Teaberry Chase

by R A Wallace

  A loud noise erupted from the area of the hens as a squabble over bug rights erupted. Henry’s attention was momentarily distracted as he turned his good eye toward the fenced chicken yard. Dan took the opportunity to skirt around the rooster. He quickly joined her on the porch. He took the seat next to her and picked up the coffee cup she’d set there for him.

  “Another draw, I think.” She smiled before taking a sip of her tea.

  “It gives me an idea.” He slung one long arm behind her to rest on the back of the rattan sofa.

  “Oh?” She turned her head toward him slightly while watching the hens.

  “I could rig something up to get the hens going. Put it on a timer set to go off just when I need it.” He stretched his legs out in front of them.

  She smiled at the image in her head. “If you spook them too much, it might reduce the egg production.”

  “There is that,” he agreed. His gaze went back to Henry. “Still, it’s worth considering.”

  “Did you have a chance to speak with Gabe yesterday?” She turned to look at him when he remained silent for too long.

  His jaw was set again. “Not sure what’s gotten into his head. He was doing well with the garage.”

  “He isn’t now?”

  “How could he? He’s spending all of his time out at the campground and the off-road trail.” He set his coffee cup down.

  “Maybe once the Chase is over, his schedule will get back to normal?”

  Dan blew out a breath. “What about the people who need car inspections? The tune-ups? All those routine jobs that were keeping him afloat in his business. He’s going to lose the clientele he already had built up. He can’t just hare off whenever it suits him. That’s not the way you run a business.”

  ***

  Caitlyn lifted another binder onto the table and opened it to the first page. “This is another option. You could have your bouquet in any color you choose but this would be the general look right here.”

  The young bride-to-be pulled at her lip as she considered it. She turned to her mother. “What do you think?”

  “It’s your wedding.” The fifty-something flattened her lips as she pressed them together.

  Caitlyn knew what that meant. She’d seen it countless times before. Weddings could be such stressful events. Although there were common jests about bridezillas and mothers who took over the proceedings, the fact was that many families tried to navigate the affair without causing permanent rifts.

  That did not describe this family. The bride-to-be dropped her eyes back to the binder in front of her. She began flipping through the pages. So far, they hadn’t managed to agree on anything. It was also a fairly common situation. In some cases, the arguments stemmed from parents who were paying for the event so they wanted to call all of the shots. In others, it was simply a matter of difference in tastes.

  The bride-to-be paused over another picture. The mother hummed her disapproval. Another page was flipped. Both women leaned in to get a closer look.

  “That’s a modern take on a classic bouquet,” Caitlyn said. “It’s on the smaller side but doesn’t have the perfectly round symmetrical look of the old days.”

  “I’m not sure I like all of the flowers,” the mother murmured.

  “Completely customizable to your tastes.” Caitlyn reached for the binder. “May I?” She quickly flipped through to another page. “This is another example. Same classic style with a modern twist.”

  “I like the greenery.” The bride-to-be flashed a look at her mother.

  The mother nodded. “Most of the flowers are nice too.” She turned to Caitlyn. “It’s not overly fussy.”

  “We can coordinate the main color into the decorations at the church, as well.” Caitlyn leaned back in her seat. Both women were now nodding. The sound of the bells on the door broke up the session. The mother reached for her purse as she stood.

  The bride-to-be pulled out her phone and took a quick picture of the bouquet they’d just agreed on. “I feel a lot better now, thanks.”

  Caitlyn smiled at them both. “Glad I could help.” She crossed the shop to join Gail at the front counter.

  Mother and daughter waved and flashed smiles before they went through the door.

  “Sorry I interrupted,” Gail said.

  “Perfect timing, actually. If they had sat there for much longer, they would have changed their minds again.” Caitlyn turned to her new employee. “How was lunch?”

  “Great. I brought my own and sat in the town square to eat. After that, I did some window shopping.” Gail slipped her purse from her shoulder and stowed it behind the counter.

  “Nothing tempted you enough to buy it?” Caitlyn left the counter and began gathering all of the binders she’d pulled out for the pair of women.

  “No. I liked several things that I saw but I didn’t like the prices. That’s the thing with me. I’m always chasing after the big deals.” Gail crossed over to help Caitlyn put away the binders. “If I can’t find the price I want, I don’t buy.”

  ***

  Bella finished cleaning a cage and got it ready for the next temporary guest, whoever that may be. She liked that she never knew what animal she would be seeing next. Although it was usually dogs or cats that were brought to the animal hospital for help, they also saw their fair share of birds, lizards, snakes, rodents, and rabbits. As much as she enjoyed all of that, her favorite part was when she travelled with Casey to the various farms to treat the larger animals.

  She moved over to the next cage. This one was already occupied. Unfortunately, the current occupant was very unhappy. She opened the door and slipped her hands inside to try to comfort the small beagle. He was having none of it. His constant whimpering shifted into high gear and soon became howls. No matter what Bella tried, she couldn’t get him to stop. In addition to the howling, he also shook. She assumed it was from fear though, given his injury, she knew he must also be uncomfortable. She turned her head when she felt a presence beside her but kept her hands inside the cage to stroke the young beagle.

  “No luck?” Ethan leaned down to peer into the cage. The beagle began howling louder.

  Bella shook her head. “I don’t know what else to do. I think he misses whoever he’s used to being with.”

  “Has he eaten anything?” Ethan straightened and took a step away from the cage, hoping it would lessen the beagle’s cries.

  “No food and barely no water either.” Bella rubbed the spot between the beagle’s ears gently.

  “He was found out at the campground, right?” Ethan watched Bella focus on the small dog.

  Bella nodded. “No one knows where he came from or how he was injured. Casey said that he should heal just fine.”

  “That’s good.” Ethan crossed the room to check the feed supply. “I need to order some more feed.”

  “I guess that’s one good thing about working at the feed store with Dan,” Bella said as she closed the door on the beagle’s cage.

  Ethan gave a wry smile. “Yeah. Casey likes my employee discount.”

  ***

  Gabe closed the ramp at the rear of his camper and secured the latch before turning to walk through the campground. He tried to get around as much as possible to meet everyone and was happy to say that he now knew several people by name. As he walked down the rows of campers of all shapes and sizes, he saw an older couple sitting out on the deck they’d built around their RV. They kept the unit in the same place year round.

  Gabe stopped and leaned against the deck railing. “Beautiful day.”

  “That it is.” Josie Delmar wore a folded bandana as a band to hold her short hair back. The color of the bandana was every bit as loud as the loose-fitting top she wore over her black stretch capris. “Did you have any luck?”

  Gabe held up the strand of wire. “I think this will do the trick.” He moved over to the portable fence they used to contain their small dog and bent down. After twisting the thin metal wire into place, he tried opening
and closing the door.

  “Oh, that works just fine,” Josie said.

  Gabe stood. “It’ll do in a pinch.”

  Delmar pushed himself up from the deck chair and carefully went down the stairs. The small dog cradled in one arm trembled with excitement. Delmar bent to set the miniature dog of mixed heritage onto the ground and closed the gate behind it.

  “He’ll be glad to get his exercise again.” Delmar clapped one hand on Gabe’s back. “Thanks a lot. We really appreciate it.”

  “Not a problem.” Gabe watched as the small dog began moving around inside the mobile pen. His eyes and ears were the largest features. The rest of the body was tiny in comparison. Gabe had no idea what all was in the lineage, but he assumed there was a teacup fox terrier in there somewhere. One of the wives of a race car driver he used to work for had one. She carried it around in her purse.

  “One of the other campers stopped by here last night. He said he knew you.” Delmar walked over to the deck railing and leaned against it. “Real friendly guy. Liked to talk a lot.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Gabe joined him at the railing. “Was his name Ken?”

  Delmar glanced at his wife.

  Josie nodded. “Ken. That was it.”

  “He was talking about some new opportunity for locals. Sounded kind of interesting.” Delmar gave Gabe a speculative look. “Said you could vouch for them.”

  “You bet. I’ve known Ken for years from the racing circuit. The opportunity he told you about is actually one of those win-wins. Gives you the chance to have a little fun betting on the outcome of the off-road trail while supporting education-type things around here.” Gabe flashed them both a confident smile.

  “You’re sure it’s safe?” Josie asked. “I wouldn’t want to do anything illegal.”

  Gabe raised his right hand. “Totally legit. Did Ken give you two the web site?” He waited for their nods. “You should go online and check it out. I’m telling you, Delmar. It’ll make you a whole new man.”

  ***

  Megan glanced at the clock in her car. She’d spent her day sewing more sleepers for the baby. When she ran out of fabric and matching thread, she’d gone to the craft store to pick out some more. One thing led to another and she’d ended up staying longer than she intended which meant she didn’t have dinner ready for her husband.

  If she hurried, she had just enough time to pick up some barbeque and get home before Dan did. She knew that he would offer to pick something up for them if she called him. But she was already at the restaurant. She slid from the SUV after parking at the Station Pub & Grill and saw Jerry Stevens in front of her.

  He turned when he heard her laugh. “Must be a good day for barbeque.”

  “I forgot to make dinner.” She caught up with him and they entered the restaurant together. The hostess went off to pick up their meals, leaving them to wait in the front.

  “I was looking at your bed and breakfast web site recently. I really like the code you used for the online ordering system.” Jerry nodded at a couple as they walked out of the restaurant.

  “Thanks. It works for me.” Megan smiled as the hostess returned carrying their bags. She and Jerry left at the same time after wishing each other a happy weekend. The smell of the barbeque drove her insane the whole way home.

  Chapter Five

  It was just after dinner time and there weren’t a lot of people in the park. Giselle knew from experience that would change soon as families finished their evening meal and began migrating back out to enjoy the summer evening. She saw a movement from the corner of her eye and braced herself. It was a good thing she did. Dakota nearly pulled Giselle’s arm from its socket as she lunged for the squirrel.

  “No!” Giselle shortened the leash. “I thought we were going to have a nice quiet walk in the park.”

  Dakota ignored her and began straining on the leash again toward a thicket of flowering bushes on one side of the walkway.

  “You don’t need to go in there.” Giselle turned to walk in another direction.

  Dakota was still focused on the thicket, her feet scrabbling on the walkway as she tried to reverse course.

  “No, come on. There’s lots of things to smell over here.” Giselle tugged on the leash.

  Eventually, Dakota turned from the thicket and lunged forward in the new direction. Giselle was pulled along with her for a few steps before she leaned her weight back on the leash.

  “Slow it down a little. This isn’t a race.” In the distance in front of them, Giselle could see someone coming toward them. They were also walking a dog. She considered changing course again but hesitated too long.

  Dakota saw the dog in front of her and began lunging forward again. Giselle shortened the leash again, keeping Dakota as close to her legs as possible. The girl walking toward her looked to be in her late teens. The brindle dog walking sedately by her side was huge. Giselle couldn’t help comparing the two dogs. Dakota was straining at her leash, trying with all her might to get at the other dog.

  As she drew closer to the young girl, she couldn’t help asking. “Is that a Great Dane?”

  The young girl stopped and held her hand flat above the brindle’s massive head. It sat immediately.

  “Yes.” She nodded toward Dakota. “Malinois?”

  Giselle looked down at Dakota. She was still straining against the leash. “Yeah. I didn’t realize Great Dane’s were better behaved.”

  The girl’s gaze focused on Dakota before glancing at the brindle. “Well, we spend a lot of time together socializing. That makes a difference too.”

  Giselle couldn’t take the pulling on her arm anymore. “Come on, Dakota. Let’s go check out this path.” She had to work at getting the Malinois to agree but once the Great Dane was finally out of view, Dakota began lunging forward.

  There was a brief period when Giselle could finally relax and enjoy the walk a little. The Malinois continued to strain against her leash, but Dakota’s pull was constant. It was somewhat better than when she was lunging. Giselle should have known it wouldn’t last.

  As they rounded a bend in the path, a rabbit darted across their view. Before she knew what happened, Dakota slipped from her collar and took off after the rabbit.

  “Dakota, no!” Giselle tried running after her but there was no way she could keep up with the streak of fur. Within moments, Dakota had chased the rabbit around some bushes and was gone.

  ***

  “I still don’t know what you see in that guy.” Alva Guzman reached into the cooler next to the folding chair and pulled out a beer can. A medium sized dog of mixed breed sitting at his feet began barking.

  “I’m telling you to back off.” Ken Medina stood staring at the man across the fire ring.

  They were complete opposites. Ken was the fair-haired blond with blue eyes fringed with long lashes and dimples when he smiled. The freckles across the bridge of his nose gave him the boy next door look. He had the natural ability to talk people into just about anything. It was that ability that had kept the small group of them in money. Though the rest of them did their jobs behind the scenes, it was Ken who usually acted as the front man. He was the one who went out to shake hands and kiss babies, lulling their next marks into a false sense of security.

  “We do just fine without him,” Alva continued. He was the dark-haired brooding type. At five eleven, he had an inch over Ken but was thinner. His angular face didn’t have the openness of the other man. His dark eyes were scowling at Ken.

  “This time is different,” Ken insisted. “We need his local contacts.”

  “We never have before.” Alva’s voice grew louder. The black and white dog at his feet stood and continued to bark.

  Ken looked around before shooting Alva a look. He didn’t want to attract attention. Not the wrong kind, at any rate. There were a lot of people moving around between the campground and the off-road trail. It was the night they were running the trials for the Chase. These runs would help determine the placement
for the competition tomorrow. They could hear shouts and revving motors from the area of the off-road trail. They were so close to part of the trail, in fact, that some of the competition could be viewed without ever leaving the campground.

  “Keep it down.” Ken stepped around the fire ring to get closer to Alva. “You’ll do as I say. If you don’t like the way I’m running things, you’re free to leave anytime.”

  Alva’s mouth twisted to an ugly sneer. “You couldn’t make it without me.”

  “Stop it!” Gabe moved to stand between the two men. “People can hear you.” He looked at a group of people passing by them on their way to the off-road trail property.

  Alva lifted his can and took a swig as he glared at the other two men. The dog began an agitated dance around him in circles.

  “There’s more than enough action here for all of us.” Gabe pointed at them. “You two need to get your act together. This is a close-knit community. People around here talk. You need to stop giving them the wrong thing to talk about.”

  “He’s right.” Ken focused on Alva. “Like I said. You need to reel it in.”

  Alva crushed the empty can with his hand and tossed it into the fire ring before turning to walk away. The dog ignored him. Alva stopped after several steps and turned to call his dog. It took off like a shot running ahead of Alva. They could hear him shouting at the dog for several moments.

  Ken raised both hands as he focused on Gabe. “He’ll come around. He always does.”

  Gabe pointed at Ken. “I hope so. I’m tired of making pennies with car inspections and tire changes. This is my chance to make some real money. I don’t want anyone messing up my chance.”

  Ken flashed his dimples. “Hey, no one’s going to mess it up. This is the big time for both of us. There’s no way we can fail.”