beard. “We have been since our last trip to the pen, but that was only for petty crimes.”
“It’s just that we associate with folks involved in the Michigan Militia, but I’m sure our ma already told you that.”
I forced a smile on my face. “Not that I remember. I have heard some talk around town, but it’s really none of my business since you boys have always been so kind to me. Why, you even helped me when the awning to my camper fell down.” I knew that I was rambling, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was so nervous, not that either of the Hill boys had ever given me reason to be.
Curtis stood there, keeping a tight hold of his shotgun. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to shoot the breeze, so why did you?”
“Like I already said, I didn’t have a clue you boys lived here. Your neighbor, Billy Matlin seems to think Bigfoot lives on his property.” I paused to read their expressions, but they both were stone-faced. “What’s your take on that?”
Curtis climbed the few steps that led inside. “Come on in and we can talk about it.”
El and I followed Curt and Curtis inside, and we walked around a motor that was sitting on a piece of fabric in the middle of the floor. The room was sparsely furnished, with only a brown couch that was ripped on the arms. In the far corner, where you’d expect to see a television or computer, was a ham radio with receivers and a microphone that you could speak into.
I swallowed hard as the walls had a variety of firearms, from rifles and shotguns to semi-automatics attached, and metal boxes filled with ammunition were near the couch. I walked to a table and picked up one of the books, among many, on conspiracy theories. “A little light reading, boys?”
Curt took the book from me and motioned us toward a table near the patio door where we all sat. I gazed through the window and noticed trenches were dug in the backyard. “Planning to expect company out there?”
“Nope. We just do a little training here,” Curtis said. “What did you want to know again?”
“Have you seen anything strange in the woods?”
“Plenty of strange things going on around here, if you ask me,” Curt said with a chuckle and his brother joined him. “Bigfoot wouldn’t stand a chance around here. We’d use him for target practice.”
“I see. Well, what do you make of Billy Matlin?”
Curtis leaned back in his chair. “He’s a strange one, for sure. I almost shot him last month. He’s always poking around in the woods. I have no idea what he’s looking for.”
“He’s looking for Bigfoot, actually,” I said.
“No shit, for real?” Curtis asked. “He must be crazier than I thought. Or more than people think we are.”
I looked right into Curtis’s eyes. “I don’t think either of you boys are a bit crazy, not with things like they are now. I can imagine we’re all a little sick of the government sometimes.”
Eleanor nodded. “She’s right. So you’ve actually seen Billy out in the woods then?”
“Yup,” Curtis said. “He was carrying around a baggie and tweezers like he was looking for something. Insects is what I thought, or what he told me.”
“Is that what he really said?” I asked baffled. “Why on earth wouldn’t he tell you the truth if he’s looking for Bigfoot?”
“Probably because of the ten million dollar cash prize offered by one of those reality shows, or so my ma said.”
“So your ma told you that?” I asked.
“Sure did.”
“But Billy never told you that?”
“No. He told me he was looking for insects.”
“No wonder you almost shot him.”
“If he hadn’t gotten so close to our place, I wouldn’t have bothered him at all.
“And you’d never met him before?”
“No, but I know who he is. I’ve seen him around Tawas. He’s even been out to our ma’s potpourri shop. She can probably tell you more about him than we can. I’ve told you all I know about him.”
I gave this some thought. “So neither of you boys have seen anything that resembles Bigfoot?”
“Plenty of big men with beards around, but none that would fit the description of Bigfoot.”
“No strange footprint either?”
Curtis gave Curt a look and said, “Actually we did find something strange nearer to the airport. We were canvassing the woods for signs of white-tailed deer and found this strange footprint in the mud. Out of curiosity, Curt did a plaster cast. It’s out in the barn.”
“Why would you do that if you weren’t interested in finding Bigfoot?”
“I wasn’t looking for him,” Curtis said. “But when our ma told us about that cash prize, we thought that it couldn’t hurt to take a look around.”
“Can we take a look at it?” Eleanor asked. “I mean, I’m sure it doesn’t’ belong to Bigfoot, but I’m curious, too.”
Curtis got up and we all followed him out the patio door and into a barn that had three locks on it. “Before I let you inside, Mrs. Barton and Mrs. Mason, you have to promise not to relay any information back to Sheriff Peterson, about anything you have seen in our house or inside our barn— agreed?” Curtis said.
“I promise on the life of my daughter, Martha,” I said. “Besides, you’re the sons of one of our best friends, Rosa Lee Hill.”
Eleanor smiled. “Exactly. We can be tight-lipped when we want to be.”
Locks were turned, latches thrown aside, and the barn door was opened. I half expected to see a government official tied up inside, but not a chance. My eyes did widen a tad when I saw the gas masks hanging on nails, but there were also generators under tables and canned foods packed on shelves overtop. If the apocalypse ever happens, I’m heading straight here. At least I know a couple of survivalists.
Black plastic hung over a doorway in the back, but I quickly diverted my eyes when Curtis’s face hardened. I’m sure this was under the I didn’t need to know category so I asked, “And the cast would be where?”
Curtis opened a cabinet and carefully set a plaster cast on the metal table. “This is it. What do you think, Mrs. Barton?”
“Please, call me Agnes,” I said.
Eleanor smiled. “And just call me Eleanor. It’s about time we get better acquainted since you’ve both been kind enough to share this with us.”
I set my hands on either side of the plaster cast in awe. It was at least— “Hey, Curtis. Can you grab a measuring tape?”
Curtis reached in a drawer and came back with one, pressing it into my hand. I pulled out the metal tape and the cast measured twenty inches. Eleanor fingered the cast. “Would you look at it, Aggie? This isn’t just a
footprint. You can see the toes.”
“I see that. When did you take this cast?”
“A few months back. It was way colder then. More than cold enough for that cast to be made. Otherwise, I think it we wouldn’t have gotten a good one.”
“Whereabouts did you see this again?”
“It was behind the airport. We could show you where, but the trees are very dense in that area and neither of you are fit enough to make the journey,” Curt said. “I’d hate for one of you to break a hip or something. It would be awfully hard to carry either of you back out of there.”
Eleanor’s hands flew to her hips. “I sure hope that wasn’t a crack about my weight.”
“Not at all,” Curt said. “I was just saying you’re too old to be going way out there.”
Eleanor glared at him and snapped, “We’re not old, we’re seasoned.”
I massaged my right hip. “They’re right. We can’t go out there. We’ll take your word for it that you found this footprint behind the airport. We were already given information that strange things have been seen in that area. How about noises?”
Curtis looked at Curt who shrugged. “We heard this strange animal noise. It sounded like a whopping noise.”
“Whopping noise?”
“That’s the closest description I can give you. It was eerie, is what it was. Believe me when I say that if that thing had surfaced, I’d have dropped him real quick-like.”
“Thanks, Curtis. Is it okay if I take a picture of the cast?”
“Go ahead, but you can’t take it with you. We might just have a shot at that ten million dollars yet.”
“No visual though?”
Curtis and Curt shook their heads and I had to believe them, because if they had seen anything like a Bigfoot, they’d have shot it dead for sure.
Chapter Seven
The next stop El and I knew all too well. Bernice Riley was known as the Cat Lady and I considered her a friend for the most part. She, like the Hill boys, was a little on the shotgun-happy side. I’d have called her if she had a phone to forgo another round of staring into the barrel of yet another firearm today, but heck, I’ve never been one to shy away from anyone, crazy or not. Now, I don’t exactly consider the Cat Lady crazy, even if she does have more cats than most folks I know of. Eccentric might be more of the word to describe her.
“Hold on now, Aggie,” El said. “Don’t drive in the Cat Lady’s driveway so fast. No sense in startling the old girl. She might just shoot first and ask questions later.”
“If she did that, I doubt I’d hardly be able to answer questions.” When the car rolled to a stop, my mouth hung open. The Cat Lady’s modest abode had gone through a renovation. Her house had a fresh coat of yellow paint and her wrap-around porch had new handrails and floorboards.
“Wow,” El said. “I had no idea that the Cat Lady had enough money to renovate. Since when does she have funds enough to do that?”
I shrugged, and El and I got out of the car just as the Cat Lady walked toward us with a wave of her hand. She was dressed in a white button-up shirt, her brown slacks tucked into her knee high boots. The boots were the only familiar part of her wardrobe that I was used to seeing her wear.
“Hello, Cat Lady,” I said.
As she neared, I saw the blush on her lined cheeks. It was all I could do not to cross myself. This couldn’t be the Cat Lady we’ve known all these years.
“Please, call me Bernice. It’s my real name, you know.”
“Since when?” Eleanor asked.
“Since always, silly. Plus, I don’t want to sound crazy when the folks with the cameras show up.”
I blinked my eyes a few times as they watered up from way too much pollen. I proceeded to clamor up the steps that led to the porch. It was then that I saw the oval of the wood door with stained glass. I turned to face Bernice. “What cameras?
“For that reality show. Hunting Bigfoot, silly. They fixed up my place for free, even. They told me my house was deep in Bigfoot country.”
“They did? And you didn’t run them off the property with your big gun?”
“Sure I did, at first, until they explained that they’d be willing to renovate my place free of charge, plus pay me for allowing them to film here.”
“What do you make of that? Bigfoot, I mean?”
“I really don’t care one way or the other.”
“That sounds like a bunch of baloney,” Eleanor said.
“Oh, come on, Eleanor. You had to have heard about what crazy ole Billy Matlin has been saying in the local press. He’s convinced that Bigfoot is roaming his property, and he lives nearby. I figure if Bigfoot is on his property, than it’s quite conceivable that he has been on my land, too. I have the scat to prove it.”
“Scat?” I asked.
“Yes, you know … fecal matter. The kind an animal leaves behind.”
“Eww,” El said. “That’s nasty.”
“Brent has been taking samples all week.”
I gripped my chin in thought. “Who is Brent?”
“He’s the man who will be hosting the show on the Animal Network. He’s not half bad on the eyes, either. You’d like him, Eleanor.”
“Eleanor is engaged these days,” I clarified.
“That doesn’t mean that I don’t still like to look, Aggie. Is he here now?”
“He left to get more supplies. Come inside. I made a fresh batch of moonshine,” she laughed. “I mean lemonade. I gave up making moonshine since Sheriff Peterson almost arrested me not long ago. He accused me of making folks sick, if you can believe that.”
I believed it all right. I had suffered my own bout of intestinal difficulties after the last time I had sampled it. “That’s good to hear. Jail is no fun.”
Bernice led the way inside. Her wood floors had also been redone, and she had furniture that consisted of a striped pattern couch and chairs that were set around her fireplace. There was also a tripod set up with a camera attached, and a few more set up with lights that you might find on a movie set.
I almost wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen in with my own two eyes. This sure put a spin of realism to the whole Bigfoot thing. At first, I had believed that Billy was bat shit crazy, but now, there was a television crew actually investigating. I was not about ready to let them find Bigfoot before El and I had a chance to. Instead of wondering, I asked Bernice, “So tell me. Have you actually seen Bigfoot yourself?”
Bernice bit her lower lip, and informed us that she’d bring us some lemonade, darting off presumably to do just that. “I don’t get it,” I said. “Why would the Cat Lady let some stranger to set up right here?”
Eleanor rubbed her hands together. “Unless she’s seen something, herself.”
“I was trying to ask her before she went for the lemonade. Why is she stalling?”
“I’m not sure, Aggie, but why don’t you ask her again?”
I had planned to when Bernice set a tray full of lemonade down, handing us each a glass. I stared at the clear glass with the lemon-colored liquid inside. At least this time around her beverages looked safe enough to drink. I took a sip and the sourness about floored me. “Geez, didn’t you put in any sugar?”
“Oh, sorry. I’ll get you some.” Bernice dashed off and returned with packets of artificial sugar, and El and I both mixed a few packets into our drinks.
“Thanks,” I said. “And about Bigfoot?”
“Brent told me I shouldn’t talk about that to anyone. To save it for the show.”
“Oh, come now. I thought we were friends, Bernice.”
Bernice gave me the eye. “I’m not sure I’d say that, but why do you want to know?”
“Because Billy hired me to find Bigfoot.”
“Smart move on his part, but what do you know about finding Bigfoot, Agnes?”
“I don’t, but El and I sure are trying. Even the Hill boys gave us information.”
“I’m just not sure. Brent wouldn’t like it, and I’d
hate to get him mad since he renovated my place so nice.”
“I won’t tell anyone you told us. I promise.”
“Yes, but there’s ten million dollars on the line here.”
“Ten million dollars?” El asked with widened eyes. “That sure is a lot of dough.”
“So let me get this straight. There’s a ten million dollar prize for finding Bigfoot?”
“Yes,” Bernice said. “I figured the Hill boys would have told you that when you were at their place.”
“They did, but I was just wondering if there was any truth to it. Is Brent paying out the money?”
“I’m not sure who is for sure, but it’s the premise for the show.”
I had to know what Bernice had seen, so I kept pressing. “Please, Bernice. Have you seen Bigfoot out here?”
“You promise if you find Bigfoot you’ll give me a cut?”
“I promise.” I might as well promise since Bigfoot might never be really found.
“I’ve seen the hairy beast out back of my property. I’ve even seen him scampering across US 23 before.”
“Why haven’t I heard your story before?”
“Because folks already think I’m nuts. I sure don’t want them committing me to a nut house.”
“How close did you get … to Bigfoot I mean?”
“About a hundred yards.”
“How is your eyesight these days?” Eleanor asked.
“I can see pretty well, Eleanor. All I can tell you is that what I saw wasn’t human.”
“Have you seen it more than once on your property, or just the one time?”
“I’ve seen it about three times this month. The other morning, the beast was standing by my oak tree out back. He even left telltale signs.”
That got my attention. “Like what?”
“I can show you.” Bernice went out the back door with El and I closely behind her. My senses were heightened, too. The wind rustled the limbs of the trees and a hawk circled overhead. A woodpecker was tapping a nearby tree, but as we neared the tree, it became deadly silent. I stared at the tree where three claw marks had broken the bark just as a strange noise carried to where we stood, with a whoop, whoop, whoop. Eleanor and I clung to each other and Bernice’s eyes were wide, staring behind us. I was scared senseless, but I had to take a peek. Something or someone ran in the distance, its brown clothing or fur moving as it did.
Madison Johns - Agnes Barton 06 - Bigfoot in Tawas Page 5