Hop 'Til You Drop

by J. M. Griffin

  “I take it your answer is a resounding yes?”

  Her head bobbed up and down as her grin widened. “I’ll bring my mother by later. She’ll fall in love with it, too.”

  “Okay, let’s get a move on. I found a notebook to look at before I offer it to Sheriff Carver.”

  We left the house, the notebook tucked inside the sling with Bun, so no one, including Valerie, would see what I had pilfered.

  “This book is crowding me.”

  In the car, I removed the sling, let the notebook slide onto the floor at my feet, and let Bun snuggle in my lap for the ride home.

  Chapter 17

  Later in the afternoon, Molly stopped by to pick Jason up. While he collected his belongings, she walked around the shop with me at her side.

  “There are two girls from the hop that have shown interest in our classes. One of them is an awesome knitter, too. She wants to discuss the possibility of teaching students to knit here in the shop. What do you think?”

  “Gosh, I’m not sure. Does she plan to attend Denton’s lecture that Jess and I are giving?”

  “Yes, she’s quite excited, too. She won’t graduate for another year, but she’d like to start a knitting business that she’ll eventually offer as an online course. Cool, huh?”

  “I’ll say. You know, I had thought of doing something similar, but the course would be about raising rabbits. The problem is, I have no idea how or where to get started with what it would take to do that. Besides, I have enough to keep up with. Can I bring these women in to meet you? They were rabbit portrayers at the hop event.”

  “Ah, I knew there was another reason why you brought it up. Bring them in. The sooner, the better. I’ve got more leads than I know what to do with at the moment and hope to hand them over to Jack, so he can handle them.

  “Is he aware that you and Jess went to Della’s cottage?” Molly continued.

  “Not to my knowledge. Have you spoken to Jessica about the house yet? She’s fairly bursting with excitement and will take her mom to take a look. If Jessica can swing it, she’ll buy the house with the help of her parents. It is adorable and a perfect place for her to live.”

  Gleeful, Molly squealed. “Oh, how wonderful. Not long ago, Jessica complained that her landlord had raised her rent twice in the past year or so. I think he wants to get rid of her and charge a higher amount of rent to some unsuspecting fool. She’s never late in paying her rent, either, and is a good tenant. Some people are just plain greedy, I guess.”

  “She never mentioned it to me. This house might be the answer to her dilemma.”

  Jason walked into the shop and said he’d see me the next day. He and Molly set off, but not before Molly promised to bring the women by. I waved and took the notebook into the house with Bun at my heels.

  “Can we go for a bike ride? It’s still warm out and I think a trip to the lake is in order.”

  “Oh? Well, since the rabbits are all taken care of for now, I guess we can cycle on over there. You like that basket, don’t you?”

  “Sure do.”

  The phone rang as I put the notebook on the table.

  I didn’t recognize the number but answered the call.

  “Hi, Juliette Bridge speaking.”

  “This is Eve McPherson. I wondered if we could meet somewhere private? I want to talk about the things you found.”

  “Sure, I’m going to Lake Plantain. We could meet there if you want.”

  “I’ll see you in a little while, then.” While her Scottish burr wasn’t as evident as usual, I thought nothing of it and readied to leave.

  In a lightweight windbreaker, I added a pair of thin fabric gloves to the zipper pocket in case it grew chilly. Bun settled in the freshly decorated bicycle basket. Unnecessary to secure him, Bun enjoyed the ride and wouldn’t jump out to go off on his own. I pedaled fast to gain momentum and chuckled when Bun lifted his face to the wind as his ears flew back. His joy made me happy.

  I encouraged Bun to jump onto the sand when we slowed to a stop at the lake. I pushed the kickstand down and lodged the tires against a log so the bicycle wouldn’t topple over. The sun, bright and delightful on my face, left the sand dry enough to sit on. I relaxed on the beach while Bun investigated anything and everything nearby.

  It wasn’t necessary to be vigilant where Bun was concerned. Rarely did he take off for parts unknown and he had a tendency to stay close. Occasionally, his curiosity took over and he would leave me, especially when he was on the hunt for clues.

  Leaves crunched as he bounded into the brush. I peered in the direction he’d gone, but couldn’t see him. I rose to take a look and turned away from the water’s edge as I caught a glimpse of a length of wood that swung in my direction. I raised my arm to ward off the attack, but I wasn’t fast enough. The force of the wood hit me hard. My vision blurred, I lost my balance and landed in the lake. While I floated, Bun splashed about in the water yelling, “Get up, wake up. You’ll drown in this water.”

  He stopped short when I opened my eyes, peered into my face, and sank his teeth into my windbreaker. He backed up, tugged furiously at my collar, to no end. I was too heavy for him to haul ashore.

  “Let go, Bun. I think I’m okay, just give me a minute.” That said, I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath. I lay there, on my back, in the frigid water, trying to remember what had happened. My mind fuzzy, the incident began to return.

  I rolled over and dragged my drenched self to dry land on my hands and knees. The water wasn’t deep, but enough to drown in. Thankfully, I’d fallen back and not face-first. I reached the beach, shivered like mad, and pushed bedraggled clumps of hair back from my face that I’m sure left traces of sand from my hands in the sodden locks.

  “I only left you for a few minutes—what happened? I heard a splash and came running. When I saw you were out cold, and in the water, I panicked. I thought I was going to hop ’til I dropped. Whew, I’m tired.”

  “Did you see who did this to me?” I touched my head, looked at my fingers, and found them bloody. I knew I’d been close to being pulverized. Why had someone left before finishing the job? Had they thought I was dead? Could they have hoped I’d eventually drown? Had Bun scared them off when he thrashed through the undergrowth just a few yards from them? In rapid-fire, the questions added to my headache of enormous proportions.

  “My focus was on you, sorry. You scared the rabbit fur right off my head. See?” He tipped his head down so I could take a look. His fur was fine, but rather than disagree, I nodded to placate him.

  “Let’s go home.”

  “Wait, is that blood on your jacket?” Bun’s voice sounded horrified and fearful. At least it seemed like horror. I’d never seen Bun shocked like this.

  “Looks that way. I should get home and see how bad the damage is. Don’t panic, Bun. Head wounds always bleed a lot. It’s nothing to worry about, honest.” I left out the headache and dizziness part.

  “Come on then, let’s go.” He must have been concerned. He looked back at me when I slowly moved toward the bicycle.

  “Better yet, why not call the sheriff and let him rescue us? I think that’s a better idea, don’t you?”

  I felt my pockets, but my cell phone was no longer there. I waded into the water, peering into the crystal-clear depths. The phone lay at the sandy bottom and was no use to me now. I plucked it out of the water. I tried to make a call, but nothing happened.

  “I’m afraid the sheriff isn’t an option, Bun. My phone won’t work.”

  He hopped onto the log near the bicycle to wait for me to catch up. When I reached him, he said, “I can’t look at you, the blood is upsetting my tummy. Can you help me into the basket?”

  I did as he asked, realizing Bun was as traumatized as I was. I tried to pedal the bike, but the effort was too great. We wobbled erratically along the road until I heard him say, “Why don’t you walk the bike rather than try to pedal it. You’re unsteady. I’m worried we might crash, then where will we be?”


  His advice was sound. The bike wobbled once more, and I knew we wouldn’t get home without a mishap. I got off and pushed Bun and the bike toward home. It was tough going. I’d become more unsteady, just like the bicycle when I’d pedaled it.

  The upper right side of my windbreaker soaked with blood, Bun sat with his back to me. All I wanted to do was get back to the farm.

  A car slowed next to us when we’d reached the main road. I glanced sideways and tried to smile. That’s when things went dark. My grip on the handlebars went limp, my sight blurred, and I went down with a thud.

  * * *

  I came to and found myself on a gurney headed through a corridor.

  Dr. Sommers nodded at me when I looked up. He said, “Nice to see you again, Juliette.”

  “What happened?”

  “You lost consciousness. A police officer brought you to the hospital. How did you get that laceration to your head, can you remember?”

  We’d entered the X-ray department while I considered his question. Dr. Sommers stood aside until I was transferred to a table for X-rays. He didn’t move, but waited for me to answer him. Technicians stood nearby, without a sound. Nobody dared question the doctor or ask him to leave.

  “I was at the lake when someone struck me from behind. I fell in the water, came to, and found my rabbit splashing about in a panic.”

  His look, long and thoughtful, he didn’t question my explanation. Instead, he nodded to the technicians and said we’d talk more after he’d viewed the X-ray results. I lay still, then turned my head as best I could when told to do so, and held my breath while my injury was captured on film.

  With the photoshoot finished, I was taken to a curtained area and left to await Dr. Sommers. The curtain opened a crack, and Adam peeked in.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he stepped to the bottom of the gurney, and murmured, “How are you doing? You gave me quite a scare.”

  “I’ll be fine, I’ve been through much worse. You should go to Lake Plantain and search the beach for what my attacker used as a weapon. It might have traces of blood on it.”

  “Jules, don’t worry about that now, just relax.”

  The curtain parted slightly again, and Sheriff Carver sneaked in.

  Good grief, was this a convention, or what? I opened my mouth, but Jack told me to be quiet. That’s when Dr. Sommers made his entrance and ordered both officers out.

  His glare and annoyance were evident. “You can’t question my patient right now. I’ll see you in the waiting room.”

  Jack nodded at me. Adam dipped his head in acceptance and smiled before he left.

  At my bedside, Dr. Sommers said, “Lucky for you there’s no cranium damage, just a laceration that I’ll suture.”

  “Do you have to? Just put a Band-Aid on it, it’s probably fine by now.”

  “Yes, I have to. Don’t give me a hard time over this.” He prepared the suture kit and got started after the area was numb.

  A short time later, he said, “There, twelve sutures, and you’re all set. You’ll have a serious headache for the next few days, so take it easy and you should be fine. If you have vision problems, or that sort of thing, come in right away.”

  “I will.” Not if I could help it. Hospitals gave me the heebie-jeebies.

  Much aggrieved, I was forced to ride in a wheelchair while taken to the waiting area where Jack and Adam sat and drank coffee.

  “Where’s Bun?”

  “I took him to the farm after I brought you here. Bun’s fine. Molly is taking care of him. Your bicycle is also there.”

  “Thanks, I don’t know what happened. You stopped on the road right next to us and then I woke up on a gurney.”

  Adam glanced at Jack and kept his mouth shut while he stared at the bandage covering my sutures.

  “You were a mess when you arrived,” Jack uttered softly. “What happened? Do you think you can remember?”

  Okay, these two tough guys were shaken right down to their toes. I could say, ask, or do anything at this juncture and not get lectured for it. Pleased to no end, I knew it would be bad form to take advantage of their worry.

  I shared what I could remember of the incident and then fell silent. More due to my growing headache than any other reason.

  “I’ll take you back to the farm. Molly must be anxious.” Jack took over from the orderly and pushed me outside after a brief stop at the front desk.

  Adam followed and held the wheelchair steady while I got up and into Jack’s car. Jack looked at Adam. “Follow us to the farm.”

  No time wasted, Adam handed the wheelchair over to the orderly and drove behind us toward the farm.

  “You scared the daylights out of us, Juliette. Don’t ever do that again, you hear me?”

  “Listen up, Jack, I’ve got a headache the size of Montana and can’t handle a lecture from you or anyone right now. If you can’t be civil, I’ll ride with Adam.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that you do things that normal people don’t. Like, take chances when you shouldn’t.”

  “Jack, there were no chances taken this time. Bun and I went to the lake to enjoy some downtime. I got a call from Eve McPherson saying she wanted to meet and talk somewhere private. I didn’t think I’d be assaulted. I told her to meet me at the lake.”

  “Did you see Eve?”

  “No. I didn’t get a look at who swung the wood in my direction. I only caught sight of the wood.”

  “Uh-huh, well . . . we’ll investigate this, starting with the McPherson woman. Why would she attack you?”

  “I don’t know. Jess and I were at their farm a week or so ago, and I showed her a necklace I had found. Eve, quite taken with it, said she knew someone who owned one, but couldn’t recall their name at that moment. It was obvious she lied, but I couldn’t accuse her of it. There was no proof, other than her reaction to the piece.”

  “What does the necklace have to do with anything?”

  “That’s what I tried to find out. I found it not far from the spot Frank Poland’s body was found. The necklace is an old relic passed down through the centuries from firstborn Scottish women to their firstborn daughter. There’s an engraving on the back of it written in Gaelic, which says it’s from the strength and honor clan.”

  Jack parked the car. The shop door flew open with Bun and Molly in a race to reach me first. Bun won, of course, considering four legs are better than two.

  It was clear by their shocked expressions that I still looked pretty awful. I opened the car door and said I could use some clean clothes before I shared my experience. Molly offered help, but I waved it away and asked her to make coffee, instead.

  In my bedroom, I peeled off the disgusting clothes, left them in a heap on the floor, and went into the bathroom. The image of me in the mirror darned near caused me to faint. I gripped the sink as I swayed, until my vision cleared once again. The swollen bruise on one side of my face appeared to spread along my cheekbone and up into my hairline. I looked pretty bad, but mostly due to crusted blood that matted my hair.

  I cleaned the blood out of my hair with a moist washcloth after I removed the bandage that interfered with the process. Dressed in clean clothes, I felt human again. I flipped a few locks of hair over the sutures so it wouldn’t be apparent and bring about any possible vomiting by those who saw it.

  Chapter 18

  In slow motion, I entered the kitchen where the guys and Molly were deep in discussion. All went quiet when I sat at the table. Molly poured a hot cup of brew for me and Bun sprawled across both feet.

  “I thought you were a goner, like in those cowboy movies. One and done, you know?”

  I reached down and ruffled his fur, then stroked his ears in answer. A tiny puff of air crossed my hand as he sighed.

  “Bun was terribly upset when I was struck and landed in the water. When I came to, he splashed me with water as he hopped around. I’m glad you took care of him, Molly.”

  “He’s okay now that you’re her
e. I didn’t mind staying with him at all.”

  Sheriff Carver grunted and sipped his coffee. “I suppose you think the rabbit saved your life, don’t you?”

  “If he hadn’t splashed about as he did, I might have drowned, Jack.”

  He dipped his head and said, “True. It was a good thing he was with you, then.”

  For Jack to give in so easily put me on guard.

  “Do you have that necklace?”

  Molly gasped when I admitted that I had it. I took it from the drawer and laid the bag in front of Jack. He wasn’t going to take it because I didn’t want him to have it.

  He slid the medallion onto the table, ran a finger over the surface, then picked it up and flipped it over. He squinted at the engraving before he set it down. I snatched the necklace, slipped it into the velvet bag, then tucked it in the drawer.

  “It’s quite nice. You found it near Frank’s location?”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll look into this, but will put the piece into our evidence locker for safekeeping.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  His narrow-eyed stare said more than words ever could. It seemed to say it wasn’t a request, but instead, he wanted me to know he could keep it safer than it was in my desk drawer.

  Standing my ground, I said softly, “I would rather it didn’t leave the premises, Jack. I think Frank had it around his neck.”

  Surprised, Jack asked, “How did you reach that conclusion?”

  “I remember that before you arrived, I noticed a red line on his neck. I thought it was a scratch from the brush when Frank was hauled to the spot where he was left. The medallion belongs to a woman, and that woman chose him to wear it. You see, when passed down from mother to daughter, the daughter gets to choose the person she wants to marry. If he agrees to wear it, then a bond forms. I know it sounds far-fetched, but that’s how the story goes.”

  I was about to go on when Molly interrupted me. “Sheriff, from what my professor said, the medallion is old, very old, and is part of a custom that has pretty much fallen by the wayside.”