Harvest Moon

by Helena Shaw

  After two weeks, Courtney wasn’t able to take it anymore, and she forced Dawn into her dad’s old SUV and the pair drove the two hours south to where Chuck had told her he’d gotten a job. It wasn’t that she was mad, or jealous, but she was scared that her first love had gotten hurt, or worse.

  They’d found Chuck drinking at the local bar with a woman on his lap. It was obvious from the moment the girls stepped in that Chuck had forgotten all about Courtney, and Dawn had dragged her best friend out of the bar before they could make a scene.

  Courtney knew exactly what she was doing now, that much was obvious. As she paid the pair another glance before she stepped back into the kitchen, it was a pretty spot-on duplication of the scene they’d walked in on just under two months ago. Courtney was getting her revenge on Chuck, even if he might never know it.

  “Hey, Gabe,” Dawn said as she got back to the kitchen. “We’ve got one cheeseburger and fries.”

  “Coming right up,” he said as he grabbed a patty and threw it on the flat-top. “Where’s Courtney?” he asked as the patty cracked and sizzled on the hot stove.

  “Still taking that baseball player’s order,” Dawn laughed. “She’s doing a crap job of it, but he isn’t complaining.”

  “I don’t see why he would,” Gabe laughed. “Tell her not to be too long, though. I want to shut down the grill soon. Place is dead.”

  “Will do,” Dawn said as she walked back out to the bar to pour the FBI agent’s beer.

  The old taps at Jim’s weren’t the most reliable, but she managed to get a full pint of Bud out before the tap started to hiss at her. They were just another part of the bar that could use some TLC, but there weren’t enough customers to pay for it.

  On her way by the new lovebirds, Dawn was going to tell Courtney about Gabe’s request, but she decided against it. She hadn’t seen Courtney this happy in months, and she didn’t want to be the one to ruin it. Gabe would need to wait a little longer to shut down the grill, Courtney deserved a little fun.

  Dawn turned her attention back to her own patron. She expected to see him watching her as she brought over his beer, but he seemed more concerned with Gavin and Courtney’s almost obscene display from across the bar.

  “Yeah, that’s Gavin Mosley,” Dawn said, her voice low as she put the beer down on a napkin. “I hear he just moved into town.”

  “Is that so?” Agent Nash said as he brought his eyes back to Dawn. “So, a wrestling fan and a baseball fan, eh?”

  “Me?” Dawn had to laugh. “Wrestling, yes, well, a long time ago. Baseball, not so much. If Courtney hadn’t have told me who he was, I never would have guessed.”

  “I take it that Courtney is the lap warmer over there?” Agent Nash said as he nodded in their direction.

  “Yeah,” Dawn confirmed. “She’s just having a little fun.”

  “Well, I certainly can’t blame her for that,” the agent said, but this time, his smile was different. It was more put on than it was inviting, and it didn’t make Dawn’s belly flutter. It was just a little too forced, a little too cold.

  “I’ll uh, go check on your food,” Dawn said, unsure what else to do in the suddenly awkward moment.

  Gabe was just putting the finishing touches on the burger when Dawn returned to the kitchen. She had hoped for a little more of a break before trips to the dining room, but luck wasn’t on her side as Gabe put the plate up and rang the silver bell.

  “Any word on Courtney?” he asked as Dawn took the plate.

  “Not yet,” Dawn offered. “To be fair, I think he’s happy with pretzels.”

  “Fine,” Gabe grunted. “Oven is off, stove is off. If he wants anything, it’s celery sticks and carrots.”

  “I’m sure that’s fine,” Dawn said as she returned to the bar.

  The agent wasn’t hiding the fact that he kept looking in Gavin and Courtney’s direction, but both of them were too caught up in each other to notice. Only Dawn took note of his interest, and she was starting to wonder if he was more than just some baseball fan.

  “One burger and fries,” she announced as she set down his plate. “Anything else for you?”

  “Actually,” Agent Nash said as he picked up a fry, “I was just wondering what else there is of note in this town. I’m staying at the Mountain Lodge up the street and thought I might find some hikers to talk to about what’s happened, but the place is pretty much abandoned.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty awful,” Dawn laughed. “No one stays there. It’s a dump. I’m surprised you didn’t stay with the other agents. They’re probably staying in the next town over. Better motel, better bar, you know how it is.”

  “Ah, well, they know the area a little better than I do,” the agent said. “They’re local from the Charleston office. They sent me in from Frankfort. I’ve got a little more experience in this sort of case.”

  Dawn nodded. “That’ll do it. Most of the hunters stay over there, too, except the green ones who don’t know the area. We have a lot of game here, just not a lot of places to stay.”

  “You ever do any hunting?” the agent asked as he picked up a fry.

  “Me?” Dawn said, unsure if she should be truthful or not. “Well, my dad took me shooting a couple times when I was younger. Mostly just to ranges, but I did shoot a duck once. Dad said I was a natural, but I cried all the way home.”

  “Well, I would recommend not picking it back up right about now,” the agent advised. “We’re waiting on bite analysis to find out exactly what’s out in the woods, but whatever it is, you don’t want to go tangling with it.”

  “No, sir,” Dawn said. “Uh, how about I get you another beer?”

  “Please,” the agent said as he grabbed another fry.

  Once she was behind the bar, Dawn fought with the Bud tap to pull another drink, but she finally gave up and went with Coors. Then, though she knew Jim might not like it, she poured one for herself.

  “Dawn,” Jim’s voice rose up behind her. “Who is that second beer for?”

  “Jim,” she started. “Sorry, just... long night.”

  “It’s fine,” he said. “Pour me one, too. After today, we could all use one.”

  “Except Courtney,” Dawn said as she moved to bring the agent his beer. “She doesn’t seem too bothered.”

  As if on cue, Courtney left Gavin’s lap and came bounding up to the bar.

  “Oh my gosh, Jim, do you mind if I leave early?”

  “Is everything okay?” Dawn asked her.

  “More than okay!” Courtney gushed. “Gavin offered me a ride home. Can I go? Please, please, please?”

  She sounded more like a schoolgirl asking her mother’s permission to go on a field trip, but Jim relented.

  “Sure,” he sighed. “He isn’t ordering anything, and the place is just about dead. Dawn can handle it.”

  “Sure can,” Dawn assured her friend. “Have fun, but not too much fun!”

  While Courtney practically dragged Gavin Mosley out of the bar, Dawn delivered the federal agent’s beer to his table. He’d already eaten most of his burger and the fries were all gone, but he was still watching Gavin and Courtney as they left.

  “She’ll be fine,” Dawn assured him. “Courtney’s a little impulsive, but she’s never done anything really stupid.”

  She was expecting more light small talk, maybe even questions, but his response was little more than a grunt as he took his beer. He didn’t even make note of the fact that it wasn’t what he ordered as he took a big gulp of it and just about slammed it back on the table.

  Touchy, Dawn thought to herself as she moved back to where Jim was standing behind the bar.

  “So, what do you think?” Jim said in a low voice.

  “About what?” Dawn asked.

  “About everything,” Jim said, his voice somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “In a day we’ve got a dead body, FBI agents, and a retired MLB player. I’ve lived in Goosemont my whole life, and we’ve never had anything close to so much
excitement.”

  “It’ll pass,” Dawn said. “They’ll kill the bear, or whatever it is, the FBI agents will go home, and Gavin Mosley will realize this town his boring and he’ll move to Los Angeles, or something.”

  “I guess that’s the bright side,” Jim laughed hard enough that his belly shook. “Well, here’s hoping people don’t stay spooked for long. We can’t afford many more nights like this.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Dawn tried to reassure him. “I mean, once word gets around that there’s some rabid bear or something out there, hunters will flock to Goosemont. It’s like some kind of prize kill, right?”

  Jim nodded. “You might be on to something. Would be nice to have a bunch of hungry mouths to feed.”

  Dawn was about to assure him that it would happen when she noticed the federal agent stand up from the table. Without looking back at them or waiting for his bill, he threw some money down on the table, finished his second beer, and then walked out the front door.

  “Shit,” Jim groaned. “Here’s hoping he paid up. I don’t want to be chasing some hunter for his tab.”

  “He’s not a hunter,” Dawn told him as she went to the table. “He’s an FBI agent looking into the missing hikers.”

  “Even worse,” Jim said. “Doesn’t look like some sort of special agent to me. That boy looks like a hunter through and through.”

  Dawn shrugged and let out a sigh of relief as she counted up what Agent Nash had left her. It more than covered his tab and her tip, though with a night like they’d had, it didn’t cover her losses from seeing so few customers. At least the lunch rush was okay, she thought as she counted the bills.

  “Grill is shut down,” Gabe said as he poked his head out of the kitchen. “Damn, is it ever dead.”

  “Worse than that,” Jim sighed. “Sorry, Dawn. I’m going to send you home early.”

  “It’s fine.” She waved him off as she handed over what the agent had left, save the portion that was her tip. “I could stand to do some laundry.”

  “Want me to walk you home?” Gabe offered. “It’s on my way, if you don’t mind waiting another half hour.”

  “Nah,” Dawn said. “I’ll be fine. See you guys tomorrow?”

  Really, Dawn knew it might be wise not to walk alone, but she wanted some time to clear her head. The cold night air and the soft sounds of the surrounding forests were better than anything else for settling her nerves. Being so close to an FBI agent, revealing as much as she had, it all made her belly heavy with nerves.

  The walk wasn’t far, but she couldn’t help but pause at the yellow tape that cordoned off the small alley between two of the town’s older buildings. They’d done a good job of cleaning stuff up, and there wasn’t much to see, but the idea of what had been there earlier reignited her nerves and transformed them into something new.

  I hope Courtney is having fun, Dawn thought to herself, trying to force her brain away from more sinister topics.

  In the distance, a wolf, maybe a coyote, howled. The sound of it broke through the crisp night air and got Dawn’s feet moving again as she turned back toward the little house she called home.

  As she walked, another howl echoed through the night, though this one seemed closer. She knew the echoes from the trees and the mountains could play tricks on you, but she was certain the sounds were getting closer. Worse yet, suddenly she could feel eyes on her, watching her as she walked.

  Dawn spun to try to catch a glimpse of who or what she was certain was watching her, but the streets were empty. There was nothing there, but she still felt as if she wasn’t alone.

  Goosemont was eerily quiet as she began to walk toward home again. There were no birds chirping, no leaves rustling. It wasn’t even very late, yet she couldn’t hear the echo of TVs or radios. Not even a car was running. It was if the town had emptied while she was at work and they had neglected to inform her.

  Another howl shattered the silence, and this one was definitely closer. Dawn had worked tirelessly to appear unfazed, even when she was at her most paranoid, but this was different. Something was close, and she knew it.

  Her feet didn’t just begin to pick up speed or jog as she moved toward home, she broke out into a full sprint. The beer she’d drank at the bar sloshed in her belly as she ran, but she didn’t care. There was something in town, and it wasn’t far behind her. She didn’t need to look behind herself to know that much was true.

  Home was in reach, her little wooden door only feet away, and she threw herself up the steps of the sagging porch that framed the front of the house. Clumsily, she fought with her keys and worked to stab one into the lock before whatever was out there had time to pounce.

  “Come on, come on,” she muttered as she worked the unreliable lock. She had to hurry, she couldn’t look back, but as the door finally gave way in front of her, she couldn’t help but gaze over her shoulder.

  Yet she found nothing. The street was empty and quiet and there was no one and nothing out there with her. Goosemont was empty. Everyone was tucked inside their homes, safe and sound.

  “Idiot,” she laughed at herself as she stepped inside, but her laugh was hollow. Something had been out there. Deep down, she knew that. She just couldn’t prove it.

  Chapter Four

  For the first time since moving to Goosemont, Dawn had spent the night with her bedroom window closed. She liked the cold breeze the open window offered, but her adrenaline had been running high when she’d gotten home, and the idea of not having everything locked up tight seemed like a bad one. Even though she hadn’t seen anything with her own eyes the night before, nothing could convince her that there hadn’t been something—or someone—watching her.

  At least the sounds from outside were back to normal when she woke. Even through the closed window, she could hear the rumble of the few cars that passed through town, birds chirping their usual songs, and the roar of chainsaws echoing through the woods. Everything was normal, or as normal as Dawn was used to.

  Even though she’d had trouble sleeping, Dawn had taken out her contacts and she’d put her dyed hair up in a loose bun before bed. Wearing her hair up showed her dark roots more easily, and she cursed herself for forgetting all about the dye that she’d meant to pick up earlier.

  “Crap,” she said as she examined her roots. They were passable for another week at the absolute max, and that meant she needed to get to Guy’s Drugs, the small pharmacy that also served as a corner store and post office, to pick up the dye before people started to notice that she wasn’t a natural blonde.

  With her green contacts covering her brown eyes, Dawn pulled on her plaid jacket and her old boots before she went out. She didn’t have to be at work for another hour, but it would give her time to stop at Guy’s before she needed to get to the bar.

  It was her turn doing prep. Wednesday was the one day a week that Jim took the morning off, and she and Courtney were responsible for prepping the kitchen for Gabe. Because of Courtney’s early departure the night before, Dawn had a feeling she’d be working alone, which mean being early wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  The pharmacy was busier than she’d expected so early in the day, but without many other options in town, a lot of Goosemont’s older residents seemed to gather at Guy’s Drugs to share gossip. After the excitement the day before, the place was packed with the over-sixty crowd.

  Dawn weaved her way past a pair of ladies with blue-gray hair as they gabbed by the magazine rack. The store had a limited hair dye selection, tucked off to the side of the shampoos, but as she searched for the least brassy or ashy blonde she could find, she let herself listen to what was being said.

  “Apparently, it’s some hiker that went missing a couple days ago on the trail,” one of the blue-haired ladies said.

  “I heard it was a woman,” another cut in. “Out with some friends and she got separated. Next thing you know, she’s half eaten here in town.”

  “Someone told me all the hikers missing are women,” a
nother woman said while Dawn pretended to examine the ingredients of a shade called Autumn Barley Blonde.

  “But do you think they’re connected?” one of them said. “I mean, people go missing off the Appalachian Trail all the time.”

  “Not all in the same area, though,” someone corrected her. “But four women in a month and one turned up dead in town? It’s mighty suspicious to me.”

  “It’s a bear, or a wolf,” one lady said. “Like that time back in nineteen-eighty. Remember those fool boys? Could be the same thing.”

  “There’s no way!” one lady argued. “That bear was protecting her cubs. This one acts like it’s hunting people!”

  “Bears don’t hunt people,” someone shot back while Dawn continued to pretend to read her box of peroxide. “A puma, maybe.”

  She wanted to stay and listen, but with the pharmacy being pretty busy, the line might take forever if one particularly chatty customer got in ahead of her, and she really did need to get to the bar soon if she didn’t want to rush through prep.

  The only downside about coloring her hair, beyond how damaging the bleach was, was having to actually buy the stuff. She thought about ordering it online so no one in town, not even the pimply checkout girl, would know for sure she dyed her hair, but that would mean either getting a credit card or PayPal account. Both were too risky, so Dawn was stuck buying the dye from the pharmacy every four weeks or so.

  Despite the aisles of the pharmacy being full of gossiping men and women, there was no line for the checkout, and Dawn threw down her box of dye along with some other things she didn’t particularly need to try to take the focus off the bleach.

  “Did you hear the FBI is in town?” the young woman behind the counter asked Dawn as she scanned a nude lipstick that she’d grabbed off an impulse rack.

  “Yeah,” Dawn said, trying to shut down the small talk.

  “My mom said this is the most excitement Goosemont has ever seen,” the girl with the nametag of Becky said, oblivious to Dawn’s desire to leave. “I’ve never seen a real FBI agent before. Did you see them? Are they like the guys in the movies?”