“Yeah, I’ll let you know if I think of anything.” He shook my hand and then Mac’s. The two men looked at each other longer than was necessary and I wondered why Mac was using his stare-down technique on Kirk.
After Kirk turned the corner, I said, “What do you think? Is he telling the truth?”
Mac nodded. “I think so. You don’t believe him?”
“Yes, I believe him. You just looked at him weird.”
“No, I didn’t. I looked at him in the normal way.”
“Looked at who in the normal way?” Vi came toward us from the lounge.
“Nothing, Vi. We were just talking to Kirk,” I said.
“Mavis can’t stop talking about him. She says he’s a hunk.”
I turned to Mac. “Looks like you’ve got some competition.”
Mac grunted and said, “Thank God.”
Vi had been watching this exchange like a tennis match. “Have you been in the lounge today? There’s more bombing and it’s fantastic! You should come and see it. I don’t know how they’re sneaking out and getting it done. I’ve been keeping track of all of the knitters—even if they’re using the hunk as an accomplice, they have to meet with him at some point. . . .”
“We saw it, Vi,” I said.
“The little hats for the chess people? The banner on Alastair’s portrait?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Hey, you two aren’t helping, are you? That would be really sneaky.”
We shook our heads, Mac much more vigorously than me.
Vi cocked her head. “Do you hear that?”
Mac and I stood still and listened. Then I heard it. It sounded like a motorcycle. Or maybe two motorcycles.
16
I looked out the window.
“It’s coming from out there,” I said, pointing toward the woods.
Mac cocked his head. “Sounds like dirt bikes.”
“It must be snowmobiles,” Vi said.
We squinted and peered out the window in the direction of the woods. Wally had come back in and joined us at the window.
“Did you hear that weird noise?” he asked.
Then I caught sight of them. Two snowmobiles broke into the clearing from the trees. They were still pretty far away, but approaching quickly. It looked like a bear drove one of them.
As they drew nearer, I saw that one of the riders wore a backpack strapped across his chest like a baby carrier. The one with the bear also had a person riding just behind. The riders wore ski masks and goggles, and the fluffy layer of snow sprayed around them as they approached.
Mac and I stared at each other, mouths open.
The knitters thundered out of the lounge. Mavis and Selma led the charge, moving rapidly toward the back door. “We’re saved!” Selma announced as she hurried past the reception hallway.
The rest of the knitters followed in her wake. They acted like castaways spotting a cruise ship.
I trailed the crowd down the hall toward the back door. I heard the engines rev and then cut out.
The gang poured out the back door, no one bothering to put on coats.
I felt my breath catch when I saw the riders dismount. The bear bounded off the snowmobile and let out a very canine woof. His huge doggy face smiled up at his copilot—Dad.
He pulled off his ski mask and his shock of white hair stood up even more than usual. I viciously suppressed the comparison to a cockatoo. Mom immediately greeted him with a big hug. His face was red from the cold but he looked delighted at his hero’s welcome. Baxter leaped and barked in his joy at seeing Mom again and when he spotted me, he barreled toward me and jumped, knocking me into a snowbank. My beloved mastiff weighs almost as much as I do.
The other rider was my nephew, Seth. Taller than me now at fourteen, his lanky frame and blond hair reminded me of his mother, my sister, Grace. He came to my rescue and pulled Baxter away while Vi helped me up. Vi walked over to Dad to get the scoop from him.
Seth threw a snowball for Baxter to chase and he bounded off into the garden.
“What are you doing here?” I said to Seth.
“What are you doing here?” he said. Tuffy’s head popped out of the backpack, his nose twitching as he assessed the situation. Tuffy was Seth’s shih tzu and they had been inseparable since they met last summer.
“Our flight was canceled and we had to find a place to stay, then we got snowed in,” I said.
Seth nodded. “I knew your flight got canceled—the airline called the house. But how did you end up here . . . with them?” He tilted his head toward the ladies.
“We didn’t know they were here,” I said quietly.
“Great. I bet Mac was really happy to see them.” Seth had been privy to Mac’s exuberance at getting away from the psychic dream team.
“You get more sarcastic every day.”
Seth grinned and bent down to let Tuffy out of the bag.
Tuffy sniffed the ground and minced his way over to a mound of snow that looked like it used to be a bush. He lifted his leg and left a yellow stain before kicking up the snow with his back legs. He trotted back to Seth and sat on his foot.
By this time all of the knitters had come outside to see the snowmobiles, the dogs, and the newcomers. Vi introduced everyone.