The Gatlinburg Chronicles: Manhunt

Chapter One

The day after Halloween, none of the Lieberman boys knew exactly what happened, as they were relentlessly sheltered from what was going on by their grandfather Erwin. Bill had stayed up all night watching the boys closely, and was exhausted by the following morning. Mike and Matt slept soundly on the couch, while Miles and Mason struggled to stay asleep in Clara's old bedroom.

The first to wake up was Miles, and he asked Bill, "Morning, Daddy! Did they catch the bad guy yet?"

"No," said Bill, "But it's only a matter of time. Did you sleep well?"

"No," said Miles. "I couldn't sleep much, and I had really bad nightmares."

Bill asked, "Did you have a dry night?"

Miles said, "Not sure. But I don't feel wet."

Bill said, "Come here, let me check... Well, looks like you wet a little bit, but not too much. Go get some clothes and get dressed for the day."

"Okay, Daddy!" Miles went to the bathroom and got dressed for the day, while Bill crashed on the couch after a long night of watching the boys.

After all the boys were gathered in the kitchen, Erwin fed the boys oatmeal and a glass of milk, and he told them more about what happened. He said, "Boys, you've all been dyin' to know what happened. The 'bad person' was a woman named Vicky, the older cousin of your friend Pierce. She killed a kid back in 2012, and was put in the nuthouse. They let her go last year. Pierce told her about the Omega Rings, he didn't know she'd go after them. She spied on you guys two nights ago, and she came back the next day, killed your butler, and stole the Omega Rings."

Mike said, "Unbelievable. How could she have known they were at the bottom of the well house?"

Erwin said, "Butler probably spilled his guts (in the figurative sense) when Vicky threatened him with a chainsaw. Then in the literal sense of the word when she sliced him in half."

Miles asked, "Where the heck was Mom during all this?"

Erwin said, "She saw the chainsaw and ran to Cletus's old house. Chainsaw beats pepper spray every single time, you know. You guys oughta get yourselves an ol' AR-15. They're legal in Tennessee, you know, unlike that state run by J.B. Pigster that you came from."

Miles said, "Unfortunately."

Erwin said, "Miles, which gun would you rather I got out if Vicky comes in here right now with a chainsaw? A puny handgun that fires one shot at a time and often misses, or a gun that can fire a hail of bullets at her, knockin' her dead instantly?"

Miles said, "The police already have those."

Erwin said, "Insane people with chainsaws don't wait for the cops to show up to slice ya in half. Sometimes y'all gotta defend yourself."

Mike asked, "Where's Mom?"

Erwin said, "She got up at 4:30 in the morning to help search for Vicky. No luck so far, but she can't have gotten far. She's the most wanted person in the state of Tennessee right now!"

"But she doesn't have to go far!" said Matt, "You've got forest all around us, plenty of caves to hide in, the freakin' Smoky Mountains, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park."

Erwin said, "It's not hard to notice a redhead 'round these parts. Think about it: since you've been here, have you seen one redhead?"

Miles said, "One. But she had a Minnesota shirt on."

Erwin said, "Exactly! That's the feature the cops are using to smoke her out. In any case, I don't think someone who's insane has any concept that she can hide in the woods. Don't worry about it, boys. You're safe with me."

Matt asked, "Are we gonna go to the butler's funeral?"

"Yes, Matt," said Erwin, "But not 'til they find Vicky."

Miles asked, "Anything we can do to help?"

Erwin said, "Y'all just need to spend time with y'all's Grandpa and just be kids for once. I have a pond out back. We can go fishing!"

Miles said, "I've never been fishing before, Grandpa."

Erwin said, "It's easy! Boys, get dressed. You're going fishing!" While the other boys went to get dressed, Erwin had something he wanted to show Miles. "Miles," he said, "I noticed you still have trouble staying dry at night, right?"

"Right," said Miles.

Erwin said, "Take one of these. It's called Xylotone. It's normally used for allergies (which is what I use it for), but for some reason they prescribe it for staying dry at night as well. It's in chewable form, so you should have no trouble taking it. They say it cuts the number of accidents and the amount of 'moisture' by half. At least, that's what the commercial says."

"Thanks," said Miles, "Does it actually work?"

Erwin said, "Yeah, it does."

"Okay," said Miles, "I'll take one." Miles tried one and said, "Man, this tastes bad."

Erwin said, "It's not supposed to taste good, it's supposed to work."

"True," said Miles.