Abby looked thoughtfully back the way Samantha had gone, and nodded. She was a bit of a strange bird, but it was just one beer. It was worth the try.
Chapter 13
Abby had no trouble signing up for the class at the ranger station. What she had trouble with was convincing Becky that she shouldn’t go.
“No, Becky. I mean it. If you start sniffing around the sheriff is going to get upset and who knows what he’ll do then. You don’t need any more trouble.”
Becky stood with her arms crossed and glared at her friend. Her red hair made a fiery halo around her head as she stood in the clearing before the house. Abby was sitting in the PT cruiser which she had turned around in the generous driveway and was facing down toward the bridge. “This is my life! I don’t give a crabapple what the sheriff does or does not have to say.” Becky said heatedly.
Abby grew even more frustrated at her stubborn friend and shook her head. “I didn’t sign you up, and you’re not on the roster. You’re not going.”
“Cheerio is going,” Becky said stubbornly, glowering at the dog in the passenger seat.
“Cheerio’s name is on the roster,” Abby lied.
Becky just stared for several moments before finally sniffing and marching back inside. Abby shook her head and watched her go. This was for the best. She wasn’t a police officer, but even she knew that poking around your own case was a bad idea.
The drive out to the ranger station was a good twenty minutes but was pleasant as it wound through the beautiful Oregon forests and greenery. She found she had to be careful around some of the turns due to moss on the road, but otherwise, it was pleasant all the way to the beautiful log building that held the ranger station. It was more than one building and looked like it held a mini-museum as well which she’d have to check out later.
Pulling into the parking lot, she saw a few other well-loved cars and two trucks with ranger station emblems on their sides. There were easy-to-read signs that directed her to the class, and she walked through the lobby of the main building and to the left into a small room with chairs and seats. Four other people were sitting in the room who all turned to look at her, each smiling in a more-or-less friendly way. The amount of plaid was frightening.
When Gabe the park ranger walked in, Abby was struck by a stab of anxiety. He was a handsome, darkly tanned man with hazel eyes that glinted from between his weather-worn crinkles and strong face. No beard or mustache, but his deep dimples gave his face plenty of extra character. But that was the problem. Abby almost instantly felt an attraction for the man, and then immediately after that, a pit opened up in her stomach as she remembered Daniel.
Closing her eyes, she hummed to herself and tried to find her center. The massive battle she had hoped to avoid waged back and forth like a roiling sea slamming against dark rocks. Why shouldn’t she look? She should be ashamed for forgetting Daniel. She should give herself a chance at life. No, she was done with relationships. She would just get hurt and told herself she couldn’t bear the pain. All of these thoughts raced through her mind at lightning speed to the point that Cheerio stuck his nose up under her hand and nuzzled her with a small whine of concern.
“Abigail Morgan?”
The name spoken out loud broke through her consciousness, and her eyes flashed open, finding them almost automatically locking onto the man’s brilliant, hazel eyes. Her brain froze, and it took everything she had to soldier her way out of it to answer in as calm and collected way that she could manage. “Uh… what?”
The man quietly chuckled and smiled at her, which did not help her situation at all, but he cleared his throat and spoke again. “Um, are you Abigail Morgan?” He asked again and waved a small pad of paper at her. “I’m trying to make sure everyone is here for the class before I begin. If that’s okay?”
Abby’s eyes widened just a little bit in embarrassment, but she finally nodded in response. “Yes, I’m Abby Morgan.”
“And you must be Cheerio?” The man asked her dog who yipped happily at the attention, making everyone else in the class laugh.
“Good dog,” the man answered and smiled again. That damned, dimpled smile. “Folks, my name is Gabe Wilson and today’s class will be in two parts. The first is just a quick dissertation with handouts on the kind of mushrooms that are found in our forests. Both the good and the bad. You’ll also find information on other dangerous plants like poison ivy because frankly, you don’t want to mess with that stuff. The second half of the class will take a hike and show you some of the mushrooms we are going to talk about today. It looks like you’re all ready for hiking, so that’s good. It won’t be a tough hike, but it will be hiking.
The website where Abby had signed up had included all of that information, so Abby was ready with solid clothes and hiking boots. She had also brought water and some energy bars, plus some snacks for Cheerio, just as had been recommended. She hadn’t heard about the requirement for a plaid uniform, but she figured that was optional.
The class went well, and Abby learned quite a bit more about mushrooms than she ever thought she would. She was surprised at how many colors and sizes there were. It was rather frightening how easily edible mushrooms and poisonous ones could get mixed up, or at least near enough that you could get it wrong pretty easily. There were warnings all over the paperwork that said it’s better to ask a professional than get yourself in trouble. Don’t eat anything! Identify what you pick at least three times before trying to eat, and maybe even a fourth.
Still, after what felt like hours of talking about them, Abby was more than ready to get outside. She’d never been great in classrooms, but more importantly, she wanted to be distracted from the handsome ranger. Her head and thoughts were still spinning, but Abby was slowly winning the fight to push them down. When Gabe signaled that they were ready to go, Abby breathed a sigh of relief. It was time to see what these mushrooms were all about.
Chapter 14
It was early afternoon by the time they left the ranger station and headed on a track that exited from the far side of the parking lot. The trail was well-maintained as it headed off into the tall pines and ferns. The trail was paved, at least as far as she could see from the parking lot itself. Cheerio ran ahead of her, getting a free ear scratch from the ranger for his trouble as he bounded up beside him.
The massive trees that surrounded them stretched far above, dominating the trail and everything around them with ease. There were plenty of ferns and underbrush, but it was not chokingly dense due to so much of the sunlight being blocked out by the canopy above them. Abby’s biggest experience with pine trees had been the occasional one scattered through a forest or Christmas trees, but here they were very much in the majority.
Gabe himself was charming as he pointed out different trees, plant types, and even the occasional fungus which he had so recently been teaching them about in the classroom. And he flashed his dimples around far too much for Abby’s liking. She kept to the back of the group and her eyes off the trail as much as possible, only occasionally casting a dark look at Cheerio, who had decided that the man was acceptable and was trotting up next to him as much as possible. Traitor, Abby thought to herself.
It made it even more difficult for Abby since Cheerio apparently liked the handsome ranger. She tried to make her thoughts toward him turn dark, imagining things like him throwing a bag of kittens into a river or something equally detestable, but her mind refused to cooperate. Instead, she kept seeing his hazel eyes and the smile crinkles, or that goofy picture of him on the class advertisement.
In short, Abby was having a miserable time because as much as her thoughts focused on Gabe, they also drifted toward her deceased husband, Danny. It was the first time in over a year she’d ever felt even a semblance of attraction for another man, and it tormented her, but what it also did was let her wrestle with the demons instead of just pushing them down and trying to ignore them. Those flashes of hope and guilt became a longer conversation for the first time in a l
ong time. Miserable for Abby, but strangely helpful as well.
They had stopped at one of the turns in the trail, taking a small break on some solid benches inset into the concrete. It looked like the trail began to curve to the left after this, raising up along a gentle slope before doubling back toward the ranger station. Abby suspected they might be at the halfway point, and had picked up a stick to play fetch with Cheerio while they waited. She wasn’t winded, thankfully, but it looked like one or two of the other hikers might be ready to call it a day. Idly, she wondered how they might manage out in the real wilderness and away from the safe trail.
“Why isn’t there more underbrush?” One of the other hikers asked. He was a shorter man, and despite his khaki pants and plaid shirt, he looked more like an accountant than anyone that had any right to be walking around in a forest. He was one of the hikers that was sweating and took full advantage of their rest by sitting on the bench. He’d managed to catch his breath enough, though, to ask a few questions. “Will it make it easier to find mushrooms?”
“Good question,” Gabe said. “You might think that was the case, and in some ways, it is, but this is relatively easy ground to navigate along the trail. Further in, it gets a lot more tricky, and if you head deeper into the Cascades, you’ll find a lot of steep cliffs and drops. Many of the edible mushrooms, like the chanterelle, tend to be found in the same place year after year because of their dependence on root systems of particular trees. It’s one of the reasons why they don’t grow in greenhouses.”
“Do you think we will find any chanterelles out here? Or oysters?” the man continued.
“We won’t find any chanterelles today,” Gabe answered. “Even if some grew around here, this is a favorite trail, and they would’ve disappeared long ago. Oysters might be possible, and it rained not so long ago so morels might also make an appearance. That being said, we’re not out here to collect anything, so please don’t leave the trail.”
The man went silent at that but nodded. Abby wondered if all of them might be out here to learn how to pick mushrooms as a business rather than a hobby. On the website, it said they gave the class every other weekend, so it must be a popular pastime. She purposefully kept her eyes off of Gabe as she chucked the stick into the underbrush, letting Cheerio race off after the prize.
“Quite an arm you’ve got there,” Gabe said from behind her, his voice strangely uncertain as he spoke.
Abby jumped and found herself looking into those hazel eyes again. She hadn’t heard the man approach, and it took her by surprise, but she cleared her throat and rallied quickly, looking away toward where Cheerio had run. “When you’ve got an Australian Shepherd, you’ve got to do something to keep them occupied. We learned the hard way that if you don’t, the next best play toy is your couch.” Abby kept her eyes glued to her pet as he retrieved the stick and came running back. She wanted to look at Gabe but knew it would just play merry havoc with her already scattered thoughts. “I jog with him every day, but this is easily one of his favorite games. Also, if I didn’t keep him at least nominally occupied, he might start trying to herd the rest of the class. You wouldn’t want him to take over your hike, would you?”
Gabe chuckled, a deep vibrant noise that Abby found very distracting. Her mental demons did as well, coming back and poking at the dark side of her brain again. She gritted her teeth and shook her head, pushing them momentarily into the back of her mind.
“I’ve never had an Australian Shepherd before, but I love dogs,” Gabe said. “Labs and German Shepherds are the dogs I had growing up. Bigger than Cheerio, but that dog’s got a lot of spunk, and he seems smart as a whip.”
“He is smart,” Abby answered. “I’ve almost got him to the point of doing my taxes.” Abby cursed herself as Gabe laughed again. Why had she done that to herself? Telling a stupid joke so that she could hear his laugh again? She cursed silently but refused to show her dismay on her face.
“You said we?” Gabe asked softly. “Did your husband stay home? Is he not as into mushroom hunting as you are?”
Abby felt her face flush and a chill race up and down her spine. The demons hadn’t needed more fuel on the fire of her anxiety, but there it was, stoking the flames of her fear and depression. She tried to suppress the response but knew she’d failed when Gabe took a step back and stopped walking.
“Are you ok?” Gabe said hesitantly. “God, did I say something?”
Abby tried to think of something to say, but nothing she could imagine seemed like it would help at all. She was angry at herself for being weak and letting things still get to her, even after all this time. But another part of her railed against her trying to move past everything. It wasn’t as strong as it used to be, but it was still there.
Just then Cheerio came bouncing back into her and smashed the stick into her upper thigh in his exuberance. Grateful for the distraction, Abby bent to take the stick from his mouth.
And that’s when the gunshot went off.
It was a strange, muted sound. Completely unlike anything you heard in the movies. She almost thought it might be a firecracker going off in the distance or something equally harmless so she completely discounted it. There was a slight burning in her upper left arm that felt like someone had let a branch slap into it, so she turned to see where the offending limb was, but instead, she was bowled over by Gabe as he pushed her to the ground. There was also screaming from the other hikers. High pitched, panicked sounds that began to work their way through Abby’s incredulity to let her know that something was seriously wrong. Then Gabe started yelling as well, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying through all the chaos.
If she had been in a right state of mind, she might have been able to figure out what was going on. But between the burning pain in her arm, the screaming, and being near the man who had been causing her so much confusion, she got angry instead.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Abby growled at him, actually punching his chest. There was a small part of her mind that admired how hard that chest was, but the ranger acted like he hadn’t even noticed. He was apparently too busy.
Instead of answering her like a sensible person, he stuck his head up and yelled at the rest of the hikers. “Everyone, get down, now! Get under the brush or behind a tree! Someone’s shooting at us!”
Two of the hikers immediately followed his directions, but the other two stood and looked owlishly around, continuing to babble and in one case, scream. It took a few more sharply worded orders from Gabe, with him madly gesturing for them to move before they understood what he was saying and scrambled quickly for cover. She could hear Cheerio barking angrily as well. It was a distinct sound she didn’t hear often, but clear as a bell when she did. Her dog was boiling mad at something, and from the sound of the barking, he was quickly heading for the source of his anger at high speed.
She was in shock. Was someone shooting at them? Why would anyone shoot at them so close to the ranger station? She had no idea and found herself staring at Gabe until he finally turned his attention back to her. Instead of looking at her, he grabbed her left arm and pulled it over and begin inspecting it carefully. She didn’t know why until she looked at it herself and saw red blood staining her upper sleeve.
She’d been shot!
Abby began to feel light headed. Was she going to die!? No, she answered herself, how can you die from the arm injury? Besides, it felt like a slight burn. It couldn’t possibly be that serious. Or could it? Dammit! She had to get her head back on straight. If she were shot at, she didn’t want to just flail around like some idiot.
Gabe finally looked down at her with a serious expression on his face. “I don’t think it’s serious. It looks like just a scratch, but it’s bleeding. Just stay still. I don’t hear any more shots. I think your dog chased them off.” The park ranger pulled a radio from his belt and began talking into it urgently and requesting assistance.
For her part, Abby laid head back on the soft ground
and closed her eyes. What was going on and did this have anything to do with the poisoning? Why would anyone shoot at her?
Chapter 15
The sheriff was not a loud or talkative man by anyone’s definition. He had one of those big bushy mustaches that was peppered with gray, and he had an intimidating stare down pat. Abby knew this because the man was currently leveling it at her as she sat in the ranger station with a bandage around her left arm and Gabe sitting next to her.
Abby had finished giving her statement what felt like half-an-hour ago, and she was beginning to become angry at the odd look the sheriff was giving her. Finally, the older man broke the silence as he shifted in the chair he was sitting in. “And why did you say you were out here again?”
Abby shifted in her seat, unprepared for the question at hand. She had expected something along the lines of ‘did you see anything’ or ‘did you notice anything out of the ordinary.' “Well,” Abby started slowly. “I was curious about these mushrooms that people look for. The ladies at Calamities pointed me in this direction. They said it was the best place to get to know mushroom hunting and that the friendly ranger was the one to learn from.”
sheriff Bob Pearson squinted at her in a very unconvinced manner as he wrote something down on his pad. “And you’re going to take up mushroom hunting, is that it?”
Abby nodded, her anger rising. “Yes, that is it. Why aren’t you asking me about if I saw anything!? Why do I get the feeling you’re blaming me for being up here!?”
Hot Tea and Cold Murder: A Red Pine Falls Cozy Mystery (Red Pine Falls Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Page 7