Silent Stranger

18 - A Suspicious Stranger

The sky on Friday morning appeared light blue and cloudless. The air had a bite to it. The weather forecast called for lower-than-expected temperatures. When Sophie and I finished breakfast, the thermometer read a few degrees below freezing.

"I'm going to need my flannel shirt. It's what I wear to split wood."

Sophie disappeared into the bedroom and returned holding my shirt, laundered, and neatly folded. She handed it over.

"Thanks." I pulled it on over my tee shirt and regarded her. "I need to buy you a heavy coat. It will get colder as we get deeper into winter."

On her pad, she wrote: A heavy coat AND an electric blanket. Don't forget about that!

I scoffed. "How can I forget when you remind me every chance you get?"

I left the warmth of the cabin and inspected the stack of logs from the trees I downed during the summer. They were already cut to length but needed split to fit into the woodstove. Someday I'd invest in a gas-powered wood splitter, but while I was young and strong enough to do so, I enjoyed the manual labor and workout of using an axe.

After working for about a half-hour, Sophie appeared wearing one of my old sweaters and a wool cap that used to belong to Emily.

"Hey, girl, that outfit isn't warm enough."

She ignored me and started picking up the split logs and ranking them into a neat pile.

"You look like you know what you're doing. You've done this before?"

She nodded and continued to work.

I went back to splitting. Sophie was able to pick up and stack the wood faster than I could split the logs. She soon caught up to me. When I took a breather, she put a hand on her hip and tapped her foot as if scolding me for being lazy.

I scoffed. "Don't even start. You know that splitting takes a lot longer than stacking."

She picked up an armful of dead leaves and threw them at me.

"You're playing with fire, girl!"

She threw another armful at me and was poised to run.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" I gave chase.

Sophie was a lot faster than I expected. I pursued her twice around the cabin, and she was able to cut corners like a rabbit, keeping her distance from me.

I tried the old trick of doubling back to catch her when she came around the other way, but Sophie was wise to the idea. She ran away from the cabin and around my truck. From the other side of the truck bed, she waved an arm beckoning me to continue the chase.

"I will eventually catch you, you know?"

She stuck her tongue out at me.

I began to run around the truck. "When I catch you, I'm going to tickle your ribs."

She countered my advance by keeping the truck between us.

"I can keep this up all day. Can you?"

Sophie changed tactics and sprinted away from the truck and down the lane. A mistake. With no obstacles between us, I was able to close the gap quickly. Reaching for the back of her sweater, I grabbed the material intending to bring her to a stop. Instead, our legs tangled, and we both fell to the ground. She tried to scoot away but I grabbed an ankle.

"Gotcha!"

I pulled her toward me and tickled her.

Sophie's face contorted with silent laughter, She tried to bat away my hands. I persisted as she rolled into a ball trying to protect her ticklish ribs. I straddled her while she lay on the ground and kept it up.

I was having fun and enjoyed our little game but eased up when I sensed she had enough.

Sophie lay beneath me catching her breath.

I started to get off her when she unexpectedly grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled herself up to meet my lips.

She kissed me, a quick peck that barely registered. Her face went rosy causing her brown freckles to pop.

I didn't know how to react and needed a moment to process what had happened.

Just then, in my peripheral vision, I saw movement on the mountainside. Someone ducked behind a tree.

Standing, I held out a hand and helped Sophie to her feet.

Using a low tone, I said, "Go inside the cabin."

She cocked her head.

"We have a visitor. Go."

Her rosy cheeks drained of color, and she bolted.

I started up the mountain in the direction of the stranger. As I approached, a man with a ruddy complexion stepped from behind the tree. His unbuttoned coat exposed a white t-shirt beneath. He looked to be around thirty.

Wearing a sheepish expression, the man said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"What do you want?" I asked in a not so friendly tone.

He pulled his cap from his head and wiped his brow. "I'm scouting for deer. Hunting season opens after Thanksgiving. I was walking the mountain looking for a good spot to hunt from."

"This is private property. My property. You can't hunt here."

He wasn't able to hold my gaze. "I'm sorry. I did not know your cabin was here."

"Well, now you know."

He turned to leave and took a few steps before stopping. Facing me, he said, "I saw your woman."

All my senses went on high alert. "So what?"

He pointed with his chin in the direction of my cabin. "You didn't send her to get a rifle, did you? You aren't going to shoot me?"

I nearly laughed at his paranoia. "Mister, I don't cotton to trespassers, but as a rule I don't shoot them as long as they leave peaceable and don't return."

He took another long look at the cabin, apologized again, and walked away.

I watched until he disappeared among the thick trees. Hunters occasionally asked my permission, but I didn't like how odd he acted and how he fixated on what he thought was my woman.

Sophie waited for me just inside the cabin door as I entered. She held up her tablet having already written her question. Who was it?

Seeing an opportunity to draw her out, I said, "Just a hunter. By chance, did you know him?"

She frowned and shook her head no.

"Are you sure?"

She wrote: I didn't see him, so how should I know him?

I believed her and let it drop, but it didn't ease the nagging feeling in my gut.

Should Evan believe the hunter's explanation? What should he say to Sophie about that kiss?

Top Photo Credit: Pexels/Polina Tankilevitch