51: The Series

51: The Beginning Chapter 4

The next few days were uneventful. There was a lot more paperwork and many more discrepancies with it. Lindsay had made reports and spreadsheets showing everything. She had called the county commissioners and advised them of the issues she had found so far. She had also been trying to reach the chief deputy but had yet to be successful. Both his home phone and cell phone numbers had been changed or disconnected. That did not make her feel better about the whole situation.

She was finishing up with all the forms and paperwork and could finally see her desk again when she saw groups of what appeared to be older teenagers come in. They were agitated, and talking at the same time. Cat immediately started trying to calm them down and find out what was wrong. Lindsay saw Little Bob approach the counter to help Cat calm the group down. After just a couple of minutes, Lindsay saw Little Bob walking toward her office as Cat was leading the group past the counter to sit in a group of chairs. One girl was limping, and from the look on her face, she was in pain.

“What’s going on?” Lindsay asked Little Bob as he walked to her office door.

“They say something attacked them while they were tubing on the Sycamore River,” he answered.

“When they were on the bank?”

“No, when they were in the water,” Little Bob answered.

Lindsay immediately stood up and followed him to where the group was sitting. The first thing she saw was that one young woman had a towel wrapped around her leg, and there was quite a bit of blood on it.

Lindsay pulled a pair of gloves out of a pouch on her belt. “I’m Sheriff Gold. May I take a look at your leg?” she said as she pulled on her gloves.

The girl nodded and mumbled it was OK.

Lindsay slowly and carefully unwrapped the towel from the girl’s leg. As soon as the towel was removed, she could see two long, deep, and evenly spaced cuts that ran from above her knee to almost her ankle. The cuts had mud and sand in them, and she needed to be treated by a doctor without question.

Lindsay looked up at her and asked, “How old are you?”

“Eighteen,” she answered, her voice shaking.

“OK. Do you want me to call an ambulance for you? You need to go to a doctor and get these cuts treated,” Lindsay told her.

“No. Please just call my parents,” she replied.

“Cat,” Lindsay began.

“I’m already on it. I am calling all of their parents right now,” Cat said, with the phone in her hand.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” Lindsay asked the girl.

“Amber,” she said, shaking as she took a deep breath.

“OK, Amber, what happened?” Lindsay asked.

Everyone else in the group started to speak at the same time, trying to say what happened.

“Stop,” Lindsay said as she looked at the shaken group. “Let Amber tell me what happened to her, then the rest of you can tell me what you saw. Amber?”

Tears started rolling down Amber’s cheeks. “I’m not sure,” she began. “We were tubing on the Sycamore River, and we got to this corner with a big eddy and were just kind of splashing each other. All of a sudden, something hit me from underneath. I went up in the air, and when I came back down, I hit the water and went under, and then that is when I felt something huge swim by me, and it cut my leg,” she said, bursting into tears.

While Amber was telling Lindsay what had happened, Little Bob had gotten a first aid kit and handed it to Lindsay. She began putting clean bandages on Amber’s leg. As Amber had told what had happened, Lindsay had been carefully watching all the members of the group, and they were all very shaken by what had taken place. These were country kids who went tubing on that river at least once a week when it was warm enough. When they were not tubing, they were swimming or fishing. She had no idea what could have scared them this much. She looked at the group again and saw someone she knew would tell her what had happened. His name was Nimrod Jones.

Lindsay finished bandaging Amber’s leg and then stood up. She asked, “Nim, will you come and talk to me for a minute?”

She pulled her gloves off as they walked into her office. Lindsay closed the door behind Nim so they could have a little privacy.

“Have a seat, Nim. Tell me what you saw on the river,” she said as she handed him a bottle of water.

Nim opened it and drank half the bottle before he said a word. “We were on the Sycamore River just outside the base. We had come to the sharp corner and deep eddy, and we were all just splashing water on each other. I felt the water move underneath me like something swam under me. Before I could say anything, Amber and her tube were flying through the air. I saw something shiny in the water where she had been. She came down, went under the water, and when she came back up, she screamed in pain and said her leg was hurt,” Nim said, barely taking a breath.

Lindsay knew there should not be anything in that river that could do anything close to what Nim said happened. She could see he was upset and had known him most of his life. He was not one who would lie or even embellish something that did happen. His parents were stringent regarding that and many other things, and he would not risk their wrath.

“OK, Nim, thanks. I will let the deputies get statements from all of you, and if any of you or your parents want to talk to me, I will be here. I want to make sure all of you get home safe, and that Amber goes to a doctor to make sure her leg is alright. I need to make a phone call, and then I will be right out with all of you,” she told him.

Lindsay walked him back to the rest of the group. When she reached the counter, she turned to Cat.

“Cat, can you get the game warden on the phone? He needs to know about this if he doesn’t already know,” she said.

“Doing it now,” Cat answered. “Do you want to talk to him out here, or would you like me to transfer it to your office?”

“Transfer it to my office, please, if you can reach him. Thank you.”

Surprisingly enough, the game warden answered almost immediately, and the call was transferred to Lindsay’s office. She closed the door behind her as she went in and sat down.

“Warden Sims,” she said, “an incident has occurred on the Sycamore River that I think you should be made aware of. We have a group of teenagers here at the sheriff’s office. They are saying they were attacked by something in the water, and one of the girls has been hurt.”

After a long pause, a reply came. Warden Sims asked, “What part of the river?”

“The big eddy just outside of the base. I think you should come down here, see this girl’s leg, and talk to these kids. These cuts don’t look like anything I have seen before.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. Don’t let them leave,” Warden Sims said before he hung up the phone.

Lindsay hung up the phone and walked back out to the group. Little Bob and a couple of other deputies had made sure everyone in the group had gotten started on writing the statements about what had happened, which was good to see. Cat continued to try to reach some of the parents. So far, the parents who had been notified had yet to arrive, but it had not been very long.

“Game Warden Sims will be here in a few minutes,” Lindsay told Cat. “Will you please send him back to the kids? I will be with them.”

Cat replied with a nod as one of the parents she had been trying to reach answered her call. Lindsay started to walk back to the group and could not help but think that a sea monster was just what this county needed right now. She could see that her deputies and Cat had ensured the kids had something to drink, and a few now had blankets wrapped around their shoulders. Those were little things, but they made her proud of her staff.

“Are you guys feeling a little better,” Lindsay asked the group of kids. They all answered they were and nodded.

“I’ve talked to Game Warden Sims,” she told them. “He will be here in a few minutes to talk to you. I hope that he will be able to figure out what was in the water. OK, guys?”

The group all responded that it was fine and nodded

“Amber, how’s your leg feeling? Are you sure you don’t want me to call an ambulance for you?”

“No, ma’am, but thank you. It isn’t hurting as much as it was. I’ll wait and have my mom and dad take me to the doctor. They should be here soon,” Amber answered.

Just then, the door chime rang. It was Game Warden Sims. He was a tall, thin man and looked like he was in a bad mood. He did not even pause as he came in. He had seen Lindsay and the kids and was heading straight for them. Cat stood, but Lindsay just shook her head once. Cat knew just what that meant and sat back down.

“Warden Sims,” Lindsay said, extending her hand to shake his. “Thank you for getting here so quickly.”

“I was already in town,” he said, shaking her hand. He turned to Amber and asked, “May I have a look at the injuries before I do anything else?”

Lindsay looked at Amber, who had already started to remove the bandages from her leg. Thankfully, it looked like it was no longer bleeding. However, within the few minutes since Lindsay had applied the bandage, the cuts had swollen considerably, and a large area around them was red and inflamed.

Warden Sims’s expression went from a bad mood to concern instantly as he asked, “Did these cuts look like this earlier?”

Lindsay answered, “No, they did not. The swelling and redness is new and has only happened in the past two to three minutes.”

Amber touched one of the cuts on her leg. “I can’t feel anything when I touch it. It’s like it’s numb,” she said.

“Amber, how do you feel besides that? Are you dizzy? Do you feel sick?” Lindsay asked her as she put the bandages back on Amber's leg.

“I feel OK right now, but I’m starting to get a little scared,” she answered.

“Amber, don’t be scared. Just tell me what happened real fast so we can get you to a doctor to get those taken care of,” Warden Sims said.

Amber told Warden Sims the same thing that she had told Sheriff Gold and the same thing that she had written down on her statement form. They had been on the Sycamore River just outside the base at a sharp bend and deep eddy. Something had come up from under her while she was on her inner tube. It had knocked her into the air, and when she came down, she went under the water. When she was under the water, it swam by her, cutting her leg. Warden Sims looked at Lindsay when Amber finished her story. It was plain to see that he did believe that something had happened but had no idea what it was. Just then, Amber’s parents came rushing into the office.

“Amber, baby!” her mom cried as she pushed everyone out of the way and grabbed Amber. “What happened?”

She took the bandages off Amber’s leg and looked at the cuts. She passed out as soon as she saw them. Little Bob caught her before she fell to the floor. Amber’s father took his wife and helped her into a chair as she regained consciousness.

“Why didn’t you call an ambulance?” Amber’s mother demanded of Lindsay.

“Ma’am, I offered to call one for your daughter, but she said she would rather I didn’t and wanted to wait for you to take her to the doctor. She is eighteen, so it was her choice,” Lindsay told her politely. “We are through with her, and I think you should take her to a doctor as soon as possible.”

Amber’s father said, “Thank you, sheriff. We do appreciate what you’ve done. It looks like you and your office have taken good care of Amber and her friends. Do you know what happened? Could there have been part of a fence that she got cut on?” As he said it, he had sincerity in his voice and seemed to be trying to make up for what his wife had said.

“You’re welcome. As far as taking care of all the kids, it is our pleasure. We don’t fully know what happened yet. There may be part of a barbed wire fence that washed into the river, and that is what cut her leg, but right now, we don’t know,” Lindsay answered him. “Please make sure we have all of your contact information so we can get in touch with you. We may have more questions for Amber, and we will want to follow up and make sure she is doing alright.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Amber’s father said as he shook Lindsay’s hand vigorously.

“Thank you,” her mom said as she stood and helped Amber to her feet. Thankfully, she seemed to have fully recovered from her fainting spell. Amber had wrapped the bandages back around her leg, so her mother would not see it again, which might have helped.

Cat had quickly made a form for the parents to sign out the kids containing their contact information. Lindsay was so happy to have Cat. She had been looking forward to having Esther to help her in the department when she had taken over, but Cat was better. That woman had a lot more to her than met the eye. Lindsay knew that, but Cat still surprised her. Exceptional was the only word she could think of that would describe her. Lindsay did need to have a sit-down talk with Cat because she needed to know about some of the other things Cat did for income outside the sheriff’s department. She had mentioned having a client before. Lindsay was almost afraid to ask what that meant. She honestly did not care what it meant as long as it was legal.

“Can we talk in your office?” Warden Sims asked Lindsay.

“Of course,” Lindsay answered.

Warden Sims followed her into her office and closed the door behind him. She had walked around the desk and sat down. He had begun to pace in front of her desk.

“What did that to her?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Why are you asking me? You’re the game warden. Don’t you know if that was an animal?” she replied.

“Whatever cut her leg had to have some sort of toxin or venom or something. That is the only explanation for the way her leg looks right now,” he said, continuing to pace back and forth.

“I know. I can’t think of one infection that would cause the swelling and numbness like that, especially that fast,” Lindsay said, watching Warden Sims pacing. “But it could still be an infection. Thinking of that, let me have Cat call Amber’s parents and see if cultures can be done on it while she is at the doctor. If it is an infection of some kind, it could infect more people.” She did not bother to go out and tell Cat she sent a text message to her as Warden Sims continued to pace.

“I’ll go out there and have a look around. I’ll take a grab line with me. Maybe it was just a big catfish that knocked that girl off her tube. Then she cut her leg on some debris,” Sims said. “I will also take an underwater camera. Maybe I will get lucky and see what could have done that to her leg.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Warden Sims left Lindsay's office. He did not say anything else but was determined to find out what caused the chaos of the day. At least everyone was hoping that was the only excitement for the day.

Slowly, all the kids who had been tubing were picked up except Nim Jones. Nimrod, or Nim, as everyone but his parents called him, was more honest than any other kid Lindsay had ever met. Part of that likely came from the fear he had of his very devout parents. They were at every church service. Nim rarely got to hang out with his friends. Lindsay felt sorry for him at times. In all of the years she had known him and his family, this was one of the rare times that he just got to be a normal kid, and this happened, whatever this was.

Just then, Nim’s parents walked through the door. They stood staring at Cat. Nim’s mother, Abigail, stood, clutching her ever-present Bible. Nim’s father, Joe, stood silently next to her. The look on Abigail’s face showed she did not approve of Cat in any way. Joe only looked at Cat briefly, then looked at Abigail.

“We are here for our son, Nimrod,” Abigail said to Cat with an air of disapproval in her voice.

Cat did not seem to notice how Abigail and Joe felt about her. She just picked up the sign-out form she had made and handed it to Abigail.

“Of course, ma’am,” Cat said pleasantly. “We need you to give us some information so we can contact you and your son if we need more information as things continue to be investigated.”

“Well, my son did nothing wrong. I’m sure it was those other kids he was with who caused this. And for your information, the sheriff knows how to get in touch with us,” Abigail spat with contempt.

Lindsay walked out of her office and stood next to Nim. She had heard everything that had just been said.

“Abigail,” Lindsay addressed the woman. “So that you know, none of the kids who Nim was with today did anything wrong. One of them was hurt by something in the water, and it was no fault of their own.”

Lindsay had known Abigail for a long time. She looked at her and knew it would not matter what she said. Abigail had already decided what had happened without knowing any of the facts. She often did that and later relented and softened her stance.

“Nim, are you all right, son?” Joe asked. It was the only thing he had said since he and his wife arrived at the office.

“I’m fine, Dad. No one did anything wrong. There was something in the water. Please believe me,” Nim pleaded with his father.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. You won’t be hanging around those kids anymore if you are going to get into trouble like this,” Abigail said as she shoved the form back at Cat.

“Abigail, again, these kids did nothing wrong,” Lindsay tried to explain one more time. “Something hurt one of them in the water. We are investigating what it was, not what the kids were doing.”

“They were up to no good and were punished for it,” Abigail said. “That is the only thing I need to know about it. Come on, Nimrod. You are going home now.” She spun around and walked toward the door. Nim followed without saying a word. He knew if he did say anything, it would just make things worse.

“Thank you, Lindsay,” Joe said. “And I’m sorry about that. She’s just upset right now,” he apologized before he followed them out the door.

Cat and Lindsay looked at each other after the Jones family had left. Cat could not contain herself anymore and started laughing.

“Wow, that was a little strange,” Cat said.

Lindsay smiled at her. “Really? I hadn’t noticed,” she answered.

“Are you kidding? I was getting worried. I thought she was going to pull out the holy water and try to do an exorcism on me right here and now,” Cat laughed.

“I know what you mean. That woman has a problem with anyone who doesn’t believe the same way she does. It makes you feel sorry for that boy once in a while. She probably took one look at your tattoos, clothes, and hair and thought you were the spawn of Satan. That being said, deep down, she has the biggest heart of anyone I know, and if there is an emergency or someone needs a place to stay, she is the one you call,” Lindsay told her.

Cat smiled, looked at her arms, adjusted her top, and flipped her hair. “I do have a certain flair, don’t I?”

“Yes, you do, Cat. Yes, you do.”

-

The rest of the afternoon was thankfully quiet. Lindsay had called Warden Sims to see if he had made any discoveries at the river where the kids had been. So far, he had not found anything. There was no sign of any animal, not even the usual animal tracks that Warden Sims had expected to see. He had taken a boat and, using an underwater camera, had gone over the area where Amber had been knocked off her inner tube. He found nothing that she could have hit, nothing that could have cut her leg, and nothing that could have launched her into the air. He doubted the kids’ story, but he knew Lindsay believed that something had happened.

-

Lindsay was sitting on her front porch in the dark, enjoying the evening, but continued to think about the day. She was going to have that area patrolled more often. The deputies rarely went to that area unless there was a call they needed to respond to because of how few people lived there and the rarity of criminal activity. She had already decided that she was going to go to the river tomorrow and look around. She trusted those who were handling the investigation, but she also knew that people do miss things.

She was trying to clear her head with the hope that she could sleep. She could smell the night air, hear an owl, and a whip-poor-will, and usually, that would help her stop thinking about everything and be able to sleep. However, tonight, it was not working. She just kept thinking about the river and what happened.

She heard the door open, and Wren stepped onto the porch, followed by Crook. Wren walked over to where she was and handed her a bottle of her favorite soda. He sat beside her, put his arm around her shoulders, and Crook plopped down by her feet.

“So what happened at the river today? One of the kids is the son of a guy I work with, and he was very upset when he got back. He mentioned something about a sea monster in the Sycamore River,” he said as he looked out at the night sky.

“I wish people would quit calling it a sea monster. A girl got hurt when something cut her leg. The game warden used his camera to check the river, and he found nothing. We still don’t exactly know what happened,” she told him. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about this now.

“I’m sorry,” he said, leaning over and kissing her. “I just had to give you a little bit of a hard time about this. It seems like all the legends and the monsters are coming out of the woodwork since you took over as sheriff. It has been less than a week, and you have had a call about one of our big friends and now a sea monster in the river. So what is going to be next? Aliens, ghosts, flying monkeys? You have to admit this has been pretty weird.”

Lindsay laughed and replied, “I’m not going to ask what will be next. I don’t want to know at this point. I’m going to blame it on the military base. They must be doing some crazy experiments or something, and things are escaping.”

Wren got a strange look on his face and asked, “Why would you think the base has anything to do with this?” he asked.

“I was kidding. How could the base possibly have anything to do with what has been happening? This is the Missouri Ozarks. Strange things have been happening here for centuries. I don’t think any of this is new,” she told him.

They sat quietly on the porch, sipping their sodas, and enjoyed the night. Lindsay had finally gotten her mind to slow down and started getting drowsy. Crook stood, stretched, and started looking at the door, wagging his tail.

“I think your dog is telling us it is time to go to bed,” Wren said.

“I think you might be right,” she answered. “Crook, are you ready for bed?” she asked the dog.

Crook responded by spinning in a circle and bouncing to the door. Lindsay and Wren stood up and went inside. They were ready for bed, too. They both just hoped they would be able to sleep.