“Just a twenty-minute nap,” she whispered to the kitten. “Then I’ll get up and go home.”
Sunrays peeked through the blind slats the next morning when she awoke to Cheeto pitching a fit outside. It didn’t sound like his normal wake-up-it’s-morning crowing, but more like he was warning every sparrow and crow this side of the lake that something wasn’t right.
She threw back the throw and stood up. “Not that I have any insight into rooster talk. How can Knox sleep through all this noise?”
Bally had managed to climb up onto the edge of the sink, and her tail was a fluff ball, and when Lottie tried to pick her up, the kitten hissed at her.
“What’s going on, girl?” Lottie held her close and rubbed her fur. “What has got you and Cheeto both spooked this morning? Is a storm coming our way? I hope not, because if it is, it will slow down our progress.”
She set the kitten down on the floor, and it ran under Knox’s bed.
If both of Knox’s animals were this upset, then she’d bet that Prissy was in a tizzy too. Figuring that she’d better not even stick around long enough to make a pot of coffee, she slipped her shoes on and peeked out the door. She expected to see dark clouds and maybe see a streak of lightning, but it looked like it would be another beautiful day without even the slightest little breeze to make the new leaves dance on the apple tree.
She had raised her right foot and was ready to step outside when she heard a faint noise like dry beans being shaken in a jar. She looked down to see a huge diamondbackrattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike. She slammed the door shut, screamed, lost her footing, and fell backward. She landed on her back on the floor with a very unladylike thud. The next thing she knew, she was gasping for a breath to fill her lungs.
Then Knox was on the floor beside her, his big arms lifting her to a sitting position. “What happened? Are you all right? Did you bump your head? Do we need to take you to the emergency room?” He fired off questions, but she didn’t have enough breath to answer a single one.
“Sn…sn…” She tried to get the word out, but she simply could not.
“Have you got a concussion? Can you speak?”
“Snake!” She finally managed to get the word out. She hated spiders, but she would do battle with a whole family of tarantulas before she did with a snake. Those things had been evil since the days of Adam and Eve.
“Where? Were you dreaming? Did you spend the night here, or did you see one on the way?” he asked.
She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “On your top step.” She was so proud of herself for getting a whole sentence out that she could have jumped up and danced a jig.
“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?” Knox asked.
“Cheeto is having a fit. Bally sensed something was wrong, too, or maybe she could smell it.”
“Did it bite you?” Knox’s voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a barrel as he checked her foot and leg.
“No, just scared the bejesus out of me,” she answered. “I hate snakes.”
“I’m not a big fan either. Are you sure you’re okay?”
The room took a spin or two when she stood up, but she made it to the sofa and sank down on it. “I’m fine, just still a little rattled.”
Knox went back to the bedroom and returned with a pistol. He eased the door open, aimed, and fired. Bally had come out from under the bed and was slinking along with her little belly close to the floor when the shot sounded all through the trailer. She growled and jumped up on the sofa with Lottie.
“It’s okay, baby girl,” Lottie consoled her. “Knox is our hero today.”
Knox put the gun away. “That snake won’t bother anyone again. I’ll get it off the steps soon as I get dressed. Then I’ll make us some coffee and breakfast.”
“I should go see about Prissy.”
“You are still a little shaken up. I can hear it in your voice, and the color hasn’t come back into your face. Let’s get some food and coffee in you before you go.”
“Okay.” She agreed without an argument. She leaned back and closed her eyes, but they popped open in a hurry when a virtual picture of that snake showed up with its mouth wide open. She shivered all the way to her toes and had barely gotten herself under control when Knox came back through in a T-shirt and his faded work jeans. He went outside, and it was several minutes before he came back.
“What took so long? Was it still alive?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I killed him dead, but I didn’t want you to have to look at it, so I threw it in the lake to feed the fish,” he answered. “Now, let’s get some food going. How about chicken and waffles?”
“That sounds wonderful,” Lottie answered.
Cheeto began his usual crowing, telling everyone that it was dawn and time for them to rise and shine. Bally hopped down from the sofa and wound around Knox’s legs. Life was back to normal.
