Chance Encounters - Ch. 4

From a rough draft of Chance Encounters by Pat Otterness

CHAPTER FOUR

??????????I was fuming by the time I reached that fork in the road again. A dog or cat could break a paw, or worse, in one of these traps. I carried the one that had trapped me in my hand as I hesitated, wondering where the other fork led. As I stood there, I heard voices again and in a moment, Chance and Harm came walking along it as if nothing had happened.

????????????I glared at them, and their welcoming smiles turned to frowns.

????????????“What’s wrong, Chat?” asked Harm.

????????????Chance noticed the trap I was carrying. “What’s that?” he said. “Where did you find a nasty thing like that?”

????????????“Are you saying it’s not yours?” I held it out for them to look at. “I stepped right into it. If I hadn’t been wearing these leather boots, my ankle could have been destroyed.”

????????????Both men looked totally puzzled. “Where was it?” asked Chance.” He took it and tried to pry the jaws apart. “This thing is deadly. Who’d set a trap like that ‘round here?”

????????????“It was down this path a ways,” I said, pointing to the other fork. “Didn’t you hear me calling for help? I could hear voices nearby, but no one came.”

????????????“Whoever you heard, it wasn’t us,” said Harm. “We were about a tenth of a mile down this other way.” He indicated the path they had come from.

????????????“Whoever it was, we’ve got to stop them,” I said. “These traps could be anywhere. I can’t imagine who would set one of them where people live.”

????????????“It can’t be one of them iris folks,” said Chance. “They don’t want their visitors injured.”

????????????“I saw something … an old house or barn … in sight of where I found the trap,” I said.

????????????“That would be a good place to start looking,” said Harm.

????????????“I wonder should I get my gun first,” said Chance. “Them folks ain’t got no bizness trappin’ on my land.”

????????????Harm and I looked warily at each other. “Maybe it’s a little soon for a gun just yet,” Harm said.

????????????I agreed silently with that. The farther we could keep Chance from a gun, the better. I looked at their feet. Both were wearing sturdy leather boots, thank goodness. We didn’t need casualties of any kind. “Where’s Wolf?” I asked. I was surprised that he wasn’t with them.

????????????“I locked him in the house,” said Harm. “After what Jordan said about finding bodies under water, I didn’t want him looking for them in our pond. I’ve seen all the dead bodies I ever want to see.”

????????????“Guess it’s a good thing he’s locked up, if they’s traps about,” said Chance. “I lost two dogs ahready this year. Don’t want to lose another.”

????????????Chance had lost his first Rottweiler to old age, and his second to a killer up in my garden. Wolf was Chance’s dog in name only. He really, in every way that mattered, belonged to Hiram Jones, or as Chance called him, Harm. Wolf was a big, very big, shaggy dog with maybe St. Bernard or some such giant lost in his ancestry. Wolf had flunked out of cadaver dog training twice now, not because he couldn’t find the bodies, but because he couldn’t obey and leave the bodies to the detectives. He wanted to unearth them himself. Wolf was a trip!

????????????“Let’s go back to your place and get something cold to drink,” I said. “I’m parched.” I turned and headed back.?

????????????“What about them traps?” said Chance. “We need to find whoever set ‘em.”

????????????“We need to discuss the best way to do that,” said Harm, joining me in the walk back to the house. “We need to make a plan.”

????????????After a little muttering and grumbling, Chance fell in line behind us. The day was growing ever hotter and we all needed something cold to drink.

????????????Wolf greeted us with more enthusiasm than usual. Being locked inside all morning was not his kind of day. He went from one of us to another, sniffing and drooling. He gave me the most attention, though. My hands, that had handled the trap, and my scuffed boot seemed to be of special interest to him. I wondered if he could smell the person who set the trap, or if he was smelling previous animals that had been caught in it. Chance kept the trap well away from Wolf’s inquisitive nose.

????????????“Maybe Wolf could lead us to the people who set the trap,” I suggested.

????????????“He probably could,” agreed Harm, “but he might step into another trap. Or worse, stick his nose into one.”

????????????“You’re going to have to keep him locked up,” I said. “Now that he’s smelled the trap, he’s going to want to look for that scent.” That was a problem we hadn’t foreseen. Wolf was adept at opening doors. He was constantly opening my kitchen door and strolling in like he owned the place. Keeping him inside was going to be a challenge.

????????????“Maybe Jordan would keep him,” said Harm. “Wolf is used to being with Jordan.” Jordan lived in Amherst, a town twenty-five miles away. Too far for Wolf to easily return home.

????????????“But Jordan is out all day at work. Wolf would tear his house apart.” I thought about that for a minute. “You know, Hermione is home all day, pregnant with twins. She lives right across the street from Jordan. She might like the company.”??Hermione was the wife of my exhusband, Harrison Kase. He was not a dog lover, but Hermione loved animals. It would be nice to annoy Harrison while doing a good deed for his beleaguered wife. Besides, Harrison was in his dental office most of the day. I told the others more about my plan, and we decided it would be worth a try. Nobody wanted to see Wolf caught in a trap.

????????????Usually when I was thirsty, I drank iced tea. But Harm’s lemonade was too good to turn down. I missed the jug of it he used to keep in my refrigerator. I missed having Harm drop by and somehow clean my house while we seemed to be just sitting around, chatting. Face it, I missed Harm himself. He had been such a constant presence in my life, and now his absence was like an open sore. I drank my lemonade in silence, wondering what I could do about that.

????????????Eventually the conversation returned to the trap, and what we were going to do about it. Chance was going to report it to the Sheriff. Harm was planning to search for other traps. I decided to seek help from the postman, Ralph, who knew almost everything that went on in Nelson County. Ralph might know where to look, or who to talk to. And I needed to talk to Hermione about Wolf. I hadn’t seen her in a while. Harrison and I were never going to see eye to eye on anything, including the care his wife needed during her pregnancy. He had had to be talked down off the ledge, so to speak, when he found out she was pregnant, and again when she found she was carrying twins. I was on his DO NOT CALL list.

????????????If I set off right away, I thought I might find Ralph somewhere on his route. Then I could??drive to Amherst for a visit with Hermione. If that worked out, I would visit Jordan and ask him to keep Wolf for a few days. I said goodbye to Chance and Harm and set off up the hill to my house. A shower and a change of clothing were first on my list. The prize I had waiting at the end was time to spend with Jordan.