by Fry,Patricia
“You picked up on that pretty quickly, as I recall,” Leo said. “And now you’re a paramedic. Derek, I think that’s wonderful. Just wonderful.”
“Let’s check you out, okay, Mr. Kittleman?” After a few minutes, Derek announced, “Vitals are good.”
“He has some wounds that might need attention,” Craig said.
Derek frowned. “Yeah, I saw the one on his arm.”
“Check out his right leg, too,” Craig suggested.
When Leo lifted his pants leg, both paramedics chuckled quietly. “That’s some mighty fancy dressing, there,” Derek said, glancing at Alice. “Your handiwork?”
She nodded straight-faced.
“Love the floral pattern,” Sonya said. Speaking more seriously, she added, “But colored fabric isn’t the best thing to use. If you don’t have bandaging material, unbleached fabric is better.” She looked around the camp. “Maybe we can leave you some supplies in case something like this happens again.”
Alice thinned her lips and appeared to be disinterested.
“Alice, did you use any disinfectant on the wound?” Derek asked after he cut the string from around the fabric and examined the scrape.
“I used what I had,” she said, matter-of-factly. She stood, shuffled off into the shelter and returned with a large tube.
“For athlete’s foot,” Derek read from the label. He glanced at the others. “Well, it doesn’t look too bad.” After wiping the area with alcohol, he pointed out, “There’s a puncture wound here. Did you notice that, Alice?”
“Yeah, I saw it. Didn’t look too deep.”
“Well, it’s a little infected, but I don’t think it’ll cause any problems.” He treated the area with salve and bandaged it, then removed the bandaging material from Leo’s arm. “This looks good. I’ll just redress it, then I want to see if you can walk, okay, Mr. Kittleman?”
Once he and Sonya got him on his feet, they encouraged him to take a few steps. “He’s in pretty good shape, actually,” Derek said. “But I suggest you get some sort of all-terrain vehicle to take him out of here.” He asked Leo. “Would you like to ride on the back of an ATV this morning?”
Leo frowned. “What’s that? One of those funny-looking objects they fly over crowds and film the goings-ons?”
“A drone? No,” Derek said, laughing. “It’s like a three-wheeled motorcycle.”
“A motorcycle? Yeah, I’ll go for that.” Leo stared off into space for a moment, saying, “Always wanted to join a motorcycle gang and ride with the American flag pasted on the back of my leather jacket.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Okay, we’ll see what we can do about that leather jacket, okay?” Derek said. He turned to Craig. “Want to make the call?”
“Already did,” Craig said, returning to the small camp from the ridge just above. Letting out a sigh, he approached Alice. “Are you sure you don’t want to go with us?”
“Mind’s made up. No. This is where I’ll live ’til I die.”
Craig looked at Jesse who was petting Rags. “What about you, son, would you like help finding a more suitable home?”
“He stays with me,” Alice said sternly.
Craig walked closer to the young man. After studying him for a few moments, he asked, “How did you come to live here with Alice?” He glanced at the woman and back at Jesse. When the boy remained silent, he looked to Alice for an explanation.
“He’s a…a neighbor, you see…he…lost his mother at an early age,” she said while she fidgeted with a loose button on her sweater. He thinks of me as his ma…helps me ’round the place. A strong young person is a mighty useful thing to have when you start losin’ your abilities.”
“I imagine so,” Savannah said.
Sonya scrutinized Jesse, then Alice. “Do you have everything you need? Is there anything we can help with other than those bandaging materials and antiseptics we left for you?” She looked around. “Where do you get your water? Do you have water out here?”
Alice looked down at her hands. She winced, then said, “Yeah. We fill bottles at the gas station—sometimes out of a neighbor’s hose.” She pulled back a section of the canvas sleeping area and revealed a half-dozen gallon bottles full of water. “See, plenty of water for our needs.”
Sonya stared at the woman for a moment, then glanced at Derek. “Well, I guess we’re finished here. Good-bye now. Take care.”
“Yes, take care,” Derek said. He turned back to Leo. “Good to find you well, sir. Hope to see you again soon.”
“Yes, now stick to your studies, will you, young man?”
“Sure will. I have a family to support now.”
“Sounds like your ride’s here,” Sonya said, upon hearing the hum of the approaching ATV.
Craig quickly raised the makeshift flag to signal their location. At the same time, he heard Alice complain, “Gonna have to move, Jesse. Too many folks knows where we are now.”
Everyone watched as Leo was made comfortable on the back of an ATV. Before the driver could leave, Craig said, “I must know, how’d you get that thing through the brush? That trail’s narrow in places.”
“You’re telling me,” he said, pulling a machete out of a bag draped over the front of the machine. He chuckled. “It’s not so thick now.”
“Good,” Craig said. He waved at the driver and Leo. “We’ll meet you up top.”
“Yeah, a couple of women are waiting up there for him,” the driver said, before easing the vehicle out of the camp.
“Alice,” Craig said before he and Savannah headed up the trail to their car, “here’s my card. Please contact me if you need anything—or decide you want to get into more adequate housing.”
“This here’s adequate for my needs. ’Ceptin’ we need to move every now and then to keep hidden. I learnt that from old Fly-Boy John. He came back with war wounds, you know—the kind that go deeper than the skin—and he learnt me a lot about livin’ out like this so’s no one kin find ya.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “That was some years ago—like twenty or thirty, maybe—before Jesse here was even born.”
“My dad was in the war,” Jesse said. He dug into his pocket for a few moments, then pulled his hand out again. “Oh yeah, I forgot I lost it. Can’t show it to you,” he said, walking away from the group.
Craig watched the young man disappear into the brush while Savannah gathered up Rags in preparation for their trek out of the wilderness.
The pair emerged from the brush-covered trailhead just in time to see Leo’s nieces ushering him into an SUV. Once the elderly gentleman was settled in the front seat, Kathryn rushed to Craig and Savannah. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate you finding him.”
Carolyn approached, smiling through her tears. She threw her arms around Craig, then Savannah. “Thank you so, so much.” She stooped and petted Rags. “And you, too, pussycat.”
“So you’re taking him to be checked out?” Craig asked.
The women nodded. Kathryn glanced at her uncle. “Sure are. He looks good, but we want to be certain. Besides, he’s been off his medication all week. We don’t want to get him home and have him crash or something.”
“You might consider an alarm system,” Craig said. “Or childproof locks on the doors.”
“Absolutely,” Carolyn said. “We’ll make darn sure this doesn’t happen again. Thanks again,” she called, walking swiftly to her car.
Savannah and Craig waved as the car pulled away.
“You’re quiet, Craig,” Savannah observed on their way home. “What’s on your mind?”
“Huh?” he said, as if he’d been drawn out of deep thought. “Oh, nothing.”
“It has to do with Jesse, doesn’t it? Do you think he’s actually Alice’s son—hers and Fly-Boy John’s?” she asked.
He glanced at her a couple of times as he drove. “What do you think?”
“Me? I have no idea. But you sure seemed interested.”<
br />
“He isn’t familiar to you?” he asked.
“Uh, no. I don’t think so. Why, should he be?”
“I guess not. Here we are—thanks for your help today, Savannah…and Rags. Good job, team,” he quipped.
****
“I must apologize to you, Vannie,” Margaret said as she and Savannah sat in the Ivey kitchen later that day, sipping ginger lemonade.
“Why?”
“Well, because I doubted your cat. I didn’t believe he could do it. But darned if he didn’t do what none of the trained searchers could do. He found Leo.”
“Yes, but we couldn’t have done it without the community’s help.” She looked across the table at her aunt. “You know, I almost feel as though we should have a hero’s welcome for Mr. Kittleman, or maybe a community celebration honoring all of those who were involved in locating him.”
Margaret looked suspiciously at her niece. “After all that’s happened, do you really feel like organizing a community event?”
“Good point,” Savannah said, glancing up at the clock.
“Do you have to go someplace?” Margaret asked.
“No, just wondering how long Lily’s going to sleep. I guess she and Michael had a busy morning at the mall.”
“Where is he?”
“Oh, Damon needed a little help with a project.”
Margaret smiled. “Sure is nice to have a skilled handyman in the family. Michael was a big help when we put in that new cat enclosure a few months ago.”
“And we appreciate having a chef in the family. I always look forward to Max’s gourmet payments for Michael’s help. Hey,” she said, grinning, “I wonder if Michael would agree to have Max pay for his veterinary services with meals.”
“I don’t think we ought to go there, Vannie, do you?” Margaret leaned forward. “Hey, I wanted to ask, did you take that bullet to the police?”
“Um, no, I don’t think so. I didn’t, and Michael hasn’t mentioned doing it.”
“You really ought to tell Craig about it,” she insisted.
Savannah was quiet for a moment, then said, “Have you noticed that Iris seems a little disenchanted with that job out at the Kaiser place?”
“No. Why would she be? She should make a pretty penny and have an amazing portfolio to show after she completes that job.” She studied Savannah for a moment. “What do you think is bothering her, the work or the people involved?”
“I don’t know what the problem is. We’ve only spoken about it briefly.” Savannah sat straight, her eyes wide. “She told me she found a bullet hole.”
Margaret slammed her hand on the table. “Oh, my God! No wonder she’s disenchanted. Do you think she’s signed a contract? Does she have an escape clause?”
Savannah frowned. “I don’t know. But Auntie, that place has been boarded up for decades and I believe the people who lived there are all gone. Who cares if there was something sinister going on there eons ago?” She smiled. “Besides, Iris likes a good mystery as well as you and I do.”
Before Margaret could respond, the women heard the thumping of footsteps on the wraparound porch followed by the sound of frantic knocking. Savannah flashed a puzzled look in Margaret’s direction, then pulled the door open. “Kira, honey, what’s wrong?” she asked when she saw the child standing there, tears streaming down her face. Kira glanced over her shoulder, then slipped in through the door and wrapped her arms around Savannah’s waist.
Struggling a little to catch her breath, she said, “I think he saw me. He knows I was there,” she wailed.
Savannah led the girl into the room, eased herself into a kitchen chair, and put her hands on Kira’s arms. “Who? Who saw you? Honey, look at me. What has you so upset?”
When Kira didn’t answer, Savannah pulled a chair out for her. “Here, sit down. Tell me what’s happened.”
Kira finally made eye contact with Savannah and began to speak in bursts: “He knows. He knows I saw him.” She sobbed into her hands. “I don’t know what he’s going to do. Savannah, I’m scared.”
“Are you talking about what you saw the night your uncle…died?”
She nodded and glanced toward the back door.
“Is someone following you?” Margaret asked.
“Maybe,” she said, quietly.
Margaret stood and walked toward the large window next to the door. After staring out into the yard for several seconds, she said, “I don’t see anyone. Who is it you think might be after you, honey?”
The child looked at Margaret, then Savannah. She swallowed hard. “My…my father.”
Savannah felt a surge of anger. Trying to contain herself, she asked, her voice cracking, “So you think it was your father who…who hurt your uncle?”
She nodded. “And he put Rodney in the back of a truck.”
Savannah narrowed her eyes. “But your dad doesn’t have a truck, does he?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know whose truck it was. It all happened so fast. I ran and hid. I think he knows I saw him. He’s mad at me all the time now. He won’t hardly look at me,” she wailed.
“Kira, could you be imagining this?” Savannah asked gently. “Sometimes our minds can play tricks on us when we’re upset.”
“I just don’t know.”
“What made you run so fast over here just now?” Savannah asked.
“I came home from Sarah’s house up the street.” She smiled a little. “We made ice cream and ate hotdogs. Mom wasn’t home when I got there, just Dad.” Kira began getting agitated again. “He yelled at me for slamming the door.” Insistently, she added, “Savannah, I didn’t slam the door—at least, I didn’t mean to. He was so mad and…well, I just didn’t want to be home alone with him.”
“Where are your brothers and sister?”
“I…I don’t know. Can I stay here for a while…until my mom gets home?”
“Sure, Kira, but hon, then what? Are you going to go through your life like this? Don’t you think you should face what it is you think you saw? You’re going to make yourself sick living in this kind of fear.”
“But my dad…”
“The truth has to come out, hon, and it seems as though you’re the only witness to the truth. I know you’re only nine, and what I’m suggesting is a very grown-up thing to do, but you must talk to someone.”
“I talked to you. I told you.”
“Yes, but you haven’t agreed that I should tell anyone. Kira, listen to me. You must tell what you know. I have a good friend who’s a detective and he’s actually working on your uncle’s case. They’ve arrested someone for the murder. Did you know that?”
She nodded.
“Without your story, an innocent man could be convicted and given the death penalty for something that maybe he didn’t do. That shouldn’t happen to anyone.” She looked Kira in the eyes. “And honey, no one should have something like that on their conscience.”
“But what if I tell and my father gets arrested? Then I have that on my conscience and…and…and my sister and brothers and mother—my whole family will hate me.”
“I don’t think that’s so, Kira. We don’t know for sure, but what we do know is that whoever is responsible for your uncle’s death should be made to suffer the consequences. Don’t you think so? Isn’t that what your dad teaches in his ministry?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know, but that’s what my Sunday school teacher says. He read us a story about it. And that’s what Mom teaches us. If we’re wrong, we have to pay in some way—sometimes it’s by apologizing, other times…worse.”
“Worse?”
“Yeah, we have time out or we get no dessert or we have extra chores. Punishment, you know.”
“Do you believe in punishment?”
Kira thought for a moment before answering. “Yeah. I don’t like it when I have punishment to do, but I think people should be punished for the things they do wrong. Yes. I believe in it.”
&nb
sp; Savannah studied the child for a moment. Before she could speak, Margaret stood. “Okay if I go check on Lily?”
“Yes. Thank you, Auntie.”
“She’s your aunt?” Kira asked.
Savannah nodded. “Kira, is it okay if I call my friend the detective? He’ll know what to do. And I’m pretty certain that he can find out the truth about what happened without ever involving you.”
Her tear-stained face brightened a little. “Really?”
“Absolutely. There’s no reason why anyone has to know it was you who told the truth, unless you want them to know.”
She thought for a moment, then looked up and smiled at Lily, who rode into the room in Margaret’s arms.
“Ki-a,” Lily said pointing at the child. “Ki-a.”
Kira smiled and reached for the baby. “She knows my name. You said my name, didn’t you, Lily? How cute.” Kira sat holding Lily on her lap for a few moments, then turned to Savannah. “Yes, I want to talk to your friend and maybe I’ll stop being so scared all the time.”
“Good,” Savannah said, picking up her phone, punching in a number, and stepping out onto the porch. In a few minutes, she returned. “He’s on his way over.” She brightened when she said, “He’s bringing you an ice cream cone. Want a vanilla ice cream cone?”
“Sure,” Kira said smiling. “I can be bribed.”
Margaret and Savannah laughed.
Chapter 7
“The ice cream’s good,” Kira said. “Thank you.”
Craig nodded. “You’re welcome. It was nice of you to share with Lily.”
Kira glanced at Lily and back at Craig.
“Kira,” he said, “Savannah tells me you saw something the night your uncle was…uh…hurt…uh…something you think might be important. Do you want to tell me about it?”
The child looked at him and spoke slowly. “I saw my father hit him with something—maybe a knife—and put him in a truck and drive away.” She let out a sigh.
Savannah patted the girl’s hands and smiled at her.
When Lily whined for Savannah to pick her up, Margaret said, “How about if I go for a walk with Lily. I’ll take her over to my place and you can come get her later.”