male officer, Lou Polito, addressed Bird. “Your Aunt Hannah told us that you’ve seen a ‘wild’ man around. Can you tell us more about that?”
They were on safer ground now, and Bird relaxed. Her vocal chords worked. She spoke rapidly in case they stopped cooperating again. “Yesterday after dinner, when my horse and I were out on the trails, a man jumped right out of nowhere. He wanted to talk, I could tell, but Sunny spooked and raced home. Later I realized that he looked like the police sketch. I was so glad that my horse ran away! And, today, I think someone was in the bushes when I was riding out there.” Bird gestured to the front paddock.
Hannah gasped. “You didn’t tell me that! I would never have left you girls alone!”
Bird felt another stab of guilt. She had known, and she’d left her little sister alone.
“What made you think that someone was here earlier today?” asked Officer Polito.
“My horse ... spooked.” She could hardly tell them that Sunny had told her.
Officer Richardson looked up from her pad.“Can you describe this man?”
“Yes. Well, he looked homeless. And lost. Wild. Dirty. Scruffy. Rough dark hair, dark eyes, dirty skin. He was mostly naked. Except for dark blue gym shorts and old white sneakers.”
Officer Richardson smiled at Bird kindly. “Thank you.”
Officer Polito finished the interview. “We’ll look around outside the house, take footprint casts and dust for fingerprints before we leave. We may bring a dog over to follow the scent, if it’s not too dry. Call if there’s any reason, big or small. We can be here in minutes. Here’s my card. Put it beside the phone. Call me directly at any hour.”
“Thanks, officers,” said Hannah as she walked them out. “We’ll stay inside and keep all the doors locked. And windows,” she added quickly.
Officers Polito and Richardson went to the car. They took their kits out of the trunk and began the careful work of retrieving evidence.
An hour later, the cruiser finally drove away. The family sat around the kitchen table with tall glasses of milk and Julia’s cooled, freshly made cookies.
“How was the meeting?” asked Bird innocently, steering the conversation away from the evening’s events at Saddle Creek.
Paul thought for a moment. “It may have done more harm than good. People got angry and upset.”
“They’re scared,” added Hannah. “They fear for their safety.”
“You were back sooner than we thought,” said Bird. “I called the police because I didn’t know when you’d be home.”
“It was the right thing to do. If there’s ever a problem, that’s who to call.” Hannah pointed at Officer Polito’s card, stuck on the bulletin board over the phone. She put the empty glasses in the dishwasher and wiped the counter. “I don’t know about you folks, but I’m beat. I’m ready for bed.”
“Me,too,”said Julia,yawning.“Bird,can I sleep in your room tonight?”
“Of course. I need the company.”
Hannah motioned to Julia. “Come on. I’ll help you with the futon.”
They headed up the stairs, Hannah’s arm around Julia’s shoulders, leaving Bird and Paul downstairs to lock up. They let Lucky out, and stood together at the kitchen door. The moon was large and bright in the clear night sky.
“You know, when the moon is full, its brightness obscures the stars, even though they’re up there, too,” said Paul. “We see them only after the moon begins to dim.”
“That’s totally poetic!”
“I try.” He smiled,then looked surprised. “Did you hear what I just said?”
“The brightness of the moon obscures the stars?”
“It just came to me! Sometimes what appears to be obvious obscures the actual truth.”
Bird thought about that. “You can’t see the forest for the trees?”
“Almost, but not quite.”
“Okay. What are you talking about?”
“The meeting tonight. It looks obvious to most people that Pierre Hall is the culprit. He’s got a violent reputation and it was his ex-wife who was the victim.”
“And to us it looks obvious that it’s the wild man. He’s so weird. He’s creeping me out.” Bird shivered.
Paul put his hand on her shoulder. “And yet, neither one has been proven guilty. We might have to look past the moon and examine the stars before we find the truth. Just a thought.”
Bird nodded slowly, thinking it out. “It’s a good thought.” Lucky came back, wagging his tail and quite content. Paul locked the door behind him and began to turn off the lights.
“You go on up to bed, Bird. You’ve had a long day.” He ruffled her hair fondly as she scooted past him to the stairs.
6
PIERRE HALL
Tan watched as the lights turned on, room by room, from the upstairs down. In spite of the coyote, he’d been drawn back to the farmhouse. He had to tell the girl what happened. He couldn’t trust anyone else, and he would try until he succeeded. But a man—the man from next door who neglected his horses—was making a racket at the front door. The echoes of his fist against the wood reverberated in the still night air, and Tan covered his ears to block out the sound. Thankfully, nobody had come looking for him. Yet. He was still free. And freedom was everything. The coyote wasn’t near, for the moment, and the night was young. He would be patient. He would wait.
JUST AS BIRD had slipped under her covers, a loud banging sound got her attention. She jumped up and looked out her bedroom window at the stoop below. “Julia!” she whispered. “You’ll never guess who’s at the door!”
“Who?”
“Look for yourself.”
Julia crouched down beside Bird to see. She gasped. “Pierre from next door! What’s he doing here?”
“Let’s find out.”
Bird and Julia waited until Paul and Hannah had hurried downstairs in their robes, then crept silently down the stairs. They hid behind the stairwell, where they could observe the action.
Pierre Hall pounded relentlessly on the door.
Neither girl knew Pierre well. He worked next door and lived in an apartment above the barn. They’d often seen him around, but there was something about him that they instinctively avoided. He was odd, simple as that.
Paul opened the door. “Pierre! What can we do for you?”
“I got something to show you.” Pierre looked blurry-eyed and dishevelled. By his demeanour and his breath, Bird figured that he’d had quite a few beers. She could smell it from all the way across the hall.
Paul and Hannah ushered him into the kitchen and closed the hall door, probably hoping not to wake the sleeping girls. Bird and Julia crept closer to listen.
“They left me this.” Bird heard paper crumpling. “Cowards! Didn’t dare show themselves.”
There was a pause. Bird assumed Paul and Hannah were reading whatever Pierre was showing them.
“It was tacked to my door. I was having a few with my pals at the bar. I found it when I came back.”
“Have you called the police?” Paul asked.
“No. And I’m not going to. They think I killed my ex with a tire iron! They took DNA.