The next morning, mist rose off the frosted ground. I could see my breath, and I shivered as I went out to the barns. Winter was coming. I found the animals fed and Robin fast asleep in his shed. He didn’t even stir. Whatever he had been up to in the night, it sure had worn him out.
I tiptoed out without waking him and signalled to Chevy. Together we set off across the field in the direction I’d seen Robin go. Chevy led the way, tail waving and nose to the ground. After a while we came to the cave. It was deserted. There was no microwave, no blanket on the floor or branch across the entrance. No sign of the things he’d been stealing either. Obviously, he had another secret place. I tried to remember the route we had taken when I first found him. Across the stream and deeper into the woods.
I ducked and wove my way forward. Slipping on moss and clambering over roots. Finally, I recognized the hill where I had caught up with him that first day. Found the rock he’d tried to hide behind. I stood on the spot, squinting through the trees. The leaves were all gone now, so I could see farther. I listened. Chevy stood still too, her nose twitching.
Nothing. Just crows squawking, squirrels chattering and wind scraping through the branches. I waited. Chevy turned, and her ears perked up. A low growl bubbled in her throat.
I held my breath. Bears were on the move right now, finding food and shelter for the winter. Their cubs would be playing nearby. Suddenly Chevy barked and took off farther up the hill. I shouted, but she ignored me. I scrambled after her, hoping she wasn’t leading us both toward a mother bear. Up ahead I could hear her barking, a high-pitched warning bark. I followed the sound, my heart pounding. Over the hilltop and down the other side. Toward a mossy stream and another rocky overhang where I knew animals liked to gather. A pile of rocks and old boards made a sort of shack.
Chevy was standing by the rocks, barking. Her hackles up and her tail stiff. I could see nothing in the darkness inside. No black shape, no shiny teeth.
But it smelled like a rotting corpse.
I shrank back, afraid to look. Then I saw one of my towels draped over a tree branch to dry. And my blanket over another. My microwave was down by the stream.
The kid’s secret lair! I rushed forward, slipping on the mossy rocks and falling head first into the darkness. I landed on my hands and knees on something soft. A cry startled me, and I yanked my hands back. I looked down, my eyes gradually getting used to the gloom. I saw my horse blanket on the floor and a pile of towels and blankets in front of me. The pile moved. It moaned. I reached up to pull the covers back. Saw a woman’s face, white and shiny with sweat. Her eyes were shut and her lips cracked. She panted like a dog. The rancid stink rose from her.
I tugged on the blanket to drag her out into the light. Her eyes flew open. Glassy and unseeing, but as blue as a winter sky.
Robin’s eyes.
Out in the sunlight, I could see how sick she was. Fever and stench radiated from her. I reached down to gather her into my arms. She weighed less than a hundred-pound sack of potatoes, but the trek through the woods was going to be hard. I grunted as I turned around.
And came face to face with the barrel of a shotgun. Robin blocked the path, his feet apart and both arms holding a shotgun almost as big as him.
“Help me, Robin. She’s very sick.”
“I help her.”
“You can’t. I can’t. She needs a doctor.”
“I use moss. She tell me.”
“Is she your mother?” It might explain why no one was looking for him.
“My sister.”
I looked at the woman’s feverish face. At the cracked lips and furrows of pain. Illness had aged her.
“We need to get her home. It’s too cold out here.”
He shook his head wildly. The gun wavered. He tightened his grip in defiance.
“Robin, she will die out here!”
His chin quivered. “No doctor. No police.”
I thought fast. One step at a time. “Okay,” I said. “No doctor. But let me take her home, where I can see what’s wrong with her.”
Robin stared at the girl. She had fainted again and lay limp in my arms. He took a few quick breaths. Trying to gather his courage. And then he stepped aside.