Hot on the Trail Mix

by P. D. Workman

  He’d tried telling them to leave once and Ryder had come back. Even when Willie kicked them off again, they had only gone a couple of roads over when they set up camp again. Was it because they still wanted access to Willie’s property?

  “That cave… were there minerals there?” Erin asked.

  “There are minerals in every cave. That’s what caves are made from,” Willie countered with a smile.

  “I know. I mean… precious metals or diamonds or anything like that. Why was Rip interested in the cave? Is there something worth mining there?”

  Erin thought back to the way the cave and the property had looked the day that she and Vic went out there. There was no sign that Willie had been mining, as far as she had seen. She hadn’t gone inside the cave, but if Willie were taking minerals out of that mine, he had to move them, and Erin hadn’t seen any tracks in the dirt. No wagon or cart or truck.

  “That’s not any of your business,” Willie told her matter-of-factly.

  Erin nodded her agreement.

  Chapter 31

  “We didn’t really talk much about your day,” Terry murmured to Erin as they cuddled that night, getting ready for sleep. “How did your visits go?”

  “Good. I got in to see Mary Lou and Joshua. They’re… coming along, I guess. I wish Josh was doing better, but I guess you can’t expect him to recover right away from something so traumatic. Everyone keeps saying, ‘kids bounce right back,’ so I kind of expected him to be back to his old self again. But… I should know better. I’ve seen trauma and how it can affect people. Even kids.”

  Terry nodded, snuggling her close. “That makes sense. We like to think that a negative experience is just that, something that happened that we can just move on from. But it isn’t always the case. It still changes us. Maybe a little, maybe a lot.”

  “Yeah. I want to give Josh a hug and tell him that it is all going to be okay. But he’s not my kid. I can’t do that. And… I don’t know how he’s going to be. How hard it is going to be to get over the hump. Some people… don’t ever recover.”

  “Does Mary Lou have him in therapy? She really should.”

  “I don’t know. She didn’t bring it up and I would never ask.”

  “Well… keep an eye on him. You’re right, sometimes it’s too much for people. If that’s the case for Josh, we need to make sure he gets the help he needs before he does something to harm himself.”

  “Yeah. That would really be terrible.”

  “It would.” Terry rubbed Erin’s back and shoulders. She turned a little to give him better access.

  “Anyway. So that was Josh. And then there were the Fosters.”

  “A happier visit. How are they holding up with the new baby?”

  “Everything seems to be good. Peter is helping out with the little kids as much as he can. She sent him to the store today to pick up some things for her, and he did a good job at that.”

  “You don’t sound like you approve.”

  “I hope I didn’t sound that way with her, but I think she could see that I was… uncomfortable with it. I guess… I’m just a bit paranoid about things like kidnapping. The things that could happen to him on the way over there. I know Bald Eagle Falls is a safe place, but… nowhere is completely free of bullies and pedophiles…”

  “No. Unfortunately not. But walking to the store and back during the day… that should be pretty safe for him.”

  “As safe as anything,” Erin said. She yawned and stretched, tensing and then relaxing all of her muscles. “Safe as houses.”

  “Just like you’re safe here,” Terry reminded her. He put his arms around her again, his breathing long and even.

  “Yes.” Erin closed her eyes. “So many babies this year. Are there always so many babies?”

  “Who has babies?”

  “The Fosters, the Ryders, Adrienne, that other family out there. Everybody has babies.” She sighed. “Except us.”

  Terry took in a sharp breath. Then he seemed to be holding it, to have stopped breathing altogether. Erin pried her eyes open to look in his direction. She could see his face in the dark, but it was only a pale oval in the darkness. No features.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You just said that everybody has babies except us.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you… wanting a baby?”

  “No. I don’t think so. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m really mother material. I think all of those years in so many different homes kind of put me off of families. Kids can be such a bother, you know.”

  “Well… so they can. They can interfere with a lot of plans, tie you down, cause a lot of heartache. But people still choose to have them.”

  Erin turned over and snuggled into Terry’s chest. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not making any kind of decision.”

  “If you’re thinking about having kids, I’d like to at least hear about it.”

  “Not really. Just when I see or hold someone else’s baby, I always feel this sort of… tug. Just hormones, I guess. Biology. The drive to perpetuate the species. I start to wonder what it would be like. Think that maybe someday…”

  Terry breathed in and out a few times, waiting. “Someday…?”

  “Maybe. But not yet.”

  “Okay. Go to sleep now.”

  “I am.” Erin closed her eyes again and drifted off.

  She and Vic had talked off and on a few times over the next day about the various homeless families they had encountered so far, speculating on their plans, how they were going to survive, and if they needed help or would even take it if they did.

  After getting home from the bakery, Erin decided that she needed to take the bull by the horns and find out where Adrienne’s family was staying. Or at least to make sure that they weren’t squatting in her woods.

  Terry was working a shift with the police department, so Erin left a note on the kitchen table saying where she was going, and headed out the back, through the gate, into the trees.

  It was easier for her to navigate now than it had been when she had first arrived and had explored the woods. It had seemed so vast then, and she didn’t know one area of the woods from another. The intersecting footpaths or animal paths had all looked the same to her, as had the trees and other vegetation.

  But she knew her way around now. She knew the shapes of the different trees, the clearings, the berry bushes, and the pathways that connected them all. She didn’t need a map, she knew where everything was, and no longer got lost if she didn’t keep an eye on the sun and the direction she was traveling. It only took her a few minutes to make her way to Adele’s cottage. She didn’t know for sure that Adele would be there, but she didn’t usually head out on her ramblings until the sun started to go down, so there was a good chance she would still be at home or close to the cottage.

  She heard a crow cawing overhead and looked up, trying to identify whether it was Skye. Maybe he was the early warning system that someone was approaching the house. When Erin reached the cottage, Adele opened the door.

  “Erin, come in. What can I do for you?”

  Erin entered but didn’t sit down at the table. She looked around at the room, her eyes taking everything in. Were there more possessions there than there usually were? Fewer? Was anything out of place?

  Adele followed Erin’s gaze, and her lifted eyebrow gave her an amused appearance.

  “Well? Can I get you something?”

  “No. I’m sorry. I just wondered… The other day when you came by, we talked about people hanging around lately, about the homeless or indigent...”

  “Yes…?”

  “I wanted to check with you. They’re not camped out here, are they? In these woods?”

  “There’s lots of space,” Adele said, not answering the question.

  “Yes, I know. And I really don’t want to have to search it all myself. I know that everyone needs somewhere to live, but… I could be liable for anything that happens on my land.”


  “What is going to happen?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t predict. Things go wrong. People have accidents. Hurt each other. I don’t want something to happen that I’ll be held responsible for.”

  Adele stared out one of the small windows, considering. Her non-answer had actually been a pretty big giveaway. Yes, of course they were camped out in Erin’s woods. Like Erin, Adele did not want to have to kick them out. She wanted a way out of it.

  “Do you really think anyone would hold you responsible?”

  “I don’t know. I guess they could sue me, and then the court would have to decide how much of it had been my fault. How much money I had to pay for what happened. I don’t really want to have to pay anything. The bakery is stable financially right now, but if something were to happen and I had to pay thousands of dollars in reparations… I’d go under. Auntie Clem’s would be gone. I don’t know what I would do. I guess I would have to sell the house and this land.”

  Erin let Adele think that part out to its final conclusion. If Erin sold the land, then Adele would be out a home as well.

  “Or look at what’s happened to Willie. Someone gets killed on his claim, and he’s the prime suspect.”

  “No one would hold you responsible just because a murder happened on your land.”

  “I’ve been a suspect before. I don’t like the way it feels.”

  Adele snorted and nodded. “Have to agree with you on that one.”

  They were both silent for a while. Finally, Adele spoke. “I’ll get them to move on.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Adele nodded. “That’s just the way life works. What is it the Christian scriptures say? He who has the most will get more, and he who has the least, it will be taken from him?” She sighed. “I have always thought that very unfair.”

  “Me too,” Erin agreed.

  Chapter 32

  “Do you think I should talk to them?” Erin asked. “I could explain that it was my decision, not yours, and… I want to do more for them, but I don’t know what. I’ve told everyone I can that they can come to the bakery for food; I need to get rid of day-old baking anyway. But they’re all so proud. They say they take care of themselves.”

  Adele shrugged. “I don’t know if it will make any difference whether you or I tell them. It is my job. And as far as finding them somewhere else to live, or feeding them your leftover bread, I can’t help you there. I don’t know the best way to help people trying to make it on their own. I guess… just offer and then step back. See what happens down the line.”

  Erin nodded. “I worry about the children especially. It’s one thing for the parents to decide that they don’t want any help and that they’re going to live on land that isn’t theirs, but the kids didn’t choose that. They don’t choose to go hungry and or live like vagrants.”

  “So, what should happen?” Adele asked gently. “Send them off to foster care to families who will take care of them properly?”

  “No.” Erin sighed. “I know there aren’t any easy answers. I just want to take care of them.”

  “Like I said, you have a soft heart. That’s not a bad thing, but it is uncomfortable. Like having a paper cut on your index finger. It’s always brushing against something.”

  Erin nodded. It was an apt comparison. Would it be better not to have a soft heart, so that it wouldn’t be as uncomfortable? She would have to be a different person altogether. She would no longer be herself.

  “I think I’d like to talk to them. I want to… be able to explain and let them know that I’ll help in other ways if I can. I just can’t be worried about what might happen with them on my land.”

  Adele described to Erin where the family was staying. They were practically in Erin’s back yard. Erin laughed ruefully and headed back toward home.

  “Thanks, Adele. I appreciate it.”

  “I know I should have told them right away not to camp on your land. I should have told them it was private property and to leave.”

  “Maybe you have a soft heart too,” Erin teased.

  “Not a good thing for a groundskeeper. I need to be tough, not be swayed by every sob story.”

  “You shouldn’t beat yourself up either. You haven’t been swayed by every sob story. This is the first one, isn’t it?”

  Adele nodded. Erin wondered whether it were true. Had there been others that she hadn’t known about? Maybe not squatters, but people that Adele had let stay overnight, or to have a quiet campfire together because they weren’t bothering anyone? Or inviting her friends over for a midnight pagan ritual? Erin hadn’t kept an eye on the property, trusting that Adele was doing her job and keeping everyone else off. Maybe Erin needed to be more aware of what was going on right under her nose.

  In a few minutes, she was at the edge of Adrienne’s camp. She had neglected to ask Adele if there were a Mr. Adrienne around. Or if she needed to be concerned about sneaking up on people who might be armed. She really should have at least weighed the risks and considered all of the facts before she decided to shoo them out.

  For a moment, she considered just returning home and seeing whether Terry was back and could go along with her. Or going back to get Adele or telling her the next day to just go ahead and inform them herself, as Erin had chickened out.

  But she didn’t want to be a chicken about it. How hard was it to tell a woman that this was private property and she would have to find somewhere else to camp? There was a whole wilderness outside of Bald Eagle falls to choose from.

  Erin took a deep breath to center and fortify herself. Then, she moved into the clearing where Adrienne and the children sat around an empty camp stove, warming their hands. The smell of hot dogs hung in the air. The children’s eyes went to her immediately. A couple of the kids jumped up, ready to run for it. Adrienne shifted the baby in her sling and looked at Erin with tired, defeated eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” Erin said. She tried to swallow a lump in her throat.

  “We have nowhere else to go tonight,” Adrienne said. “It would take more than an hour to break camp, and then it will be dark, and the children should be in bed sleeping.”

  “In the morning, then,” Erin said. “When everyone is up, you can get started… you should have time to find somewhere else.”

  “You make it sound so easy. You have no idea.”

  “I haven’t had to do anything like that myself,” Erin said. “I believe that it’s going to be hard. So get a good night’s sleep now, worry about it in the morning.”

  Adrienne wiped at her face with the back of her hand and Erin realized with horror that she was crying. Adrienne had seemed so hard when they had talked earlier that Erin hadn’t expected this. She thought that Adrienne would just tough it out and not show Erin how she felt about it.

  Or maybe that was planned. Perhaps she was hoping to break Erin down with her tears.

  “Mama!” One of the children hurried over to her and threw his arms around her. “Why you crying? It’s okay. Don’t cry.” He used a corner of the baby sling to wipe the tears away.

  “I’m just tired,” Adrienne told him. “You know how it is when you’re so tired that every little thing makes you sad. I’ll be fine. You guys need to start getting ready for bed.”

  “We don’t hafta go?”

  “Not now.”

  The little boy looked at Erin. “It’s the nice cookie lady,” he said. “She’s nice.”

  “Yes. She’s trying. Now hop to it. Where’s your toothbrush?”

  The little boy crawled into one of the tents. Erin noticed that it wasn’t a zippered nylon tent, but heavier canvas with snaps. Maybe army surplus. Maybe a hundred years old. Erin hadn’t ever seen one quite like it before.

  “You heard me,” Adrienne told the other children. “It’s time to get ready for bed.”

  One of the girls took a child of indeterminate gender by the hand to take him into the tent and begin their bedtime routine. Another older girl sat there at first, looking acr
oss at her mother, not budging.

  “You too, Hope,” Adrienne said. “No staying up late tonight. You need lots of sleep to give you energy tomorrow.”

  “We don’t have anywhere to go,” Hope said seriously.

  “We’ll work something out.”

  Hope scratched at a fraying hole in the knee of her pants. She sucked her thin cheeks in, looking worried. “Aunt Ann would take little Jeffey and Samantha. She said she would.”

  Adrienne said nothing.

  “And what about Bell? She said if I could help with chores, maybe I could stay there.” Tears started to track down Hope’s face. She wiped them away, but couldn’t make them stop. “I don’t want us to be split up.”

  Adrienne held out an arm toward her. Hope crawled around the cookstove into her mother’s arms. Adrienne gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head.

  “We’re not going to split everyone up. We’ll figure something out.”

  “Ike had to go live with his grandma.”

  “I’m not going to send you to live with anyone else. Okay? You just relax. Get a good sleep tonight so you can help me in the morning. We need to break down the camp and get everything packed. I need help with that. You know how the little ones get underfoot.”

  Hope sniffled and nodded. “You aren’t going to take them to Aunt Ann?”

  “No.”

  “Like Ike?”

  “No.”

  “He was sick, and they had to send him to his grandma to get better.”

  “That’s right,” Adrienne agreed. “But you’re not sick, are you?”

  “No. I’m as healthy as a horse.” Hope puffed her chest out. “I never get sick.”

  “Then I need you right here with me to help me out.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now, go get ready.” Adrienne looked over at the tent. They could hear giggling and bickering intertwining as the children got themselves and each other ready. “Tell the others to knock it off and get in the beds, or there’s gonna be trouble when I get in there!”