Thursday came and went without much further fanfare, thankfully. The zoo trip was a much-needed break, Vee realized as they walked along between the various habitats. It had been the middle of the day, so there hadn’t been much of a crowd to rush them along, and so she had savored the moments with Eli as they stopped at each animal’s section, competing to see who’d be first to spot the more elusive specimens and swapping assorted facts. Dinner had been a casual affair, a rare indulgence in a McDonald’s run that they’d enjoyed in the bed of the pickup before heading home with just enough time to spare for Vee to get ready for her night shift. She’d been quick to snatch up the paper from the table when they got home though, not wanting Eli to get ahold of it. She wasn’t ready to have that conversation, to answer those questions. She had enough of her own right now to deal with.
When she got home just shy of 3:00am, she let herself into the apartment quietly, shushing Iron Man before he could woof an alert. The dog came lumbering from his spot on the couch, and she crouched to ruffle his ears fondly. “What a good guard.” She whispered, tiredly kissing his wrinkled forehead before pacing down the hall to her own room. First she stopped to check on Eli, letting Iron Man into his room while she peered in at the sleeping child. He was curled up on his side right where she’d left him, a rarity as he was usually so active in his sleep. His brow was creased slightly, an almost worried look on his sleeping face, but as Iron Man slumped down beside the bed Eli seemed to relax as if he could sense the dog’s presence.
Vee closed the door quietly, then headed into her own room. There on the bed, the letter where she’d left it. She watched it from the corner of her eye like it was a poisonous snake curled and waiting while she undressed, swapping out her store uniform for an oversized shirt that hung comfortably around her shoulders. Then she sat, pulling herself up to rest cross-legged on the mattress while she picked up the paper and scanned it again. The words had been burning in the back of her mind all day and all night, stuffed down stubbornly so she could keep her focus on her son and her job. Now though, with the buffer of several hours’ distraction to give her time to process, she let herself read them again. And again.
She had already resigned herself to the fact that she couldn’t ignore this forever. Even if she felt utterly incapable of handling more bullshit on her plate, there was no avoiding this. And first things first, she needed to see it. She told herself it was because she needed to see it before deciding to sell it. She couldn’t consider taking her grandfather up on his offer; it simply wasn’t practical. She had a job, Eli had school, they had a life that couldn’t just be uprooted and dropped down in the middle of the woods. And yet…
“Ugh.” She sighed, folding the letter and putting it aside on her bedside table, flopping back against the bed and shimmying her way under the blanket. She had the day off, and then Saturday as well. Plenty of time, especially with Eli out of school. Vee took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she turned off the lamp.
Sleep came easily, her exhaustion overriding the lingering anxiety of the day. But her dreams were fretful. Full of blurry faces and distorted voices. Places that felt familiar, and yet looked alien in her dreamscape. She found herself standing naked in the middle of a forest, endless and dark and vibrant, creeping ivy coiling around the moss-crusted trunks of the trees around her as she watched. The lichen hanging from the heavy branches of the mighty pines and firs swaying in a breeze that she couldn’t feel, but she could smell the earth in the air. A heady mixture of petrichor, dirt, greenery, and something else. A strong, earthen smell that nagged at something in the back of her mind. She looked down at her feet, at the pair of massive wolf’s prints in the soft earth beneath her, and felt a chill run up her spine as a distant sound bellowed through the trees, a primal call. The mountain calls me.
Her grandfather’s words rang in a voice that belonged both to him and to herself as she jolted awake, catching her breath. Light gleamed around the edges of the blinds in her window, and she rolled over to grab her phone, checking the time. Nearly 7:00. A few hours’ sleep wasn’t bad, at least.
Heading into the shower, she heard Eli’s cartoons playing in the living room. By the time she got out and dressed though, the TV had been turned off and Eli was laying on the floor, idly scribbling in one of the many sketchbooks he’d accrued over the last couple years since taking an interest in drawing. Vee always found his work fascinating; it was unpolished and crude, as any child’s work might be, but as she paced over to look at the page while still wringing her hair out into a towel, she couldn’t help but admire the distinct artistry to his doodling. He didn’t draw figures like other kids his age usually did. Instead, he had a knack for scribing patterns and knotwork-like designs that curled and twisted in on themselves. She’d asked him before what he was drawing, if there was any purpose to the designs, and he only ever shrugged. “I just like the patterns.”
Fair enough, she thought, smiling at him as he peered up at her from his work, a shy smile pulling at his lips before he went back to focusing. Iron Man was upside down on the couch, snoring away while Vee took a seat next to him, exhaling softly.
Then the phone rang, and she groaned inwardly as she hastily tied the towel up around her still-damp hair, grabbing the device from her pocket. It was the Sheriff Atkins’ number, no longer unknown since they’d cleared up that little confusion. She frowned, her thumb hovering over the reject button…but she thought about her decision from late in the night, and sighed irritably before she answered the call. “Vee Hanes.”
“Ms. Hanes, it’s Sheriff Atkins.” He sounded different over the phone, his voice made gruff by the audio filtering. “Sorry to call so early.”
“Not as early as last time.” She pointed out, smirking to herself, and she heard him chuckle. “No, I suppose not. But all the same. I know we didn’t have much time to talk details, yesterday, but I was hoping you’d taken a look at that letter by now.”
“I did.” She leaned back, toying with a stray bit of hair that had escaped the hold of the towel. “I was actually just thinking about calling you to ask…can I come out there and talk about it in person? I’d like to see the property.”
“Oh, of course. Uh…I know you’re a fair distance out, but my schedule’s clear today. Barring any emergency, of course, but those hardly happen around here, woods willing.” He chuckled and Vee couldn’t help but echo the sound, even if she thought the statement was a bit odd. “Today…yeah, I can do that. Um…I’ll have my son with me. And my dog. Is that alright?”
“Oh—sure.” She heard a note of surprise in his voice, and bit back the cynical impulse to assume he was judging her already, a single mother clearly in some chaos given her bristly interaction with him the previous day. But to his credit, he recovered quickly and sounded sincere enough to almost be believed as he followed up with, “That’d be great, sure. No problem at all. When do you think you’ll get out here?”
“I can be there around nine. Just have to get ready.” She glanced over her shoulder at the time on the stove clock, ensuring there was still time. “Does that work?”
“Works for me. Just come right to the Sheriff’s office, I’ll be here. Then we can go up to the house.”
“See you then.” Vee listened for his acknowledgment, then ended the call. She looked up and took note of Eli’s curious gaze on her, the boy tilting his head as she met his eyes. “Who was that, Mama? Are we going somewhere?”
“A…new friend.” She sighed, then nodded. “Yeah, we gotta run an errand today. A special one. We’re gonna take a little trip out of the city.”
“Really?” He sat up sharply at that, and his excitement was so palpable Vee felt a twinge of guilt for the fact they’d never really done this before. Certainly not to the extent they were about to. But she smiled and nodded again, trying to remain as nonchalant as possible despite her innards tying themselves in knots. “Yeah. We’re gonna go see the place I used to live, when I was real little. Younger than you.” She chuckled at his awestruck expression, getting up and unwinding the towel from her head and shaking her hair out. “Go get dressed, kiddo. We’re gonna leave in about twenty minutes, okay? I’ve gotta go make another call.”
He scrambled to his feet without further argument, Iron Man huffing as he rolled over to trot after him into the boy’s room while Vee headed for her own. It was only a half-truth. She didn’t need to make a call, but she did need to send a text. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she listened to the muffled thump of Eli’s drawers and his muted speech as he babbled excitedly to the dog while getting dressed, slowly typing out a message, doubling back and rewording it as she went to try and keep things as simple and casual as possible, while also informative. She didn’t expect that Tess would have a problem with her going out of town for the day, but she also knew Tess was fighting a near-constant battle on her behalf against Ryan’s legal team as they fought for any inkling that could buy them Vee’s whereabouts, or get Ryan some form of custody of his son. If Vee was going anywhere, Tess needed to know. Just in case.
Soon enough the three of them were piling into the truck, Iron Man planting himself in the backseat space between them while Eli nestled into the passenger seat, his sketchbook tucked under his arm and his skinny frame nearly vibrating out of his seat with excitement. He was firing off questions at a rapid pace, and Vee laughed as she found herself hardly able to keep up while they pulled out of the complex and made their way to the highway. “I haven’t been there since I was little, baby. I moved away when I was about your age.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“What was it like? Why did you move away?”
“I don’t really remember. It’s…a small town, though. Real small, nothing like the city here. It’s way out in the hills.” She gestured vaguely, and glanced over as Eli’s eyes widened, drifting to look at the distant shapes of the tree-covered hills just visible in snippets past the structures and high slopes that formed Portland’s landscape. “As for why I moved…” She trailed off at that, her brow furrowing slightly. There had been a reason. Not one she recalled well enough to repeat now, but which she knew had been important, or had been seen as important, at least. “...My dad just decided it was time to move.” She finally said. It wasn’t untrue, even if she wasn’t sure of the motivations. She decided against mentioning Kato just yet. She didn’t remember enough of him to give an adequate description anyway, and it felt…wrong, somehow. Like trying to explain who he was made no sense in the truck here, still surrounded by the mostly-concrete jungle.
Eli spent some of the car ride doodling in his sketchbook, continuing his designs from earlier. But it was a long car ride, and inevitably he drifted off, lulled to a peaceful snooze by the steady rumble of the truck, his head tilting over against the door. Vee heard Iron Man snuffling, and knew he was dozing in the back as well. But she kept her eyes forward, her hands set stiffly in position on the steering wheel. She hadn’t driven outside the city in years, and it felt strange to do so. Stranger still as they headed onto less-populous roads, the highway that stretched out west from the city not quite as trafficked as the interstate exchanges. She had mounted her phone on the dashboard in order to use the GPS, but despite all the years behind her, despite the fact the last time she’d set foot in Woodwill was years before she was of driving age anyway, it felt as if something was guiding her.
Even before the name “Woodwill” showed up on a road sign, faded and battered despite all the other signs in the area being shiny and relatively new-looking, she knew which exit she needed to take. As the roads turned narrower and unmarked, winding more and more through less and less populated woodland, she felt a quickening in her heart. Out here the landscape was beautiful. The forests so verdant and lush, especially in mid-May, before summer truly began. She had to tighten her grip on the wheel to keep herself focused, watching the road when all she wanted to do was gawk at the surrounding woods. That staticky hum was back in the back of her mind, a fluttering sensation that made her briefly wonder if she was going to have a heart attack.
The road eventually turned to gravel, but a hand-carved sign that pointed onward to Woodwill assured her that she was still going the right way, and that the GPS’ failing signal hadn’t completely let her down yet. Trundling along the rougher road woke up Eli though, and the boy mumbled faintly as he stirred, rubbing his face before he realized what was around them. “Mom?” He questioned, his eyes widening as he took in the sight. “How far away are we?”
“Just a few more minutes.” She answered steadily, the crunching of gravel under the tires vibrating through the chassis and into her hands as she squeezed the wheel. “It’s pretty out here, huh?”
“It’s…” He trailed off, clearly wracking his mind for a word to convey his feelings, before he grinned. “It’s incredible.”
“Yeah, it is.” She mused in response, her eyes darting as they came around a bend in the gravel road. She could’ve sworn there was something there beyond the trees just off the side of the road. There were elk out here, she was pretty sure. Bears and mountain lions too. What a shock it’d be to see one now, of all times. But whatever it was, if it had been anything at all, it was gone by the time her eyes followed the shape to her peripherals.
Finally the town itself came into view. It wasn’t completely rustic; a water-treatment facility was the first thing off to the left of them as they drove in, the roads returning to a paved, if potholed-and-cracked, condition. It was certainly quaint, though. A small general store boasting “grocery, pharmacy, hardware, and more!”. A small town hall that was also apparently the town museum and library. A couple small shops, clearly family-run local affairs. A coffee shop that also stated their dinner and bar hours. A gas station with a single pair of pumps; she was honestly impressed by that one. Gas was hard to come by out here. Even where things were cleared for the little main street shops and the small neighborhoods that flanked the town, the forest was almost oppressive out here. The trees positively dwarfed the structures; there were hardly any buildings that were more than one story high. And the neighborhoods were clearly old, moss and ivy having made themselves home on the shingles and eaves of the houses. Fences that seemed to be somewhat absorbed into the greenery, feeble efforts to keep the forest out of their backyards. As they pulled up to the police station, which also apparently doubled as the firehouse, a single engine visible in the open garage bay, Vee swallowed the ball of nerves that had slowly climbed its way into her throat.
“Mom!” Eli’s voice suddenly broke through her haze of anxiety and she realized he must have been talking the whole time, though none of it had registered. “Are you listening?” He stared at her quizzically, and she huffed as she rubbed the heel of her palm into her brow.
“Sorry, baby, I was…focusing on getting here. What is it?”
“This is the place you grew up?” He gestured out the window, and Vee nodded, looking around. The more she stared, the more familiar things started to become. The place hadn’t changed much in the last twenty-ish years. If it had changed at all. “Yeah.” She nodded vaguely, undoing her buckle and turning to ensure Iron Man’s leash was clipped on.
“Why would you ever want to leave? This place looks amazing!” Eli crowed as he unbuckled, following her example. As she climbed out on her side, Iron Man hopping out after her, Eli practically leaped from his open door, scampering around to join her while his head seemed to be on a perpetual swivel, taking in the immense scale of the woods around the tiny town.
By the time they had collected themselves, Sheriff Atins was pacing across the lot toward them, smiling warmly, though he slowed a bit as they turned to face him. “Ms. Hanes, good to see you. He friendly?” He gestured at Iron Man, who was wagging his tail placidly as he watched the man approach, but even in a relaxed state his size was intimidating to most folks.
“Very.” Vee nodded, and Atkins approached more comfortably, greeting Iron Man with a friendly rub along his cheek, the dog slobbering on his hand in thanks. “Sheriff Atkins, this is my son Eli.” She nodded to the boy, whose excitement had quelled a bit in the presence of a stranger, and he hovered close at her side, peering up at the Sheriff warily, but curiously.
“Hello there, Eli. Is this your dog?” Atkins smiled, nodding to the canine.
Eli nodded shyly, managing a faint smile in return. “His name’s Iron Man.”
“Oh, Iron Man? That’s one of my favorites.” Atkins laughed, patting the dog’s head before he looked back at Vee. “Hope it wasn’t a bad drive out here. I know the road to get in is a bit rough, tends to put people off.”
“It wasn’t so bad. I imagine it’s expensive to pave all that way.” She shrugged, trying to find some relief from the anxiety in the mundane conversation.
“Eh. We’ve had it paved before. It doesn’t stick, though.” He replied somewhat vaguely, but before Vee could even think to press him on that, he had clapped his hands together and cleared his throat, switching gears abruptly. “So. We got the property all locked up, and it’s clean. Didn’t touch anything but removing the foodstuffs from the kitchen. Want to go see it now? I can drive us up in the big Jeep. The dog’s more than welcome, I’ve got three of my own.” He chuckled pleasantly.
“Oh—uh, yeah. Yeah, that’d be great.” Vee nodded, her free hand absently poking into her pocket where the folded letter sat. It was hardly a legal document, but hopefully Kato’s word would be enough to prove that the place was meant to be hers now, to whatever end. Atkins waved them along and they followed him to where a big old vehicle—to call it a Jeep was a loose term, as truthfully Vee wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be, all patchwork and custom-retrofittings to suit a life out here where access to commercial mechanics was scarce if it existed at all. But the inside was quite comfortable, and she let Iron Man climb into the backseat alongside Eli while she took up the shotgun position, kneading her nails against the denim of her jeans as Atkins started them off.
“You didn’t tell him much, did you?” Atkins spoke quietly while Eli chattered half to himself in the backseat, excitedly relaying random factoids to Iron Man while the dog leaned heavily over his lap. Vee glanced at the man sharply, and he gave her a knowing look, raising his brows. “I’m not judging; it makes sense. I take it he never even met the old man, hm?”
“...No.” Vee replied, shaking her head briefly. “I’ll explain it at some point, once we see the place, it’s just…complicated.” She let out a sigh, lowering her gaze to her hands as she picked at a loose string coming from a frayed spot on her thigh. “...He left the place to me, according to the letter. I don’t even know where to begin handling that, though.”
“We’ll sort it out. The town hall should have any legal documents we need, you’ll have to sign a bunch of stuff, I’m sure, but out here…well, between you and me, we’re not gonna run you through the ringer over it. We all knew the old man well enough to trust his word.” Atkins nodded sagely, one hand casually guiding the wheel as he navigated them out down a small road that led westward, further into the forest and away from any semblance of a town. Small as it as, Goodwill disappeared frighteningly quickly behind them even though she knew they hadn’t even gone that far yet.
“You knew him, then?” She asked, trying to keep herself from staring too hard into the woods. Something about them made her more uncomfortable right now, as if the forest itself was watching and judging her, an ungrateful child who had spent so long away, forgetting all about this place and her own kin who had apparently meant a lot to everyone else here.
“Yeah. He was a good man. We’d talk whenever he came down for his weekly supply run, heh.” Atkins nodded. “I drove him back in the winter sometimes, even though he’d always insist on walking by himself with his little wagon to carry everything. We all knew him, really…” He sighed, shaking his head as a distant look crept into his eyes. “...Hard to believe he’s gone. Guess we should’ve expected it sometime, but…I swear, I thought the old man would live forever sometimes.”
Vee swallowed hard, ignoring the faint sting in her eyes as she felt a guilty grief welling in her chest. “Sounds like he was lucky to have you. The town, I mean.” She cleared her throat.
“Nah. We were the lucky ones, I think. The forest is harsher now, without him.” Atkins shook his head again, before turning from the overgrown road into an open space that led up to the front of a large old cabin. Despite the age that clearly weathered the thatched roof and the wooden walls, it was obviously a well-loved and maintained property, save for the few weeks it had apparently been sitting empty and abandoned. Vee’s heart thudded heavily in her chest, her breath catching in her throat as she gazed upon it. She felt like a stranger, and yet as she opened her door and the rich earthen smell of the forest enveloped her, the echoing calls and chirps of birds and squirrels and all manner of other creatures dwelling amongst the greenery, it felt like coming home.