by James Nelson
“Jeanette, have you seen Stephen?”
“About an hour ago. He wanted to drive over to Grand View so I let him borrow my car.”
Phillip frowned. “What? Oh, that’s not good. He should have stayed here.”
“He was upset at what happened and felt terrible that you were mad at him. He felt a change of scenery would do him good.”
“I was upset, but not at Stephen. I over reacted and I wanted to apologize. I guess I can do that later, but I wish he had not left the property.”
“I thought it would be a good thing for him to get away, under the circumstances.”
“Maybe not. Don’t say anything to him, but I think it would be better for him to stay close to home for while.” Philip turned and headed back to the office.
Jeanette stood quietly. Was there more to Stephen’s suspicion of being followed than it seemed?
Chapter 13
Stephen was surprised to find that Jeanette drove a Mustang convertible. The car was ten years old, but it seemed to be in excellent shape.
Stephen glanced up at the clouds. He spotted one small sliver of blue, enough reason to put the top down. Stephen folded the top down and turned on the heater. As he waited for the gate to open, Stephen saw two young men and a girl jump up and grab signs. They waved their signs at his passing car. Stephen could read two of the signs; “Don’t Mess With Our Hunting Rights” and “Venison, it’s OUR dinner!”. The guy with the third sign was waving it too fast for Stephen to read as he drove by. They seemed harmless enough.
It only took about ten minutes to get into town. After driving around, it appeared to Stephen that Grand View consisted of about 10 streets with a few motels, three restaurants, a bar, two gas stations and a small IGA grocery store.
In a very short time, Stephen had driven up and down each street several times. There was no sign of the man Stephen thought may have been following him. Stephen pondered what to do next. The only place that seemed to have any visible activity was a bar called The Freighter View. He thought it wouldn’t hurt to stop in and see if he could learn anything there.
Stephen entered and took a seat at the bar. He was just about to order a soda when the bartender slammed a foamy draft beer down in front of him and gestured over to two young men sitting to his right. “It’s from Scott”, the bartender said.
Surprised, Stephen took a sip, turned and said, “Thanks, but isn’t it a little early for a beer?”
Scott and his buddy sauntered over. “Yeah, it’s early. We just got rained out and there’s nothing much to do so we come over here. I made a bet with my cousin Joe, here, and I lost. The bet was I had to buy the first person who comes into the bar a beer. You was that guy.”
“Guess it is my lucky day.” Stephen laughed. “What was the bet?”
“See that dog sitting over there? Joe here, thought Frankie, the new bartender, would kick us out when we come in here with my dog. Turns out the guy loves dogs, so no problem.”
Stephen looked over and saw an animal that appeared to be a lot closer to a wolf than a dog.
“That’s a dog?” Stephen asked.
“You betcha. Well, kind of. He’s a Czechoslovakian wolf dog. A cross between a German shepherd and a timber wolf. We call him King. A guy give him to me cause he was afraid of him. Now that’s not good. You can’t show any fear around this dog. You gotta be the boss. I handled German Shepard’s when I was over in ‘Nam so the guy knew I could handle this one.”
Stephen marveled at the dog’s resemblance to the wolf he had seen on the way to Grand View.
“Does he make a good pet?”
Scott laughed. “No, sir. He’s a one man dog but not much of a pet. I would never bring him in here if it was crowded. But this early, I knew the Freighter would be almost empty. Most people take a look at him and stay away.”
“Hi, guys. I’m Stephen.”
Scott was curious because Stephen didn’t have the typical tourist look. He didn’t have the typical camper or backpacker look, either.
“Are you checking out the sites or staying with someone in town?” He asked Stephen.
Stephen explained that he was staying at his Uncle Phillip’s place for the summer.
“Oh, that’s a good one.” Scott laughed. “You’re parked at the fancy Kahle place and I’m buying YOU a beer?”
Scott smacked the bar with his hand, “Now ain’t that something. But you know what? Your uncle’s done a bunch of good things for this area, so I’m happy to get you a beer.”
“What about you guys?” Stephen asked. “Do you live around here?”
“Yeah, my folks have a campground just out of town.” Scott said. “Joe and I work there. We’re putting up a rec center right now. The rain put us out of business, at least for now.”
Stephen bought beers for Scott and Joe.
“I need to ask you guys a question. Have you seen a big guy with a dark complexion, nose looks like it was broken a time or two? He usually dresses in a suit. He looks like this.” Stephen pulled out a sketch he had ripped out of his sketch pad.
Both Scott and Joe started laughing. Joe said, “Scotty, that’s the big guy we saw talking with Moon last night, right here.”
Scott studied the picture.
“Yeah, that’s the guy. Holy wah, anyone who would be drinking with Moon has to be from out of town!” Scott laughed. “Is this guy a friend of yours?”
“Not quite. I have a pretty strong suspicion he followed me here from New York City, but I’m not sure. I need to find out what he’s doing here and see if any of his plans involve me.”
“Well that’s easy,” Scott said. “Joe, give Moon a call. Tell him we’re sitting down at the Freighter. Tell him we want to buy him a pitcher of beer.”
Scott grinned at Stephen. “Believe me, that’ll get him down here.”
The front door of the freighter swung open and two girls walked in.
“Scotty, them two are the babes that are in the tent on lot 18.” Joe said. “Remember how cute I told you they were.”
Scott turned to see. “They’re all cute to you, Joe.”
Joe ignored Scott’s remark. “I’m gonna walk over and talk to them after I give Moonie a call.” Joe said, climbing off the bar stool.
“Like, I’m surprised.” Scott responded.
Twenty minutes later Moon walked in and sat down next to Scott. Stephen ordered Moon a pitcher of beer.
“What’s going on? Why in hell’s name are you guy’s buying me free beer? I dragged my ass down as fast as I could. This better not be your idea of some kind of prank, eh.”
“Calm down, Moonie. We think you may know something that could help out our friend Stephen over here.”
Stephen reached over and shook Moon’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Remember that big, ugly guy in the suit you was yapping to last night?” Scott asked.
“Yea, you mean the guy from New York?”
“I guess. We just need to know the guy’s story, that’s all. Now, that’s worth a free pitcher, right?”
“And just why is that any of his business?” Moon asked, looking over at Stephen.
“Cause it is,” Scott replied. “You want that free pitcher or not?”
“I suppose. I didn’t come down here just to stare at you.” Moon poured a glass of beer, took a long swig and said, “Like I said, he ain’t from around here. I don’t know much, just that he was looking for some business partners who had a bunch of dough and he wanted to know where Mr. Kahle lived. So I told him. He showed up at the picket line this morning, nosing around.”
Scott watched as the color seemed to drain from Stephen’s face.
Chapter 14
Phillip was in the library working on the latest revisions to the script for his next movie. His last few movies had not done as well as expected. He knew it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate the success of his most lucrative films. The popularity of the B-movie horror genre he had single-handedly revived was wani
ng. They new trend was slasher movies, full of explicit blood and gore. This was a direction he would not allow himself to go, no matter how financially successful it appeared to be.
Phillip caught himself reading the same page three times. Clearly he was not concentrating. He wondered if Stephen had returned. He looked out the window to where Jeanette usually parked her car. The spot was empty. Phillip wished Stephen had not ventured into town alone. He walked down to Jeanette’s office and asked if she had seen Stephen return. She had not.
Phillip walked outside. The guard was walking back from checking on the protestors at the gate.
“Bobby”, Phillip called. “Have you seen Britt?”
“I think she’s back at the cottage, Mr. Kahle. I saw her go in the back after her walk this morning.”
Phillip walked along the path that skirted the edge of the pond and ended at the back of Britt’s house next to the mansion. Phillip used his key and entered. He could hear muted sounds from a television coming from the living room. Britt was lying on the couch watching a black and white movie. She glanced over when he entered the room.
“Once again, your antics have caused trouble,” Uncle Phillip said, staring at Britt.
“Not this lecture again.”
“I would hardly call a discussion about you trying to seduce my nephew a lecture.”
Britt sighed. “Darling, it was just an accident. I tripped on my gown.“
“That flimsy thing isn’t something you should be walking around in anyway. Especially when I have company.”
“I know, maybe you’re right. I walked in to have my coffee in the trophy room and your nephew’s eyes almost popped out of his head.”
Phillip glared at her.
Britt continued, “Didn’t you say his parents had cooped him up in a stuffy prep school for the last six years? You can tell he doesn’t feel comfortable around women.”
She stood up and wrapped her arms around Phillip. She kissed him hard on the lips. “Come upstairs, darling. You know you’re the only man I love.”
Chapter 15
It was apparent to Scott that the information Moon provided did not set well with their new friend.
Scott walked over to the table where Joe was sitting with the girls.
“Come on Joe, lets get out of here.”
“Are you kidding me?” Joe slowly rose from the chair. “We gotta leave now?” He looked back at the table.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Scott said, “Come with us, Stephen. We want to take you for a ride.”
Joe and Stephen got into Scott’s car. King jumped in the back seat with Joe. Stephen said it seemed a little awkward to leave Moon just sitting there by himself. Both Joe and Scott agreed that Moon would be fine as long as he had his free beer.
“Forget about Moon” Joe piped in. “Here I am, making time with the two prettiest girls we’ve seen all summer and now I gotta leave.”
“Come on, Joe. You gab to every girl that walks into the freighter. I never seen anything like it.”
Joe laughed.
“I wanted to show Stephen our place, here.” Scott continued.
After a few minutes Scott turned the car into the entrance of the Grand View Campgrounds. They all piled out and Scott took Stephen for a tour. Scott pointed out the twenty two campsites, the soon to be completed recreation hall and the stream that meandered along the back of the property.
“There’s great fishing in that little stream,” Joe proudly declared.
They followed Scott to a picnic table and sat down. “Stephen, Scott said, “I started thinking about a few things when Moon was telling us about that guy. You didn’t look so happy when Moonie said the big guy was asking questions and went over to your uncle’s place.”
Scott turned to Joe. “Remember Aunt Rose telling us about that rude guy she waited on at the diner?”
“Yea, the big guy that could hardly fit into his car?” Joe asked.
“I think that’s the same guy that’s been asking questions about Mr. Kahle.”
“He sounds like a jerk, to me.” Joe said.
“Stephen, your uncle has really helped out around here.” Scott said. “He started a scholarship fund and he gave money to rebuild the Moose Hall a few years back.”
“Some people are jealous of what he has.” Joe interrupted. “And I know a couple of guys who aren’t too crazy about his girlfriend. Her views on hunting, most of all.”
Scott looked at Stephen. “That’s true. But I think most of us around here are damn happy with what Stephen’s uncle has done. We know who belongs here and who doesn’t and it looks like this guy from New York is looking to start some trouble.”
Stephen said, “I’m kind of worried because I don’t have a clue of why would this guy would be following me. He has to be up to something.”
Scott laughed. “If he’s the same guy my Aunt Rose ran into, I think you’re right. Maybe we can make this guy want to get the hell out of here and go back to wherever he came from.”
“I appreciate your help, I really do.” Stephen said. “Count me in, I want to help out if I can. Don‘t forget, it’s my problem, not yours.”
Scott just grinned, “We have to find the guy first.”
Stephen glanced at his watch. “This has been great. Thanks for showing me around the campground. I need to get going, there’s a situation I want to take care of back at my uncle’s place.”
Scott and Joe dropped Stephen off at Jeanette’s car. As Stephen drove off, they walked back into the bar.
Scott ordered two beers and asked, “Joe, do you remember what happened when we went camping with our scout troop in the seventh grade.”
“You mean that trick my dad’s friend, Mr. Miller, played on us out in the woods?”
“Yeah.”
“What about it? Oh, wait a minute. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Scott started to laugh.
“Scotty, remember how mad my dad got at Mr. Miller because of that?”
“Yeah, I remember. Big deal. It all blew over pretty quick.”
“You think so? I don’t think Freddie DeGrand has ever spoken to him since then, and that happened over 7 years ago.”
“Joe, if we needed to get down to the basement of the lodge, does your old man still have a key?”
“Sure. He cleans up the place every Sunday morning, just like always.”
“Great, I want you to go get something for us and put it in your car so it’s ready if we ever need it.”
“Oh, boy,” Joe said, shaking his head. “Here we go again.”
Stephen had mixed emotions about his first trip to Grand View. He had made friends with two great guys, but he also confirmed for sure that somebody was actually following him. Every few minutes on the way back to Uncle Phillip’s Stephen checked the rear view mirror to make sure there wasn’t a suspicious car tailing him.
Uncle Phillip was waiting in the trophy room when he returned. Phillip was feeling much better about the whole situation after seeing Britt.
“Stephen, can we talk?”
“Sure.”
Uncle Phillip asked how his trip to Grand View had gone. Stephen mentioned that he had enjoyed the trip, had met two new friends and had been given a tour of the Grand View Campground. He didn’t mention anything about the other information he had learned.
Phillip knew about the campground and told Stephen he knew Scott’s parents, but he couldn’t place Joe.
Phillip put his arm around Stephen, “I want to apologize for my behavior this morning. That was not so good. Britt, she’s very good at irritating me. I’m sorry you were dragged into this. Will you accept my apology?”
“Certainly, Uncle Phil. I’m just relieved you understand I didn’t have anything to do with what happened this morning.”
“No, no, I understand completely,” Phillip stated. “This won’t happen again, believe me.”
Uncle Phillip turned to leave. “I’m glad we had this talk. I’m working on somet
hing in the library. By the way, it was nice of Jeanette to let you use her car, but I have a car set aside for you to use whenever you wish. Find Bobby, he’ll show you where it is.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Oh, Cora needed to go to Munising today so we’re just grabbing something to eat out of the kitchen. She left us a plate of fried chicken and there’s some home-made soup in the crock pot. Help yourself whenever you’re hungry. She’ll be back later to prepare supper.”
Stephen had not felt hungry until Uncle Phillip mentioned food. Stephen made his way back to the kitchen.
As he entered, once again the guard was sitting at the table. Apparently, the kitchen doubled as the guard office. This time Bobby was sitting alone.
Stephen poured himself a cup of coffee, grabbed a chicken leg, a steaming cup of soup and sat down at the kitchen table with Bobby.
“Anything interesting in the paper?” Stephen asked, trying to make conversation.
The guard glanced up.
“Not really,” Bobby replied returning his gaze back to his paper. Stephen took a bite of chicken. The silence felt awkward.
“How long have you worked here?” Stephen asked.
“Three years,” Bobby responded, not looking up.
Stephen gave up trying to be polite. He grabbed a part of the paper Bobby appeared to have finished reading and continued eating his lunch. He wondered why the guard was being so unfriendly. He hoped it wasn’t because he viewed Stephen as family. That would just be stupid.
Stephen finished his lunch and stood up. “My uncle said you would show me the car he has ready for me. Can we do that now?”
Bobby tossed down his paper. “It’s in the garage.”
The garage was set back and to the left of Britt’s cottage. They walked in silence. Stephen was amazed when he saw six shiny vehicles parked in the garage. Bobby pointed out a fully restored red 1960 MG.
“That’s the car Mr. Kahle would like you to use.”
Stephen walked up to the car. “It’s beautiful! How long has he had it?” Stephen waited a few seconds for an answer. He turned towards Bobby only to see him headed back to the main house. Stephen wondered what the problem was with him. He opened the driver’s side door of the MG and peered inside. The car looked like it was brand new.