The Secrets of Bailey

Chapter 5

Jake was setting up his campsite in the location he had scouted earlier in the day. As promised, the sheriff had helped him mark specific areas on the map to see and avoid. One of the most notable things to avoid was an area known to have wild hogs that often tore down the local farmer's fence and released his not-so-nice bull. Wild hogs and angry bulls were near the top of Jake’s list of things to avoid while in the wilderness.

The wind was whipping even though the storms that would bring snow would not arrive for another twenty-four to forty-eight hours. This made Jake decide not to build a fire or cook for the night, which worked out. After eating breakfast and lunch at the café, he wasn’t hungry.

Jake quickly finished setting up, settled into his small two-person tent, and got comfortable for the night. He turned on his phone, and to his surprise, he had service. He quickly scanned his messages to ensure there were no emergencies before opening one from Bobby Norris. It asked if he had found any proof of monsters in the area. Jake quickly replied that there was nothing and turned his phone off again.

Bobby's message left a bad taste in Jake's mouth. He doubted a monster was responsible for the attack, as Bobby believed. Yet, he had doubts whether it was a human or a normal animal in the area. Jake sighed as he pulled the reports from his bag and turned on his light to reread them.

The medical report bothered Jake. The injuries the man had received were extremely similar to those he had found in the remains of ancient civilizations. In those cases, stone weapons had been determined to have caused the broken bones. However, one fracture the victim had suffered looked as if his arm had been forcefully twisted. It was something that did not fit with an animal attacking the hiker. Jake tried to dismiss it as a result of the fall, but he felt it was not.

Jake stuffed the report back into the bag that contained his maps. He wanted to get more information about it, but after meeting Miss Kaitie, he knew he would never get it from her. For the time being, he would do his best to forget about it. If he didn’t stumble across something, he would let Bobby deal with it. It was his passion and investigation, to begin with.

He made himself comfortable and lay in his tent, listening to the sounds of nature around him. The wind was blowing so forcefully that the creaking and occasional snapping of trees nearly blocked the babbling of the stream beside the campsite. As Jake half dozed, he heard footsteps near his tent. He tried to make out the kind of animal that was outside, but the wind kept the footfall from being clear. Jake soon fell asleep, unconcerned by the sound. Most likely, it was from deer trying to forage before the storms came.

-

Kaitie pulled up to her house to find Rhonda’s husband and sons nearly finished with her firewood. She smiled as she parked her SUV and got out. She could always count on them to help with anything she needed.

“Hey, boys! Are you almost done?” Kaitie called out.

“We’re just about done with what you got cut, Miss Kaitie,” Junior answered. “We saw a couple of dead trees over yonder,” Junior said, nodding toward the edge of the forest. “If you don’t mind, we’ll go ahead and cut those down and take care of them so they don’t hurt something by the storm taking them down.”

“That’s fine with me, Junior. You boys do whatever you think is best when it comes to that. I will clean up real quick and get that cobbler in the oven for you. I’ll put on a pot of coffee for you, too. You’ll need it to warm up,” Kaitie replied. She smiled at Junior’s sons, “Cody, Matt, Andy, you boys listen to your dad, or you don’t get any cobbler.”

“Miss Kaitie, we always listen to Dad. It’s getting Dad to listen to anyone that’s the problem,” Matt laughed.

Junior chided his son, “You hush now. Grab that saw, and you and Andy get to work on that west tree. Cody and me will take the one on the east as soon as we get this stacked.”

Kaitie snickered as she listened to Junior scolding his son. She hurried inside, turning the oven on as she headed to her bedroom to change clothes and start baking. When she finished changing, she returned to the kitchen and got to work.

She smiled as she looked at the old recipe card held on her refrigerator by a magnet. It was for her great-grandmother’s blackberry cobbler. It was simple and delicious and always made her think of her family.

As Kaitie made the pie crust that would go in the cobbler, she was thankful she could watch the men working outside her kitchen window. She had faith in their abilities, but it always worried her when they worked. She had seen far too many accidents involving chainsaws, axes, and all other manner of tools used in the area.

Kaitie had just finished putting the pie crust in the oven when she heard a shout from outside. She looked out to see Junior holding his hand and his son, Matt, pushing him toward the house. Junior’s other sons continued their work as they shook their heads. Kaitie could hear Junior and Matt arguing as they reached her front porch. There was a knock on the door before it opened.

Matt called out, “Kaitie! Dad smashed his hand. Can you take a look at it?”

“Of course,” Kaitie answered as she met the pair in the living room. She quickly checked Junior’s hand and told them, “Junior, sit at the kitchen table, and I’ll get my bag. Matt, get a bag of ice for your dad. You know where everything is. And wash your hands before you do it!” Kaitie yelled over her shoulder as she left the room to retrieve her medical bag.

“Yes, ma’am,” Matt answered as he helped his father to the table.

Matt was washing his hands in the kitchen sink as Kaitie returned with her medical bag. She pulled on a pair of latex gloves and went to work examining Junior’s hand. The end of Junior's little finger seemed to have taken the brunt of whatever happened.

“Tell me what happened. I was putting the crust in the oven when I heard you yell,” Kaitie said as she continued to examine his hand.

Matt brought her a zipper storage bag of ice wrapped in a hand towel over to the table and sat it near Kaitie. He stood behind his father while Kaitie treated him.

“Not much to say. We were bucking the log, and one of the branches was pinched up somewhere, and when it came loose, it popped me in the hand a good one,” Junior told her.

“Well, the good news is, it doesn’t look like anything is broken. The bad news is, you will have a nasty bruise, and you already have blood collecting under that fingernail, so I have to drain it,” Kaitie told him.

“You don’t have to do that. I can have Rhonda do it when I get home. All she’s gotta do is heat up a needle and push it in,” Junior argued.

“If I let you leave here, and you go home and ask Rhonda to do that, she would skin both of us alive, and you know it,” Kaitie laughed. “Matt, will you go into the hall bathroom and get that black case that’s under the sink and the spray bottle labeled alcohol that is by the sink?”

“Sure, Kaitie,” Matt nodded as he hurried to the bathroom. He came back moments later with the black case and alcohol. “Is this the right one?”

“That’s it,” Kaitie grinned as she opened the box containing fingernail polish and manicure tools.

“What are you gonna do? Paint my nails?” Junior asked, eliciting a snicker from Matt.

Matt chuckled, “I will pay you $20 right now if you do. But make sure they are bright, like hot pink or red.”

“As tempting as that offer is, I won't be painting your dad’s nails,” Kate said as she took out the rotary nail grinder and the small pointed diamond grind trip for it. “I am going to use this to drill a hole in the fingernail that has blood collecting under it. This will hurt a lot less than a hot needle, and a larger hole will allow it to drain better.”

“I’m not sure if I like the thought of you drilling on my hand,” Junior grumbled as Kaitie disinfected everything in preparation for the procedure.

“Alright, I will give you a choice. You can either let me take care of you, or I will call Rhonda and tell her you won’t let me treat your smashed finger. Which one will it be?” Kaitie asked sweetly with a smile.

Junior scowled as he held his hand out to Kaitie without saying a word. She quickly cleaned his hand with the alcohol before picking up the rotary file. Kaitie turned on the tool and barely touched the grinder tip to his nail, and it was over. The hole in his fingernail was enough to allow the bruise to drain as she gently wiped it to encourage the blood to flow.

“I’ve got to put one of those in every toolbox and vehicle I have,” Matt laughed, shaking his head. “With all the mashed fingers I’ve had, I never once thought about using one of those to drain the nail.”

“It is a less high-tech version of what we use in the clinic. It isn’t the best idea, but in a pinch, it works. It’s sort of like wrapping a cut in duct tape until you can get to the clinic for stitches,” Kaitie said.

Kaitie loosely bandaged Junior’s finger before placing his hand on the bag of ice. She quickly put everything away and removed her gloves as the oven timer went off.

“Junior, you are done for the day. Matt, go help your brothers while I finish the cobbler,” Kaitie instructed. Her tone left no room for argument from either man.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Matt grinned.