Chapter Twelve
CHAPTER TWELVE
The cabin was located in an empty field between the road and the base of Smoky Hill. After making their way through scattered trees they entered a clearing, and Katy could see the cabin nestled at the edge of a small thicket. Though the area was part of Blake’s property and it had been a short drive, she felt as if they were in the middle of nowhere.
“Now you can see why it’s not visible from the road,” Doug declared as he rolled to a stop.
“Yes, it’s completely private,” she remarked, then staring up at Smoky Hill, she asked, “Have you ever ridden Chief up there?”
“I tried comin’ down once, but there’s no trail to speak of and I ended up turnin’ around. The trees are real close together and it was dark, even in the middle of the day.”
“The forest does look really dense.”
“It is! Very different to how it is above the ranch.”
“Why isn’t this area being used?”
“Good question. It floods. Since I’ve been here it hasn’t reached the cabin, but the water covered the entire area below the forest and along that far side. If you look at Smoky Hill you can see how it drops down quite a bit lower here than at the ranch, and also the neighboring property. The weather patterns must have caused that, and probably contributed to the density of the trees. But I’ve always felt comfortable here in the cabin,” he exclaimed, climbing out and stepping towards the door. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s been busted open. Stay there a minute. Butch, come here buddy.” The dog had jumped out and was happily sniffing the ground, but immediately ran to Doug’s side. “He’s not barkin’, that’s a good sign,” Doug muttered, gently pushing open the door, then taking a breath, he let Butch lead the way and slowly followed. “It’s okay, Katy, you can join us.”
* * *
Letting out a relieved sigh she walked through the door and found the space larger than she’d expected. A single bed and chest of drawers was against one wall, there was a kitchen area, and a love seat with a small coffee table. She assumed the only other door led into a bathroom. Butch was sniffing around it, but not making a fuss.
“This place is lovely. Has anything been disturbed?”
“Not that I can see,” he replied, looking around as he spoke. “This is just weird, but I guess we should start packin’.”
“What can I do?”
“I’ll fetch the boxes and use one for my clothes. If you could put the stuff from the kitchenette into the other, that would be great.”
“Sure.”
As Doug stepped out, Katy wandered towards the tiny kitchen area and opened the refrigerator. It was predictably half-empty.
“Here you go,” Doug declared, returning with the boxes and placing one next to her. “I guess you couldn’t resist?”
“Resist what?” .
“The ice cream carton.”
“What ice cream carton?”
“That one,” he replied, pointing at it sitting on the counter.
“I didn’t take that out,” she replied, picking it up. “It’s melted. I guess you were tired and forgot to put this away.”
“No, it was definitely in the freezer. I planned to come back for it and take it up to the house.”
“Oh, my gosh. Do you think the creature we saw on the video was here? If it was it can’t be an animal. What animal would open a freezer?”
“A smart one. Bears do. I’ve seen videos of them walkin’ into garages and literally doin’ just that. But regardless, I’m callin’ Sheriff Cooper. Cookies and ice cream are no big deal, but the barn was broke into, and now this place. I’m worried the house will be next. I sure don’t like the idea of that—whatever it is—bein’ anywhere near us or in the barn again.”
Lifting out the business card the sheriff had given him he called the number, but voice mail answered and he had to leave a message.
“I hope he gets back to you soon,” Katy said with a worried frown. “This whole thing is really unnerving.”
“Yeah, it is, and I’m sure he will, but let’s get packin’.”
“I can see why you liked it here. It’s small, but it’s comfortable,” she remarked as she packed up the items from the cabinets and he began emptying the drawers. “When was the last time you were here?”
“Three days ago, just before Blake and Heather went on their honeymoon. I moved into the house that night.”
“So whoever took that ice cream out was here in the last two days.”
“Yep. I think I’ll lock the barn up at night until we can figure out what’s goin’ on. I don’t like to do it in case of an emergency.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If a horse is in trouble I want to get in and take care of it. Sometimes just a few minutes can matter.”
“Oh, I see what you mean.”
“But I’m worried about that creature bein’ in there again. Though I still don’t understand why the horses didn’t seem bothered. Hopefully Sheriff Cooper will call me back soon. There, that’s the drawers done,” he declared, picking up the box and moving to the only other door Katy assumed led into a bathroom. “There’s a small closet in here,” he continued. “I just have a couple of jackets in—what the hell?”
“What is it?” Katy demanded, spinning around, but all she could see was his back, and he was standing stock still.