Strange Little Town

A loud knock on the door woke Cael up, it felt frantic. He shuffled to the door when he opened it the light hurt his silver-gray eyes. One of his neighbors, Dean Farrow, was standing on his porch, mild panic in his eyes. Dean was a short man with thinning gray hair and a little more weight than his frame was built for around his waist. He was the old English teacher if memory served.

"What's wrong, Dean?" Cael was very awake now.

"Kid went missing in the state park, I'm on my way as a volunteer. Figured I should stop by and see if you wanted to help out too." He spoke quickly.

"Let me get dressed quickly and I'll follow you out there." Cael gestured for Dean to come inside while he got ready. He jogged to the guest room and pulled on the right clothes for this task before grabbing the go-bag he always had ready, his favorite machete, and a twenty gauge pump action shotgun.

"You weren't joking about being fast." Dean headed for the door, studying Cael with suspicion.

"Old habit. I was always on call for my last job despite not being paid like I was." Cael chuckled and followed Dean to the parking area. He put his bag and gear in the back of his car before hopping into the driver's seat. Dean had already backed up and started down the driveway. Cael easily followed after him. Soon they were parking in the park's main entrance. A large tent was set up to be the search and rescue base of operation on the grass with three large trucks parked nearby.

Cael watched them as he got his bag out of his car. They weren't search and rescue vehicles, belonging instead to local young men who were now sitting in the beds of their trucks holding rifles and laughing among themselves. The leader was easy to spot- he was tall, blond, athletic, and thought very highly of himself.

"Who are they?" Cael asked Dean quietly as they made their way to the tent.

"Terry Horace and his goons," Dean whispered, he didn't want to be heard. The Horace family owned most of downtown Doveville, their reputation wasn't that of good, benevolent landlords from the rumors he'd heard when no one thought he was listening.

"Noted." Cael held the tent open for Dean before stepping inside himself.

"Dean, thank you for coming... Cael, what a pleasant surprise." Rosemarie Donnell stood at the table the maps were laid out on, which made sense as she was the lead for search and rescue volunteers.

"It's nice to see you too, Rosemarie." Cael stepped aside so he wasn't blocking off the entrance of the tent. Rosemarie was another one of his neighbors, the first person he'd met after moving into his new house. She was a tall, fit fifty-six years old woman who owned her own business in town. She was also a widow who inherited a small fortune when her husband passed away over a decade ago.

"Go ahead and help out at the cooking staff, Dean," Rosemarie said, waiting until Dean had left before she spoke again. "I have something special in mind for you."

"I have heard that from you before." He spoke quietly with smirked.

"Hush now, unsafe ears." She chastised him, "We're waiting for someone." She clarified.

"I'll get my gear set up while we wait." He put his bag onto a chair and opened it. The first thing he pulled out was his pistol, a Glock Seventeen Gen Five with a red dot sight.

"What are you expecting?" Rosemarie teased him.

"The worst, as usual." He slid it into its holster on his left side, a slender knife was sheathed in a hard case in front of it, and two double magazine holders were put on his other side.

"Your idea of 'the worst' is starting to look real grim." She pointed out.

"I used to work security, those habits aren't dying anytime soon." He pulled a jacket out of the bag and pulled it on, it hid his weaponry. "I do have a valid concealed carry for this state." He knew what she was about to ask.

"Good, cuz I know a few people who would make an issue out of it if you didn't." She cautioned him.

"So I've heard, apparently one of them is right outside with his truck and rifle." He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

"You have a gun too." She teased him.

"I'm not a known sociopath. Plus I left my shotgun and machete in the car." He teased back.

"Touche." Rosemarie turned her attention to her radio as someone called a completed search of an area. She marked it off with an 'x' before picking up the radio. 

"Copy, proceed to the next grid location," she said.

"Damn, I was hoping for some good news." Cael sighed.

"Me too." Rosemarie shook her head. "The child we're looking for is Maia Lowe, twelve years old. She's mute which adds a rather unique issue to finding her." She filled him in.

"Can't call for help." He looked through his bag, it was a cold day so he pocketed some hand warmers and an extra set of gloves.

"Exactly. Her mother, Carolyne Lowe, is helping with the food. Poor woman. Kids came here for a quick field trip, the rest are accounted for thankfully." Rosemarie was stressed, Cael made a note to send her a nice bottle of scotch when this was over. Perk of a small town, the liquor store delivered on weekends.

"Yo, where do you want me?" A young woman stepped into the tent. She was a little taller than Cael and about his age if he was judging correctly. She had black, straight hair that she had tied up into a bun. She looked like she had a close native American heritage too.

"Emilee, meet Cael, the new guy in town. You two are heading to the Bronze Head trailhead and working your way back here after you clear that trail. It's got white gravel so if she somehow made it that far she'd probably try to stay on it." Rosemarie gave them their orders.

"The new guy, eh?" Emilee studied him, giving a thumbs up to Rosemarie.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He offered her a polite nod.

"We'll see if that's mutual. We'll take my car, it's all-wheel drive and I know the way." She said,

"You're in charge, just gotta grab a few things from my car on the way." He agreed, it was smart on her part. Emilee grabbed a radio from the table and turned it on to test the battery.

"Let's get going," she said., leading the way out. He followed after her, noting Terry's obvious irritation at seeing them together. If looks could kill. He went to his car and grabbed his water bottle, his machete, and his shotgun. Emilee pulled around to pick him up.

"You know we're looking for a kid, right?" She asked while he put his stuff in her back seat.

"Saw a cougar on my security cameras three nights ago. Better safe than sorry." He hopped into the passenger seat and they were off.

"So, what brought you to our tiny town in the middle of nowhere?" She asked him.

"A relative passed away and left me his house and property. I have to live here for a year to get all of the inheritance. Wasn't aware that wills still did that sort of thing." He explained.

"Only person around here who died was... Crazy Netti." She gave him another once over.

"Nathaniel Burnes?" He asked.

"Yep. Didn't know he still had any family." She said.

"I didn't know he existed until his lawyer called me to tell me he had died," Cael admitted. "Wish I'd met him at least once before then."

"He was an interesting guy. Every town has a grouchy old man and he was ours. He shopped at my store for supplies once a month so I got to know him fairly well." She said she sounded sad. "I actually liked him quite a bit. Almost put his usual bulk order in earlier this month. Feels weird that I'll never do it again." She admitted.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He was sincere in his condolences.

"Thank you. The only people who showed up to his funeral were my family and the head families of the area. The Horace's and the Arthur's. Felt so weird seeing them there. They hated him and he loathed them." She was being quite open, surprising.

"That must have been rather surreal. Can't imagine they showed up out of respect for Nathaniel." He sipped from his water bottle.

"Anyway, returning to the subject at hand- who are you?" She asked.

"Cael Proctor, former security guard. I like cooking and baking, I find gardening cathartic, and... I don't know what else to add." He chuckled.

"You owe me lunch then." She teased him.

"Happily." He agreed.

"So, Netti gave everything to someone he'd never met?" She challenged his narrative. He could only shrug.

"Strikes me as pretty strange too." He admitted. "But, it's the truth, and I have the fascinatingly complicated paperwork to prove it."

"You talk like him sometimes." She said quietly.

"Really?" He was surprised, how was that even possible?

"Did you know your family is from this area? The Proctors used to be one of the big families here like a hundred years ago, married into the Burnes family right before the Arthur family moved here. Then they split off and left completely." She gave him the quick version.

"How bizarre, no one ever talks about the 'old days' in my family. I wondered how I was related to Nathaniel and no one would talk about it, not even Nathaniel, he wrote a letter to me as part of his will." He sighed.

"That's gotta be frustrating." Emilee shook her head.