“Even if you just get a sign you can buy online, or I think they have them at the Box and Save, one you can plant outside your house that says you have a security system installed, even if you don’t, it’ll make someone who’s there doing something they shouldn’t at least hesitate, if not scare them off.”
It was wild to see a man multitask so splendiferously, because after he said that, he offered the paper to me.
I took it and looked at it.
“That’s the number for Hutch Hutchison,” he said.“He lives out your way.In fact, he’s your neighbor to the north.He breeds and trains police and guard dogs, and he’s very good at it.”
I stared at the paper with this Hutch Hutchison’s name (what parent would do that to a child?) and number.
“There’s also a rescue and wildlife sanctuary up near you where you can adopt a dog, but I suggest you contact Hutch first.He not only breeds his own dogs, he trains others.”
“You also might get in touch with Mrs.Matthews, share what happened, and ask her to put up some motion sensor lights,” Rus put in.
I did not thrill at that news, for three reasons.
One, Mrs.Matthews clearly was not a woman who liked to spend money, she preferred raking it in.
Two, I knew my property had gone unrented for quite some time, possibly because of this Lion and Lamb business.Therefore, I sensed if she knew they were messing with me (allegedly), she’d send her goon son, and her equally goon-like grandsons, to have a few words, and we didn’t need a mini-Waco on our hands in Fret County.Not after all the population of Misted Pines had already endured (or ever).
Three, there were a lot of critters out there, and the lights would be lighting all the time because of it.
But I got what Harry Moran was saying without saying it.
I was a fool to be a single woman, living in the middle of nowhere, without at least some form of protection.
And of the protection he listed, I had none of it.
I looked back down at Hutch Hutchison’s name.
“Yeah, if it was me, I’d be getting on getting the dog first,” Harry said quietly, and I lifted my gaze to him.“Nothing small and yippy.Mid to large, with a ferocious bark.Although I’ve seen the results of one of Hutch’s animals on a trespasser, and it was not pretty, even if it was deserved, with a dog, you’re not only going for a deterrent, you’re going for an early warning system.I haven’t been to The Cooper’s Retreat in years, but I do know it’s sturdy, has stood the test of time, and hopefully has good locks.If a dog tells you that you have company you don’t want, you can get on the line with us, and in fifteen minutes, you’ll have help.”
“And don’t hesitate to call that help,” Rus entered the conversation.“It’s not an inconvenience.It’s our job.You get spooked, you phone.”
That last sentence was an order.
“Okay,” I said.
“Right then, do you want us to go speak to Lars Enstrom?”Harry asked.
I turned to him.“Lars Enstrom?”
“As far as we know, he’s the leader of The Lion and The Lamb.His name is on the property.And in any dealings we’ve had with them, which are few, mostly just going in to warn if there were wildfires and they might need to evacuate, he was the front man of that crew.”
I took a second with this information.
I took another second with my history (and maybe that was more than just one).
That morning, when I found that note, I didn’t think I was flying off the handle and overreacting with coming down to talk to the cops.
It was not okay to leave that note.It wasn’t okay to watch someone on their property.And if something like that happened, the cops should know so you had it on record in case things escalated.
That said, considering my Post-it Lover was a slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am type of dude, and this would not be repeated (definitely not) for some time (if ever), it could just be a blip.
I’d lived there for seven and a half months without even knowing that community existed (outside of now realizing I’d bought jam and bread, and once a very delicious apple pie, from them at the Farmer’s Market).
Right now, there was no reason to make a big deal of this, possibly get on their bad side, and make people who lived extreme beliefs do something I wouldn’t like a whole lot more.
“Can we just have this on record, and I’ll get a dog?”I asked.
