Goldilocks (5 page)

Chapter 5:

It was his third time in the one stop shop today, and Paul expected the cheery greeting and wide smile he got from its stocky owner this time. Before he’d even made it to the register Sam had him in his sights, calling out a “What can I do for you?” even though this arms were already loaded down with a crate of oranges.

“Hard to get up here in these parts, so I order them by the truck full. Probably won’t even last me a week,” Same explained, setting the bright orange fruit on the wide counter.

“Well I don’t want to bother you…” Paul started, stepping aside to let a young woman pile her basket full of groceries on the counter beside the crate. “I’m trying to get some sort of order going at the mine, and my meeting with the miners didn’t go too well this morning,” Paul explained.

The young woman’s eyes went from Paul to Sam, her brow rising
in question as she waited for the conversation to continue. Paul could see the shift in Sam’s features, his friendly smile pulling tight, now forced.

“Them b
oys giving you some trouble about being the new inspector…?” the woman asked when Sam started to ring her up without saying anything.

“Well it’s not exactly that, it’s just…”

“Now mind your business Millie,” Sam chided, dropping the items she’d placed on the counter into large paper bags he already had waiting and open. “Mr. Adler’s here on official business, and we don’t need no rumors getting started.”

“But Jeff said…”

“Millie…” Sam warned, his continued forced smile turning down into a grimace now. “I’m sure if there’s anything that you need to know, Jeff will tell you this afternoon, but I’d like to speak with Paul alone, so if you don’t mind…” he pointed to the total on the screen, rolling his eyes when the woman took her time pulling out her check book.

In D.C. checks were almost unheard of, unless it was a business check, and Paul watched in
amusement as the woman took even more time neatly printing the store’s name and amount before signing with a lavish swirl. He offered to help her carry her bags to her car, but was answered with an unlady like snort as she snatched them from the counter and huffed away.

“Sorry about that. That woman’s always trying to get into someone’s business…”

“What’s with all the rumors around here?” Paul chuckled, leaning against the counter as Sam began to unpack the oranges.

“Small town,
ya know,” Sam shrugged without looking at Paul.

And t
here it was again. The same look he’d seen on some of the miner’s faces when a curse had been mentioned during the meeting. Sam suddenly seemed to be hiding something, his brow creased in concentration that wasn’t necessary for unpacking the fruit.

“So do you kno
w a man by the name of Jennings? Uh…Finn Beckett told me that I should talk to him, and…”

“You stay away from Jennings ya here,” Sam snapped
, grabbing up the loose bundles in his arms and heading from behind the counter. “Crazy old coot probably couldn’t even tell you his full name anymore if he tried. No one’s even seen him since…” Sam stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at Paul. “Well never mind,” he shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, cuz I don’t even know where he lives anymore,” he shrugged, refusing to meet Paul’s eye as he headed around the corner towards the grocery section.

“Strange…” Paul murmured to no one in particular, scanning the other aisles up front for any other customers.

Sam probably wouldn’t appreciate him sticking around to ask questions, but the young teenage boy that popped into sight was too easy. He looked to be around Hannah’s age, and would probably have heard of Jennings if there was a rumor around here no one wanted to talk about. Paul followed the boy down the aisle labeled ‘Guns & Ammunition’, pretending to browse just a few feet away before the boy turned and stared.

“Looking for something?” the boy asked, his large brown eyes widening as he took in Paul’s leather loafers.

“Not quite the right footwear for around here huh?” Paul shook his right foot, snatching the boy’s gaze back up to his face.

The boy shook
his head with a sheepish smile, sandy brown curls bouncing as they fell over his eyes.

“I just moved here with my daughter Hannah, and our moving truck hasn’t made it yet,” Paul explained, gesturing around the store. “Thought I’d grab a pair of steel toed boots while I’m here, think you can point me in the right direction?” he asked, baiting the boy with friendly conversation before he asked his real question.

“Oh sure!” the boy smiled wide, holding up his own right foot. “I just got these for Christmas. Sam ordered them especially for me. I’m sure he could order you a pair too, but if you don’t wanna wait, I think he has some over on aisle twenty,” the boy pointed somewhere over his shoulder and to his left.

“Thank You,” Paul nodde
d, pretending to start that way before stopping suddenly. “Actually you know…” he paused, pulling out his wallet. “Maybe you could help me with something else. How old are you?” he asked, hoping the boy was of age.

“I’ll be seventeen in a few weeks,” the boy answered automatically, a proud smile on his face.

“Well I’m Paul, and I’m the new mine inspector for Golden Wonder. Now I don’t know how your parents would feel about you doing any actual mining, but I’ve got plenty of jobs that need doing around the mine, and my men are already shorthanded. I was wondering if you’d…”

“I’d love a job! Name’s Caleb,” he stuck out his hand, shaking Paul’s enthusiastically. “My father used to work the mine before it closed, but now he’s over in the city at a
desk job he hates. He says the mine’s just gonna close again anyways, but…”

“It’s not closing,” Paul assured
Caleb, stopping his rambling before he could get started good. “Tell you what, after I find this guy Jennings, why don’t you come on over and I’ll get you all the paperwork to fill out. You’ll need your parents to sign since you’re under eighteen, but I’ll be sure to put in there that you won’t be in the tunnels, if that makes a difference,” Paul offered, immediately noticing the boy’s change of expression.

“You say Jennings,” Caleb’s tone was hushed, his brown eyes widening as he looked over his shoulder down the empty aisle.

“Yeah, I need to find him and…”

“No one’s g
oes up to Eagles Point,” Caleb shook his head, his brow knitted in confusion. “Why do you need to see him anyway?”

“Do you know him then?” Paul ignored the question, pulling his wallet from his back pocket.

“Well…not exactly. I mean I’ve lived here all my life, so I’ve heard the rumors. He used to work with my dad before…” Caleb trailed off, guilt flooding his features as Sam walked past with another crate of oranges.

“Look,” Paul pulled twenty dollars free from the bills stuffed in his wallet and held it up for Caleb to take. “I just need directions; don’t want to go getting you in trouble or anything,” he shrugged, trying for a smile.

It didn’t ease the boy completely, but he snatched the money and shoved it in his pocket with another glance over his shoulder.

“Drive east, and j
ust follow the eagles,” Caleb, pointed up at the store’s ceiling. “Once you see them from the road, look for a turn on your left. It’s so overgrown now you might miss it, but there’s a tree that got struck by lightning a while back, plum tore the bark off that sucker. If you pass that, then you’ve gone too far,” Caleb shook his head as Paul gave his shoulder an easy punch.

“Thanks and I’ll see you in a few hours then,” he nodded at Caleb, tucking his wallet back into his pocket.

“Wait,” Caleb grabbed his shoulder, releasing immediately when Sam walked past again, this time, his arms empty. “I wouldn’t go there if I were you,” he whispered, his cheeks flushing red as his eyes lowered. “It’s not like I believe it or anything, but rumor has it that there’s a crazy old mountain man up there that eats people. He lives in the trees and can you see you coming from at least a mile away. Some say that it’s Jennings up there. He went crazy or something,” Caleb shrugged, his eyes locking with Sam as he stopped at the top of the aisle to stare at the two of them now.

“I’ll see you later,” Paul winked, ignoring the disapproving looking from Sam as he passed, heading towards the door.

He could feel eyes on his back as he crossed the graveled parking lot and climbed into ‘Big Red’, starting the old Jeep like a pro this time. He hoped he hadn’t gotten the boy into trouble, but he was grasping at straws here, and he hadn’t even put in a full day’s work yet. If Jennings knew something about the tunnel collapses, then Paul was going to find out.

**********

East was a very general direction to drive in, but half way between Hinsdale and Lake City, just as Caleb said, Paul spotted a lone bald eagle high above the trees, its wing span larger than any he’d ever seen on those type birds. It soared gracefully, its head turned downward ever so slightly when Paul slowed the noisy Jeep to an almost crawl.

Every tree looked the same on either side of the road, but it wasn’t too long before he spotted one in particular that definitely stood out among the rest. Broken limbs, lay where they had fallen in the ditch, pale white flesh visible where tough thick bark should have been. Strange that the entire thing hadn’t caught on fire considering the long jagged scorch marks marring it’s center. Even with such a nasty scar, it survived, fresh sprouts curling their way outward from the lower limbs. He’d gone too far.

Paul looked in front of him and behind before turning the Jeep around in the road, heading back the way he’d come. He immediately saw why he’d missed the side road before, its entrance nearly completely blocked by brush that grew up from the bank. The Jeep groaned in protest as he maneuvered it into what was about to be an incredibly steep climb, downshifting to give him traction on all four wheels.

Through the windshield, he could see that another eagle had joined the one he’d seen earlier, both of them seeming to follow over the treetops as the Jeep rocked him back and forth. How this had ever been considered
a road he would never know. Jagged rock jutted out from every which way, his tires narrowly avoiding being punctured several times as he swerved to avoid them. The higher he went, the thicker the forest became, until suddenly the road ended all together, a massive trunk fallen across what looked to be a stone blockade.

Paul cursed under his breath as he pulled the emergency brake and shut the Jeep off, his gaze peering through the trees to see if the birds were still overhead. They were, glimpses of them anyway and there were five now that he could see, their calls sharp and piercing as he climbed from the truck and slammed the door. Never had he seen this many eagles in one place, and it was almost as if they were guarding something, their dips bringing them lower and lower under he heard the rustle of leaves from the utmost branches above him.

“Guess I’m footing it from here,” Paul kicked at a rock with his loafers, immediately shaking his head at the shooting pain in his toe.

He should have followed Caleb’s advice and just bought a pair of
the boots the one stop shop already had in stock. His loafers were not cut out for this terrain, and they proved as much as he slipped and slid his way over moss, shrubs and vines, falling more than once to his hands and knees before he finally found himself at the top of the hill, his khakis and shirt ruined with dirt and a few rips.

“Oh my…” Paul’s mouth fell open as
his gaze lifted to the tops of the trees circling the clearing on the hill.

They were everywhere! Small ones, large ones, babies, and a few really big ones, all perched and staring him down as if he’d just intruded. The first screaming call alerted him that an alarm had been sounde
d, the several that followed set him on a dead run, across the tiny clearing to the only shelter that he could see, and it was in a tree!

He’d never make it, Paul realized, throwing his hands up over his head as he dove for the ground away from the talons of the first swooping bird.
They were everywhere, circling him, blackening out the bright blue sky with their dark fully spread wings. Their screams overpowered his own, his arms and legs kicking as they swooped down towards him over and over again. He thought of Hannah, at the cabin all alone, and prayed that this wouldn’t be his fate: to be killed by a flock of birds!

Paul grabbed for the only thing that he could reach –his left loafer- pulling it from his foot and hurling it as hard as he could. The birds immediately scattered, a high shriek piercing the air just as Paul righted himself.

“STOP!” a gruff voice bellowed from behind him, and Paul swung on his heels, his fist thrown up ready to meet his challenger.

“Who are you?” the man demanded, thick hairy arms folding over his bare chest as he looked Paul over from head to toe. “You’re trespassing,” he a
dded before Paul could answer, his tone menacing as he took another step forward.

Paul didn’t know whether to
be more shocked at the man’s state of undress, or the fact that the rumors seemed to be true. Black beady eyes, sunken cheeks, and a thin pointed nose was all that he could see through the mass of wild hair covering the man’s face and head. Besides that he didn’t have on a stitch of clothing, his feet bare and crusted over from years of wear.