The Puppet Hunter

Chapter 1/ Scene 1

Flames licked the side of the cabinet and reached for the corner of the kitchen curtains. Bobby lifted the metal trash can with his gloved hands, just enough to encourage the flames to go a little higher. He let it slip from his grasp, scattering the remaining contents across the floor and grabbed a hand towel from the counter. He took a deep breath and regretted it as his lungs filled with smoke. He leaned forward and dipped the edge of the towel into the expanding fire and threw it into the nearest corner before he walked out the door.

The crisp autumn breeze bit at his skin through his sweatshirt and jeans and he longed, for a brief moment, to be near the flames again. He shivered as he remembered how warm the evenings were just a few weeks before. Fall moved in quick this year and the cooler weather seemed to put even more people on edge. It added an eerie covering to the already desolate feeling impacting the community.

Bobby stood just outside the window and watched his handiwork. He had nothing to fear and no need to run. As soon as the fire consumes half the kitchen, he will call to report it. He will stay and wait until the fire department and sheriff arrive and he'll turn himself in. By nature, he is not an arsonist. But there are girls being kept here. Locked up in this house where no one can see them. They need to be found. They need to be saved. Even at the expense of his own freedom.