Dancing in the Oaks

Doodles

Sitting back on the bar stool I gave a sigh of relief. The chairs were somewhat comfortable to sit on. My eyes traced the outer edge of the counter. I had to be very careful not to bump my foot on anything. Just the smallest bump causes the most pain. I barely tapped it on the chair and there came the wave of pain. It is unlike anything I have experienced before. The brace was also very uncomfortable against my small foot. It hugged it tightly causing an uncomfortable feeling. At this point I just wanted to solve this mystery and then everything would be fine and dandy. "Where do we even start?" My mind went a million miles a second. There are just too many details to even contemplate on where to start.

"Let's start with us, alright?" He walked over quickly to lock the front door. "Hm okay. We were both born on October 12th. I'm 19 and you're 18." I doodled along the edge of the paper in an attempt to calm my nerves. Each time we talked about this I was only left more confused. I could hardly imagine dealing with and trying to solve this mystery since birth. Nick told me one time that there are some people that have lived here that have purely dedicated their lives to solving the one and only Oak Ridge mystery. It seems to be getting deeper and deeper.

I laughed a little. "No you're 20 now! I am 19." I smiled, "Happy birthday to you, today. I'm sorry I kinda forgot we had the same... yeah. I propped my foot up on the stool next to me. It was painful. The pain radiated up my leg into my knee. I had to keep convincing myself that the pain would pass over soon. I did not wanna take the narcotics that they had prescribed. It may mess up my chances of getting into the rodeo. That is something that I haven't discussed with Nick yet.

"Oh right. Yeah, that's a new one. You're 19. Miss. Happy birthday!" He looked into my eyes. Again, what is the deal with him calling me miss? Ugh. That is the only thing he does that bothers me to death.

"Quit calling me Miss. I hate that!" I poked him with my pen. He pulled his arm into his chest so I wouldn't do it again.

I expected him to be mad at me for doing that, but he smiled. "The age gap between the Merchants was 12 months as well. 12 years between each burning of the barn. Both of the families that happened to have financial issues were affected. Every 12 months, on October 12th, someone disappears and is never found. Every 12 years someone is murdered and the body turns up. This time there were 12 victims. They are changin' their game a little." He noticed me struggling emotionally, obviously based on my 'sad, poor girl' facial expressions. The sun caught my eyes and shined directly into them.

"Can I ask who found my family?" I asked while silently sobbing. I just wanna take a break and ride Stryd. The only problem is that the doctor specifically ordered me not to. Cowgirls ain't gonna listen when it comes to 'doctors orders.' I had to. If I wanted to make the rodeo, then I had to listen. Afterall, it's just once? Right?

"Y-yeah. I-I Uh... It was me that found them. I found them on the other side of the barn. I-I.. found them." He leaned over and gave me a hug. His arms squoze around my hips tightly, but not too tight. I placed my arms underneath his armpits.

I retrieved my crutches that were leaned against the counter. "I'm so sorry you had to do that." I stood up out of my chair and got a drink. "This is really tough for both of us. Huh. I'm sorry." My eyes teared even more. He stood up and helped me back to my chair.

"No, don't be. I'm sorry for you." We had both sat back down and wiped our tears and shared a couple laughs at each other's messy, tear covered faces.

"Alright, now I wanna know how is it possible that one person can set a barn on fire and manage 12 people? I remember that you said that before the person was killed the previous day, 24 hours, and at 12:00. There has to be more than one. I would like to think that there is just a solo desperado out there, but that seems too good to be true." I wanted answers, and Nicholas seemed to know them. At least I believed he would know them all.

He tapped the pen against the counter creating an echo throughout the room. "Yes, that is true. The criminal is changin' his game a little. They have to, or else they would get caught. Wouldn't it be obvious if it is too repetitive?I want answers too, but I'm also limited to information. It is possible that one person did this because the victims were all found around 12:00 am this morning. They could have killed the people first and then caught the barn on fire. You're on the right track, but that is possible." He looked out the window.

"Now do we need to start naming off people that were there and weren't there? I remember Huckleberry, Farmer Joe, Chuck Rollins... Merry Rollins... Dorothy... that's all I remember. It's all a blur for me. It doesn't make sense how my family died, well at least my mother, because I talked to her right before I was in the barn." I attempted to write down details.

"Let's actually look at who wasn't there. This is a new list of suspects. Your family wasn't there, but they were victims. Berry's parents weren't there. The Schmidt's weren't there. My father wasn't there. How could that be possible? There is something that we do not know. Why would your... There has to be multiple people. Just exactly who? My father." He choked at the last sentence.

"Nicholas! You would mark your father as a suspect?" The sun went behind the clouds. I buried my head in my arm on the counter. I could hear the clock tick on the wall.

Nick scooted the chair closer to me. He rested his foot next to mine on the chair. "Actually, yes. My father has never been the nicest individual. My father, Dareck, usually puts on a show for the milk business. He can get angry, but he's very quiet."  He had a hard time finding what to say. "The man we caught on the game camera resembles my father. Although, the Schmidt guy, I think his name is Austin, acts and looks like my father."

"Huh. They both weren't at the hoedown. Not to mention the Merchants died 12 days apart. Your mother died of cardiac arrest and so did Mr. Merchant. However, why would your father still be living? How would he live if this follows a pattern? He is a block in the pattern. He has messed up the pattern!" It felt like something was missing.

"Are you tired yet from that anesthesia?" He asked inquisitively.

"I could use a good nap right now." I stood up.

"I need some time to think, so if you wanna take a nap that's great. I will just be outside. I have to leave in a couple hours. I gotta milk the cows." He helped me to my room and left. I stared off at my ceiling until I slowly dozed off into a deep nap.