Page 25 of Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher
He pulled out a chair and sat next to me. “He’ll be fine. His limp looked minor. It sure didn’t slow him down any. For now, it makes him look like a tough guy.”
I dropped my head back to my arms. “At least I’ve helped his street cred.”
I should write a letter of apology to the raccoon family. Maybe leave my trash uncovered for them. Wait, would that bring bears?
“Does Maine have bears?”
Silence.
I lifted my head, waiting for an answer.
Confusion and concern lined his face. “I feel like you should come with subtitles.”
“You’re the one withholding local wildlife facts.” I put my head back down.
“Black bears, yes.” At my gasp, he continued. “But none around here. Acadia National Park sometimes has bears or moose, but they don’t wander down this close to town. Usually.” He paused. “Can I get you some aspirin?” His voice was a gentle rumble.
“Sure. Do you have any?” I sat up and stiffened my spine. “I’ll be fine. Thanks.”
He watched me for a moment, nodding thoughtfully. “Are there other traps you need me to check while I’m here?”
Blinking, I thought of the other traps and having to do all of this again. “Please.” I stood and swayed a moment, grabbing the chair for balance.
He reached out but didn’t touch me. “Do you have someplace you can lie down?”
“Sure.” The back seat of the car as soon as you leave.
He sighed. “Where are the other traps?”
Chaucer sniffed all around the pantry, paying close attention to his bag of food.
I gestured to the other side of the kitchen. “Under the sink, downstairs bath, closet under the stairs, upstairs bedrooms, bathroom, and linen closet.”
He lifted his eyebrows, staring at me.
“What?” Chaucer wandered back to me and leaned against my leg. “There are strange animals living all over the place in here.” I put one hand on Chaucer’s head. “I need them gone. They have the whole forest to live in. They don’t need Gran’s house too.”
After he went to clean out the other traps, I grabbed Chaucer’s bowls to fill them. I hesitated to open the back door for his visit to the newly appointed little boys’ room by the tree line—what if that raccoon ran back in? I looked out the window in the door, searching for any shady woodland creatures looking to storm the joint.
Chaucer whined, wanting to get out. I put my hand on his head, scanning the yard one more time before I opened the door.
“Anything out there?”
I jumped at Aiden’s voice. When I turned, I found him grinning. “What the bleep? Will you not be happy until I seize?”
He shouldered me out of the way and opened the back door. Chaucer ran past us. “It’s not my fault you’re jumpy”—he grinned wider—“and apparently frightened of trees and bushes.”
I almost tripped him. Almost. I was afraid he’d drop whatever animal was squirming in the bag he was holding. “It’s not the bushes and the trees, you dillhole! It’s all the freaking animals that live in them!” I stepped out onto the porch and glared at the yard. “Listen up! This is my house. Not yours! I’ll stay in here if you stay out there. You can have the whole yard. That forest over there. The gard—wait, no. Not Gran’s garden. Stay out of that. Otherwise, the world is yours. Just stay the frick out of my house!” I turned back to the door and then remembered. “Oh, and if you have relatives currently staying in my house, can you pass on the word to get out?” I took another step. “Without actually entering my house, of course. Just, you know, use your predator alarm systems. I watch nature shows. I know you guys can do that stuff. Thump your tails on a log or something. Just get ’em out!” I paused, waiting for a squirrel to give me the high sign that my message was received. Nothing. Furry little bastards.
Aiden came around the side of the house. “Communing with nature?”
I side-eyed the yard as I followed him in. “Something like that.”
After he cleared out the critters, reset the traps, and left, I sat at the kitchen table and stared at Chaucer. He blinked at me. “You’re right. That was weird. Why was Aiden here in the first place?” I shook it off, hoping whatever it was might bring him back to clean out more traps later.
The quickest that Mom’s check would get here was a few days. I had four dollars to my name. I needed a job. First, though, I needed a shower.
I cautiously made my way through the house, stopping frequently, checking for sounds. When I made it to the upstairs master bedroom, I ducked my head in quickly, not wanting to be too easy of a target. Nothing. I eased into the room and looked around. Aiden seemed to have been carrying out some bigger animals from the second floor, but I wasn’t positive. It was kind of a don’t-ask-don’t-tell arrangement. There could be a family of marmosets up here for all I knew. Or skunks. Maybe bobcats. Do they have bobcats in Maine? Not the point. Fricking marmosets were probably laughing their asses off, watching me tiptoe through the house.
