The Keeping(32)

A frisson of fear jolted through her as several unpalatable possibilities popped into her head. Regardless of how they got there, someone had been peering in her bedroom window. Had they watched her sleeping? Changing her clothes? Mel shivered and wondered how much screening the thin curtains on the window provided. She hadn’t even checked if they were closed properly, thinking that it didn’t matter, out here in the middle of nowhere. What if the person had come back and broken in while she was gone today? What if they were still inside? Looking at the cabin with something akin to horror, she backed away until she was halfway across the yard, then turned and ran to the Kennedys’, intent on calling the police, just in case.

*****

Mel pounded on the Kennedys’ door and almost immediately Beth appeared, a paint brush in her hand. She’d been repainting the bedroom when Mel had stopped by earlier and was still engaged in the task from the looks of things.

“Melody? I’m surprised to see you again. Is something wrong?”

“Well, sort of. I think... I mean, there’s a possibility... You see, there were these footprints...” She was having trouble catching her breath and organizing her thoughts after her headlong flight.

“Slow down; you’re not making any sense. Come on in and sit down and we’ll talk about whatever has you so upset.”

Mel gratefully collapsed onto the kitchen chair and pushed her tangled locks back from her face. Running definitely had a detrimental effect on her hair, which was why she avoided the activity whenever possible, she thought inanely. A bubble of hysterical laughter threatened to escape and she squelched it back down. Why was she worrying about her hair at a time like this, yet alone laughing about it? Beth was already looking at her like she was half crazy. No need to add to her suspicions by giggling away like some school girl.

Composing herself, she took a deep breath and explained what she had discovered in a relatively calm and collected manner. Beth frowned and called Josh into the room—he’d been watching TV in the den and staying out of Beth’s way while she painted; this was one of the secrets to their long and successful marriage, the woman had informed Mel earlier.

After hearing the details, Josh frowned and decided to take a look around himself. “No point in calling the police just yet. This is a small town and we don’t have our own police force. The OPP—the Ontario Provincial Police—are in charge, but it’s a large area and it could take up to an hour for a patrol to get here depending where the nearest cruiser is. I’ll check the cabin out and if someone really has broken in, then we’ll call.”

“But what if someone’s in there?” Mel twisted her hands in agitation. She didn’t want Josh to face an intruder. What if the criminal was armed?

“Honey, did you have anything valuable in there?”

Mel mentally searched her luggage. “Not really. Just my laptop.”

“Well, then. He’s probably long gone, if robbery was his motive. It wouldn’t take long to search a small cabin and steal a laptop”

Reluctantly, Mel agreed, but told Josh she’d go back with him so that if there was trouble, she could run for help. Beth had him take a baseball bat along for protection, just in case. He’d scoffed at the idea, but gave in to keep her happy.

Josh made small talk on the way to the cabin, showing no signs of being worried about what he would find. “So did you manage to find Ryne’s place yesterday?”

“Um... Yes, I found it. The map you drew was very helpful.” Mel didn’t mention the little adventure she’d had afterwards. As it was, she was sure Josh thought she was over-anxious and worrying about nothing. There was no need to add to his dubious impression of her.

“I’ve been by his place a couple of times, but never up to the house. He bought the place from the Nelsons. They were an older couple who wanted to retire to Timmins. Everyone in town figured the place would be on the market for years—no one moves to Stump River, you know. So we were all surprised when Ryne bought the place practically the day it went on the market. Why he and his friends moved up here, none of us can figure out. Mind you, we’re not complaining. It’s nice to have some young blood in the town.”

Mel murmured non-committally and filed that bit of information away for future reference. It wasn’t much, but compared to what she already knew about the man—which was next to nothing—well, she’d take what she could get.

By this time, they’d arrived at her cabin. While Mel stood some distance away, Josh went inside and looked around then came back out, with an I-told-you-so expression on his face. “There’s no one inside Melody. And no sign that anyone but yourself has been in there.”