Drantos(123)

She sighed and met Brad’s gaze. “It gets boring around here. Let me guess. He pretended he didn’t know what you saw? Or worse, told you that you didn’t see it at all?” She hoped she was close.

“Yeah,” Brad confirmed. “But that wasn’t a bear.”

“Trust me. It was George. He’s big and you can see parts of his skin. He doesn’t have much hair left. He looks really freaky like that. Someone even thought he was bigfoot once.” She chuckled, forcing her expression to hopefully look amused. “He was up on his hind legs and yeah, I thought that poor lady was going to have a heart attack.”

“It wasn’t a damn bear.”

She reached out and patted his arm. “Tell us what happened.”

“It was running through the woods. I almost wrecked my car when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. It was big and was all kinds of messed up with patches of dark fur.”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s George. About two years ago he showed up in this area. He knocks over our trashcans and scares the crap out of people who see him while driving along the highway, since jerks toss out garbage from their windows. We call that littering but George thinks it’s like ringing a dinner bell. Everyone around here thinks it’s a riot when people like you come in after spotting him.” She shook her head again and pointed at Lake. “Shame on you. Letting this poor man get all freaked out over that mangy bear. I know you think it’s funny but look how upset he is!”

Lake raised both hands and backed up. “Um, sorry?”

Dusti sighed and turned her attention back to Brad. “To be fair, we don’t get cable this far out. There’s not a lot to amuse us. It would have made his day if you’d left here thinking you saw some monster and word spread. He’s always hoping some tourist will think he’s spotted bigfoot again and he’ll make a ton of money off all the morons who show up looking for a monster. He’s the only store and gas station within miles, if you haven’t noticed. He made bank the last time.”

She shot Lake another glare. “It isn’t happening. This man is too smart to fall for your shit.” She shifted her body to stare at Drantos. “This has got to stop. You heard Brad here. He almost wrecked his car! It’s time to put George down. It would be the humane thing to do. Someone is going to get hurt.”

She motioned him forward. “Brad, this is Drantos. He’s kind of the mayor. The town isn’t big enough to have an official one but he’s the man in charge.”

Drantos inclined his head. “Hello.”

“See what I’ve been saying? That messed-up bear is a menace. It’s not some tourist attraction. This man could have been hurt. I demand you put down that bear. He’s got the worst case of mange ever and I’m tired of him coming onto my property.”#p#分页标题#e#

Dusti patted Brad’s arm again, making eye contact. “The crazy-ass bear also loves to roll in the mud when he gets hot. Thank goodness you didn’t see him after that. He looks like the creature from the black lagoon or something. It scared the shit out me too, and I already knew it was George since he did it right in front of my cabin by the river. I’m just glad I came in here when I did, or Lake really would have had you going.”

Brad’s face turned a little red and she could see he was pissed. “It’s really just a bear?”

She nodded. “Yep. He’s one screwed-up looking bear, to be fair. He’s scarred up pretty bad too. I think he hit every branch of the ugly tree he must have fallen out of.”

“Fuck you, man.” Brad jerked out of her hold, glaring at Lake. “You’re an asshole.”

“Sorry.” Lake didn’t sound it.

Brad looked down at Dusti. “Thanks for telling me the truth.”

“You’re welcome. And I’m going to make sure that George is euthanized so this doesn’t happen to anyone else. It’s better for that poor bear too. He’s got the worst skin condition I’ve ever seen on an animal. It’s probably painful. I’m going to ride the mayor until it happens. I promise.”

“Thank you.” Brad flipped Lake off. “Up yours, man.” He spun away from the counter, giving Drantos a nasty look next. “Listen to her. That shit’s not funny and I would have sued this town if I’d wrecked my car. You know that damn bear is a hazard. I’m never coming back to this shithole again.”

He stormed out and left tread marks when he pulled out of the parking lot to drive away.