“Okay, Henrietta,” he said, fitting his hands into the gloves. “You stay out here with Callie and Cash. I’ll get your bear.”
Henrietta and I backed up a few steps. Cash barked again but didn’t seem interested in following Gibson into the cabin. He stayed near my legs.
“Be careful,” I said.
Gibson just grunted. He paused at the door, his hand on the handle, took a deep breath, and went inside.
Henrietta clasped my hand. We waited, staring at the cabin. For a long moment, all was quiet. I couldn’t decide if that was a good sign. What if Gibs was wrong and there really was a bear inside? Or what if the raccoon bit or scratched him? Had he been serious about already having a rabies vaccine?
Sudden crashes and clatters rang out from inside, making me jump. Seconds later, the door flew open and Gibson barreled out, the tarp bundled up in his arms. Whatever was inside growled, and the tarp shook.
Gibson’s face was calm, his jaw set. With his arms around the violently thrashing tarp, he jogged into the trees, disappearing from sight.
Henrietta let out a sigh and let go of my hand, as if the worst was over. My heart raced and I held Cash’s leash to keep him from following Gibson into the trees. Quiet settled over the forest and Henrietta went into her cabin, leaving the door open.
It felt like ages before Gibson emerged, walking through the woods like he hadn’t just wrestled a wild animal. He had the tarp slung over his arm, obviously no longer filled with a raging raccoon—or whatever it had been.
“Are you okay?” I ran to him, Cash leading the way. I expected to see scratches and bites. Maybe blood. But he seemed fine.
“Of course. Fucker was pissed, though. I can see why she was scared. That was one of the biggest raccoons I’ve ever seen.”
“How did you catch it?”
“Suckered him onto the tarp with some dog food, then wrapped him up.” He crouched down to give Cash some attention, rubbing his head and letting him lick his face a few times. “Works every time.”
“You’re something else, Gibson Bodine.”
He glanced up at me and grinned.
“Should we go talk to Henrietta?” I asked.
“Yeah. We’ll leave Cash out here. It’s a bit cramped inside.”
I helped him stuff the tarp in the backpack. Then we tied Cash up on the porch. Gibson fished in his pocket and handed him a dog treat.
He rapped his knuckles on the open door. “Everything all right now?”
Henrietta was busy cleaning up the mess the raccoon had left. She set a small wooden sculpture on a rough wood shelf, then nodded and gestured for us to come inside.
It was like walking into an antique store, only far more fascinating. Bits of broken CDs hung on strings, glinting in the light as they twirled. The walls were covered with a dizzying arrangement of items. Faded signs, pieces of rusty metal, old license plates. There were oddly shaped sticks, shelves full of rocks, baskets overflowing with odds and ends, and something that looked like it might be a piece of broken road cone. She’d arranged everything in such a way that it was strangely beautiful.
An old-fashioned ceramic sink that looked like it weighed about five hundred pounds sat on a sturdy cabinet, the dark stain faded.
“Does she have a well?”
“Yep,” Gibson said. “I don’t think she’s the first person to live up here, but I don’t know who built it.”
There was an interior door, open a crack, and a curtained area at the back. She had shelves with food and supplies from a store. Herbs hung from the ceiling above the sink and she had almost an entire wall of shelves holding mason jars. Red ones looked like they might have jam or berry preserves. Others had dried meat and various things I couldn’t place. A wood stove appeared to provide both heat and a cooking surface.
Gibson dug in the front pocket of his backpack and handed her a cell phone. “Fully charged, and no crack in the screen.”
She took the phone and held it to her chest, smiling at Gibson. With a nod, she carefully put it on a shelf, patting it as if to say she’d take care of it.
I didn’t see any lights or outlets. “Does she have power?”
“No, but I got her a few spare batteries that charge it. When she comes into town, she charges everything up at the library.