Driving back to Bayshore, Nell came to the conclusion that she’d made a gigantic mistake ever taking Sam into her confidence. She should have never told him that she was Nell of Noshes Up North. Her new issue with Sam was his inability to keep a secret. And people thought women talk a lot!
Nell pulled into her garage, grabbed her doggie Styrofoam box, and walked in the house. It was eerily quiet. How odd! She put the leftovers in the fridge. There was no reaction to the opening of the refrigerator door. Usually the dogs came bounding into the kitchen before she could get the door completely open. The boys! Where were they?
“George! Newman!” Nell’s thoughts were reeling. Could someone have gotten in her house and taken them? She looked outside. Nothing. “George! Newmie! Mama’s home!”
She was sick to her stomach. Nell bent to look under the couch in the living room. One time George had been stuck under it and she called him repeatedly, but he didn’t make a sound. Maybe he was just being as stubborn again. No luck this time. She raced to every room in the house, continually calling their names. To her partial relief, she found Newman curled up on the bed in the guest room. He was draped over a pillow on the middle of the bed, looking sleepy and mellow. Most definitely unconcerned she was in a complete panic. Crying, Nell rushed over to the bed and hugged and kissed him shamelessly. But where was George? They were always together. What would she do if she couldn’t find George?
A bear! Nell remembered how the patio furniture had been disturbed. She ran out to the doggie door and just as she knew it would be, the door was unlocked. Why hadn’t she continued to keep it secured? By this time Newman was at her heels as she raced outside leaving the door wide open.
“George? George, are you out here?” Nell marched out to the woods looking for any sign that a scuffle had taken place. Poor George wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight against a bear, though. Ignoring the “No Trespassing” sign, Nell crossed over her property line into the woods.
“Stay there, Newman!” Nell called as she tramped through the brush. Nell didn’t notice anything unusual in the woods, but what did she know? She wasn’t a tracker and her nose gave her no information. Her arms were getting scratched from the frantic pace of her searching. She tried to cover every square foot of ground where George might lie wounded. She desperately wanted to find him, but in the same breath was terrified that she would. She tripped over uneven ground and fell. She managed to pick herself up as fast as she could. Wouldn’t that be her luck? She could be lying there and have the bear attack her. Finally after what seemed like hours, Nell started back to her property.
As she came closer she heard Newman barking and squealing like there was no tomorrow. By the time she walked onto her yard, Newman was whimpering. “Oh, Newmie, did you try to follow me and get a shock from the underground fence? My poor baby?”
Nell scooped him up and carried him back to the house. She set Newman down, picked up the phone to call . . . who? The police? Before she could do anything Newman was barking in the guestroom. She went back to see what was wrong. There was George with his head poking out from under the bed.
Shaking with relief, Nell pulled him out as if he were a porcelain doll. She could only get him partway out before she noticed his legs and paws were all wrapped up in Christmas ribbon. He had been stuck under the bed and was too darn stubborn to bark. Until he heard Newman howling outside. Then he must have been able to get his head partially out and make enough noise that Newmie heard him and went right back there to find his best buddy.
“Georgie, Mama’s so happy you’re okay,” Nell cooed as she untangled the mess he had gotten himself into. She probably should find a better spot for all her wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows. “I was worried sick about you. Why didn’t you answer when I called your name? Why are you so stubborn? And you,” she hissed, turning to Newman. “Why didn’t you lead me to him? He was just under the bed you were on. Where were your Lassie instincts? Neither one of you would ever lead a rescuer to help Timmy out of quicksand, a mineshaft, or whatever else he got himself into. But I love you both!”
This time Nell’s initial thought was a bear, but it could have just as easily been Northwoodsman. This whole business with that cyber bully had to stop! Nell’s nerves were raw and she didn’t know how much longer she could continue to make it through each day with this threat of death hanging over her.
Realistically, she knew a lot of the tension she felt was of her own making. Nothing was amiss with her boys. They were fine. A different scenario had been made up in her mind. Same thing with the fellow who inquired about Schnauzers. Nell immediately suspected him of being a killer.
Honestly and truly, the only bad things that had occurred were Nell Norton’s murder (of course), the nasty posts, and the harassing phone call in the night. Could they all be separate episodes having nothing to do with each other? Possibly. Could the phone call be some high school student who was still annoyed with her for something she may have done years ago back in middle school? Nell always had to think about that. Northwoodsman could just be some jerk sitting in his underwear eating chips in his mother’s basement who thinks he can stir up some trouble. And Nell Norton could have been killed by someone she knew for a reason that had nothing to do with her personally.
All of these were legitimate points to ponder. She walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. This time she had two little munchkins by her side. She pulled out the container with the remains of her nachos and then grabbed some silverware from the drawer. Nachos were so messy.
Nell went back into the living room and sat down. She turned on the TV. George and Newmie had never met a tortilla chip they didn’t like, so she gave them each a few chips to make them happy. Nell loaded up a big chip with tasty morsels, opened up her mouth, and shoved it in. Some of the meat fell off, so her fork came in handy. She piled the goodies on another chip and continued eating, sometimes with the utensils, sometimes with her fingers. She kept eating, occasionally giving the boys some.
She kept eating and eating even though she was stuffed to the brim.
She kept eating as the tears ran down her cheeks. She was so thankful her boys were safe. But it looked like she wouldn’t stop until she was a hundred pounds overweight again. Nell wouldn’t have to wait for Northwoodsman to kill her. She was doing it herself with her knife and fork.