“Tan? Are you in there? It’s Bird.” Her voice echoed lightly against the earthen walls.
There was no reply.
“Tan, I know you’re in there. Listen to me. Your father is looking for you with dogs. He’s got a search team down here.”
Still no sound. Not a breath or a rustle. The cave smelled dank and uninhabited, and Bird didn’t want to imagine what kind of biting things and slithery creatures were there with her. She shivered with nerves, ready to bolt. She filled her lungs with fresh air and put her head inside.
“Tan, come home with me. It’s very important. Tell your story to the police. Tan? Are you in there?”
Deep in the cave, Bird heard the sound of movement. It was a scratching sound, like claws on earth. Could coyotes still be in there? Was this the right cave?
“Tan? Look, if you don’t want to come back with me, at least get your story recorded so the truth can come out. I have a digital recorder. Then I’ll go away. I’ll leave you alone to be caught by your father. Your choice.”
No reply. Just those scratching sounds. Try as she might, Bird could not get a read on whatever was within. The little hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight. One more try and then it would be time to leave. “Say something, Tan! I’m scared.”
“Nothing to fear, Bird.”
Bird went limp with relief. “Why didn’t you answer me?”
“I didn’t want to be found, stupid.”
In the distance, Bird heard the dogs change directions. Their cries grew fainter until she could barely hear them. Good old Cody.
“You brought a recorder?” asked Tan. “Can I sing you my newest song? It’s cool.”
Bird hesitated. There was no time to waste. “Come home with me now, and you can sing it on the way.”
“No way, on the way. I’m not going with you. I’ll stay here where I’m safe. Are you crazy? I’ll sing it now, and you will record it.”
Time was running out, but if singing would get Tan to tell his story, she didn’t see why not. “Sure, but then you have to tell what you told me. About your father and Sandra Hall and what happened that day.”
“You said you’d leave me alone after that. That’s my deal, or no deal at all.”
“Deal. Come out of the cave and talk to me.”
“No. You come in.”
“It’s creepy in there. And smelly.”
“Do you want my story or not?”
“I’m doing this for you, Tan! I have nothing to gain for myself.”
“So why are you here?”
“I guess for nothing!” Bird’s voice was rising in frustration. She forced herself to calm down; she didn’t want Tan to clam up, not when she was this close. “Look, Tan, you’re the one who’s running. You’re the one who’s going to be blamed. You’re the one who needs the story told.”
Tan considered this for a moment. “I’ll meet you halfway.”
“Halfway?”
“Halfway or no way. You can’t pretend that you don’t care if you came all this way to find me.”
Bird forced her irritation aside and leaned out to take another huge gulp of the clean night air. Then she crawled in. Tan’s outline appeared in the gloom of the cave. She sat facing him, bent into a pretzel to avoid touching the sides of the cave.
Tan waited until she was settled. “How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t me, it was Cody.”
“The coyote?”
“Yes.”
“I wonder about him. Did he pull me away from the barn fire?”
“Yes. He saved my life, too.”
Tan pondered the idea. “I thought he hated me. I guess I owe him.”
“We both do. He’s distracting the hunting dogs now, and keeping them away.” Bird listened hard for sounds of their return. Nothing. So far, so good. “Can we do this now?” she asked. “Record your story? If you’re not coming back?”
“Start the machine.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll sing first.”
Bird pressed the start button and the machine whirred into action.
“It’s all a hoax,” sang Tan in a soft, tuneless monotone. “It’s all a joke. We live and toil, and then we croak.”
“Cool,” Bird mumbled.
“Did you like it, really?”
Bird chose her words carefully. “It’s, well, not exactly uplifting, but it’s ... real.”
Tan nodded enthusiastically. “You get it. That’s wild, man.”
“Wild ... man,” Bird repeated with a chuckle.
“What’s so funny?”
“That’s what we called you, before we knew your name.”
“What?”
“The wild man.”
“Anyway, there’s a lot more, but you’ll have to buy the CD. No free lunches!”
Bird nodded. “I don’t expect any. Now, can we do this other thing? What you saw the day Sandra Hall died?”
“Sure.” Tan got himself comfortable, and Bird waited as patiently as possible. She did not want to spook him before his story was safely recorded. She listened again for the tracking dogs and heard them, faintly, on the other side of the deep ravine.
Tan began his story. “I was minding my business, hunting for rabbits on the edge of a field. A car came ...” He repeated, almost exactly, what he had told Bird earlier in the day. Minutes later, the entire story was recorded.
Bird said, “That’s great,” and pressed the stop button. She tucked the recorder safely into her pocket and prepared to leave. “People won’t believe it when they hear this.”
“Then why did we record it?”
Bird smiled. “I just meant that people will be amazed by the truth, not that they literally won’t believe it.”
“Then why didn’t you say that in the first place?”
“Gosh, Tan, I’ll be more clear in the future. Anyway, see you. I hope I’ll bump into you someday.” She crawled toward the exit.
“Where are you going?” Tan asked.
“Home. We’re finished. I’ll leave you alone, like I promised.”
“But what about me?” Tan’s face twisted. “You’re going home, but where am I going? Did you think of that?” He started to twitch with agitation. “You came to me. How can you leave me and ruin my life?”
Bird had not seen this coming. He didn’t seem to know what he wanted. For the second time in the same day, Bird was reminded just how ill Tan was. “You told me you wanted me to leave you alone. That was our deal. Remember?”
“Do you think it’s fun living in horrible caves all the time?”
“Well, no. I wouldn’t do it.”
“Would you like to hide from people all the time?”
“No.”
“And how would you like to eat garbage and catch animals for food?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I don’t want to be wet and dirty all the time. I want dry clothes.”
“Then it’s simple.” Bird didn’t know how Tan would react, but it was worth a try. “Come home with me.”
Tan smiled broadly. Bird saw the whiteness of his teeth in the gloomy cave. “Okay.We have a new deal. I’ll come home with you. And why can you talk all of a sudden? I thought you were crazy.”
Bird laughed. “We’re all crazy, Tan. Some of us are just a little crazier than others.”
She felt his eyes squarely on hers. “Do you think I’m crazy?”
Bird nodded and smiled warmly. “Yup.”
Tan thought hard, his face working with the effort. “Do you think I can stop needing to run and run?”
“Yes, I do, Tan. You can do this.”
Bird! Sunny was impatient. Are we going to live down here or what? The bugs are killing me.
I’m coming now, Sunny. With Tan.
The wild man?
The same.
Don’t expect me to put him on my back again.
No. He’ll walk.
29
THE HOMECOMING
Tan figured that he co
uld handle anything that came his way. He was ready to spring into action if need be. He didn’t think this was a set-up or a trap — Bird wouldn’t do that to him. But he would be ever alert.
BY THE TIME THEY CLIMBED back up the rocky ridge and got to the barn, the night had turned cool. Bird was totally exhausted, but she had something to do before going to the house. She let Sunny into his freshly bedded stall and gave him an extra flake of hay, making sure the water bucket was filled right to the top. When he’d drunk his fill, she topped it up again. In the feed room she mixed a warm bran mash with molasses and hunks of carrots and apples.
“Can I have some, too?” asked Tan as he sat slumped over on a bale of hay. “I’m hungry.”
“Just wait. Aunt Hannah will feed you something even better.”
Sunny dug in eagerly, then looked at Bird. Are you going to stare at me all night?
We’re leaving, you grouchy thing. Thanks for coming down and saving me today.
Anytime.
Tan and Bird left Sunny to his dinner and walked down the Saddle Creek lane in the dark. The stars were bright, and a sliver of moon arced in the sky. The smell of the damp earth and green grass filled their nostrils. Fresh, cool air swept the scent of sweet flowers over them. Bird was happy to be out of the dank cave.
She looked around. Cody. Thank you. I’ll leave a ham bone on the back porch.
Much appreciated, Bird girl.
Good night, my friend.
Good night. The coyote ran off into the night.
“Where does he go?” asked Tan.
“I don’t know. He has his ways.”
“I like that. His ways. I have my ways, too.”
Bird agreed. “You and Cody have a lot in common.”
“Like a soulmate.”
Bird smiled at him and nodded as she opened the kitchen door.
Hannah was the first to jump up from her chair. “Bird! Thank god! We were so worried ...”
Then she saw Tanbark. She stopped in mid-stride. Bird watched the emotions flit across her face: fear, curiosity, wonder, shock. Hannah hadn’t seen her half-brother for many years, and he had been sane and clean when last they’d met. He must seem utterly alien to her now, covered in dirt, skinny, unwashed and wild.
“Aunt Hannah, this is Tanbark,” Bird said. “He’s hungry and cold.”
Laura Pierson pulled the fleece blanket off her legs and thrust it at Tan. “Poor dear!” she crooned. “Let me wrap you up.”
Tan stepped back quickly, trembling. Bird looked at the room from his perspective. There were a lot of people. Laura, Pete, Hannah, Paul and Julia were all staring at him with concern; pity, even. It must all be overwhelming for him, she realized, especially considering how little he’d had to do with humans in the last few weeks. She stepped behind him and secured the screen door, just in case he decided to bolt.
Like Bird, Pete seemed to understand. “Come sit with me by the fire, my boy. There’s no need to talk.” He smiled warmly at Tan and motioned to the chair just vacated by Laura. “Come, son, sit.”
Tan took a hesitant step forward, then looked at Bird. She nodded encouragement. He took a shallow breath and plunged into the chair. His eyes were shut tight, and his entire body shook with nerves. No one moved.
“He needs some space,” said Pete in his gravelly voice. “We can’t crowd him.”
Laura crept up with a cup of tomato soup. “Tan? Are you hungry?”
Pete was about to chastise her when Tan opened an eye and held out his hands. Everybody watched as he gulped down the soup.
Julia picked up the fleece blanket from the floor and tucked it in around Tan’s legs. “Welcome, Uncle Tan,” she said with a smile.
Tan looked quizzically at Bird.
“I think that’s right,” Bird said. “You are Aunt Hannah’s half-brother, so you’re our mother Eva’s half-brother, too. That makes you our uncle.”
“Your half-uncle, dear,” said Laura.
“But we would never call him that,” said Julia. “It would sound funny to say, ‘Half-Uncle Tan, would you take me to the zoo?’”
“Call me anything,” said Tan with a shrug. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not taking you to the zoo and your half-uncle is still fully hungry.”
His words broke the tension in the room. Everyone laughed as Hannah brought Tan and Bird steaming plates of chicken pot pie, and watched contentedly while they ate every last bite.
Moments after Tan was finished eating, his head began to nod. It fell to the headrest, and his eyes closed. He was asleep.
“I called Mack at home to tell him Tan’s here,” said Paul quietly. “I convinced him to let the man get a good night’s sleep before any questioning. Bird, he said to tell you that you’re quite the girl.”
“Can you tell us now what Tanbark saw that day?” asked Hannah.
Bird nodded. Very quietly, so as not to disturb his sleep, she told them everything Tan had said. There was complete silence in the room as the story was digested.
“Remarkable,” whispered Pete. “Remarkable.”
“Do you think it’s true?” asked Paul.
Bird nodded. “I do. But I don’t know if anybody else will.”
That night, Bird slept more soundly than she ever had before. It was a deep, dreamless, untroubled slumber. She awoke, refreshed and smiling, as the sun spilled through the slit between her curtains. Songbirds trilled outside her window, informing her that the storm was indeed over. In the corner, Julia’s futon was already empty.
Finally, the problems in Caledon were over! Once Mack heard Tan’s story, things would get back to normal, and she’d be able to concentrate on Sunny and their next show. Tanbark would testify that Sandra Hall had accidently bludgeoned herself, fallen on a rock and died. There would be a collective sigh of relief when everyone realized that the bogeyman wasn’t real. They would go on with their lives knowing that there was no predator on the loose ready to attack innocent victims with a tire iron. Kenneth Bradley would have some questions to answer — like why he walked away from a bleeding woman and didn’t call for help — and the Wells and their accomplices would be punished. Best of all, Tanbark would get the help he needed.
Tanbark. Bird wondered, for the umpteenth time, how mental illness affects people. How does it work? Where does it come from? Why do some people get it? Can anybody get it? Can people get cured? Bird was confident that Tanbark would get better. There was so much about him that was good and positive, and he had so many people around him who cared. She felt sure that once Tan made the decision to see a good doctor, he would get better.
Bird smiled again and closed her eyes. Her daydreams floated in another direction. Now she was receiving an award from the Town of Caledon and the police department for her excellent sleuthing. She would wear a hat to cover her stubby burnt hair when she humbly and eloquently delivered her thank-you speech. People would clap and cheer as she accepted a huge bouquet of flowers.
Bird stretched from head to toe. She thought about the horse show. The Palston Classic was in just two days! She and Sunny had been working together much better since the show the week before, but there was still so much more to do.
She desperately wanted to make a good impression this time. Eva and Stuart were coming home the same day as the show. Imagine how proud her mother would be when she learned the whole story! Bird the hero. Alberta the hero. Perhaps it was time to graduate to her given name — like when Hilary James became Hilary instead of Mousie.
The daydreams continued. Alberta Simms, receiving the silver trophy at the Classic after jumping a perfect round on Sunny. The trophy this year would be presented by the elderly Donshell sisters, Matilda and Maudie. Alec would appear just as she accepted the trophy. His eyes would shine with pride as he made sure that everyone knew he belonged to her. He would publicly declare, over the loud speaker, that the rumours about him and Pamela were false and that there was only one girl in the world for him. Then, he would sweep her up in his arms and deli
ver a delicious kiss, right on her lips. Bird smiled with delight. This daydream could go on forever ...
A loud yell brought her back into real time. “Paul!” In the room next to hers, Hannah hollered again. Bird sat up straight, and all the rosy thoughts tumbled from her head. She jumped out of bed.
“Paul! Tanbark’s bed is empty and the window’s wide open!”
Bird ran to the hall. “He’s gone?”
Hannah pointed. The filmy curtains flapped in and out of the screenless, gaping window, and the covers of the bed lay rumpled on the floor. Bird walked in and looked out the window to the flower beds below.
“Aunt Hannah, come look.”
Together, Bird and Hannah studied the two deep footprints in the dirt where Tan had landed. The window screen lay beside them.
Paul and Julia arrived after a search of the ground floor. The four of them looked at the prints in wonder. It was a long way down.
“What do we do now?” asked Bird.
Paul pursed his lips. “Mack Jones isn’t going to be happy.”
“I never imagined that he’d jump out the window!” said Hannah. “He seemed so happy to be here, and to be fed and warm.”
Bird nodded. “He was happy, but right now he’s kind of like one of the barn cats. Once they’re fed they need to be out roaming again.”
“Maybe he knew he’d have to go back to the hospital,” reasoned Julia, “and he didn’t want to go.”
Bird nodded. “Exactly. I bet he just doesn’t want to be fenced in, or feel trapped, especially when his father is out there looking for him.”
The sound of gravel crunching under tires drifted through the window. A familiar car was driving down the lane from the road. Hannah and Paul hustled downstairs while Bird hurried to get dressed.
Paul opened the door to welcome Mack. “Come in, Mack. Hannah’s got the coffee on. Bacon and eggs?”
Mack shook Paul’s hand and walked in. “No thanks, Paul. Just ate. But I’d love a coffee. Milk and sugar. Thanks. And good morning to you all.”
“Coming right up,” smiled Hannah, a little too brightly. “Good morning to you, too, Mack.”
Mystery at Saddle Creek Page 21
