In the Woods, Bears

Chapter 48 - The Mother's Room

A fingernail moon cut the black velvet of the star-speckled sky above the barn, sharp as a fillet knife. After eating their fill of salad, steak, and fluffy potatoes, the four of them went to look at the current state of the mother's room. The lamplight did not make the situation any better, as Terry removed the tarps. The metal cage had been filled with junk and used for storage for at least two decades.

The space was small and built into the back of the barn. All six sides of the cube had solid bars and welded joints. She'd seen cages like it at the circus, holding big cats so they couldn't eat the town's small sticky children.

Jeremiah's smile was gone. "Go back to the house, Kennedy, and have a nice bath. Relax. We need some time."

In Terry's hand, the key, heavy and old-fashioned, caught the glinting light filtering through the dust. A mother's room was a cage meant to hold a dangerous animal. She shuddered. Like her. The lock turned smoothly, and the door opened. When Terry saw her face, he made a shooing gesture with his hands.

"I could help," she argued.

David shook his head and gave a low whistle, sweeping away some of the spider webs across the bars. "No. It is our responsibility to make this livable for you. It may take a few days for it to be properly homey. Tonight..."

"Safe." Jeremiah said, "Tonight we will aim for safe."

She took a step backward. "That old house by the lake, with the big rock, has a mother's room."

All three men said, "No."

"That place is haunted." Jeremiah said, "Full of ghosts. You shouldn't visit there." Cold whispered across her skin. "Ever."

Terry tapped the old-fashioned wrist watch he was wearing and held up two fingers.

She asked, "Two hours or twenty minutes?"

David laughed. "Look at this mess. Two hours if we are lucky. Entertain yourself. Just stay awake."

*

From the bath, she heard them trudge up and down the stairs repeatedly. With her toes, she turned the hot water on again to add heat to the cooling tub. She planned to stay there until she was properly pruney. She'd found an ancient romance novel downstairs, a regency from the seventies. Ignoring the distracting sounds from the attached bedroom, she turned another page to see what mischief the dastardly Mr. Reed would get into.

*

Swathed in a fluffy towel, she stepped barefoot into the chaotic master bedroom. The bed was gone. A lone pillow lay next to the wall. Damp hair clinging to her shoulders and cheek, she pulled open Terry's drawers one after another until she found his t-shirts. Using her fingers to choose the softest one, she pulled free a faded gray option with a frayed neckline. Comfy, bra and panties covered by the oversized shirt, she used the towel to dry her thick hair while she waited.

*

With her book tucked under her arm, Kennedy wandered toward the barn wearing Terry's giant slippers to protect her feet. It was approaching midnight, and she'd been waiting almost three hours. As she cracked open the barn door, golden light spilled across her feet.

They'd brought two lamps to the barn and their light added warmth to the space. On the floor, there was a mattress inside the now-empty cage. The bedframe rested against the barn wall in pieces, next to a pile of boxes and assorted dusty items. David bent to sweep stray bits of cardboard into a dustpan.

There were plenty of pillows and heavy blankets on the mattress. They had covered the floor of the cage in a thick layer of hay and the smell of it overwhelmed any other scent. The steel bars had been wiped clean and now had a dull shine. For all intents and purposes, it was a pretty jail. Jeremiah and Terry worked together, trying to make the bed look inviting.