Blaze

by Dale Mayer

  Both her sisters had married upwardly mobile wealthy males with a huge bright future ahead of them. Her sisters appeared to have the same thought about their successful marriages too, as they often looked down their snotty noses at Camilla and her quote “job.”

  “A little job,” just one that would keep her busy but not exactly catch her a real man. An argument that had gone on for the last many years. The best day of her life—and she hated to say it—was the day her mother and sisters had all relocated out West two years ago where everything was happening. The sisters had both met and found their husbands there too. Because, of course, no eligible males were left here in Kentucky.

  The fact that Camilla’s grandmother had also passed on and had left a lot of her estate to Camilla had been the final driving wedge in the familial relationships. Her sisters had gotten something but not as much. Her grandmother had said Camilla’s mother was the face of the family, but Camilla was the heart, and Grandma was all about helping the heart. At the time, Camilla had felt guilty and wondered if she should have shared, but her other relatives and friends had told her, “Don’t.” Her sisters had both drummed into Camilla how she had to give over her inheritance, telling her that was only appropriate, but they had all quickly disappeared when they realized she wouldn’t. She still had pangs of guilt over it. But not enough to change.

  Her sisters weren’t terribly nice people. Camilla had not been invited to either wedding. She’d been sent lavish videos and photos though, but it was presumed she was working too hard at her little business to take the time off to go to their weddings. It had been a grave disappointment because, as much as they may not get along, she would like to think blood was thicker than water. In this case though, apparently not. Money was the only glue that held her sisters together. When Camilla hadn’t forked it over—and, of course, maybe they had the right to feel angry over Grandma’s split of her estate—her sisters and her mom had cut Camilla out of the family.

  It’s not like Camilla had decided how Grandma should divvy up her estate. And Camilla didn’t cut her mother and sisters out of her family. But it took two … or, in this case, four.

  Still, as she got into her Mustang, now with a brand-new wheel on it and delivered to the door, she slowly drove back to her house, wondering if this impacted her view of Blaze. Then wondered, when he found out about Camilla’s mother, would it impact his view of her? It shouldn’t. They were both young adults who weren’t responsible for their parents’ actions or feud. But that was also easier said than done.

  She pulled up to the front of her place, hit the code to open the gate and drove forward, hitting the remote button to open her garage door. She drove into the garage, closing the gate and the door behind her before she exited her car, tired and frustrated. Yet still feeling good she’d managed to get as much done as she could for this upcoming weekend. She walked inside to hear the landline phone ringing—something also handed down by her grandmother. It kept Camilla’s home life separate from her business. She grabbed the phone and said, “Hello.”

  “I hear Enid’s son came home?”

  Surprise, surprise, it was her mother. “If you say so,” she said cautiously. “And who told you that?”

  “Never you mind,” her mother said. “You stay away from him. I won’t have anybody from that family associated with ours.”

  “So I’m part of the family now that you have a bigger, badder villain?” Getting no response, she said, “Good to know.” Still wondering how her mother could possibly have known the latest gossip here so fast, Camilla took off her jacket and put on the teakettle. “I don’t even know the man,” she said, “and Enid’s gone. Her family had nothing to do with your fight with her.”

  “They’re all the same. Blaze is exactly the same.”

  “Well, he seems to care about dogs too, apparently,” Camilla said, “but that’s hardly the same.”

  “It all starts down the same path,” her mother said darkly. “And I’m warning you. You stay away from him.”

  Camilla leaned against the counter and said, “Or what? You left here so you didn’t have to deal with me, and there you are out West, trolling for yet another husband. What difference does it make to you if I date somebody here you don’t approve of?”

  She could hear her mother sputtering.

  “I’m not trying to be insulting or disrespectful, just opening up the lines of communication,” Camilla said honestly. “I am an adult. I haven’t lived in your house for years. So I follow my own rules now. But I’m asking. I’m curious. Why should any feud you have with somebody—who is now dead—impact how I treat any offspring or the rest of the woman’s family?”

  “Because they’re bad people,” her mother said.

  At that, Camilla burst out laughing. “Oh, my goodness, bad? Why? Because you didn’t like them? How is that even a thing?”

  “Don’t you laugh at me,” her mother commanded in that haughty tone.

  But Camilla could hear the hurt in her mother’s words. Camilla moderated her tone. “Look. I’m sorry, but just because you decree that I shouldn’t have anything to do with him doesn’t mean I’m not going to. And, if you don’t mind, I’ve had an extremely long day. I’d like to get some rest.” And she hung up the phone. Generally her mother would never let her get away with that and rarely would it end there. Camilla waited, watching the phone like a time bomb, but it didn’t ring again. Surprised but happy, she made herself a cup of tea and then, after it was made, stared at it and said, “I really could use a glass of wine now.”

  She pulled out a bottle from the fridge she had already opened and poured herself a large glass. And then she looked at the tea and the wine, shrugged her shoulders, picked up both and carried them through to her sitting room. She set both down on the coffee table, turned on her gas fireplace, even though it was the middle of summer, and curled up in a corner of the couch.

  She wanted to grab her laptop and go over some of the stuff she’d done today and take some notes so she didn’t forget, but, at the same time, she was, as she’d told her mom, exhausted. She dropped her head back against the high cushions and tried to destress. “Who would have thought?” she said. “Enid’s son.” She shook her head. She didn’t think there was any other male in this town her mother would have as much of a problem with as Blaze.

  Blaze woke the next morning, feeling better and more positive about life. He’d gotten over that awkward first moment with his father. They’d hashed out and discussed other issues all last evening, going from politics to religion to his mother’s funeral to Blaze’s own injuries and to the fact he wouldn’t let his parents be at his side in the hospital. But the end result was, when they were all talked out, both men had been basically comfortable again.

  With a wave at his dad, who stood on the front deck, Blaze hopped into his truck and headed back out of town to where he’d stopped to help Camilla. He knew she was having a crazy day, today being Friday, and of course, her event was on the weekend. He didn’t know weddings took an entire weekend or if it just took an entire weekend to deal with the setup and then the takedown, but he figured it wouldn’t be safe to call her until Monday. But he had to admit it was one of the first things on his mind when he woke up. He pulled his truck off to the opposite side of the road from where the Mustang had been parked, got out and locked up. He grabbed his water bottle, shouldered his pack, crossed the road, backtracked about fifty feet and then headed in the direction Camilla had seen the dog running.

  It was overcast but warm. All in all, it was a nice day for a good walk, and the least he could do was check out the last sighting of the dog. He had a leash, dog treats and some dog food in his pack. He didn’t know what kind of condition or temperament the shepherd might be in. He just hoped he could track her down and get her home. His dad had been all for it, had even volunteered to come this morning, but Blaze had wanted to get out alone and to see what he could figure out on his own.

  If he found the dog and cou
ldn’t get the dog to come to him, well, calling his dad in to help might not be a bad idea. His father’s methods were a little bit harsher than Blaze would normally have used himself. His mother had been a much softer trainer. But everybody had their own methodologies, and his dad had never abused an animal yet, so it wasn’t like Blaze would have a problem bringing his father in to help.

  He could hear the sound of the woods crackling underneath his feet. He wanted to walk quietly, but it wasn’t happening. The forest was way too full of deadfall, which was too bad because, if a fire started here, it would sweep through the area and take out so much that they’d find themselves in the middle of a huge inferno.

  The trees got thicker and thicker as he went. His phone’s GPS told him where he was, and, so far, he could still see his truck. He had a rough estimate of where he was going, having looked it up on satellite imagery earlier this morning. Miles of land were around here. It belonged to the state and wasn’t developed, but obviously there was talk about it happening soon.

  As he walked, he called out to the dog. “Hey, girl, you hungry?” He looked around, whistled a series of dog whistles he knew from his father. But still saw no sign of her. He kept walking. After an hour, he wondered if he’d gone far enough. There was a field up ahead. He stepped through the break in the woods to see a more open area. There he found a log, sat down and drank from his bottle. He loved being out in nature. Having a spot like this to enjoy was a godsend. It was one of the reasons why he had wanted to come back home. It was a decent-size town but with a lot of countryside. Much better than a huge city with no greens at all.

  As he sat here, he thought he heard a noise up ahead. He turned and looked and found a couple hikers. They took one look at him and stopped.

  He raised a hand in greeting, calling out, “Good morning.” He watched the relief cross their faces. It was a young couple, maybe even teenagers. They waved a hand back and kept going. He hopped to his feet and called out, “I’m searching for a lost shepherd. Have you seen her?”

  They talked for a moment, then called back, “Not today. We did a few days ago though, when we were here.”

  “Where did you see her?”

  The man pointed in the direction they’d come. “But we haven’t seen her this morning.”

  “Okay,” Blaze said. “I’ll head off in that direction and take a look.”

  The couple kept going. As they were about out of earshot, the man turned back and said, “Is she dangerous?”

  “I don’t think so,” Blaze said. “But I know she’s lost, and she needs a home and maybe medical attention.”

  The man nodded, and they kept walking.

  Blaze picked up his bag and decided to follow their trail back to where they had come from. He figured they had approached this wooded area from a different street than Blaze did, and, if he followed their tracks back, he could walk the road all the way down again. And that was what he did. Unfortunately he detected no sign of the shepherd. He stood on the other side of the street and wandered around the area. There were a couple houses. He knocked on both front doors and asked if anybody had seen the shepherd. One man had; the other person hadn’t. But the man who had seen her didn’t have a clue where she came from. He said he saw her just walking down the street. So now Blaze had to figure out if his only way to get a hold of her was to stay in this area.

  He walked back to his vehicle, tired but feeling physically better after the hefty walk. He grabbed his brown bag lunch and ate his sandwich as he kept an eye out for Solo crossing the road. Finishing off his lunch with some water, he took a thirty-minute power nap. Waking up refreshed, he then decided, since the shepherd had come from the other side of the road, crossing in front of Camilla’s path, there was a good chance she could be over there too. He headed into that area, figuring he’d take a quick look.

  He was only in the trees about one hundred yards when he heard a sound. He froze when he saw maybe a coyote, maybe a dog, off to the far right, about another one hundred yards deeper into the forest. He took a few stealthier steps, only it was impossible to walk quietly. The leaves crackled from the severe drought, and so much underbrush was here that every step he took made noise. He studied the undergrowth, looking for the animal. It was well-hidden; Blaze’s only awareness of it was the flicker of its ears.

  Blaze crouched down ever-so-slightly and called out, “I’m here. It’s okay.”

  Slowly he lowered the pack off his back and brought out the bag of dog treats. He shook the bag gently and said, “Come on, girl. Come and take a look.” He remembered how the navy’s K9 trainers would have called her by her name. Same thing his parents would have done too, to strengthen the connection between the dog and the human. “Hey, Solo. Come on, girl. Come say hi.”

  He waited a long ten minutes, but whatever was here wasn’t coming forward. Finally he put the treats back in his backpack and said, “I’ll be back. I promise.” He pulled out the dog food and made a spot on the ground, knowing the dog’s senses would easily pick it up. He dumped out a bunch. “I’ll come back later this afternoon,” he said, and he slowly backed away. He didn’t know how long she had gone without human contact.

  He waited at the side of the road, wondering if he’d see enough to confirm it was Solo, but then realized the dog would wait for him to leave the area before she went for the food. Right now, the most important thing was that she eat and stay fit, so he climbed into his truck and drove down the road a bit. There were just miles and miles of nothing up ahead. He finally turned around when the shoulder was wide enough that he could do a U-turn with his truck and pulled back up to the same place. He stopped, hopped out and followed the same path he’d taken the first time deeper into the woods.

  He stopped when he got to where he’d put the dog food and smiled. “Well, at least you ate,” he said. “How about a bit more?”

  Still, he noted no sign of the dog, and he couldn’t hear anything move, but he carefully shook the dog food bag again and then poured out some more food. Happy he was getting food into her, he hopped back into the truck and headed into town. There he went to the feed store and picked up more dog food. As he walked out, he caught sight of Slim.

  “Slim,” he called out. “How did you make out with Camilla’s car?”

  “I found one tire,” he said, “and only one. But we’ve got her back on the road, and I’ll keep an eye out for a good set of used ones. The sooner, the better, I know,” he said with the shy smile, “but she needs something now.”

  Blaze nodded. “Sometimes we must do what we must do. It doesn’t really matter if we like it or not.”

  “Exactly,” Slim said. He looked at the dog food and said, “That won’t go very far at your dad’s place.”

  Blaze chuckled. “No, I’m after a shepherd that’s been lost in this area. Have you seen her?”

  “I think everybody has,” Slim said. “It’s almost always seen in the area where we found Camilla stranded.”

  “That’s why she says she ran off the road,” Blaze said. “She saw the shepherd and tried to avoid her.”

  “Yeah, done that a time or two myself,” Slim said.

  “Have you seen her anywhere else other than that stretch of town?”

  Slim shook his head. “Nope. Now, old Freddie there, he lives probably closest to that area. You might ask him. Although he doesn’t think much of dogs, as you know.”

  Blaze nodded. “Then it’s probably better I don’t ask him. He’s likely to go looking for the shepherd and pop her one.”

  “If you bring him a bottle, he might let you know when he sees the shepherd and not kill her, but you can’t be sure about that.”

  Blaze nodded, pondering it. “You got time for coffee?”

  “No, sorry,” he said. “I’ve got to go out and help my mom. She’s having trouble with her Jeep.”

  “Okay, good enough. I’ll see you later then.” Blaze headed to the coffee shop himself, wanting that midafternoon hit of caffeine. He looked aro
und at the storefronts, trying to refamiliarize himself with what felt natural and normal and what felt different and was likely new to town. That baby store he thought was new. Beside it was a computer gaming store. He thought that was new too.

  He went on to the coffee shop. Although it was still in the same location, it had a new name. Now it was the Hungry Hound. He walked in and didn’t recognize the owner and the people working here either. He pulled out a chair at the table nearest the big window, sat down and, as soon as the waitress arrived, ordered himself a coffee. Somebody else came in behind him and ordered coffee and a cinnamon bun. When the cinnamon bun was delivered, Blaze’s eyebrows rose up high. He called out to the waitress and said, “That looks wonderful. Could I get one too, please?”

  She smiled and said, “Sure.” She disappeared into the back.

  He sat at the window, watching the world go by, wondering what had brought him back here at this time. It was good to be back. It felt right to be back. He just wondered at the odd sense of not having come back all this time. There were definitely things that felt natural, more natural. It had been ten years since he’d lived here. And there was certainly enough change in that time that much of it felt different.

  He pulled out his phone, flicking through his address book, but he had no contact info for anybody from his life before the navy, which was kind of sad. He thought about the friends he’d gone to school with, but most had left the area and had gone to make their fortunes somewhere else. Their parents were likely to be still around, but he wondered just how many people he would even remember.

  When the cinnamon bun came, he looked at it and smiled. “Thank you.” He picked up a fork and tried to break off a piece. It was so hot he didn’t want to pick it up, but finally he gave up and picked up the monster and took a big bite. It was delicious. If he ever needed a sugar high, this would keep him going for days. The waitress stopped at his table and filled his coffee cup. “You new in town?”