You Can't Get There From Here

Brad's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure if telling Jerry his business was a good idea. It could be that the townsfolk wouldn't take to the concept of a resort being built nearby that might bring a lot of unwanted tourists into their quiet town. They might make trouble to stop the sale.

"I'm not sure what the long term prospects are for development. I'm just here to pack the house now that it's been sold," replied Brad hedging the truth.

"I hope the rumors are true myself. This town has been dying in small spurts for years. A resort nearby would be good for business."

Brad relaxed a bit at this revelation and smiled, "Again I can't confirm anything, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if some enterprising group didn't see the value in all that land."

Jerry returned the smile, "From your lips to God's ears, my friend."

The bottom of the bowl appeared all to quickly, and Brad took the last bite with relish. He paid Jerry and promised to come by again when he had more time to chat.

"Next time come on Wednesday. I make my Mom's apple pie on Wednesday, that's assuming I'm not in jail for having put her out of my misery by then."

Sam's grocery was surprisingly well stocked for a small town store, and Brad was able to secure plenty of food to keep him going while he did his work. The night was falling fast by the time he drove back dropping a veil so thick a man couldn't have seen his hand in front of his face without a flashlight. The sky was covered in stars, and he stopped to gaze up at the splendor of it all before carrying his groceries into the house. After putting everything away, he returned outside and took a seat in one of the old rocking chairs. The wood creaked as he rocked back and forth enjoying the fresh night air and listening to the screeching of a hunting owl somewhere off in the forest.

"It's so beautiful out here. You would have loved this part at least, Annie," mumbled Brad to himself.

A shooting star lit up the sky momentarily streaking from one horizon to the other. Brad was tempted to make a wish, but there was only one thing he would wish for, and he knew of no magic that existed that could make it happen. He went off to bed some hours later enjoying the thick mattress and the quiet that lulled him to sleep.

NEIGHBORS -

The morning was bright with the sun blazing in the sky and promising a hot day. The old stove lit easily with a single match, and Brad worked at fashioning himself an excellent morning meal of bacon and sausage along with a pair of fried eggs. The kitchen filled with the aroma of his cooking. He topped it all off with a pot of freshly brewed coffee pouring himself a large cup and taking the whole thing out on the porch to eat. There was something about the country air that made everything taste better.

He enjoyed his morning meal in silence before returning to the kitchen to clean up his handy work then it was back to the study. The morning turned to afternoon, and he was just about to break for lunch when the sounds of loud barking reached his ears followed in short order by an angry growling that sounded as if it was coming right up through the floorboards.

Brad ran out onto the porch looking in all directions but realizing quite quickly that the sound was coming from underneath. He took the steps two at a time before dropping to his knees and squeezing between a gap in the wood slats beneath the stairs. There was movement, but he couldn't tell exactly what was going on in the darkness beyond his eye's ability to discern an image. Although his phone was useless for connecting to the world, he still had it in his back pocket out of habit, and he pulled it free to use the flashlight application. The eerie darkness gave way before the phones well-lit screen revealing the form of a large German Shepherd not more than a dozen feet from where Brad was kneeling. The big animal bared its teeth and growled.

"Easy...Boy...Easy...I'm just going to back out now, o.k.?" said Brad warily.

He started to back up, but the dog growled even louder, and he stopped.

"What the hell do I do now?" thought Brad not to keen on the idea of getting his face ripped off.

"You're scaring him," said a voice right by his feet making Brad jump and hit his head on the wood above.

"Shit!" snapped Brad rubbing at the top of his head.

"No need for bad language! He doesn't like that either," came the voice again.

Whoever was up there seemed to be right because the big dog bared its teeth and took a tentative step toward Brad who swallowed slowly feeling a primal fear gripping his heart.

"What do you suggest I do?" asked Brad in a quiet voice.

"Don't look directly at him. Keep your eyes down and back slowly toward me."

Brad did as he was told moving backward one inch at a time until the darkness passed and he was in daylight again. As soon as he was clear of the porch he jumped back to his feet and stepped away quickly to put some distance between him and the angry animal.

"Son of a bitch!" said Brad as his body shook with adrenaline.

"I told you about the language, and besides you were scaring him."

"I was scaring him!" yelled Brad incredulously before rounding on the person behind him.

He was fully prepared to launch into a tirade of epic proportions but was caught up short by the woman who stood in front of him.

She was about five-foot-six-inches tall and wearing a simple country dress all of one piece with a skirt that rode up just above her knees. The top was slung low enough to reveal the swell of her perky, tan breasts, but that wasn't the sight that had struck Brad dumb. Whomever this young woman was she was easily one of the most strikingly beautiful he had ever seen. She had honey blond hair, filled with curls that dropped down over her shoulders hanging almost to her elbows. The bright green of her eyes was like someone had captured the color of a spring meadow and trapped it there. A smattering of freckles crossed from one cheek to the other emphasizing the dark tan of her skin. Her full lips, that were currently split in an amused smile, looked soft and sweet.

"I can get him out. Don't you worry," said the strange woman.

Before Brad could object, she dodged nimbly around him and dropped down onto all fours just inches from the opening under the porch.

"Smokey! You come out this instant and behave yourself!"

The young woman backed away, and right behind her, the German Shepherd emerged looking even larger in the light of day. Brad held his ground though he felt his bladder threatening to evacuate as the big dog stared at him like he was a meat platter.

"It's o.k. He just got excited when he saw a squirrel run under your porch."

"Squirrel? Right..." said Brad.

"Really...It's o.k."

She gestured at him to come closer, and Brad started to move toward the dog in very slow increments until he was just shy of a yard away. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he was fully ready to bolt at the first sign of aggression when Smokey suddenly dropped his head and walked forward placing it right next to Brad's hand. Tentatively, and shaking from no small amount of fear, Brad reached out to pet him on the head. His fur was warm from the sun, and the muscles of his neck were like steel as Brad gently rubbed at them.

"See...We're all friends now."

Smokey lifted his head and licked Brad's hand sealing the deal, or tasting him for a later meal. Brad wasn't sure which.

"He's lost..." whispered the young woman suddenly.

Brad looked over at her, "Well it's a good thing you found him. If you hadn't happened along, I think things under the porch might have turned ugly."

"Smokey gets out sometimes. I try to be careful but..." she stopped in mid-sentence looking back at the woods.

"I'm Brad."

The introduction brought her attention backed to him, and she smiled revealing rows of perfect white teeth.

"I'm Mary. It's nice to meet you, Brad."

"Mary? Oh! You must be the neighbor Rodney mentioned. The one that was interested in the McKenna's art. He said you would be around."

"I love art," she said simply.

"I can't say I'm much of a connoisseur myself, but I know what I like," said Brad.

Smokey seemed to be warming up to him now running around him in circles and nudging his leg.

"He wants to play," observed Mary.

"Oh...Well. How about this?"

Brad walked a few steps away and picked up a good size stick from the ground showing it to Smokey who immediately dropped into a crouch and wagged his tail furiously. Brad let the stick fly far out into the yard, and Smokey exploded out of his stance in a black and tan blur of motion. He returned seconds later the stick clinched in his massive jaws.

"Good job, Boy!" said Brad patting him on the head before removing the stick carefully and tossing it away again.

The big dog threw himself after it with childish enthusiasm while Mary laughed in delight.

"I think you've made a friend for sure," she said.

Brad loved the way she smiled. It lit up her face. He figured at a guess that she must be in her early twenties maybe twenty-one or two.

"This is a much better fate than I was expecting," agreed Brad.

While Smokey was busy retrieving the stick, Brad glanced around not seeing another car other than his own.

"Did you walk here from your house? I understood the nearest neighbors were several miles away."

"I like to walk. So does Smokey though sometimes a bit too much. When he gets out on his own, that's when the mischief starts."

"I see...I guess you just came to identify what you want? A lot of the canvases are a pretty good size. You would need a car, or more likely a truck if you want more than a few."

"I'm in no hurry I haven't been here in a long while. I miss the place."

"Did you know the McKenna's well?" asked Brad.

"I knew them very well. They were a sweet couple, and very creative. This house holds a lot of memories for me."

"You're welcome to look around if you like?" offered Brad.

Mary took Brad at his word and bound up the steps vanishing into the house so fast Brad was left in her dust. He gave the stick one last hard toss and followed in her wake.

He found Mary in the kitchen walking from cabinet to cabinet running her hands across the old wood.

"If this house could talk the stories it could tell," said Mary in a sing-song voice.

"I imagine a lot of baking went on in here," said Brad.

"Oh my! Yes! Bread, cookies, pies, and cakes...All of that and more! I was lucky I didn't weigh two-hundred pounds by the time I was ten."

Brad knew that family's out in the country tended to stick together and protect each other. He could almost picture how cute Mary must have been as a child and imagined that old Mr's McKenna probably spoiled her rotten with treats much to the chagrin of her parents.

"I was going to have a bite of lunch. You're welcome to join me if you like?" asked Brad.

"What a nice invitation. I accept!" said Mary with a formal curtsy that made Brad laugh.

He set about throwing together some sandwiches and poured some chips in a bowl. Mary helped him carry everything out to the porch where they sat in the rocking chairs to eat. Brad wondered how many times the McKenna's must have done this same thing just sitting and eating while the afternoon sun crept across the sky. Smokey had come up onto the porch and lounged in the shade watching the two of them.

"So, Mary, are you in college or working,"

She paused between bites of her sandwich to answer, "I just graduated, but I haven't started working yet."

"Something to do with art?"

"Yes. I was hoping to teach art while I work on my own."

"I guess the McKenna's must have been a big influence on you growing up. No wonder you're interested in their collection."

"You could say that. What do you do, Brad?"

"I'm in real estate. I'm partners in an agency in Springerville."

"Oh...A big city boy."

Brad smiled, "I am now, but that wasn't always the case. I grew up in a house a lot like this one up north in Jasper County."

"This is like returning to your roots," observed Mary.

"I thought that the day I pulled up in front of this house. It was like coming home again."

Mary noticed Brad's fishing pole leaning against the porch rail.

"Did you fish a lot up there in Jasper County?"

"I did indeed. It was the old family past time. My Dad and I, heck even my Mom got in on the act sometimes although she hated baiting her own hook."

"My family didn't fish. I've always kind of wondered about it."

Brad finished his sandwich wiping his face with a napkin.

"If you're interested I could show you how. It's not hard once you get the basics."

"What about now?"

"Um...Yeah, I suppose we could," replied Brad a little caught off guard by her sudden enthusiasm.

They cleaned up their meal and Brad retrieved his tackle box from the trunk of his car. The woods were alive with squirrels flitting from tree to tree, but Smokey seemed to have mastered his blood lust for the moment and walked patiently just to the side of the pair. Mary darted through the underbrush almost skipping as she walked like a girl far younger than her real age. Brad kept pace easily covering the ground with his long strides.

"You know these woods pretty well," stated Brad.

"I grew up around here, but nobody knows them perfectly. Even the best of us can get turned around especially at night...never a good idea to venture into the woods after dark."

"I'll take your word on it."

They were getting closer to the stream that Brad had heard from the porch since his arrival. The sound of water cascading over the rocks rose rapidly in their ears. A large bird called out in the trees above, and Smokey answered with a booming bark of his own from deep within his chest. Brad looked over at the large Shepherd thinking Mary wouldn't have much to worry about in these woods with an animal like him watching over her.

"STOP!" shouted Mary so loud that it froze Brad in mid-step.

She was by his side in a heartbeat grabbing at his arm and pulling him back a step.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Old well. These woods are dotted with them left over from homesteads that occupied this land in the distant past. The trees grew up around them, and the houses were torn down, but the wells they used for water are still around."

Brad looked closer and could make out the rotten wood that had marked the outside of the well now nothing but moldy almost disintegrated boards covered with vegetation on the forest floor. The dark hole where the well used to be was partly covered with vines and seemed to drop away into nothing falling toward the center of the Earth like a chasm into oblivion. He picked up a rock from the side of the trail and dropped it into the hole counting the seconds until he heard a distant splash.

"Long way down...Thanks for stopping me."

"The woods can catch you by surprise. It's best to always stay on your toes."

She sounded serious but concluded her words by standing on her tip-toes and pirouetting like a ballerina making Brad laugh.

The woods parted around them a short while later, and they reached the edge of a wide stream. The bank was high on their side dropping almost straight down a dozen feet or so to where the water rushed on. Brad led Mary and Smokey parallel to the water until they found a place where the bank sloped more gently down to the water's edge. He got out his pole and brought a lure out of his tackle box.

"What's that?" asked Mary curiously.

"It's a lure. A bright and shiny object that hopefully, fish will find delectable. Watch what I do," instructed Brad.

Mary stood by while Brad reared back swinging the pole behind him and them whipping it forward while hitting the release on his reel. The line shot out across the stream landing near the far bank, and he let it settle a bit before reeling it back in slowly, moving the rod from side to side to create more variation in its path under the water. A few seconds later the lure emerged.

"Where's the fish?"

Brad chuckled, "If you caught one every time it wouldn't be much of a sport. Here, you try."

Mary moved cautiously forward taking the unfamiliar object in her hand. Brad helped her place her hands in the proper position noting just how warm and soft her skin felt against his in the process.

"Now what?"

"Just lean back and swing the rod forward casting it just like I did."

Mary leaned back and whipped the rod forward, but pressed the button too soon sending her line right into a nearby oak tree.

"Ah...The elusive tree fish. I think you managed to hook a fine specimen."

"I don't think I did that right," said Mary looking up at her stuck line.

"It's alright. It just takes practice."

Brad retrieved her line from the tree limb. It took her three more tries, one of which she nearly managed to hook Smokey's tail before she was finally able to hit the water. Her face was fixed in a look of careful concentration as she reeled the line back in, but nothing attacked the lure. This time she made a perfect cast on her own.

"See that you're a natural," said Brad from where he stood next to her on the bank.

They spent several hours with no luck. It was getting late when their situation changed.

"You're getting consistent with the casting which is what you want," commented Brad.

Mary smiled back still reeling and nearly dropped the pole in the water when the line suddenly shot off in the opposite direction.

"Oh My!" shouted Mary watching the rod start to bend.

"You got one!" yelled Brad.

"What do I do?" cried Mary in a panic.

"Reel him in," advised Brad.

Mary pulled back on the rod and tried to reel, but struggled with the task. It was obvious she had never done this before as sweat broke out on her brow.

"I think I must have hooked Moby Dick! Help!" she said.

Brad was trying hard not to laugh as he came up behind her placing his hands near hers on the rod. He was uncomfortably aware of the feel of her warm, slender body pressed up against his, and he found his concentration wandering while he tried to help her land her prize. The fish she had hooked proved to be a real fighter and it took some time to wear him down before they finally managed to reel him in close to the bank. Brad knelt and lifted the line clear of the water.

"Wow! He's a beauty. Nice Bass, Mary, about five pounds or so I would guess. He would make a good meal."

Let him go..." she said tightly.

"What's that?"

"I said let him go. Please...He's so beautiful...and scared. He's afraid...Let him go, Brad, please!"

Her voice was close to panic and Brad released the big fish watching it flop back into the water and swim away.

"It's O.K. no harm done. I bet he goes off and warns all his fish buddies about you though," said Brad trying to lighten the situation.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it would be like that. I thought catching a fish would be fun, but seeing that poor thing pulled from its world..."

"I guess fishing isn't for everyone," said Brad calmly.

"I think I will just stick to art."

Mary looked up at the sky where the sun was starting down toward the horizon.

"I need to go," she said.

"I guess you will have to look at the paintings at a later date. I'm here until the end of the week. Why don't we walk back to the house and I can give you a ride home?"

"That's o.k. Brad. I can get back on my own. Smokey and I are used to the walk."

Brad looked at the German Shepherd who had slipped over next to Mary hovering protectively by her leg. He couldn't see anything getting past those gleaming jaws.

"Well, if you're sure..."

"I'll be fine. I enjoyed spending the day with you, Brad. I will come over tomorrow to look at those paintings if that is o.k. with you?"

"Sure, not a problem."