He brushed back his hair and stifled a yawn. “I’m sure I dozed a few times.” He toasted her with his coffee cup. “You didn’t have to do this, Amy.”
“Rusty is going to make it, isn’t he?”
“I did a blood check this morning,” Dieter said. “His white count is going down. A lingering infection is my biggest concern. But I just can’t tell how much trauma there was to his vitals.” He opened the bag and unwrapped the fried egg sandwich. “I’m taking Rusty up to the Livingston vet hospital today. I’ve already talked with them. They’ll keep him this weekend and check him out. Could you take care of the kids after school today?”
“Of course. You look terrible. How do you shower around here anyway?”
“Where there’s running water and a sink, you can always make do. How are the kids?”
“They stayed up too late and this morning. Megan couldn’t find her art bag again, but we got to school with a minute to spare.”
“How late were they up?”
“Maybe past midnight. They were both more upset than I’ve ever seen them, Dieter. They needed to talk. To talk about what they saw and how they felt.”
He paused and took a bite of his breakfast as she sat watching Rusty.
“Have you heard the news yet about the hiker’s death?” she suddenly asked.
He spoke as he chewed. “I picked it up on the radio but really didn’t know what to make of it. They said it was a Grizzly attack?”
“Pay no damn attention to the radio. They got it totally wrong.” She explained that the Judge had called her and given her a rundown on what he’d learned from Molly. She told him that a wolf had stalked the hiker. It charged and brought him down. Brutally killed him on the spot. It was no Grizzly attack.”
“How did Molly find out about all of this?”
“The Judge said she’d gone looking for a missing woman—turned out to be one of the Loudermilk women from Duck Creek. Evidently she was hiking with the victim. Molly found her clinging to a branch high up in a tree.”
Dieter closed his eyes and rammed his head into the back of his chair.
“Is Michael still going on the Scout Camporee tomorrow?” she asked.
Exactly what he was thinking about. “Believe me, Amy, I’ve been tossing this around in my head since Michael signed up for it. But I keep thinking how torn up he is over Rusty. And if I called this off on him as well…”
“Where’s the outing taking place?”
“Center of the Park. Indian Creek campground, between Norris and Mammoth.”
“I hope to God the Scouts have cancelled any plans for an overnight hike.”
“I have no idea,” Dieter replied. “But anyway, I wasn’t about to give permission for Michael. He’ll find friends to hang around with at the campground. He’ll love it.”
“How about if I come over early tomorrow to pick up Megan for a trip to the lake? She needs to get away for the weekend. Especially if her brother is going on a fun trip.”
“That’s perfect. I’ll get Rusty up to Livingston by noon.”
She walked to Rusty’s cage and pressed the tip of her nose against the wire mesh while whispering a long goodbye. Then without fanfare, she walked over to where Dieter sat and tossed her arms around him and squeezed.
After she had gone, he threw the fast food bag into the trash and walked to Rusty’s cage and opened it to check again the crimson and yellow stained bandage around his throat. While he massaged the golden head, Rusty whimpered and beat his tail on the floor of the cage.
The veterinary hospital in Livingston was two hours away. Once he got Rusty into expert hands to care for him, he’d rush back to Colter. He needed Josh Pendleton more than ever now.
FORTY-ONE
Dieter watched from the cabin’s front window as the van pulled into the driveway promptly at seven a.m. Eager to get going, Michael wore tan corduroy trousers and a light brown shirt under his jacket, his best imitation of a Scout uniform.
But the trousers were too new, they looked too neat. He’d told his dad that the older kids might notice and tease him. Dieter caught him in his underwear in the bedroom wrinkling the trousers and rubbing the legs with the bottom of a dirty shoe to give them a better look.
Michael jogged down the graveled driveway carrying his backpack before Dieter had a chance to give him a hug. He shouted after his son, telling him to be careful and to follow the rules, then waved at Paul Struthers, one of the fathers who’d volunteered for the Camporee. The excited Scouts waved back a mock goodbye through open windows as the van took off.
Amy arrived before Megan awoke to take her to the Little Bears in Lakeview for the Labor Day weekend. She and Dieter sat down with coffee at the kitchen table and he told her about the trip to Livingston and the over-the-top reception by the veterinary staff. He assured her that Rusty was in the best place possible for a quick recovery. For now, he had some important business. He’d see them in a couple of days at the lake house.
“With all that’s been happening,” Dieter added, “I forgot to ask you about your plane?”
“Dad got it hauled up to Billings for repairs.”
“I need to apologize to him. The venture was my idea.”
“Don’t be crazy. He’s just glad neither of us was injured. Or worse. He knew what we were up to… even in on the plans. Remember?”
Dieter nodded with a smile. She looked down and fidgeted with her fingers in her lap before raising her head to speak. “It’s a heckuva time to bring this up, but I should’ve told you last night.”
His smile dissolved. What was this all about?
“I’ll be packing up soon,” she said. She stared back at him without blinking.
“Packing up?” Maybe he heard her wrong. He pretended not to understand, but he’d already captured her meaning in the pit of his stomach.
“Not exactly sure when, but I’m packing up that pathetic little Datsun and leaving for the West Coast. Santa Cruz. I’ve put off telling you for too long.”
Planning this for a long time without even giving me a hint?
“I have to confess, I’m surprised,” he said.
“Not really, are you?”
“I knew we wouldn’t have you around forever, but…”
“Molly will have some good leads on where to find another nanny.”
“Sure. Yes. I’ll talk to her.” He sat back in the chair and folded his arms across his chest, nodding to himself to project a fake moxie that he could handle it. Just a minor adjustment in life. No big deal, he lied to himself.
“Your dad told me you were interested in a teaching job upstate.”
“I applied for one a while back, but they never got back in touch with me,” she said. “The semester’s starting sometime in September. They’ve likely found somebody else.”
“Did you call them?”
“Twice in the past week alone. It’ll be different out in California by a long shot. After the summer, everybody heads back to work or whatever they do in Santa Cruz. I need to get out there and find a job before the competition heats up.”
He’d exhausted ideas on how to react to news that had not only blindsided him but sent his head spinning. “I suppose you’re following your dreams.”
She stood to leave. “You can say that. Following dreams just like you did in coming to Colter. But I still have one little obstacle remaining before I go.”
He shot her a questioning look.
“Convincing my dad it’s the right thing to do.”
“I have a hunch that won’t be easy.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you, Dr. Harmon, that charm always wins out over reason?”
She nodded toward the doorway. Megan stumbled into the room with a hand under her pajama top, scratching her tummy while the other hand wiped sleep from her eyes. Red pillow marks were embossed on one side of her face. She stopped in the middle of the kitchen floor and yawned. “Does anybody around here got any Cocoa Puffs?”