She didn’t want to overreact and make too much of her discovery. She continued on the trail, which wound closer to the stone wall.
She didn’t see additional prints—moose or human—as she continued on the path. She’d go a bit farther. She checked her phone but saw there was no service. The trail veered uphill to the stone wall. Maybe she could get out a text there.
As she came to the stone wall, she saw a dinosaur figure nestled in ferns on the side of the trail, as if it had stopped to take a nap. It was too far from the house for one of the boys to have thrown or dropped it while playing behind the shed. That meant they—or at least one of them—must have come this way.
She checked her phone. Still no service.
She stood on a rock. “Tyler! Aidan! Owen!” She paused, listening, but there was no response. “It’s your mom’s friend Adrienne. Give me a shout.”
She stepped off the rock back onto the trail. It narrowed further, hugging the stone wall as the land dropped away to her right. She could hear a stream down through the trees, out of sight, probably winding its way to the reservoir.
“Adrienne.”
She was so startled she stumbled, but Adam jumped from the stone wall and caught her by the arm, steadying her.
“Sorry,” he said. “I heard you calling the boys.”
“I didn’t realize you were so close.”
“I’d stopped to listen for them.”
“Nothing yet?”
“Nothing.”
Adrienne told him about the footprint and the dinosaur. “A startled moose stumbles on three boys playing dinosaurs. I can see them all bolting.” She handed Adam the dinosaur. “I found it in the ferns.”
He examined it. “A triceratops.”
“Ah.” She’d had no idea. “One of the boys must have dropped it.”
Adam slipped the dinosaur into a back pocket. “There’s an old cellar hole up a little ways I want to check out. Do you want to come with me or go back to the house?”
“I’ll go with you.” She held up her phone. “No service.”
“Nope.” He sounded as if he’d never expect such a thing. “There’s a better trail on the other side of the stone wall.”
Adrienne nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
It was a much better trail. Since it was on the field side of the stone wall, it was wider and grassier, with fewer rocks, roots, twists and turns. Every few yards, Adam called the boys by name, emphasizing they weren’t in any trouble. He never came to a full stop and moved with the ease of someone familiar with the terrain. Adrienne had no trouble keeping up with him, but she watched her footing. She didn’t want to add to the concerns of the day by tripping.
“Brandon and Maggie taught Tyler and Aidan to stay put if they got lost, preferably by a stone wall or on a trail,” Adam said.
“If a moose surprised them—” Adrienne broke off abruptly. “I know speculating won’t help. Maggie’s worried because it gets dark earlier this time of year and it’s supposed to rain.”
“There’s still good daylight left. My brothers will organize a search party if need be. We have time to find them before dark. They can’t have gone far.”
“Maggie’s sure she tripped. I don’t think she blacked out. If she was pushed—”
“Don’t go there, Adrienne,” he said quietly.
It could be hard not to, but she knew speculating didn’t help.
“Your mom took a tumble but she’s fine,” Adam called. “She’s making snacks for you.”
Again there was no response.
Adrienne kept an eye out for signs the boys had been this way, but she didn’t notice additional footprints or dinosaurs along the stone wall, field grass, ferns, briars and brush. No candy wrappers, apple cores or anything else that would suggest she and Adam were on the right trail. In another fifty yards or so, the stone wall made a ninety-degree turn across the field, parallel to Carriage Hill Road. Off the corner formed by the turn were what looked to be the remains of the stone foundation of a small house or a shed. A number of old cellar holes could be found in the area, of homes burned and never rebuilt, abandoned for greener pastures or taken by eminent domain during Quabbin’s construction.
“This is the cellar hole you mentioned?” Adrienne asked.
Adam nodded and moved closer to the cellar hole. “It’s Adam, guys. Adrienne is here with me.”
He sounded confident he’d found them and obviously knew this spot. The remains of the foundation and a chimney were overgrown with small trees, brush, ferns and briars. Adrienne glanced around, finally noticed spots where ferns had been recently disturbed. She breathed in the late-afternoon air, cooling noticeably as gray clouds moved in from the west, but she said nothing. Let Adam handle his young nephews and their friend.
“Aidan, Tyler—come on. It’s Uncle Adam. You’re not in trouble. Owen? It’s okay, buddy. We’ll get you back to the house.”
Tyler popped up from behind a large rock. At eight, he was the eldest of the three boys, with his mother’s red hair and turquoise eyes. He had on shorts, a dinosaur T-shirt and sandals and was breathing hard, his cheeks red and sweaty. “Was it a tyrannosaurus rex?”
“It was a moose, Tyler. You know that.” Adam frowned at his nephew and pointed at his lower left leg, smeared with dirt and blood. “You’re hurt?”
The boy shrugged. “It’s only a scratch.”
“You sound like your dad. Where are Aidan and Owen?”
“Hiding. They got scared.”
As if he hadn’t. Adrienne appreciated his attempt to be brave.
“Well, they can come out now,” Adam said. “There’s no reason to be scared anymore.” He put out a hand to Tyler. “Let’s have a look at that leg.”
Aidan shot up next to his older brother. “Tyler smashed his leg on a rock when we jumped in the cellar hole. He didn’t even cry. We never saw a moose before. We thought he was going to charge us. He looked right at us. We ran like Dad said to. We wanted to find Dylan but we got lost.”
“We didn’t get lost,” Tyler said. “We were hiding.”
Owen stood up next to the two brothers. He was a small boy with dark, shaggy hair. It was his first summer in Knights Bridge. He and Aidan were the same age, and like the two Sloan boys, he was dressed in shorts and a dinosaur T-shirt. The shirts must have been a pact between them. He sniffled, his lower lip trembling. “We’re lost,” he said, barely holding back tears.
“We are not lost,” Tyler repeated, emphatic.
Before he could continue to argue the point, Adam lifted him off the rocks and over the ferns and brush. Tyler insisted he didn’t need help but his uncle had him on the ground before he could finish lodging his protest. Adam started reaching for Owen next, but the boy lurched and grabbed a dinosaur he’d dropped. He slipped as he tried to stand upright. Adam caught him but managed to smash the side of his hand on a rough gray rock in the process. He winced but said nothing, just got Owen and then Aidan out of the cellar hole and onto the field grass. He checked the boys for injuries and insect bites. Except for Tyler’s scrape, all three boys were in good shape.
“Why did you run off instead of finding your mom?” Adam asked.
“The moose was running right at us, so we ran the other way,” Tyler said.
“Straight up here, along the stone wall?”
He nodded vigorously. “We thought we were heading to Uncle Dylan and Aunt Olivia’s house.”
“Wrong stone wall,” Adam said. “Good thinking, though.”
“We were scared,” Aidan added.
Tyler rolled his eyes. “We weren’t that scared.”
“I was very scared,” Owen said, insistent.
“Yeah,” Aidan said in agreement with his friend. “We thought the moose was running from a tyrannosaurus rex.”
“Got it,” Adam said, no
t belittling the boys’ version of events. “Moose are big. I came on one a couple of weeks ago. I thought I’d upset him, but he was just doing his moose thing. We don’t have that many moose in this area. A lot of people have never seen one.”
The boys started talking in unison about their excitement at having seen their first moose, even if it had scared them—or at least Aidan and Owen. Adrienne could see Tyler wasn’t about to admit he’d been scared like the younger boys. She’d seen hints of that kind of pride and stubbornness in his mother.
“What about you, Adrienne?” Adam asked. “Did you see the moose?”
She shook her head. “I had no idea a moose would get that close to the house. I haven’t noticed moose or deer since I’ve been here, but it’s only been five days. And I’d gone to town, so I wasn’t here when the boys’ moose turned up.”
“He could have encountered a hiker and taken a detour from his usual route.” Adam took the two younger boys by the hand, no indication his own injury bothered him. “Let’s get you boys back to the inn. Tyler, you good to walk?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Adrienne eased to his side but didn’t take his hand. “If it gets too hard to walk, you let me know, okay?”
He nodded. “Sure thing.”
Owen was on the verge of full-blown tears. Adam nodded at the boy’s T-shirt. “What kind of dinosaur is that?”
“It’s a pachyrhinosaurus.” As if Adam should know. Adrienne wouldn’t have been surprised if he did know and was just trying to encourage the boy.
He started back to the trail with the two youngest boys on either side of him. “Omnivore, right?”
“Herbivore,” Owen said. “That means he only eats plants. Omnivores eat plants and meat. Carnivores only eat meat.”
“I want to be a carnivore,” Aidan said. “I hate vegetables.”
Their moods improved as they put their scare behind them. “We stayed together like Dad told us,” Tyler said, limping somewhat but without complaint.
Adam stayed close to him. “Good job. Say the word, and I’ll carry you.”
Tyler shook his head. “I’m good.”
Not backing off. Pure O’Dunn and Sloan, Adrienne thought. She checked her phone. Two bars. She texted Maggie: We’ve got them. They’re fine. On our way from cellar hole.
She hit Send, and two seconds later, Maggie responded: Phew. Brandon will meet you.
Three
Aidan and Owen kept on about how big the moose was. They compared him to various dinosaurs. The words tumbled out—fueled by adrenaline, the excitement of the day. All three boys insisted they’d felt the moose’s breath, he was that close to them. They’d clearly panicked, something Adrienne could understand.
Tyler laid claim to the dinosaur Adrienne had found. A triceratops, he confirmed. “Did you know you’d dropped a dinosaur on the way to the cellar hole?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “Maybe Owen dropped it. He was playing with it.”
“He didn’t notice?”
“We were running. We didn’t stop until we got to the cellar hole. I figured out we went the wrong way.” He looked up at her, perspiration beading on his upper lip. “That’s not the same as getting lost.”
She smiled. “I agree.”
He didn’t smile back. She glanced at his injured leg. The blood mixed with dirt and bits of ferns, leaves and grass looked nasty, but she doubted the scrapes and scratches needed anything more than a good cleaning, maybe a bandage.
The cream-colored antique house came into view. Brandon Sloan was charging toward them. In a few more long strides, he reached his sons and Owen. The two younger boys burst into tears, their legs going out from under them. Adam scooped up Aidan while Brandon picked up Owen. Adrienne started to take Tyler’s hand, but, as she’d anticipated, he shook his head, never mind he was the one with an injured leg. Just another day in the country for him.
Brandon ran his palm over Tyler’s head. “You did great, buddy. Hungry?”
“Thirsty.”
“Did any of you boys drink water out here—from a stream or puddle?”
Tyler didn’t hesitate. “No. You told us not to.”
“They’re still young enough to listen to you,” Adam said.
Brandon grinned, his relief palpable. He and Adam bore a strong resemblance to each other with their blue eyes, dark hair and broad shoulders. “All’s well that ends well,” Brandon said.
Aidan sniffled. “Did Mom get hurt because of us?”
“No way,” Brandon said. “She tripped and got a little banged up, but she’s doing great. She’s waiting for you. She’s not going anywhere until she knows you’re safe.”
Tyler gritted his teeth and limped, clearly determined to put up a good front and bear up under the pressure. Brandon glanced back at him but didn’t interfere with his older son’s decision about how to handle himself. Adrienne eased behind the Sloans as they cut past the shed into the backyard. She wasn’t surprised to see Maggie and Olivia on the terrace. They’d been joined by Dylan McCaffrey—an ex-NHL player and a multimillionaire businessman—and more Sloans: Eric and Christopher had arrived, and Justin and Samantha had returned from their search.
Brandon and Adam set Owen and Aidan on the terrace, and Tyler bolted to his mother in spite of his injured leg. “We saw a moose,” he exclaimed.
Maggie hugged the three boys. “Did all of you see the moose?”
“Uh-huh,” Aidan said. “It was huge.”
“You did the right thing getting away from it,” Maggie said.
Christopher Sloan checked Tyler’s injured leg. “Need to clean it up, but it’ll heal in no time.” He cast Maggie a look. “You, on the other hand, need to get that head seen to.”
Brandon eased next to her. “Let’s go.”
She relented, and Brandon helped her to her feet. Christopher followed them with all three boys. Adrienne quickly realized half the town was poised to search for the boys, with many people dropping by the inn while she’d been in the woods. Better safe than sorry, and they had the best outcome possible—three young boys safe and sound after their adventure.
Olivia and Dylan joined the remaining Sloans in checking out the spot where the boys had been playing and the moose had thundered past them. Eric, in particular, wanted to make sure nothing was amiss. Olivia would be able to confirm if anything was out of place or had been added behind the shed. She was clearly rattled. Dylan stayed close to her as they walked through the garden.
Adrienne stepped inside for a glass of water. She took a deep breath, held it and then let it out slowly, calming herself. It wasn’t just the fright of losing the boys. It was all that Sloan testosterone coupled with her own newness at being here, at being an innkeeper.
Crisis averted. All was quiet and normal at the Farm at Carriage Hill.
Normal being a relative term given the company she was keeping.
After a few minutes, she heard vehicles starting out front. She glanced out the window and realized everyone was leaving. They’d cut through the side yard to the road.
Only Adam’s van remained.
Adrienne found him on the terrace, eyeing his injured hand. “Do you need the first-aid kit?” she asked him.
“Nah. It’s just bruised. If I got derailed by every bruise and scrape in my line of work, I’d never get anything done.”
She noticed a thick two-inch scar on his uninjured hand. “Is that work-related?”
“An unfortunate encounter with a chisel blade. I was sixteen. It bled like crazy.”
“Were you alone?”
“Unfortunately no. Justin was with me. I’ll never live it down.”
“What happened?”
He shrugged. “Hot summer evening. I was a month into apprenticing with a master stonemason and thought I knew more than I did. Tackled a job at hom
e on my own.”
“Stitches?”
“Oh, yeah.” He glanced around the terrace. “I can help pick up. I promised Olivia I wouldn’t leave you to do it by yourself.”
“It’s okay—”
But he was already grabbing the first-aid kit. Adrienne collected water glasses, napkins, a pitcher. He held the mudroom door for her. “Careful with your hand,” she said.
He grinned at her. “I can hold a door.”
He had just carried his nephew through the field. He followed her into the kitchen. He was obviously familiar with its layout—and in more pain than he wanted to admit. As she placed the dishes in the sink, she realized her legs were wobbling and her heart was racing, and not just because of the eight thousand things that could have gone wrong that afternoon and hadn’t. Because of him. Her reaction to him. Damn but he was sexy.
“Were you all satisfied nothing’s amiss?” she asked him.
He nodded. “The moose seems to have gone down to the road and crossed it up into the woods. No sign of a hiker or anything else that might have startled him.”
“Just a moose being a moose, then.”
“Seems that way. Eric’s tightly wound these days. What about you? Have you seen hikers or anyone else out here?”
“No. It’s been quiet.”
“You’ll run into more hikers out here with foliage season. Most will drive in and park down by the Quabbin gate.” He got a glass out of a cupboard and filled it with water. “It’s never been a problem.”
“Good to know.”
“It’s going to be a while before Maggie and Brandon let the boys play back there, out of their sight.”
“I feel pretty useless,” Adrienne said, grabbing one of the apples Maggie had brought earlier. “I didn’t even see the moose. Would you like some ice for your hand?”
He shook his head. “Are you worried being out here on your own?”
“Dylan and Olivia said they were in the process of beefing up security, but no, I’m not worried, certainly not about moose and such. Now, if a black bear comes knocking, we’ll have to talk. They don’t do locks, do they?”
Stone Bridges Page 4