In the Night
It’s hailing, Rich thought. Really hard.
“Rich! Wake up!” It was Kara in his dreams. Or was it—he opened his eyes to darkness.
Hail battered one side and roof of the cabin, then stopped. Then more hail slammed against the building. Then stopped. It wasn’t hail.
“What the hell is that?” Rich asked.
The women were awake. Allison shook Max to wake him up. Kara stood by the window, trying to see outside.
“Someone’s outside throwing pebbles,” Alison peered through the back windows. “But I don’t see anyone.”
Max stirred next to his wife, as she nudged and shoved him. “Someone’s outside, Max! Get up!”
The sound stopped, but then abruptly started again, harder this time, as if whoever it was had found bigger stones to throw.
“What the fuck?” Max sat up. He craned his neck to look out the window.
“Anything?” Rich asked.
“Why is someone doing that?” Alison’s voice shook.
“I can’t see a thing.” Max scrambled out of bed, pulled his jeans on, and stumbled to the front room. “I don’t care who’s doing it. I’m ending it.”
Rich had no idea what hour it was, but it was late. He reached for his jeans, grabbed his phone. It was three-twenty-five in the morning.
“Rich, take the other rifle.” Max was already standing with the Nosler in hand.
“Is that loaded?” Alison asked.
“Of course it is,” Max said. “What would be the point in going outside with an empty rifle?”
Rich stared with disdain at the Remington before picking it up. It was cold and heavy. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.
Another hail of pebbles and rocks hit the cabin.
“Why is someone doing that?” Alison asked.
No one answered.
“Let’s go.” Max grabbed a flashlight and opened the front door slowly. The mixed skunk-compost stink seeped into the rooms. Grimacing, he peeked out into the darkness. “Fucking dark out there.”
“No shit,” Rich said right behind him. He’d also taken a flashlight.
Max stepped out onto the wood deck and turned his flashlight to the woods at the side and back of the cabin. Rich came out behind him and went to the left, keeping the flashlight beam away from the next cabin.
“Anyone out there?” Kara shouted.
“I don’t see anyone,” Max said. “But there’s a shitload of pebbles and rocks over here.”
Rich came around to find Max with his flashlight pointed down at hundreds of pebbles and stones along the side of the cabin. It was the side facing the woods.
“Who the hell did this?” Max asked.
Rich scanned the closest trees with his flashlight, but there was no movement.
“You think that guy did this?” Max asked.
“Why would he?” No, he thought, It’s the man in the woods trying to scare us away. How absurd. So why did the gas station attendant’s voice keep trickling like ice water through his head? He glanced at the dark cabin. That didn’t mean the guy couldn’t have snuck out.
“Why throw pebbles at three in the morning?”
“I have no idea.” Rich stared at the pebbles, then shined the flashlight over the wall. None of them had done any damage that he could see. “In the morning, we’ll go to the office and let the ranger know. Let him check into it.”
“What about the guy next door?”
“We can talk to them in the morning, too.” Rich took one last look at the pebbles, then shined his flashlight into the woods. “Nothing else we can do now.” Unsatisfied, he headed back to the front, where he paused and watched the other cabins. They were both dark. No movement.
When they went in, Kara and Alison stood in the doorway to the back room.
“What did you find?” Alison asked.
“Who was out there?” Kara asked.
“Rocks and pebbles,” Max said. “Someone was out there, but we didn’t see them.”
“So what do we do?” Kara asked. “Is there someone we can call?”
“In the morning, we’ll drive over to the office.” Rich placed the rifle back in the corner and made sure the door was locked.
“Should we leave?” Alison asked. Kara had told him her sister was afraid of bears.
“Now?” Max nearly shouted. He shook his head.
Alison looked at Rich and Kara. “If we’re not safe, then shouldn’t we leave? How are we going to sleep tonight if someone’s walking around outside?”
“I’m not having the guy next door, or whoever it was, ruin my trip.” Max folded his arms and scowled like a little boy. “No one’s getting in.” He went to the front room and took one of the rifles. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll keep this close in case someone tries getting in.”
“Wait.” Kara frowned at Rich. “What about the guy next door? Did you see him?”
“We didn’t see anyone,” Rich said. “We don’t know who was out there, but—”
“If it’s the guy next door,” Kara said, “maybe we should leave.”
“We don’t know who it is,” Rich said. Frustration built in his chest. He was as much in the dark as Kara, Max and Alison, but he agreed with Max about staying; he didn’t want their trip ruined because some idiot threw pebbles at their cabin. “If it’ll make you feel better, Max and I can take turns staying awake to make sure nothing happens.”
Max glanced at the two women. Alison stared at her feet. Kara watched the back windows.
“Otherwise, we can all go to sleep,” Max said.
Rich wondered what they were thinking. Kara had never been easily frightened, but she’d seen those movies as well and this felt like one of those set-ups. Don’t go to sleep or you’ll wake up dead!
“I want to leave,” Alison finally said. “We’re not safe here.”
Max growled a sigh. “We’re perfectly safe. No one’s getting in. Tomorrow we’ll talk to our neighbors and see if whoever it was threw rocks at their cabin, as well. Let’s just all go to bed, and we’ll deal with this in the morning.”
No one spoke as they went back to bed. Max had the rifle with him and stood it at the head of their bed.
Rich thought Alison had deferred to Max because she didn’t want to make him angry. He expected Kara to say something, but she didn’t. She got into bed and waited for Rich to join her. As Rich lay down, once more longing for sleep, he wondered what the dawn would bring. Had whoever thrown the rocks been the same person who had spied on him earlier? Was it the guy next door and why? He didn’t know, and that bothered him more than anything else.
After a half hour of not being able to fall asleep, Rich eased himself out of the bed and wandered into the front room where Max sat staring at the door, the Nosler across his lap.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Rich asked.
“Someone’s gotta keep watch.”
“Have you heard anything?” Rich took a chair next to Max.
“Not a damned thing.”
“Why don’t you go to bed and I’ll stay up.”
“Not tired.” Max glanced at Rich. “Besides, if someone shows up, who’s going to shoot them?” He chuckled.
“Very funny.” Rich wanted to talk to Max about Alison, but this wasn’t the time. He was too tired to have that conversation.
“You can go back to bed. I’ve got this.”
Rich debated his offer. Maybe knowing Max was keeping watch over the cabin would help him sleep. But he didn’t want to feel like he wasn’t doing his part to protect the women. In truth, he didn’t want Max taking all the credit for keeping them safe. It would be one more thing he could brag about. “I’ll stay up for a little while.”
Max shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Rich nodded. He blinked several times, the last time for an hour before he woke up, and he and Max wandered back to the bedroom. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.