Sally: Autumn Storms (F&L Story #4)

Sally: Part 35

Part 35

A few things stabbed at Sally when the morning came and sleep drifted away...well, besides Wilson. He made love to her like a man eating his last meal, and she loved it. She loved him. He seemed worried about something, but after he eventually emerged from the bed, he went immediately downstairs to tend to the animals, leaving her with her own worries.

Worry #1: Wilson. How much trouble did he get into by being arrested? He spoke nothing about it last night, so surely he was in no real danger of loosing his parole. Disregarding the extra anxiety in him this morning, he seemed to be acting normal...out tending to the chicken houses, the horses, and the ponies.

Naturally, she'd want to know if there was any reason for concern on that subject. Wilson's lack of conversation suggested that he didn't think there was. She'd have to trust him to judge the situation as best as he could. Of course, calling Josh later that day was an absolute necessity. Wilson might not feel she needed to know every detail, but she had a feeling that Josh wouldn't be so close-mouthed about it.

Second on her list: The Halloween party tonight. Everything should have been ready by now. But so far, she still needed to haul the generator out to the field, run the extention cords and set up the stereo system...not to mention prepping the bonfire, making sure the parking area was roped off, calling the church's youth group to make sure they didn't need anything for their concession booth, and notifying the local emergency departments, as she did every year.

There was still plenty of time, yet that overwhelming sensation hit her. She really needed to get a move on, but recent events weighed on her mind. How did that snake get in Wilson's shower stall? And how did Peter know she was at the hospital?

Then, a small part of her hated the next question: If Peter passed the visitation rules, why hadn't Wil? What kind of effort did Wil really put forth to see her? She decided not to ponder that one for very long. At this point it didn't matter anymore. Peter was the problem.

Peter knew she'd been admitted for a snakebite...which meant he'd either been spying on her or he put the snake in the shower and waited to see what happen. That snake – and she knew that was Reggie; she wasn't imagining things – ended up in a locked camping trailer in a closed shower stall in a bathroom with that door closed. So, it sure as hell didn't get there on its own.

Was it still there?

She hopped out of bed, threw some clothes on her body and went to investigate. Wilson was nowhere in sight when she emerged from the back porch. That was good. If he suspected that she intended to face that snake again, he'd have a conniption.

Sally hurried across the yard to the camper. To her dismay, Reggie was gone, and everything was closed up like before. Had Wil let it loose? More likely he would have killed it if he got his hands on it. She carefully made her way around the camper, checking nooks and crannies just in case Reggie grew a pair of imposable thumbs and opened all the doors on its own. Nothing. Sitting on the bed in the back, she chewed her lip as she thought about it.

The hospital took a sample of her blood, which would include the venom from Reggie. Could she prove through her blood that Reggie had been the snake that bit her? The fact that Reggie was practically a pet and kept in captivity for most of his nineteen years meant that there was no way he would have ended up here without help. If that was the case, she could approach it's owner, Jared, and ask how it got in the shower. Without proof – especially since Reggie wasn't here – she'd look like a crazed woman if she went to Jared with this. The wildlife officer would take one look at her and claim the snake had just been a random, everyday rattlesnake – minus the rattle – that found it's way into Wil's bathroom. Nothing extraordinary about that. Wilson didn't even believe her, and he'd been there when the snake struck.