Stranger in the Woods

by Geof Johnson

  Zach was sore when he woke up the next morning. “Ow.” He flexed his hands and grimaced, sitting on the side of his bed. His arms and shoulders hurt, too.

  He told his mother about it at breakfast and she said, “You’ll be okay. You’re young. You’ll recover fast.”

  He fisted his hands again, dismayed at the sharp pain. “Is it always going to be like this?”

  “No. You’ll get used to it.”

  “I hope so. We have two more jobs next week.”

  She pointed toward the phone, which sat on its cradle on the counter near the back door. “I forgot to tell you. You got another call yesterday afternoon while you were out. I told them you’d call them back later today.”

  “Wow. It’s working. The flyer, I mean. People are actually calling.”

  “You guys might make a lot of money this fall.”

  “I sure hope so. Grandpa said it’s going to cost hundreds of dollars to fix up the lab.”

  “Are you sure you want to do that? You could use the money for other things that you’ve been wanting.”

  “You already gave me a phone, and I don’t really want a laptop right now, ’cause I can use the computer in the family room. And you won’t let me have an Xbox.”

  “You could put the money toward your college fund, or start saving for a car.”

  “Maybe next fall I’ll do that, but right now I want to put it toward the lab.”

  “How about your friends? They’re always short of money. I know Shelby would love to have some more new clothes.”

  “They want to fix the lab, too. They think it’s cool.”

  “All right, but I don’t want you to regret it later.”

  * * *

  The phone rang after breakfast and Liz answered it. It was Tina. “I heard there’s going to be an estate sale at your neighbor’s house. My kids told me.”

  “It’s next weekend, Saturday and Sunday,” Liz said.

  “You need to put a sign in your yard on Saturday. Have it say somethin’ like Beautiful antique furniture, perfect condition. By appointment only. Then put your phone number on it.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “So you can sell your stuff that’s in your garage, that’s why.”

  “Aren’t we going to put it on Craigslist?”

  “We’re going to do that, too. We’ll do that today. But the house next door will have a lot of foot traffic, and most of those people will be lookin’ for furniture, because that’s the big prize.”

  “But it doesn’t seem right to put a sign up. I feel like I’m taking something from my neighbor.”

  “You need to be a little more ruthless, Liz. Besides, you’re not hurtin’ anybody, and that’s the way the free market works.”

  “Do you really think anybody will come over to look at my antiques because of the sign?”

  “Some will, but you only want the serious buyers, not the window shoppers. That’s why you write by appointment only on it. You don’t want people wastin’ your time.”

  “I’d feel kinda slimy doing it.”

  “Stop being such a softie. I’ll be over in a while to help you post your stuff on Craigslist.”

  After Tina hung up, Liz held the phone loosely in her hand and thought, Am I doing the right thing? Tina seemed to think so, and she was good person. Maybe I am too much of a softie. Then she laughed to herself. I’m sure Zach doesn’t think so.

  Chapter 33

  Zach and his friends had two more leaf raking jobs during the next week, and another on Saturday morning. They hurried through the last one so they could go back to the woods to see Bo.

  The giant decided he would begin teaching them how to track animals. He led them deep into the forest, and pointed out an area in some dense brush where a deer had slept the previous night. Bo knelt and searched through the leaves, which were compressed in a rough circle, until he found a few tiny brown hairs. He put them to his nostrils and sniffed them. “A doe, I believe.”

  “You can tell that from the smell?” Jason said.

  “It is different from the male’s. His is stronger unless the doe is in heat.”

  “Can we tell the difference?” Justin asked. Bo offered the hairs to him, and Justin lifted them to his nose, but shook his head. “I don’t smell anything.” The others tried, too, but no one else could, either.

  “You must have a better sense of smell than we do,” Zach said.

  Bo stood and brushed his hands together. “I believe so. Billy Byrd was convinced of it, and he was a skilled tracker.” He lowered his head and stared at the ground for a moment. “That was so long ago, even by my standards.”

  “You miss him?” Shelby asked.

  “He was a good man. He befriended me when I was in a difficult situation. He helped me make the adjustment to living here. I would have survived without him, but my life would’ve been….” He sighed deeply. “It would’ve been emptier.”

  Bo seemed sad just then and Zach swallowed hard while he tried to think of something to say. “Um…how’s the mark on your arm? My Grandpa was asking about it the other day.”

  Bo glanced at the dark circle on his skin. “It is changing. Slowly, but surely.”

  “How much time do we have?”

  “I am not certain.”

  “If you had to guess, what would you say? A year? Six months?”

  “Less than that.”

  “Well, we’re going to fix up the lab again tomorrow, because it’s Sunday and Grandpa’s doesn’t have to go to work.”

  “But he will be working on my behalf.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s something he wants to do.”

  Shelby bobbed her head. “We all do, Bo.”

  * * *

  After dinner that night, Zach was sitting on the couch with his grandfather in the family room, watching television, when the phone rang. A minute later his mother came in with a distraught look on her face. “Tina just called,” she said. “Their house got broken into.”

  Grandpa snapped upright in his seat. “Are they okay?”

  “I think so. Just scared.”

  He stood and offered Zach a hand. “Come on. We gotta go over there.”

  Zach sat in the back seat and worried and Grandpa didn’t say a word as Zach’s mother drove through the dark neighborhood. When they pulled into the driveway of the Rosses’ house, the porch light came on and Tina and her kids came outside to meet them.

  Zach and his mother and grandfather walked up the front steps and it immediately became apparent what the problem was. The door jamb was broken, shattered on the latch side, and a footprint was visible next to the doorknob.

  “Well,” Grandpa said as he reached the porch, “I can see how they got in.”

  Tina nodded glumly, and Jason, Justin, and Shelby stared at their feet with bleak expressions on their faces.

  “I’m so sorry, Tina.” Zach’s mother put her arms around her and patted her gently on the back. “Did they steal anything?”

  “All the money that the kids earned doing yard work.”

  Zach felt his stomach drop dizzily and he looked at his friends, but they wouldn’t meet his gaze.

  “How much was it?” Grandpa said.

  “A hundred and forty dollars. We think it happened late this afternoon while they were off in the woods and I was at work. I just got home a little while ago and found out.”

  Grandpa turned to Tina’s kids. “Why didn’t you call us right away?” They didn’t answer, they only continued to stare at their feet, so Grandpa said, “That’s all the burglar took, just money?”

  “We don’t have much else worth taking,” Tina said. “We don’t have a computer and our TV is old, and I already sold all of my good jewelry to help pay for Kenny’s lawyer.”

  Grandpa ran his fingers along the splintered wood of the door frame while he inspected it. “They kicked it pretty hard. Did you call the police?”

  “The kids did, right before I came home, but all the cops
did was poke around a little and get statements from us. They didn’t bother taking fingerprints or anything.”

  “Why not?”

  “Maybe because they think it’s just a petty crime, or maybe because of Kenny. You know, we’re a convict’s family.”

  “Aw, dang it,” Grandpa frowned hard. “Any idea who might’ve done this?”

  “It was Uncle Marty,” Jason said without looking up.

  “How do you know?”

  “’Cause the house smelled like an ashtray when we got home and we found a cigarette butt in the toilet, like the kind he smokes, Lucky Strikes. He told me once that hardly anybody smokes those anymore and that’s why he likes them.”

  Zach’s mother wrinkled her brow. “Why didn’t he just flush the toilet?”

  “He might have, but didn’t watch to see if the butt went down. That toilet don’t flush good unless you hold the handle down for a few seconds.”

  “That’s not the toilet I installed, is it?” Grandpa said.

  “No, it’s the front one. The one in the hall.”

  Grandpa nodded soberly. “At least nobody was hurt, and it’s only money.”

  Jason turned away without aswering and stuck his hands in his pants pockets. Justin glanced at him and his sister and then shook his head toward Zach. “But it was all the money we made from working. All of it.”

  “We can make more,” Zach said. “It’s just money.”

  Shelby’s chin had fallen. “But you trusted us with it. It’s our fault.”

  “No it’s not! It’s that piece-of-crap uncle of yours.”

  “But you trusted us.”

  “I still do.”

  Tina looked at her forlorn kids for a moment before turning to Zach. “From now on, you keep the money that y’all make. I don’t think Marty would dare to break into your house.”

  “But then I’d worry about it.”

  “You can keep it in the lab,” Grandpa said. “Nobody can get in there without an acetylene torch and a lot of time. I’ll get another key made for you tomorrow.”

  “I’m just glad everybody is safe.” Zach’s mother eyed the broken door and gave her head a tight shake. “But I don’t think this will even close now.”

  “I can fix it,” Grandpa said. “It looks like the door itself held up okay and the deadbolt should still work, so I just have to replace the jamb.”

  “How long will that take? It’s nearly nine o’clock.”

  “Can’t fix it ’till tomorrow. Hardware store is closed.”

  Tina pulled her lips into her mouth and a groan wafted up from deep inside her. “Is it going to be expensive?”

  “No. I’ll fix it for you, Friends and Family discount.”

  Tina bobbed her head and a relieved look filled her eyes.

  “What about tonight?” Zach’s mother said. “This house isn’t safe. The door won’t close.”

  “We’ll be okay,” Tina said.

  Zach’s mother put her hands on Tina’s shoulders and held her gaze firmly. “You’re staying with us tonight. Go pack what you need, and follow us home.”

  “Where’s everybody going to sleep?” Tina said.

  “The boys can have the spare bedroom upstairs, and you and Shelby can have the master bedroom downstairs. I just have to take all the boxes off the bed and put clean sheets on it.”

  “We don’t want to be any trouble. We’ll be okay here.”

  “Please, Mama?” Shelby said. “I’d feel safer there.”

  Tina looked at her sons. “What do you think?” They both shrugged, so Tina said, “Give us five minutes to get our pajamas and stuff.”

  “What about this house?” Grandpa said. “Do you want me to stay here so nobody steals anything else?”

  “There’s nothing left worth stealing.”

  * * *

  Liz got up the next morning before anyone else and went downstairs to make Sunday breakfast. Tina showed up in the kitchen just as the coffee finished brewing, her hair unbrushed and her eyes half-open. She sat at the table and cleared her throat. “Some night, huh?”

  Liz held up a ceramic mug and showed it to Tina, and Tina nodded.

  “Did you sleep okay?” Liz said.

  Tina took a deep breath and slumped with her elbows on the table and her face in her hands. “Better than I would have at my house.”

  “Was the bed comfortable enough?”

  “Bed was fine. Shelby’s bony elbows and knees weren’t, though.”

  Liz poured coffee into the first cup. “I’m going to make pancakes. What time do you think your kids will get up?”

  “When I snatch ’em out of bed.”

  “Don’t get them up on my account. I can wait to start breakfast.”

  “It’s Sunday. They’ll sleep ’til noon if I don’t wake ’em up, especially the boys.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of both hands and moaned softly, then she said, “Thanks for lettin’ us stay here last night. We wouldn’t have slept a wink otherwise.”

  “I’m glad you came over. I wouldn’t have slept either, worrying about you, and it’s nice to finally have some company in this big house. It seems empty sometimes, with just Zach and me.”

  Tina stared at the table top and didn’t lift her head until Liz put some coffee in front of her and sat down next to her with her own cup. “What are you going to do about Marty?” Liz said.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think he’ll come back soon because he knows there’s nothin’ left in the house worth takin’. I’m gonna tell Kenny about it, and maybe he’ll finally say somethin’ to his sorry-ass brother and get him to stay away from us. I guess Kenny will have to find a way to get a message to him from prison. Kenny cares about his little brother, but I don’t know why. They hardly seem related, ’cause Kenny is such a good person.”

  “Wish I could meet him.”

  “Me, too, Liz. Maybe you will, in seven or eight years.”

  Liz didn’t know what to say, and she felt sorry for her. Tina’s gaze had fallen to the table again, and she had a resigned look on her face. It didn’t last long. She lifted her head and set her jaw. “The meeting of the pity committee is over. I need to get my kids up. We got things to do.”

  “Like what?”

  “The kids said they’re goin’ to work on the lab again, and you and I have to sell your antiques. Did you get any calls yesterday?”

  “I got ten or twelve. I forgot to tell you, with all the excitement about your house getting robbed. I told them to come by today, after lunch, but do you really think they will show up?”

  “Don’t be surprised if they do. If they went to the trouble to go to that estate sale next door, they’ll come here. You’ll probably get some calls from Craigslist, too, so we need to keep your phone outside with us.”

  “We?”

  “Yeah, we. You don’t think I’d let you do this by yourself, do you? After your dad fixes my door, I’m comin’ back here and spendin’ the rest of the day with you, and we’re gonna sell your antiques.” She glanced at the clock on the wall over the counter. “What time do you think he’ll come to my house?”

  “The hardware store doesn’t open until ten, so…around then.”

  “Perfect. Your dad is a saint.”

  “You don’t know him very well.”

  “Compared to what I’m used to, he is.” She pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m goin’ to get my kids up. Then I gotta go back to my house, soon as we finish eatin’.”

  Chapter 34

  “Ow!” Zach snatched his hand back from the soldering iron. He’d burned himself again. Jason and Justin snickered from nearby.

  “Not as easy as sneezin’,” Grandpa said, standing beside him at the workbench in the lab. “Is it?”

  “No, but it doesn’t seem like it would be this hard.” Zach looked at the short wooden plank that lay before him. Grandpa had attached two small brass posts to it, six inches apart, and Zach was attempting to solder a wire to connect them. Grandpa had given a
ll of the kids a quick lesson on how to do it, and Zach was the last to try.

  Grandpa patted Zach gently on the shoulder. “I know it’s harder than it looks. So far, I think Shelby is going to be the best at it. I think it’s because her hands are so small.”

  “If Shelby’s going to solder, what are we going to do?”

  “You guys can clean contacts on the inside of the equipment. It’s tedious work, but it has to be done, because they’ve gotten corroded and covered with soot. I have to buy some little wire brushes, first.”

  “Do you need money for that? We don’t have any right now.”

  “I know. Yours got stolen. I’ll pick some brushes up and you can pay me back later. Won’t cost much.” He tapped his chin with one fingertip and scrutinized the control station, which was still partially disassembled. “I don’t know why my uncle wrote something in his log about blowing coils. That’s hard to do. He must’ve been running a lot more juice through this equipment than I thought. I still don’t know exactly how Uncle Nicholas’s machines worked. I may never know.”

  “Then how will we send Bo home?” Zach said.

  “We may not need to understand the physics behind what my uncle was doing, we just need to know the settings on the equipment the day Bo got here. At least, that’s what I’m hoping. Have you found that entry in the log, yet?”

  “I’ve been too busy. But next week is fall break, so I won’t have any homework, just a lot of yardwork.”

  “Good. You’re gonna need the money to buy the new parts.” He nodded toward the door. Why don’t you go get us a notepad and a pencil? We’re going to start pulling tubes out if this stuff and see what’s burned out, and we’re going to write down the little numbers that are on the sides of them so you guys can check on the Internet to see where we can get new ones.”

  “Can we help with that?” Jason said.

  “I don’t know. Ask Zach.” Grandpa turned to him and said, “Let me see the schematic again. Did you bring Uncle Nicholas’s log book down?”