Willow (The Willow Series Book 1)

by Cheri Lewis

  A goofy smile plays at his lips and he relaxes as he shrugs. “It’s okay.”

  I feel relief. I can tell he truly means it’s okay. Now I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want to hug him because that might be leading him on again or giving him false hope and a handshake just seems stupid. I wish I knew what to do in circumstances like this other than look awkward. Thankfully there’s a bit of drama with Paula to breakup our conversation. She thinks she should be allowed to smoke on her ride over to the hospital in the ambulance. The paramedic pulls her cigarette out of her mouth and the remaining pack out of her pocket and hands them to Riley who passes them to me.

  Paula watches as her cigarettes like a cat after a mouse and when she see I have them she yells, “Buttercup, I want them smokes back. You hear me?”

  I nod then she starts singing and everybody immediately laughs including herself. Her argument with the paramedic and singing at the top of her lungs as they roll the gurney into the ambulance are clear indicators she’s going to be just fine. The song she sings I haven’t heard in years and it’s kinda fitting, “I get knocked down” by Chumbawamba. She’s always singing something and not always on key.

  After Paula leaves in the ambulance, Chuck informs us we still have to finish working our entire shift to get credit. Which I find ridiculous in Paula’s case and plan to talk to him when we get finished for the day. Chuck hangs out a while in his truck observing us as we work. I’m glad because AG uses her picker stick for the first time today and actually works right along with us not living up to her name any longer even after Chuck leaves. When we’re done we’re exhausted, nasty, and I’m still nursing a slight headache. Chuck informs us that Paula is in fact fine and has went home from the hospital to rest.

  I found Paula’s check-in sheet Chuck needs to sign that she’d left in the truck. I’d planned on leaving it with him to give it back to her but once he signs off on a full eight hour shift completed I take it with me. I don’t want to bring attention to the fact he signed it, if he didn’t mean to.

  While I was waiting for Chuck to finish talking to a fellow litter picker upper that was on the other team I glance down at paperwork on his desk and AG’s happen to be lying on top. Her name is Sara Beth and she’s nineteen years old. That makes me feel a little better about almost knocking the daylights out of her earlier. She’s definitely old enough to know better. What is it these days with these kids? I frown at myself sounding like an old grandma complaining about today’s youth.

  Penny is stepping into the back of her car when I walk out of the sanitation building. AG is leaning against the wall waiting for someone to pick her up. If she’d been anybody else I would have offered her a ride but I’m not that nice, yet. If she’s waiting on her mother for a ride I hope her mother leaves her ass here and makes her walk. I climb into my truck completely exhausted. If it wasn’t for Joe waiting at home for me I’d probably lean back my seat right here and take a nap. Instead I push forward through the fatigue and drive home.

  I’m finally home and glad to be. I let Joe out to do his business as I lean against the front porch post with my hands shoved in my pants pockets waiting for him to get done. I’ve never understood the grueling process a dog goes through to find the perfect place to shit but Joe does this every time. Sniffing in circles all over like one area is better than the next. It seems twice as long when you’re tired and ready to take a shower and rest. When he’s done I call him back inside and even though I know I need a shower last night’s events have fully caught up with me, drinking and a lot of sex, stupid, stupid, stupid. I half smile but boy was it a lot of fun. I plop down on my couch. There’s a constant breeze coming from my air conditioner vent from above. I find my eyes getting heavier and heavier as I drift off to sleep.

  I’m jolted awake by the sound of my cell phone ringing in my pocket. I grab the couch throw pillow hugging it to myself as I contemplate answering it. I lean over pulling it out along with the license plate number from the dick who hit Paula. I set it to the side. I feel like the little girl from Game of Thrones. My list of revenge is growing rapidly and like her I won’t forget. The phone call is from Deloris Wright, the missing cat lady. I slide my finger across the screen answering the phone placing it to my ear and close my eyes.

  “Hello, Mrs. Wright. How are things?”

  “Willow, do you think you could come over?”

  I open my eyes and watch Joe as he chews on one of his toys. “Right now? I mean could I come first thing in the morning?”

  “I…I guess. It’s just I’m worried about Corky.”

  I have to remind myself it’s not her fault I’m exhausted and aggravated. I force the irritation I feel right now about this whole stupid case down deep. “What’s he done now?”

  “Nothing that I know of…he borrowed a tent from Jon and camped out last night down near the pond. He had gotten some activity on one of his cameras he placed out. Anyway late yesterday evening was the last time we saw him. I thought about calling the police. I just hate to do that. He didn’t say how long he’d be staying down there. I tend to overthink and worry about stuff the older I get. But I’m sure he would have been back by now. He’s still paying for his hotel room. Why wouldn’t he check out?”

  “Well sometimes if you pay by the week you get a cheaper rate and if I remember correctly a weekly hotel rate is what he quoted.”

  “Oh.”

  “Did he take food and water?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know how much?”

  “Jon said he had enough to last him a couple days.”

  “It’s probably that. He’ll be back tomorrow, I’m sure.”

  “Okay…”

  Her voice trails off. I can tell by her tone she’s really worried.

  I sigh. “I can run out there and see if I can find him before it gets dark, if that would make you feel better.”

  “I hate to ask you to do that but it would, it really, really would. I’m just worried he’s fallen out there and needs help. Keep up with your time. I’ll pay you.”

  We hang up and I try calling the number from his website that I had saved in my phone. It goes straight to voicemail. Same super southern hillbilly drawl, and I picture him in my head again wearing his jungle outfit from the day I met him. I leave him a quick message. “When you get this call me, this is Willow by the way or call Mrs. Wright, she’s worried.”

  I continue sitting on my couch and stare at Joe. I have to talk harshly to make myself get up off the couch and move. I grab a Coke from the refrigerator for the caffeine and look down at myself. I’m pretty filthy but since I’ll be in the woods looking for Corky it doesn’t really matter. Joe and I walk out the door off to save the day. The traffic on the drive over is light so I make pretty good time. When I pull up and park in front like I did the first time I was here, Deloris is waiting on the front porch for me again.

  “Thank you so much for coming. I’m sure I’m just overacting but I’d sure feel better knowing he was out there on his own accord.”

  “How far down can I drive down into the woods?”

  “Not very far. The ground is rocky and has a lot of hidden dips.”

  I remember her mentioning that to us the other day. “Do you happen to have any spray paint, duct tape, old rags? Something I can mark the trees with so I don’t get lost looking for him? I had already left my house when I thought about it on my way over here.”

  Another trick I learned the hard way on an old case. You never go out into the woods without marking a way out. Luckily, I wandered in the right direction and came out a half mile down the road from my truck but only me and God know about that incident.

  “I’m sure I have something you can use.”

  She pushes her walker to her front door and opens it yelling inside at Jon, “Come here son!”

  She turns back as she waits and when he appears she asks him if he has anything. They give me three options. Brown spray paint which will work as an excellent m
arker on brown tree bark. Not! Hot pink duct tape and there isn’t very much of it so I go to the next item, two rolls of hot pink and one roll of electric blue surveyor’s tape. Why they didn’t lead with this choice I’m not sure. I take the rolls of surveyor tape and two bottles of water they offer me as I’m walking out the door and go to my truck to retrieve the small backpack I’d left in there by accident the day Heath and I went to Rolling Hills. I drive my truck as far as it will make it down the hill behind the barn. Deloris is right. It isn’t very far and set off on foot down through the woods. I spot a trail of red zip ties that have already been placed marking a path out. The ties are in really good shape not brittle and are clean of mildew so I’m sure Corky did it on his adventure into the woods. I take my time and attach the neon pink tape eye level on the lower limbs. Joe sniffs leading the path and it’s pretty accurate to the zip tie trail so he must be following Corky’s scent. I find myself holding on to trees as I step over briars, rocks and fallen limbs. Joe has no problem maneuvering around the debris. I feel like we’ve been walking straight for at least ten minutes and I’m beginning to worry I might not be going in the right direction even though I’m still following the path of the zip ties leaving my bigger brighter path right alongside them.

  I look back and my markers seem to be going in a straight line. We walk another hundred feet into a clearing where a large beautiful pond is located. Joe runs right into the water and begins splashing around. Great you silly dog, I never put the sheet back in my truck. I pick up a stick and throw it out into the water. Joe swims retrieving the limb and he brings it back to me. We do this several times before I start walking around the water’s edge looking for possible tracks, human or animals.

  I find a set of footprints on the back side of the pond. I follow them as far as I can until they disappear. I yell out, “Mr. Corky! Can you hear me?” No response. I find a fallen tree and sit down listening and taking in the area. It really is a beautiful place but quiet too, almost too quiet. I don’t hear any birds singing or wind blowing the leaves of the trees. I check over both shoulders after getting a weird feeling I’m being watched. I stand brushing off my butt and call Joe. He doesn’t seem to be picking up on any weird vibes so I settle myself back down. I venture off in the woods keeping my path straight, this time tying blue plastic markers to the trees as I go. I know blue leads me to the pond and pink takes me back to the house.

  I still don’t see anything out of the usual and no cats. Not a single one. I yell out every so often and stop to listen if I can hear anything. Still unnerving silence. I make my way back to the pond and walk around to the other side going into the woods a hundred feet marking my way. I now hear birds singing and not much else besides Joe rambling around. I finally give up turning around and head right back in the direction I came from to the pond at a loss of really what I need to do.

  I sit back down on a fallen tree. I pull my phone out and sure enough, no bars means, no service. He could be anywhere out here. The hair stands up on the back of my neck when I hear a scream. I stand spinning around, looking. Joe is staring into the woods like he knows the direction it came from. “Corky Bronson! Can you hear me?”

  Silence.

  Joe begins to whimper and I ask, “What is it, boy? Do you hear him?”

  I jump and duck as a bird flies by low and letting out a loud cry as it swoops near my head. Stupid damn fucking crow! You scared the shit out of me! I can hear rustling of leaves nearby I crane my neck around toward the trees right in front of me to see if I can see anything coming.

  “I don’t know what to do, Joe. Maybe she does need to call the police.”

  I hear a scream for help and I know it’s Corky. I recognize that southern drawl even though it’s a scream of pain. “Corky keep yelling I’m coming for you!”

  “Joe, where’s he at?”

  Joe takes off into the woods and I’m following behind him as fast as I can. I yelp and stop in my tracks when my pants become tangled in a vine of thorns. I yell for Joe to come back and he comes back far enough so I can see him. I can hear Corky yell again except it isn’t the word ‘help’ I hear this time. I can’t make it out what he’s saying. “Corky! Where are you? We’re here!”

  When I’m free and start walking to Joe he takes off in the direction Corky’s scream came from.

  I stop again dead in my tracks when Joe does too, and starts growling. “Joe, what is it?” I whisper.

  Corky screams and this time I hear him plain as day. “Go back! Go Back!”

  I start to back up and call Joe to come with me. Joe’s standing his ground with a teeth snarling growl. “Joe, come now!”

  An old woman with long gray hair appears from behind a tree, literally, like she appeared out of thin air. She’s holding a stick that looks like a long staff. Joe’s growl turns into a vicious bark. I’ve never heard him this aggressive before. He doesn’t trust her and neither do I. No gun, no taser, no cell phone, no help. What the fuck am I going to do?

  She wields her staff around. Her being a witch pops into my mind. Before I know it she struck Joe down with one swipe of her stick. He whimpers for a few seconds then goes silent. I feel like her blow hit me at the same time, directly in my heart. The woods begin to spin and my ears ring. My heart hits my stomach with fear. I don’t know what to do. Tears hit my eyes then I scream as rage boils through me and I charge at her. This bitch is dead. I’m ready. I’m ready for her to use her staff on me. I’ve trained for disadvantaged situations. I’m ready to hit her just like she hit Joe. What I’m not ready for is the blow to the back of the head I get from someone I never saw standing behind the tree.

  When I awake it’s dark outside and my nose burns with a god-awful smell. It’s so bad I immediately feel the churn in my stomach. I know I’m going to puke. I make myself think of something else besides the stench. If I puke, I’ll die choking on it. There’s nowhere for it to go. I have some sort of cloth shoved in my mouth and tied tightly around my face causing my mouth to be dry. I remember I felt someone tapping me on my side to wake me up. Wherever I am the area’s lit by candles, oil lanterns and a small fire flickers at my feet ten to fifteen feet away. I look down and I can tell I’m bound with leather ties around my ankles and my wrists are also bound. I’m lying on my right side on the cool wet ground. I feel something hard at my back. I don’t move much in case it’s one of my attackers. I try using my fingers to lightly feel what or whom it is but they won’t reach back far enough. I hold my breath to listen if the person behind me is breathing. Maybe it’s Corky. Maybe it’s the woman. Where’s Joe? Oh God, Joe. I let out my breath when I don’t hear anything. My right eye won’t open since it’s smashed into the ground.

  My body aches and my head hurts something awful. I can feel myself beginning to panic. I glance around trying to figure out where I am. Trees, dirt, and grass are all that are in my peripheral vision right now. I begin breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating. I try to calm myself, repeating a mantra that I say when I get into stressful situations. You’re okay. You’ve been in worse situations then this. You’ve been in worse situations than this. I say it over and over knowing it’s a lie but I tell myself anyway, because any time it gets bad I always think it’s the worst time of my life and look at me now. This is worse and I survived before, I’ll survive again. Looking around doesn’t do me any good. All I know is I’m in the woods somewhere. I’m in the woods and nobody is looking for us. Please, God please let Deloris have called the police already. Don’t let her think I’m staying out for a campout with this man. Please, call the police station and they’ll call Heath. He’ll know to come looking for me. I feel the tap on my side again. Like a light thump. I raise my head enough to see if anybody is near and I don’t see anyone. There it is again. This time I see a something roll off my side. I lean forward to get a better look at it and it looks like some sort of berry or a pebble. Another one, again this time one bounces off my head. What in the hell? I lean up with my elbow trying to loo
k back over my shoulder. There lies a fallen tree behind me, not a person, not my attacker. The leather burns against my wrists I’m bound so tightly. I begin using my legs to scoot around when I hear Corky from behind me whispering, “Thank you, Jesus, you’re alive. We’s in a bit of a pickle here, Willer.”

  You think? It hits me all at once what’s really going on and I see Joe all over again lying lifeless in front of me after she hit him. His whimper plays in my head as my heart breaks all over again. I frantically search for him willing myself to sit up. After a lot of wiggling I make it up and onto my bottom. I stop when the realization comes crashing down as I grasp just how much trouble we’re in. Silent tears roll down my cheeks as I take in all the animal hides surrounding us. There are hundreds hanging on ropes up several feet up in every direction. I’ve found Deloris’ missing cats. We also have found raccoons, opossums, something I don’t recognize. It’s larger and looks like what used to be dogs… my heart drops at seeing the dog coat hanging to my left. I’m thankful it’s not Joe’s but it’s a painful reminder.

  “Willer.”

  Hearing my name brings me back to the here and now. I still haven’t seen Corky so I use my feet to dig into the ground to turn myself around. He’s in a metal cage of some sort. I want to ask him where they are but I can’t do anything with the gag in my mouth. I move my head around trying to get it to fall but it doesn’t. I try using my shoulder that doesn’t work.

  “Use the tree,” Corky whispers. I shuffle myself around on the ground and feel the bark burn as it scrapes my skin on my left cheek as I use it to remove the gag. It works. Once it’s out of my mouth I move my tongue around trying to get salvia back to it. I feel sick on my stomach when I realize my gag was the hide of a rabbit. That’s what the smell was. I was breathing in and tasting dead animal. I can’t think about that right now. “Where are they at?” I whisper.

  “I don’t know. They got me late this morning. They’s think I’m something to do with the government. Said they don’t abide by my laws. They’s sovereigns.”