Chapter 2
1449 Words
2
Adam wasn’t a bad driver for his age. No incessant stopping or under-breaking of the speed limit, not that there was any limit on these back roads other than don’t-break-your-neck speed. We bumped and bounced our way to the first driveway and turned down the graveled, well-manicured road. The luscious green lawn on either side had an even better pedicure. Rabbits hopped through the cut grass and did their part to keep it a reasonable height. There was a distinct border between the end of the lawn and the beginning of the wilderness of tall trees and thick undergrowth.
The house at the end of the driveway was one of those unusual architectural wonders where there were two floors, and the front door was on the second. It was accessed via a long, cement staircase that became a death-trap when covered in snow and ice. The siding was stained a sickly woody color that did a poor job mimicking the forest around it unless that forest happened to be dying, and around the base of the foundation was the remains of flower beds. The rabbits had shown no mercy to the flowers, and now only sticks remained.
The driveway was wide enough for two cars to drive side-by-side, and finished in a loop. Adam parked us behind their fancy car. I lifted my pant leg to show off my bandages for maximum affect, and we stepped out. The staff came in useful as I limped a few feet closer to the house.
I looked up at the imperious money pit and Adam came to stand beside me. “Do you think they’re compensating for something?” he teased.
I snorted. “If they are it’s all because of Mrs. Vandersnoot.”
Speak of the devil and he comes, and so did the devil who wore Prada, or whatever the hell those were. Mrs. Clara Vandersnoot wore some sort of fancy shoes as she swept from the house and nimbly bounced down the stairs to greet us. She opened her arms and swallowed me in a tight hug. “Darling, what are you doing here so early? The party isn’t until six!”
I wiggled out of her grasp and pointed down at my wrapped leg. “Yeah, about that. I don’t think I can make it.”
Her eyes followed my gaze and she gasped. “My goodness, darling, what happened?”
“A little accident with a hungry bear, and it would have been worse if Adam hadn’t shown up and saved me.” I nodded to my hero.
Clara turned to him and her smile faltered. She reluctantly held out two fingers for him to shake. “A pleasure to meet you, sir.”
He took her fingers with gusto and gave them a strong shake that shook her entire body. “The pleasure’s all mine.”
Clara pulled her fingers lose and shook them before she wiped them on her skirt. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“So I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it to the party,” I explained.
Clara tilted back her head and laughed. I thought she’d flipped from the disappointment. She stopped the frightening display of disappointment and waved her hand in front of her face. “A little leg injury shouldn’t keep you from coming to the party, darling. You seem perfectly well standing as you are, and if you get tired we could always give you a chair.”
“But I was mauled by a bear,” I reiterated.
She smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “And I’m sure it was terrifying, darling, and if you need a psychiatrist I know the perfect one. However, as he would say, ‘you need to overcome life’s obstacles by moving on.’ Isn’t that such a wonderful phrase?”
My face and shoulders drooped. “Just wonderful,” I muttered.
“I’m glad you agree, and that means I insist on your coming to the party. Oh, and don’t forget to wear your best.” She wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, so she fled up the stairs, stopped at the top to wave, and slipped inside.
There was silence between us until Adam coughed. “That could have gone better,” he commented.
My eyes slid over to him. “You think?” I growled.
He sheepishly smiled and held up his hands. “I’m on your side, remember?”
“That’s questionable until I see what kind of a quack you’re taking me to.” I spun on my heels and hopped into the car.
Adam took his seat and we rounded the curve in the driveway to point back in the direction of the road. “If it makes you feel better I can come with you to the party.”
I glanced at his appearance. His beard was still long and scruffy, his hair was stuck in a ponytail and greased slicker than a water slide, and his clothes were covered in dirt and a little smelly. “You could get shot,” I mused.
He smiled. “Why is that?”
“Someone might mistake you for a bear.”
Adam chuckled. “If I promise to dress appropriately for the occasion will you allow me to be your date?”
I sighed and shrugged. “Why not? Misery loves company. Anyway, I might not make it out of the doctor’s office alive, or you might not if you don’t dodge the silver scalpel I throw at you.”
“I admit the doctor’s a little eccentric and a veterinarian on the side, but he knows what he’s talking about and won’t sugarcoat his diagnosis,” Adam told me.
I snorted. “So you can go to him with both your problems?”
His smile faltered and his hands tightened their grip on the wheel. “No one but you knows about my curse, and I’d rather it stay that way.”
“No one but me and the doctor know about you,” I corrected him.
He grinned once more and his eyes flickered over to me. “Then I’ll have to make sure you introduce me to the right people tonight.”
“If you want to meet the right people then we’re going to the wrong party,” I quipped.
“Well, I’m still willing to go with you, and the doctor I’m taking you to will make sure you’re fit to go,” he told me.
We drove down the mountain, but a mile short of the paved highway Adam turned off onto a road I thought was a disused logging route. The road was littered with half-buried boulders and fallen logs that showed signs of being driven over before our visit. The road narrowed so that the brush scraped the sides of my car and I cringed at every claw of limbs against metal. I felt like I was on a kid roller coaster as we rose and fell with the small hills.
After a few miles we ended up at a small widening of the road where it turned to the right. On the corner sat an old c*****d cabin on a raised boulder foundation. There was a porch with a thin-tree railing. On the porch was a wicker bench, and on the bench sat a man of fifty with a white, short, well-kept beard and his hair short at the back. Beside him sat a fox, and on the railings of the porch were squirrels, chipmunks, and woodpeckers. Behind the cabin I glimpsed a tall, narrow building I guessed was the private restroom for the home. On the side of the cabin sat an old station wagon complete with yellowish metal and fake wood paneling.
We parked beside the wagon and stepped out of the car. The woodland creatures sensed Adam and scattered. The fox leapt off the bench, and scurried between the railings and into the woods. The man rose and walked over to the opening in the railing above the three steps to the porch. He smiled at us with kindly blue eyes. “Good morning, Adam. Who have you brought me?”
“A patient, Doc,” Adam replied. So this was the doctor. Adam strode over to the porch, and I limped along behind him using my staff.
The doctor’s eyes glanced at my bandaged leg. His lips pursed together and he raised an eyebrow. “What happened here?”
“A bear attack. It wanted inside and Chrissy here stood in the way,” Adam explained. I shot a deadly glare at Adam, but it was ineffective.
The doctor rubbed his chin with his hand and squinted one eye. “I think I know what bear you’re talking about. It came through here a few weeks ago wanting to make itself at home in my living room, but it had trouble with the door because I’d wedged most of my furniture against it. I scared it away with a gunshot, but I hated to do it because it scared the other animals, too.”
“It may need more than shot at,” Adam suggested.
The doctor sighed and gave a nod. “I’ll have to agree with you, but let’s leave the nature life to nature while I take a look at this young lady. Come on in.”
- Writer
